My tiny tweet has arrived!

I entered a contest on feltmeup's blog and won my choice of tiny tweet!

I was almost too excited to choose, but I decided on pink feet and beak. He arived today - I had to lift him up to meet the seagull, he's so sweetly tiny!

If you can't wait until feltmeup decideds to run another competition, check out her shops here feltmeupdesigns.etsy.com and here feltanomicon.etsy.com and a closing down sale :-( here feltmeup.etsy.com

Feltmeup can also be found on twitter, of course.

Now I'm going back to coo over my tiny tweet!

Let's meet...Glassprimitif

Funny Face Magnet

I'm being kind today - I haven't sent my guest crafter the lengthy list of questions! Jo runs Glassprimitif, home of unique, contemporary and quality fused glass. She says she loves bright colours and in-yer-face design and seeks inspiration in E numbers and artificial colourings in food.


Tangerine

Glassprimitif is also very inspired by patchwork quilts and bases many of her designs on these. Jo uses mostly Bullseye glass (the best quality) as it has the brightest colours and the best dichroic coatings (CBS).


Aegean Sea

She spends hours creating new designs from drawings to cutting, from grinding to cleaning, from fusing to slumping. Each piece is individually made - hence the claim - Unique, Contempory, Quality.


Transparent Twisties

Check out Jo's blog for tutorials and snippets on Glass Making and lots of other stuff too. http://glassprimitif.blogspot.com

Follow Glassprimitif on Twitter

Glassprimitif is currently having a summer sale of glass dishes. Many are now half original price! My favourite is the lovely Tangerine piece I've featured above, just in case hubby is reading ;-)

Alum Bay

We've been to the Isle of Wight so so many times, and Alum Bay is on the "must visit" list. This shot is looking down at the Bay and the Needles from the top of the cliff.



Sadly it's been completely commercialised now, which I think is a big shame. Piped music, tacky souvenir shops - but at least the stripy sands (as we've always called them!) are still there.



The brave (or foolish) go down to the beach by chairlift. I walk down the steps!



The cliffs have been tilted at 90 degrees over the ages, the vertical stripes are formed by layers of sediment that were (of course) deposited horizontally.



The colours are amazing. The tourist info states there are 21 distinct shades, and I can well believe it.

Fourth of July on the Isle of Wight

We took our oldest son and his girlfriend for their first geocache expedition while we were on the Isle of Wight. This one at Fort Victoria was in the most fabulous (and reflective!) container.



I was really pleased because it was 4th July, and one of the items in the cache stash was a textile badge in the shape of the American flag.



I'm wearing the badge while taking the meerkat for a dolphin ride ;-)

NiftyKnits is published!

My blog post about Mersham Knitted village was spotted by Let's Knit magazine. They asked me for a quote and to send me a photo of the house I bought. They said they'd credit me and link to my shop and send me a copy - none of which happened, sadly. However, a former colleague and a friend from years ago both contacted me after seeing my "real life" name and sent me a scan.


Click on the piece to enlarge, and learn by my mistake. Always make sure you're *paid* (in whatever sense) first.

holiday snaps with a difference

Not your usual beach or scenery pics! We've just had a week on the Isle of Wight, lots of walking and geocaches to be found. We failed to find the cache here, but found a former lifeboat house with this poem painted on the wall. I love it!



I don't know if you can make out the subject of this photo. The house clearly belonged to a trainspotter who had a host of railway signs and memorabilia. The flat roof at the back had been made to look like a station, with a Southampton (a ferry ride away) sign displayed. It amused us because it's our daughter's station!



And finally - topiary discovered in a garden centre. I was longing for a small child to thrust into the driver's cabin!

Pond life

Sitting by my pond... the first water lily is out. It looks like it's carved from wax, the insects love it. the moment the sun goes down it closes up, I hope the bugs get out in time!



A rare treat. I don't often spot the resident newt.



I'm hoping it's a female. A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to observe one laying her eggs. She gets into just this position on a leafy strand of pond weed, lays a single egg at a time and wraps it into an envelope of leaf which she makes with her two hind legs - then moves on to the next leaf.