Recycled jumper - gloves

Finally the fingerless gloves created from the jumper I've been recycling are done. 

I made 2 of my flower motifs, also made from a recycled red jumper, and the contrast with the grey seems to work quite well.

The pictures show the progress. I think it will be a while before I work out how I will turn the main jumper body into a bag.

Fabric Shop 2

Late afternoon and I was passing the avenues area so went to see if Trains Fabric Shop was open and yes it was, yippee! The owner who is retiring is such a friendly, helpful man that there's no way you can whizz in and out without having a chat. I came away with quite a stash for £10, see picture. I got a mixed bag of 25 zips for £4, another mixed bag with 10 cards of buttons for £1.50, dress patterns half price at least and ric-rac only 10p a metre. Alot of the buttons are new but vintage, they must have been in the shop for years as some of the makes don't exist anymore. It was a really worthwhile visit.

York Viking Festival

Went to York this morning and gathered wholefood supplies at Tullivers & Alligator. It was the end of the Viking Festival week and there were a few Vikings wandering around the streets. The European food market was on but it was too crowded to look at things properly. I was also put off certain stalls where things like olives and cakes were exposed to the elements when you notice people walking near and coughing over things, that really gets me mad!

Rye & Hemp Soda Bread

I found a recipe on someone's blog for soda bread which seemed so quick and easy I had to try it. Unfortunately didn't make a note of the persons blog to link it but did jot down the recipe.

With bread running low here and little time to spend baking today I whizzed up the recipe in about 10 mins. I substituted wholemeal flour as I had none for rye flour and a proportion of hemp flour for some extra goodness and texture and voila the bread was baked in about 40 mins. It looks pleasing, haven't tried it yet so hope it tastes nice.

Hemp flour is brilliant, looks kind of greeny coloured and sand like but it is packed with Omega 3 & 6, organic, gluten free and vegan. Hemp products are truly super foods and I get them from Yorkshire Hemp who I do a bit of creative work for, not that I'm biased of course but have a look on their website if you fancy trying a hemp product or hemp clothing even.

www.hempmarket.com

Recycled jumper purse

I haven't got very far turning the jumper I felted into a bag yet but I have made one thing and that is the purse you can see. This was made from the shoulder end of the sleeve which was the widest part, the cuff end of both sleeves will eventually be made into some fingerless gloves.

Tracks in the snow

There was still plenty of fresh snow outside this morning and you could clearly see the rabbit, rat & pheasant tracks. I have been curious about the route the rats take around the house so I went for a nosey and yes all the tracks lead to the nooks, crannies and crevices I thought they visited.

The child in me got the better and I made this feeble attempt at a snowman. Didn't have gloves on and once the snowball started picking up droppings from the grass I soon lost interest in decorating him nicely!

Hoops & YoYo

This is a fab pressie from my friend Shaz, a Hoops & YoYo idea book, it is a lovely addition to my small H & Y collection.

East Riding Artists

I had been anxiously awaiting a letter from ERA since submitting my artworks for assessment the other week and it has just arrived.....

Yippeee! and other exclamations of joy, I have been accepted as a full member. This is great news and has made all the effort worthwhile.

Full membership will entitle me to be included in the new ERA directory and I may have the opportunity to have my work selected for future exhibitions.

That means I'll need to get cracking with new artworks in between my design work.

I think I will have early elevenses and some Green & Blacks to celebrate!

www.east-riding-artists.org

 

Lavender heart

With the lavender I bought the other day I've just completed a heart door hanger where I have attached a small lavender bag to the back. I thought if I put the lavender on the back, once the smell starts to fade I can easily sprinkle it with lavender oil. You also don't need to use as much lavender with not stuffing the entire heart.

Fabric shop

I went to see my friend yesterday morning so that we could pay a visit to the avenues fabric shop which is closing down. Good & bad, the shop was shut which was a shame but a note on the door said open next week so I might still get some haberdashery bargains.

My friend took me to a groovy gift shop with lots of handmade goods in and plenty of inspiring ideas so I bought the bits 'n pieces in the picture. Also found a wool shop so bought one of the balls of wool which knits into a pattern to try out. I should mention that I am a rubbish knitter, can't seem to follow a pattern so generally knit squares and make things from squares.

Felted flower

Central heating broke down again so whilst an engineer was here for a couple of hours I busied myself making a flower brooch.
This is a new style I've been doing. Instead of using felt as I usually do, I have taken to felting old jumpers and recycling them into different things, the flower brooches being one of those things.

Alchemists Apothecary

The postman has just been and delivered a packet of dried french lavender which I bought from an Ebay shop, The Alchemists Apothecary. I haven't shopped with them before but the lavender has a wonderful, strong aroma, the service was good and great value for money.
I feel a lavender bag will soon materialise!

Groovy cat fabric

It's snowing and I have just parceled up the most groovy, colourful, cheery cat fabric to send to an Ebay customer.
One of my 'crafty' friends emailed last night to say a fabric shop is closing down and there are some great button bargains etc to be had. I can hear my wallet groaning at the thought of a trip before it shuts!

Cupcakes1

Today is a good day, the internet connection is back... yippeee!
That was a long 5 days without.

In celebration I have made some vegan cupcakes with my new star shaped silicon bun cases I got just before Christmas. The flavour was orange & poppy seed.
Since I got the vegan cupcake book I've become a real convert to buns without eggs and margarine. They are so easy to make and rise every time I've found. I think anyone who isn't a vegan would appreciate this book as you can whizz up the buns in no time and don't have to think if you've got the eggs & marg in before you start.

Have called this post Cupcakes 1 as I think the subject will come up again being as they are one of my favourite foods!

Snowy day in York

Mon 2nd Feb
Woke up to snow and had to make a trip to York to have the car serviced & MOT'd, roads not too bad fortunately.
Away from the slushy roads York looked very festive in the Museum Gardens, the picture down Stonegate looks a little more bleak!
I went searching the charity shops for some 3mm knitting needles, couldn't find any, I usually see lots of needles in charity shops but not today. However I did find this rather nicely patterned lambswool sweater which I bought with the intention of felting to make into either a bag or a cushion.

Buttons!

Sun 1st Feb
Miserable cold day so decided to sort out my various pots of buttons into one neat system.

Madhyamaka Centre

Sat 31st, took my digital artworks to the Pocklington Arts Centre where assessment will take place early next week. Fingers are now crossed!!!
Afterwards we decided to go for a coffee at the Madhyamaka Buddhist Centre, it really is a lovely, calming place to relax and they serve good veggie food. I had the winter veg & lentil soup, see pic, chased by some very nice carrot cake.
The gift shop has some of my favourite joss sticks.

Offline for a while

Fri 30th, work and blog have ground to a halt because our internet connection is down. After talking to Virgin support for quite a while, getting passed from person to person and trying all their suggestions it seems we have a 'fault'!
They finally accepted the problem was at their end (although they don't what it is) and frustratingly it may take anything from 5 days upwards to investigate and sort out.
I can really do without this hassle as I've got so many things to sort out internet related and therefore I'm going to have to make trips down to the local library to see if I can get online and get back in touch with the world.