Travelling sketchbook - swirls and curls

The sketchbook I received had a line of mandalas, portals to an inner world...swirls, coils, a circular maze....where would this take me?

As I sat at the hairdresser reading a magazine a day or so later I glanced up, and in the mirror I saw curls and swirls....outer curls and swirls.

What a great thing a tiny notebook is for capturing all manner of thoughts...

That weekend I got out my gelli plate to do some printing including some circular motifs, just to see what happened.

I used an A5 plate and also a round one, which when I stood back a bit, just seemed to beg for a face or two to peep out from the stamped curls. With some sooty black lashes, I was taken back to my original inspiration at the hairdressers: the lowered lashes of ladies being pampered.

Travelling sketchbook - catch up The First

In August, I received a lovely buttery watercolour of a peachy sunset with some inky geese flying towards the horizon.

It reminded me of birdwatching at RSPB Mersehead, the barnacle geese swooping in from Svalbard on an autumn day, and of all the birdlife that we see when we go up to Dumfries & Galloway and the Solway Firth.

I thought I'd wait until we got up there, to see what particularly inspired me. A week later, the flowers were a sight to see, particularly the roses, pinks and purples of the willow herb, which I decided to have a closer look at.

I'd never noticed how red the spent pods were.

As I crouched beside it, looking intently and scribbling with my Inktense pencils, raptors circled high overhead and in the end, I wasn't sure whether I watched them, or whether they were watching me, nestled into the ferns and grass, like a pottering mouse or a tiny bunny....

Glittery FIMO ornaments - WI crafting heaven

After a bit of a break and a new computer, I feel bound to share my WI crafting paradise last night.

Thanks to our Glorious Leader Sam, and oiled with tea, wine and cakes, we rolled, printed, cut, baked, and ribboned, with these marvellous results.