Recycled Paper Christmas Tree.

Take a look at this link. I'm fascinated by these AMAZING paper sculpturesappearing around the city of Edinburgh.

Well, not on quite the same scale of brilliance but fun nevertheless, one of our Harmony Hill ladies did an impromptu demo of paper sculpting at our Christmas lunch. Vivienne made a Christmas tree using a Sainsburys mini magazine - the sort you get at their front door - that's full of recipes and great ideas on how to decorate your house if you could be bothered. It was highly entertaining!

What do you think? I just had to come home and make one!

NIEG Exhibition.

'Sew Beautiful - Size does not matter.'

I went and had a look at this exhibition at Cregagh library yesterday.
It was in a bright and airy room and all the canvases were nicely hung on ribbons. I was impressed with that.
Here, I am studying the work of Yvonne Williams - and on the left of Yvonne's are three pieces from Carolyn MacDougall.
Ha! My two arch-enemies from college days when we were all doing C&G together.
Also, in that grouping, there is an exhibit from Linda Charlton who taught me patchwork and inspired me to take up the C&G courses in the first place. At the time there were no courses running for Patchwork so I took the Creative Embroidery as a second choice. I'm glad I did.
Why have I not joined this Guild? I haven't figured that one out yet.

Pixie Hat.

I was admiring my friend's hat. Then out came the pattern from her bag. "Why don't you have a go?", she said. So I bought some Chunky wool on the way home and got knitting.




I'm a bit of a knit- wit when it comes to knitting.
Dropped stitches that I don't know how to pick up.
Patterns that are double dutch to me.
But the pixie hat pattern given to me by my mate Sharon said, 'Great for beginners'.
Well, I'm not exactly a beginner, remember this bear?
So I got on o.k. with this hat and I'm feeling quite pleased with myself!
Someone else is having a go at knitting over at Dear Friend.

Halloween Pumpkins.

This is the Evil Pumpkin that my son carved. It went mouldy overnight and suppurated all over the hearth.


These are the nice pumpkins I saw in St George's Market.


These are strange pumpkins and gourds I saw in Canada.






Happy Halloween!

Makin' Whoopee (Pies).

Not exactly the 'Great British Bake Off.'
Halloween cakes for the weekend - wonder what Mary Berry would say?!
Oh, Yuk!

Spooky Characters.

I made these with my little grand-daughter at the weekend and we left them to dry.
Today she went home happy with her spooky characters.

Neil Diamond Crunchy Granola Suite Glastonbury 08

Crunchy Granola's neat.

Life's too short to stuff a mushroom!

Who said that?
It only took a few minutes to stuff these mushrooms with grated 'Low Low' cheese, some left over Mediterranean couscous and a chopped peppadew. Then into the oven for another few minutes.
Not sure if this Moroccan lamb tagine looks very appetising but it tasted good.
I calculated this at 17 Weightwatchers Pro Points - slightly over points for a main course - but what the hell?!

Results after drying.

Paper string and kitchen roll


Threads

Fabrics

Threads and fabrics definitely fade after rinsing and drying.

Results are in!

These are nice and colourful when wet and I would like them to stay like this, but I know from previous dyeing experiments they will lighten up as they dry.









Nice though.

It's all about COLOUR.

Today my craft group had a 'Thread Dyeing Workshop'.
This is me dyed RED!!


We used lots of different coloured Procion dyes.


The threads (all natural fibres),were wetted with water before dyeing.


Jars of dye, syringes and pipettes.


Everyone busy at the end of the room.



Someone getting stuck in -
and it's wise to protect your hands from the dyes.


A mix of earthy colours in this tray.


..and some pretty pinks.


This was my Ikea tray with co-ordinating threads.

Now have to resist temptation and leave the threads, and some cotton fabric, to 'cook' overnight in plastic bags before rinsing out.
Thanks to Judy for a great Workshop - I haven't done anything like that for a while so let's hope it inspires me to do a bit of stitching now.

First of all there are plans in my head for a new 'Craft Room'.

Then I might actually be able to get at the sewing machine.
Can't wait for next week to see how they've all turned out!

New York.

We were in New York September 2008 and we stayed in a hotel in New Jersey. This photo is dark but if you click on the photo to enlarge and look carefully, from our hotel window we could see the two lights shining in place of the Twin Towers.

Back to Biking!

I've been doing lots of walking lately but now it's time to up the exercise!
I haven't been on my bike for ages and it was a wibbly-wobbly start.


Down at Minnowburn Beeches I stopped to look at this fungi.




In another few weeks, when the trees change colour, it is even nicer here.


At Shaws Bridge there were canoeists canoeing.


Bike ride over, sore backside, clicky knee.....covered 6 miles!

Oh, and it's down to Halfords later for all the 'must have' biking accessories - like comfy saddle, helmet and saddlebag!

Biking doesn't come cheap.

Spicy tomato and Butternut soup.

I thought after 14 weeks of 'weightwatching' I ought to try a recipe from my Weight Watchers leaflets.

This soup is good value at 0 pro points but, as I was roasting the veg, I added 6tsp of oil from a jar of chargrilled peppers making it 1 pro point per serving. That's still pretty low when every point counts.


I added Harissa paste instead of using fresh chilli


Ready for roasting and nice colours!


Lunchtime and 5 Pro Points out of a daily allowance of 29 - and the soup was really good.

Belfast Zoo.

We went to the zoo this week.. The Floral Hall looked sad and neglected.


a little prairie dog looked longingly at my grandaughter's lolly


it's up hill all the way


gorilla on the loose..



penguins in a flap


bird under umbrella


bird in basket


bird on table


bird on branch

I like birds!!