A Blush of Robins

 There's several collective nouns for a group of the nation's favourite red breasted bird but a 'blush' of robins is definitely my favourite.

This particular blush was created last weekend at a needle felting class I taught to ladies of Aberdeenshire Federation of the SWI (Scottish Women's Institute) as part of their Autumn Academy craft programme.  I always love that everyone starts out with the same materials and receives the same tuition yet each lady has created a robin individual to her.

Prior to teaching, I always like to remind myself what I'm doing which has resulted in me having a blush of my own!

Seeing the birdies grouped together made me think back to last summer when I created another blush of robins, but this time in mosaic.

A while back, my Mum's beloved glass ornament broke.  

It got inadvertently swiped off the window ledge whilst the curtains were being opened.  There was no way of successfully fixing it so the following Christmas I bought Mum a Royal Crown Derby replacement robin.  However, I kept the broken bird as I'd always liked the simple fused glass shapes and had often contemplated translating them into mosaic.

After making a rough sketch (so rough it's on a shopping list!) I transferred the image onto tracing paper.  This let me draw the shapes I required onto glass which I cut with hand tools then smoothed with the grinder.

The transparent pieces needed to be backed with foil before being stuck onto the slate substrate.  This served two purposes - the cement didn't show through and the glass colours became more intense.

Once the cement was fully dried, the messy process of grouting could begin.  I keep special gloves for just that purpose!  Both the cement and the grout used mean this can go outside.

Once the robin was polished up I opted to glue on his millefiori bead eye and really bring him to life.  I gave this robin to my sister-in-law, Carol, as a gift last Christmas.

Then I made another which I gave to my friend, Susan, to raffle as a fundraiser for the good causes she supports.

And I made another, also gifted, which hangs in my friend Brenda's garden.  

I must've been in a hurry as I only have a picture of this one prior to grouting.

It appears I'm not done yet, as this work in progress shows.  Maybe I'll manage to make one for my own garden before too long.

 It's lovely to know that my blush of mosaic robins has flown far and wide - but this one is coming home to roost!

Three Trees in a Row

 Craft workshops appear to be like buses - none for ages then three come along at once!

This is Tanya - also known in woolly circles as TJ Frog or The Button Lady - who runs a creative business focused on Dorset Buttons from her home on Skye.  We first met a few years ago at a yarn show, and we're pictured here at last August's Wool At Portsoy event.  Though I've been at gatherings where Tanya's been teaching the heritage craft of making Dorset Buttons, I've never been quick enough to secure a place.  They're so popular!  

When I learned a few months ago that Tanya was running a virtual Dorset Button Tree Brooch workshop on Zoom this spring, I signed up right away.  

A comprehensive pack of all the materials I'd need landed in my post box ahead of the class.  It included everything, right down to a sewing needle and thread!  Most of the class participants hailed from the US, but one or two other ladies from the UK had signed up too.  We were quite a jolly band as we listened along to Tanya's patient instructions and followed her fully illustrated guidebook.

Using the wool and base provided, we worked through the processes of casting, slicking, laying and rounding.  Honestly - it's a whole new language but what I'm actually doing is covering the ring and fashioning a tree shape.

Quite pleased mine looked like Tanya's one in the picture.

I opted for a mixed kit to enable me to make a spring inspired pink blossom tree as well as an autumnal one.  It was the latter I concentrated on during the class, adding lots of French knots in browns, golds and yellows then I stitched on tiny seed beads from the kit in complimentary sparkly shades.

I think my finished brooch will look great on my hand knit cardigan.

Though I've enough materials to make several more brooches, my next workshop was only three days later and I was soon immersed in felt making.  Now, if you've read my blog before, you'll know I've made felt before on several occasions - so why would I go on a wet felting course?

The most obvious answer I suppose, is to learn something new.  I've done more needle felting than felt making so I jumped at the chance to take a wet felting class with Léla of The Green Boat when I learned she was going to be hosting a workshop near me at Cookston Crafts Studio.  I probably have all the materials at home, and potentially could've spent Saturday afternoon making felt but the bottom line is, I probably wouldn't.  Enjoying a course away from the house, and the pressure of household chores, encourages creativity I believe, as well as providing the opportunity to meet new people and make new friends.

Or it would if I hadn't walked in and immediately discovered that my old friend, Jo, had enrolled on the same course!  So companionable.  Everything we were going to need was neatly laid out in front of us and we got to work creating a base square from carded white wool, some soap, water and a bit of elbow grease.

Encouraged to choose from the wide range of coloured wool tops and yarns available to create our designs, I (rather predictably) gravitated towards the turquoises and greens.

I love the eclectic array of materials required to make felt other than the yarn - there's net curtain to protect the loose fibres while they're still flyaway, bubble wrap to provide texture, and insulation foam to roll out the felt.  Liberal sprinklings of water from the adorable watering can, more bar soap and plenty of rubbing by hand, soon make the fibres stick together and shrink to create a tight weave fabric.  Towelling underneath absorbs excess damp and a waterproof cover beneath that protects the table!  

Léla encouraged us all to incorporate undyed natural silky fibres into our piece and I added some to my horizon.  The lustrous texture following the felting process was unexpectedly beautiful.  Always something new to learn.

What might have been a seascape turned into a landscape with a feature tree as I let myself be guided by our encouraging tutor and my chosen palette.

The joy of working alongside others at a well run workshop is that we all have the potential to create the same thing, yet we all make something very different, reflecting our own colour choices and creativity.  

The boot was on the other foot at my third workshop in a week as I was the tutor!  

Michelle from Kemnay Library asked if I'd run a short class there during the Aberdeenshire Wellbeing Festival.  I'd only an hour so opted to show the participants how to needle felt this wee cherry tree. 

I had to make a practice one beforehand to familiarise myself with what to do but was able to finish mine in 30 minutes, giving me confidence that the ladies could make theirs in an hour.

What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon  - seven participants, a table strewn with tactile textiles, welcome refreshments from the lovely library staff and plenty of chatter.  We were also treated to the delightful sound of the Spectrum Singers, performing in the library as part of the festival, as we gently overran our allotted hour.  No one seemed to mind.

Just look at the lovely trees the ladies created.  

It's a joy to be able to share my love of craft with others and I was especially impressed with this needle felted forest as most of the class had not done this before.

Whilst the proximity of these workshops is not the norm for me, it is possible that the choice of subject matter, all these trees, may have been in part governed by attending three classes in one week!

And I can thoroughly recommend TJ Frog and The Green Boat if you fancy a workshop too.

Bee Inspired and Bee Creative

"Hobbies are the backbone of this country

and what starts as a hobby can end up changing a neighbourhood."

So said comedienne and columnist, Jenny Eclair, earlier this month in The Independent newspaper.  

One such group who epitomise this for me are Grans On The Make.  This trio of crafting friends based in Kent, in collaboration with The Creative Craft Show, have taken their skills around the country, bringing people together, hand making items together for a cause, and raising thousands of pounds for charity in the process.*

This year's initiative by the Grans is Make A Beeline which highlights the plight of our bees and encourages the development of new habitats through partnerships with communities and agencies.  There's a great flyer on their website to tell you all about it.  I was buzzing to join in!

Their first request at the start of the year was for crocheted hexagons to make a map of Britain so I made a few last February and sent them off.  I was a bit worried mine might have arrived too late for the first show in Birmingham in March but I was told my hexagons were incorporated into Scotland appropriately enough!  (Two became Orkney I believe.)



The closest Creative Craft Show to me is the one in Glasgow in October but I spotted that the Make A Beeline Team were going to be at the Weald of Kent County Craft Show in May.  My sister-in-law lives nearby and loves crafts so I asked if she was going along.  Not only did she attend, she sent me some photos of Grans Pat and Avril at their bee-autiful stand.



AND - she also sent me a picture of the finished hexagon map!  Hello Orkney!!

I've been following the Make A Bee Line project through Instagram and Facebook and there's currently a shout-out for hand-made bees to be made into a special display at the final ICHF show of the year in Birmingham in November.  (ICHF is the International Craft and Hobby Fair)

So I had a look at the patterns on the Make A Bee Line website and tried them all out.  Each bee only requires small oddments of wool to make the body and wings and there's patterns to crochet and knit.

Here's how I got on.  First up, this is my Little Crochet Bee

And here's my knitted Queen Bee and Baby Bee which are two variations of the same pattern.

I then tried the sweet little Easy-Beesy and the Easy Knitted Bumble Bee

I especially liked making the Honey Bee with its organza ribbon wings and antennae.

More knitted critters -  the Super Quick Little Bee and the Small Knitted Bumble Bee.  The super quick one really lives up to its name!

Finally I had a shot a needle felting following the clear video instructions on the Make A Bee Line website and stabbed my way into making another two bees to send away!

Here they are altogether for a group shot...

...prior to posting off to Grans On The Make at the address on the Make A Bee Line flyer.  I can't wait to see the bee feature at the entrance to the NEC in November!

I'm happy that my hobbies of knitting, crochet and needle felting can contribute, even in a small way, to help change neighbourhoods (as Jenny Eclair suggests) but there are lots of ways to join in even if you don't craft.

• Scatter some Beebombs (I got these for Christmas!)
• Plant flowers that bees like - here's some cone flowers from the garden and wild roses from our daily dog walk
• Encourage community planting - this wildflower meadow was sown in a corner of nearby Tarves village last year and was buzzing 
• Attend ICHF shows and support the Make A Bee Line UK stand - find them here:
• Henley-on-Thames 23-26 August 2019
• Exeter 26-29 Septemeber 2019
• Glasgow 24-27 October 2019
• Birmingham 31 October - 3 November 2019

* Those inspiring ladies, Grans On The Make, have recently been awarded a Royal British Legion Community Award for the Poppy Project in recognition of fundraising over £5000 last year. 
I contributed some knitted squares and blogged about it here.

A visit to the shedio

When my husband, Geoff, asked for a picture by his favourite artist for his joint birthday/Christmas present last year, you'd have been forgiven for thinking I might've baulked at this, believing I'd have to sell an organ to purchase an old master!  However, his favourite artist is someone we've been friends with for over 20 years - talented Borders based maker, Lesley Johnson. 

To facilitate Geoff's picture choice, Lesley invited us to visit her "shedio", a tiny creative space at the bottom of her garden in Peebles.  With a husband and two teenage sons mad-keen on mountain biking, Lesley doesn't even get the whole shed to play in as two thirds of the space is storage for bikes and outdoor gear!

But Lesley packs a lot of kit into her shed/studio aka "the shedio".  When she's not teaching chemistry, she produces artworks using various mediums and tools, favouring texture gel and copper ink applied using implements as diverse as a pastry brush and old credit cards!

The sewing machine allows Lesley to embellish her textile pictures which are made by wet felting colourful merino wools.  She also uses her hand produced fabrics to make tea and cafetiere cosies.

Transferring her designs to fabric enables Lesley to create beautiful lampshades for these bottle lamps.

Lesley's inspired by light, colour and texture, local hills and countryside in the Borders and by Scotland's stunning coastline.

Botanical images often feature in Lesley's artwork with seed heads being a favourite subject.

Her delightful family home is like a mini art gallery so we were able to appreciate her own pictures which adorn the walls prior to Geoff choosing something for himself.

In the end, he didn't choose just one picture, but two of Lesley's originals made their way home with us to Aberdeenshire.

This is entitled  "Treelines" and is created using acrylics and pastels.  We were agreed we really wanted it to hang where we'd see it all the time so it's in our bedroom opposite the bed.

"Blooming Heather" is a smaller work in acrylic and ink on paper - it's hanging in the hall.  Here they are in situ.

Thanks, Lesley, for such a wonderful and inspiring visit to your shedio - we are enjoying our new artworks every day!

You can contact the artist yourself by following this link to her Facebook page.