Soleful Silent Sunday

Silly Saturday – Ribbit

 

Joining in with the Daily Post (for the first time) Unusual.

WIP Wednesday

Boys are from Mars and Girls are from Venus.

I couldn’t push through the gloom any more, I needed a break, so I have started a Mandala in bright colours. Starting with the middle of the Spiro Star by Helen Shrimpton, in Nuts About Squares, I have gone on to work the rounds of Mandala Madness, also designed by Helen Shrimpton.

Such a joy and relief to be prancing around in the light for a while.

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My computer needs to go away to be sorted out. I’m often hearing how reliable Apple are but I have had lots of trouble with both of the ones I’ve had. This time it is the Photos programme that is not working properly. I’ll be without my computer for about a week. It feels nerve-wracking – will my photos be lost. How will things have changed when I see  my laptop again! I will still have my iPad but I’m not sure how much I will achieve on that. So, if I go a bit quiet, you’ll know the reason why.

I will be immersing myself in Mandala Madness to keep myself calm

Waste

lend me your ‘shell-like’

this girl dislikes pink

innovate for her

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Ronovan’s Haiku Prompt words this week are PINK and SHELL.

Yikes – how to marry that with what I had already planned for our Photo Challenge prompt of WASTE.

It is the extra creative challenge I like to give myself each week. Well Miss E does not like pink – I know that card does have a bit of pink on it but ……. hey! I did my best!

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Anyone who has been reading my blog for a while knows I’m an obsessive recycler AND like to try new crafty things, so this week’s Photo Prompt is right up my street!

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Life-cycle of a tea bag once it enters my house:

It sits in its box in a cupboard full of all manner of black, white, green, herb and fruit teas. I have at least 12 different varieties in there.

Then in it goes –  into my favourite mug

This is a mug from Dunoon. I wanted a big white bone china mug. I contacted Dunoon and asked if I could have the Nevis Design in plain white – I could! and for about £10 cheaper than the decorated ones – I got two. I LOVE them. ❤

After first use the tea bags sit in the little coloured dish to be used, three together, for another cup.

I told you – obsessive recycler!

And now, courtesy of Pinterest, I have discovered there is a whole new world of art materials to be explored – used Tea Bags! I was astonished to see how much amazing art has been created with used tea bags. You can see some examples on my Pinterest Page, ‘Art Tea’.

Of course I had to give it a go.

So instead of going into the compost after their second use, the tea bags are now emptied and dried. (The leaves still go in the compost) My bean-sprouter works well as a drying rack.

Cutting or tearing some and leaving others as two ply paper

Now ….. how to turn them into art ……

 

A bit of collage using some paper napkins and some hand and machine stitching.

The circular tea bag has a picture of a cup stuck on the inside with Modge Podge and  is re-stuffed with a little wadding. I downloaded the picture of the cup from this Education Site

I’m wondering about this art form – it nudges towards the “just because you can, do you think you should”. I tried putting it on canvas to go with my ‘making art with found and discarded objects’ collection, adding and expanding on the Beach Clean Art theme. Using waste in art.

I’m not sure it stands up as an artwork so I turned it into a greetings card, with packaging paper put between the layers to stiffen the card so that it will stand up

A little pocket for a gift (in this case a fresh teabag) or message. Then it can be recycled once more and re-used as a card with a different message in the pocket.

And then I realised there was a certain person about to have her 10th birthday – perfect

She was thrilled with it and her friends intrigued.

I’m really not sure if my experiments will produce ‘art’ that I feel worthy of exhibiting , but has been fun to try and I can’t throw a teabag away at the moment –  I’m amassing quite a collection, so I’ll have to come up with something arty to do with them.

Update

Coincidentally, I’ve just seen that there is a programme on BBC2 tonight about the making of tea bags: http://www.radiotimes.com/tv-programme/e/fsq8rq/inside-the-factory–s3-e1-tea-bags/

and here is the programme on BBC iPlayer:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b08ywhdn/inside-the-factory-series-3-1-tea-bags

The sheer scale of tea bag production is mind boggling – and I’m shocked to discover that 25% of the materials used to make tea bags is plastic – Yuck!

 

 

 

On a Cake on Monday

Happy Birthday to You 

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday Miss E -eeeeeee

Happy Birthday to You

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Yes, I have now been a Granny for 10 years! What an amazingly wonderful 10 years it has been, watching this magical being grow and blossom. The cake was made by her Mum, my daughter, who is a fabulous cook – it was DEEEEEEEEEeeeeeee – lish.

I was asked for some edible flowers so I cut them the night before in case of rain overnight, and plonked them in a vase

Next morning I cut off the heads of roses, marigolds, lavender and marjoram to take to the cake

So strawberries and cream with fresh rose petals, edible glitter, silver and gold candles, and a garland of lavender to celebrate a a feisty, sporty, sparky, creative and all round delightful 10 year old. I’m so happy to be part of her life and look forward to what happens next!

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Pop across to Cathy’s to see what real gardeners are putting in their Vases this Monday. A celebration of the camaraderie of gardeners, this week. It is strangely thrilling to see flowers from some seeds I sent to Cathy in her Vase today – the friendly, supportive connections that are built through blogging are so full of joyful surprises. Thank you Cathy for your brilliant meme and bringing us together each week. ❤

Silent Sunday

 

Silly Saturday

Family day out

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Are they paddling at Scarborough or watching the tennis?