Hearts

My family and I spent Half-Term in a wonderful holiday house in Devon.

We combined Pancake Day and Valentine’s Day, another excuse to bring out the ice-bowl I’d made for Christmas – it survived the 1.5 hour car journey, from freezer to freezer, really well.

the rice was asking for some decoration but the central stenciled heart did not work, a sprinkled heart worked better

time away allows us all to get creative…

the card my daughter made for her husband

get it?!

Little Miss M did her version, don’t you just love the toes!

and inside

and the card made by Dad and Little Miss M…..  a love dart to the heart ….

I do hope you had an enjoyable Valentine’s Day, not always easy for anyone on their own.

I’m joining in with Postcard From Gibraltar’s Friday Photo Challenge – I know it’s not Friday, but I hope I can just squeak in.

 

 

Advertisement

Happy Vase

Erigeron or Fleabane, neither are names pretty enough to describe this little gem of a daisy that grows on my patio, interwoven with what I think is a type of campanula. Both seed themselves liberally and I love them together.

The vase is a pot I bought in Florence, Italy in 1987 when I went there with my Dad. We had a wonderful time together, I have such happy memories of that long weekend .

It was Father’s Day here in the UK yesterday and he has been much in my thoughts. He died in 1998 and would have been 96 this year. He worked hard and played hard, loved a party, had a huge sense of fun and was never happier than when playing with his Grandchildren.

Teamed here with another of the textile pieces I’m working on

Title: “You are my happy”

I have to have several on the go at the same time. I seem to need to be able to have a rest from each colour combination in order to see each piece of work afresh.

Joining Cathy and ‘In a Vase on Monday’.

and

Cee’s Flower of the Day.

#AHEART4MCR

Mrs. Snail wrote a post in response to the tragic event in Manchester this week, she always has such wise words to say, calling us to perform some random acts of kindness this Saturday whilst she is in Manchester.

Then I saw this page on Facebook – #AHEART4MCR

The hearts above are made from the pattern Mrs Snail shared and wrapped today to send to Beth Clarke in Stockport for her Heart Drop on Monday 5th June.

I did alter the pattern slightly, using a magic ring in the centre and just two chains in each corner (but maybe the bottom point could have three).

Beth has said that all hearts she receives from all over the world will be collected for another Heart Drop at some point in the future, so after I have made some for Nanacathy’s Wedding Bunting I will send some more.

Teeny tiny random acts of crafty kindness creating a network of love across the globe – there’s a lot of it about!

Sending love and hearty hugs to all of you.

❤

Update:

If you wish to send Beth some Hearts she is happy to receive sewn ones, knitted ones wooden ones ……etc etc

Beth Clarke
#AHEART4MCR
Ruby Blue Boutique
42 Market Street
Marple
Stockport
SK6 7AD

Hearts and free downloads

Valentine’s Day is on its way. I’ve been having fun making cards for my 8 grandchildren aged 4 – 9.

Photos of Love Rocks and sketch book pages were printed onto 160gm A4 white card.

I measured the card into 2″x 4″ sections

and cut with a craft knife

giving me enough pieces to make 5 cards.

Using double-sided sellotape in each corner

I fixed the two layers together.

Then added some heart stickers and made 5 cards

They still need a little more decorating to personalise them.

On the next batch I used a doodle page

Would you like to have a go?

Here is the link to the You Tube clip  I learnt from,

and some PDFs for you to download, just click on the title.

pinks

tendrils

love-rocks

If you download them I’d love to see what you make.

 

Vase on Monday: love-rocks.org

Anyone who has been following my blog for a while will know I get obsessed by things – right now it’s LOVE ROCKS!

I have been cutting out hearts and have a few ready to go

It makes me feel so happy to see them waiting to find their way to a new home. I’m excited to see where I put them.

If you would like to read the story of Love Rocks go here. It is one of the most moving, sad, uplifting, inspiring stories ever. I am so full of love and admiration, I am looking forward to “spreading the Joy and Love one rock at a time” with all the other Love Rockers.

I have been trying out different labels for the back of the pebbles

And have at last come up with a 4 column page which, if you feel inspired to make some, you can download as a PDF:

love-rocks.org

spreading JOY and LOVE

one rock at a time

~

Just click here: ‘love-rocks‘, save and print.

Joining in with gardeners all over the world in Cathy’s glorious gem of a meme ‘In a Vase on Monday’.

Top photo shows a lone marigold and red lobelia bravely holding out against the winter, and below eucalyptus and garrya eliptica in a little jam jar with Washi Tape and a fabric heart.

Linking in with Cee’s Flower of the Day.

❤

 

 

Love Rocks

My lovely US friend Rachel, who runs beautiful workshops on Healing the Healer  has introduced me to the Gratitude Circle which is a most wonderful group on Facebook created by Julie Santiago. Three years ago Julie had the ambition of surrounding the Earth with Gratitude.

The idea is to post something that you feel grateful for on each day of 40 days from the 22nd November to 31st of December. You can still join in. You don’t have to have started at the beginning.

On Day 16 of 40 I posted that I am grateful for the Gratitude Circle

It is a group where a huge feeling of love and connection is growing and blossoming and it gives me hope that we humans can pull ourselves back from the path of self-destruct that we seem to be hurtling down.

When I joined back in November, there were 11,000 people in the circle and already there are now over 13,000. There are beautiful stories, simple stories, heart felt stories and posts that make my heart sing.

On Day 15 Michele posted about Love Rocks.

LOVE ROCKS!!!!!!

She posted a picture of a table top covered with little pebbles covered with fabric hearts that she has left in random places for people to find – Love Rocks! it certainly does!!!

Here is what Michele wrote (she has given permission for me to share it with you)

A year and a half ago my sister came to visit from Oregon. Her last night here she said “Darn it! I meant to make and leave Love Rocks every where I went!” I asked her what they were. After she explained I said, don’t worry, I’ll make some and go back to every where you went and leave them. The first person to find one of mine and post made me so happy! I was hooked! I have been making them and leaving them ever since. The ones pictured went to Burning Man with my friends from my Flow Community. I always have some in my back pack so I am always prepared. I mostly leave them anonymously but sometimes when people are just nice to me or if I see someone sad I’ll say here I have something for you! Love Rocks came into my life when some very difficult issues happened in my family. I began to fall into a deep depression. Making and leaving Love Rocks was so soothing to my soul and seeing either in person or via fb how happy they made others in turn made me very happy as well. It has been a very long term sense of gratitude. My Sister lives in the same town as the woman who started it and they go to the same church. The story is sad but the movement is incredible!

I immediately started cutting out some fabric hearts to spread the

❤   LOVE   ❤

You can read the story of how Love Rocks came about here.

And click here for a video of how to make Love Rocks.

I am delighted to honour Abigail and Anna and celebrate their lives and their wonderful Mom, Susan Dieter-Robinson, by making and sharing Love Rocks.

Maybe you will find one, maybe you will make one, maybe you will share one

In answer to the question,  ‘What would love do now?’

!Make Love Rocks!

Let’s surround the world in a great big hug of Gratitude and Love.

Here is my very own much treasured Love Rock given to me many years ago, hand-painted by a dear friend and her daughter.

It sits on my hearth – the heart of the home.

Love Hugs to all of you.

😀

 

Ideas

Do you ever feel plagued by ‘good’ ideas!

I had Life Coaching a few years back with Duncan Coppock (brilliant by the way! If you give him a call, say hi from me – he put a part of my story in his book) and together we worked out questions I should ask myself when I am struck (yes that is how it feels) by a ‘good'(?) idea.

‘Do I really want to begin this project?

Why?

How does it relate to my long-term goals?

Do I have time to do it well?

Am I ready to make this commitment?

These questions have been up in my workroom for years – do I ask myself these questions ……. ever?! No!!!!

I have now put them in a more prominent place, above the kettle in the kitchen – AND I need to add another question:                                                                             Is this the most important thing to do today!!!!

The hearts are the latest ‘good’ idea – I wanted to make one for each of my grandchildren for Valentine’s Day – What was I thinking – I have 8 grandchildren!!! and I only thought of it a few days ago.      

After spending far too much time experimenting to get these hearts right, time is running out – SO, for the Valentine’s Day, Big Sister and The Twins who live a 4 hour drive away will be getting these dingly dangly hearts. The eldest is 5, so she gets the one with the beads, the twins are only half past two, so no beads allowed.

(I had hoped to get a pattern and tutorial together to add to my free patterns – too ambitious! But it will come … maybe in time for next year’s Valentine’s Day.)

 

Phew! I just finished them today in time to get them in the post, complete with Swarovski crystals and miracle beads.                                                                              I might just have time to do some heart badges for the other 5 by Saturday ……

GARDEN DIARY                                                                                                                    The veg trugs just outside my front door were weeded, they are jam packed with self sown parsley and rocket, I graze as I go.                                                             And I found a few more snowdrops peeping up, I’m SO pleased to see them. They are a bit late but they are there, that’s the main thing.                                                 A few cyclamen and anemone blanda are in flower.