Artymess Goddess of Fibre Alchemy

Welsh Art .........A Treasure find in Llandeilo

2012-05-26T20:59:00.000+01:00

While I was mooching in Llandeilo the next village to my Dad's I came across a Craft shop and inside the craft shop was this amazing work by Welsh artist Jane Davies of Metier Mosaics .... I fell in love with her work and it was difficult to choose a piece but I came away with this little Treasure called 'All that Glitters'....genius eh !!.....you can 'like' her on Facebook here.........Enjoy .....x

I've been in the depths of Welsh Wales.......Land of Song

2012-05-25T20:13:00.000+01:00

Gracie joining in a bit of singing ........

Sally being nosy ......... have been to Wales (the first time in 18 months since my slipped disc) this time had to look after my Dad and dog Sally and horses while my Dad recovers from an operation......there is no internet access there so have been so behind blogging and answering emails ....I'm back there on Tuesday for a few days .......

2012-05-19T22:19:00.001+01:00

I'm Flying now.......

2012-05-16T16:47:00.000+01:00

Hot off the sewing machine..........

2012-05-15T08:08:00.001+01:00

A fabric collage made in exchange for a beautiful sewing machine I got off freecycle. The machine had belonged to the Lady in the collage her name was Alice Frances Kinder and she had been a dressmaker all her life. I made this for her son who was parting with the machine but it obviously held precious memories for him he said he remembered turning the hand wheel while his Mother sewed. She lived past her nineties and continued sewing all through her life.

Phone cover front and back ..........

Adult Learning Fair.........

2012-05-12T20:55:00.000+01:00

My trusty Singer ......my right hand machine at the Adult Learning Festival at Southampton Art Gallery today...Jenni and I volunteered to take some textile workshops so I did sugar skull brooches and fabric flower brooches and Jenni was customising old jeans and making them into skirts and bags ............a busy, tiring day

Jenni teaching how to customise and make bags from old jeans

Dawn and Angela making fabric brooches

Yorkshire Dales on a tandem..........

2012-05-09T17:59:00.000+01:00

Congratulations Sophie for cycling 90 miles today through the Yorkshire Dales (very hilly !!) on a tandem with Ollie on his Friend's of the Earth fundraising cycling trip...He is cycling 500 miles from London to Edinburgh and Sophie joined him today for his leg through the Yorkshire countryside ....read about it here

and sponsor him if you can....... http://www.justgiving.com/olliehayes

2012-05-06T12:13:00.001+01:00

We love you Chunky ...yes we do .......

2012-05-05T21:35:00.002+01:00

Chunky chasing a feather..........AW.....x

Redundant Monday...........for a bag lady ...

2012-04-30T21:45:00.001+01:00

Well I survived a difficult day.........x

I have my wings see me fly away......

2012-04-28T17:23:00.000+01:00

It's my last day at school on Monday so I have spent the weekend sorting out my room ........This was part of a costume made for Southampton carnival about 5 yrs ago .....we had an artist who makes costumes for Notting Hill Carnivale ......we had a week to make about 20 costumes we stayed late every night and my pupils and myself made the costumes it was such fun and in fact this week one of my pupils was talking about it and she said taking part in it was the most fun she had ........it was brilliant .........but I am now dismantling the wings as it's time for me to fly off for other adventures elswhere .........x

ATC Thursday.........

2012-04-26T07:41:00.001+01:00

Success for Chris ...London Marathon.....

2012-04-22T22:47:00.000+01:00

Latest from Mackie's about Chris's attempt ........ WORLD RECORD AS FASTEST DAIRY PRODUCT IN A MARATHON - SUCCESS! We are delighted to report that Chris Atkins completed the london marathon today in his Mackie's Traditional tub in the remarkably fast time of 3 hours and 37 minutes thus establishing a new world record! Great News -and he raised £2000 for his selected charity, Oxfam 22/04/2012 - Mackie's of Scotland

I smell a rat ...or two ...or three .....

2012-04-19T20:10:00.008+01:00

Went to Stubbington Ark Rescue RSPCA on Sunday and came away having reserved 3 rats!!!..........we picked them up today and they are safely in their new home ...Meet Dotty, Ditsy and Chunky.....I have never had a rat as a pet before and I was a bit apprehensive but they are quite adorable ......Have you had a rat as a pet ?......x

Some new ATCs

Guardian Angels and Gerbils......

2012-04-13T16:54:00.005+01:00

Made this for Lisa my Guardian Angel ..

And introducing Nibbles and Porcupine new members of our family .......

Birthday Boy at the Zoo

2012-04-12T21:16:00.004+01:00

Brady was 31 today so his Mum took him to the Zoo .....we saw Tigers and Penguins and Rhinos and Giraffes and we had a picnic and saw a Meerkat eating a rat and we had a hailstone storm and thunder and lightning and touched an Elephant's tooth ........
We are so lucky to have Marwell Wildlife Park on our doorstep it used to be a regular place to visit when my children were small and now they are big they still love to visit ......
(Marwell Wildlife, formerly known as Marwell Zoological Park, is a 140-acre (57 ha) zoo situated at Owslebury in the English county of Hampshire, near Winchester. It is home to over 1,200 animals of 235 different species.
Beyond the park itself, Marwell Wildlife is also a registered charity that works for international conservation, with a particular focus in Africa in addition to work from its base in Hampshire. Its name was changed from Marwell Zoo in 2009 to reflect these wider activities.)

Compare the Meerkat .......

White Rhino ......magnificent creature.....now the facts...
The white rhinoceros is the largest of the five species of rhinoceros and the world's largest land mammal after the three species of elephant. Weight in this animal typically ranges from 1,360 to 3,630 kg (3,000 to 8,000 lb). On its snout it has two horn-like growths, one behind the other and made of solid keratin. The front horn is larger and averages 90 cm (35 in) in length, reaching as much as 150 cm (59 in). The white rhinoceros also has a noticeable hump on the back of its neck. Each of the four stumpy feet has three toes. The color of the body ranges from yellowish brown to slate grey. Its only hair is the ear fringes and tail bristles. White rhinos have a distinctive broad, straight mouth which is used for grazing. Its ears can move independently to pick up sounds but it depends most of all on smell. The white rhinoceros has the widest set nostrils of any land based animal.

Ruffled Lemur catching the rays ...how cool is he .....

And the hailstones were as big as peas and down they came .......

Think they must have forgotten to feed this Python........

Great British spirit ...picnic in the rain ......

Different Meerkats to compare......

The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan". A meerkat clan often contains about 20 meerkats, but some super-families have 50 or more members. In captivity, meerkats have an average life span of 12–14 years, and about half this in the wild.
Hope you enjoyed a visit to Marwell Wildlife Park as much as we did ........

Titanic Centenary.........

2012-04-11T10:41:00.005+01:00

Alfred Augustus Stanbrook was 30 years old when he died in the Titanic disaster. He was single and he is buried in Halifax, Canada.

Frederick Hartnell 20 survivor Lifeboat 11 ....Ist class Steward Titanic victualling crew.

William James Major,32, survivor, married, Lifeboat 13 disembarked from the Carpathia on April 18th in New York City

Albert William Hebb survived by clinging onto collapsible Lifeboat B. He was 20 yrs old.

Frederick Sheath aged 20 survivor rescue boat 1 taken by the Carpathia to New York City. He died in 1933

Henry Parkinson Hill aged 36, married, died on the sinking and his body was never recovered.

Charles Hendrickson, 29, survivor rescue boat 1

Granny Chorley making paper sailor hats.......

Yesterday marked 100 years since the Titanic set sail from Southampton. We took part in a march by schoolchildren, parents, teachers and friends to commemorate the sailing of the Titanic and remembering all those who lost their lives when it hit an iceberg and sank on April 15th 1912. Every person on the march carried a placard remembering everyone one who sailed that fateful day. It was a poignant reminder of a terrible tragedy that affected Southampton and it's male population a large proportion of whom worked on the Titanic and lost their lives that day. The march coincided with the opening of the Sea Scape museum which will house a permanent exhibition about the Titanic and the people who worked and died on her.

Happy Easter.......

2012-04-08T17:28:00.003+01:00

Underneath the Horse Chestnut Tree ....

2012-04-04T17:37:00.003+01:00

Jim's song of the Title was written about this tree when we went for a walk here by the river a couple of years ago.....

An eco snail ?......

Playing round with Bondaweb......

2012-03-31T19:55:00.002+01:00

Now what ??..........x

GCSE .......

2012-03-28T17:39:00.004+01:00

Today was the first day of the GCSE Textile Exam for my 28 students here are some of the pieces .....I think they did really well I am so proud of them ...sadness too as it may be the last one for me .....:((
Thank you Evy for the Leibster Award .....much appreciated ...x

New work ...at last ........

2012-03-24T12:12:00.004Z

A swap for Jan ....Thans Jan for being so patient this has taken too long to get together ........x

Chris's Guiness book of Records Attempt .....Can you help ?

2012-03-21T07:09:00.003Z

Chris Atkins' world record fundraising page

Fundraiser: Chris Atkins
My page: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/ChrisAtkins1

Hi, thanks for visiting my page.

On April 22nd 2012 I am aiming to become the fastest human in history to complete 26.2 miles dressed as a dairy product at the London marathon. I have had my record attempt application accepted by Guinness World Records and am now gearing up for the big day. The time to beat is 3 hours 55 minutes.

I am being supported by Mackie's of Scotland and I will be running as a tub of their luxury dairy ice cream.

EVERY PERSON THAT DONATES WILL BE ENTERED INTO A DRAW TO WIN A YEAR'S SUPPLY OF ICE CREAM PROVIDED BY THOSE KIND PEOPLE AT MACKIE'S. 52 TUBS, ONE FOR EVERY WEEK OF THE YEAR!

As part of my record attempt I am also hoping to raise £2,000 for Oxfam. Having personally travelled in some poverty stricken countries I think the sort of work Oxfam do is jolly worthwhile. I hope you do too. To learn more about what they do head here.

I would really appreciate your support for my world record attempt and my Oxfam fundraising target by making a donation on this page however small.

Thank you

This is Chris who I made the tub for ...if you would like to sponsor him visit
his page

Mother's Day.........

2012-03-19T21:28:00.008Z

Started off with a magnificent pheasant in the garden....

Three of my Big children at home .....

and 1 far away in Colombia ...thank goodness for technology.....

A New haircut......for a growing up girl ......

Crazy golf a little while ago......

A walk and paddle by the river ......

Final stage costume ...next stop marathon

2012-03-17T20:35:00.006Z

Finished Mackie's Tub costume for Chris who is running the London Marathon in aid of Oxfam ......also YAY for Wales who won the Grand Slam ......x