Buttons!

Here are the first of my button collections. No, I know there are not very many of them, but I am not thinking of buttons down a cardigan, I am thinking more for embellishing a cuff or a neck piece, or a bag. Or even a handmade journal. What do you think?

I used a parrot feather to impress the clay here, and then added a strip. The scan doesn't quite show the iridescence.
These look dimensional, but are smooth. They are indented then covered with liquid clay.

Faux leather...I hope you could tell!

Hmmm...

I was playing around with the polymer clay and these pendants kind of happened, but I am not so sure about them...what do you think? My family just gave me that kind of response that doesn't do much for the vote of confidence. The response was "Hmmm!" I think the fact the pendant above has an unintentional scary face makes it a no no for selling, and the one below is just too weird. Ah well...back to the drawing board!

Musical interlude....

Way back in this post I showed you a youtube clip of a couple of young ladies singing the Riddle Song, (a song I sing to Gabriella at bedtime). Well, after research, I discovered that the girl with the guitar, Naomi Sommers is an up and coming folk singer from New England. Well, I never imagined she'd be touring in the Highlands of Scotland, but the other night my husband and I went to see her play in a very local venue, only about 10 minutes from our home. We had a fantastic evening. What a talented singer songwriter, and a lovely person. Do check out her website where you can listen to her music.

Cupcake Queen!

Not much to say here, other than my 16 year old daughter Naomi is the cupcake Queen. Would you just look at these cupcakes! I hope you are not too jealous! And what is more, they taste as good as they look. (Of course, they don't really help much with the healthy eating plan, but we never buy shop bought cakes and biscuits any more, so at least we are not getting all those nasty additives and flavourings.)

A Giveaway !

If you are in the UK and you would like a chance to win this little birdy brooch of mine, and a whole lot of other really cool handmade stuff, then please visit Shop Handmade UK and enter their competition. You never know !

A Lovely Day

We had a special time yesterday when we visited our son in Glasgow. We trailed around a few shops - including Ikea - which was a real treat for me, and then we had grub at Pizza Hut before heading back to the Highlands. A good day was had by all, but it was a long day and we are all a bit tired today. I walked my feet off!
I bought this lampshade for my little girl's room. It is sooo cute!

Here is my son modelling his lab coat for us. That's my boy!!!

...And on a totally unrelated note, these are some buttons I made about 20 years ago. My mum had come across them and brought them with her last time she visited. I feel the urge to make some more buttons now. It will be interesting to see how they turn out. I think I have come a long way creatively speaking since then. I hope so anyhow.

Good Pud !

When you're not feeling so good, there is nothing quite as comforting as a bowl of homemade rice pudding . I use this recipe . I grated fresh nutmeg on the top and it has a yummy skin on it! I know not everybody likes that, but I do. This version I made used dried cranberries, as we had run out of raisins.

Autumn colours

The leaves are starting to change, but they are still not quite as spectacular as the rich colours of this sunflower. A bee and a Peacock butterfly came out to enjoy a rare patch of sunshine yesterday morning.
I've tidied myself a spot on Ben's desk - well I might as well make use of the room while he is at Uni. I have set out my coloured pencils and watercolours, and now I am waiting for a moment or two to myself to enjoy using them. Trouble is , we have all been unwell with colds and viruses for the last few days!
I really must sharpen those pencils!!!

Cosmos

No, not life, the universe, the cosmos...just Cosmos the lovely flower that is blooming away in my garden when everything else is starting to die back and look quite autumnal. There is quite a chill in the air, and these lovely flowers are not at all phased, and continue to blossom beautifully. I shall be saving seeds and growing a whole lot more of these next year!

The wonders of the Internet!

...when it works that is.

We have bought a webcam and we were very excited to chat with my son via Skype when the internet decided to go down for a few days. Thankfully, it seems to be OK again now. Seeing my son by webcam has made his absence much easier on us all, especially his littlest sister who takes all the amazing technology for granted and chats away to him as if he was in the same room. I am very thankful for webcams.