Falling in love again!

Hi All

Well I am still re discovering crafty things to play with and I have fallen in love (again) with my water colour pencils.

Drawing and colouring in then painting followed by a bit more colouring ... hours of bliss in my studio :)

That gorgeous box of Derwent pencils was a gift from Mum and Dad quite some time ago. I used to always use pencils but I guess have found lots of other things to play with since and the pencils got relegated to a dusty shelf for too long me thinks ... but not anymore

They have been re discovered and re loved .... lots!

Have a look in your crafty stash ... what have you forgotten about? Do yourselves a favour and fall back in love with something today and unleash your creativity! (and no I am still not telling you what all the painty flowers are about LOL)

Time to be off and get back to packing! I will be away for a while but am hoping for internet connection so I can do some posts, though not holding my breath as it is a remote Greek island ;) If I don't post while I'm away I will get some ready for my return! I hope you're well and happy and thanks for popping by. I'll be back as soon as I can, until then, as ever
Happy Crafting
Love
MJM x

Paint me a picture

Hi All

Well I've been painting! The miraculous thing about tidying my studio and creating a new space is I have found things that have been ... shall we say .... neglected and I have found myself wanting to play.

Its been quite a little voyage of re discovery, finding things I've forgotten and almost forgotten how to do but it has been so lovely, kind of going back to the beginning and reminding myself of sitting in the art room at school in Mr Hukins class after hours with my Bessie Jane and just painting!

Even that little yellow teacup that holds my painty water holds so many memories. It was one of a set that used to live in our caravan when I was a little girl and I treasure the memories of going away with my family. The cups and saucers would come out at breakfast time. I would have a milky cup of tea and one sugar lump which fascinated me as I watched the tea soak into it, we only ever had sugar lumps in the caravan that I remember and it makes me happy that somehow I have got to save this little cup and saucer which now sits proudly in all its slightly chipped, painty glory on my drawing board.

And I am spoilt with the views from my window while I work, inspiration indeed!

And what are my painted flowers for? Well my crafty friends that remains to be seen .... soon :D

That's the end of this little wistful post, I just wanted to share a little bit of my crafty life with you, thanks for popping by and I hope you're well and happy. I'll *see you* soon so until then, as ever
Happy Crafting
Love
MJM x

PS There will be more Serif and project tutorials and frequently asked questions posts coming soon, life's got a little busy at the mo but when I can grab some time I will get them online .... bare with me for the time being please ... thankyou muchly ;) M x

A Floral gallivant .... the results!

Hi all

Last weekend I told you I was off to Chatsworth House with my mum for a Floral gallivant to attend Florabundance and that I would be back with the results of my first serious floral workshop well here we go!

We had the most amazing time, it was my first trip to Chatsworth House and it won't be my last, it really is an amazing place and the staff looked after us so well. Florabundance happens once a year here and it is all created by the uber talented Jonathan Moseley international flower demonstrator and star of the recent allotment challenge on BBC2 among other things. Every room we went in or corridor we walked down held floral beauty all influenced this year by the art collection at Chatsworth. I have managed to reduce the 200 plus photos down and then put those in to collages so I don't drown you in photos but I have to share a flavour of the trip with you and also say if you can get to go next year ... do it!

 

There really was flowers to spot everywhere from huge arrangements to gorgeous fire places to incidental flowers along the way! There was a breath taking installation in the entrance too but my photos don't really do it justice so I haven't included them, it was a 'you just had to be there' moment!

 

This was a take your breath away moment in the chapel with a Damien Hirst sculpture of St Bartholomew in the centre and the floral arrangements reflecting the story.

 

and another one..... just a small table setting!!!

 

The Sculpture room was a sight to behold .... I have never seen so many roses in one place and they looked so rich with their colour against the white sculptures... just beautiful!

 

But my favourite thing had to be this room filled with silver beech. It stopped me in my tracks as I walked in. Again its difficult to get the same effect in photos but it was an amazing installation and I think it spoke to the theatre designer in me with the way it filled the space so dramatically with the beautiful trees dripping with amaryllis.

 

After enjoying the delights of the house we got to see the man himself work his flower magic with an amazing demonstration. The stage was full of glorious colour and Jonathan made it look so effortless

 

And to round that day off I was lucky enough to win one of the fabulous arrangements to bring home! Me and mum stayed at the Devonshire Arms in Baslow and I can highly recommend it .... the food was amazing!

 

So with a good breakfast inside us we were back off to Chatsworth for Workshop day ... eek! I was scared to death I have to say, I love flowers and seeing what talented people like Jonathan do with them but flowers don't always love me LOL but Jonathan was very patient and a great teacher and we had a blast!

 

The room was full of boxes of flowers that came at us thick and fast once we got going, hence the lack of pics ;) But what a joy to spend a day surrounded by colour, fragrance, my mum and even 3 more of the Guisborough flower club possee. We also had an amazing lunch as part of the day and got to walk away with 2 arrangements each ... are you ready for my results?

 

This was the first one and was based around a technique involving embroidery with flowers. The base is a glass bowl covered in textures with wool and flowers and then the top is a floral arrangement, I had great fun with the glue gun for the base and was thrilled I actually did the arrangement!

 

The second was based around the Dutch floral paintings in the house and is an amazing riot of colour all set in a hollowed out cabbage! ... Genius!

 

I was really rather pleased with my efforts and maybe think I could get the hang of this amazing craft if I had the time in my life to let another creative venture in!! So I guess I will keep going to the dems to be inspired (and I do get a lot of inspiration for my projects from watching flower dems!) and dabble here and there ;)

 

So that's our trip to Chatsworth .... if you get the chance to go, do visit and also if you get the chance to ever see Jonathan demonstrate or even attend one of his workshops do!!!

 

Thanks for popping by so I can share my adventures with you, I'll be back really soon with the Scrap365 part of the EPIC event with Scrap Around the world. In the meantime I hope you are well and happy and until soon, as ever,

Happy Crafting!

Love

MJM x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



A Floral galavant!

Hi all

This weekend I am taking my mum away for a couple of days here ...

 

 

To Chatsworth house to see the fabulous floral arrangements by this lovely man

 

World renowned Flower arranger and now of TV fame

 

He has decorated the whole house with flowers for Florabundance running until Tuesday and the theme is flowers in art

 

And I know it will be STUNNING! This was his Monet garden at the Chelsea flower show

 

AMAZING!
But I also go with trepidation as we are also doing an all day workshop with him on Monday

EEK!!! Now I don't do flower arranging and most plants that cross my path don't seem to fair too well so I am a little scared but I will have my Mum and some of her friends to guide me and hopefully Jonathan will be gentle with me!

I will posts my results when I get back if they are worthy of a public airing LOL

Pics won't go on until next weekend though as I will be busy at the Create and Craft TV studios on Wednesday and Thursday taking over the Serif 4 day deal from the capable hands of Charlotte and Becky who will be there to launch it for you. BUT by the power of cyber space I will be here with you with a review on some Prima goodies on the 13th ... see you then :)

Whatever you do this weekend I hope you enjoy it and until soon as ever
Happy crafting
Love
MJM x