new

It has been a lovely autumn...one of my favourite seasons.
Now it's turning cold and the hills are looking grey.
This is a view across Strathnairn, looking down the valley towards Farr.
♥

Cat Goddess

I finally finished a painting that I'm fairly happy with!!!

Brooches

I just wanted to show off my girls brooches.
They made them by laminating their drawings and gluing a brooch pin on the back.

My girls are only 9 and 10, and are very creative!

A Holiday in Findhorn

Me and the kids decided to go off for a few days to stay in a gorgeous cottage by the sea.

CORTACHY APARTMENT
is in the village of Findhorn, on the Moray coast.
It was amazingly cozy and just a few steps from the beach.

I love the sea and the sound of the water on the pebbles.
The pebbles at Findhorn are so smooth!

We visited the Findhorn Foundation while we were there.
A place I love to walk around and look upon the eco houses and sweet little gardens.

My lovely Sister lives and works in Findhorn at the Shambala Retreat Centre.
It's a beautiful house on the beach.

We did lots of walking in the sea air, pebble collecting, beach combing, charity shop rummaging, leaf throwing, forest venturing, cottage gazing, seagull avoiding, and more!

buttons and more buttons

I love buttons, and if I see a tin or a jar full in a charity shop or car boot sale I'll pounce on them!

I have such a lot of them I decided to experiment with some wire and thread some up...
into neck pieces and large pendants.
I'm even thinking they'd be great stitched onto a dress or made into a whole top!
The possibilities are endless.

organic shopping?

I was blogged by the lovely Cathy Cullis on her shopping list saturday...
which I was really excited about , as I am a fan of her work!
I thought I'd do my own shopping list thing here, to show some of my favourite etsy finds.
So every Friday.....I'll put in a few items that I love!

my first one is a gorgeous shawl made by wet felting, silk chiffon, crochet and knitted pieces and threads.
It's from a shop called Living Earth Gallery .
Her work is so organic, and the combination of different fabrics and threads is amazing!
I'm finding it hard to choose a favourite....
to buy!




The second beautiful item I found is a birch bark cuff made by Bettula .
Heather makes jewellery from birch bark and other natural materials, and each piece is simple and delicate....showing the detail and pattern of the wood.
She makes ear-rings , and necklaces too....
and has a sale on until March 21st!!!



The last one is from the very talented Kaylacoo
who I found on flickr and makes the most enchanting and colourful felted brooches and little pictures!
Her work is full of life and the attention to detail is so lovely!

Inspired about recycling....

Yesterday I met up with a man who runs the Greenhouse Charity shop in Dingwall.
Dave Lynch is part of the Dingwall and District Environment group and set up the shop a few months ago to raise funds for the group, it's environmental projects and other worthy causes in the area.
It's a lovely shop and well worth visiting...I could've stayed and rummaged for hours!

He is keen to make people aware of the possibilities of recycling clothes and re-using materials that would end up in landfill.
I've been making garments and accessories from recycled materials for a while now, and it's really nice to find others in my area who are as enthusiastic and inspired as I am!
I am very excited about what could happen now that I've connected with Dave and the group!
I'm also keen to get more involved with my local environmental groups and projects.
I also came across the local Friends of the Earth group in Inverness, that I'll hopefully get along to sometime soon.

birds and driftwood

I found an old piece I painted on years ago and thought I'd try some more....
I love painting on wood and the gold paint looks really nice...I think.
One thing I always like to find on a beach is old pieces of wood from crates and furniture that have been worn by the sea, making the wood smooth and rounded on the edges.
The holes and rusty nails add to the character and I enjoy painting around them or along the grains and knots.
And as always...I've used my usual colours!








I painted on some stones too.

More dolls.....

I'm having fun making these little people...
I love to imagine who they are, what names they will have and where they live, etc...





If you'd like to see more....go to my FLICKR........which you can see to the right of this page>>>

dolls

I've not been in here for ages....!!!
I've kind of abandoned my blog, and been too involved with flickr!

I've also been making a lot of new stuff....
getting back to playing with natural materials, and trying out some polymer clay for some dolls.

I managed to over cook the clay, so most of my heads turned darker than expected and blotchy....(I've used them anyway!)

I'm having fun making them.....and look forward to seeing what characters appear.

Talking of dolls....
I have a friend
Novembergirl
who makes these gorgeous 'Lollie dolls'...
they are so full of charm and delight!










check them out in her shop

♥