let's celebrate...hedgerows

such a lovely day yesterday...sunshine and warmth...breakfast and lunch outside..even a sunshade necessary..spent a lot of time outside and some indoors sorting out my studio...having a BIG throw out! 

As it is cold and rainy today I thought I'd share little of my walk along the road last evening, with bleating lambs and birds twittering... and a neighbour walking her dogs, who showed me a secret nesting goldfinch tucked into the hedge...such a treasure in the hedgrow. Many a time and oft we drive along the road at such speed we miss such details...so here's a little of what I saw...let's celebrate our beautiful rich diverse hedgrows and take care of them!

I just love the month of May...full of hope and promise...and unfurling and opening out...and I adore cow parslely...just want to throw myself into it and have it all around me...

which is your favourite spring flower?

the miracle of spring...
 

the May blossom, another favourite of mine...is late this year...but it is coming...
 

meanwhile the dandelions stunning in yellow are already going to seed as the year moves on...

so make hay while the sun shines ...enjoy the refreshing rain...and hope you have a wonderful holiday Monday...I'm off to Spring Fling Open Studios to admire some artists and their art and craft up in beautiful Dumfries and Galloway...

see you later Emmax

getting crafty...

oh I do love magazines...they offer such inspiration when you live in a rural place where the only things passing the door are chickens and sheep...I love where I live but it is great to connect with the world out there...

this Prima special really appealed to me on the newstand as I browsed...somehow the colours and the ideas of spring led me astray...but it has some great ideas inside for all sorts of tastes and abilities...

 

mmm... all round yumminess! 

this weekend I had a small local craft fair...and despite the pouring rain we had a lovely day...here's a peek at my new needlecases which I loved making, the upcycled felted blankets were so soft and tactile to work with...and I was pleased with the finished stitchy result...
 

 
Sunday was a BIG day out with a friend and fellow artist travelling to Yorkshire and back, leaving home at a very uncivilised hour...to go on an inspiring course where I learnt about how to present your work at a show, and how to define and refine what you do...I met some other wonderful artists and it was led by Victoria and Emily from The Art Market... fantastic art and craft shows in Holmfirth, Yorkshire...do take a look here... and go if you can! 

and isn't life amazing...I sat next to a lady and we chatted and it turned out she writes Hippystitch...a lovely crafty blog you can take a peek at here...the latset post is some fantastic community yarnbombing!

so back at home now with a poorly daughter exhausted after walking in pouring rain with a heavy rucksack for hours on her weekend DofE expedition practice...

it's pottering for me too after a mega busy week...perhaps a little house loving wouldn't come amiss after several weeks,ahem, months of neglect...

wishing you a lovely week...hope it's really crafty!Emmaxx

green at last...

well we've had one hot summery day this week...and I made sure I put on summer clothes...you know, bare arms, bare legs and no socks kinda thing! It was heaven to be outside smelling that special warm grass smell...breakfast outdoors and the feeling of relaxing into the warmth...

 

and today...well it was cool, even cold but the sunshine first thing and the green was irresistible...it just makes you feel good to be out in amongst it, no wonder green is a colour for healing...and it sets off flowers however simple and humble so beautifully...

green green green...

and it is soo good to see the grass growing after hungry months for the sheep and lambs...
 

even nettles look stunning in the morning light...

and the chickens love the sunshine, they lie and spread their wings and bask like decadent can can dancers...sorry, too private a moment to photograph they say!

 

and in the studio even the creativity has been a bit green...really enjoyed myself stitching a little summery textile, I love building layers and creating texture with stitch...and it turned out completely different than what I intended...still some embroidery to do on the flowers, but I'm busy today with work for a craft fair next weekend...so this little piece will just have to be patient...as will we for the summer weather!

enjoy your Friday night...are you going wild??

Happy Weekend...

it's May...let the sun shine and your days be warm and filled with joy and laughter...with rain at night to make the world lush and green...
see you next week Emmaxx

good friends...

are so precious and can make all the difference to life! they think about each other even when they can't be together...share experiences and most of all help each other out in so many ways...as well as remembering each other's birthdays even when they aren't 21 any more...

a good friend visited me on Saturday and brought these beautiful red blooms...aren't they stunning? I had to put them in "Grand Edna" our biggest vase (wedding present...doing well!) to show them off...

I spent most of Saturday with my friend, we talked and had lunch out and came back to my studio...she is an undercover poet (I was an undercover artist but am now 'out'!) and we are sharing a new experience of trying to work together...she with words and me with stitches... to create...well who knows what...we have no idea what will come out but the process will be something special too. She has a beautiful knack of observing the tiny elements of life and can create a moving image with her delicate framework of words...

and we share something precious...a history...an understanding of each other as who we are...for me especially of who I was before I became a mother...and we have lots of raucous fun too!

and I'd like you to meet my newest best friend, Lulu.... a real smooth mover and clicker...bright and sharp but soo kind and friendly and easy to use too...rather shy, prefers to be behind the lens but for once here she is in her shining glory...

it's funny to think I used to be an SLR girl in my youth famous for my big carrier bag of lenses at parties and weddings...I even once thought of being a photographer...but I now use photos all the time to help me in my work, and of course just for pleasure...

and this photo is of some of my work now in the shop at Tullie House Art Gallery in Carlisle...thanks to a friend behind the scenes...I am thrilled to see my creations in a proper shop!

...no the scarves aren't mine, but the pictures are and you may recognise the basket of brooches and little birds...the spotty flower brooches are brand new EmmieandEmma designs...

and lastly I must thank my dear friend Fifi my sewing machine...she has been my constant companion these many years and without whom I could not make or create or stitch or sew or embroider...unthinkable! she too is rather shy...but here's some of her recent creativity...

think she's feeling a little summery...fingers crosssed she's right!

see you soon, have a lovely week my blogging friends...

love Emmax