Friday 14 June 2013

New Cards In Stock

Today I have had a delivery of a whole batch of new printed cards. All my creative plans for the day went out the window as I have spent hours faffing about taking photos and listing them all in both my Etsy and Folksy shops.

I have a variety of new designs and some old favourites available.


Shepherd's Bothy is new.
£2.50

Lavender Bothy is also new. The original picture is still available here.




Red Roofed Cottage was a big favourite of many over on Facebook when I shared the picture  of the original. The original is sold but the cards is available here .




Set of Six Including the three new designs and the ever popular 'Distant Glens', 'Over The Brig', 'Fir Tree Cottage' and 'Red Poppies'
£12

I also have this new Set of Four available.



'Cottage By The Stream', 'Purple Hills', 'Red Roofed Cottage' and 'Island Cottage and Boat'
£8

Harvey and Alistair are also back in stock.


Available individually or as a pair.


£2.50 each or £4.95 the pair.


 I've been outside photographing my prints today as well. 


I have 'Vibrant Hills' available in two different sizes.
15 x 15 cm in a 25 x 25 cm Mount at £30
and 
25 x 25 cm in a 36 x 36 cm Mount at a special price of £35

'Island Cottage and Boat' is also available in the same dimensions.

 



Here are another two Giclee Prints that I have available. Only one of each left after Open Studios last month.


'Rainbow Valley'
£30


'Island and Gulls'
£30



 So apart from taking dozens of photos of cards and prints today, this week I have been busy making felt backgrounds for a series of pictures I plan to use for my 2014 Calendar.

It feels a bit mad making a winter picture in June but I have to start somewhere so I have started with January.



These are the loose fibres all laid out ready for felting.


Here they are after they have been made wet and lightly rolled.


Here we are a few stages on with the cottage added and some detail introduced into the river.


 And here we have a few sheep grazing and some more detail in the river.
The scene is loosely based on Glencoe but I have given my wee hoose a red roof and there were no sheep grazing when we passed through the glen last week. Although it's meant to be January I didn't want to make it too snowy and wintry either as it can make the result quite colourless.
So a few wee bits to finish then I'll make a start on February. I'm hoping to have the Calendar ready by September and all the original pictures will up for sale by then as well.




Monday 10 June 2013

Makers Market at The Steeple, Newburgh

I had a lovely day on Saturday at The Makers Market in Newburgh. It was gloriously sunny and warm so I felt really privileged to have a stall outside for a change, especially one as fab as this! 


The stall was hand built by local artist/blacksmith and fellow Open Studios participant, Jim Shears. He plans to make another and they will be available to hire from Twist Fibre Crafts Studio.
It was fabulous to have so much space on the stand and plenty of room behind my shelf unit for packing sold items.


Here is Jim at his portable forge during the market.


My Mum popped along to see me and bought us coffee's and delicious lemon meringue Tiffin from Hatter's and Co's pop up cafe in the courtyard. 





Next to me on the other side were Rustic Simplicity with their gorgeous oak barrel furniture and cupboards.


Below is Newburgh based Jason Shearer playing his Tank Drum or Yantra as he calls it. I loved the sounds this instrument makes and asked Jason about it. Turns out he makes them from old gas bottles! If you fancy one, Jason will make you one for £150.
Contact jason.shearer@rocketmail.com



There was a great atmosphere at the Market with local session musicians playing tunes throughout the afternoon. These guys can be found regularly at The Stag Inn in Falkland every Wednesday evening from 8pm.


Today has been spent tidying up the work space and organising my stock. Lots of new pieces have been listed on Etsy.










£35



£65

Now it's back to the felt making to build up a stock of new Trinket Boxes and start on my pictures for next year's calendar. 

Hope everyone is having a productive month. June can be such a lovely time of year with everything being so lush and a bit warmer at last! Hoping to do plenty of sewing outside soon.

Thursday 6 June 2013

And The Sun Shone!

After a sun shiny three day break up to Gairloch last month, we did not expect to be heading west for another short break this month but with a Monday holiday on the 3rd June and a school inservice day on Tuesday we took a mad notion to go camping on Mull!

We headed straight for Fhionnphort and a mile and a bit along the road to the campsite at Fidden. We have been here before a few times and managed to even get the same spot beside the beach that we got the first time we ever went!

This was the view from the door of our tent.


And by some miracle the sun shone and it wasn't even that windy! Considering the last time we were here it rained so hard we couldn't hear ourselves speak inside the tent, we considered this to be fabulous weather, even though we still needed warm clothes.



Our neighbours included Oyster Catchers, Shelducks, Cuckoos and sheep.





The sea thrift was also out in abundance and to our astonishment, the whole of Mull was swathed in Bluebells!



I take back all my grumblings and groanings about the late Spring as if it had been a normal one, we'd have missed these by a good three weeks. The perfume in the air was glorious and I loved how they grew right down by the sea.

A day trip to Iona was a must as it's six years since we've been here and the North Beach is one of my favourite places ever!



The day dawned misty but it cleared to a glorious blue sky making the walk to the north end of the Island all the more enjoyable, listening to Corncrakes in the long grass as we went.


Another beach we visited back on Mull was this hidden beach at Knockvologan. We'd been here before as well but not since our honeymoon back in 2003. We had to goad our 8 year old daughter along as she couldn't understand why we didn't stop at the first beach or the second beach but we knew that the hike over to the third beach would be worth it and it was. When she saw the expanse of sand, off came the socks and shoes and she was away.


This abandoned boat was at the bottom of the path down to Knockvologan from the farm.




 Back at the campsite we enjoyed lovely clear evenings and a little fire on the beach.



On Monday night the sky turned the same colour as the heart of the fire!


 So it has been a busy week since we got back and I have been trying to get a few things finished for the Makers Market this Saturday at The Steeple in Newburgh. 



The Steeple is located at 67 High Street, Newburgh, directly across the road from Twist Fibre Craft Studio. The entrance is to the right of the clock tower, up the lane and the door is up the lane on the left.

Hope to see some of you there. I will have all my usual items with me including the new mugs and this new felt picture called 'Candlewick Cottage'.


Lots of Sheep Jewellery too.


And a selection of items shown in my previous blog post (just scroll down if you'd like to see).








All contributed content © Aileen Clarke