Snowed In

I have to say that we are thoroughly enjoying the deep snow that has fallen over our part of the world over the last week or so.
Last Wednesday we got officially snowed in with both roads in and out of our pocket of Fife blocked and iced over. There was nothing to be done except stoke up the wood burner, rustle up a pot of soup and go for a lovely walk in what felt like a different world.

Our Cottage.

The View East.

Hazy Sun on the Horizon.

Spanish Oak on the Lane.

And just when we thought we couldn't get any more snow......we got another four inches last night and woke up to this today.

Rowan Tree

The Rowan tree above is where I hang the bird feeders and it is a hive of activity at the moment. There are robins, sparrows, great tits, blue tits, dunnocks, black birds, bullfinch, wrens and a woodpecker having a real feeding frenzy out there. I was shocked to see a Sparrow Hawk swoop in the other day and pin down a wee birdie but it escaped unharmed. We also had a family of long tailed tits for a while last year and there are a pair of Jays that make an appearance every so often.
It's a wonderful place to live and a real inspiration for my felted landscapes.

I haven't been able to get to the studio over the past week but I'm hoping to be there on Thursday the 31st Dec. So if you are passing please pop in between 10 and 4. I'll be working on some new felt landscapes and I also have a new toy to play with. It's an inflatable ball for making felt vessels. I'm very excited to try it out. It looks for all the world like a bouncy foot ball made out of bubble gum! Photos to follow.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the winter holidays as much as we are.

Inspired By Bee's Teas

Our summer holiday to the Dingle peninsula was long awaited and much enjoyed this year.

As usual we camped away out on the western tip of the peninsula, surrounded by beautiful hills, endless beaches and rolling surf. This area is a great source of inspiration to me but when it rains, it really rains and on those days we found ourselves in Dingle town looking for somewhere comfortable to dry off, have a nice cup of tea and while away a half hour or so reading.
This year we were delighted to find ourselves in Bee's Teas, a beautiful little upstairs tea room situated behind Dick Mack's pub.

The minute we walked in the door we knew we had come to the right place.

Not only did we enjoy a lovely pot of tea and fabulous scone but the whole experience was enhanced by Bee's attention to detail and exceptionally friendly service.
David loved his builders tea in an enormous enamel mug and I liked how a handmade tea cosy was promptly popped onto my sturdy tea pot.
It's great to see a theme taken and done so well.

The scones were delicious with lashings of cream served in the cutest little tea cup.
I must add that there are a multitude of different and exotic teas on the menu with the herbal infusions arriving in beautiful glass tea pots on glass stands with a tea light beneath to keep them warm.

I've been pondering the recent popularity of all things tea related and the thought of making textile tea pot and tea cup pictures has been on my mind for some time.
Bee's Teas has really inspired me.

I like Bee's colour scheme of blues and pinks with plenty of florals and ginghams set off by fresh white and rustic wood.

She has even provided a cosy corner to drink your tea in during the colder months.

So here are my first Bee's Teas inspired pieces.

The pot and cup and saucer are cut from fabrics which I have layered with ribbon and net. I have used a polka dot net for the background and cut a few flowers from more layered fabric. The flowers are attached with large gold brads which coordinate with the gold shimmering dots in the background.

As soon as I get some more polka dot background fabric I'll be making some more in different colour ways with different motifs.