A Quick Trip to The Isle of Skye!

Our school holidays were quite early this year, first two weeks in April and since I spent the first week working really hard to get stock made for the Makers Market on the 5th, we decided to take the children up to Skye for most of the second week.

 It takes us about 5 hours to drive straight there but we stopped a few times on the way as the scenery between Fife and Skye is just stunning.

Eilean Donan Castle above is always a welcome sight. You know you are close to Skye when you see this iconic castle.

It's been three years since we were on Skye and it was really great to see all the sights again. Here is the Old Man of Stor taken on my phone as we drove up the Trotternish peninsula. Not a great photo but it's not easy to stop at the side of the road here.

We were making our way up to The Quiraing, a fantastic geological feature in the north part of the island, and we just had to make a stop at Mealt Waterfall and Kilt Rock.

The Quiraing was looking resplendent in the Spring sunshine.

David took the photo above on our 'big' camera and I took the one below on my phone. Life looks a lot greener in my world! hahaha

That's my son being a 'Quirangatang'. 

I always think that photos taken looking back along the ridge look really impressive like you have hiked all the way up here but really it's a very easy walk. You can drive up to the top of the pass and park then walk along the foot of the cliffs on a relatively easy path!

The last time we walked The Quiraing we went from the top all the way to the bottom then got a lift back up for the car. This time we just walked to the middle and explored the main features. Below is known as 'The Prison'.

Another walk that we enjoyed was up to the Fairy Pools in Glenbrittle. We had been here before as well and just loved it. The water flowing from the Cuillin hills is such an unusual shade of turquoise and all the little water falls are so enchanting.

We must go back in the summer time and go for a dip! My daughter stuck her toe in and assures me that it was absolutely freezing. Well it would be as there was still snow on the hills!

We stayed at the Skyewalker Hostel at Portnalong again. I blogged about this great hostel 3 years ago and it is still just as good if not better! You can read that post here 

There are a few oddities around the place to keep you amused.

We got mixed weather on this trip, mostly good. The thing about Skye though is that the weather can make the scenery look even more dramatic.

Below are the Cuillin brooding beneath a dark cloud. I'll be using this as inspiration for a picture for next years calendar, without me in it of course.

I love this little crofters house below.

We did get one rainy day and spent it going round galleries and cafes etc.

I was delighted to bump into my friend Emma at Skyeworks Gallery above The Isle of Skye Bakery in Portree. I had no idea she'd be there and found her running a workshop on how to make a textile wall hanging. 

Here is Emma with some of the pieces produced during the workshop.

Emma and her husband have a beautiful studio in the south part of Skye. You can read a full post about it here

As the rain was just not letting up this day, we decided to put on our boots and coats and walk to Talisker Bay and just get really wet.

It was worth it. The bay looked very dramatic with it's black sand, big black boulders and rugged stack standing our against the grey sky.

You'd think I'd taken this photo in black and white!

The next day was lovely and sunny again and we took a little trip over to Raasay but I'll write that up in the next post.

Really busy getting ready for Open Studios which is in TWO WEEKS! Read all about it over on our website here

Lots of New Things Available!

The great thing about working so hard in the build up to a big event like the Open Studios is that you get a nice build up of stock.

I am adding new items daily to both my Folksy and Etsy shops.

I have made lots of these lovely felt heart pendants in various colour combinations and using various techniques.

These pink and green 'moon' pendants are so hard to photograph as they really catch the light in an unusual way and gleam like fire.

 Although I made lots of purple pieces I only have a few left. Definitely the most popular colour.

 This new design below with the added stitching was well admired at the weekend. I had some pre prepared and stitched felt which customers were able to choose their favourite little section from, to have made into a pendant.

 

My sheep are still heading off in flocks all over the world.

 Available with or without a tree.

 Still got a few bookmarks in stock. Look out for some new designs coming soon.

And I have made a few new felt pictures available in both my shops.

'Sheep In The Apple Orchard'

 'Lavender Cottage'

 'Peaceful Glen'

And last but not least, this wall hanging inspired by the Fairy Pools on the Isle of Skye is now available too.

For information and prices, just click on any of the images above.

There are many other pieces in my shops too so for an over view just click on My Etsy and My Folksy.

 All designs, work and photographs on this website are protected under international copyright laws / All rights reserved.
© Aileen Clarke

Skye Walking

What a busy and wonderful time I have been having this April!

First lets go back to Glenfarg Folk Feast which was only a week and a bit ago but already feels like ages.

The Rainbow Cottage picture was won by Susie Kelly and The Home Brew Crew for an inspired song about the Rainbow Colours of Susie's Home Brew. Hysterically funny and truly a last minute entry with the last lines of the song being written as they came in the door. It was a worthy winner. Susie and the gang were great company over the weekend with many stories, songs, tunes and laughs shared.

This is what the picture looked like as the front cover of the programme.

We had beautiful weather for the weekend and we all enjoyed singing in the sun out in the gardens in Glenfarg. To find out about other folk music festivals happening in Scotland this summer click here .

After Glenfarg we headed straight up to the Isle of Skye. Well actually we headed straight for ASDA in Perth to buy sunglasses and Optrex for my poor eyes. Three extremely late nights in a row had me looking like a banshee.

This was our third trip to Skye and we usually stay at the Dun Flodigarry hostel on the Trotternish peninsula. This year however we went to the Minginish area of Skye and stayed at THE BEST HOSTEL I HAVE EVER BEEN IN!

 Skyewalkers Hostel in Portnalong is run by musician couple Brian and Lisa Hill. They moved to Skye five years ago to own and run this hostel and are making an absolutely fantastic job of it.

 This is the back of the hostel which used to be a school many years ago. 

My favourite feature is the Solardome. Lots of benches and deck chairs make this the perfect place to relax. It gets really warm inside with just the slightest amount of sunlight and we loved to eat breakfast out there and do some drawing and painting. The children especially loved being in there as it was like being outside but not being blown about by the Skye winds.

Brian and Lisa are incredibly friendly and make everyone feel welcome and comfortable. They have a great sense of humour which can be seen around the place in quirky wall art and full size Starwars figures around some corners. There is a nice Scottish feel to the place but it's not at all tacky or kitch.

The accommodation is comfortable and very clean with private twin bunk rooms available as well as dorms and there are even two luxury en suite twin rooms available for those that don't fancy a bunk bed for the night. A brand new well equipped kitchen made cooking up meals a pleasure and there was plenty of room to eat and relax. 

Unlike many hostels we have been too, Brian and Lisa are not interested in cramming as many people as possible in per night. They choose not to take campers at the moment to avoid over crowding in the kitchen, toilets and showers. They do want to make a living but they are not greedy. Your experience while staying there genuinely matters to them.

Brian and Lisa

We were lucky enough to land in on a night when there was a music session in full swing. Having come straight from a folk festival this suited us fine! Not all hostelers are interested in listening to people play music and it takes great skill to draw a crowd in but they managed it and soon had a young crowd of Belgian students singing to us in French and joining in other well known songs. Great fun was had by all and I would highly recommend this hostel to anyone looking for somewhere great to stay on Skye. Musicians are especially welcome and are actively encouraged to play and sing the days and nights away. Hosteling is not just for youths either. Well, we certainly aren't youths! We met older couples, families and hikers as well as back packers from around the world.

For more information, photos and music videos check out the website here

Another great reason to choose this hostel to stay at is location!

It's only 3 miles from the Talisker distillery and a few miles from the famous black Cuillin mountains. We don't go to Skye for hill walking achievement but we do try and do at least one hike with the children every year. This year we chose to visit Glen Brittle and hiked up to the Fairy Pools. It was an easy walk and quite exciting to be making our way towards the majestic and mysterious Cuillin. The day was a bit over cast which made it even more atmospheric. As we approached the pools the children were starting to gurn a bit but as soon as they saw the first waterfall, all gripes were forgotten and the pools cast their spell on us all.

 It is impossible to capture the depth and beauty of each pool in a photograph. We all wanted to jump right in! Of course it would have been freezing even on a hot day but if the sun had been out I think I would have gone for it.

 The contrast of the turquoise water and russet browns of the vegetation and stone really appealed to me.

 I was also really taken with the patterns created on the floor of the pools by stones, slabs of rock and pebbles.

I knew I would create something in textile inspired by these pools and I got to work yesterday on a series of wall hangings. Rather than making this piece representational, it's more of a celebration of the colours and textures, reflections and patterns seen in the water as it flows down from the Cuillin. 

The drift wood branch was found on Glen Brittle beach.

 So that was probably a lot to cram into one blog post, but with the Open Studio event looming and me totally behind with my work, I can't see me getting many updates written over the next couple of weeks.

Did I mention that I sold nearly ALL my jewellery at Glenfarg? hee hee. I really need to be getting some work done.

Hope everyone is having a lovely Spring so far. We have our grass cut and the patio chairs out ready to enjoy any sunshine that comes our way : )