Block 2 is here.

I decided to release it a day early, mainly because I am at home all day to answer and questions.

This one is a Dragondfly. Again, it is made in all four colour ways

For more information go to the Secret Garden web page.

Oops, its a bit late!

I am sure I will eventually get into a routine but I have no idea when.

In the mean time, you will just have to bear with me.

I realised last night that I hadn't done Octobers calender, so here it is. I hope you enjoy it. I am really missing blog hopping but am finding it difficult to fine the time to blog just now, let alone blop. I have loads of unanswered emails and piles of other things I should be attending to.

On top of everything else, after not having sold any crochet for months, as soon as I start work I get some orders!!!

I am not complaining, honest! Its just that I am not the most organised person and everything coming at once has thrown me a bit.

I sit and crochet in the evenings while watching TV so the orders really are not a problem. And I have come to the conclusion that I am not going to get the new Halloween scrapping pattern written in time for this year so there is no point trying. I have, however, put some of the stuff on the site for sale.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the Calender even if it is late.

D is for Dragons!

I did want "Damsels and Dragons" but I didn't see any Damselflies! As Chatteris is in the middle of the Fens, it is surrounded by waterways so there are always plenty of Dragonflies around. Last week I went to Welches Dam. It is a local RSPB bird reserve not far from Chatteris. The Ouse Washes cut across the Fens with a long, straight stretch of wetland between artificial channels. Tens of thousands of ducks are attracted to this remote location in winter, as well as the largest concentration of Bewick's and whooper swans anywhere in the UK.

I knew this would be my best chance of getting photos of them. Did you know that the species is over 300 million years old? That is twice as old as birds. There are approximately 3,600 known species of dragonfly in the world. In the British Isles there are 27 species of dragonfly and 16 species of damselfly.

Dragonflies can reach 30mph in full flight. They are a voracious hunter from the time it first hatches as aquatic larvae to its peak as a flying adult.

The adult dragonfly has the biggest eyes in the insect world and they are capable of detecting movement up to 15m away! Male dragonflies have their own territory; they guard their particular stretch of water seeking prey, females and chasing off rivals.

Of course, there are loads of other things to see there and its well worth a visit if you have the chance.

Spoons and Dragons

Last night was Craft Club. This is the one that meets once a month and we get to try out new stuff. I always look forward to it.

Sometimes is is just a talk but the best ones are where you get to have a go.

Last night we made beaded spoons. They were fun to make and not too difficult. However, the smell on the glue was something else!!!!!

And now the moment you have all been waiting for! The Dragonfly page for my Silk Album. I used the thread I used to stitch it to crochet two of the Dragonflies and the beads I used on it to make the other one.

And, on the Silk subject, I had a good afternoon yesterday! The lovely man in the gift shop took all my posters advertising my patterns for both the Chatteris shop and the one in March. He also took a pile of business cards.

I was careful to put on the posters only the stuff that uses DK as that is what he sells. I figured if he was good enough to promote my patterns for free the least I could do would be to promote the ones that use his yarn. He also knows somebody who may be able to help sell my silks.

Next I went to visit the flower shops.

Both of them took a silk to display and business cards. And the best bit is that neither have asked for commission!!!!! One did say that if she sells loads for me I could make her one. I have to go in and swap them over every 3-4 weeks so that they have a change.

Crochet Embellishment Exchange.

My Penny Black Stamps from the exchange still haven't arrived and I am really disappointed. I wanted to use them for some birthday cards this month and an anniversary card for Mark.

I know it isn't Clair and Sharnis fault. I have had a few things been delayed for unknown reasons. A letter I sent to York arrived two weeks later having gone via Liverpool! Bearing in mind that our sorting office is Peterborough, why did it go there?????

Also, a parcel I sent for an eBay sale took nearly a month to arrive.

However, despite all this, I have decided to do a crocheted Embellishment exchange.

First of all you pick a set from the ones shown here. Each set contains 3 daisies, 3 leaves, 3 bugs and enough chain to go around the edge of a 12 inch layout. You can chose from Butterflies in a peach and cream theme, Ladybirds in a pink, red and white theme or Dragonflies in a lilac, lavender and sky blue theme.

Use the "Ask me, I might button" to email me with the set you want and your postal address. If you are having problems with the button, you can email or pm me through UKS if you are a member, or leave a comment on here with your contact details and I will get back to you. Of course, I won't publish the comment.

Then, when you get your stash, send me some stash in exchange. Send me anything you like, whatever you think the exchange is worth. There is only one stipulation with this - NO PINK!

The first person for each set will get it sent out straight away. However, as I will be making the rest of them as they are requested, it will be 7-10 days before they are sent.

The time will all depend on how many are requested. I will be making them in strict order of requests and will email you to tell you roughly how long it will be.

Just one more thing. It is our 5th anniversay tomorrow. We are going away for a couple of days, leaving early tomorrow morning and coming back late Saturday. So any emails received during that time will be answered on my return.

Also, any comments will be approved on my return.

Now I need to go and make the journalling blocks for my Dragonfly LO and see if I can set up an advance post for tomorrow!

Dragonflies finished!

Well, almost. I still have to finish backing them which I will do today. Then, this evening I have to staple the backing on.

Then I need to scrap them to go in my album. I have some off cuts of silk from putting them on the frame and plenty of thread and beads to use on the page. I might even try to make a beaded dragonfly to show the beads I used. I suddenly realised this morning that I had not made the desktop calender for May. So, as I was editing the pics of the dragonflies anyway, I decided to use them.

They look really good on my desktop. If you fancy them on yours, just click on the pic on the left to download.

And I had some good news yesterday. I found out that one of my smaller lilies has sold! That means a total of two. I have (almost) finished the new winter. That just needs backing as well ready to staple tonight.

I have to go to the Angle Theatre in Wisbech and pick up the others tomorrow morning. The friend who was going to take me phoned me really upset yesterday. Her car got stolen so she can't. However, she has asked her hubby to take us all up and he has kindly agreed. I am even more pleased I decided to do this silk for her now, it will cheer her up!.

Things can only get better!

And they did!

I managed to sort out some of the web site mess, even if it did mean redoing half of the page. However, now that it is done, the book marks work on the scrolling banner and I am really pleased with it. I now have to sort out the other pages.

Then my friend asked me if I would like a trip out to Tesco. Not that exciting really, until you know she was planning the one that is only a short drive away from CTM! Well, of course, I said yes.

I didn't buy anything there but I did get a mag in Tesco.

I also started the Dragonflies so here is a sneaky peak! I decided on the brown thread with the bronze filament for the body and the light rainbow thread for the wings. I did start adding beads in on the wings but they didn't look right. I will finish quilting them then see where to add the beads.

And to nicely finish things off, my new magnetic catches arrived in the post this morning. Considering that I only paid for them Thursday evening, that was REALLY quick delivery!

This means that I have finished the choker and now need to do the earrings. I am sure Mandijane is waiting very impatiently to see what I have done with her beads.

Stash Diving!

I know when I mention "Stash" most of you immediately think of papers!

However, my stash constists of yarn, thread and beads! And lots of each!!!!!

I was looking for something to do the dragonflies with. I know I had some bronze filament somewhere which, combined with brown thread, would look really good on the body. I wanted something shiney for the wings to go with the irridescant beads. I remembered that I had bought metallic threads to make Christmas Cards a few years ago, so went hunting for them and found a nice silver one for the wings.

But I also found these! Now I can't decide what to use! Brown/Bronze and Silver? Light and Dark Rainbow? Brown/Bronze and Light Rainbow? Or?????? What do you think?

New Silks

I have been working on some new silks. The first one isn't really new, its a copy of "Winter". A bit boring really, I don't like doing the same thing over.

However, I was daft enough to price the Four Seasons separately and sold just one of them. I have decided to make a new one for the sale and keep the other so that I can (hopefully) sell the full set at a later date.

The other one is "Dragonflies". This one is a surprise for a friend and she doesn't "do" computers, so I know I am safe in posting it on here! I thought I could show you how I do it, just in case you fancied having a go your self. I "drew" the outline using bronze gutta.

Then I painted around them with water. That is why they look a different colour in the photo. Next I painted the colours I wanted around them. The water helps the colours blend together. Unfortunately, I didn't make sure the lines were solid enough around the wings, so some of the colour seeped through.

Adding water after the paints have dried a little has a "bleaching" effect. This was how I did the moon.

I also added some water in the wings to lessen the colour in them.

Finally, I added just some small amounts of brown for the grasses.

When it has all dried, you need to steam iron it to fix the colour. A t-towel on the iron board is advised, otherwise you end up with a multi coloured cover!!!!

The colour you choose for backing makes a big difference to the overall colour of the silk. I chose a cobalt blue. It brought out the purples in the paints without being too dark. I cut a circle of white for the centre of the bleached area for the moon. And I carefully cut white to go behind the wings, which I tacked into place. I didn't want any heavy quilting on this one.

I used I used navy, teal and violet threads for the background with paler versions over the moon. The dragonflies will be done by hand when I bead them. I have some bronze filament stashed away somewhere, which I will combine with (maybe) brown thread for the body. And I will use white with the irridescant seed beads on the wings.

On a completely different subject.......

Last night at Craft and Lace group, we had a talk entitled "My Textile Journey" by Bev Mayo.

She has done some stunning work over the years and I was quite fascinated.

I also learned that I do not need a quilting or walking foot for the machine. The way I use the machine would not work with one.