Shadow Shot Sunday

Strange lamp in the Phoenix in Denmark Hill. It is a lovely pub in the Victorian waiting room of the station.

Benches outside the Phoenix.

What happens to a yellow rubber hotwater bottle when it is left in the garden for three years.

It's Lily again! That cat gets everywhere. Here she is enjoying sitting on her log-it was my log-for doing woman of the woods type handywork in the garden but now it is Lily's!

This has come out the wrong way round-but it is still shell O'clock-or is it tile O' clock?

These are the bridesmaid dress hollyhocks from a few posts ago. I love these!

I am on holiday for a week now so will have blogging withdrawal no doubt! I look forward to seeing you all when I get back! Visit Heyharriet here for more shots (but not yet as I am early!)-I will visit when I am back next week!

Weekword

Visit Valentina to see the other weekword participants!

Felt Face

I have had feltmaking things for ages-since last summer in fact but never seemed to find the time to make anything apart from a few felt balls. Today I decided it was time to have another go! I have a great book-Complete Feltmaking by Gillian Harris which is full of great projects to try and, more importantly, contains the basic techniques, clearly explained. I just made a few practice pieces today. I really enjoyed the process-it is quite physical really, rubbing, rolling, rinsing and squeezing. The rolling is the best part. You roll up the felt in a bamboo place mat then roll it back and forth. The piece of felt shrinks as it is rolled and you have to turn it to ensure even shrinkage. This is called 'fulling'.
I wanted to make a face so made a shape, trimmed it slightly and then needle felted the features on. Not sure what to do next but I quite like it!

This is Lily helping!

Lovely Weekend

This weekend our friends Sarah, Roel and Milly visited from Holland. We had a lovely time! I have so many photos that I have done mosaics-they are shameslessly mainly of Milly who is so sweet and loves to have a photo! At home and then on the way to Butler's Wharf for lunch.

Milly looking at the view, the view she was looking at, tower bridge in the distance, Milly and HMS Belfast

Let's go! Milly is such a keen tourist, so interested in everything!

On the way to the Gherkin-I am not sure what it is really called-that's bad isn't it but anyway! We were looking for the shop that sells cake glitter-it is at the bottom of the building-Konditor and Cook. It was shut-Sunday you see-but at least we saw the cake of the building and some glittery cakes.

Milly had a look at the map for us so we could find Liverpool Street Station-then she's off!

We got the DLR to Greenwich and had a quick drink at The Trafalgar pub on the river. Later on Milly helped me feed Lily. She is really good with cats-so gentle and quiet. The picture of the cats is for you Milly if you are looking!

We had such a lovely time and are looking forward to New Year in Holland!

Circle of Friends

Anne of Gaal Creative has given me an award called Circle of Friends. Thanks Anne! It is to be passed on to five people you feel are your friends-I suppose that much is obvious! I wanted to list all the people who have become friends so I am putting a little more than five. I know some of you have already recieved the award but that is because it is a CIRCLE of friends! How lovely!

Before my list-here are the rules:-
Cut and paste the award logo and use it on your own blog.
Nominate at least 5 other bloggers you feel have become part of your circle of friends.
Link to your nominees within your blog post.
Include these instructions on how to pick up the award in your blog post.
Link back to the person who gave you the award in your blog post, to show your appreciation.
Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.

Here is my list-I know some of you don't really do awards but you are still my friends! I will not be offended if the award never appears-it is still how I feel about you! NO PRESSURE!

I am doing the list alphabetically as I find this the easiest way not to miss anyone out.

A Fanciful Twist-The amazingly creative and charmingly friendly Miss Vanessa Valencia!

Beading Stars -Lovely, kind, serene and wise Allegra.

Black Eyed Susie - Sarah Faber, doll maker extraordinaire!

Bun Mountain Cottage- Lovely Lynne who takes the most beautiful photos of her Swedish home and has adorable dogs!

Charmingly Simple-Di is from Kent, as am I and we met through Suzi Blu. She is having a blogging break at the moment but will no doubt be back. I look forward to it!

Circling My Head- Renee is an amazing strong and loving person who gives so much to others, and I am so pleased to know her.

Dance of a Painted Lady-Kendalee is a talented writer who always inspires me! She takes the most beautiful evocative photos which complement her writing wonderfully.

Eye Candy-The lovely Candace in Athens Georgia writes of art shenanigans and other adventures. She is my only blog friend that I have met in real life and we had a great time!

Fra(a)ing- Anairam is a talented artist who makes the most amazing things from recycled items. She is very imaginative and funny and always makes me want to rush off and make something that has been sparked by one of her creations!

Frayed At The Edge-Anne is a talented quilter and knitter. She takes lovely photos of the beautiful Scottish towns and countryside where she lives and I am excited to say that we are going to meet up-(along with Andy and Malcolm!) one day on our holiday! Looking forward to it Anne!

Gaal Creative-Yes I know you gave me the award Anne but you are in my circle! Anne is a talented photographer and card maker and she shares her techniques in a clear and easy to follow way.

Helen McCookerybook- Helen is my sister in law but she is still in my circle of friends because she is one! She is a musician and all round talented artist, knitter, sewer-a woman of all arts I think! Your posts always interest me Helen and usually make me laugh!

HeyHarriet-Tracy is the lovely host of Shadow Shot Sunday. She is a talented photographer and a very friendly person to boot!

Journalling Through Photos-Kamana and her family live in the Maldives. She takes beautiful photos and writes about their lives and other interesting things. I love visiting as it seems so exotic to me-just beautiful.

Justbeans -I met Janine through doll making-she introduced me to ADO and I am so pleased she did as I really enjoy being a member. She is multi talented-making dolls, painting and drawing. She makes really beautiful dolls that I just love!

MesklaWonder-Linda and Becky are friends from London who moved to Greece. They write a most amusing and interesting blog about their life there with William the dog. Although they pretty definitely do not do awards-they don't do comments! -they are friends-even though I have not seen them for some time! I wanted to include them in my friendly list so here they are.

Miz Katie-We met through Suzi Blu and are intermittent visitors-I always appreciate Miz Katie's comments and love her art. She is also a talented photographer and fellow pet owner!

Pink Purl-The lovely Tracy of Pink Purl makes beautiful jewellery and knitted goodies. I love visiting her and enjoy her visits here too!

Poetikat's Invisible Keepsakes-Kat is a poet and a great story teller. She is also a film buff and good cook. Multitalented again!

Steven's Happy Accidents-Steven is a talented artist-he creates all sorts of things in fabric and also finds vintage goodies to share in his shop. It was his birthday this week so happy birthday Steven!

Swan Of Dreamers-Shell is a talented actor and encourages others to follow their dreams. Her posts are full of literature, film, beauty and love!

The Dark Raven's Nest-Sonia is enthusiastic about other's work, actively promoting them and encouraging them. She is a doll artist and also makes wonderful birds!

The Dark Side of Everything Good-This is my friend Clare's blog. She writes poetry and fiction but is a bit shy about sharing! She is really good and when she does post something it is always worth the wait!

Tidbits From Liz-Liz is a faithful friend who has commented on every post I have done since we met-I am so appreciative Liz thank you! I love visiting her to see what she and Bryan have been up to and what delicious culinary treats she has enjoyed that week!

Tiny Red-Thereza is a talented graphic designer and illustrator from London who's work I love. As well as her art she posts great photos of adventures.

I really hope I have not forgotten anyone-well in fact there are many more I could add because I have met some very lovely people through Shadow shot Sunday and other blog events and memes I have joined in. This award is a lovely one as it highlights one of my my favourite things about blogging, and relates to my blog name which is all about the widening circle of people, ideas and places to go-it is never ending!

Shadow Shot Sunday

This is the slide at work and it struck me how pretty its shadow is the other day.

Shadows of the rain on my dashboard this morning. Can you guess what film I watched today?! As I was watching I couldn't believe my luck-a ready made shadow shot!

Visit HeyHarriet here for more shadows!

Weekword-Time

Anairam invited me to take part in weekword this week. Each week one of the participants chooses a word and this is illustrated in some way by the others-a photo, drawing, story, object-however their imaginations work. Have a look at a couple of examples here and here... This week Anairam chose the word 'time'. This is my interpretation-a scale showing the relationship between time and ideas-you can see what has happened! Time is a lightweight!

I also thought about not throwing time away, and took a few photos of some old watches bought at the scary Deptford market to illustrate this. I really like these watches but have not managed to use them in any way yet-well, apart from these photos.

More Faces

I have finished! Tidying is well under way-I may seem obsessive but that is because naturally I am a lazy untidy person, and I have to put all my effort into resisting the slide into complete slobdom. I do love it when the house is done so I can relax and do something more interesting instead! Tonight it was playing with coloured pencils in the portrait class. I have posted all my faces so far to see the progress. I just love drawing faces-I should really try some real people I suppose but I quite like the made up ones. Face 123456

Bedtime now.

Forest School Session 3 and Forgotten Hollyhocks

These are the hollyhocks-in fact I think it is one hollyhock-I forget it is there and then it appears! I love the buds. It is a peachy colour, small and frilly, like a little girl's bridesmaid's dress from the 70s.

Today was our third and last forest school session this term and it was the best one yet. We had extra help from Cleo who is interested in training to teach it and we had less children today so it was easier to observe the children that were there. They absolutely loved the new area under the trees and they also loved the water and mud play and the new steps. Angel and Millie enjoyed it this week-they both really didn't like it for the first two weeks. Millie particularly enjoyed watching the old people from the home next door getting on their coach. Their home is at the side of the FS site and I feel sorry for them on Tuesday mornings when I am out there at 7.15 loudly banging in my wooden stakes to make my fence! It took a long time for them to get on the coach as there were many wheelchair users who were loaded on by means of a scary looking lift. Millie watched the whole thing and imagined them going off for their trip to the seaside.
This is Angel's ant-she couldn't find any creatures for ages and was becoming disheartened-then she found the ant. Thank goodness!

This is Courtney's worm that she found right at the beginning of the session and carried around till the end. She thought it had died at one point so she gave it a berry as food and then immersed it in water to bring it back to life. This worked-thank goodness again! At the end of the session she was very reluctant to give it up, trying to hide it down her dress!

One more day to go!

Circussy Dolls and a bit of a rambly long post

This is the only photo of me from the pirate party that I like! The others look too much like a real pirate and might scare people!

As I was trying to photograph my horse without the aid of daylight I noticed how much he looks like this goat. I may have been subliminally influenced! The goat is the snack of a lion on a rug that Andy's parents gave us. It is a beautiful rug with a very simple graphic design. Ian collected Persian rugs and generously gave them away too, and this is one of the six we have. Have a look at this about the lion rugs of fars if you are interested!
I am quite pleased with the horse, it is more or less as I imagined it. I am not so sure about the lady. I lost sight of who she is-is she a trapeze artist or a ringmaster? Or a daring horse rider who can stand up on the horse's back? Why don't her legs bend properly?! I do like her hair though and I love her jacket-I made it by sewing ribbons together and attaching them to her as I did. A bit painful I suppose but she coped! I am glad I don't have to get dressed like that!

Back view.

The other part of this post is some photos from some great doll books I got from freecycle recently. I also got some 1940s and 50s craft books. I have mainly given things away on freecycle but this was a great find and I was lucky enough to be the first one who wanted it. The other thing I got was some old Homes and Gardens magazines which I am still enjoying. I think I do have a book and magazine addiction problem but it could be worse.

I love the circus characters above and may continue to have a go at animals inspired by this. I love how the lion looks a bit like a sheep!I loved these dolls in the air raid shelter.
The sink in this photo is pretty similar to our sink. I love the stained tiles and the way the tiny child is at massive risk in the huge deep bath. Watch out little porcelain baby!

Love her face and beauty spots!

This is so clever!

This is a fortune telling doll from about 1850 and her fortunes are on the paper under her skirt. I really want to make a doll a bit like this.
I love his face and the church he is carrying.

Enough rambling for now!