Rocks I collected on the beach

When you were young, did you collect flowers or shells or bits of polished glass from your walks to be used in some crafty piece when home (or carefully placed on a shelf for ‘later use’)? 

Nowadays I rarely colelct things for crafty use or display.  But I do collect photos that I intend to use for creative play, rather than to record a memory.

One my walk last week I was on the lookout for a good dark shape that I could then play with using textures and pixel magic –  I found these rocks

I liked the shape of those rocks and knew the contrast with the sand would provide a good canvas for textures and after some satisfying playing on PSE, I had a selection of colour ways which I put together.

I like how it looks like a partial handprint in some of them. 

What crafty inspiration do you collect on your walks?

Come for a walk

Blue skies and sunshine encourage me out for a walk along the promenade by the beach.  I know it is still nippy and we need a coat and, perhaps, gloves and a  hat, but the feel of sun and fresh air and lovely sights are worth it.

There is enough sun to create a shadow so come and walk with me

enjoy the views

and smile at the antics of all the dogs having a wonderful time playing on the beach

I hope you are getting the opportunity for some energising walks this week

Zoom in on grape hyacinths

I'm back into my front garden for my zoom out and in this week

a sea of blue from the grape hyacinths with some spots of yellow daffodil and green leaves showing the promise of tulips and bluebells still to come.  A real change from the white and yellow of snowdrops and crocus in February when I zoomed in on them.

anticipating a fascinating range of subjects from this weeks shares - I love how this one simple meme prompts such a range of topics - thank you.

I made these baskets

Sian suggested we take a photo of items around the house that we have made and shared them. 

The big on on the left is a waste-paper basket (to give an idea of size).  I made them when I lived in NZ using traditional Maori flax weaving techniques. Unusually the weave is on the diagonal rather than horizontal and vertical.

You pick the flax leaves and weave them while green and fresh and then it dries to the fawn colour – the red is a commercial dye.  I really enjoyed the weaving process and love having several baskets around my house.

[The flax is phormium

and not in anyway related to the flax plant that is used to make linen.]