Frost

It looks as if winter is truly upon us now. Today's frost was heavy. The velux windows in the loft had a thick coating of ice, and this is how the grass looked.

Caversham Artists Christmas Gala

Caversham Artists are having a Christmas Gala on 9th December at St Andrew's Hall. I always like to support local artists and will probably be buying some presents and cards.

The River Thames at Caversham

I took these photos at Caversham Bridge yesterday, in the gap when the rain had stopped for a short while. The River Thames is very high, and I hope you can see from the second photo how fast flowing it is. 

Wire Knitting

 I dusted down the cobwebs from my bookshelf and took out this book Knitting With Wire by Nancie  M. Wiseman, an old favourite of mine. Watch this space to see my wire knitting !

Book -Clare Youngs Christmas Crafting in No Time

I have bought another book by Clare Youngs-Christmas Crafting in No Time. I was so thrilled with the ideas and techniques in her Papercrafting In No TIme book, that I wanted more! There are another 50 projects in her Christmas book .There are cards and gift wrap, decorations, gifts and cooked treats . I was very interested in the variety of crafts in the book. The only problem is I want to make all these, as well as the 50 in the Papercrafting book! Big mistake buying both books so close together, as I keep looking at them and can't decide what to do first!If you like Clare Youngs' books, she has actually written several more, but I am not going to buy any more at the moment!

Tag Tuesday-Music

The theme for this week's Tag Tuesday is Music. I have made a collage using images of sheet music and a violin advert from The Graphics Fairy . The flowers and floral background represent the song which is about sending flowers to a loved one. I photographed my tag on the piano to keep in tune with the theme.

I am having a busy family time at the moment as all of my four sons are at home, so it can be a bit hectic, and I am a bit behind with my tags and haven't been posting as much as usual.

Photography Courses by Jo Andreae

I have just had an e-mail from  local photographer, Jo Andreae, about the photography courses she is running next year. For details here is her link :-  http://www.oneworldonecamera.co.uk/forthcoming_courses_planned.html.

This link takes you to her web-site where you can check out her beautiful photos. Jo lives in  Upper Buckleberry, which you have probably heard of as it is where Kate Middleton,  the Duchess of Cornwall comes from.

The River at Henley

It was another extraordinary autumn day on Sunday. The river at Henley was looking particularly pretty in the warm sunshine. People were sitting out to have their lunch, which is really unusual for November. However we are back to a dark, rainy, windy day now, more typical of the season, and the leaves are blowing off the trees.

Christmas at Studio 21

I found lots of textures at this lovely art show. Wonderful hand stitched handbags by Vicky 

Baker-I just love the shapes , carved wooden fish by John Parrey, ceramics by Sally Bettridge, paintings of local scenes featuring geese by Michael Norcross, childrens' 

books by Susan Rollings.

Open till 5:00 today, Sat, and from 10:30 to 5:00 on Sunday

             Check out the link:-
              Christmas at Studio 21
 http://christmasatstudio21.blogspot.co.uk/

Book-Clare Youngs Papercraft

 I have just bought this wonderful book by Clare Youngs , Papercrafting In No Time from Amazon. I have posted about her before, as I really like her book Scandinavian Needlecraft and have made some projects from it. Her Papercrafting book is full of great projects to make out of paper-50 of them! I can't stop looking through it, and it was hard to decide what to make first. In the end I decided upon the owl greetings card for my friend's birthday.

Textures at the Arboretum

I found these living willow sculptures at Harcourt Arboretum, with such beautiful shapes and textures. I thought they looked at their best in the sunshine.

 I also liked the textures in this wood pile, which is used to burn charcoal at the Arboretum.

Harcourt Arboretum in Autumn

 Harcourt Arboretum is glorious in Autumn, and I have been waiting to visit until the conditions were just right. Yesterday we had a beautiful, mild, sunny autumn day which was perfect for a visit. The leaves were such glorious colours. Here are some of my favourite acers, which are vibrant with colour.

Tag Tuesday-Celestial

 This week's theme for Tag Tuesday is Celestial.  I found this lovely image of a stone angel on Graphics Fairy and collaged the angel onto his celestial background  painted  with acrylics and added a string of sun, moon and stars beads. 

Book to read- Drawn To Stitch by Gwen Hedley

I am enjoying this book at the moment "Drawn to Stitch "by Gwen Hedley. Textiles people will understand when I don't say that I am reading it, more looking at it. The subtitle is "Line, Drawing and Mark-Making in Textile Art" and just about sums up what this delightful book is about.

More autumn colour

The colours of autumn are changing all the time. I noticed this pretty vine and loved the striking colour combination.

 

Ceramics at the Ashmolean

 Here are some beautiful ceramic tiles I saw at the Ashmolean in Oxford. I just love the patterns and colour combinations.