Broken down…

What do you do when something ‘breaks’ down? You go for help. On Saturday we set off on a lovely weekend break and what a break it was! Halfway up the motorway when we did a pit stop to refresh – the car broke down….

This is not what we had in mind for a ‘relaxed’ weekend. Quickly questions were asked and answered in the same breath. Hmmm the car is fairly new (break-down ruled out) Hmmm car did have a major service (break-down rules out) We did not have the answer.

 The cars being so ‘computerised’ nowadays, it was not even any use to go and fiddle with the engine as all looked OK, once investigated. Next step was to get help. Help was soon on its way in the form of  the good old British Green Flag Breakdown Service.

A little green ant did not appear like on the advertisement, but a big, friendly human with the name of Wayne. He soon send us on our way. Thanks Wayne!

Our lives are like that too. When a breakdown occurs, you have choices. Choose to be miserable and fall deeper into the pit or turn the situation round and see the fun part of it. Mine was to imagine little green ants coming to tow us away (my tik-tok brain has lots of fun taking the TV advertisements for real).

A spinning wheel is the same. If the wheel does not spin, the wool cannot be spun and no work will com forth from it. A craft cannot be created when the brain comes to a standstill and there is no joy in life. Life is what you make of it, so be happy  and get the most out of a ‘broken’ down situation. Call for help to carry on.

This is one of the spinning wheels my late father made – used by my late mum to spin and then weave the most lovely objects.

Get out there and get your ‘spinning wheel’ going!

Happy crafting

Luvvies

Friday afternoon…Sitting at the train station

I was waiting at our local train station to collect hubbie. There were so many people milling around , full of excitement to catch the train to London. By their dress code I could see most of them were on their way to the Olympics in London..

Flags were waving, Union Jack colours were reflected on T-shirts/skirts dresses….bags.. 

They were ‘’going’’, I was waiting  for someone to ‘’ be coming.’’

Craft trends come and go just like that. They depart from one part of the globe and then make its way round and take the same route again after a decade or two. Nowadays it is just so much faster with the internet.

One thing about Crafts – Old and New, the creativity has no boundries and many times something totally new comes out of the old, though the same concept.

My tik tok brain has not enough storage for all I want to do. Only 24 hours in a day - I have to remind myself…so make optimum use of it before the this decade is gone. There are so many things I used to do when I was young many many moons ago. Things that made me happy then are again making me happy now.

Coming and Going

Like Marion Kaplinaky writes in ‘’1001 Things to make you smile’’

‘’At both ends of the rainbow there’s a wonderful world’’

1968

Me and my tie/dyed T-shirt in . Sadly….pattern was on the back…(peace sign ).but the 'granny' style T-shirt is evidence!    It was a pale mauve if my memory serves me right. My proud and joy, made with so much love way back then.

2012

My grand daughter’s tie/dyed T-shirt. Made from a black T-shirt, using bleach. Nothing has changed from 1968 to 2012. Same crafts Coming and Going

And here, more of my craft photography. Flowers all in my little garden, where there is a  wonderful world in each flower bed.

Luvvies and happy crafting.

  RED-The pulse of  life

Red is the warm colour that flows through our veins that gives us life! Life filled with so many ‘things’ that makes my brain go tik tok.

What makes our inside  feel warm and good? We cannot change the past or live in the future so it is TODAY that we have to feel good. It is today that we need the warmth in our hearts. Not always easy to do, but at least we can try (maybe a little dark orange to get close to the red will have to do and in time the orange will slowly turn to burnt orange then eventually to the warm  red we are longing for in everyday life. 

Today is the day to put red back in your life! Be vibrant and full of life. Ignore the rain and cold and snow and get that inner feeling of warmth inside.

When that warm feeling comes into your life, it is easier to create something special and lovely. I just love all colours and red is definitely one of the most vibrant ones to work with. It is like embracing the sun.

Close up picture of some pieces of the quilt my sister Clariss Rudd from Jeffreysbay made (see previous article 16.07.2012).

Pictures of bags I made

Have a lovely warm weekend inside your heart and life and happy crafting!

Enjoy your weekend.

P.S. Yesterday I lived in the future and wrote enjoy your weekend, sorry friends, tik tok brain ahead of its time!

Luvvies

All is well and Green!

Red, Amber and Green for Go!

 Sometimes in life we feel totally lonely and lost if something goes wrong. So many factors can play a role in one’s life. It could be the lost of material things or lost of a loved one or sometimes in a crafter’s life – ‘material ‘ project not turning out the way we anticipated. Red lights tell us to stop….

We feel disappointment, but if we look at the project with a fresh new eye, we can sometimes see deeper  than the actual disaster. It all depends what mood or attitude we look at it. Go for Amber…perhaps and have another look?

Do not give up, try again or try and make something new out of the disappointment. I had some experience a while ago when I tried to knit a pattern which did not go according to the pattern. Once all knitted, the ‘body’ would not even reach the armholes or the neck…where did I go wrong? I still do not know, but did not feel like unravelling the whole lot, so I looked at it from a different angle. Do I want to throw it in the bin? All that hard work and hours of changing  colours.

Can I make something ‘hippie and trendy’ out of it. I just loved the Bohemian colours that warmed the old heart and then I saw it! A bag. Yes,  that is what this craft gone wrong will become. A bag for someone trendy and happy person.

New day, New month

Seasons come and seasons go. Same with the days in those seasons. What I want to do in each day, in each season, is not always mapped out for me. Sometimes I just go wild with my camera....

Often days are used for totally the opposite to what I had planned in my tik tok brain. Sometimes it upsets me…sometimes it makes me happy. (I like working ticking off a list)  No wonder they sing about life being like a tapestry. All depends which stitch will be done next. . Today I will be purple and mauve as my mood today reflects that.

Only a few of us have the perfect stitching underneath and that makes us all different –unique and individual. Mine must be a big kaleidoscope of colours all caught up within each other and rather busy. Having moved around quite a bit in my time and then moving country and continent, gives me a real mess at the bottom of my tapestry, but I would not change it for the world!

Talking about tapestry, it always reminds me of the old piano tapestry cover someone had – dark, sombre and all in mauves. I used to be fascinated by it as a child. Here are a few mauve/blue  flowers I made yesterday to be used as brooch/hair accessory .

 I just love the mauves/purples  now (like I mentioned before-I love all colours!) so please be kind when I go down the colour chart of colours and of life!

Enjoy life, you only get to walk the road once!

Luvvies and happy crafting and enjoy the second half of this year!

xxx