The Church Moth ~ textile art by Cobwebs

You can have bright, vivid colour moths, just as you can have rather dull looking butterflies. There are heaps of day moths – that is – moths who like being around and flitting, flying during the daytime hours – in fact there are more day-time moths in the UK than there are butterflies. But there are also Butterflies who like to fly at night.

There’s heaps more I could tell you which you might not know – but instead of me blathering on, I’ll give you a link at the end of this post so that those of you who would like to know more can click and the link will open up for you.

But now … … onto the crafty reason of my post today….

I’d like to introduce you to….

The Church Moth.

Maany moons ago, I got acquainted with a moth which wore glasses. Well, not actual real glasses (or spectacles), but he had a colouring around his front end (face) which made him look like he was wearing glasses. This moth was called a ‘Spectacled Moth’. (Which I didn’t know – I had to research it to find out what the dickens it was.). I’ve found a couple of photographs on the web, so that I could share this moth with you….

The Spectacle Moth. – Photograph by Robert Thompson @ naturepl.com

The memory of that amazing moth obviously stuck with me, for when I came to designing this fabulous moth which I’m sharing with you today, I knew I wanted to make a moth which wore spectacles.

I began by choosing fabrics from my stash, and the beautiful fabric I chose for the main wings instantly gave me the name of the Moth I was going to create. I said it out loud as it came into my head: “The Church Moth!”. It was the perfect fabric pattern for a Church Moth for it had a sort of stained glass window effect to it. It’s a tapestry style, but soft feel fabric which I had a smallish piece of – it was so perfect!

I drew, and made a pattern, cut, and snipped, and pinned and sewed. I inked and stained some of the fabrics. Then I stitched, and hand sewed, attached and applied, then … I stopped and held up the incredible creation which I had in my hand, and looked and then said quietly but out loud, … “Ohhh, bless him! Isn’t he perfect!…..” ~ I loved him from the tips of his antennae to the end of his tail.

Then … I fiddled and made, then made again, and again, until I finally managed to produce a pair of beautiful rose gold glasses. I popped them on his nose to check the fit. I’m absolutely convinceed I heard him exclaim with delight that he would finally be able to see the words in the hymn books! He seemed terribly excited.

Can you see his rose gold spectacles?

Of course … that wasn’t the end of the Spectacled Church Moths creation … I had to finish him off with a bit of flair and fuss ….

He had to have lace on the underside of his wings, as well as the tops – because all the best dressed Men of the Cloth had special robes which had lace on them somewhere – so obviously this Church Moth simply HAD to have lace too! (He also has his Union Flag (aka Union Jack) button, which shows he was born in England!)

The gentle feathering around the edges of his wings, is a nod to the feathering which most moths (and butterflies) have on and around their wings. And …. It seemed right to have the feathers around the edges of his wings, for I felt that he would (naturally) help with the upkeep of the church in which he lived, so he would help with the dusting by fluttering his wings, which would brush away any dust which dared to lay upon any surfaces within his church.

Every church should have a church moth like this one. Don’t you agree?

Here’s a link so that you can go and take a peep at more photo’s of the Spectacled Moth. https://butterfly-conservation.org/moths/spectacle <— Click – it will open in a new tab for you.

AND … here’s the link I promised you at the beginning of this post, so that you can read about the differences (or rather lack of differences) between Butterflies and Moths https://butterfly-conservation.org/news-and-blog/what-is-the-difference-between-butterflies-and-moths <— click – it will open in a new tab for you.

Well that’s me done and dusted…. oh hang on, NO! WAIT!!!

I’m forgetting the . . .

Monday Funday Stuff.…

And finally …..

~~ ❤ ~~

This is a ‘sorry I’m later than I should be’ Monday post, bought to you by a busy inside her head female who no longer knows what day it is because every day is the blinking same as every other flippin’ fluffin’ day!!! grrrr!

I think I need a secretary who will remind me every hour, on the hour, what the date and day it is. [sigh] Applications for the job are now being taken. Please use the comment box as your application and let me know your qualifications. Oh … and tell me what you will bring to the job – such as chocolate and cake.

Thank you so much for coming, and for having a coffee moment with me.  I love seeing you here. 

As always. . .  I love your company and adore chatting with you, so please say a few words or more, in a comment so that I know who I’m chatting to!  Let me know what you think.  Let me know what’s going on in your life. 

I hope you had a magnificent Monday, whatever you did, and that you have a truly blessed, wonderful week.  Sending much love to you along with a huge bunch of squidges.

I’d like to introduce you to a ‘Bodkin’ called: The Lord’s my Shepherd ~ by Cobwebs.

If you’re a sewist -a sewer – or you sew things – then the chances are that you will have heard of a Bodkin.  If you don’t sew things, you may still have heard of a bodkin.   But … if you haven’t heard of a Bodkin, then I share the definition of ‘bodkin’, as per the Merriam-Webster Dictionary:-

Definition of bodkin

1a: dagger, stiletto

b: a sharp slender instrument for making holes in cloth

c: an ornamental hairpin shaped like a stiletto

2: a blunt needle with a large eye for drawing tape or ribbon through a loop or hem

This is exactly how my Grandma showed me how to substitute a safety pin if you couldn’t find your bodkin!

It was that:-  “b: a sharp slender instrument for making holes in cloth“ on which I focused while I was embroidering tiny little pieces of fabric, which I wanted to make brooches (or ‘pins’)

Read on dear reader, read on .  .  .  

I wanted a special name for my brooches.  One which said something about them, instead of just calling them ‘brooches’ or ‘pins‘.   I looked around my work desk for inspiration.  Needles; thimbles; threaders; embroidery threads; markers; beads; buttons…. no, nothing seemed to give me the joy I always feel, deep within my heart and within the central core of my body, when I know I’ve found the right name for something.  

When suddenly …   ‘Bodkin‘ came to mind.  

Now I know that there is a Fairy Elf, in the Land of Fae, called Bodkin.

Meet Bodkin ~ image of him according to Cobs

Bodkin is a sewer and stitcher of all things which require a needle, thread and, more importantly … his expertise.  His knowledge knows no bounds.  He has skills unknown to man, not just in a particular field of sewing, but in the whole worldy world of sewing ANYTHING!  

It all made sense!  A bodkin is a  sharp slender instrument for making holes in cloth ….  and a brooch has a pin which is a sharp slender instrument, which makes holes in cloth – in clothes!  It makes the holes in your clothes to attach the brooch to your jumper, blouse, top, dress, coat or cardigan, – or even your tie!   That was it!!! My Brooches were to be called:  Bodkins!  

So, now you know this …. may I introduce you to my first Bodkin Brooch ….

~ The Lords my Shepherd ~

Measuring just 2.9cm, which is just a smidgen over an inch, this little brooch has three, tiny, hand embroidered sheep, complete with white daisies and bright yellow buttercups which they’ve found to chomp on.

The pale pink ribbon you see ‘attached’ to the brooch (in the photo above) is a piece of re-cycled silk. It’s been washed and roughly cut into a ‘flag’ shape, onto which I printed the name of the brooch/pin – ‘The Lord’s my Shepherd’. The delicate ribbon isn’t a permanent fixture on the brooch, it can be taken off by simply undoing the pin on the rear of the brooch.

To pack the brooches – rather than simply put them into boxes, I wanted something a little more tactile and textile – so I chose to tissue wrap each brooch, and put them into a little drawstring top muslin bags which have the Cobwebs logo printed on them.

And that, fabulous readers, is what a Bodkin is according to Cobwebs. I think Bodkin the Fairy Elf will approve.

I’m sure I see him nodding – I think he likes the brooches/pins! RESULT!

You might now be thinking that that is the end of this post. Ohhhh no. You still have some Monday Jokes to read!

These are the Jokes Folks!

Q: Why did the yoghurt go to the art exhibition?

A: Because it was cultured.

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Q: What breed of dog can jump higher than buildings?

A: Any dog, because buildings can’t jump.

~~ ❤ ~~

Q: What do you call a train carrying bubblegum?

A: A chew-chew train.

~~ ❤ ~~

And that’s it! You’ve managed to get through another post from me, with all your brain cells in tact!

Thank you SO much for coming and spending a little time with me. Please… talk to me, via a comment, so that I know who I’m talking to. To make a comment you simply have to click to read this post (click the heading at the top of the page on my blog) – then scroll down to the bottom, where you’ll find a box, inviting you to comment. You don’t have to say a hundred words of chat – just simply hello and a few words – even inviting me to your blog to see something. It’s just so fabulous to ‘know’ who’s reading and who I’m talking to!

May you have the happiest of Mondays, and I hope your week ahead is a good one.

Don’t forget to count your blessings – you have more reasons to smile than you might imagine.

Sending heaps of squidges and lots of love ~ from me in my corner, to you in yours.

Airy Spirits ~ Textile Art

Continuing with my new hobby love ~ a little more Textile Art, only this time, something with wings.

During the lock-down, due to Covid 19/Coronavirus, my brain got busy and spoke to my fingers, which began conjuring up butterflies. Although textile butterflies aren’t the easiest thing I’ve ever made, they’re mighty enjoyable, and all so precious when I’ve finished them. They all seem to have their own personalities, and they make me smile for one reason or another.

The Nectar Collector

Each one I’ve made is in a different fabric, and this particular one, called: The Nectar Collector; was made from Vintage Embroidered Fabric, which I tea stained then added a little ink to give it a warm peachy effect to the fabric itself

Why is this butterfly called: The Nectar Collector? Ah, well that’s an easy one to answer….

Butterflies ‘eat’ nectar and do so by the use of their ‘tongue’ – they have a long, curled proboscis, which is like a soft drinking straw, which uncoils to sip liquid food, and then coils up again into a spiral when the butterfly isn’t feeding.

But … what happens to all the nectar which the butterflies can’t reach, or miss because they don’t notice it?

Well, *I’m reliably informed by the Fairies which live in Cobweb Wood*, that there are special butterflies whose job it is to go around foraging for all the left over nectar which can be found on flowers, and collect it in special bottles. They then take it back to ‘Nectar Central’, where each of the bottles of nectar are dated, stored on shelves and saved for use on days when it’s too cold to go out or too windy, too blustery or those rainy days when the weather isn’t suitable for delicate Butterfly wings.

*Once all this was explained to me* it totally made sense, as I’m sure it does to you too, now that I’ve explained it to you!

The underside of a Butterflys wings are just as important as the tops, but for a totally different reason. The underside of a butterfly wing is actually called ‘The Ventral Side’. This ventral (under) side is more often than not, used for camouflage so that it can avoid being dinner for some passing bird or frog.

And the importance of the Ventral Side of the wings was important to me too. After all … I don’t want some passing frog to eat the Nectar Collector! So it clearly states on the underside of it’s wings that this butterfly isn’t for chomping on – for this is a Cobwebs Butterfly!

The tops of butterfly wings are used for signalling to another butterfly that the butterfly rather likes them and would like to marry them. (*That’s how it was explained to me, anyhow*).

Before this particular butterfly takes flight and leaves me, when it’s found it’s forever home, there will be a very tiny button sewn to the underside – of a particular colour and shape, which will have a special meaning. An explanation of the meaning of that button, will be sent along with him, so that he can be treasured for the treasure he actually is.

Now before I sign off …

I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU – to all who replied and commented on my last post [<— clickable link] and who helped me – because I was near to being a big melted down mess on the floor, and BIG THANKS to those who gave me hints, tips and guidance on how to use the new block editor that WordPress have forced upon us.

As you can see, with your help, I have made a post! [a roar of cheers can be heard from all over the land].

I can’t say that I like the new editor, because I don’t. I REALLY don’t.

• It has no spellcheck;
• No ‘update’ button;
• It won’t colour selected words in a paragraph – but simply colours all the words in that paragraph. (Unless you know a trick to that … and if you do, please share it with me);
• It has pop up boxes which appear out of nowhere and block the view of what you want to see – which I’m sure are meant to be helpful, when the time is right – but they’re a darn nuisance!;
• Things are hidden behind unknown ‘terms’ and names;
• Silly symbols which mean diddly squat to regular, not unintelligent users!;
• Everything about it is so darn tiresome and seems to need an abundance of clicks to do the simplest thing–
• even changing the colour of the words isn’t the one click it used to be!

The new system is clunky, silly, old fashioned in many ways, behind the times and boringly, stupidly long winded.

It truthfully feels like the coding has been written by a junior member of staff instead of someone who knows what she/he is actually doing. It’s taken me a lot longer than I would normally have spent building a post – but . . . at least I now have a post, after lots of help from other WordPress users.

My sincere thanks to you all – for without you, I truthfully would have thrown the towel in and given up. Bless each and every one of you.

Thank you so much for coming today and sharing a coffee and some time with me, while I introduced you to the Nectar Collector – who is the first of my Airy Spirits. I love seeing you here, and love chatting with you all. So please feel welcome to leave a comment. It doesn’t have to be a huge comment, just say hello – because it’s always so nice to know who I’m chatting with.

And …. before I sign off, there HAS to be some Monday jokes:-

Q:- Where are average things manufactured?

A:- The satisfactory.

~~~ ❤ ~~~

Q:- What does Charles Dickens keep in his spice rack?

A:- The best of thymes, the worst of thymes.

~~~ ❤ ~~~

Q:- What do you call an apology written in dots and dashes?

A:- Re-Morse code.

~~~ ❤ ~~~

Q:- What do you call a rooster staring at a pile of lettuce?

A:- A chicken sees a salad.

~~~ ❤ ~~~

Just before I sign off … although I’ve been commenting on blogs over the past couple of weeks, I’ve been told by various bloggers that they’ve found my comments in their spam folders – so … please check your spam folders, as a comment or two might just be hiding there.

Have a wonderful Monday, and a truly blessed week. Sending love and squidges through the ether to you ….

* the ASTERISK * marked * statements [above] may or may not be entirely, exactly d’ twufe, d’ whole twufe and nuffin but d’ twufe. But I’m absolutely certain dere is some sort of twufe.

The Christmas Donkey . . . and a new family member.

A Donkey,  a new baby, and Christmas, are three things which just ‘fit’ together, don’t they?  They make a perfect triangle,  all [sort of] ‘glued together’ with love.

Many years ago, daughter No.2 had a toy donkey called Donald. He was rather a handsome looking Donkey, beautifully made and very special indeed – and when you squeezed his sides, gently, he made the ‘eee-orre’ sound, just like a real donkey does.

Daughter No. 2 grew and grew (as they tend to do) and one day, after having a bit of a sort out of old toys, clothes, ornaments, and ‘flotsam and jetsam’,  and  I’d made three piles of ‘stuff’:  One pile to take to the Charity shop;  One pile of things to throw away;  and One pile of: ‘double check this’.  Everything in that pile was to be checked by everyone in the house that no one wanted it or had any use.  Donald the Donkey was added to that little selection of ‘double check this’ pile of things.

I asked No.2 if she still wanted to keep her donkey or could it be given to her sister for her baby to enjoy,  (No.2’s niece).  No.2 shrugged her shoulders and mumbled about not being bothered, so I took the donkey to Daughter No.1’s house when I next visited and offered Donald to her, and he was gratefully received.

A handful of months later, No.2 said that she wished I hadn’t given Donald away as she had wanted to keep him.

[BIG  S.I..G.H.]  “But you said you ….” … [small sigh]. I stopped talking,  realising that it was a useless effort to remind her of what she’d said and how she’d said it.  Donald had been gifted to her niece and I was weighted down with a painful guilt and heartfelt wish that I had been blessed, just for a moment, with fore-sight.

Daughter no.2 has never quite forgiven me for letting Donald go to her niece and I’ve felt the weight of motherly guilt about it ever since.

However … this Christmas, I thought of a way to try to fill the hole left by Donald – only this time in a slightly bigger, and more ‘grown up’ way. 

I made daughter No.2  a donkey. 

A ‘Faux Taxidermy’ Donkey.

Now don’t have heart palpitations … this isn’t made, in any way, from a real Donkey.

This is made from:- 

• A Paper Mache form
• Fake Fur (of three different types/colours)
• Strong Wire
• Felt
• Calico material
• Hessian
• Toy Eyes (like Teddy Bear eyes)
• Eyelashes
• Buttons
• lashings of three types of glue
• Sewing thread and needle
• The use of my Dremel and a Pokey Tool
• LOTS AND LOTS OF PATIENCE
• and a  PLENTIFUL  amount of time.

I couldn’t wrap Donald the Donkey II up in gift paper as … well, it just felt so wrong to do so – he could suffocate!  So, at Christmas,  about an hour before D.no.2, Son-in-Law and Grandson arrived, I removed one of my framed pictures from the wall, and hung Donald II there instead.

She saw it the moment she walked into the living room, and loved it.  I was thrilled to bits, because I worried that perhaps it was too big; too over the top; too realistic looking (apart from the buttons for his nostrils); or just ‘too‘.  But no, she loved it.  She liked it so much that she thought I’d made it for myself and instantly asked me to make her one!  RESULT!  lol.  I got Mr.Cobs to take Donald off the wall and show D.No.2 the inscription on the back, which told that I’d made it for her for Christmas.  I thought she was going to cry for a moment, she looked so happy and thrilled.

The making of Donald was pretty much just common sense, and being methodical.  I’ll show you photo’s rather than explain ‘how to’,  as the photographs basically tell you anything you might need to know if you feel that a bit of Faux Taxidermy is something you’d like to have a go at too…

Donald the Donkey began life as a paper mache Unicorn, as seen in the photo above.

After removing his Unicorn Horn, he had to be patched up and turned into a horse….

His Donkey ears needed to be made, so I constructed them using strong Garden Wire which had been treated so as not to rust. I kept the wire in place using some hessian, which I fed the wire through, and then covered the whole thing in Calico Fabric, folding in order to follow the ‘ear shape’ as I went,  – and then held everything, including the wires, in place by hand stitching, where needed.

I covered both the ear armatures in fake fur and fixed it in place, then ‘tried them on for size’.

Once I was happy with the ears, I then went on to make a lower jaw for the Donkey.  Unfortunately I got so involved in the making I forgot to take photos of this, but it was basically made in the same way the ears were made, and then fixed into place.  You can see his lower jaw – which gives him the open mouth, and all round chunkier ‘Donkey look’,  in the two photos, below:

Eyes and eyelashes!

Donald the Donkey II

He’s come a long way from originally being a paper mache Unicorn, hasn’t he!  🙂

~~~  ❤  ~~~

OK, so we have the Donkey …  “but what about the baby”, I hear you say.  (You did, I heard you say it!).

Those of you who read my last blog post will know that I lost my much-loved dog earlier in November.  I’ve had dogs all my life, but when Mabel passed, I said  “I’m not having another dog.  They don’t live long enough and I end up with a heart full of love and no dog to give it to.  I cannot bear the pain of losing a dog.  I’m not having another dog ever!”.  And I meant it with all my heart, as I sat there in the car, outside our vets, sobbing my heart out on the day I said goodnight to Mabel.

On the 14th of December I happened across an advert on a well known and reputable website, for breeders of puppies who were ready to find forever homes for their puppies.  I looked at the photographs of these lovely little things, admiring them but not wanting any of them, it was just like a child looking at a picture book.  I was happy to just enjoy other people’s dogs.

Then found an advert with photographs of puppy who I instantly felt as though I recognised.  Not recognised his face, – but my heart ‘recognised’ this little soul.  My heart KNEW him and it called out to him.  An instant longing, – painful even, right in the middle of my chest.

[G.A.S.P.…] . . .  “OH.  MY.  GOODNESS!!!“ – I called to Mr.Cobs….  “I’ve found our dog!  I’ve found the dog which I know is destined to be OUR dog.”

“But I thought you said we weren’t going to have another dog?” – he replied from the other room.

“You HAVE to come and see this photograph!  Seriously, it really is as if I already know him.  My heart recognises him!”

And this photograph of a little French Bulldog puppy  ….  was the photograph I showed Cobs Snr…

We talked about this little baby for a while.  Then we thought about it for a while, and then thought some more.  Then I found the advertisement again and we discussed it some more.  We eventually decided that I should phone the breeder and ask if the puppy was still available or if he’d already been reserved.  So I did.  And … he was still available to buy.

We made an appointment to go and see him on the following Tuesday, and . . .  well, as the saying goes:  ‘the rest is history’.  He became our new baby.  The new four-legged member of our family joined us exactly one week before Christmas Day, on the 18th of December.  We had a list of names which we’d made, but once we’d met him we knew that only one name would suit him, and that name was …  Hugo.

Now I won’t bore you all to tears about him here on this blog as I know that not everyone is a dog lover.  But … I’ve ‘built’ a WordPress Blog just for Hugo and which is Hugo’s own blog, so if you’d like to read posts written by Hugo, in his words, please do visit his blog:-  For the Love of Hugo – <—click  (it will open in a new tab/window for you).  You’ll be able to see more photo’s of him and get to know little Hugo himself.  I think you might enjoy him.  He’s a funny little scrap of adorable, dipped in magic dust.

Oh, and please do ‘follow’ him and make the chap even happier than he is.  As a follower you’ll know when he’s posted something because you’ll get a message letting you know he’s written a blog post to you sharing his latest story or adventure(s),  It’s just like any other blog – only, ‘For the Love of Hugo‘ is written by Hugo himself.  🙂

Well,  all that’s left for me to say now is:  I hope that your Christmas was warm and happy and without incident, and I make a wish for you to have a peace filled, joyous, contented and promising New Year.  May there be something which makes you smile each day of this coming New Year, and may you remember to count your blessings regularly so that you know that you are indeed more blessed than you might initially imagine.

Very much love to you my lovely friend.

 

Oh! …  P.S.. ….  Some readers want to make comments after a post, but cannot find a place to do so. 

In order to make a comment on any post – you have to actually click into the post rather than simply read it on the home page.  Scroll up and click on the title of the post and then, when it’s loaded,  scroll down to the bottom and you’ll find the comment box!  It’s like a magic trick!  lol.  ~ C. xxx

 

Altered Spoons – Cobwebs Spoonie Spoons

In my last post I told The Story of the Spoons, which, if you missed it, or would like a refresh of the story,  you can find HERE.  (it will open up in a new window for you).

I shared a glimpse, at the end of The Spoon Story, of my own personal spoons which related to me and my own story, and promised that I would share each of the spoons in the photograph with you in a separate blog post — and here I am, as promised, sharing my spoons.

In the photograph above, I’ve numbered each spoon so that you can check it against which spoon you’re reading about and looking at.  There are 12 (twelve) spoons in total and each one is decorated differently than any other in the set, and each of them has a meaning to me.  I’ll give a little explanation of each spoon as I share them.  Shall we get on with it?

SPOON 1

The photo on the left shows spoon 1 and a spoon before I’ve given it a make-over.  (The purple rule at the bottom is showing measurements in centimetres).

The close up photo on the right, is the best one out of about ten that I took.  I think it’s the glitter which made this spoon difficult for the camera to know where to focus.  All that twinkling.

The spoon was coloured using Alcohol Inks, then the bowl of the spoon was treated to three different colours of glitter, and I would like to believe it looks like a magical Fairy sky would look at Sunset, with twinkles of many colours.  The crescent moon is a Tibetan Silver charm, of which:-  the moon part I covered in very fine silver glitter dust.  The bright yellow/gold, is a star.  And the Fairy Wings were given a white glitter covering.

SPOON 2

Spoon 2.  This second spoon talks of my love of Poppies. 

My mother grew some spectacular Poppies in her garden, and after she passed, Mr.Cobs collected the dried out Poppy heads so that I could grow her Poppies in our garden.  And then, after we sold our old cottage a few years ago, Mr.Cobs made sure that I had a plentiful supply of Poppy seeds from dried out Poppy heads to take 200 miles to our new cottage and we began to grow those Poppies all over again in our new garden, here in ‘Cobweb Cottage’.

The handle of the spoon is painted in the Poppies and the colours of them – red, black and yellow – using alcohol inks.  The Poppy in the bowl of the spoon is decoupaged, using printed tissue paper and Modge Podge.  The plant pot on the bowl of the spoon which the poppy is ‘growing’ out of, was made by me from clay and I ‘mossed’ it up a little to give it a bit of texture.

SPOON 3

Spoon 3:  Spoon three is about being a Spoonie – as you might have guessed by the teeny tiny spoon on the handle.  I talked about and explained what being a Spoonie was in my last post:  The Story of the Spoons (link supplied in the first paragraph of this post).  The colours of the spoon don’t quite show up as the true colours – but they represent pain, discomfort, golden days of fabulousness, and a touch of black because pain can be a real meanie.  The teeny tiny spoon on the handle basically tells you what the tea-spoon is about.  Again, the colour on the spoon are made using alcohol inks.

SPOON 4 

Spoon 4 is Butterflies.  I love butterflies.  They have a love of life which shows itself in the way they get so excited when they’re flying.  It’s as if, with every flap of their wings, they’re mind-blowing, excitedly saying, over and over,  “I’m alive!  I’m Alive!  I’M ALIVE!”.

I think it was my very first visit to a Butterfly Farm many years ago, which sealed the deal for me regarding butterflies.  I never knew there were SO many  truly  AMAZING  species of butterflies in the world,  and … I found out on that visit, that some butterflies love painted toe nails!!   One butterfly kept me captive, sat on a bench, with my leg stretched out, while it investigated the pinky red nail polish which I had on my toes.  I think it was at that moment that my heart was stolen by that butterfly and I have an allegiance to them for ever more.

Spoon 4 was created using Alcohol Inks,  and I decoupaged the bowl of the spoon.  The silver butterfly is a Tibetan silver charm, and I added those teeny tiny balls, in three colours.  There’s a name for those teeny tiny balls, and right at this moment of typing I cannot remember what the dickens they’re called.  (sigh – brain fog). If any of you can remember, do give my brain a prod in a comment, and I’ll add it here.  (Big Thank You in advance!)

MICRO BEADS!!!  They’re called Micro Beads!   I would dearly love to tell you that my brain started working again, but I won’t tell fibs.  It was the FANTABULOUS  BEVERLY PARKISON from More Ink Please who has a fully working brain and instantly knew what these brilliant beads are called.  Thank you Bev!  ❤

SPOON 5 

Spoon 5  . .  awww, I love, love, love this spoon.  It’s WAY prettier and filled with heaps more magic, than the photo’s show it to be.  It’s what I think a Galaxy should look like.  And … Magic.  I reckon every magic spell should work only after you’ve waved your wand and a flash of magic happens in the colours and ‘amazingness’ of that spoon.

The colours are all made using alcohol inks,  and I then added different types of glitters and teeny, tiny sequins to, and finished it off with some flat backed pearls on the handle.

SPOONs  6  and  7

Spoon 6  (above)  – is one of a pair.  There’s Mr.Bear (as seen on Spoon 6 above),  and there is a Mrs.Bear which is . . .  SPOON 7 (below)

These bear spoons talk about my affection for Teddy Bears.  Not all of them, but there are some bears which ‘speak’ to me and it’s those bears which I fall in love with.  I don’t collect bears though.

I still have my very first Teddy Bear which was given to me not long after I was born, and is actually older than me – (so there IS something which is older than dirt then!).  As a child I loved that bear so much and he went everywhere with me.  Many years have passed since I arrived on this planet, and I still love him (‘Teddy’ – his name is simply ‘Teddy’)  just as much now,  and there are times that I will pick him up and give him a hug – just like I used to all those years ago.

I did have another bear, bought as a Christmas gift by Mr.Cobs, some years ago.  However, one incredible little boy,  Grandson: Little Cobs,  fell in love with him and,  following an urgent phone call one night from his mummy,  I ended up driving like a speed demon, carrying a certain bear on board, to Daughter (No.2) and Son-in-laws house and taking that bear to a sobbing Little Cobs.  He apparently couldn’t continue in life without it.  Being 2 years old, as he was at the time,  is so tough.  😉

Mr and Mrs. Bear spoons were both made using alcohol inks and decoupaged with bear patterned tissue paper, and finally, some of those tiny beads (which I still can’t remember the name of).   amended to add:  They’re called Micro Beads – thank you Beverly Parkison of More Ink Please, for your brain power!

SPOON 8

Spoon 8 . . . tells of my incredulous awe of Dragonflies.  I  LOVE them! They’re the most astonishing, magical little creatures,  made by One who knows more than any artist will ever know.

Dragonfly’s are incredible insects and I am convinced that they’re magical beasts made for fairyland flight.  (hey, Goblins and the like, who have no wings,  have to get around somehow!)

Alcohol Inks were used to create the magical colours to spoon 8.

SPOON 9

Spoon 9 . . .  kind of speaks for itself.  It has a Cobweb (guess why) on the handle, and a tiny handmade (by me) Fairy House nestled in the bowl of the spoon.

I couldn’t get all the colours to shown up in the photo’s, but there’s blue, green, red, yellow, and peach – all of which were obtained using Alcohol Inks.  The bowl of the spoon is decoupaged in tissue and the tiny Fairy Home is finally attached to the bowl.

SPOON 10

Spoon 10 . . . well there had to be a ‘loving spoon’  somewhere in the mix,  because ‘love’ is what I’m all about!  Again, this spoon has some really beautiful colours to the handle, and I love the way the Alcohol Inks blended together in the forming of the pattern down the handle.

The bowl of the spoon was decoupaged with tissue, and I added a wiggly line of three different colours of glitter all around the edge of the spoon.  Finally, I fixed the pink gemstone heart, set in a rose gold colour metal bezel, to the centre of the bowl, added two gems to the handle and VOILA!  Spoon 10 was complete.

SPOON 11

Spoon 11 … is another spoon which features a Dragonfly.  But this one is flying ….and there’s a story behind it:

I once captured a dragonfly – well … I’m not really sure I ‘captured’ it or if it simply wanted me to share its beauty. . . .

It landed on the windowsill outside the dining room window, and I put my hand slowly and carefully next to it as you would if you wanted a bird to step onto your hand.  The dragonfly did that very thing, and I then got Mr.Cobs to put some leaves into a large round glass vase thing.  I offered up the big glass bowl/vase to the dragonfly and . . .  he walked in!!!  (The dragonfly walked in, not Mr.Cobs! eeek! lol).

I knew that Daughter No.2 would have loved to have seen it, but she was only (around) 8 years old at the time, and it was a school day  . . .  the school was only across the road. . .  and I was known at the school as I did some voluntary teaching there with children who had learning difficulties,  . . . so  . . .  I walked the glass vase/bowl over the road to the school, knocked on the classroom door and spoke to the teacher, showing her what I’d got.  She was thrilled to bits, and asked if perhaps I would leave it with them for the afternoon.  I did …. and then when I collected daughter No.2 at the end of the day I took the vase/bowl outside and we released the dragonfly together.  He took off and we watched him until we could see him no more.

That Dragonfly put a memory in my heart so strong and so magical, that I simply had to dedicate a spoon to it.

And finally . . . 

SPOON 12

Spoon 12. . .    the final spoon in the set of twelve spoons, and is a celebration of my love of Pearls.  I have long strings of pearls, short sets of pearls;  medium lengths of Pearls.   One strand, two strands, three strands and four strands.

I have my Grandmothers Pearls (which I got married in, despite everyone telling me that it was bad luck to wear pearls on your Wedding Day).  I’ve got Pearl Earrings – drops, studs and clips, and pearls in different colours.  I have rings with pearls in them – my oldest is a Pearl and Ruby ring bought for me for Mothers Day when our girls were little.

And I have a brand new set of Pearls, shorter than my smallest set, but they’re BIG pearls and the lustre is like they’ve been dusted in Fairy Dust.  They were bought for me as an early Christmas Present, last month.  I saw them, fell in loooooooove with them, and then discovered that they were (just for ten days) on sale at 50% off!  BARGAIN OF THE YEAR!  Mr.Cobs said ‘yes’ straight away when I mentioned them to him, and so the deal was done.

I only have one set of ‘pretend’ pearls – which I wear when I’m with Little Cobs.  Not saying that he would break them – but I would cry a lot less about those being broken than I would about any of my other pearls being broken.

BIG TIP OF THE DAY .. for all you fellow necklace of any sort wearers:  If ever you break your string of beads or pearls, and A) can’t get them re-strung for whatever reason;  and  B) don’t have the special beading string to re-string them with;  then you can use the second best thing….  Dental Floss to re-string them yourself!

Yes, I kid ye not.  Dental floss is really strong and thin enough to go through a bead/pearl and hold a whole length of beads/pearls.

And that’s it.  Cobs Spoons because she’s a spoonie.  (again, if you don’t know what that is, see the link at the top of this post and you’ll be able to read).

Of course …  you don’t have to be a Spoonie to have a set of decorated spoons.  You could have a set just to celebrate who you are.  Or maybe tell a story which is a favourite of yours or someone elses:   Maybe Christmas Bear Spoons?:  Night Before Christmas Spoons?:  Hungry Caterpillar Spoons?:  Harry Potter Spoons:  Wuthering Heights Spoons?:  Apostle Spoons?  – or any thing,  any person,  any story etc etc which means something to you.

You could make one, two, three or as many spoons as you would like, to keep or to give as a gift to someone else.  For a child.  A Wedding Couple.  Anniversary.  Birthday (maybe even give one each year).  Easter.  Christmas.   Spoons in a theme – cats;  dogs;  birds;  cars; fancy handbags;  expensive shoes;  etc.  A spoon for a nurse, your doctor, your childs teachers.  ANYONE.  Obviously, if it’s a gift you’re going to want to present it nicely,  simply wrapped in beautiful tissue and a ribbon.  But it would make such a great gift and because you were making it for a particular person, for a particular reason, it would be personal, and how much more perfect could that be?!!

Do let me know if you feel inspired to make a spoon or two.  You don’t have to spend tons of money.  Just some Tissue Paper, some Modge Podge,  maybe a little glitter or a small decoration (try looking for junk jewellery at your charity shop which  you can break apart and use some of the elements from), and that could be all you need!  Obviously you can get as decorative as you like.  But these metal spoons are a really easy project to make.  Even a total non-crafter could make these.  Truthfully.

Thank you so much for coming and spending some time with me.  It’s great to have your company. 

Wishing you a blessed rest of your day, and a truly fabulous new week . . . 

[Cobwebs:  Cleverly Disguised as an Adult]

Eloquent Acorns! They speak to you!

I love Acorns – and Pine Cones – and Broken Branches – and Conkers – and Sycamore Seeds (or as Daughters 1 and 2 used to call them:  Helicopters), – and Conkers (seeds of  the horse chestnut tree)  – and … well anything which trees give to us.  They’re all such wonderful gifts from Nature and given to us freely.  So making an Acorn project is an absolute joy!

These particular Acorns aren’t  ‘fallen from a tree’  Acorns.  These are cut and turned pieces of hard wood, shaped into beautiful little Acorns, sanded smooth and ready for me to do something wonderful with.  So I did.  I gave each Acorn a voice of its own and brought forth the positivity which I could feel just from holding the Acorn in my hand.

It was the oddest thing, but with each acorn I could feel a real feeling of uplifting comfort;  encouragement;  calmness;  peaceful and peace filled,   and .. oh … what felt like a hundred different feelings of wonderfulness.  I began to notice that upon holding each acorn in the palm of my hand, I would get a different word pop into my mind.  So I began to write the words down on my note pad.  And, as you can see from the photo’s – now, each acorn travels with its own word emblazoned on its little nut!

Each of the Acorns is meant as symbol of encouragement and positivity. 

Acorns really are little miracles.

I know that people now are too cynical and don’t believe in miracles, or there are some who are of the belief that miracles are the work of a dark force.  Whereas I …  aw,  I see miracles happen every single day.

This summer, I’ve watched the baby squirrels born in the tree tops, in the garden of Cobweb Cottage,  leave their nest,  with mommy in attendance,  and learn to carefully scramble down and back up the tree again.  I watched them day after day, slowly learn to race up and down the huge, tall pine trees, and laugh and cackle and ‘bark’ at each other as they’ve learnt to jump the wide spaces from one tree to another.  All the time they were keeping an eye on Miss Maisie the Cat who cannot understand how these strange, chattering creatures can move so fast!  And there I am,  stood in the garden,  giving thanks for being in the right place, at the right time, to witness the miracle of baby squirrels growing up and learning how to do what they were doing,  and smiling all the time, feeling blessed, because I was watching this miracle of nature.

I’ve sat in my craft room in the garden, and watched a Magpie learn how to play and get a bit of fun by standing on the high ridge of the Cottage and drop a pebble so that it bounces over and over down the roof and then finally hits the conservatory roof and flies off onto the decking where it makes a combined noise of ‘PLOP’ and ‘CRACK’.  And that Magpie LOVES his game.  So much so that he pops off, finds another pebble then comes back and goes through the whole game all over again.  Now … call me daft, but in my mind, him teaching himself this game is a little miracle to me, and I watch him in wonderment, all the time grinning like a fool – so much so that my face begins to ache!

I’ve heard baby birds in our nest boxes, emerging from their eggs and screeching for their food, when they hear the mommy bird land on the nest box with a beak filled with wriggling insects.  The miracle of life.  Nature.  Every day!  FREE!

Nature sends us Postcards all day every day, but unless you look up and see these Postcards then you’ll miss them and not see the Miracles that these Postcards hold.

And likewise …  Acorns are, for me at least, a Postcard.  And these Acorns, are my version of those postcards.  My interpretation, if you like.

Each one has a completely different, uplifting, positive, word of encouragement and meaning.  No two are the same.

They can be popped into your bag or your pocket and taken with you wherever you go.  Or, because they come with a ribbon on them,  they could be hung on a Christmas Tree, or a metal hanger, or maybe one of those crocodile grip/note holders on your desk.  Or simply put somewhere you want them to be, so that you see them now and again and they remind you of their message.

I have to admit that these weren’t a quick make.  I’ve been making these over the past few weeks, doing a bit now and again, then waiting until I can get to the next stage.  I knew how I wanted them to look so had already planned out how to get there.  But …  they did take rather longer than I would have liked.  

What’s that thing Confucius said about going slowly?  …  …  … 

“It doesn’t matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop.”

Yeah  …. that about sums up life here in Cobweb Cottage.  🙂  Wise man, that Confucius.

Well, that’s me done and dusted.  Now let’s get to the important bit . . .

How the dickens are you?

Is life treating you kindly?  Is everything fine and groovy in your world, or is something causing you a bit of trouble?  Feel free to unburden yourself and if I can help in any way, or suggest something you might not have thought of then I will.  If I can’t help then I’ll sit with you and just hold your hand.

If someone is bothering you, then you tell me who they are and I’ll put on my boots and come and sort them out!!  I might be little, but when I’m roused I am MIGHTY!  (and I can control a classroom of  noise makers  even when their own teacher can’t – simply by saying  …..  “ERMmmmm  Excuse ME??!!!!!”  In the right way, right tone, and right volume.  And yet … they all still love me afterwards.  LOL! – yes, it’s really true!).  So coming and sorting someone out for you will be a walk in the park!

BUT …  if life is treating you kindly and you’ve won a few pounds on the lottery (or couple of dollars), then do tell because I can then laugh with you as we plan your spending trip!  Maybe you’ve made a new friend?  Got a new job?  New baby?  New House? (Rabbit 🙂 ).  New car?  Old car back from the garage but with a lower bill than you expected?

Whatever it is, if it’s happening or on your mind, then share and/or unburden and we’ll have a coffee together and chew it over.  Oh…  and I have biscuits – so we can chew on those too!

For now, I must thank you so very much for coming, and for spending a coffee moment with me.  I’m so happy to see you here.  Seriously so.  You make the internet such a great place for me to be  . . . and I know that for some folks, it can be a bloomin’ nightmare!  So thank you.  You’re amazing.

Sending much love to you my fabulous blog friend, and wishing you a truly wonderful day.

 

Broom Pole Bird Houses.

Stood in the kitchen, a few weeks ago, I saw a movement outside the kitchen window.  Mr.Cobs was out there and up to something.  Hmmm.  [thinks to self:]  I thought I just saw him . . .   or did I?  Was that a . . . ?  Did I see him just . . .?

When he came into the house I asked him:

“Did you, by any chance, just throw a long bit of wood into the bin?” 

“Yes” came the reply, “the broom pole (handle) has broken, so I was throwing it away.  Why?”  “

“Nooooooo!” I said (wide-eyed).  “Oh, please don’t throw it away.  Can you get it back out again?”. 

“Well yes, course I can,  but why?  What the heck do you want it for?”. 

“Well, …  I don’t actually know right at this moment ….  but I will know.  At some point.  There’s something inside my brain cell which is trying to send me a message.  I know I can use that broken broom pole.  Please save it for me?  In the shed perhaps?  Can you?  Pleeeease??“  (I said in my sweetest voice).

So, bless his beautiful heart, he went and rescued the broken broom pole (for folks outside the UK – we here in the United Kingdom tend to refer to the handle of a broom as a broom pole), and put it in his shed.  Last week I finally received the message from HQ (aka: my one remaining brain cell), and the message was ….  Make Bird Houses!

I showed Mr.C a drawing and gave him a rough measurement, with the instructions:  “They don’t have to be perfect, in fact not perfect would be perfect  – but can you just cut 3 bits off the broom pole to *this* size, and once they’re cut, if you can give them to me I’ll draw where I want them cut again so that it will make the slope for the roof. Thank Yooooou!”  [said in a singy songy way with a sweet, smiling face].  And, God bless his wonderful heart, he cut the wood bits for me, gave them to me and . . .  I could tell by the look on his face that he thought (not for the first time) that I was bonkers.

However …  he now loves what I did with those three bits of chopped up broom pole.

Let me share them with you, one by one…

Broom Pole Bird Houses.  Showing you the wood stained miniature bird house, with the Red Hot Pokers growing at the base.  This bird house measures just 8.8cm – or 3.5inches.  It’s just stopped raining – and you can see the puddles of rain on the stepping-stones at the base, and rain drops on the roof of the bird house.

Each bird house stands on a ‘slice’ of dried wood, which I then decorated to give it that ‘garden’ feel.

Broom Pole Bird Houses.  A side view of the little Blue stained Bird House.  This Bird House stands 9.8cm tall (or 3.85″ inches).  It has Ivy growing up around the pole which the Bird House stands on, and the Ivy then winds its way around the black tiled roof.

Each slice of wood, which the bird houses stand on, is of a slightly different size, so that there was nothing matching about any of them, other than they were tiny bird houses, a little wonky perhaps,  but all of them were stood in a charmed, magical garden,  … somewhere.

Broom Pole Bird Houses.  A slightly angled view of all three bird houses so that you can see some of the details of the ‘ground’ on which they stand.

As I look at each of the bird houses I try to decide which one is my favourite, and I’m finding it quite difficult.  Mr.Cobs, however, says his favourite is the wood stained one, with the Red Hot Pokers growing around the base.  Right at this moment, I think my favourite is the Copper Roofed bird house – simply because I love that copper roof.

Broom Pole Bird Houses.  The Copper Roof Bird House – stands 12.2cm tall.  (which is just  4.80″inches).   This bird house stands right at the edge of a small pond in which three golden coloured fish swim happily.

The Copper Roof Bird House has its own Box Tree in the shape of a ball, stood in a teeny tiny (but real) terracotta pot.  There’s a waterfall – which aerates the water for the fish, and a rock sited within the pond which is for any passing frog to sit on and spend a little time there.  The pond is surrounded by slate stones.

I REALLY enjoyed making these delight filled little Bird Houses.  They were so much fun and yet again …. they’re in my favourite size to work with …  LITTLE!  Hope you like them too!

So … that’s the crafty bit over and done with so now it’s time for coffee . . . 

…  and  …  time for me to make you smile:

These are the jokes folks:

❤

Surely every car is a people carrier?

❤

What’s the difference between a hippo and a Zippo?   One is really heavy, the other is a little lighter.

❤

When Clowns divorce – is there a custardy battle?

❤

I usually meet my daughter at 12:59,  because I like that one-to-one time.

❤

My cat is recovering from a massive stroke. (think about it for a moment …. the penny will drop!)

❤

I have a friend whose name is Fin.  Which means it’s very hard for her to end emails without sounding pretentious. 

❤

Smilin’  now?   😀

Well that’s me done and dusted.  But what about you?  What have you been getting up to this week?  Had a birthday?  Planning a trip?  Started Christmas shopping?  Crafted something?  Feeling poorly?  Cooked something new and exciting?  Or … has someone been really lovely and/or displayed some kind of kindness towards you?

Do share with me,  and tell me what’s going on in your corner of the world.

In the meantime …  I send you my love and very best wishes.  I hope that life is treating you kindly, and that you know that everyone here cares about you very much.  

Have a truly blessed rest of your day.  Much love from me  ~

 

Little Cottages at the Harbour.

We have a saying, here in Great Britain, which is said to someone you haven’t seen for a time.  It’s:  ‘Well look what the cat dragged in!’,  and it seems pretty apt right now, for I haven’t been able to blog for almost 4 weeks.  FOUR WEEKS!  And …. I haven’t even brought a note from my mother either!  Tsk tsk. (more about why I haven’t been, in a minute).

Well … I’m here, dragged in by the cat (so to speak), and sharing a little thing I actually made during July.  I photographed it … and then couldn’t find where I’d saved the photos, so I’ve ended up photographing it all over again, so that I could come and share it with you.  It’s called:  The Little Cottages at the Harbour.

I have a small bundle of driftwood, here in my craft room.  It’s all incredibly lovely to handle – so smooth and has its own story,  a  life as being part of something else – I’d love to know what, but that’s a secret kept only by the sea.  The sea did what the sea does and made this wood something incredible, but now I needed to give a piece of this driftwood a new life to lead.

I sat with a little piece of it on my desk for a few days before finally deciding that it would be a base for some little fishing cottages that would be found by the sea – perhaps not quite as close to the sea as I’ve put them here, but a little artistic licence came into play in the creating process as I very much wanted to include a boat in the scene, so water was (obviously) a must!

see the sea-foam where it’s splashed up the bottom of the boat, and is slowly ‘dripping and draining’ away again?

The houses and the two seagulls (stood having a chat on the top of one of the houses) I made from clay.  The clothes hanging on the washing line were all cut by hand, from felt;  and the grass,  the slate pathway, the wet looking sea with its sea-foam, and all the other various bits and pieces, were all made from things I have knocking about my craft room, all stored in wee little pots, just waiting for their chance to pop out and play.

a view around the back of the little cottages.

Of course …  the smoke coming out of the chimney is real.  [cough-porky pie-cough]  🙂

The whole thing measures just 5.25″ long (or 13.3cm) and 1.75″ wide (4.4cm) at its widest point.

Well that’s the crafty bit over and done with … now comes why I wasn’t at school for ages.  So … if you only came to have some crafty joy, please stop reading now.  Those of you who are gluttons for punishment, read on….

An Alternative Note than one from my mother:

I shall put it all in as few words as I can:  An ongoing, long-standing medical problem is being a problem, but after six and a half years with my new doctors sending me for test after test;  so many x-rays I swear I glow in the dark;  huge great hollow needles being shoved into my hands (had to mention that one as it horrified me when I saw what they were about to do), which was testing nerve responses;  and so much blood taken from me for tests that I now put every phlebotomist under the one title of:  ‘The Dracula Brigade’ – …  I’ve finally been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia – which,  for those who don’t know what it is,  is a disease of the central nervous system.

For years I’ve been blaming my spinal injury (result of a RTA some years ago) for all these things that had begun to happen, and they were getting worse and worse and driving me crazy, but it was something else which was happening all the time!

Apparently Heaven is determined to get its hands on me and is wearing me down, one injury, one illness, one ‘broken’ bit at a time, until I eventually give in or give out!

Then . . .  the oven [in the kitchen] decided to turn up its toes.

Then . . . the dishwasher apparently couldn’t cope with life without the oven and it died of a broken heart.

Then . . .  Mr.Cobs, in his attempt to get the dishwasher out of the kitchen, manoeuvred it out of its hole which it lived in, (under the work top).  He got the machine out but then had to crawl into the now vacated spot to unplug the dishwasher from the hidden electrical socket …. and upon completing the unplugging task, he was backing out of the space …. thought he’d backed out far enough and . . .  lifted his head . . . only to find that he’d misjudged the distance and WHAM … he hit the top of his head on the underside edge of our wooden, 2″ thick work tops and cut his head open!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!  SOOOooooo much blood!  Clean tea-towel after clean tea-towel came into use and I folded one into a firm pad and gave it to Mr.C with the instructions of putting it on the cut and holding it firmly in place.  I managed to get him to a comfortable place to sit (I was scared silly that he’d pass out on the floor, as this is not a weedy chap we’re talking about here.  He’s a tall, meaty chap and there would be no way I could pick him up or drag him anywhere!

After asking him various questions (who’s the Prime Minister of our country.  What year is it.  What’s his date of birth etc) to establish that he was still in mental working order, I feared to look but knowing that I had to . . .  with torch in hand I carefully examined the site and found that damage was a small cut of less than half an inch!  From the amount of blood I honestly thought that there would be a huge gaping gap of around 4/5 inches.  I’d already planned to call an ambulance as I feared him bleeding to death if I drove him in the car to the hospital.

He suffered a bit of a headache (as you’d expect) but a couple of pain killers and sitting quietly for a while made him feel a little better.  And … the blood flow stopped … which I’m guessing is down to the amount of prayers I shot out of my heart and head from the moment I saw the blood dripping down his face.

Rest assured though dear reader, he is perfectly fine and totally groovy now.

Of course, while all the above was going on, normal life was also taking place – as it does – but somethings got left, pushed to one side, or put on the back burner, and sadly blogging was one of those things.  Sorry about that.

I don’t know what’s going on this summer.  Is it the heat?  Is it the fact that we in Great Britain aren’t used to this amount of ‘Summer’ happening all at once?  I have no idea.  I only know that this Summer has [personally] brought trouble with it and I’ll be really rather glad to see the back of it.  I’m looking forward to Sunday, 23rd September – for that’s the official date that Autumn begins here in the UK, and from that date I’ve decided that there will be no more trouble.

Autumn is one of my most favourite times and I’m in talks with God about how life hasn’t been very fair recently.  God, though, has an answer for everything – and says if not me, then who?  And I and my heart truthfully can’t answer that one.

Anyhoo . . .  I hope that you haven’t met with any problems or even disasters, which were too much for you to cope with.  Remember – into each life a little rain must fall, so don’t feel that you’re alone when something happens out of the blue which you would rather hadn’t happened.  I can guarantee that at least one other person reading these words as you read them right now, will have gone through pretty much the same thing and can relate to how you feel.

So  . . .  If you’re going through ‘it’ … we’re all standing right beside you, cheering you on and shouting words of encouragement.  You’re not alone.  We’re right here.

Thanks for coming and taking a peep at the Little Cottages at the Harbour, and having a read of this ‘diary entry’ for what happened in August!  It’s truly great to see you.  I’ve missed you all so very much.

Have a fabulous Monday and a truly blessed week.  Much love ~ 

 

 

Fairy Footprints Card ~ Fairy Cottage Pot ~ Birthday Giveaway Winners!

Thank you so much to all who entered this Birthday Giveaway in my  last post.  I love Giveaways any day of the week or time of the year, but this one was extra special for me because it was my Birthday, and so a chance to have some extra fun with some of my blogging friends.

On offer in this latest Giveaway were two items.  A Fairy Footprints Card, and a Fairy Cottage Pot.  The photographs I shared with you in the post didn’t do either of the items any justice what-so-ever.

The card is something that even I couldn’t stop looking at.  It’s filled with so much magical wonderment and sparkle.  Oh, and I totally forgot to say in my last post:

• Those fairy footprints weren’t made using a stamp; nor an impress of feet shaped tool;  nor a leather press tool or anything like that.  No footprint  ‘tool’  or  ‘implement’  nor mould of any sort made those footprints.  Cross my heart.  Pinky finger truth.  I truthfully state that NO FOOTPRINT TOOL OF ANY DESCRIPTION MADE THOSE FOOTPRINTS.

The tiny Fairy Cottage Pot looks way prettier in real life too – but because I tried to get close up shots of the Pot, it made it appear bigger and somehow lacking.  Where-as in real life, it’s very much a cute, tiny little thing of charm and sweetness, which makes you smile when holding it between your fingers.

ANYHOO …  you’re here to find out who won, and I’m here to tell you.

All entrants were allotted a number to their name, in the order of entry:

1. BCParkison
2. Susieshy
3. Soozyb2013 (Soozy, sadly, doesn’t have a blog so I can’t link to it)
4. Samanthamurdoch
5. Dinosaursdonkeysandms
6. Invisibly Me
7. Paula @ Spin a Yarn
8. Rabbitpatchdiary.com
9. Chicken Grandma
10. Nancee56

Because there are two items up for grabs, I explained in my last post:

• On the day of the Random Number Generator being asked to pick the winners, the FIRST number generated, will be the winner who will get the chance to choose which Fairy related give-a-way they would like to receive.
• The SECOND number generated will receive the other Fairy give-a-way.

So, with no further ado I’m thrilled to announce that. . . 

The FIRST number chosen, and so is in the position of choosing which Fairy item she would like to choose,  is:

. . .  Number 3 – and this number belongs to  SOOZYB2013

Soozyb …  because you don’t have a blog, I’ll try to contact you via the email address which is logged into the system every time you comment.

• In an effort to be fair and not keep winner #2 waiting for their prize gift:-   If I don’t hear from Soozyb by Friday 10th August, (next Friday) then I shall pass on the choice of item to winner No.2 so that they can choose which gift they’d like, and Soozyb will be in receipt of which ever Fairy item is left,  –  once I get her address to send the item to.

The SECOND winning number chosen by The Random Number Generator is:-

. . .  Number 1 – and this number belongs to:  BCParkison!

Who I think we all know as Bev.

Bev . . . As soon as I hear from Soozyb,  I’ll drop you a note and let you know what your Winning Gift is (unless you’d rather have a surprise)  – OR – if I don’t hear from Soozy by next Friday, I’ll drop you a note asking you to choose your Winning Gift from this Giveaway.

Many, many thanks to everyone for joining in.  Giveaways add a little fun to everyday life, and makes days ‘glisten’ just that little bit more  ~  especially when we perhaps need a bit of a glisten.

Thank you also for joining me on this beautiful (if rather too warm) Sunday.  I hope your day passes brightly and that, at the end of it,  you feel contentment wash over you.

A few gremlins may have grizzled into your moments – but that happens to us all, so never feel you’re alone in that.  The trick with these gremlins is to never give them the power over your moods, and don’t allow them to hang around either.  Kick them out.  Open the door and demand they leave.  My dear friends, you have no room in your life for gremlins.  Don’t give them room.

Stay as awesome are you are, and  –  aim for contentment.  Once you have that, everything else will magically fall into place.

Heaps of love and squidges, from me in my corner, to you in yours.  ~

 

“Happy Birthday to me, happy Birthday to me…” (well that’s a Give-a-way isn’t it!)

Did I give-a-way that it’s my Birthday today?  [gasp!]   I did?  Well shame on me.  Fancy advertising that you’re a year old than your original 7.5 years older.  Well..  I’m now 7.5 years old and well ….  it’s very strange, but I feel the exact same age as I did yesterday.  Bonus!

Talking of bonus’ . . . I come bearing a celebration of my special day, and, as we all know, a Birthday is a day associated with love and a small gift … or two.  So I’m here doing a Give-a-way to celebrate, open to all my followers.  However, not just one give-a-way,  but TWO!  My Birthday is on the 2nd so I thought that it being a 2, we should have a double Give-a-way.

BLOG POST EDITED: 5th August 2018

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 5th August 2018.

What’s on offer…

Fairy Footprints on a little card,  and a Fairy Cottage Pot.  Each one of these Fairy goodies is included in this Birthday Giveaway!

 

On offer is what you see in the photograph above.

• One person can win the Fairy Footprints card, –
• and  –  another person can win the Cottage Pot.

 

As you might be able to see in the 2nd of the two photos (just above here) – the Cottage Pot is, in total only just over 2″(two) inches tall.

It’s a micro-sized (real) terracotta pot, in which a tiny Fairy built her home.  Now left behind,  after she found her mate and began a family – and I was lucky enough to be in the right place, at the right time, with my ‘finding eyes’ working so well that I found it!

The tiny little terracotta pot itself measures just three-quarters of an inch!

The Fairy Footprints card . . . well there’s quite a magical story behind that.

I rolled out two sorts of different clay and left it on my desk for just a matter of moments while I went and washed my hands. 

When I came back . . . there were Fairy Footprints all over both of the clays!  From very small to big (‘big’ for a Fairy), but all of them were just breathtaking.  I didn’t want to destroy the clay (obviously) but couldn’t leave it all in a ‘slab’ – as that would have been too difficult to store carefully.  So … I carefully cut the footprints out and set them aside for them to dry.  (Hoping that nothing happened to them, nor that the footprints would disappear!)

I coloured the clay so that the footprints showed up clearly…  and decided that I just couldn’t keep them for myself, and had to share.  So I attached one to a little card – (just 11.6cm square, – or roughly 4.5″ inches) and here I am doing a Give-a-way in order to share and celebrate my Birthday.

Now then …. here’s the important bit so pin back your lug holes (ears). . . 

The Give-a-way is open only to followers of the Cobweborium Emporium.

• In order to enter your name for one of these Give-a-ways you MUST  make a comment on this post, and BEGIN YOUR COMMENT WITH THE WORD:  GIVEAWAY.  This is really important because seeing that word right at the beginning of a comment is my way of instantly finding all the people who want to be included.  If it’s not at the start of your comment, then on the day when I’m counting up how many people want to be in with a chance of winning, I just might miss anyone who has put the word in the middle or the end etc.  So please begin your comment with that one word: Giveaway. (thank you!)
• On the day of the Random Number Generator being asked to pick the winners, the FIRST number generated, will be the winner who will get the chance to choose which Fairy related give-a-way they would like to receive.
• The SECOND number generated will receive the other Fairy give-a-way.

And that’s all there is to it. 🙂

BLOG POST EDITED: 5th August 2018

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 5th August 2018.

But I repeat … this Give-a-way is open only to followers of The Cobweborium Emporium.  This is simply because it makes it fair.

Followers aren’t simply ‘followers’.  These people (and you all know who you are) are wonderful friends who make blogging such a total joy to me.

All that’s left to say is …  don’t forget: GIVEAWAY as your first word  –

But you don’t have to want to be included for a Giveaway,  to comment.

If your comment doesn’t include the magic word, then I will know you don’t feel the need to have another ‘thing’ to care for!  Just come and have a chat in that case.  (You know I love to chat with you! lol.)

Wishing you a bright, blessed Thursday.  May your day be filled with peace and contentment.  Thank you so much for coming and sharing a coffee moment with me. 

Much love ~ 

 

BLOG POST EDITED: 5th August 2018

The ‘GIVEAWAY’ is now closed to new names being entered into the ‘hat’.  Anyone adding their name from this moment forward is, I’m afraid, too late to be included in the ‘draw’.

  The Winner of the Home Under the Dome will be announced later today; Sunday 5th August 2018.