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.

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The Copper Topped Lavender Mob

I promised, last week, to share with you some Textile Art, made by yours truly. [grins]  – So,  Ladles and Jellyspoons,  may I introduce  …  The Copper Topped Lavender Mob.

Three enchanted mushrooms mounted on a piece of aged, half round, wood which was cut and sanded smooth for me by Mr.Cobs.

The wood was treated and sealed, and then finished in a way that I love – it has a soft sheen to it and it’s as smooth as a baby’s you know what!    It has a beautiful softness and warmth about it, and picks out the various shades of natures gift.

The mushrooms began life as part wire armature, with a selection of fabrics which go through a process of:  washing,  – dying,  – staining,  –  then a lot of sewing,  followed by colouring with a type of fabric paint,  and finally, finished with whatever I felt the mushrooms needed in order to bring them to life.  Everything is sewn by hand – even the gills (on the underside) are all hand pleated and stitched into place.   Likewise the frills on the mushroom stalks are sewn and stitched in place by hand.

It’s not a quick craft, but it’s certainly one I’ve fallen deeply in love with.

The end result from all the work and an abundance of patience,  is something magical, normally seen only in The Land of the Fae.

Although they look quite solid – they actually aren’t.  They do have a gentle stiffness to them – after all, I needed them to hold their shape and be the piece of artwork I wanted them to be.  But when you touch them, they have a ‘give’ or a slight ‘bounce’ – just like the regular mushrooms you buy from the supermarket or greengrocer have.

The green stuff clambering over the wooden base …  isn’t moss…  well no actually, it is, but it’s not real moss.  But the stones and stone chippings …. well they are real.  As are the trail of teeny tiny oak tree leaves.  Yes, they really are real.  How did you harvest oak leaves so small? [I hear you ask] ….  Well, what else would you expect from the Land of Fae?   Tiny fairies,   tiny trees,  teeny tiny oak leaves.  Naturally!

The ‘Copper Tops’ aren’t real copper (of course), the fabulous colour comes from them being blessed by the Sun.  These mushrooms grow in the woodland areas of The Land of Fae, and like nothing more than stretching their necks right up, in order to catch some of the sun rays, ~  from which they get their coppery sun tan! 

Oh, and of course … as artists of the world do …  the Copper Topped Lavender Mob are signed on the underside of the base ….

…. and the Union Jack nestled in the base is there to show they are UK mushrooms, produced in the United Kingdom by a UK artist!

These photographs don’t truly show the incredibleness of this little gang of three,  the pictures don’t share their magic;  nor their extraordinary twinkles which happen when the light catches various parts of them;  neither do the photos share the unbelievable glow they have!  I roped Mr.Cobs in to see if he could capture their amazing magical glow which my camera couldn’t….

photograph by Mr. Cobs

Mr.C took the Lavender Mob outside and perched them on the bird bath, hoping that the natural light would enable photos to show exactly how lovely they are.  Sadly it didn’t work.  It would seem that only the naked eye can see these majestic little creatures in all their glory.

I had the most amazing, enjoyable pleasure making these wondersome creations and they encouraged and motivated me to continue my journey with Textile Art.

But … the next magical makes are to be shared another time, for I’ve kept you here more than long enough.

The Copper Topped Lavender Mob have already gone to their forever home.  Daughter No.2 saw them and fell in love with them, so they now live with her, and her husband, and my magical grandson, Little Cobs.  And it’s the strangest thing.  but I feel bereft.  It’s kind of like having a child leave home.  I miss their presence. 

But … now it’s time to go.  

Hmmm ,,,  – hang on –  …  there’s something I’m forgetting  … [thinks] … oh crumbs!  It’s the JOKES….

These are the Jokes Folks!

What do you call a parade of rabbits hopping backwards?

A receding hare-line!

~~~ ❤ ~~~

What rhymes with Orange?

No it doesn’t.

~~~ ❤ ~~~

Why can’t you hear a pterodactyl dinosaur go to the toilet?

Because the ‘p’ is silent.

~~~ ❤ ~~~

I’ll be back with some more Textile Art in the next blog post – only next time it will be something a little different.  Thank you so much for coming and sharing a coffee moment with me.  Have a beautiful Monday, and a truly blessed week.  

Much love and and a bunch of squidges ~ 

 

 

Thank Heavens I’d written the password on a post it note & stuck it on my ‘puter!

 

Hello … I’m back!  I‘ve been away for a while.  M.I.A. (Missing In Action)  for what feels like years, and although I kept trying to pick up the blogging ropes again, real life kept  coming up with other stuff and *threw a spanner into my plans and thoroughly messed things up.

*’threw a spanner into . . .’ [normally ‘the works’] is a British term, used when something upsets your plans or messes around with anything you might be doing and generally puts a stop to your plans or ideas etc.

Where have I been and why?  Well … I’ve not been travelling the world (sadly).  I’ve stayed right where I am, – and I thankfully haven’t had Coronavirus or Covid 19 – so I count that as a massive blessing.   Although health problems did come into the equation.

Originally I lost my crafty mojo.  It was as if my brain had forgotten how to be creative! I have a craft room of amazing incredibleness, and couldn’t seem to be able to bring forth the creativeness which lives inside me 100% of the time.  So to have lost my mojo, for what felt like forever, was upsetting to the point of depressing.  How the heck did I lose my mojo?  It was attached to me like Peter Pans shadow was sewn to him by Wendy Darling.  

Then . . . I had a flare up of medical problems.  …   I suffer with the ‘amusing’ problem(s) of nerve damage, caused by a road traffic accident some years ago in which I injured my lower spine.  Added to that,  a beautiful combination, my body developed diabetic neuropathy a few years ago (another nerve damage thing) and these two things decided to gang up together in order to have a little fun of their own making, and it caused horrible havoc in my body for rather a long time.  Miserable pair of beggars. (grrr).

Then … with the belief that I am a Superwoman who can achieve ANYTHING I WANT, (I’m not and I can’t), I tried to shift the garden bench roughly 12 inches, by shoving it with my thigh.  The result of this unbelievable stupidity was a great big,  massively HOT, KABOOM,  felt in my lower spine, – reminding me that I’m not ‘Super’ anything, other than SUPER STUPID!  Which Mr.Cobs confirmed, with those exact words too!

Then … (as if that wasn’t enough), three weeks later, I only went and injured my knee by giving it a thoroughly good whacking on the corner of our big wooden bed.  “Darn it!“,  “Oh dear me!” and “For Goodness sake!”  were  sort of  the words which popped out of my mouth, …  followed by some tears.  Mr.Cobs called out an enquiry of:- …. “What the heck was that big bang?”  from the living room, to which I could only tearfully shout back:- “It was ME!”.

So anyway ….   ‘Real Life’ was also going on at the same time, with it’s Coronavirus Lock-down and social distancing;  Mothers Day;  A Grandchild’s Birthday (I’ve spent every birthday with him since he was born…  in fact, I was there when he was born!);   being confined to the house like a prisoner; etc etc.  The result was a situation of dreadful fed upness, and some things just had to go onto the back burner until I was ready to pick them up again.  So … that’s where I’ve been and that’s some of what kept me ‘busy’ and not blogging!

But anyhoo .  .  .  .  Moving forward  ...  I felt the desire to create something.  But it wasn’t the normal paper, paint, clay, card designing or any of the things I normally create.

I’d seen some really lovely creations made by Textile Artists and had the greatest desire to have a proper ‘go’ at this magical art form.  I had a bit of an idea about using textiles for things other than their intended use, as I’d done a short textiles course about twelve years ago.  But the important thing was that I wanted to try something.  I wanted to create.  My creativeness was putting in a phone call, and I answered the call! 

Sooooo – I am now officially a self taught Textile Artist.  I’m creating art works using fabric and textiles.

I’ve made some things which I want to share with you, but I haven’t taken any photos yet, so that’s my job for this week.

I’m also having a ‘go’ at writing a book.  Yup, me!  Some of you said I should write one, and I knew I had a book inside me, waiting to get out, and finally it’s happening.  It’s only at it’s very beginning – but that, according to a song I know – is a very good place to start!

It’s so lovely to be back chatting with you.  OH MY GOOD GARDEN CABBAGE!  I almost forgot …  during my ‘away from blog land’ time,  a knock came at the door one day and Mr.Cobs went to answer it.  It was a police lady.  She’d come to enquire about me.  Where I was? and How I was?  Was I there?  Could she see me, please?  Oh.My.Goodness!  – what had I done to cause the Police to come to the door asking to see me?!!!  Totally freaked me out!

I hobbled to the door with the help of two walking sticks  and the lovely Police lady reassured me that I hadn’t done anything wrong, but they had received an enquiry that they had to follow up on. Apparently someone via my blog and WordPress, had contacted the authorities and asked for someone to check on me and make sure I was still alive!

I have never felt so guilty for doing nothing than I did right at that moment!

I didn’t even know that you could ask the police to go and check up on someone in this sort of circumstance! 

I had to confirm it really was me by giving my date of birth, place of birth, and various other questions which I can’t now remember, and then she very quietly asked if  everything was OK at home?  Flippin’ heck… she thought Mr.C might have been knocking me about, or keeping me from blogging!   I laughed raucously  … and the police lady began to laugh too.  Well, the end result was that I told her I felt very guilty that valuable Police time had been wasted all because I hadn’t blogged for a while, and I couldn’t apologise enough to her for all this wasting of police time.

She was so sweet, and said that if they receive an enquiry like this, they have a duty to investigate.  She said that someone associated with WordPress and my blog had made the enquiry and she could now send re-assurances that I was indeed alive and it was merely real life and some health problems which were keeping me from blogging at that time.

So .. to whoever it was who made the initial contact with the police – I do hope that you received the confirmation that I was Ok and still alive and that life had simply been a bit of a trial!  Please let me know if it was you, so that I can be re-assured that your concerns were answered.

This all sounds like the last few months of absence have been dreadful, and in some ways they have …  but there have been wonderful moments too.  I had a significant birthday (ending in an 0), which, despite lock down, was so very lovely.  The nicest anniversary – with bunting put up in the garden and afternoon tea.  Some really beautiful, magical changes in our little garden.  Oh! … and … there has been a new addition to the family.  But …  I’ve blathered on for more than long enough, so I’ll tell you about that another time.

Right now … I’d better get going on some photographs so that I can share the evidence of actually being a ‘Textile Artist’!   (I’m sure I’ll still be working with papers, clay, paint and card again at some point so please don’t give up on me!).

In the meantime, I send my love and one huge bucket of squidges to each of you.

Oh I do like to be Beside the Seaside!

I wanted to send a card to a fellow blogger  – Berverly of More Ink Please –   not for anything in particular,  but ‘just  because’.   I couldn’t share the card until she’d received it as it would have spoiled the surprise.  But, I got an email from her at the end of last week telling me that the parcel of  ‘Happy Mail’  had arrived,  so I can now post details of the card here on the blog.

Because I live by the sea I wanted to send her a card which made her think of the ‘Seaside’,  and that’s why the card itself is all about the seaside.

It has a little Tibetan silver bicycle leaning up against the Beach Huts.

And someone is flying a kite ….  which has a tail of ribbons! . . .

Two smaller pictures featuring Beach Huts stand proud of the card itself, by being mounted on foam tape. 

The fun,  and colour,  continue inside with a teeny bit of zentangling and a little bow.

The Bunting and sentiment (‘With Love and Best Wishes’) were added to the front,  and a silver metal airplane – ‘flying above’ – was fixed to the card, in the skyline.

Finally a little brassy coloured (metal) vintage style post card finished off the front.

And that’s all there was to it!

For those of you who don’t know the song which is the title of this post,  I’ve been and collected a YouTube video…  but if you know the song by heart, there’s nothing to stop you clicking and enjoying.  The song was written in 1907,  and this version was sung in 1909 by a music hall singer called Mark Sheridan.

We have beach huts here where I live, but they’re not quite as fabulous as the ones on the card. . . .

However …  a couple of years or so ago a designer (who some of you may have heard of) did a Random Act of Kindness  – but she called it:  a  Random Act of Kidston . . .

…  and she covered some Beach Huts in her fabric designs,   –  she made matching deck chairs,  and put matching bits and bobs in the Beach huts.  It caused quite an impact.  People were coming from miles away to see them.  This following hut is my personal favourite…

It’s a typical Cath Kidston design and so me.  I love it.

But … if wishes came true …. I think I’d want a Beach Hut like one of the ones on the card I made for Beverly.  There’s something so friendly and smiley about them.

Thank you so much for coming and spending some time around the kitchen table and sharing a coffee with me.

Have a truly lovely start to your week.  Be good to yourself, and each other …. and may your God go with you.

Sending love from me in my corner to you in yours ~

P.S.  . . .   Dear Lord  …  hello, it’s me again.  Ummm..  it’s about the weather.  It’s hot.  Very hot.  VERY, VERY HOT indeed.  It’s causing me some problems.  One of which is that I appear to be melting.  I know I can’t be sweating …  because my mom taught me that ladies don’t sweat.  According to my mother,  ladies ‘glow’.   Well …  I’m really glowing here.  REALLY glowing.   So … I’m wondering …  could you please turn the heating down a little bit?  A little biggish bit?  Not just for me but also for my plants, and for my three fur babies.  Alf Capone, Maisie Dotes and My Little Fat Bitch aren’t coping well with this level of hot.  I’ve just taken a look around my living room and down the hallway …. and it looks like a murder scene.  All my four-legged companions are  ‘as if’  dead.  Now if I’m hot and I’ve only got shorts and a t.shirt on,  then these four-legged babies must be SO uncomfortable because they’re all wearing fur coats!

I’d be so grateful if you could turn the heat down.  Thank you.  ~  love ~ Cobs. x