March

... today ...

I'm whisking my blog back in time ... to just over a month ago
to some lovely things that happened in March

starting with 17th March
when I had a lovely day with my blog friend Chris Gray
who came to St. Ives for the day to meet up with me

it was chilly that day, a little light mizzle in the air
so we went straight to Ocean Grill for a warming lunch of
carrot, honey and ginger soup ... which was really delicious

over a long rambling lunch we chatted and exchanged pressies

Chris gave me a white candle

wrapped in a beautiful printed and stitched sleeve

and also this lovely matching crocheted tissue box holder

and for my little cottage she decorated this wooden spoon

in a country style with rafia bow, a stitched skirt and
finished with a primitive tomte santa made from clay

Chris spoilt me with a big jar of beads and
some of her hand dyed threads
(will show those on my other blog as they are pebble colours)

Chris cross stitched a row of red hearts for me
and everything came beautifully wrapped in country style ribbons

I love these tomtes!

Over lunch Chris gave me this piece of cotton that she had hand dyed

in exchange for some I gave her that I'd dyed with red cabbage

We initiated a challenge to work on our fabrics and create something
to "show and tell" when we meet up again later in the year

After lunch we visited the exhibition at St. Ives Society of Artists

admiring the work of Roy Ray (Chris's favourite)
and Peter Wray (mine)

I bought one of Peter Wray's original printed cards
and treated us both to a St. Ives Society of Artists sketchbook
... so that's another challenge ...
to have made a start in our books before we meet up again

I took Chris through some of the old cobbled back streets, showed her the cottage of Alfred Wallis that regularly features on my work and the famous, most photographed, green door in The Digey
which has a whole flickr group dedicated to photos of it - here

It started to drizzle (we had a lot of mist and drizzle in March)
so we had chocolate treats from I Should Coco (award winning honey and thyme choccies - yummy!)

and later we ended up in Hub for a comforting hot chocolate drink and cake ... the end of a lovely day

In March I had another beautiful parcel from Lisa of
Mud Hound Studio

always beautifully and impeccably wrapped

such a special gift from Lisa
vintage pages in Sonnets from the Portuguese
by Elizabeth Barrett Browningand these are the beautiful silk ribbons I bought from Lisa's shop

ballet

watercolour

I've been using the watercolour silk ribbons

on the piece of fabric from Chris (my challenge piece above)

I made a good start on it during my last crow day with Jo

We are having fun stitching the winter trees landscape
from the December issue of
Stitch with the Embroiderers Guild magazine

So far ... I have hand stitched the base layers

the silk ribbons have such a lovely sheen

and beautiful soft earthy tones

running stitches in gold metallic thread

with a chiffon sky in rosy glows

the colours of a Cornish sunrise

the roseate glow over sleepy rooftops

We've had some really stunning sunrises recently
but also some misty mornings too leading to beautiful spring days
spring
lovely, lovely spring

in March I became a member of St. Ives Arts Club and
I've really been enjoying the art sketchbooks workshops
tutored by Sally MacCabe on Monday afternoons

Mondays are now my most favourite day of the week

I enjoy the walk down to St. Ives, stopping to take a few photos or gather interesting finds. I take the time to visit a different gallery each week and buy an inspiring art card and, if the tide is out, I walk on the beach and see what catches my eye ...

then it's time for my sketchbook workshop
time to play with collage and paints
and then afternoon tea and cake

I'm working in two sketchbooks at the moment
St. Ives blues with yellow and green (a Cornish spring theme)
and spring yellow with palest gold

♥

palest gold

for Things I love Thursday

1. Winter white 2. . 3. Escape 4. Studio-121 5. 2:50 pm 6. . 7. Biblioteca rayana open 8. Cold day 9. Sunshine but no buds (tagged) patiently waiting for spring 10. Olson_melville 18 11. Fools gold 12. Shell 13. Flying secrets

and finally some photos of the March Treasure Hunt Paper Swap
organised by Lawendula

we each had to find ...

something blue, something old, something new, a doodle
a paper that is nice to touch
a paper with all colours of the rainbow on it
a paper with words in a strange/foreign language
a lovely package (e.g. from your favorite tea, sweet, perfume)
a page from a magazine or newspaper you love
an ad(vertisment) you love
a piece of handpainted paper
a newspaper page from your country/area
a bus ticket (or train/Underground/metro, tram)
a scented paper, a found paper
a paper with a quote you love
-a shocking paper (why? Color? Theme? Meaning?)
-a paper that means comfort to you (why?)
-a paper that is totally "you" (why?)

my papers are here

My swap partner was Franca Maria
who sent me all these lovely vintage pages

beautiful magazine pages, scented papers and textured papers

and a little birdie that she felted and stitched

art and chocolate - the best combination

some toning squares I cut from a magazine page

because I love this red tree and and the girl in the red coat

found papersrusted and lovely

and more squares I found interesting
loving rose with gold

and best ... a tag made by Franca Maria

such a lovely swap

and a nice end to March

I will be back soon with an April catch up
I need to do this (get up to date) before I can open my shop
which I am excited about and longing to do!

hope you all have a very happy Easter
creative wishes
Carolyn
♥