Hi....and huge apologies for not getting around to an update for sooooooo long! I hope you are all well and life as you know it is as good as can be.

It's going to be a long one....so get a cuppa and a piece of cake.....or a couple of biscuits at the very least, and make yourselves comfy :-)

I don't know where the last few months have gone, I seemed to have blinked and missed it.  The first lockdown summer of 2020 I have lots of memories of but this last summer seems to have sped past in a messy blur! There were lots of things I wanted to do but never got around to.  I'm not sure if it's just me and my usual disorganised muddled head or if this year was stranger than the last in a way.  Hey ho!  We are here now, heading towards the end of November and I'm still disorganised....as usual.

A beautiful late summer night in the garden.....with fairy lights.....of course.

 

Although I have very little ready for Yule personally and family-wise....apart from buying more fairy lights (you can never have too many) I have been beavering away like a mad woman making new work.  Yes, I started late as always, but have tried to make a selection of treasures to tempt you with at markets, events and online.   Lovely one of a kind gifts or self treats that will bring you joy and add a bit of beauty and whimsy to your home.

                    

                      

                            

Mini Textile Journal - T

 

One of my favourite things to make, besides my beloved shrooms, are the textile wraps and journals. I think this is because I can indulge my love of not just the beautiful antique and vintage textiles I source and collect but my love of all the vintage ephemera.....so I can get sticky and messy with ink, dyes, book pages, rubber stamps and beads, charms and other treasures.  I can sew fabric to paper, stamp, stain, stitch and tear whilst enjoying every minute and anticipating the excitement and pleasure the finished piece of work will give the recipient.

 

                             

                                    

                                       

Mini Textile Journal W

 

These mini journals started out as vintage handkerchiefs or very small tray cloths and mats.  The plan was for them to be very small but once I added wadding inside some of the pages and all the old trims and lace they grew a bit in size.  Inner pockets were added to hold the vintage ephemera and the pages were then hand bound using thick thread.   

 

                                  

                                  

Mini Textile Journal Y

 

                       

                             

Mini Textile Journal M

 

I love all of the process of making these little journals....but most of all the embellishing of the pages.  I've always loved rubber stamping onto textiles...there are so many possibilities with a stamped image, mindfully hand stitching them on or machine sewing them onto paper or book pages or even embroidering them.   In the small details I can really indulge my love of mixed media nad vintage ephemera.  I never throw any scrap of paper or textile away, it all has a use and often sparks the idea for the project.....right down to the tiniest fragment of lace the size of a pencil top it is saved and added into the detailing of something.

 

                               

                            

Mini Textile Journal O

I've tried to show a good selection of images of the pages of each journal, along with the images in the shop....should you wish to own one, there may be a few pages not shown...but that will be a nice surprise for whoever buys it.  A lot of time and love has gone into the creation of these and I hope those who do buy one love, cherish and treasure it as much as I have enjoyed making it.

 

The other thing I have enjoyed this autumn is getting out into nature whenever possible.  Although I didn't get out as much as I wanted as hadn't been well then became very busy playing catch up with all the work I needed, and wanted, to make.  Worried I may have missed my favourite and very magical Fly Agarics I set out into the beautiful Peak District last week with a good friend.  Thankfully the Peak didn't dissapoint.....not that it ever could, it's so soothing and peaceful there and even without shrooms we find the most wonderful natural treasures.  On the list next year is a fungi foraging course......I'd so love to have the knowledge and confidence to pick at least a few tasty...and safe, shrooms.  

Mentally soothed after a lovey day, it was back to work and busy getting ready for my remaining events and a creative group....the first since that initial lockdown.   Lets hope next year things will be more normal and I can get to see some of you properly again. 

                

 

......and don't ever forget.....no one is too old for fairytales,

magical wishes, Suzanne xx

Hello March, goodbye February....and how are you all?

Firstly apologies for this blog being a little delayed....I've been trying to complete my latest work to show you and have also been a little sidetracked from that by keeping up with things at the allotment, ready for the growing season.

To be honest if I were punctual and organised, well, it just wouldn't be me.  It used to be my new years resolution....I'd roll it out every year..."this year I will be more organised"...and every year I'd fail at this.  To try and cut myself a bit of slack and take the pressure off being this new organised superwoman I now just try and accept myself as I am (this doesn't always work I might add).  And so here it is...the 'February' blog, a couple of weeks later than planned but better late than never, as they say.

I hope you are all as well as can be, my thoughts recently have been with friends who have lost loved ones and also those who have been very unwell - both physically and mentally.  It's been a horrible time for many and I hope we can all look out for each other and hold onto the thought that things will eventually get better, that we can see a light at the end of this tunnel.  I struggle with anxiety and depression myself, have done since as far back as I can remember, some days good, some bad but always trying to hang onto the things that save my sanity such as being outdoors, nature, the allotment and my creativity.  I can empathise with anyone who has mental health issues, it's never easy and to non sufferers it's hard to understand.  So I'm sending you all a bloody big hug, hang in there and I'm so looking forward to seeing some of you this summer, fingers crossed.  We'll eat cake, drink tea (wine) and put the world to rights!

 

Allotment days......

So....what's the latest at The Lady Garden...erm...the allotment, that is.  Well, we've had some pretty extreme weather here and on one of the coldest days we had three tons of cow manure delivered, which also happened to be Valentines Day.  Nice!  Who says romance is dead?! Myself and Mr C spent a lovely few hours shovelling it into wheelbarrows and taking it onto the plot.....happy days!  There's just something about coffee out of a flask...I'm just not sure what ;-)

 

    

 

Since that freezing cold and rather pungent day it's become milder and given me chance to start working said cow poop into the soil and also to sow the first of this years seeds, with the help (questionable) of my trusty sidekick the nutty terrier - aka fierce guard-pup, scrounger and persistent whinger - Milly.  

Broad beans, plus some of my favourite herbs and Cavalo Nero kale all sown and the kale is already up!  I always feel a buzz of excitement at this time of year for all the plants that are already growing, will grow and for the onset of spring, new life, hope and the return of the light and colour that comes with it.  After the past twelve months I'm sure this is something we are all looking forward to.

       

 

Spindly Toadstools and my inspiration.....

Onto some textile talk now and something I've been working on the last few weeks and have been so looking forward to showing you.  This is something that had been buzzing around in my head for quite some time and was inspired by the tall spindly toadstools I find growing on my forays into nature.  They are also inspired by my love of and interest in fairytale and folklore.  It's hard to put it into words but when I find a patch of these little shrooms I'm overcome by this feeling that they are magical and wonderous.  I take numerous photos...often getting down to ground level, then I walk away but have to double back to have another look as if trying to lose myself in this tiny perfect world for a moment and what must be a mighty forest to the tiny folk and creatures that live amongst them.

      

I always marvel at those long spindly stalks and how fragile they seem but strong they must be to hold the weight of those perfect caps.  It's as if they have been draw up to this length searching for the light.  Call me bonkers but I find them just so magical and beautiful yet also a little sinister as many of them hold the danger of being poisonous and deadly.  I'm drawn to admire but respect the toadstool.  I wish I could put just how they make me feel and inspire me a little better in words but then I'd probably be a writer not a maker if I had such skills.....so I'll just waffle on and you'll hopefully get my drift.

 

So inspiration found and materials already sought - in this case a vintage cotton sheet from my extensive stash, I set about creating what was in my head and what these real life shrooms made me feel.   The vintage sheet is an important factor here, to reuse and repurpose a preloved item is deeply embeded in my values and the quality and thickness of this cotton is perfect and hard to find in a modern fabric.   After a little experimentation and a large helping of whimsy I created what I could see in my minds eye....I didn't want to create a replica of the real thing, these needed to conjour up the fairytale stories and feelings from childhood...and beyond.  Just like my velvet shrooms these are quirky and whimsical and have allowed me to dabble in some mixed media, which I love doing.

    

I also delve into a favourite book or two sometimes to get myself into the mindset and feeling of making something magical, or if my inspiration wanes a little.  They're always something faery or folklore related...but not the sweet sugar plum fairy style of thing.....I like my fairytales to be a bit edgy like the Brothers Grimm style fairytales I used to read as a child.  Maybe this is where my fascination of the darker side of toadstools stems from too.

Whimsical, quirky or even sinister I hope my new spindly shrooms, grown tall as they reach for the light, will bring a bit of fairytale and escapism into your world too.   They are also a pop of colour in the traditional Fly Agaric colours or muted and mystical in soft pinks.  All are created from that beautiful vintage cotton sheet and have tea dyed slightly grungy stalks....they have been plucked off the forest floor after all!

 

The Primrose is a flower steeped in folklore although stories vary and different regions have different beliefs.  It is thought they show the gateway to the faery kingdom and a primrose at the doorway encourages faeries to come in.  Other stories say it protects you from the faeries and from bad luck brought about by such....as they are not all good and can be mischievous or even dangerous.  As the faery kingdom also includes goblins and elves amongst others then maybe it filters out the bad spirits.  I like to see it this way.

 

          

                  

 

.....and a few with vintage and antique lace.....

        

 

Feedback and comments about my work and blog are always welcome...as I'm a blogging novice and seem to follow my own rules it's always good to know if I'm on the right track ;-)

I'd love to know what you've been up to this past month, your ways of coping with whatever challenges you face and your loves and inspirations too.  

Love, hugs and magical wishes, Suzanne x