B is for ...
berries
blackberry picking
best buddies
beautiful bird
B ... is this week's letter for the alphabet inchie challenge and these are my inchies. I then noticed everything else in my post today is connected to the letter B in some way
B ... is for blackbirds ... my favourite garden birds with their cheeky personalities
B ... is for birdie brooch. I was so incredibly lucky to win this beautiful birdie brooch made by lovely friend Viv of Hen's Teeth in her recent giveaway. It's so cute and gorgeous and I love it! Thank you so much Viv - I shall treasure my birdie forever
B ... is for book, bird ornament, blackbird (pie bird), beads, button, baking and bits
I also won a gorgeous giveaway from the lovely Emma of Silver Pebble. Lucky me! Emma had the inspired idea of starting a "Pass the Book" giveaway. She chose a recent find called "Miss Read" and made a lovely cover for it. Emma read the book and then passed it to me to read, then I will pass it on to someone in blogland in a giveaway (with some other prizes) ... soon as I can!
In my giveaway parcel I received lots of lovely things: some pretty tags illustrated by Emma, a gorgeous hand made silver heart button and a ceramic bird ornament both made by Emma, a blackbird pie bird, some hand made magnets, some beads in a little wooden pot and a cd of "Bridal Lullaby" and "Elizabethan Serenade" all in a fabulous vintage tin
B ... is for beads. I made these beads last week from recycling sweet wrappers, curling ribbon, plastic carrier bags, chiffon fabrics, Tyvek and angelina fibres wrapped with metallic threads and then heated with a heat gun. The heat melts and bonds the materials together making them rock hard when they cool down. If you are interested in having a go at these, I posted some tutorials on my textile blog
Sparkly beads
Our weather is all over the place again. My sister had more snow. This is a photo she took of a beautiful frozen rosehip. I love my sister's photos
B ... is for boots! It's still boots weather in St. Ives even though we didn't get any more snow. We've had very strong winds, storms and lots of rain. Everything is very soggy!
I was looking at my kitchen calendar for January and the furry boots below look nice and snuggly! Usually, I find my CH&I calendar inspiring but I had to laugh at January's offering of "brighten up outside with snug accessories and twinkling lights". All very well in theory ... but how does this work exactly ... with the inconsistent, unpredictable, inclement weather we have in the UK?
B ... is for bundles! It's been raining on my bundles and I peeped at them this week. There are already signs that something is happening. The one I buried has come more to the surface and the calico has gone pink
This bundle is hanging in the ivy and is showing signs of life!
B ... is for berries. I love red berries ... they are one of favourite themes and blogs should be full of favourite things. I made an inchie with bittersweet berries picked back in November
Haiku week 3
Berries of ruby
treasures of scarlet and red
Autumn's precious gems
Berries drying, withered, still beautiful
I took these photos in late November/early December time. I like the contrast of the scarlet and red berries against the pale, neutral and almost vintage coloured backgrounds
Berries from the St. John's Wort plant
Holly berries in abundance during October and November usually mean a harsh and bitterly cold winter! This old saying was proved right this winter!
The Woody Nightshade berries in the picture below are also known as "Bittersweet"
B ... is for bittersweet. I picked these Bittersweet berries last November to try some natural dyeing and never got round to putting the pictures on the blog
Great care should be taken when handling the berries of the Woody Nightshade (Bittersweet) plant as they are poisonous if eaten
The berries didn't produce much dye so I was only able to soak some small pieces of cotton and calico in a tiny little jar. The berries produced an orangey/red dye ... very pretty on my windowsill last November
Bittersweet and "Sweetness"
B ... is for blogging! Thank you for the fun tags and awards received over the last couple of weeks. I will try to work through them as soon as I can and I will be announcing the book giveaway at the end of next week, I think!
Bye for now from me and the blackbirds
Have a lovely weekend
Carolyn ♥