I've been having some time off from blogging :o)
I've had a really busy year so far and the last few weeks have been busy on the home and work front. I also realised I put myself through it quite a bit by stitching my quilt while recovering from my op, which was pretty stressful, so I've been giving myself some time to recover properly and I'm now doing great
Wonderful art and photography from my flickr contacts and faves. Please click on the links to see the artists' work
1. Being at the seaside 2. Special treasures 3. The stone diaries XIII 4. Trace elements 5. Sun rising collage 6. Shell art 7. The sea and herself 8. Stars in her eyes 9. Shell organized collection 10. Dog whelk eggs (Jan) 11. Galveston shadowbox 12. Barnacles 13. Little seascape
A couple of weeks ago we had friends down and we spent some time pottering about in St. Ives harbour doing the usual holiday things, then a long weekend "up country" to a lovely family wedding and now, this week, my sister is down staying with us
Vintage St. Ives postcard postmarked 1961
... so there has been more pottering, beachcombing, gallery hopping and foodie treats which always means a welcome break from cooking ...
Sunday ... we walked into St. Ives along the coast path and I'm sure it must be the busiest I have ever seen it in St. Ives. It was like "sardines" or "Where's Wally?" on the beaches and so hot, hot, hot
In the harbour we had pasty for lunch and then spent the afternoon beachcombing. I always love how different things get washed up on the different beaches around St. Ives. On the harbour beach all sorts of interesting mis-shapen pieces of sea washed pottery can be found and on the beach behind the lifeboat sea glass of every colour is there for the picking
I found these delicious pebbles in Beau Bon Bon ... a lovely vintage style sweet shop right on the harbour front. These pebbles are made from yummy chocolate
Monday - it was very hot and I got sunburnt without realising. We went to Godrevy an hour after high tide, walked the coast path, had an ice cream, paddled in the sea and took some photos of interesting beach patterns, then later to Hell's Mouth and had a cream tea in the cafe overlooking the beautiful hedgerows and countryside. It's very hard to diet when you're in Cornwall!
Tuesday - today we woke to Cornish mizzle (mist and heavy drizzle) but, in typical Cornish style, it brightened up by lunchtime so we went for another walk into St. Ives. We went to the pictures in Royal Square to see Toy Story 3 and loved it! Then a quick mooch round the new units in the Drill Hall in Royal Square and down to the harbour. Soooooooo busy in St. Ives at the moment. Feeling very tired today
The Blackbird's Song
I've had some lovely mail recenty. Firstly, these beautiful ATCs made for me by Dawn Brimicombe, a friend on flickr. She knows I love pebbles and blackbirds so she combined them on her ATCs for me. I've still got to send mine to Dawn, so will show them another time
Seaside
This lovely card is a print of Dawn's artwork. Thank you Dawn ♥
This pebble card below (along with some photos) came from Gina who very thoughtfully sent them to go in my pebble sketchbook. It features the wonderful pebble themed mixed media textile work of Liz Harding one of the artists Gina exhibited with recently at Prism
Not only that but Gina sent me these gorgeous postcards of her work The Dancers. I am so happy to have them. Thank you so much Gina ♥
Had a lovely surprise from my lovely blog buddy Missy K. She sent me a dark red dotty handmade book filled with vintage style brown paper and a tag that says "things to do". Thank you for thinking of me sweetie ♥
My first thought was how fab it would be to fill the book with collaged housekeeping tips, snippets of text and vintage images of domestic stuff. So I think I will do that in the New Year when my thoughts turn to sorting out the cottage after Christmas and working up to Spring Cleaning ♥
... and then this wonderful antimacassar arrived from new friend Julie Shackson. It's so beautiful on crisp white linen. I love it. Inside, Julie had carefully wrapped some seed pods and leaves for me to discover. I made some still life arrangements with the pods and will show them later as we move into Autumn. Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness Julie ♥
Well, that's all for now. I've got five more days off and then I'm back to work next Monday. I've got absolutely loads of textile work, art challenges and gifts I'm making for blog friends that have been very kind to send me things over the last few months. Being over challenged is the way I work best and I'm also planning a series of giveaways during September
Autumn into Winter is my my most happiest time of the year
Have a happy week and I hope you come by again soon!
Carolyn ♥
