Wednesday, February 23, 2011

WOYWW 90 ...from tiny acorns.....

I really dont know where the weeks go... I find it hard to believe that it was not last week that I joined in with you all. The creative part of my brain has been empty but then I fancied trying to knit ....managed a snood thingy in soft chunky wool ...sale bargain wool obviously lol ...but now I have to learn matress stitching to finish it off. I had never heard of it but a visit to the wonderful web gave me a video ...so I must try to finish my thingy ...before the summer sets in ... lol.

Well that is not what is on my desk .... I have actually had a glimmer of arty creativeness ...just a glimmer ...not sure where its going ...but it is a start and as my heading says ...'from tiny acorns etc'.



I am also going to the crop this Saturday and have some ideas for a LO ... well 2 actually .... so hopefully I will have something to show next week.

I wonder where I shall be on JD's list as I am so late ... but better late etc etc ...so I'm off to post and will pop round to as many as I can, later ...managed well over 50 last time, in instalments, before my back said 'thats it for this week'

Take Care xx

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The sun was there today....a visit to East Wemyss beckoned

Today I awoke to sunshine and a feeling of imminent spring was in the air …not that it will last long as rain and even more rain is predicted for the next few days and probably weeks. I needed to go out …not to shop…but out in air that was not wet or freezing. Where to go when no plans had been made … and the weather could change …. and one has to rely on buses?.

Well every time I go into Kirkcaldy by bus, at this time of year, I see wonderful skeleton trees with the coast line as a backdrop and the ruins of what looks like a tower behind the most beautifully kept cemetery ….so today I got off the bus with my camera.

I peered through the thicket that surrounded a ploughed area of land that bordered the trees and then found an opening, which allowed some closer access. I really must return during the following seasons, to capture them as they burst into leaf and then shed their copper treasures in autumn.

I did not take photos of the cemetery as there were no ties to my family and I feel those that lie at peace there, are owed their privacy but I really should learn not read the inscriptions …especially those that are children and I actually shed a tear as I read one that said that their angel had been born a sleep but would never be forgotten.

I crossed the grass, not yet filled with others loved ones, and reached the ruins which lay behind a huge hedge.

The tower …I found on my return home, with the aid of the net …is where it is thought that a castle may have been built by the MacDuff Thanes (or Earls) of Fife in the 11th century, at the time of Macbeth. The Wemyss family built the present castle in the 14th century. Edward I of England paid a visit here in 1304, staying with MacDuff's descendant, Michael Wemyss. However, Wemyss later joined forces with Robert the Bruce and Edward ordered the castle to be destroyed. After the Wemyss family moved to nearby Wemyss Castle, it passed to the Livingstone family and then in 1530 it was taken over by the Colvilles’ who built a second tower in the south-west corner and an enclosed courtyard. It is that second tower which still survives.

But now it houses an ever expanding family …of pigeons

Its present ruinous state is not just due to the fact that it has been unoccupied for several hundreds of years. The sandstone used in its construction has not weathered well and resulted in a pitted exterior ... but the stone work made me feel quite arty as its texture excited me.

For those who like ghost stories a “Grey Lady”, said to be a Mary Sibbald who was found guilty of theft and died in the castle, supposedly haunts the castle tower, which is now owned by Historic Scotland.

A final look towards the coast, before I returned home for lunch, showed that the midday winter sun had turned the water below silver and I so wished I had taken sun glasses ...even though it was February.

Take Care xx

Wednesday, February 02, 2011

WOYWW 87 ..Peel Offs …To use or not to use ...now that is a question

I cant remember the last time I used one but that is what is covering the table …one of the areas I use when attempting to craft…. everything that is sitting on the table is untouched…. those that have had pieces removed are now in the drawers

I realised that I needed to sort out ALL my stash and decide what I want to keep/use and to cast aside my squirrel gene that makes me hoard ‘in case’....something very hard to do.

I have to say that I have not got very far but I thought ‘ from small acorns’ and all that jazz. Sitting there are more than could be needed in any ….no several … life times of card making … and the cost of acquiring such a collection is beyond belief and I try NOT to think about it….I was seriously addicted back then.

Why so many…. I can hear you mutter...no scream …well ten or so years ago …when I started with paper crafts …everyone used them on cards. I thought that having a collection that grew so that I would never run out. …EVER … was a wise decision lol …especially if they were a Special Offer on a certain shopping channel …after all who would not want to make a card that did not have a peel off on it .. some where. How wrong was I …who knew that there were trends and fashions in card making? ... as a beginner I had no idea … and who knew I would prefer Scrapping.

However …looking through them today, I do wonder why they went out of fashion and do not seem to still have a place in card making …or do they? I certainly think that one could produce some pretty Christmas cards by adding a little modern creativeness to them and some cute children’s birthday cards too .

If anyone fancies a few …for maybe making charity cards …. let me know …I think I will actually use a few myself, on next years Xmas creations.

The moral of this story is …

Don’t buy too much of one thing …they either deteriorate like paints and some rubber stamps … or go out of fashion …take it from someone who knows and has learnt a hard lesson.

Take Care xx