Birmingham By Day

Back a few weeks ago I posted about I trip I took to Birmingham. I shared my trip to the stitch show at the NEC and a whistle stop tour round Birmingham at night. Here are a few snaps from Birmingham by day.

Here is that Iconic Bullring building in the day light along with a shot of the lovely fountain that stands nearby. I just love all the square shapes.

The Bullring was hosting a CSI exhibition when I visited. I'm a huge fan of the show so I couldn't resist going in and trying my hand at solving a crime.

You got to choose from several scenarios, and I opted to try and solve the mystery of the body in the desert.

If I'm honest it wasn't very taxing and the crime was pretty easily solved, but I had fun none the less wandering round the exhibit hunting for clues and getting lab results :) I went to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery to see some items from the Staffordshire Hoard on display, which was fabulous, but no pictures allowed of that exhibition. There is plenty for the textile enthusiast to see though, including some fabulous cross stitch designs from China (not easy to take pictures of though).

Also from around the museum I loved this very serene looking Buddha

And was blown away by some of the fabulous ceramic works of Philip Eglin. My favourite was this 'Seated Nude'

Before I left Birmingham there was just time for a bit of shopping round and about the famous bullring markets.

Mini Doll Swap

If you've been following my to do lists you might remember that I was running way behind on a doll swap that was happening over at Artsnthemail. Well I finally got to stitching in the sunshine at the weekend. It all started with a scrap.
A few more scraps, some stitching and embellishments later and a doll finally emerged.

She was quickly followed by two more, here they are all lined up in a row.

Had lots of fun making these, and was left wondering why I hadn't got round to them sooner!!

My faces definitely some improvement but hopefully they will get better with some practise, I never have been any good at drawing.

They are now all off flying to various parts of the world to their new homes, and I feel so much happier now they are done and I've caught up on my swap commitment.

St Giles - Stanton St Quinton

Going back a little while, I decided to start taking my camera out and about with me even on work days. I think I may have already said that part of my job takes me out and about so I'm trying to time some of my lunch breaks so that I get to wander round a few of the local villages I visit.A little while back I took a wander round Stanton St Quinton, I didn't really get much further than the church, its such a pretty place. Look you can tell how long ago this was as the church yard was covered in snow drops.
This church is part of the Living Churchyard project.

Volunteers meet up on a regular basis to help make the church a wildlife friendly place. I loved all the old grave markers.

This one made me smile, looks like whoever was resident made a break for it. If anyone comes across a member of the undead wandering Wiltshire you might want to point him back home :)

There were lots of interesting carvings on the tombs, and the church is covered in fabulous grotesques.

I've since found out that there is a Sheela Na Gig, hidden on the church somewhere so will have to go back to see if I can find her.

Hope you enjoyed coming on a lunchtime wander with me.

Cat Squares

Have begun to think about the cat cushion project again but am a bit stuck as to how to go forward with it. Have a couple of ideas but at the moment am not sure exactly which direction to go.

If you remember while back when I wrote about unpicking the cushion it sort of became a bit of a symbol for me, connected to the unravelling of my old life and beginning to start out on a new phase in the journey of my life.

So now the question is do I want my new life to be bright and bold and full of adventure and new experiences.

or something a bit more muted, settled, comfortable, with time to just contemplate, time to just be and time to concentrate on the things that I already know and love.

Any suggestions gratefully received!!! :)

Pay It Forward

I've decided to join a Pay it Forward which I saw over on Loopy Lou's blog At some point in the future I'll be receiving a handmade gift, yay! :)

In return I need some volunteers to receive something from me and take up the PIF mantle themselves. Here are the rules of the game .

I’ll be sending a package of a handmade gift to each of five recipients and they, in turn, will pay it forward by sending packages to five others under the same rules, thereby continuing to spread the love. The gifts may be very small and need not be expensive at all. There are no deadlines and no need to hurry.....in fact no pressure at all. After being chosen, you can opt to post about the Pay It Forward challenge straight away on your own blog and get the ball rolling or, you can wait until you receive your Pay It Forward gift package from me.

So if you would like to participate, please leave a comment.

Marlborough

I've been a bit tardy on the blogging front recently. Have been having a bit of a funny week and not sleeping properly again, this has left me with a distinct lack of energy and enthusiasm which is really starting to annoy me. So many things I want to do, so many ideas and plans but no get up and go to put them in place, lol.
Just so my blog doesn't curl up and die I thought I'd do a quick post about a fabulous day I spent in Marlborough a few weeks ago. Don't go to Marlborough much but it's a lovely little town, Took this quick snap down the river from a bridge on which I lost several games of pooh sticks!! :) The high street has a few hidden alleyways with quirky little shops which are fabulous for a wander round. You may well ask what does one wear when wandering round quaint and cobbled streets Why red shoes of course, is there anything more perfect than running round on a lazy Sunday in the sunshine pretending you are Dorothy, lol :) Playing pretend can make you hungry though, but what better excuse to tuck in to a banana split. Naughty but nice! Haven't had one of these for ages, but I was transported straight back to childhood with the first spoonful, yum. And after all the messing around we get to the main reason for the visit, which was to watch some fabulous live music.... ... the perfect excuse to kick off the red shoes, sit back and get lost in the magic of music.

Hearts

I needed to start a new project like a needed a hole in the head but hey if it doesn't get done I can always add it to the ever growing UFO pile :) Hopefully this should be a pretty quick make though and will get finished.

I bought this little bookmark kit on my recent excursion to the NEC. It's from designer Michael Powell. I've always liked his designs and thought a bookmark would be something quick and easy to take on. Wasn't quite sure after stitching the first bit but the back stitching is really bringing it to life. Hopefully I'll be posting the finished article soon :)

Cupcake

I think I have a secret admirer. Came in to work the other day and someone had left this love heart decorated cupcake on my desk. I guess my reputation precedes me ;)

Some stitching at last

After a bit of a lull, I've finally got round to some stitching again. I really need to try and organise my time a bit better so I have more time to do everything! Anyway I've been working on the next block for my sheep sampler.

Needle felting by hand is a great way to take out some frustration without inflicting damage :)

After punching the fibres I was left with this big fluffy cloud. Add to that a couple of pieces of black felt and a few stitches and voila, a sheep is born.

I've attached him to a piece of cotton fabric that I microwave dyed a little while back. Haven't decided whether he'll stay on this fabric yet, and I'm also thinking about maybe adding some stitch to the background fabric as it's quite plain looking at the moment, but I think I'll wait until I'm ready to join all of my sheep together first to see what I think will look best.

Brrr - istol

I have been pretty bad lately at posting about all of the things that I've been up too so there is a lot to catch up, but thought I'd start with the most recent which was a trip to Bristol this Sunday just gone.

We went to cheer along a friend who was running in the Bristol 10K. The first picture is a quick snap of all the runners lining up to get to the start. I have no idea how many took part but it must have been thousands. It was a pretty chilly morning so to amuse myself I thought I'd have a go at trying to capture the event in photographs. I've never really taken my camera to a sporting event before and it was a lot harder to get decent pictures than I imagined. The shot above is of the race winner, I hadn't really thought about what I was doing and so it's not good by any stretch of the imagination he appeared and ran by before I had a chance to think about framing a shot.

Had a little more success with this one, which I got by crouching down and sticking my camera through the railings. Still not great though, may be I need to think about cropping it differently or something.

I then had the idea of trying to capture a close in shot of some legs running by. I had lots of attempts at this and none of them were successful, this one was the best of the bunch.

My favourite shot from the 10K is this next one. As I mentioned there were thousands of people taking part, but there were also thousands lining the route cheering, shouting encouragements and clapping the runners on to the finish line.

Before I leave the running, there were plenty of people completing the route in costume, here are a couple of my favourites.

Even though my photographic efforts were poor it was a fun morning and I would definitely go to something like this again, if only to try and get some better photos :)

After a morning stood out in the cold it was time to retire to the pub for a few games of pool.

Sadly my pool skills are at about the same level as my photography skills and I got my butt kicked, lol

My excuse for poor photography this time was the bad lighting conditions (that and the fact that I was distracted by the nasty niffs coming from the nearby gents loo, eeeeuuugh!!)

It was a fun way to spend the day though.

Dressing Up

Can't believe it's been nearly a week since I last blogged, time is just flying at the moment. I guess blogging is like everything else in life, sometimes we feel more like doing it than others. I was feeling pretty worn out last week too so didn't feel like sitting at the computer much. I think I had a baby sitting hang over, lol. I looked after my 2 nephews for the night while my sister and her husband went out, and baby is teething so not much sleep for Auntie Ange :)

Haven't been up to much sewing either. Pretty much the only thing that's been done in the last week or so were some adjustments on the dress my sister wore on her night out. One of her friends is getting married so they had a 60's theme hen night. Here is my sis (on the left) all dolled up and ready to go you can't see my hard work on the dress in this picture as it was all stuff on the back!

Happy Birthday Mum

Listmania - April/May

Wow, the months are really rattling by this year, I think it's a sign that I'm getting old :) Even though it feels like just a couple of days since my last monthly confessional here we are on the first day of May and it's time to report on how well my crafting month went.

Siberian Gold - Progress has been made though maybe not quite as much as I had hoped

Hexagons Pillow - add the final 5 rows and attach border fabric. Final Rows added but no border

Sheep Sampler - Felt sheep Started but not finished I'll give an update soon

Crochet - 3 squares complete. Failed at this again I'm struggling to teach myself the basics I think I need someone to actually show me what to do rather than trying to pick it up from books

Knitting - get this one finished Done :)

Blackbird - Again I failed at this one and didn't even manage to pick up a needle!

revamp cat squares cushion - A start has been made :)

Nan's quilt - Didn't manage to pick this one up

Garden Postcards - Done

Doll Swap - I'm behind on this one started but not finished this is number one priority for next month!

Spring Colours Postcards - Done

So April wasn't a great month and I think my stitching time may get less over the next few months, I have a house to pack up and the longer, lighter evenings mean that getting out and enjoying the fresh air is far more tempting, but I'll still aim high and see what happens.

• Tyvek Postcards - need to be mailed by 30th May
• Needle felted postcards - in the mail by 5th May
• Siberian Gold - Keep plugging away
• Hexagons pillow - add border
• Doll swap - get finished asap
• Cat Cushion - join the square together again
• Sheep sampler - finish felted sheep
• Nan's Quilt