No Salt?

Thankfully I had just woken up before the bus crashed into the lamp post outside our house. The road looks clear but it was obviously icy. This road would normally have been salted! Does this mean that our council has run out of or is just low on salt? One of the passengers said that a car was spinning further up the road!
The scary thing is, it happened because the driver was pulling up to pick up school children who were standing just out of but to the right of the picture.

Get Weaving - Colours Affect

If I'm to have some stock for this year I should start to think about getting some weaving done. Perhaps some research in the retail trade is needed first, to see what colours the stores are selling.
The pictures are of my most recent projects. Slightly longer silk scarves than I have produced before so they can be worn in that 'loop through' style that is popular now. I love rainbows, a sign of hope I am told, one is woven with a dark navy weft. The other,is the same warp colours but with a green weft, just to show how colours affect one another.

A Walk on the Wild Side

First time out and about for a week. I was sure this morning that I was going stir crazy. A friend always says 'Go hug a tree' when one doesn't feel quite right. My hubby and I went to the Zoo. It's great to see the animals in a different situation. Even they don't quite know what to make of the present weather situation and some, sensibly, choose to stay indoors. When walking towards the flamingos, always kept indoors in these conditions, the sound they were making seemed so like laughter. 'What a silly bunch out there looking in on us!'
Young animals seemed to be enjoying themselves, chimps picking up snowballs to suck and the youngest elephants played a game of 'push me pull you.'

BLOG CANDY ALERT!!!!

New stamp sheets from Elusive Images.
Check out the new Butterfly Collage Stamps on the Elusive Images Design Team Blog!
They're beautiful! But when do Elusive Images ever disappoint?
Have hanky ready to mop the drool.
Take a look at:-
Elusive Images Butterfly Collage Stamps

Could this lead somewhere?

Today, I've played, scetched and played some more. Well, hubby is watching the sport! I have been saving rubber stamp offcuts for some time and today I had a go at using them, hence the simple printouts of ties, hearts, swirls and flowers. I'm quite pleased that I managed to carve a small heart inside a bigger one! I did go on to put them into a background paper but smudged it!!! so maybe I'll have another go tomorrow.
Having got interested in creating backing papers and being without funds to buy all I'd like I was sketching swirls for ages and cutting them out of transparencies to use as masks. If you cut carefully you can use the cut out shape and the 'stencil'.
The Valentine cards were made by printing direct cards some clip art, then I added embellishments, glitter, peel off lines and decoupaged hearts.
I really must go out for a walk tomorrow if the sun comes out again. Maybe visit nearby Whipsnade Zoo and take my camera.

Keeping busy

I've not been unproductive for the last few days but I have found inspiration difficult to come by. The consequence being I've not been too satisfied with my 'art work'. It took me nearly all afternoon to create one valentines card. Roses seem to be a theme at the moment but it is Valentines day soon! Yesterday I made some cards, perhaps to sell, using clip art from the internet which I enhanced with glitter, embossing and decoupage - but is that cheating?
Today I have finished spinning some silk that I started some time ago. Sometimes there are weeks between me dying the fibre to spinning it into a yarn. I'm happy with the result and when more undyed yarn comes form my supplier I shall be combining them both in a weaving project.
If the pictures look flat it's because I scanned both the card and the yarn. The silver heart and the rose are layed with pads but the weight of the scanner top has flattened them.

Snowfall

Friends have rung to say that they have had 5 inches of snow and that is just 3 miles from us. Graphicus is running on a skeleton staff - can you hear those bones rattling? :) and our weavers guild meeting tomorrow has been called off!
I'm not sure that I shall get out to my workshop in the garden, but thank goodness I keep my papercrafts and spinning wheel indoors.Keep snug and warm.