Some really cool things have come out of making stuff and posting it online in the past 5(ish) years.  Like this, or this and this.

But the most recent is really one of the very nicest. My longtime internet-and-real friend Francesca Iannaccone sent me these great pictures from the primary school art class that she helps out in. The teacher had brought in some images to use as source material for the kids to work from, and some of them were mine.

Look at these! Frankly I think they are far superior to the originals.

Hedgerow Jelly (Autumn in a Jar)

If you have kids and, like mine, they love to collect everything and anything they spot while out walking (shells, stones, feathers, broken blue and white pottery, coins, bottle tops etc. etc. etc.) then you might enjoy making this with them.

On our last walk we collected all sorts of edible Autumnal treasure - crab apples, sloes, rose hips, rowan berries, black berries, haws... but what to do with it all? Hedgerow Jelly, that's what.

We found this recipe, which worked brilliantly, and really you can be fairly flexible with what you put in, depending on what you find.  Always be careful to check that what you have picked is actually edible though, and not deadly nightshade berries for example. Make sure you wash everything thoroughly before starting.

As long as the sugar to juice ratio is 1 pound : 1 pint, you should be ok. And we totally cheated and squeezed the muslin straining bag (which looked like something out of a terrible slasher movie as the thick, red, viscous liquid oozed over our hands). Yes our jelly is a little cloudy, but we got twice as much, which is more important than perfection in my jam making school.

Then when it was done and poured into jars, we made labels (Isla's was so nice I copied hers).

It tastes very nice on porridge, crumpets and pancakes and would probably be very nice with game too, as it is quite sharp and sweet.

Ready.... Steady.... Go....

First swim of the year at Burton Bradstock this evening.  It was great.

Photos by Nelly.

Knocking knees and chattering teeth by The English Channel.

Gypsy Caravan

It's nearly the end of the Easter Holidays.  I haven't done a stroke of work.

We stayed in a proper Gypsy Caravan set in an orchard in a very beautiful part of the world.  Our stay coincided with beautiful spring weather, clear skies and a massive yellow moon rising as we sat around the campfire.  There were frisky little lambs to coo over and big scary cows to run away from.  We took our wildflower and bird books and spotted-and-jotted.  The girls wrote and drew constantly.  We climbed hills, swung on rope swings, paddled in rivers, fell in nettles and slipped in mud.

Details here.  I can't recommend it highly enough.


(NB. Not a sponsored post.  Just an actual holiday)

To blog or not...

Blogging.  A constant dilemma.  Seems entirely superfluous these days.  But then I read sweet, funny posts like this, or see beautiful photos like these and think, Yes, there is a point.


From top to bottom:

1) Work in progress on exhibition panels
2) There are always funny little things I find when tidying the girls' rooms 
3) Auditioning new bird shapes
4) That day when it felt like summer, even at 7am
5) My favourite beach activity

Beach Junk

Inspired by Sabine Timm's quirky beach-find sculptures, we collected some flotsam and jetsam on Sunday and made some of our own.

It was great fun finding all the bits - spotting a bottle top here and a bit of fluoro fishing wire there, and then hatching a plan as to what we'd do with it, all the while tidying the beach and giving our youngest a reason to keep on walking (she's never that keen).

Picking Up

Feeling much better now.

Spent the day pottering around rivers and beaches with the family.

Gently back to work tomorrow, seems like ages since I was in the workshop last.

3 New Cards - The Pocket Money Shop

Three new illustrations by Nelly in her Etsy shop - Freckle Face, Gypsy Dancer and Sad Cat.  I've listed them as blank A6 card + envelope, but they could be A4/A5 prints if required.

As before, sales of these go towards funding the adoption of a Snow Leopard through the WWF.

>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<

We've just returned from an amazing couple of days in Catalunya, and just as soon as I've finished unpacking (I don't know why it's taking so long, we only took hand luggage!) I'll put up some pics.

Anorak Magazine - Summer Games Special

When I was a kid, I was always sending drawings and poems in to our local newspaper, which had a kids corner section. The prize for getting published was a £3 WHSmith voucher. I can remember the buzz of not only seeing my name in print, but also of getting that crisp green voucher in the post.

The girls were similarly ecstatic to find that the pictures they sent in for the Anorak "Draw Me A Game" competition got published.

Getting a sensible photo out of either of them at the moment is a struggle.  I took about 30, these were the only ones publishable.  Sigh.

Somethings

11" x 16" Art prin... inmybackyard $35	Easter Lamb Cushion Easter G... TheFoxintheAtt... $25	CROWN HAT (Oatmeal and Red) annmooreenglan... $32	Ceramic girls 1960's Pla... HUISHANOldTime $420
TRIBAL SAND - notebook - pat... ARMINHO $10	Red Double Coffee Maker MyGosh $30	Printemps searlaitboutiq... $85	Handmade Embroidered Mr Toot... Antirhythmus $12
Hand Illustrated scalloped E... ohNOrachio $10	Paper Mache Pear Nesting on ... GatheredTogeth... $55	Sea Botanicals 1, 11x14 prin... KatieVernon $30	Knitted of soft MERINO wool ... Ligitashop $11.99
Copper Himmeli no. 7 / Moder... HRUSKAA $80	Wooden Mushroom Brooch mycol... finestimaginar... $13.5	Small Geometric Diagonal Blu... smallspells $30	Vintage glass jelly mould 19... Thrifters $10

The mornings smell of hay and dew, the garden is full of blackberries + loganberries and the kids are pretty much feral  That'll be August then.

Things are busy in the workshop, lots of birds to be painted for other stained glass studios and I'm finding that early mornings are the best time to work - up with the larks!

Some things I found on Etsy lately.