Its not going well

I'm really struggling to put a lining into a dress - I'm not a dressmaker and 3 dimensional thinking has always been problematic for me. 
My strategy to this problem is to leave it to one side and come back to it later, consequently i've gone back to my drawing course, which is normally a source of calm and relaxation, but this module has been particularly difficult for me - when it hasn't been about capturing fine detail (I'm very expressive, but not detailed) its been about drawing animals, and nextdoors cat just won't sit still

Save our Countryside

After a battle to stop the government from selling up our forests, they are now proposing that our greenfields and countryside are used to create more housing stock.  It feels like madeness, there are plenty of brown field sites available for building on and there are plenty of houses for sale that are unsold because people can't get mortgages.  Taking away our green spaces for houses that are built on projections that aren't necessarily correct and that can be built elsewhere seems a crime. 
38 degrees have set up a petition http://www.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/save-our-countryside to try and stop this.
Its not often that I use the blog as a soap box but this is really important to me.  All of the things that are important to me; running, walking, wildlife, scenery, inspiration, a place to feel uplifted and calm and just being away from urban life could all be removed in the next 10 years.
Please click on the link above and sign the petition and forward it on widely.
Thank you
Jackie

Book Vandal

Over the last few days I've posted quite a few things on Freecycle (a website where you can give things you no longer need to other members, and request or be gifted things from others).  I really like Freecycle, although a few people are really greedy in what they request or don't feel the need to say please or thank you, the majority of people are really nice and are really happy if they get a few glass jars for chutney making or some green house glass.
Along with a load of other things I'd posted (such as big old cathrode televisions that we found in the garage at the house we've bought, and crafting items) I'd posted a few of my old social policy text books.  I didn't really expect anyone to want the social policy books and not wanting to waste them completely, I had a flash of inspiration and  decided that the covers might be useful collage material.  Of course it was only after I'd torn the covers off and started cutting them up, that somebody requested the books, and I had to sheepishly explain that they could have them but that they were now naked..  I think we made each other laugh; I had the lovely response, "don't worry, its like people, its whats on the inside that matters" and then laughingly got told that they'd not met a book vandal since they were at school.

Bag Ladies

I've been making a few bag ladies, I'm hoping to sell some at a craft fairs and through Treehuggery

From Condoms to Pompoms

We've been a bit quite on the blog for the last couple of weeks, mainly because we're busy renovating the house but also because I'm busy writing a book.  It's all about  why I've decided to leave my job in teenage pregnancy at the county council, and start up "Treehuggery" an arts and crafts business upcycling reclaimed materials. I'm planning on calling my book "From Condoms to Pompoms" - and heres the introductory paragraph.

Up until the moment I opened my car boot to search for my locking wheel nut, the mechanic at the garage had been smiley, pleasant and helpful towards me; it seemed that he’d recognised the awkwardness I felt as a lone woman in a garage. It was only as he explained that in order to check the tracking he would need my locking wheel nut, and as I started to shuffle through my boot full of boxes of assorted sizes and flavours of condoms, that his smile began to fade. Seconds later, any façade of a smile left his face completely, when, in a bid to try and explain things and make them better, I gestured towards the boxes, now all over the garage floor, and said “It’s ok, it’s for my work”.

It was at that point that I realised that what’s normal in the world of sexual health, isn’t normal in the rest of the world.

Hats off!

Well the first few days of September might still feel like Summer, but I've been busy thinking about Autumn and Winter and making some hats that hopefully I'll sell through craft fairs and through Treehuggery

I love trying to upcycle things and applique makes this really easy the flowers are samples from experimental dying and weaving, and hand rolled felt balls in the centre.

jackie