The badgers keep moving the goal posts

Ok so I can't do the poem, but I can make the cushions

badger cushion by www.treehuggery.co.uk 

poem by Carol Ann Duffy

22 Reasons for the Bedroom Tax

Because the Badgers are moving the goalposts.
The Ferrets are bending the rules.
The Weasels are taking the hindmost.
The Otters are downing tools.

The Hedgehogs are changing the game-plan
The Grass-snakes are spitting tacks.

The Squirrels are playing the blame-game.
The Skunks are twisting the facts.

The Pole-cats are upping the ante.
The Foxes are jumping the gun.
The Voles are crashing the party.
The Stoats are dismantling the Sun.

The Rabbits are taking the biscuit.
The Hares are losing the plot.
The Eagles are kicking the bucket.
The Rats are joining the dots.

The Herons are throwing a curveball.
The Shrews are fanning the flames.
The Field mice are sinking the 8-ball.
The Swans are passing the blame.

And the Pheasants are draining the oil from the tank-
but only the Bustards have broken the bank.

Perfectly Perfect Presents!

I'm feeling very flattered to have been asked on the brand spanking new website www.perfectlyperfectpresents.com , there is some lovely work on there, and although it's only been launched for a couple of days, it feels like Christmas has already arrived, maybe it's the change in weather, and people starting to feel seasonal, but orders from there, and from all of my other outlets are rolling in.
To help with the launch of perfect perfect, I've doing a give away of one of my hare cushions,  I've also got badgers and pups, and am working on a range of h'animals (huggery animals).

I'll post some more photos later, but here's a picture of the hare, and a link to where you can enter to the draw.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Perfectly-Perfect-Presents/150638951804891?fref=ts

Hare cushion by TreeHuggery

A dog is for life not just for Christmas

I've been making some of these little chappies just recently, they're really nice to make, distressing and layering hand dyed voiles and each one has its own little character.  Whereas with my silver birches and poppies a few slight differences (it always happens they're all completely handmade) only makes for a slightly different cushion, a few slight differences here can create a very different character - a couple of extra downward stitches can make one of these little chaps look really really sad and worried.

Doggy cushions by TreeHuggery

Black Pigs

I was exhibiting at the Eastwood Expo yesterday, which is mainly an event for local authors to promote their work - fantastic.  The event was at the lovely Beauvale Priory which is close to us, but we previously hadn't visited.  We'll definately be back though - the priory remains are interesting,. and there's a lovely tea room serving high teas, which also hosts a summer beer festival.  As well at the exhibitors there was quite a lot of entertainment - my favourite being the black pig border morris dancers. The woman at the stall next to me kept urging me to go outside and look at the morris dancers, and I was just "yeah, yeah" but I'm really glad I did - don't think traditional morris dancers, think "steam punk"  brightly and chaotically dress, covered in feathers and ribbons with blacked out faces, playing their own instruments and attempting to thrash each other with massive sticks - Hugely entertaining.
Apparently the tradition was started by farmers, who needed to earn money, once the harvesting was done.  They would tour the pubs and turn their jackets inside out and decorate them with ribbons and scraps of materials.  They would black their faces so that they weren't recognised by the church, who were disapproving of people having fun.
The Black Pig Border Morris dancers were all really friendly guys, and are well worth checking out

Winter's Here

The weather is changing, and quickly - the gales are blowing again, and it feels like time to hunker down.  Always much easier to sew in the winter than it is on the red hot days, where I feel I should be making the most of the sunshine.
Here's my latest hunker down picture - I took a photo of a frosty fence post years ago, I loved the pattern and the textures, but have never been sure how to progress with it.
Karina at Studio 61 and I often work together on seasonal projects - shes a water colour artist, and sometimes she'll do something and I'll make something in textiles that is inspired from that, sometimes its the other way round.
With the request of "do something wintry" it felt time to revisit the frosty fence post - I've incorporated silks and angelina fibres (ideal for winter sparkle) as well as lots of burning..... I'm really pleased with the overall effect and am going to get some prints and cards created.
Now to hunker down again.

Frosty Fence Post

scruffy pups

Thanks to my neighbours lovely animal pictures that are created by pyrography (wood burning) I've just been playing around, and have come up with this little chappie - he's stilll a work in progress, but I think he's got potential, and am feeling inspired about the possibility of creating a new collection
Just need to think of a name for him now.

Giant dragonflies

Another busy weekend.
Col went over to a fell face at Longshaw sheepdog trials on Saturday; brinsleyrunner.blogspot.co.uk

And then yesterday he helped me with my stall at the Brinsley Headstocks.  It was a great day; despite the gloomy forecast the sun shone all day, and the volunteers who take responsibility for looking after the headstocks and organising the festival did a fantastic job.

As well as my stall, I'd bought along a giant dragonfly sculpture that I'd been commissioned to make with young people from the Eastwood Youth Club.  We'd designed it so that people could stand in the middle, and have their photograph taken, and write and weave things inside the wings.  It was lovely to see how popular it was.

It was also really nice to have persuaded my  neighbour to come to his first ever event and sell his beautiful work - he's a pyrographer, burning art in to wood, my personal favourites are the hares, and I'm really tempted to create some animals in textiles.
Our little bit of the village is quite a creative corner, with photographers, textilers, painters and pyrographers - oooh a Brinsley art trail would be nice......

Dragonfly 

TreeHuggery at Brinsley Headstocks Festival

Brinsley Headstocks

I can't believe I haven't posted for over 2 months!
I've been so busy getting things ready for galleries, and doing my textiles degree (including a smoking jacket for Bradley Wiggins!) that I haven't had time to post, and I've got a whole load of things waiting to go on here. Even though I haven't been running for months, theres not enough hours in the day, and a bit of a niggle in my leg, has actually felt like a relief, and an excuse for one less thing to have to do!
Just in time though, for Sunday's Brinsley Headstock Festival, my piece is finally ready and framed.
I'm loving the big chunky frame that Col made for me out of reclaimed timbers, it's so chunky it can sit on a desk rather than being hung.
Sunday's festival is sounding good, lots of guided walks, and I'm intrigued to find out what/who "Sheepish Grin" are....
More soon - hopefully

Brinsley Headstocks

Brinsley Headstocks - I'm thinking of getting this one done as a print

Brinsley Headstocks - big chunky frame!

Kafkaesque nightmare

I'm stuck in a kafkaesque nightmare.  Not having had a television for about 10 years, (and only having a black and white television before that) I'm used to having to send, almost monthly, declarations swearing that I don't have a television (when we had the black and white tv, we eventually asked if they wanted a black and white photograph of our b & w tv as evidence).
Yesterday we had a visit from the tv licensing authority people while we were out, to check to see if we do have a tv.  Obviously I don't mind them doing this, and fully understand there is a need for them to check, but because I was out they requested that I contact them to state, yet again, that I don't have a tv.
Firstly I tried phoning, but after eventually reaching the department that I needed, an automated voice told me that there was a que, and to leave a message on the website, before cutting me off.
Easier said then done, when I eventually founded the page that I needed to state that I don't have a tv and so don't need a license, it asked me for license reference number......

Wash day blues

Ages since I last posted - the first of the strawberries are out - yay, and with all of the sunshine and showers the other veg is looking healthy too.
The sunshine has provided me a great opportunity to do some hand dyeing and get it dried easily, still thinking about a scarf inspired by the sea, I've moved on to thinking about something more textured.... as always its still a work in progress......

Synchronicity

I was at Belper Arts Festival yesterday, and it felt an interesting start to the day, when one of the other artists said that she had already seen my work.  it turns out that her water colours, which are lovely, are in the one of the same venues as mine (The lovely White Peacock tea room and emporium).  It turns out we'd both popped in there yesterday, but at different times, her with her work, and us later on for their bistro night.  Small world.
The world got even smaller, when a few minutes later, one of the Artists who has a studio in the building, came over to look at my silver birches, and told me that she also creates silver birches, but in pastels.  OK that bit's not particularly surprising, lots of artists are inspired by silver birches, but it is strange that I recognised her from a holiday in Iceland that we were both on about 12 years ago!  At that time she wasn't drawing, and I hadn't started sewing,  but 12 years later, not only do we have the shared love of Iceland, we're inspired by the same subject matter.  (Though I really must be more careful in how I ask questions, I was so surprised to see her, that I just blurted out "Have you ever been to Iceland?" - It would have served me right, if she'd replied with "No, I prefer Sainsburys"......)
Then when we got home, me and Col were researching the area we now live in, and it's links to DH Lawrence (neither of us had realised that the White Peacock tea room, is a reference to DH Lawrence's first novel), and then, when I picked up the Guardian, the front page of the Review is all about.....DH Lawrence.

no further words needed!

choosing a weather forecast!

Why do weather forecasts have to be so, very varied?  Sometimes its nice to be able to browse the diiferent forecasts until you find one you want, but sometimes it would be really helpful to know what the weather is going to be doing.
I've got an outdoor stall at Belper Arts Festival this weekend, and while I'm loving the forecast of a sunny day with highs of fifteen degrees, it would actually be really useful to know, and be able to prepare for, high winds and snow.
My preparations are reminiscent of packing to go on holiday to the East coast as a small child; t shirt, ground sheets, flask, anorak, sunnies......

Treasure Hunt

Just come back from a really good activity - I'm not a confident orienteerer (is that a word?) but have just done the Run Challenge around Eastwood, which is more like a giant treasure hunt.

Forty five minutes to find as many control points (and answer questions such as "What is the last digit on the post box?" and "Which day of the week is the Clairvoyants night?"  (Hmmm should they need it advertising????)   )

Points get deducted if you're late back, and so as well as sorting out a route, and looking for clues, you have to be realistic about how quickly (or in my case, slowly)  you think you can run.  

As well as doing speedwork and hill work, by stealth, you really don't realise that you're doing it, it has the added bonus of getting to know new routes for when it's dark at night, and running through fields of cows isn't an option.

The Eastwood event is really handy for us, but their website www.runchallenge.org.uk shows that they're setting them up in lots of places - very exciting to be at the start of something new! 

who said village life was quiet

After a busy weekend last weekend, and knowing that I've got a busy week ahead, we decided to have a lazy Sunday, catch up with friends, and visit the Lady Bay Art Festival.
We've both become captivated by a garden chair - based on the old wicker "egg" chairs, that are suspended from the ceiling, this work of art, can be suspended from a tree, or from a metal sculpture, and it is truely wonderful to look at, and relaxing to sit it, one couple who have bought one, take duvets outside in the winter, snuggle up in it, and watch the stars - how fantastic is that.
Any way busy week ahead in the village, there's a footpath walk today - its purpose is to report on any maintenance that needs to be carried out, but has the added advantage of linking new routes together for us, a treasure hunt run in Eastwood on Tuesday (hope I don't get lost) and a gourmet bistro night at The White Peacock Tea Rooms on Friday night, before sorting out everything to take to Belper Open Arts Festival on Saturday.
Best get cracking

Can you see the sea?

Today, I hope to, finally, get around to mailing my scarf off to my tutor to be assessed for my degree work.

I've been so busy preparing for the Open Studios, that my degree work, unfortunately, had to take a back seat.
The scarf is hand dyed and is inspired by the sea, I like to think that the colours capture the colours of the sea, swirling blues greens and greys, and I hope that the structure works too; I wanted to create something that felt inviting to step into, but had the potential to be threatening too; dangerous, and out of control, with the risk of being pulled down and submerged.

A big thank you too, to my friend, who thought that she was just going to put it on, to see how it sat, and was a bit surprised when i got the camera out to start taking photos!

monkey business

well the good news is that the local paper have decided to do a little video of me and my work (apparently video clips are the way forward even with local news papers), the bad news is that the clip features below a comedy monkey at a traffic island, and you have to click on that page before you can find the video "Jackie Ward, Artist)
Currently feeling the same double edged feeling of having run a Marathon, but being overtaken by  a pantomime horse
http://www.eastwoodadvertiser.co.uk/news/eastwood-kimberley-news/video-monkey-business-on-traffic-island-1-5656513

And relax...

Well that's my first ever Open Studios, and after all of my initial worries, that
a.   I might be sitting there on my own for the whole weekend
c.  People might comment on the state of the garden (it's a work in progress, not helped by the rain)
b.  People might walk straight in, and straight out
and  d.  and e.
I can honestly say that I had a lovely time; people came who I haven't seen for a long time, neighbours came and supported me, people came who had heard about it by word of mouth, or had seen the Open Studios publicity, and as well as being able to explain how I work, I was able to hear about other peoples arts, interests and passions,
We actually saw the last visitors back at around 9pm Sunday evening!  so went to to bed with that strange combination of shattered yet buzzing

Best bits - two little girls who, on entering my studio, were as excited, as if they'd entered a sweet shop, that, and teaching them how to felt - stopping them from pulling and treating the wool gently - priceless.
Then the next morning opening up my inbox, and finding an email from a lady who had travelled from Lincolnshire, which was extremely lovely to receive.

Funniest moments - the comment "we thought you'd closed for the day, but then we saw a couple of mugs moving behind the door".  priceless, still smiling now, both about that, and my lovely weekend, ach well back to the sewing machine..

Drum roll

And here's the reason why I've had so little time to post anything over the last few weeks

Taaaadaaaaaa
My lovely cosy new studio.....

Only a month ago, we didn't even have a concrete base, and now thanks to my lovely shop lifting (err sorry shop fitting) husband, I have a lovely studio, and (literally) just in time for this weekend's Open Studios Event.

The timing's been very tight, the electrics only went in on Tuesday, and I've been moving stuff in around the Electrician, but it's here, and apart from some last minute tweaking, it's really, and I really really love it.

I can look down the garden as I work, and as my next door neighbours are getting some chickens, I'll have some company too.
Just can't believe it's all mine....

Open Studios, 11 & 12 May, The Moor Cottages, 36 Moor Rd, Brinsley, Nottinghamshire, 10am-5pm

shaky hands - I'm so nervous - hopefully better photos tomorrow!

last minute sweeping!

just got to get the bunting up

Blue blood

Every day is a school day!
I work, a few days a week in a busy hospital pharmacy, and today, on a visit to Quality Control, I learned all about the horse shoe crab and it's green/blue blood.
Apparently the horse shoe crab has copper rather than iron in it's blood, which explains the unusal colour, and it is this that is very useful for staining, and therefore detecting, bacteria.

Certain bacteria (gram negative bacteria) don't show up with more conventional stains, that are designed to stain bacteria purple, but the blood of the horse shoe crab, is an effective stain and highlights any possible contamination. The crabs blood is harvested, for use in the laboratory and then they are released back into the wild. 
It brings a whole new meaning to the term blue blood.