“In spring, when woods are getting green, I’ll try and tell you what I mean”

Normal service has resumed to Witchmountain after more power cuts at the end of last week. Sara and I spent an interesting(*) evening eating tinned soup and realising we didn’t know how to play dominos.There was a shortage of candles and light seemed like such a luxury … until morning when it revealed the mess; dominos soaked in Amaretto ( a mystery) , half drunk cups of tea lost in the dark, a mountain of washing up and candle stubs in jars all over the place. Today has been a celebration of electricity with a big baking session;cakes and scones and bread ( this yellow chick was one that I found during the Faceby Forest Foray, I made him wash his feet) . The kitchen smells of warm chocolate and hot coffee.

I mentioned on my Facebook page that I have been writing this blog now for nearly four years! I hope this is a cause for celebration because it seems like an awful long time to me and means its now EIGHT years since I started my degree at CCAD. The blog has changed over the years and ,I hope, improved. Perhaps the type of people who read has changed as well, since it started out as a student thing, part of our course work, rambled on through my early freelance days after graduation and now I’m hoping to maybe make it pay by offering advertising and sponsored links. Mostly I just love writing though and sharing the highs and lows of Witchmountain with you. So… a big  THANK YOU for reading and commenting and being generally so wonderful and supportive. I’m offering a big parcel of things in this “4th Birthday Giveaway”, including the Blurb notebook I made last year, an original canvass,owl brooch, bear hair-slide and whatever else I can fit in the package.

I’ve noticed that other people run giveaways by asking people to help them reach a certain number of followers on Facebook etc, a kind of mercenary, self promotion I’ve always shied away from. However, I’ve decided that being a shrinking violet isn’t getting me anywhere, so this time I will draw the winner when I reach 500 Facebook followers and 100 Twitterers. A modest request I hope and it is my birthday too, so it would be a nice present don’t you think? Don’t worry if you don’t use either ( I admire you for it) just leave a comment here and you’ll still be in with a chance.

Well, I hope you’ve all been enjoying Easter or Ēostre, here is an Easter bunny for you. Easter means everything starts to open again after Winter and I’m happy to be back at the lovely Helmsley Walled Garden Cafe ,where there were home made Hot Cross Buns on Friday. I’m looking forward to watching the garden burst into life and colour over the next few months and  thinking I might have to combine a walk around the garden with this wonderful idea by The Curiosity Project …

Now its time for a slice of that cake I think.Have you been treating yourselves?

A New Broom…

This weekend was one of thinking, planning and evaluating. My lovely daughter turned 20 on Sunday and it was important for me to think about where I was and how I got here ( * bursts into a rendition of “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads) . Its such a cliché to keep going on about how time flies but when your children reach an age that you actually still feel , despite the wrinkles, it obviously prompts a bit of soul searching, not to mention panic,…just when will I feel “grown up” ? Here she is…

…and yes it seems like yesterday!

So,part of my “thinking and planning” has resulted in me booking a business mentoring session with the lovely Vicky Trainor  as I intend to get my besum broom out and give Witchmountain a good shake up and spring clean. Already, doing my homework in a brand new sketchbook, I have started to feel a lot more focused.It really does help to write things down and I do love making books.

As part of my homework I was asked to come up with 10 words to describe Witchmountain… I wondered if it might not be more useful to ask you, dear readers? I would be most grateful and to thank you for you valued opinions I will offer one of my little prints as a bribe…I mean prize…to the writer of a comment chosen at random (be honest though, you don’t have to use 10 words and they don’t even have to be nice words… no x rated ones though please!Just think about how you would describe this blog or my work to a stranger) I’ll pick a winner on March 1st.

Well, I think it’s time for a bit more cutting and sticking and market researching and I also have a batch of biscuit dough ready to bake so its time to dive back into the real world. I’ve spent most of the day finishing a lot of purses ready for the Vintage Fair in March, listening to Poirot on the radio and daydreaming about Bernina sewing machines!

These purses are made using vintage materials including some gorgeous green floral fabric that was my grandma’s,beautiful cotton lace and my own printed wool. I found the wonderful , half finished linen table cloth in Oxfam at the weekend. I love it and want to use it in my work…but will the blue print wash out? Have a great week where ever you are.

Reading : “The Cat’s Table” Michael Ondaatje  Listening To: “Odelay” Beck, “Leaders of the Free World” Elbow and ” Letter to Hermione” David Bowie.

Its All About Me

This is just a very quick post to point you in the direction of my fabulous interview with  the inspirational Katy over on kt40s blog ( including a very sensible self portrait/mug shot and talk of imaginary shops)  Always one of my favorite reads and so colourful, just what is needed in Yorkshire in November…

Really I do need to do some making and preparing for Fridays fair, so I won’t waffle on …oh,except, I should mention my desperate attempt to drum up some sales on Folksy. I’ve been offering a FREE GIFT worth around £10 to the first person to buy something from my little shop and plugging it mercilessly on Facebook… I can hear the tumbleweeds rolling past and the broken shutters banging in the wind…but this means the winner could still be YOU

Now, its definitely time to do some sewing and get the christmas cakes in the oven; the fruit’s been soaking in Brandy all night next to the vat of Sloe Gin so its smelling pretty good in here!(hic)

Tumbleweed and Too Much Coffee

A blustery Autumnal day on Witchmountain and I find myself in my usual position, mug in hand, stove ablaze, deep in thought. Today I have good intentions to turn over a new leaf regarding butter, caffeine, exercise and positive thinking. Ok, so the mug is full of coffee and I only walked a hundred yards down the road before I realised I’d forgotten the egg money and had to turn back, but I will go later ( honestly) and on the positive side no butter has been consumed!

The garden still has some delicate late colour to cheer me up as I wonder how the “lawn” became a jungle and why the strawberries have decided to flower again just as the first real frosts meant I needed to de-ice the car on Saturday morning…
Saturday morning was the day of Designer’s Marketplace in Newcastle, and also a day of glorious sunshine , the most perfect an October day can get. We managed to get to the Holy Biscuit in plenty of time to set up and the drive only slightly terrified me ( multi- lane roundabouts are a shock after the moors where you only have to avoid aggressive 4×4 drivers,over excited sheep and panic stricken pheasants) .

Now I’m torn between bigging the whole thing up or telling it as it is because I think its more useful and honest? I mean, I think it is easy to be mislead by what you see on the internet, we are all  trying to sell ourselves as best we can and while I do write this blog in order to promote what I do and hopefully get work from it, I also write because I want to be open about the pitfalls, struggles, highs and lows of trying to make a living out of creativity. So, the truth is … it was deadly quiet and if I’d been a politician I’d have lost my deposit, even my “Bargain Box” in aid of Shelterbox  wasn’t going to save the day.Was it the weather, the entrance fee, the location? At least everyone was quiet , not just me, but that makes it even harder to judge myself objectively.On the plus side it was fantastic to meet the other stall holders, talk shop and eat cake. I was particularly impressed with Vicky Trainor’s work; she was one of my tutors at college and her vintage inspired cards and beautiful wedding favours must take her hours to put together, prompting me to question yet again how handmade work is valued and priced…

Have a look at this stunning set of wedding photos from Vicky’s blog. They look like stills from a film and I think I may have to make more of an effort with my personal grooming!!

Here are some of my newest offerings; a small wooden box with canvass lid and some new wallet designs derived from it. I’ll be listing them on Etsy and Folksy later and I’m thinking of making up some as sewing kits too. What do you think?

Now, I really must put this computer down as its burning my knees,I’ve already dropped butternut squash pate on it and I must try to run about a bit before darkness falls.

 

 

“Jam Tomorrow…”

My kitchen windowsill reflects the changing seasons like a school nature table (do they still have these random collections of pebbles, conkers and bird’s nests?) and last month’s pastel, summer scented sweet peas have been replaced by the rich colours of autumn; butternut squash,the last sunflower and a collection of jewel coloured jam jars full of damson and apple jelly.The kitchen is also covered in jewel coloured splatters and I haven’t dealt with the jelly bag yet which looks like the heart of a large animal…

At the weekend I had possibly the prettiest setting for a market stall ever, as I took part in Helmsley Walled Garden’s Autumn Fair. Since I was a late booking and work in the cafe anyway, I was allowed to display my wares in the Vine House rather than the marquee and so spent a pleasant day under the grape vines, drinking a lot of coffee and chatting with interested passers by on their way to enjoy a fabulous vegetarian lunch.

The day was a success ,mostly because I sold a small painting, but I also learnt a useful lesson too because I realised that my displays did not make it clear enough that the necklaces were actually necklaces and not just small pieces of art or cards. More labels needed for my next outing then, which will be Designer’sMarketplace at Newcastle’s Holy Biscuit on October 14th. This event is part of Newcastle’s Design Festival , there’s loads going on so if you’re planning a trip to the Toon this could be the week to do it!

I’ll be giving a 15% discount to readers of Witchmountain so just say hello and mutter “the owls are not what they seem” under your breath to qualify!!

Well, I have some dull housework to do now and a bit of garden tidying before I can continue with a commission I’m doing for a couple who are getting married in October. I’m wishing my garden looked more like Helmsley and thinking yellow and purple must be the colours of the moment ; not a combination I would normally choose. Soon it will be getting chilly and I’m hoping some babies with chilly toes will be asking for some Witchmountain elf shoes for Christmas!

Reading : “One Day” David Nicholls and planning to take part in the Guardian’s Book Swap

Verdant

I seem to have caught a cold, which has been a perfect excuse to light the stove and bake comfort food, while messing about on Photoshop with a doodle I did in Wiltshire. Actually, on Sunday I was taken on a magical mystery trip which involved driving over the Yorkshire Wolds, which are quite foreign to me. The landscape there is similar to Wiltshire in many ways, big and yellow and so different to the North York Moors only a few miles away. The Moors here are just starting to turn purple while the grey sky throws buckets of rain over everything and the garden is starting to look a bit mad and overblown.

It’s lovely to fill the house with flowers ,still wet from the garden ,and cobble together meals from the vegetable patch. But today I made a sad discovery when I found Lola ( previously Nameless Chicken) stone cold dead on the chicken house floor, she was quite an old lady so I don’t suspect fowl play (oh dear !) . Now there is only  Evil Penguin left so I suppose I’d better start looking for some friends for her,anyone have any Buff Pekins for sale?

I’ve just driven back from the village through big puddles, dodging the toads and hedgehogs who seem to be holding some sort of street party. I was going to spend the evening drawing the owl, who I still have after the gallery day , but I think I’m going to retire to my nest with a book and some hot lemon and honey.

I managed to track down the photographs taken by the Northern Echo and thought I’d be very naughty and share them with you. I’m not sure if I will get done for breach of copyright; obviously as a designer/artist this is an important issue so If I’ve done wrong could somebody please let me know so I can remove them…

The next event “Art in the Shed”, is planned for August Bank Holiday in Osmotherley and will be in aid of Street Child Africa.Hopefully I will have got some more work framed by then and there’s bound to be some lovely cakes on offer too since Jane is organizing it!

Goodnight and Thank you for all the votes!  x

Reading: “Cloud Atlas” David Mitchel   ” Griffin And Sabine Trilogy” Nick Bantock.   Listening to : JuJu “In Trance” and news of riots in London on Radio4.

Buttons, Birds, Books and Bicycles.

Dear readers I have been neglecting you and fewer of you have been visiting Witchmountain in recent weeks.I hope this is because we have all been spending more time outside while the sun shines and less huddled over our keyboards. Driving across the moor this week I felt all bubbly and excited for no real reason, as if I was on the way to a party or had just got some very good news…I could only put it down to the mad lushness of everything, the almost day-glo greens,bright pink Campions, Cauliflower white clouds, everything bursting with energy. Still,a 10 mile bike ride on Sunday used up most of MY energy and any good it did me was wiped out by the appetite  for toast it caused!

I’m busy getting some things ready for an Art Market at Rural Arts  on The 28th and 29th of May, in fact I should be doing that now but apart from writing this I’m being distracted by the swallows diving about outside the kitchen window. Hopefully they are catching all the nasty midges that bite me whenever I rush out to pick some salad leaves in the evening.

I’m still hooked on making tiny birds and have just got some lovely buttons from the amazing  Duttons for Buttons in York. Whenever I go in there I can’t help imagining the chaos if the shelves were to collapse.

As well as the necklaces, I eventually got around to cutting up some of my old embroidery/print samples last night and making them into these little denim purses with coloured zips, lined with hand dyed pink cotton.

So, I’m going to do a little work before packing up my Millican rucksack ready for its first outing. Forecast is rain and I’ve been told to pack a wetsuit so I hope the Yurt is cozy!

Reading: still reading Millican Dalton’s biography and wondering whether to give “Tristram Shandy” by Laurence Sterne a try after a visit to Shandy Hall today.

“Love in a Cold Climate”

I’m feeling a bit giddy with excitement.Being snowed in is something that actually makes me feel safe and energized. Despite being a very sociable person the isolation and solitude make me feel so contented; introspective yes, the smell of snow reminds me of how sad I felt last winter, but thats ok.I’ve never seen snow like this in the ten years I’ve lived on Witchmountain…so still and silent, with icicles framing the window ( look at the lace patterns in the snow!) and great caps of white on every fence post and branch. The heating boiler has broken but the stove is keeping the kitchen toasty.

Yesterday Lindsey and I managed to get to Middlesbrough for the Designer’s Marketplace, THANKS to David and his 4×4. There was some beautiful stuff for sale including Helen Steven‘s new ceramics and Claire Baker’s textiles and accessories.I sold a small painting with huge emotional significance but that’s probably a good thing. Unfortunately we all had to pack up early due to crazy snow, before I could do all my shopping.

So today I have been slowly listing things on Etsy and hoping that the virtual world will save me, since It looks like I won’t be going to work in the near future and therefore will not be getting paid…

I have created a special discount code for readers of Witchmountain which will give you a 20% discount in my Etsy shop. Its a nice idea the team at Etsy have recently come up with. Anyway the code is “WITCHMOUNTAIN1 ” prices are all in GB pounds now, I changed it only because it made book keeping easier for me. I hope it doesn’t deter US customers?

I’m thinking I ought to spend a little time with my sketchbook this afternoon as I only have a few weeks left before it needs to be posted back to the Brooklyn Art Library.Tempting to try and make some mince pies as delicious as the ones Lindsey’s mum made yesterday, hmmm, lots of Brandy I think!

Meanwhile I will leave you with this picture of a beautiful little girl called Martha with her new Witchmountain slippers, isn’t she gorgeous! ( Her mum kindly sent me more pictures later which I have used in my shop, THANK YOU! A supermodel at the age of 3months!)

(Reading: “Birdsong” Sebastian Faulks. Listening To: the silence where the hum of the heating boiler ought to be)

The Lark in the Morning

A bright and frosty morning here on Witchmountain.Jack Frost had left swirly fern patterns on the glass and the lawn was crunchy as my morning toast. Sometimes I get a burst of energy which takes me by surprize; normally sleepy as a sloth, I have been up since 7 this morning, making tiny boots and brooches. It must be the weather …I wish I could always feel this awake in the mornings , a lark instead of an owl.

These little bird brooches are one of my favorite designs at the moment.I’ve used the same design in some of my cards and notebooks and hope to make a laser cut version at some point. I’m slowly building up stock for the Designer’s Market on the 28th and a “Ladies Night”  in the village this Friday evening.

It was lovely to be featured as a guest blogger on Designers Marketplace last week and I’m really looking forward to the event; hoping to get some more Christmas shopping done ( So far, apart from books I am managing to stick to my pledge to only buy handmade so tough luck if you wanted an iPhone or a Nintendo thing kids!)

Finally I’m glad to say that the play, The Good Hope went well.It was pretty much a sell out and we even had a visit from the Mayor of Whitby and a representative of the RNLI. Jane Thorniley-Walker’s original drawing for the backdrop and poster was auctioned in aid of the Whitby Lifeboat which made  the nerves and weeks of rehearsals seem really worth while.

…Oh and Congratulations to all this years CCAD Textiles and Surface Design graduates who had their cap and gown ceremony yesterday.Well Done  X

A thing of beauty is a joy forever…

(Detail of original design by William Morris)

Well I have returned to Witchmountain after what seems like a month but was actually only 5 days, traveling around the North in a van called Behemoth.So many adventures in such a short time! After some stunning walks up moody fells and a bit of wild swimming in the River Derwent, Blackwell was a showcase of man made beauty.There was a William Morris exhibition on, including some original designs for wallpaper; I loved the fact that only a part of the design was painted, the rest being penciled in to show the repeat.The house was full of tiny wonderful detail, from the window latches to the carved paneling, I could have spent days just sitting in the window seats; reading, drawing or contemplating the views across Windermere.

I‘ve recently been introduced to the gorgeous “Pictorial Guides to the Lakeland Fells” by Alfred Wainwright. Even if you’re not into walking these little books are facinating, in the way that other people’s sketch books are…annotated drawings,maps and clear hand written text.The highlight of my week was a walk/scramble/limp to the top of Haystacks, where the view made me dizzy and almost tearful. Goodness, I feel as though I’m boring you with my holiday snaps but don’t go, the next thing really was a treat! Barter Books in Alnwick is a kind of heaven…the smell of old books, coffee and toasted cheese, log fires and Lloyd Loom chairs with squashy Indian print cushions. Honestly, as I write my tummy feels all warm with the memory of a wet day in August loosing about 3 hours browsing the stacks, which included glass cases of first editions and very rare copies in beautiful bindings. Now what links this and Blackwell in my mind…the attention to detail and appreciation of a beautiful object, the handmade and the aesthetic of good design.There is also an interesting story about that poster you see everywhere these days “Keep Calm and Carry On”...

Ok,thats me done for now. Lindsey has just left after inspiring me with all her news of work experience and new projects. I’m wondering why not many comments have been flooding in for my GIVEAWAY ? I will be picking the winner at random on Monday so spread the word and leave a comment on the previous post if you’d like to win a set of my new cards…