artfully distressed

pictures of what I create and the places, people and ideas which inspire my art.

Thursday 13 September 2012

Summer spent in the garden

Well it's been a while since I posted, erm okay, a really really long time! So what have I been up to? Well, it was my 30th birthday and I had a garden party (although it was so cold the 'garden' part didn't really take off). Lovely day though.


And most of my spare time over the summer was spent in the garden. So that's my excuse for not sharing anything crafty. It's been a busy summer. Here's some evidence if you don't believe me! Ha ha.

This greenhouse was a birthday present from my other half, Martin, and came in handy for growing lots of flowers from seed and then for my veggies. I dug two large veggie plots in the garden too. I've grown tomatoes, cucumbers, radish, lettuce, green peppers, courgettes, carrots and parsnips (which I am hoping will be ready in time for christmas day, yum!).

 

 
And these are my flower borders which had been neglected by the previous tenants for a few years so they were pretty much a jungle of weeds before I started. Prettier now...
 
 


 
As the spring bulbs are starting to come through I definetly need to get outside and weed and have a general tidy but it will be really exciting next year to see how much of this year's hard work pays off next season too. And there is plenty more garden left that I didn't even manage to get round to this year. A lovely job for the winter months to try and plan what to grow.
 
Anyway, back to crafting....I have actually been making things, just havent got around to blogging. Here is something I finished a few weeks ago and just found a use for...
 
 
It's a stitched journal cover made up of scraps of fabric and ribbons and has loads of hand and machine stitching, beads and buttons on it. This is a project inspired by Christine who leads a local craft group that I have started going to at North Hykeham Memorial Hall. The projects are mainly textile based but everyone is at different stages or trying different things and Christine is there to help and encourage. Tomorrow those that want to will be able to learn silk paper making - can't wait.  


I decided to use this as a book to write in my favourite quotes. Here are the first two pages done. They are not heavily decorated, mainly it will just be the quotes but I thought it would be fun to add a little stamping.
 
'Shoot for the moon, even if you miss you will land amongst the stars.' 

'No one can make you feel inferior without your permission.'
 
Hope you liked my post today, thanks for reading.