Blogatical

EEK!!! You know you're in trouble if you don't even remember your password for your blog account because you've not been blogging for such a long time!
The truth is, I've been (and am still) taking an indefinite blog sabbatical (aka blogatical)....hopefully it will not been forever...though I may resurface in a different guise! 

Good wishes and goodbye for now....

Stockholm with love

On Sunday Mr. P and I got back from a fantastic mini-break (well actually more like a maxi-break, considering it was 5 blissful, yet obviously heartbroken, child-free days!) in Stockholm. It was everything one could possibly expect from a fantastic city break....

Beautiful City

Amazing food...especially the bread!

Inspiring Artwork
 (clockwise from top left:Yarn Bombing in Sodermalm, Papercut Collage Artwork by Lisa Jonasson, Niki de Saint Phalle Sculpture at Moderna Museet)  

...and of course the BEST shopping ever!

...but it's good to be home...happily reunited with my babies :-)

Vintage Chair Makeover

When I first laid eyes on this chair I immediately knew what I would do with it to jazz it up...

...and since then I've been dreaming about the day when I would have it completed.  I'm delighted to say that day has finally come...and I'm rather pleased with myself :-)

Another project to cross-off my ever-expanding list!
 

Hap-Ply Ever After

I've been thinking a lot about materials lately...specifically of the timber variety and how wondrous and splendiferous nature's bounty is in bestowing upon us all the varieties of wood from the silvery-white, marble-like quality of rippled sycamore to the deep, dark exotic richness of Wenge. But for some unknown reason, the one material that keeps popping-up in my head is plywood. Yup, good old manufactured timber.  For me, there's just something so aesthetically pleasing about the clean and simple, almost industrial-rawness of this material. I even love the look of the sandwiched layers of veneers...kind of reminds me of wafers! The great news is that it's very workable, has great eco-credentials and it's actually very cheap! The last factor being particularly revelatory as I have been known by certain people (ahem Mr.P) to have expensive tastes! So yay all round to plywood! I need to think up some projects to use this wonderful material soon...but for the time being I'll leave you with some very drool-worthy uses of plywood...

Offset stool by Giorgio Biscaro

Trees Graphic Console by Iannone Design

Canteen Utility Chair by Very Good & Proper

Alexander Girard ply prints by Maximo Design

...and last but not least, something I totally love and believe is completely essential in every home...

A worship altar by Mark Giglio

...now that's what I call hap-Ply ever after!

A record of sorts

Two blog posts in one day...well that's certainly a record for me! Hee hee...that'll be me sorted for a few weeks then! Anyway a while back I took a quilt-making class and I thought I'd share some pictures of my finished quilt....it was in fact completed some weeks ago (no I didn't break the record for the longest time it took to make a quilt (but I probably came pretty close!).

Said quilt has now taken-up residence at my mum's and is keeping her toasty on these chilly nights...

Hope you're finding ways to keep cosy on these cold cold winter nights!

Tut tut tut

Dear oh dear I haven't done a blog in AGES! I find myself composing blogs in my head when I'm driving, just before I go to sleep, when I'm in the shower, eating breakfast...just about any opportunity I have (when I'm not doing mum stuff...oooh I lie, okay I admit sometimes even when I'm doing mum stuff)...and they are always so entertaining, funny and eloquently put together (to me anyway)....but as soon as I sit down in front of my mac ready to ACTUALLY compose a blog....these words always seem to come out so clumsily and...well they just never seem as exciting as when they were just mere thought forms floating about in my head! How very frustrating. Anyway, after all that blurb that's not the reason why I haven't blogged for ages, the main reason is simply because I have been sooooo busy with my many projects and "extra-curricular" activities (yes! honest to God!).  A few weeks ago I started a Creative Print making evening course at my college and my head is now filled with all the possibilities of what I can do with printing (along with blogging, and being a good mum...notice being a good wife doesn't even enter into my head!! Poor darling Mr. P does know how much I adore him in spite of this! I think?!). Anyhow, I digress (again)...so none of the stuff I've actually printed is worth writing about or photographing just yet...but I did go to a wonderful exhibition put on by The Glasgow Print Studio at Trongate 103. It's amazing to see the versatility of printmaking as an artistic medium but most of all I was totally in awe of the works by printmaker/sculptor/paper-maker, artist Jacki Parry. The level of detail and intricacy of her woven prints and paper-strip collages were nothing short of mind-blowing. But my favourite of all were her paper sculptures...amazing to think that she could create such beauty and drama with just paper. Now if only my photos could do justice to her work...

The exhibition runs from 3rd February till 4th March...definitely worth visiting for a visual and mental treat :-)

Tulips forever

Mr. P and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary last week, and being an old romantic, he brought home a beautiful vase full of our wedding flowers, French tulips, arranged by his own fair hands...I just love the graceful beauty of these blooms so I thought I'd share a photo of them before they fade....

Being an old romantic myself, my gift to him also had a tulip theme...a wooden tulip which I had carved out of pine over a period of weeks...talk about a labour of love!

Here's to many more wonderful years of love and romance!