The Solstice Give Away Winner

And the winner is... Dorie of Fiberfusing.

Congratulations Dorie, I will have fun making something for you. Please let me know your address i will get your surprise solstice gift off to you in the next few days.

Solstice Blessings

I am slowly getting unpacked and settling into my new home. The hamlet is very small and friendly and already I know so many neighbours. It is fun getting to know the community.

It won't be too long before we are completely unpacked and I can weatherproof and paint the stone outhouse and turn it into a studio. A neighbour has already offered me 9 sheep fleeces of cross breed wool. The fleeces are a mixture of Doll Suffulk and Welsh so it will be interesting to see the colours and texture of this wool.

In celebration of the solstice and my new beginnings I would like to have a small give away. I am not sure what it will be yet but am sure I will have fun making it.

To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment below telling me about your favourite solstice moments and magical sunrise experiences. I will anounce the winner on the last day of June.

Happy Solstice and Midsummer fun to you all x

New Beginnings

I have now moved to Anglesey. Its been a busy time.

I have spent more time in the garden planting vegetables and herbs than unpacking boxes. Its my first vegetable patch so I am really excited. So far, I have globe artichoke, rhubarb, strawberry, butternut squash, black kale, purple broccoli, spinach, onion, spring onion, potatoes, Roma tomato and gardeners delight tomato. I still need to plant the beetroot, chard and horseradish before moving onto the seeds for carrots, cabbage, pak Choi and whatever else I have picked up along the way. I think I may have a glut!

Here are some beautiful aqualegia's that I found at the bottom of the garden.

Below, you can see one of Lynne Hoppe's muslin book marks. I have hung from an apple tree. I think it is very happy there, thank you Lynne.

I have had so little time to myself with all of the moving and shaking that has been going on.


I did however get to spend a very pleasant day with Susan of Artspark Theatre in Bristol while she was visiting England.


We took in some galleries, did a boat trip, and found some Banksy in the streets.


I love the police man firing paint ball pellets at the 'other man' dangling from the window.

We found more Banksy in the gallery. I guess Bristol is very proud of their subvertising stencil dude. Its fun to see.

It will be a little while before I am fully unpacked and have a studio/workshop set up so posts will be few over the next week or two but I will be back with a vengeance and a summer solstice give away. I had a birthday last week and realised that natures whispers is now a year old!

It has been fun getting to know you xJ

My Magic Carpet Ride (part 1)

Today I posted off the felt necklaces to my two One World One Heart give away winners. I have been very lucky on this magic carpet ride. I have had some wins, but most importantly I have discovered some inspirational blogs and made new friends. Too many to list here in one post so I have decided to do a sequence of posts introducing different types of blogs that I have met, such as textiles, fibre art, fine art, art dolls, jewelry, lamp work and more.

The beautiful Lapis Lazuli and Turquoise (my favourite stones) earrings that you can see in the picture above are a gift from Fiona of Tizduster whom you can see dressed as a pantomime baddie in the form of Beatrix the Sorceress in this stage picture. Click on the image to visit Fiona's blog.

I have also won one of the most desirable necklaces that I have seen in a very long time from Jackie of Silvelodge Gems (click on the picture to visit Jackie's blog).

Isn't it stunning! It is made from pink opal, onyx and a fossil pendant. Jackie's jewelry is so beautiful and she is also having a gigantic sale in her Internet shop right now so if you have any birthdays or anniversary presents to pick up Silverlodge Gems may be a good place to look.

I have also won a mystery prize that travel writer Carol of 'Where will you Journey to?', will buy for me on her next trip to Cambodia, I am so excited. When I was in Thailand I desperately wanted to cross the borders and visit Anka Wat but just did not have the time.

You can imagine how lucky I am feeling right now! I won some other delightful gifts too so I started to feel a little guilty for having all of this good fortune and not sharing it. I asked some of the blogs how they would feel about donating the items to Made4Aid? A couple of blogs agreed to this, aren't they wonderful!

Beth of Three trees Art makes lovely jewelry with words of affirmation and positive sentiments. She has agreed to donate this felt jewelry pouch that she made to made4aid. I am a huge fan of the Silver Birch, and I don't need to tell you my feelings for felt :) This wonderful pouch (or one like it) will be up for auction at Made4Aid in the next few weeks. I love it! Thank you Beth x

Amanda of Maygreen Fairies has also agreed to send her give away item to Made4Aid. It is a gorgeous Vintage Shabby Scented Sachet to line a lingerie draw. Such Luxury! I love the whimsical feel of the Victorian lady on the trapeze swing. This item will also be listed for auction at Made4Aid in the next couple of weeks.

It has been lovely getting to know Amanda over the past few days. I feel like I have met a kindred spirit. Amanda's art is full of magic that leaves you with a light heart. Amanda volunteers in her local Oxfam shop and organised a craft fair at her Oxfam shop with donated arts and crafts to raise money for Haiti.

One of the blogs that I have discovered on the carpet ride is the very inspiring Annette of 'The Hare Preservation Trust' in Scotland and 'Dragon House of Yuen'. Annette is very creative and her passion for wildlife and domestic animals shines through her art making it sparkle.

Another new friend that I am so glad to have met is Jules of 'Adventures in Thread'. Jules shares a love for the great outdoors, textiles and TREES. Jule's nature photography is wonderful and her knit work and embroidery is beautiful. Look at her hare below, isn't it stunning!

To finish this post I want to introduce you to a friend that I met before the OWOH carpet ride. Elizabeth Rimmer has a passion for poetry and the environment. Elizabeth has set up a new project called 'Luchair' where she hopes to bring artists, poets, and photographers together to celebrate nature and discuss how they each tackle environmental issues in their daily lives and in their creativity.

Elizabeth first noticed that the human race was living beyond its ecological means back in the Energy Crisis of the seventies and learned how not to handle the situation. Today, the mission of Luchair is to to find a new way of tackling the environmental issues we face, that won't involve playing off jobs against environment, the human against the wild, the rich against the poor. She hopes to find joy, community, insight as she goes and hopes that others will too.

Please visit Elizabeth at her Luchair Website, blog or at Burned Thumb. If you think you have something to contribute, please email Elizabeth. She will be happy to hear from you. You can find a link to Luchair on my sidebar.

Happy Valentine and the One World One Heart Give Away Winners

Susan, of Artspark Theatre has been encouraging folk to share a little valentine love within our communities and plant surprise displays of magical love across the neighourhood.  I'm a little late with mine as I hot footed it down to London to give a little valentine love to my fairy goddaughter, whom I met for the first time yesterday.

Now I am back at home again, I have been glueing and arranging in the best way I know how to in this land of 'One Love' and SKA roots.  Tomorrow I will decorate a tree with these love vibe hangings near the childrens playground to spread the magic of  oneness and love to children, parents and dog walkers alike.  To see other community love offerings, please visit Artspark Theartre.

Now, its time to announce the winners of the One World One Heart give away:

Sandra of Inanna Shamaya

and,

Lisa Atchison of Touch of Glass Designs

I am delighted that Sandra and Lisa have won as both of them have wonderful blogs.  If you have time, please pop over and visit them.

Sandra & Lisa, I will need you to contact me with your postal details.  There is the pictured necklace or a similar necklace that I have been working on in a bright sun kissed colour.  The first  to contact me can choose.

Thank you to all that entered the give away.  I have enjoyed reading all of your comments and visiting your blogs x

One world, one heart - Give Away has now ended

A wonderful blogging friend invited me to join in with the magic carpet ride, and to open my heart to new friends and faces.

I have encountered so many magical, beautiful souls in this blogging community, I'm happy to meet more!



And as a gesture of love to friends old or new I offer a felt and silk necklace that is so soft and luxurious. Feels just like a hug.

All you need to enter this give away is to leave a comment which links to you blog or email address.

The draw will be made on 15th February.

Until then, make yourself comfortable and have a good look around.

I look forward meeting you and returning the visit...

________________________________

Wow, I am amazed and very happy to have had so many responses to this give away. Out of appreciation for all of your time, and those new friends that have chosen to follow Natures Whispers I have decided to extend the give away to two necklaces. Winners get to choose the colours.

Thank you all xx

The Angel of the North

Nuno in snow

Nuno close up

Making the detail

The laying of wool on silk

Silk side up, in snow

For the winter Solstice I had a blog give away. Caio Fernandes of Mien Welt was one of the winners. I was pretty stumped as to what to make Caio that would suit his tastes and also his climate. I'm guessing there is not much need for a felted hat or scarf in Brazil during summertime!

Eventually I decided upon the iconic landmark 'The Angel of the North' by Antony Gormley. I am from the North East so it is a representation of modern art from my home land. It is a sculpture. I often see a sculpture waiting to be made when I look at Caio's work. Angels are symbolic of Christianity which is very important to Caio. To me, the Angel of the North feels like a different type of angel. An Angel devoid of any specific faith, instead, representing hope. This is reinforced by the sapling trees growing around the hillside. The Angel reminds me of Daedalus and Icarus from the Greek mythology.

Its funny how public modern art is received. When this was first erected, I hated it. I think many people perceived it as tasteless and a waste of money. In my minds eye, the angel was originally silver and rusted with time, which made it beautiful. Now I love it. The Angel of the North has become an institution. Happy couples get married at its feet. You can even download oragami or knitting patterns of the angel for free.

Another reason for choosing to make a nuno felt representation of one of Antony Gormley's pieces of work, was that Caio lived in London. Antony Gormley may be better known for 'The Fourth Plinth' project in Trafalgar Square. The project lasted 100 days and invited the public to take to the plinth for an hour each, thus the plinth would be occupied 24 hours a day for 100 days.

Priestess of the Wild

Lucky Me!

I won Karin Bartimole's blog give away. I feel so lucky, and I love the recycled theme and ethical ethos behind the give away. Christmas tree decorations made from recycled bottle tops and other materials, paper that contains seeds and can be planted (wow, I love!), A hand made book made from recycled cereal boxes, I will certainly have fun journaling in that. Some surprise art goodies, and a gift from Unicef where the proceeds go towards helping save the lives of children.

Thank you Karin. This year, Christmas has been all about ethical spending and environmentally friendly, and home made gifts so I am delighted with Karin's offerings.

I love Karin's artwork, I find the way that Karin is able to paint feelings and physical sensations unique. Please visit Karin at BEYOND WORDS to see what I mean. You won't be disappointed!

If you are intrigued by paper that contains seeds to be planted you may like this little Welsh company that sells Sheep Poo Paper! Yes it sounds gross, but it is clean and sterile, made from sustainable sources that leaves our precious trees be, and some of it contains wildflower seeds that can be used to plant when the paper is no longer in use. I get a real kick out of the idea that you can send wedding invites on this paper :)


For those of you that have not entered my Blog Give Away, there is still time. The draw will be made tomorrow. Don't forget that it is possible to get extra entries by becoming a follower of Made4Aid, sporting a Made4Aid button on your blog and writing a post sign posting your readers to Made4Aid. Read HERE for further a details and leave a comment to enter.

The prize will be worth it! You can choose between a piece of felted jewelry, a scarf or a scarfette that will be made especially for the winner using their choice of colours.

Thank you :)

Felted Lovelies Laced with Silk

This year I am making as many Christmas presents as I can. Its a bigger task than I thought. We will be spending Christmas in Anglesey with my grandparents, parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins and maybe more... I'm really looking forward to it. I've counted at least 12 people that I will see on he day that I don't usually exchange gifts with ,but I have this self made rule. If I'm lucky enough to spend Christmas day with someone, I like to give them a gift.

Here are 7 of the necklaces I have made. They are all felted wool beads with pale pink silken detail. Its a look that I had tried to achieve in earlier pieces of jewelry where I used alpaca wool. Alpaca wool doesn't get the same satisfying result as silk for this effect. Its too hairy.

The felted wool and silk beads feel very warm and luxurious, almost like a hug.

If you haven't already put your name down for my give away there is still time. Just click HERE and leave a comment. The draw will be made on 21st December. Good luck.

Theme Thursday - Friends, & a Give Away...

Its Theme Thursday time again and this week its all about friends. Earlier today I visited Lettuce and was moved by her post explaining what blogging has come to mean to her. It mirrors so many of my own feelings about the circle of friends I have come to know and love within the blogging community. I have found friends here where I never expected to find any. I have been blessed with support, words of kindness and wisdom, inspiration and free tuition. I am so thankful for the things I have been able to learn from you all and the chain reaction of creativity that has been borne between the pages of your blogs.

I've been thinking for a while that I'd like to do a blog give away to thank you ll and by way of showing my appreciation to all of you. There are no rules to this give away. You don't have to follow my blog. You don't need to visit again. If this is your first visit here, don't let that prevent you from leaving a comment to enter this give away. All are welcome! I do have a cheeky (optional) incentive however :)) let me explain:

• Each person that leaves a comment will have one entry to the give away
• Each person that is a follower of made4aid, has a made4aid button on your blog or writes a post signposting your readers to made4aid will get an extra entry
• To clarify, if you leave a comment and are a follower of made4aid you have 2 entries, if you leave a comment, follow made4aid and have a made4aid link button on your side bar then you have 3 entries. If you have left a comment, follow made4aid, have a made4aid button and write a post, well then, you are super and I'll go right ahead and give you 5 entries!
• Remember, these are just incentives and not conditions. Leaving a comment alone will give you an entry

I will make the draw on 21/12/09 in celebration of the winter solstice. I will be giving away a felted scarf, scarfette or piece of jewelry (please state your preference and favourite colour). I will make the felt for the winner using the preferred colour scheme of the winner that can be tailored for gender too. I will post out the felt during the first days of January.

Ok, now thats enough of my shameless promotions. Its safe to keep reading future posts, I won't be bigging up any more charities for a while. There have been so many of late because I have a real bee in my bonnet about ethical spending at Christmas time. I hate to see people getting into debt, maxing the plastic and stressing over expensive presents that are often unwanted, unused and unloved. But we love our family an friends and love giving presents don't we?


The picture above was taken at Stonehenge this year during the Gorsedd of Bards of Cor Gawr midsummer gathering.

CJ Stitching & Blooms

The very generous Judy of CJ Stitching and Blooms had a 3rd blogoversary giveaway and I was a winner. This is a week of smiles for me :)

The prize is a polymer clay face and a dragonfly pendant. What a thoughtful giveaway, something that can be used to make something else. A creative prompt. Thank you Judy x

If I could have chosen which of the 3 giveaways I would most like to receive, this would have been the one I would choose. This win also coincides with my first Etsy purchase. I bought one of Sara Lechner's tutorials "Watercoloring" on felt. For those of you who are no familiar with Sara Lechner's work all I can say is that she is a creative genius. Her work is kind to the eyes and leaves you wanting to see so much more. Sara Lechner creates the most beautiful textile art which often tells a tale and has figures stitched onto it with the most mesmorising faces. I hope to learn some techniques from the tutorial which I can then in turn use to incorporate Judy's beautiful polymer clay face into a piece of felt art. Wish me luck!

If you are interested in seeing more of Judy's wonderful creations please visit her at CJ Stitching & Blooms'.

If you would like to see Sara Lechner's work please visit 'The Fabric of Meditation', 'Whatiffing Around' and her most current blog 'Tales from beyond the glimpse'.

Thank you Judy xx