rubykittyruby

  No, this isn't a saucer of sweets with holes in!  They're my attempt at homemade beads.  I'd wanted some chunky ones with larger holes in them for threading on to cord or ribbon, and saw an idea on Instagram.  So out came the pack of air dried clay and I rolled out these shapes.   I left them to thoroughly dry out on a sunny windowsill, then painted the beads with acrylic paint.  After that dried, I dripped some alcohol ink on them.  In order for the ink to dry I threaded the beads on to cocktail sticks and balanced them on an egg carton.   I want to add a layer of varnish, but don't want to buy a large tin from a DIY store, so I'm going to pick up a bottle of clear nail polish and try painting the beads with that for a glossy finish.  For a first attempt, they're a bit clumsy, but not too bad.  I bought something from a charity shop today that I might try adding to the next batch of beads I make.  It's a roll of rose go...

  Saturday's rolled around again, and it's not been the most eventful of days.  Cleaning and hoovering, a walk to the shops to buy groceries, an hour on the allotment, then home to do some odd tasks in the garden.  The strawberry plants are sending out runners, so I've been dealing with those, plus deadheading the perennial sunflowers, and cutting back the gone-over flowers on the sage and marjoram.  I'm sad to see those blooms gone as the bees loved them.  This afternoon I spent a few hours finishing 'Dawnlands' by Philippa Gregory.   It's a really good book, a page turner where you care about the characters and want to be reassured everything's going to work out well for them.  Plus you become enraged about the corruption of the so-called justice system at the time of the Stuart kings and queens, about transportation of prisoners to the West Indies, and about the vile nature of the sugar trade in the 1600s and the vast profits made from it....

  No, I'm not 96, honestly!  I might be a Woman of a Certain Age, but that age still has a fair way to go until I'm that old!  The 96 year old in question is a lady called Ina Nenortas, a self-taught artist from Lithuania.  I really do hope I'm as clear-minded, articulate and creative as she is when - God willing - I make it to my nineties.  The YouTube algorithm sometimes throws up these little gems of films, and I thought you might enjoy this one.  

  Hello again, and excuse me while I scratch my insect bites.  I don't know what it is, but at this time of year I'm invariably itching like crazy because I've been bitten by bugs.  It seems to coincide with blackberry-picking season, but whether that's purely coincidental I don't know.  Whatever's biting me, I'm obviously a tasty morsel in their world!  I might try using a highly scented oil like Tea Tree oil, see if that deters them.  Anyway, let's get on to more pleasant matters -  I'm having a go at making a zine style booklet.  Because I didn't have any paper large enough, I joined together two A3 sheets of sketchpad paper, using torn pieces of book pages for the joining.  I thought that'd look less noticeable than packing tape or similar.  Having chosen my colour scheme I used acrylic paint and an unwanted plastic bank card to apply the paint.  Plus a stencil, sponge and modelling paste.  Applying paint with a ATM card wa...

  This year continues to race along at breakneck speed.  Already I can see the evenings are getting shorter, and it's darkening by 9.30 when it used to be light until 10.00.  It's supposedly full summer, yet the hedgerows are full of ripened blackberries.  Way too early, and the apples on my allotment trees look as if they're almost ready too.  The seasons are out of whack, aren't they?  Climate change is scary, and we've not even begun to experience the worst of it yet.  Maybe I'm burying my head in the sand by retreating into crafting?  But what can any of us do on an individual level, besides buying less, recycling more, trying to vote for politicians who'll respect the environment. I'll continue making things, meanwhile trying to do my bit to lessen my personal carbon footprint.  These little patches are just calico with lettering inked on them and watercolour paint around the edges.  I've slow-stitched this one to make a fabric tag,...