Etsy Feature

I am feeling fired up about art this week and just itching to get my paints and collage stuff out and get making, time is tight at the moment now though with a new baby, a house and a husband to look after so in the mean time I will just have to drool over these gorgeous artworks on Etsy:

Love the colours, the glitter, the texture and the use of circles,

Love the sort colours and shapes, the collaged cups, the use of text,

Love the layering, the variety of shapes, the colour pallet,

Love the stencilled letters, the loose paintwork, the balanced composition,

Love the character, the black outlines, which highlights,

Love the broad  strokes contrasting with the delicate black lines, 

Love the angular shapes, the bright colours, the pattern,

Love the blocks of colour against the fields of colours, love the variety of sized of squares.

Click on each artwork to view each artists shop.

Happy Monday

Twirl!

Have a lovely day!

Things you can know about me by the books I have read

Inspired by a post on skulls and ponies  I thought I would share with you some books I have read recently or am currently reading, in the hope that you can know a little more about me, my thoughts, feelings, opinions and sensibilities. I have many interests and passions and see myself as having quite an eclectic personality and I feel this can at least partially be revealed through a peek at my literary conquests.

I have very nearly finished reading this book; "The Attachment Parenting Book" by William and Martha Sears.  The book is based on the principle of the the 7 baby b's; Birth bonding, breastfeeding, baby wearing, bedding close to baby, belief in the language of your baby's cries, beware of baby trainers and balance.  What I love about this book is that it isn't an all or nothing approach to parenting, there is no sense that if you fail in one of the baby b's then you fail as a parent, it allows you to pick and choose according to what suits your family and circumstances.  Also the approach seems more natural to me, a parenting style that is more in tune with how one might raise a baby without the trappings of modern day life.
So far I am breastfeeding, carrying Orren in a sling for about half an hour a day, and responding to his cries.  I was having him in bed with us but am trying to get him to sleep in his moses basket more because when he is in bed with us I don't sleep very well and find myself worrying that I will roll on him; I feel this fits in well with the "balance" baby b.  Surprisingly I am finding it difficult to ignore the baby trainers in all their guises.  We are often being told not to pick him up when he cries, and not to let him sleep with us, and I am often being encouraged to express milk and bottle feed, it is difficult when this advice is coming from people I love but I have to just nod and smile, then do it my way.

What this book says about me:
I like alternatives and alternative approaches to the typical way of doing things.  I like to do things naturally; the way nature intended.

I read All Consuming by Neal Lawson while I was pregnant and found what he said to be very true.  What stuck out most from this book was the authors idea that the way people value themselves has changed.  Whereas in the past people valued themselves by what they did, i.e. their job, now people value themselves by what they have. This is a problem because not everyone can buy the things that they feel they need to give themselves a sense of place in the world.  They counteract this by getting things in any way they can; taking out loans they can't afford to pay back, buying fakes and even stealing (think the riots in 2011).  Advertising, and throwaway culture mean we are never satisfied with what we can buy and thus with life.  It made me think about what the world could be like if people stopped wanting more or better and focused on the things that really matter like friends and family...but that's for another post.

What this book says about me:
I don't like commercialism, I don't like to be controlled by the media, I like my  personality to tell people what I am like, not the clothes I wear or the things I own.  I don't place much value is stuff, don't get me wrong, I like pretty things and clothes but I control it, I don't let my desire for things control me. 

The New Rulers of the World is a book I actually bought for my husband but I started reading it because I had nothing else to read and it looked interesting.  The book reveals a lot of shocking and evil things that the British and American governments have done throughout modern history mainly for the sake of oil.  The incidents that are recorded in this book were hidden by the government and not reported widely in the press, I felt quite disturbed and outraged by some of the things it talks about.  However the vast amount of information in this book makes it a bit difficult to follow, there are a lot of names and places that are mentioned and I sometimes felt that I was only getting a glimpse of what the book was really saying, I think you have to be quite intelligent to follow it properly. I will probably have to re-read it in order to fully understand what it is saying.

What this book says about me:

I like to know what is really going on, I don't entirely trust our government, I want to know the truth about world politics and how the truth differs from what is reported in the press.  I feel like I am a bit of an anarchist, but I prefer to read books than actually do anything about it!

What books have you read recently?  What do you think hey say about you?

Good Friday

I have been trying to think of some words to say about what God did for me that day but none of them seem good enough, I would love to tell you about what happened that day that was so amazing, but I am pretty sure I would only discredit it with my words.  Just think on this; even if you were the only person on earth, God would still have come down to die so that you can have a restored relationship with Him.  I hope you have all had a peaceful day and a chance to reflect on how much God loves you. 

Tasty Hot Cross Buns

Easter is fast approaching so appropriately I have been baking hot cross buns, yummy and spicy and delicious hot with butter.  They are fairly easy to make but you have to be a bit patient because they contain yeast so there is a bit of waiting for it to rise.

Here is the tasty recipe:

Ingredients:
Two tsps yeast,
500g/1lb plain flour,
4 tbsps caster sugar,
1 tsp mixed spice,
1 tsp cinnamon,
40g/1 1/4oz butter
155g/5oz mixed dried fruit.

paste for the crosses:
30g plain flour,
1/4 tsp caster sugar.

Glaze:
1 1/2 tbsps caster sugar,
1 tsp gelatine.

Place yeast, two teaspoons of the flour, 1 teaspoon of the sugar and 125ml/4fl warm water.  Leave in a war place until foamy.
Sift the flour and spices into a bowl, mix in the sugar then rub in the butter with fingertips.  Add fruit.
Stir in the yeasty water and add up to 185ml/6fl water to  make a soft dough.  Turn out onto a floured surface and knead for about 5 mins or until smooth.
Leave the dough to rise in a warm place for about 30-40 mins or until doubled in size.
Pre-heat the over to 200 degrees C.
Turn dough out onto a floured surface, knead gently to deflate and divide into 12 portions.  Place on a greased baking tray, cover and leave for about 20 mins or until doubled in size.
To make the crosses, mix the flour and sigar with enough water to make a paste, pipe onto the buns in crosses.
Bake for 20 mins or until golden brown.
For the glaze mix the gelatine and sugar with 1 tablespoon of water and stir over a low heat unti dissolved.  Brush over the buns.
Leave to cool, or eat immediately and enjoy!

Funky Country Barn Wedding

On Sunday we attended a beautiful wedding in the fantastic countryside near Cheltenham.  The wedding had a couple of lose themes, one was the 1950's which was reflected in the bride and bridesmaids dresses, another was The Beatles which inspired the music, table names and seating plan, and finally the colours of bright buttons and lolly pops in the centre pieces, boutonnière and bouquets.  That sounds like an odd mix but it all hung together really well and made for a stunning display of colour, it reflected their personalities perfectly.  The weather was perfect and views over the fields surrounding the venue were stunning.  You know how much I love being in nature and the countryside so I enjoyed a wonderfully peaceful moment when I had to leave the ceremony and feed Orren, sitting on a bench looking out over rolling hills and bounding spring lambs.  The peace and quiet was bliss and I didn't mind missing the vows when I knew I was satisfying the needs of my precious baby.
Having a baby with us at an event like this was a new experience for us both and had it's new challenges.  Not only did I miss the vows, but also the speeches!  Generally he was quiet and slept through the meal which was good, but I was so tired by 8.00 that we left at 8.30 to come home.
So anyway here are some photos from the big day:

Love the 1950s style dress,

Fabulous and eco friendly alternative to flowers, a button bouquet,

Fantastic shoes from Irregular Choice,

Managed to snap this sneaky pic of one of the bridesmaids, how fab is her dress? perfect 1950s retro.  Two of the bridesmaids had dresses like this, the other two had the kind that stick out.  In the background is a game we played called "Aunt Sally" which involved lobbing a wooden club at a dolls head...don't ask (it's a Cornish thing apparently)!

The beautiful venue; converted barns complete with old beams and beautiful exposed brickwork,

View while breastfeeding Orren,

Floral bunting which was strung up throughout the venue, after the ceremony the registry became the evening reception room and a appliquéd "just married" banner was added,

Button heart decorations which were dotted around the venue, on door handles and nails in the beams,

Loved this original idea for a seating plan, at the top were The Beatles album covers, each cover represented a table with a corresponding cover, underneath each cover image were photos of the people sat at that table,

Fun centre pieces, a bucket filled with sand the decorated with buttons and lolly pops,

Love the colours,

Orren's favour and place names with buttons,

A really original choice for the dinner, rather than silver service or a help yourself buffet each table had a "chef" who received an apron with their name on it, and carved up the meat for everyone on their table,

Cup cake wedding cake,  very tasty raspberry and lemon cupcakes with jam/curd in the middle, yummy!

A gorgeous leaping lamb, spring is here!

All in all a great but tiring day, I am now enjoying eating my lolly pop favour! Have you been to any weddings recently?  What were they like?

Happy Monday

Inspired by the lovely country barn wedding I attended on Sunday I thought I would share with you all some beautiful photos from weheartit with a magical rural wedding theme to get your week off to a sweet start.

 

Hopefully will have som photos to share from the wedding I attended soon.  Have a wonderful week every one. TTFN.