Baking Frenzy!

I'm trying to lose a bit of weight, so why is it that my mind has become obsessed with baking calorie-laden goodies? We also have a glut of eggs, as our garden hens are at their most productive time of the year. I really don't have a choice, I have to get my apron on and get baking.


These are relatively virtuous - a low fat version of banana muffins which were tasty but a little on the dry side: 

Far less virtuous, but at least these muffins contain 3 bananas and sunflower oil instead of butter:

...and lastly, with no virtue but lots of yumminess, a victoria sponge crammed with strawberries and cream. Look how yellow the eggs have made the cake!

This last photo was taken on my phone as my camera batteries ran out - it's a little blurred but you get the idea, I'm sure!

A Holiday in the Camper Van

We've had a week's holiday in our van which finished with a lovely weekend at the Wood festival in Oxfordshire. It's a great event - there's lots of acoustic, folk and world music and there are also interesting workshops, tempting things to buy and tasty food to sample. It's small, very relaxed and friendly and takes place in beautiful surroundings...

I packed a bag of needle felting materials, but in the end I didn't get a chance to make much. Just a few little flowers for a future project, and this little fellow who is now perched in my Folksy shop. 

That's all for now - the sun's out and I'm off into the garden! Enjoy the Bank holiday,

Liz

    

Owls

I have definitely been in the mood for wet felting recently, and haven't made any of my needle felted owls for ages. I've got lots of scraps of fibre from all my projects - failures and successes - so perhaps it's time to create another little owl or two. Here's a Rogue's Gallery of some previous creations:

 

I'm not sure if they look really cute or really sinister - somebody at a craft fair once commented that they looked like owl gangsters! 

My little niece still plays with her family of owls, and their wet felted house hangs from a hook in her bedroom. Now, how could anybody accuse these little characters of gangster tendencies!

Watch this space - more owls on the way soon! Oh, and there is still one little fellow to buy here.

Liz :)

  

Something a little bit different today...

I've probably mentioned before that I have a background as an early years teacher. I now teach adults who are coming into the profession, but whenever I can I make sure that I spend time back in nurseries and schools, and I'm sure I'll go back into the classroom at some point. Before I joined the university three years ago, I worked in a children's centre with toddlers and preschool children. It was a great place to work, and I was lucky to have lots of imaginative and creative colleagues who offered lots of exciting opportunities for the children who joined us every day. 


We used to offer lots of play sessions with 'open-ended' materials, where the children could explore objects that wouldn't normally be thought of as toys - these sorts of materials really open up children's minds to problem-solving and creativity and, under close supervision to keep them safe, can be used with the very youngest of children. A great company called Community Playthings have written a lovely free booklet about this sort of play called I Made a Unicorn, which makes a great read if you have any interest in children's play. 
It's a shame that I can't share photographs that show the children's faces as they explored the materials, but for obvious reasons I've cropped the pictures to keep the children anonymous. Hopefully you can still get a sense of the kinds of things these toddlers got up to.

The reason I'm telling you all this is that one resource we used to offer in these sessions was a collection of felt balls and beads of various colours and sizes - you can see some in the photo above. The children used them in all sorts of ways, and combined them with other resources as they played and explored. I remember being shocked at how expensive they were to buy from commercial providers, so in the end I started to make my own. Since then I've made many more for the children of family and friends, and this weekend I made some more to list in my Folksy shop, where they'll soon be available to buy. 

These ones are made with bright, zingy colours, but I'm going to make some in more muted shades, too. I've also made a set for my students - after all, you're never too old to play!

Liz :)

A couple more dotty bowls

I've had a busy couple of weeks with family celebrations, students' work to mark and lots to plant in the greenhouse. It hasn't left me much time for felt-making, but in the evenings I have made lots of little dots...

Today I had a spare afternoon, so I've finally had a chance to make use of the dots and make a couple more felt bowls. I made one with black wool, in which the dots are quite subtle,

...and one in white wool which creates a very different effect. The pattern stands out far more than it does against the black, as you can see:

I like them both, but I think I prefer the white version. I'd love to know what you think of them, too. If you fancy one for yourself, pop over here!