Monday 20 June 2011

You can never have too many!

If you want to know what a hundred paintbrushes looks like then take a look at this! Amo you are a very bad influence on my bank balance - but thanks anyway for the link to the bargain seconds site!! Even bearing in mind how hopeless Laura is at cleaning her brushes up after a painting session - these should keep us going for a while!


So, no pressure then but maybe someone around here had better do a bit more painting - they may have been a bargain but I do have quite a lot of paintbrushes already so I need to justify the purchase! I've been drawing apples and peapods for DMTV videos lately and at this time of year I'm spoilt for choice when I'm searching for inspiration in the garden. A five minute walk with my camera today and I found a few likely contenders.



This Forest Pansy is one of my favourite things. With the sun shining through the heart shaped leaves it really lights up the garden. I first saw them when we were in France a few years ago and had to track one down for us as soon as I got home. Thankfully it survived our harsh winter this year.




There is a whole row of these glorious red lilies snaking through one bed. I'm always drawn to warm colours and they look amazing this week. The flowers would be good subjects for a painting but if anything the plump buds have even more tempting shapes to tackle.



All the Clematis are growing apace - they are great in a crowded space because they are happy to climb and scramble. The buds of these are very elongated and elegant - lovely to draw!


There has been some sewing done this week, in fact rather a lot, but most is of the top secret variety. I can show these latest bags though. I'm pleased how the lovely metal handles and chains make them look quite professional!


That cannibalised old quilt has yet another new lease of life with the addition of a few embroidered birds and feathers. I hope these'll look good on the stand at Festival of Quilts.

Must get back to work - talk again soon - Linda

7 comments:

  1. The bags look georgeous! I envy the lucky future owner ;-)

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  2. I'm glad the brushes arrived!! It's quite an exciting and useful little package to open isn't it. At least it's not quite so painful accidentally leaving one of those in glue!

    The bags are wonderful. A future show perhaps????

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  3. Those bags are wonderful!

    I wanted to mention that I had the pleasure of seeing your Sketchbook Project book at the exhibit in San Francisco this past weekend. It was just as beautiful as I though it would be! :)

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  4. The bags are going to look lovely in your booth. I especially love the embroidered birds. A continent and an ocean apart and yet, our gardens are similar. I am in the desert in Washington State. We are hot (100F+) in the summer and cold in the winter (-5F). Yet, my Forest Pansy tree delights me every year. I especially love the fall color. The liles, clematis, thrive and this year, I am tempting fate and planted delphinium. They are the flowers of my youth in Seattle, so I am hoping they will like the spot I chose for them. Thanks for the garden tour, I loved it.

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  5. Thanks to everyone who took the time to comment here and to email me. I do appreciate it! And I'm pleased you like the look of the bags I'm making and that Jeannie enjoyed a few glimpses of the garden! It's reassuring to know somebody out there reads this stuff I write - without your contributions I would feel like I'm just talking to myself!

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  6. Very cool purses and I see lots of inspiration from your pics!

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  7. Hi Maggie,

    Thank you for seeking out my sketchbook from the thousands on offer! I've tried hard not to sulk this last couple of days because both Laura's and Catherine's sketchbooks have been digitised this week but mine hasn't yet. I have no idea what their system is but it's obviously not alphabetical! It's been a great experience to be part of such an ambitious project so I suppose I should be patient.

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