Tuesday 13 October 2009

Cooeee!

It's me! I'm over here! Did you wonder where I'd gone? The header's a big hint. We headed off to St Ives for our annual fix of cornish air and cream teas and have had a fantastic fortnight chilling out by the sea. Needless to say, since we got back I've been catching up with shopping, washing (where does it all come from!!!!!!), emails and blogs (where do they all come from?!!!!!!!). Not to mention trying to comb through the 450+ photos I took and load them onto the laptop. I've done about a third so far.



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One of the highlights of our trip was meeting up with a blogging friend, the very, very lovely and friendly Carolyn who lives locally. We had arranged to meet at the Lifeboat station and Carolyn had no trouble in recognising me and greeting me like a long lost friend. We set off chattering in a random direction and eventually settled on tea and musffins and a very l-o-n-g chat at the Porthgwidden Beach cafe. (I have to give them a link as they generously let us sit and natter for over 2 hours!) We sat on the terrace overlooking the sea till it got a bit chilly and we had to move.



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Carolyn had very generously brought me a gift wrapped in some very pretty purple and pink sparkly paper which I can use in a project.



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The parcel held a funky skinny scarf that Carolyn had knitted and which I enjoyed wearing over the course of the holiday when the wind got a bit cool, and a beautiful dichroic necklace in a beautiful sea colour. On top of that I came back from a day out later in the week to find a bag of yarns and beady goodies that Carolyn had popped through the letterbox to keep me going. Thank you Carolyn :o)

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I had been wanting to try my hand at cuff-making so I made the cuff above for Carolyn before we went to St Ives. It's made of felt with velvet squares, scrim, net, shells, beds, buttons and stitch. I hope Carolyn liked it, she said she did, and I'm pleased to say it fitted!



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It was really lovely to meet Carolyn, she is a very warm bubbly person and we had lots of laughs while we were chatting. Roll on next year when we will definitley meet up again.


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On the subject of cuffs I made 2 more while we were away. some time ago in blogland I saw some beautiful cuffs that had been made using gifts. I know they are on a blog that I know really well but I cannot up to now find the original source so please leave me a comment if it's you. (Found it it's here)

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This cuff is made on a felt base with a zip used to suggest a wave. I then added yarns, velvet and some beads, beach glass, shells from St Ives beach and stitch. I gave this cuff to another friend who we met up with who I used to take art classes with at home and who now lives near St Just.

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Finally I made myself a cuff but I had to improvise with this one as I hadn't intended to make 3. This one has a 'colour catcher' base stiffened with a piece of canvas and backed with dupion silk. Fortunately I had enough velvet etc with me to pretty it up and I used some special buttons I had bought at The Hub in Sleaford. These cuffs are all the rage at the minute and I've been asked to make another one for my friend's mum and they're such fun to make!

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Once i've sorted all my photos I'll be back with a few pics of St Ives. Meanwhile I am trying to force my brain back to swap projects and next year's Festival of Quilts where I am supposed to be entering a quilt. I made some notes on the train coming home but my brain and body have gone on strike today and I'm still in my Pjs so it may be a day or three before I get blogging again. Hope you're all well and creating hard and thank you all for your lovely good wishes for our trip away. It worked! We had a great time!


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(Excuse the big spacing on this post but I'm having problems with Blogger).
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16 comments:

JP said...

how lovely to see you back - I am so glad you had a good time - we are thinking of St Ives for December - did you stay some where nice?
I just love those cuffs - they made me feel summery again - I just so love the sea too

Angela said...

Wow sounds like you had a great time. Nice to see you back. The cuffs look lovely.

Heather said...

What a lovely away break - I have always wanted to go to St.Ives. I love the cuffs you made and the other goodies in this post. I am pleased I could leave you a comment today - sometimes my laptop just wont let me do so, so my comments will be a bit erratic. Great for you to meet your friend - roll on next time!

LOVE STITCHING RED said...

What a wonderful post Julie, couldn't have put it better myself! We had a wonderful time didn't we? It felt like I have known you for years, I knew it would be like that!

My cuff bracelet is gorgeous, I really love it and I will show it on my blog when I'm back properly, as well as the lovely inspiring fabrics you gave me and the lovely sketchbook

Hope it won't be long before you have caught up with things. I'm looking forward to seeing your's and Stewart's photos very soon, something to look forward to

Lots of love
Carolyn :o)

sharon young said...

Good to have you back, looks as if you had a great holiday.
I love the scarf, lucky you :-)
And your cuffs are lovely, bet they'll be warm in the winter.

Mrs Moog said...

Your holiday looks and sounds perfect Julie. Glad you had a lovely time and managed to squeeze in some meet ups with bloggy friends :)

I love your cuffs!

xxx

Jackie said...

Glad you are back but also glad you had a good time.
Lucky you..St Ives.

Dot said...

Oh how lovely that you met Carolyn! I love visiting her blog and am so pleased you met. Isn't it amazing when you meet fellow bloggers and you feel like you have known them forever? Love the cuff you made for her. And the scarf she made for you is stunning.
Look forward to seeing photo's of your trip. Would love to visit St Ives one day!
Dot xx
P.S I can understand Carolyn loving spending time with you as you are such a warm and loving person.

Gina said...

Welcome back! Sounds like a fabulous holiday - especially meeting Carolyn. Could fancy a week or two in St Ives myself!

Digitalgran said...

That was a lovely post Julie and how great to have met up with Carolyn.

Sharne Gregory said...

Thank you for the good wishes. It looks like you had a great time in Cornwall. Great cuffs too!

silverpebble said...

Oh Cornwall! And you met up with Carolyn! WHat a lovely textiley creative conversation that must have been. Lucky you!

That is a rather gorgeous cuff Julie!

CAROLYN SAXBY said...

Hi Julie, I was just thinking about our evening at the pub and the fun we had dashing past those big waves on Lambeth Walk. I was wondering if Stewart has posted any of his picies yet?

Lots of love
Carolyn xx

Fenland Textile Studio said...

Hi Julie

Glad you had such a fantastic time. I love your cuffs, are you swapping any for FAT's? How wonderful to meet up with Carolyn as well. I used to love going down to Cornwall.Loving forwards to sharing some photos!

DILLY said...

Be so pwitty!
Dilly like pink sparkly best.
(Julie be in shok?
Fnarr!!!!!!!!!!!)

¬"

Julie said...

Dilly, I'm not in shok at all :o)