Spring / Easter Pinch Pot Project

It has been a while since I have shared, well in fact done anything particularly crafty. I have kind of gotten out of it a bit of late which makes me sad. I don't know why I haven't 'made' anything, there is no reason for it but I guess I have just been swaying more towards drawing and painting rather than making which has made me very happy.

I am trying to work through some projects that I have half finished. Please tell me you have projects that you start and never quite get around to finishing too! I seem to have a few of them, mainly on the knitting and sewing front and I have been sharing them as I go over on my Ginger Juice YouTube channel as I have been vlogging. When sorting through some of those projects I found a part used packet of air drying clay. I knew that I had to do something with this as I knew it wouldn't last forever and it was about a year old as it was.

I have been really inspired lately by pinch pots particularly those made by Paulus Berensohn, that man is fascinating for his take on journals as well. Just search for his name and you will find loads of lovely images of the pots that he has made. In fact, I will pop the videos that I love at the bottom so you won't have to go off searching, they will be right there for you.

As you also know I have been hugely inspired by Spring and nature. Did you know that? I may have mentioned it a few times I am sure. ha ha! Well you know after many years of battling with my inner critic I now consider my self to be an artist. I am an artist and artists drawn on life around them in the art and creations and I do exactly that.

We have white walls in our house and neutral colours for our floorings and furnishings and that is because I like to change my decor with the seasons. Some is more elaborate than others. I purchase or make little bits and pieces each year and build up my collections as I go, adding to them as we build our life. But having the neutral colours enables us to do that with ease.

So taking my recent love of pinch pots, the Season and changing over my decor, I decided to use that clay I found and get a creating! I have a part project share / part tutorial for you.

You know rustic and handmade was what I was going for and it is what I ended up with. It is a simple little thing, one that gives me great pleasure and sites pride of place on my coffee table. I love looking at it and thinking, I made that. And of course there really is something quite medatative about working with your hands like that.

If you would like to see what the rest of my house looks like, with all the other seasonal bits and pieces I have you can take a nosey...

Do you decorate with the seasons? I would love to know and if you would like to share with me, I would love to see!

So here are those videos of Paulus that I mentioned above. They are so wonderful and relaxing all at the same time. I could listen to him talk over and over again. I really could. He has such a wonderful outlook on life and he comes out with such amazing quotes so enjoy!

Paulus Berensohn on pinch pots:

Paulus Berensohn on journals:

My paint brush holder

So when I showed you a quick glimpse at my workspace you also saw a little sneaky look at my paint brush holder. Well I just wanted to show you some more pictures as I am really proud of my little owl. I painted him at Crafty Monkey Potter Painting Studio in St Neots.

He is really supposed to be a plant pot holder but I think this is a much better use for him. I love looking at him as he makes me smile being as he is so bright and colourful. It inspires me and I like have fun and inspiring things around me when I am creating. How about you?

My workspace

I was playing with the camera function on my kindle to see how it worked and I ended up accidentally taking a picture of my current work space set up. I am certainly not pleased with the quality of the kindle camera and won't be making a habit of using that!

Anyways I thought it might be a giggle to show you what my current work space looks like!

Here goes...

This is actually quite tidy as I had just had a spruce up this morning. I don't have a dedicated room or even a dedicated desk. I have a big plastic tub with all my bits and bobs in that gets moved around the house. Generally when I am not creating it is kept in the spare room and then when we have house viewings (our house is currently on the market) it gets shoved up in the loft. As we are trying to sell our house, our spare room is kitted out all nicely with a made up bed and wardrobe in it. I don't think having a desk is that great for the look of the room so I totally understand, you have to make some sacrifices if you want to sell your house right!

But... I just wanted to show you that not having a fancy pants work space or craft studio does not stop you from doing what you love and loving what you do. This is just some of my stuff out on the dining room table from when I was painting a canvas last night.

The pink box has my alcohol inks, ink pads, a small (because I don't have many at all) selection of stamps and my pro markers. The box next to it has my modelling paste and my acrylic paints. The box next to that is empty. Jon got a Paddington Bear mug for Christmas and I have stolen the box it came in to store some bits in. My pent and brush pot I painted myself and I will show you that in more detail in another blog post.

I do have craft space envy though and one day I will have a beautiful space. One day!

Christmas Baubles

I love Christmas and the Winter season. I love snuggling up warm with a hot chocolate and a Christmas film and Christmas is also the time of year when I get most "crafty". Unfortunately I was taken ill at the beginning of December and had to spend a week in hospital and have been recovering on the sofa pretty much ever since so I really haven't been able to do much at all.

I have been able to do a bit though and I thought I would start to share what I have been able to create with you.

I love Christmas decorations and do tend to buy a new one or two every year. Well this year I decided to paint my own. This way I have totally unique and personal decorations to me and it also kept me from going totally stir crazy!!

We have a lovely paint your own pottery studio in St Neots called Crafty Monkey so if you are in the area you too can create something wonderful. I am a little biased as I do work there a day or so a week but it is a great place and they stock loads of items for any reason or season.

Here are the first three to share with you: