And the Rest of the Week

And the rest of the week, well a couple of weirdy ones to start. Here is Jamie's arm covered not in real blood but in our fake blood as he was having a couple of days playing CSI - he was Mac and I was Stella!! The blood we made was quite good actually and had loads of bits in it too to make it really authentic, I do now of course need to get some more red food colouring. Oh and it did take a bit of work to get it off skin, hands, worktops etc!!
Jamie went around photographing the evidence a la CSI and was having some good fun!! The murder weapon perhaps with our fake blood. And talking of blood check out this from youtube it is so funny - I love all of these children's funnies - Jamie shows me them and they make us laugh so much (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6tzQ8cW9E0 or search for Blood Not Funny on youtube) I made a flower arrangement for home just for fun - doesn't happen much at the moment - but like this one a lot! Lots of phormium tenax, chrysanthemum, gerbera and calla.

I decided to bring two interests together here, so in preparation for my window display assignment I have made a scrapbook style banner saying Happy Easter, which I think looks fab!!

I really enjoyed putting this together and found some Hot of the Press papers from my scrap crap which I must have been given as I didn't buy them, which worked perfectly, found a template on the web and used some chipboard letters I already had as templates, lots of cutting and sticking but enjoyable. I then used a cropadile for the holes and strung some green either Karen Foster lime floss to string the eggs onto. I was really pleased with the result. I had hoped to put some flowers on too, but ran out of time to finish them in that way but will finish them during the summer.

I hope the banner works on the window display - I have a feeling it might! I am thinking of fastening artificial forsythia along the length too to bring some 'real' flowers through the window display.

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 10/16 - currently reading Songbird by Josephine Cox

Summer Term Week 1

Back to college for the start of the summer term and the final term of the course, and oh boy what a lot of work is still left to be done. It is going to be heads down and working very hard for the next few weeks - very hard indeed.
Above is a hand tied feature arrangement in a vase, some aspidistra leaf manipulation and I love the colour scheme, well anything with lime green and orange does it for me!! Apart from the top chrysanthemum being too far off to the left I was very pleased with this design.

We finally got our first (and only - although we were promised 3 varied trips at enrolment) college trip to Van Vliet's wholesalers in Northampton. The gripes first - the lack of trips had come up in a feedback session to the head of department and then suddenly a trip was organised - hooray you may say. Well the day chosen was a day which had been planned to do practical assessments so they were cancelled therefore putting further pressure on fitting assessments in later in the course.

My own view has been that a visit to the wholesaler should have happened in the first term because we would get to see a wide variety of flowers and foliages at a time when we need to be learning about them. We would have the opportunity of seeing some items for real when we are never going to get the chance to see or use them in class. We would have the chance to seeing the vast array of sundries that are available which would also fire imaginations when it comes to writing assignments and thinking about putting designs together. And it would happen at a less intense time in the course, at a time when we are learning and not focusing on getting assignments in and assessments done! I had visited several wholesalers by this point but was still looking forward to the trip.

But saying that the trip was enjoyable, if the flowers a little in short supply (can't remember now if it was Mother's Day in Eastern Europe combined with volcanic ash that meant flowers were not as abundant as they often are at Van Vliet). Here are some photos of my favourite bits, lime green bags and baskets for either flower arrangements or planted designs - lovely ....

spider gerbera - I love these ......

a whole section of carnations (dianthus caryophyllus) .....

a lovely selection of tulips (bear this photo in mind for an upcoming blog!)........

some sundries .......

gerbera .....

a wider shot, showing a selection of flowers ....

This was an enjoyable trip.

The staging for the window display assignment has been erected - mine is in a couple of weeks. I am not sure about the positioning as it is in the main entrance to the college - the solid metal barrier is next to the main door and students are likely to be walking past the whole time we are trying to put the display in situ. Wonder whose idea it was to place it there?

Another assessment out of the way above is my planted design in situ. It has to stay there for 6 weeks (it will end up there for 8 so it is there for the External Verifier to see! couldn't be bothered with the hassle of arguing over my bowl, my plants etc etc) This was the other bowl I bought on my trip to Smiths.

I am really angry with myself over this as I ended up with a Merit rather than a Distinction because I wrote the wrong figure down in one section of the cost sheet (I'll come back to this in a final summary of the course as a whole).

I used variegated ivy (hedera helix), spider plant (chlorophytum comosum), flaming katy (kalanchoe blossfeldiana), money plant (crassula) and Easter cactus (Rhipsalidopsis or Hatiora). I was pleased with the design as it was bright and welcoming for the reception desk (the area I had been allocated) where it had to sit for 6 weeks to be maintained which was the next part of the module.

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 10/16 - currently reading Songbird by Josephine Cox

A Blogaversery!

I started this blog on 19th April 2009 - a year ago!! I had planned to have a website about my flower arranging but that is on hold - it's sat there waiting but Mike is so busy with other stuff, as am I that it is very much on the back burner. And I found Blogger which has suited me so well.

This blog has never really been about how many visitors it gets, it's really my online diary and as such has been great fun to write, and a great way to go on about my flowers and to write about stuff which is such a cathartic process, especially all of those college related frustrations both at college and at myself!

The stats - well just over 2,000 visitors which is fab and over 260 posts and I found this which is the blog being translated into Spanish!

Here's to the next 12 months!!

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 10/16 - currently reading Songbird by Josephine Cox

Crafting and Floristry Purchases

I hate shopping! Well almost most shopping, if I can get it via the internet I am a very happy bunny! Except when it comes to shopping for a couple of areas in my life my floristry and scrapbooking.

I can spend considerable amounts of time in florists and wholesalers contemplating which flowers I want to use and how they would work in a particular design or other. Or try and think how I would use a certain sometimes unusual flower that I have found in the florists. I do use internet for florist supplies and scrapbooking, papercrafting sites but I do like to browse the physical shops too - at least to get some ideas and then shop around for the bargains online. Although the scrapbooking is firmly on the back burner whilst the floristry course is ongoing. As for shopping in general, in actual fact as of the time writing this I have not been up to MK shopping centre this year!!

But as we were in Suffolk I knew of a large sundries wholesaler who allowed NAFAS members in and who didn't have minimum spends or registration fees. So as part of our break we headed there to allow me an hour or so of indulgence!! I was eager to have a look as I needed to pick up one or two items for my shop window and in-store display assignments at college. And I was happy to go as W and M Smith had been incredibly helpful when I was trying to get hold of some items for an assignment earlier in my course.

The wholesaler I went to was brilliant and I had a great time browsing around their packed wharehouse and didn't even spend that much really as most items were very reasonably priced, even taking account of the VAT to be added! I managed to pick up some rainbow foam in lime green, some wire cushion bases which I need for an assignment I have coming up and college have been unable to source a wire cushion frame for me to do this assessment on. Luckily they had some, slightly rusty but very useable frames and the very helpful lady let me have about 4 or 5 for free as they had been planning to dispose of them - I will come back to this when I talk about my assessment.
Some cute additions for my Easter window display, like the chap above some chicks, the lovely lime green vase below, which is just for me at home!!

The chick below and the galvanised dish, which I may or may not use for my planted bowl. I also got another container which is my alternative for the planted bowl, some candles in the shape of eggs, jute ribbon (lime green) and a few other bits and pieces including some Mitsumata which meant the car was quite full!

I also picked up these yellow eggs too, which will all come into play for the window display and then hopefully I will be able to use in either my design or competition work (eventually!).

On our way back we had just a few minutes for me to pop in for a look at Capture the Magic but I am reluctant to spend too much on the scrap crap at the moment as I have so little time to indulge and I have so much stuff as it is so I made only a couple of purchases.

Some green and cream dotty cardstock which I love and do use quite a lot in layouts, some cream chipboard from Bo Bunny which I can ink up to the colour I want - lots of swirls and frames, which are the things I like to use,

and some alphabet Thickers which I love and use too italic green, a curly black and a useful blue,

and some more chipboard from Bo Bunny this time circles and arrows, so a modest few purchases after all!

At some point I am hoping to bring these two loves together and produce a scrapbook or portfolio of all my floristry creations - one day this will happen.

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 10/16 - currently reading Songbird by Josephine Cox

Suffolk Short Break

We had a short break in Suffolk and here are some pictures of our time away in random order! Not too much chat on this one!!

A Martello Tower in the mist at Aldeburgh - it was bitterly cold here, but it looked lovely and we have earmarked a return visit for when there is some lovely weather in the summer!!
Sizewell Nuclear Power Station!

Some interesting looking fishing huts at Sizewell village beach - kind of remind me a bit of fishing huts on the South Gare just outside Redcar back up near my home village!!

A platform off Sizewell Beach, not sure what this was there for, checking the water quality and the fish weren't dayglo orange probably!!!

Jamie on Aldeburgh beach, a stony one - he wanted me to play too, but it was bitterly cold and I was staying in the car where it was a little warmer - he is still having fun!!

An 'arty shot' of waves crashing into rocks on Felixstowe beach, again a possible return for a sunny summers day!

Jamie on Felixstowe beach - we'd just had a fantastic breakfast, the BEST EVER scrambled eggs I have ever tasted and we weren't even supposed to be there - I had got terribly confused about the directions and where everywhere was.

Jamie is itching to have a paddle in this photo!! He is playing dare with the waves!!

And he's lost!! We had some spare clothes in the care, fortunately!!He's having lots of fun .......
The Guildhall at Lavenham on our first day - it's an amazing building .... check out the new Harry Potter film when it comes out some of it was filmed here .....

Mike and Jamie outside the Guildhall

A true rock star - Steve Harley

Mike presenting Steve Harley with his Friars Heroes Award

Jamie was as good as gold waiting and reading quietly whilst we had coffee with Steve and his wife .....

Ipswich and a visit to Portman Road, Ipswich FC Ground and a stop to pay tribute to Sir Bobby Robson, a great hero in Ipswich, in Football in general and of course the North East ....

One of the many rabbits outside our hotel ....

One of the Crooked Houses in Lavenham, a very pretty village ......

Jamie being nosey the way only a 10 year old can .......

Mike wandering around Lavenham, so pretty Lavenham that is .....

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 10/16 - currently reading Songbird by Josephine Cox

Ultravox at Oxford New Theatre

Tonight Mike and I headed off to Oxford to see Ultravox in concert. Was looking forward to this, saw them last year but that had a couple of problems associated with it, (not regarding Ultravox or the gig itself more the shall we call it the company of limpets) so this time no problems and a much more enjoyable evening. Well apart from Mike spitting his dummy out when parking the car, which he got over once he'd had something to eat courtesy of Mr B King!!


Personally I love Oxford New Theatre, one of those really old fashioned stylish theatres, although the seats are a bit cosy!! - well they are with my bum!! We timed it just perfectly got our cold drinks, went to the loo, sat down, had a look around and then lights down.

A small selection of my photos from the evening, all the band were looking incredibly well and clearly having fun. The sound quality at the start was a little off, but that seemed to improve as the evening wore on. Billy Currie still does the silly dancing, Chris still looks like your Dad dancing at a wedding, Warren stills looks incredibly cool and Midge, well Midge is as ever, great voice, and still pulling the strangest of faces during those guitar solos easily ranks alongside David Gilmour on that one!! Still and always one of my favourites - and has been now for well about 34 years, I still have my copy of Slik's Forever and Ever and from his 'punk' days a Rich Kids record too!!

An enjoyable evening all round and the set list was as best as I can remember it

New Europeans
Passing Strangers
We Stand Alone
Mr X
Visions in Blue
Thin Wall
Death in the Afternoon
Astradyne

Rage in Eden
Hymn
Lament
One Small Day
All Stood Still
White China
Vienna
Reap the Wild Wind
Dancing With Tears In My Eyes
Love's Great Adventure
Sleepwalk
The Voice

Ciao

Sue

XX

Reading challenge 10/16 - currently reading Songbird by Josephine Cox