Fours Company Art and Contempary craft group.

We are four middle aged mums who have a passion for art and craft. Our first meeting was a year ago at First Site in Colchester Essex and we have been meeting there monthly ever since. The meetings last for 2 hours and during that time we show and tell what we have been doing for that month. Sometimes its not long enough as we have so much to say..........

Joan and Julie in deep conversation. While Cherry is busy with her crochet.

That's me on the right showing Julie some of my lace tools while she is examining a child's old christening gown decorated with Tambour lace. 

Cherry is a very passionate artist. She  loves her art and is trying to promote her Essex Girl artwork.. She has been accepted at the Beecroft in Southend where one of her paintings will be on show until October. You can also see more of her paintings in the Chelmsford art trail this summer.

Julie brings lots of ideas to the group. Her work is amazing, from her art to craft.  This month Julie brought some of her crocheting in to show us. Julie's thinking is," Look outside of the box", You never know what form it will take until its finished 

Julie and I having a cosy chat. We don't always talk about art or craft you know !!! 

 Joan is on the right, she is very creative and uses old  children's annuals to create her images on cards and pictures. You must see them they are so very original......

Cherry is scanning through a book that Julie brought in from her holiday in Holland

.This is a page from Julie's sketch book. How professional is that ? Julie sketched this while visiting a museum in Holland

Joan watching on while Cherry explains to everyone about her crocheting task.

I just love this photo of Julie, but i don't know if she will. Anyhow Joan thinks its funny.

This is not  Joan, but some of her work for the last month. She was so excited to share her work with us that i forgot to get her in the picture.

As a group i feel we have a lot to offer each other. We are individuals with shared ideas and opportunities in the art and craft world    

Fours Company xxxx

Bargains galore

I've had a lovely time this week doing  one my favourite things, that was, browsing in junk and charity shops, boot sales  and antique shops. My ever suffering hubby came along for the ride, he is not usually interested in what he calls JUNK , but to my amazement came up with some old tiles he found at the Wednesday boot sale. They now take pride and place on our kitchen wall.

As you can see my hubby has a great sense of humour. The tiles are all hand painted with rhyming slang they cost £5

This was my find at the same boot sale. It is a Toni Raymond collectible and cost me £1...... I fell in love with those sad eyes it reminded me of a very sad friend........ What a bargain...

I found this vintage christening gown in an antique shop in South Wold Suffolk. The needlework is something to be proud of. The dress is made out of net and decorated in Tambour lace. It cost just £9 All that work!!!  

This H&R tile started out plain white then Ann Wynn Reeves decorated it. Her work is getting very collectible now. It cost £1 

I quickly snapped this Mdina glass vase up for £1. That was an absolute bargain.

I bought this Banksy print for my daughter as she is a fan of this graffiti artist. Although its new it was still a bargain at £15 they usually cost around £40 in the shops.Just imagine if is was a genuine one, how ever much would it cost then.

This jug was made by Moorcroft . I found this on a bric a brac stool at the Medieval fare on Saturday . It cost 50p. I t now sits on the hearth in my lounge..

These crochet hooks are very old and made out of bone. the new hooks are made in steel and plastic. They are so tactile to feel and cost £1

 This very old bowl is just lovely. As you can see the centre  is decorated with blue and white stags.

  Around the sides are lovely sheep.

and more sheep.

 It is missing its top, but i still love it. Just think how grand it looked in its day sitting on the dresser of some stately home. I should think it was used for serving up mutton or venison to hungry gentry.

The cost was £1

It gives me a great buss when i find that one special thing. I don't buy for profit, but to enjoy it in my home..............

My Secret Garden

 I felt i just had to publish this post  to show you all my secret garden. I call it my Secret Garden as nobody ever sees it, which is a shame as its very pretty this time of the year. My husband and i work very hard in the garden  and love to see it looking well cared for. There's no need for us to go to the gym as the exercise keeps us fit.

We try to be self sufficient as much as possible by  growing fruit and vegetables. We also have chickens which give us enough eggs  and a few spare to sell. The plot is surrounded by hedges and trees which enables wild life and birds to flourish. My favourite bird song is the Song Thrush. I get all excited when i hear them singing at dawn. We also have a pair of woodpeckers who are very shy, we usually see them when they come into the garden in search of food.

These roses and Hollyhocks are the only flowers to be seen by passers bye as they walk to the station. 

 As i walk down the garden i can smell the perfume of the honeysuckle and jasmine growing  along the picket fence which separates into two separate rooms. The roses and hollyhocks are all out in full bloom, looking a picture you would like to paint. There's Mrs Hen having her afternoon nap in the summer house and the sound of bird song coming from the hedges that surround the garden.

 If you look closely you can see Mrs Hen sunbathing

My husband just loves to get in the picture. He is admiring my pots standing in a row.
The vegetable plot is now producing lots of fresh fruit and vegetables which you cant compare them to shop bought ones. All organic, Its lovely to see something grown from a tiny seed. How rewarding is that.

My leeks and winter greens are looking healthy after several days of rain

The potatoes  are growing well. We are digging up early ones which are of a good size.

 Tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers are growing well. The cucumbers are nearly ready to pick. 

My husband built this gate using the wood i found while out walking on the sea shore . I just love it.... 

He also stacked this seasoned wood  in the shape of an arch. We use this on our wood burner in the winter. Its very cosy...

I just can't throw anything away so have lots of junk around. I think it gives the garden character.

This is a new pathway i have created using Tobacco plants and Sweetwilliams They give off a lovely smell in the evenings.

I am very proud of my garden and find it a pleasure to be in even if nobody else see's it.

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Pineapple crochet, in the pink.

As i was browsing thought my blog i was inspired by Creative Carmelina's crochet lace. I have always been very keen on this type of lace and have made several pieces over the years. So after going through my many patterns i found this pineapple one and decided to make a couple of motifs. The book is priced at one shilling, that's to people who are as old as me!! so its quite old...

 I used Coats mercer cotton 20g  for the pink motif and 40g for the beige one. The result was, the pink one was larger than the beige one.

 My aim is to make  them into pin cushions copied from an old pineapple vintage one.

Just love the colour pink, Its so fashionable at the moment!!!!

The roses came out of my garden, they have been lovely this year i think it's because of the hot and dry weather.

A close up of the pineapple motif, printed in black and white.

I was very pleased how they came out so i must keep the crocheting up .....As Julia always says to me "look outside the box Linda !!" So can any one give me some ideas as to how i can look outside the box with these instead of making them into pincushions. 

A celebration in the sun

My husband and I have just returned home after celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary in Cyprus. We were very fortunate to stay with some friends who have lived out there for the last 5 years. They very kindly made us welcome and took us out to some lovely places. Our daughter Rebecca also came with us, she just loved the sun and spent most of her time sunbathing. Although Cyprus has very dry and hot weather it doesn't seem to affect the plant and wild life, everything seems much bigger and vibrant.

As you can see the harvest comes earlier than ours.

I just loved this cactus , the colour shape and form.

This cricket was having its afternoon nap.

This old tree cost over £200. Its dwarfed trunk looks amazing.  

Palm trees just love the hot conditions

This is me showing off my tan, well nearly!! My daughter is the one in the pool....

This virbrante plant lives at the front of my friends house. 

Cyprus is well known for its religious meeting places. How clean and well looked after they all are.

The size of this boat is just amazing. It takes people out on day trips around the island.

My husband admiring this Harley bike. He wishes he could own one . In his dreams..............

A family snapshot . Guess who ?

Thought I'd add a bit of art form . These cobbles are part of a path. Don't they look good .

My husband seems to pop up every where.

What great art is this . Somebody was very clever to create this crocodile with sand.

Dave who we stayed with kept on about prickly pears Well here they are. He said they can be eaten.

A big big thank you to Charley, Sue, Holly, Dave, Drew. Carrie-Ann and Luke who is not on the photo. for making our holiday so special.  We had a lovely time and can't wait to see you all again next year. Love to you all. xxxxxxxxxxxx

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