Treasure!

I have been included in three treasuries today - this is a record for me and has made me super happy.

The first was called 'Come and open up your folding chair next to me' by LeenGreenBean and included my blue Floating Vivid Pattern Collage print.

The second was titled 'Feeling blue...' by ChiccaBijouxCreations and was decidedly more cheerful than you would imagine! It included my original Vintage Winter Woodland collage.

The third was called 'Creative a Collage' by bbrunophotography and included my Crimson Atlas original collage piece.

Happy Friday everyone - hope you are all looking forward to a great weekend.

Vick.

Preserved

I've been busy turning a tree load of bramleys into apple butter this week. If you're in the US then this probably makes a lot of sense. If you're in the UK: apple butter is a sharper, less viscous type of apple jam. There is a lot less sugar involved and it is pureed halfway through the proceedings.

Many people use a slow cooker. I don't. I'm not being snooty about it, I just don't own a slow cooker. I had to do a jar-count to see how many batches of the stuff I could make. I also decided to do a general round up of preserves while I was about it. It's coming up to Christmas and I generally give people preserves (they make nice gifts...yes I am also very poor while trying to figure out what my job is going to be!).

The final tally.
Elderflower cordial - 4
Elderberry cordial - 7
Sloe Sherry - 2
Sloe Gin - 3
Rosemary Oil - 2
Chilli Oil - 2
Damson Jelly - 2
Pickled Beans - 3
Winter Chutney - 1
Apple Chutney - 2
Green Tomato Jam - 3
Gooseberry Chutney - 6
Damson Jam - 6
Victoria Plum Chutney - 3
Apple Jelly - 15
Damson Chutney - 7
Mincemeat - 2
Chilli Pepper Jam - 3

And not nearly enough empty jars. I wouldn't come around to dinner any time soon - you might be forced to eat jam so I get another jar free for this year's goodies.

And there are currently 6 jars of apple butter with another double batch on the hob as I type.

Vick.

More Random Words

It's been a little while now since I started collecting three random words from friends and strangers to turn into poetry. The posts are all tagged 3RW and are more-or-less in the order in which I received the ideas.

I am over halfway through my 100 word collection of poems. I have posted more than half of them on here and I have got almost a full set of words to work from.

So really I am in the final push to get some really amazing, weird, quirky, awkward, contentious words to work with for the last few. I've been getting loads from over on Etsy which has been fantastic. If I do happen to get a few over 100 I will keep going  - the idea was always to enjoy writing the poems (which I am) and to try and make me a better poet in the process (someone else can be the judge of that one).

Have you spotted the hint? I am hoping for some incredible words. At the moment I am only taking one set of ideas from each person and then when I get to the end I might go over some of the duplicates I have been given and have a go at them. If there's someone reading this who hasn't given me words - please do. Also if you know people who you think would be good at this could you please pass it along. Especially if they have slightly weird or warped imagination (yes, my fantasy/sci-fi reading friends I am looking at all of you).

I am accepting ideas here, on Twitter, Facebook, Etsy  - actually any which way that you would like to get in touch.

Thanks everyone - clearly I couldn't be doing this alone!

Vick.

5-7-5-ish

Even more haiku-ish poems. Once again I stress the 'ish' part. I do know that they are not real haiku poems but they are working for me. Here we go.

RedGreenQueen gave me "coconut, horizon, ocean" from the Etsy forums

"Melt Ice"
Coconut snow falls
over a wide horizon
into the ocean.

Alex Phillips from creatingtrouble gave me "star, harmony, warmth"

"DayLight"
His star was hidden
under the warmth of sunshine
and night’s harmony.

Joanne Waring of JoArtyJo gave me "fresh, petal, lustre" to work from:

"Wallpaper"
A fresh dance of oil
no petal untouched by the
framed show of lustre.

Emily April Scard of AprilSparkles gave me "honey, toes, cherry" to write with:

"Pure Imagination"
Rooms of honey rain
land on the toes of cherry
coloured cakes and me.

Louise Oneill from jaggedrockjewels kindly donated "spices, Japanese, flower"

"Decorations"
A spiral pattern
in a Japanese hallway
scented with spices.

All done for now. Must get back to it soon - I've been trying to preserve lots of the apples that we have in our garden so I've been busy cooking instead of writing poetry!

Vick.

Blush, Soliloquy, Ladybird, Nest

And for another batch of poetry now. This one is once again taken from my very lovely friends over at Etsy - Etsy has updated searching and so there is even more to look at again. Lots of changes and they seem to be doing a great job!

Becky from curiouscleo gave me "maternal, blush, bond" to work with.

"Home"
The colour of blush paints itself
across the empty room
spreading up to mirrored ceilings
before creeping back to a worn floor.
A maternal place – always growing
a new group of ungrateful children
creating the bond that everyone
can see – easy to make
and easy to cut straight across.

Kate from PatchworkMoose gave me "soliloquy, sunset, solidified".

A motion solidified into action
minutes go by unchecked as they listen
to a series of speeches – the main
soliloquy broadcast throughout the day.
Lines towed along and repeated until
the sunset creeps over walls and streets
into the down-at-heel market
where we wake up and live.

Lin from cloudhopping gave me 'contradictory, flourish, nest' in the blog comments to work with.

"Cuckoo"
A thin grey bird cries out at night
calling to her mate but taunting
those she needs but doesn't want.
Using the unsuspecting neighbour
who never learns but suffer at her hand.
Contradictory by nature, rarely seen
but forced to meet and exchange.
So much of their purpose
done amongst strangers - solitary until
in a nest. Better than their own.
Instinctive selfishness passed on
to thick skinned young who
flourish wherever they are placed.
Alone apart from captivated carers
unwilling helpers in their own torment.

Jane from janehammill gave me 'ukelele, ladybird, beads' also in the blog comments.

"Up/Out"
There is a tall lady - soft but solid
with tangled red hair standing
in the September pumpkin field.
Surrounded by globes she holds
a ukelele up towards the day-time
stars. Unseen but ever present.
The music starts but she isn't playing
and one ladybird lands on her
white dress, attracting its fellows.
As the run warms her morning skin
she dances - chains of beads
clattering to a different tune.

That's all for now. I've been writing more standard length as well as more haiku-ish ones which should hopefully both be up here soon.

Vick.

A day in the kitchen

I spent today cooking and pottering around.

very lovely organic garlic

beheaded

dressed for heat

all done

ready to be added to...anything

all from the greenhouse

thyme and flavoured oil

midway through being baked to death

very roasted tomatoes

thin slices

much salt

dinner

I also read the paper. Drank coffee. Wrote some letters. Did some tidying up. Wrote some new recipes. Now I think I need to do some ironing. It's an exciting life here.

Vick.

Swans & Horses & Heroes...

I've started putting my new constellation collection online. I talked about the process over here and now they are up in the shop.

I've done four so far and I am now experimenting with the more dense (artistically, not in physics terms - I didn't do very well in physics at school) groups to see how they will work.

It's also time to think about Christmas. I wish I was kidding but I've already signed up for two Christmas craft fairs. I know I said I was going to be focusing on my online sales but it would be stupid to miss the holiday crafting sales opportunities. They are huge. So, there's that but also Etsy starts really gearing up now. Christmas cards will be going up along with decorations and gift tags, presents etc.etc. Once we are over the Halloween, Thanksgiving, start of Fall (autumn) bump it will be full steam ahead for Christmas.

Exhausting, right? But more on that later. For now I am going back to my stars.

Vick.

Isthmus, Dulcet, Hemisphere.

After the frenzy of my mini-haiku-ish poems last week we are back with 'normal' poems now. I don't think they are normal. Have I ever said on here how much I hate normal? I really do. Again all of the ideas behind the random words come from my friends over on Etsy. Links to their shops are through the shop names - go have a look and find something amazing for yourself or a friend.

Meanwhile some of these have been really tricky. 

Artangel gave me “Ethereal, Whisper, Dulcet” to write something from:

“Sweetie”

The street, quiet of cars wound to the

left to show a bright pink door.

A pure scent of hot sugar hit the passers-by

and trickled through them like a whisper promising more.

Touch, taste. Joy to follow the promise.

Dulcet songs of daisy fields

washed across the room and rolled

back towards our strained ears.

Food delivered in high platters of

ethereal tastes and otherworldly textures

making a cornucopia with plenty to eat in

a world full of easy light and bright pastel.

A home found easily and never quite

returned to more than once, never left.

Michaela & Richard of frenchandgodbold gave me "isthmus, ash, equation" a long time ago now and I have been thinking about it ever since, it took me a long time to find a way of getting the words to do what I wanted but finally I came up with this:

“Library”

Wallpaper the colour of ash and soft silk

covered the room and

seeped into the narrow isthmus leading far away.

Beyond its secrets a world of

books waiting to be found –

no longer behind barriers and alarms

but open to the dust and skin.

Only at night when the ghosts come out

to reclaim their possessions and move

the heavy drapes can the words be set free.

Ready to read.

A home turned to a museum

trapping written ideas like flies on paper.

A human equation of money

breaking the rules and forgetting

what matters from the past.

Wendyelf herself gave me "warble, crystal, hemisphere" to work with.

"Odette"
Two men work side by side in the summer
furnace they have always known.
All at once a sphere and a hemisphere
then transformed into a new life.
A crystal swan kept by his

little girl to remind her

of his hands and their wonder.

the warble of a long extinct bird

carries into the studio and the glass

shakes and mumbles but remains strong.

The past cannot get in, every single thing

is preserved by old fires and a dying skill.

All in all these were much harder than the last couple of batches but I seem to be thinking that a lot recently - maybe now we are so far through (we are approaching 50 if anyone wanted to know) I am finding it harder to get new ideas. New sets of words are starting to remind me of old ones that I have already done so I'm trying to keep them out of the poem and still find a way of working the words in. Having said that I am still really enjoying this as a way of writing and am very grateful that I have so many good ideas coming my way.

I'm still not quite there with the ideas though - I need a few more. There are some people who I am planning on pestering but if anyone hasn't given me any words yet, I would love to hear from you. I'm not doing any duplicates unless I run out of ideas, then I'll go back and use the spare sets from people who have already helped me write one.

Vick.

5, 7, 5

I was reading over the lists of word ideas that I was given and realised that a lot of them made phrases all by themselves. So sitting with a cup of iced tea and a buzzing brain I got a rather silly idea. Why not make it even harder for myself? Yes, excellent. So I started writing Haikus.

Except that they are not really haiku poems. They are poems following the 5/7/5 syllable pattern so not strictly a haiku but close enough for someone who is not an expert (I'm not).

Here we go. These are all from lovely sellers over on Etsy who have been kind enough to inspire me. Please click on their names to visit their shops - we have some great people on the site and you *never* know what amazing wonders you might find. Have fun, explore, support crafters and artists.

Julia of LoveButtons gave me "badger, kiosk, ocean".

"Sea Hut"
A kiosk striped black
and white looks like a badger
on the ocean front.

Pam of akcflowerdesigns gave me "whisper, shout, silence".

"Counsel"
The first stage-whisper,
Grief that will shout long and loud.
A minute's silence.

Jane of dovehilljewellery gave me "ambience, freedom, enjoyment"

"Night Time"
A dark ambience
the old freedom to star-gaze
for pure enjoyment.

Pam of crochetbypamela gave me "sea, baby, curiosity"

"Newborn"
A baby stares out
to sea, with unseeing eyes -
curiosity.

Magicalfrost gave me "sunshine, moment, comfort"

"You That Way"
Cold sunshine prolongs
the moment I say goodbye
to my comfort. You.

Ana of anacdesigns gave me "smile, transparent, open"

"Genes"
Transparent trees wave
from open generations
a smile from your past.

Stasya of TheStitchAndFold gave me "water, paper, fruit" in the blog comments section.

"Downtrodden"
Dripping water breaks
through the paper like rotten
fruit squashed under foot.

Sandy from angelcottagecreation gave me "spring, turquoise, coral" to work with.

"Pattern"
Spirals of turquoise
flowers form a coral reef
in Spring's lost garden.

Vicki from KarrahDesigns gave me "beauty, promise, hope"

"Acting"
Standing on a stage
his hope to promise beauty
yet no one believes.

Mandy from TheHollowbourneHoard gave me "sparkle, blue, soft"

"Crashed"
A sparkle of moon-
lit blood, tangled in soft fur
as a blue car flees.

So that is my brief fling with 5-7-5 poetry. I think there might be more, unless there are huge objections. I like working in a very specific form, it concentrates the mind wonderfully.
We shall see - I've kept the ones I have written in a less organised manner back so that they were not in with all of the Haiku-ish ones so I will pop them online soon.

Vick.

A Garden Full of Flowers

I love.

I found this while sorting through Blogger (something I should probably do a little more often). I wrote it many months ago now - in fact on Dec. 31st - and forgot to put it up on here. So here it is now. Unchanged, partly because I like seeing what I thought a long time ago and partly because I still agree with it all. Apologies for the more personal post than usual. Business as usual soon!
Vick.

I love wearing skirts.

I love reading.

I love baking.

I love having a giant mug of coffee and reading food blogs.

I love living on my own.

I love libraries.

I love quizzes. Especially the TLS Christmas quiz.

I love art.

I love crafts.

I love sparkly things.

I love making art, crafts, and sparkly things.

I love Shakespeare.

I love eBay.

I love birds. All of them but especially birds of prey and ravens.

I love men. Seriously. I have so many more male friends than female.

I love family heirlooms.

I love coffee. Been hooked since I was 16, it's my vice.

I love Wrightsville Beach.

I love learning new things.

I love history.

I love the theatre.

I love creative people.

I love black and white war movies.

I love Chik-Fil-A's Polynesian sauce.

I love Boogie Shoes. Because of Sports Night.

I love Italian cakes.

I love it when people exceed all expectations.

I love inside jokes. But only when no one is left out.

I love all my books.

I love my friends who read books.

I love my friends who write books.

I love the British Museum.

I love opera.

I love cold mornings.

I love Bojangles.

I love travelling.

I love mis-matching crockery and cutlery.

I love the rain.

Stars and Stamps

Maths, geometry, science, stars - all on varying levels of geekdom have been flowing through my brain as I have been working on my new collection.

Following the lovely response to my last set of new cards, made from my 5x7" collage art pieces, I have been working on a series of 6x4" collages which can then in turn be made into blank greeting cards as well.

I've been wanting to use constellations in a series for a little while now but have not been having any luck at figuring out what I wanted to do. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to use the myths behind some of the constellations as the base and build on that, or use the physical shape that they make. I toyed around with trying to use the mythology but it became so convoluted that very few people would have seen the significance. I am still working on sourcing recycled materials that will work to do some large scale constellation pieces which have the mythology and character of the story behind them involved, but that's not for now.

The main thing that I personally enjoy about the constellations are the shapes. I have started with one of my favourite constellations. Cassiopeia. She would have been my favourite to try and use the mythology as well (much easier than Ursa Minor!) but she has a lovely shape and I like the significance of how she appears differently depending on the time of year.

I've been playing with different ways of showing the constellations and with different materials, so we'll see how it goes from here.
And now you're all up to date on what my week is going to be about! Hope everyone is healthy and happy.

Vick.