Stargazing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2tQVC9uuu0

One of my favourite musical experiences is The Planet Suite by Gustav Holst. The suite consists of musical pieces capturing the mythical character of seven of the planets in our solar system, Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Over the years other composers have tried to 'complete' the suite by adding Earth and Pluto, but I don't think you can improve on the mystical seven pieces in Holst's original work. My daughter and I have been fascinated by space and our solar system, Amy has drawn many pictures of the planets, we wrote Planet Renga together and I wrote the song Stargazing about a sleepless night spent staring at the stars.

2013 Craft Fairs

The Northwood Hills URC craft morning went very well. The most popular items were my Star Heart Dolls, lavender dolls, Amy's Dream Box books and our illustrated poetry books. My knitted gadget pouches were a surprise success.

This was only the second time I've run my arts and crafts stall, the first time was in Champers wine bar in June. Despite being a newcomer to arts and crafts fairs I have been taking part in arts and crafts events in my regular church for the past few years as well as taking part in their regular music evenings. I hope to explore more literary outlets in the new year.

Sleeping Angels

 

My Sleeping Angels are made of cloth and filled with dried lavender. Lavender has long been reputed to aid a good night's sleep and bring sweet dreams. Unlike weeping angels, who are alien beings who turn to stone when you look at them, but if you blink they transport you back into the past and feed on your future. Weeping angels are the stuff of nightmares, but sleeping angels are 'such stuff as dreams are made on'.

Craft stall for Northwood church

I am taking part in an arts and crafts event at an evangelical church in Northwood at the beginning of December. I planned out what the stall will look like on my desk at home. In the centre will be my rag dolls and cards designed by myself and my daughter.