Cornucopia.....

The last jellyfish painting was part of a swap with the talented Sybille at Magpie Magic in exchange for one of her gorgeous necklaces. It arrived in the post yesterday and I adore it.  I am afraid the photo does not do it justice - the weather is overcast and wet today and I just cannot get a decent picture even with my daylight lamp. The necklace is very long, with a triple strand at the bottom and is full of wonderful treasures - an ammonite, glass beads, wooden beads, filagree, pieces of shell, beads that look like shell, you name it, it's on there.  I already own another of Sybille's necklaces which also has a enthralling collection of matching and coordinating beads and bits - they are always a pleasure to wear as they not only look good, you can spend hours admiring all the little details!  I would highly recommend her jewellery - it's all original, beautifully made and always fascinating.

Last week I also got sent a little parcel with some delicious beads in it from another talented lady, Jo Sacker.  She made these for me as part of the exchange a few months ago for a knitted dog and sofa. As she has moved house and was in a bit of disarray as far as bead-making facilities were concerned, it took a while to complete the deal - but I think you'll agree it was well worth the wait.  I am planning to make a bracelet with these very soon.

The postman also brought me some scrummy rust coloured sock yarn and some guinea-pig coloured eyelash yarn.  This little guy just needs a set of back legs - and then a little friend and somewhere to live!

It's that time of year again, fruit is starting to ripen and our local pick-your-own farm opened last weekend.  We took a trip up there yesterday and were pleased to discover that not only were the strawberries ripe and luscious, there were plenty of gooseberries as well.

So today is a jam making day - we ran out of last years' jam about a month ago, and I had to resort to buying a jar of raspberry jam for my daughter's breakfast toast - she wasn't keen on the home-made marmelade or  elderflower jelly.  She'll be all right for a while with this little lot....

And finally, I have no painting commissions on the go at the moment so it's an opportunity to have a little play with the Inktense pigment blocks. 

It's been quite a while since I painted a tiger so I am thoroughly enjoying this.  The black markings are being painstakingly painted with black Inktense diluted to make ink, the rest of the picture will hopefully be a bit more free and colourful.  The great thing about Inktense is that once dry, the colour can be painted over time and again with no ill effects, so as long as you plan what you are going to do, great depth and vibrancy of colour is possible.

I'm off to continue this while I have the time!