More colour and fussy cutting...

There was no adventuring for Mr E and I this last weekend.

We have a sick motorbike that needed attention and it became a rather huge undertaking as the more Mr E dug into the engine, the more troubles he was met with. I'm so thankful he is a mechanic by trade...

No matter what, though, he always has a smile for me. xx

Whilst Mr E continued with the bike repairs I wandered around the garden to find colour.

Specifically, I was looking for colours which nature had provided as a contrast to green, and in my garden this last week of winter it appears pink and red rule!

 

I also found this little guy and studied his personal apparel for colour combination, but it was his cute little spots that caught my eye! He almost looks like a living button...

So why was I outside searching for green companion colours?

Design inspiration!

 Here's the result...

And I think I see a new opportunity for more fussy cutting...

The floral is a print from "Sew Cherry" by Lori Holt, and the green pindot is from "Ruby" by Bonnie & Camille. Both orphan fabrics from my stash - and I think perhaps twins separated at birth. Aren't they a perfect pair?!

When I finished my photo expedition and the subsequent fabric foraging it was time for some lazy Sunday baking. A pot of tea and some fresh sour cherry scones for lunch...

...but before we had our simple meal outside on the back deck, I remembered I'd not yet shown you what I'd made with the small pile of leftover scraps of grey and red fabric from the Gratitude Bag tutorial I shared back in May (here). 

I'd used them to make this little table runner for the middle of our old outdoor table, so before I put out the lunch these photos were quickly snapped...

Because I only had narrow lengths of the fabric to work with, and barely any red, these six feature blocks are just 5" square. The small pieces of red tonal actually gave the simple table topper some pop which may have been lost if more red had been used. It finished at 17" x 10" - perfect for where it sits.

There are three Shoo Fly...

...and three with a 1" red square in the centre of a floral border.

It's amazing what you can make from scraps, isn't it?!

I'd best away to that fussy cutting...oh, what will I make I wonder...

TOMORROW: Drop by and meet my very first guest blogger! 
You are going to love her...I promise. ;-)

hugs

Life is a colour wheel...

This will be the last blog post in my recent series on colour so I thought I'd close with more ideas on how/when colour inspires me, and perhaps help you to see your own 'life' as a colour wheel you too can be inspired by.

You see, the idea for this series of 'colour week' blog posts actually began on the crazy hat day with Blossom. We'd been wandering through the Freedom Furniture store looking for a decorative white ladder/shelf unit I could display in my creative space. But you know, once I open the doors on that shop I don't come out for quite a while. The colours take hold of my attention and I just 'dream' designs at every turn.

Here's the pics I brought home on my phone that day, the ones that made me want to play more with colour, so how about daydreaming along with me?

Do you imagine a seaside holiday cabin with striped deckchairs out on the verandah, and glasses of chilled pineapple juiced spiked with fresh mint...

Flower Market stalls from an English Country Garden?

The kitchen of an ocean fronted holiday house, grains of sand catching under our feet as we cut thick slices of ciabatta for the olive oil drenched bruschetta we're making for lunch...

You're invited to our Christmas Day lunch; a casual affair on the back deck, alive with all these luscious summer colours reflected in the dessert platters of mango, strawberries, avocados, red grapes, cherries, peaches and nectarines...

Each one of the photos above inspired me to create in my mind a scene I'd like to live out - different scenes for different seasons that rolled creatively into new design ideas; all based on that initial emotional response I had to the colours on display in a local furniture store. When you stop and let your mind wander in front of displays like those above, you may surprise yourself with the emotions they can stir.

Now, what if we bring together a variety of fabric and thread colours from our stash? Will they all meld together or can we look through them and create narrower palettes?

To highlight this point I'm using vibrant pink, blue, green and orange - on a grey base.

 All together these four are pretty wild - the pastel grey base enhances the vibrancy of each colour allowing the four 'as a whole' to pop.

Take two fabrics away and focus on the remaining two. Even when you keep the four threads in the picture the balance changes - less choir and more of a duet. The blue and orange appear more prominent, and the green and pink become mere accents. The wildness is tamed...

Switch fabrics and the pink and green become the main players with the orange and blue as supporting actors. Now I see a little wildness return, but it's not as overwhelming as when the four colours are together...

Sometimes it's nice to let one intense colour be the solo 'star' by making it centre stage. You would choose the 'less is more' option for some complimentary colours...

My little journey through colour this past week or so has been educational to the way I put together my fabrics and my threads. I'm taking notice of the life scenery before me each day, no matter where I am - in a furniture store, picking fresh produce from the farmer's market, watching the rain fall upon my tropical garden, standing in front of my fabric shelves, or playing with my new pencils.

I hope you've been inspired to look closer at the colours in your world too. 

Have a wonderfully colourful day, won't you?! 

I'm going to sit back now and enjoy a coffee and some fresh raspberries with my yoghurt and granola...just look at those raspberries...the colour...

hugs,

 

Colour my food...

It's not just colours in fabric, thread, crockery and trinkets that raise my 'wow' register. 

Food can do it too!

Like Saturday's 'Prawn & Avocado" salad...

Mr E peeled the local prawns, and I invented a new mango and lime salad dressing...

 Very simple, and very fresh.

Want the recipe?

In a blender add:

* the fruit of one peeled mango 

* 1 1/2 tablespoons sweet chilli sauce

* the juice of one lime

* 1 1/2 tablespoons macadamia oil (cold pressed organic)

YUM!!

Yesterday for lunch I used the remainder of the mango & lime dressing as a dip for a platter of raw vegetables, some water crackers, and crumbly Mersey Valley cheese.

I also mashed together an avocado, sweet chilli sauce, and the juice of 1/2 a lime as an extra dip for our lunch...

It looked so lovely and rustic served on my old wooden bread board.

As well as the cheese and water crackers we had raw carrots, raw sweet potato slices, cucumber sticks and cherry tomatoes...

Not much left afterwards...

...but just enough for Blossom's afternoon tea. 

Like I said. Colour is wonderful, no matter where you find it!

hugs

The orange and the green...

It all began one day this week with a mug and a chair at morning tea...

~orange and green~

My two colour obsession revealed once more.

Within ten minutes I'd gathered like minded colours and invited them to play nice.

The brights got along rather well, each assuring the other their friendship would last...

...until they met the soft-hearted blends. 

And then the pot was stirred.

Varying shades, but still after all, both orange and green. A perfect match.

Might be time to head back to some pastels next week. The Bright Family are a rather noisy lot when allowed to visit for too long.

Have a sweet and smiley Saturday everyone!

hugs