A couple of weeks a go I spent a very enjoyable afternoon crafting, with my friend Sue. Sue invited me round to her house for a wet felting session! Sue was wet felting but asked if I'd tried dry felting, I haven't but love to try any new craft technique.
Sue produced the tools for the dry felting: a needle felting tool, which has sharp barbed needles inside a plastic sleeve; a needle felting brush, this allows the needles to go through the fibers, without damaging the table; a piece of white felt and I brought my own stash of wool tops (roving).
Sue gave me instructions, the basic idea is to stab repeatedly and quickly, with the needle tool, to bond the wool fibers to the felt.
I did a few experiments, with colour and shape, just to get a feel for the technique, it was very absorbing.
Once at home and looking at my piece of dry felting I decided to embellished the shapes with simple embroidery and beading. I cut them out then backed them with more felt, to give them rigidity, and turned them into brooches.
I really enjoyed the dry felting and can see it has lots of possibilities and because of that I am going to invest in a set of tools.

This is a guest post by my friend Ann Gilchrist

Myself, my sister and a friend found ourselves at the World Première of I Dreamed A Dream, The Susan Boyle Musical, on 23 March 2012 at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne. It was actually Preview night, the official opening night being 27 March. It was unexpected as we didn’t realise the nationwide UK tour that follows actually started in Newcastle.

The Theatre Royal itself is a grade 1 listed building which opened in 1837. Currently celebrating it’s 175th birthday, it has recently been refurbished and looks stunning. From our vantage point ‘in the gods’, i.e. the cheap seats, we still had an excellent view of the stage.

I’m not a great fan of Britain’s Got Talent, tending to watch the last programme in the series to see who wins, so I’m not a great fan of Susan Boyle. However a neighbour of mine, Anne Smith, an actress, is in the small ensemble cast, and when I can I go to support her.

The stage show follows Susan’s life from birth until her now legendary audition for Britain’s Got Talent, and her following near nervous breakdown.

Elaine C Smith, best known for her role as Mary Doll, Rab C Nesbitt’s long suffering wife in the Scottish comedy drama, co-wrote the production and stars in the lead role. I cannot imagine anyone else taking the part of Susan, it was made for her. It also turns out that she herself has a fantastic singing voice. I had no idea.

The songs performed throughout are all well known, so the audience is soon engaged. Numbers such as Seventeen by Janis Ian, Stuck in the Middle by Stealers Wheel and Daydream Believer by the Monkees, soon get your feet tapping.

Stuck in the Middle in particular is hilarious. It is performed at the beginning of the second act by the ensemble cast, sitting in a line, in various ridiculous costumes awaiting their audition for Britain’s Got Talent.

The backdrop on the stage throughout, is a multitude of television screens, always with something going on, seemingly summing up the media frenzy that has surrounded Susan since that very first audition.

During the show, all the characters when speaking to each other, actually face the audience and talk out to the audience. This is clever, as it feels like they are talking to us, and so gives a sense of isolation and dislocation, which seems to have surrounded Susan all her life.

The culmination of the night was when Susan Boyle herself made a guest appearance, once the show had finished. She walked on stage, held out her arms and stood there. She has a huge stage presence that I cannot explain. She absolutely held that audience in the palm of her hand. They were ecstatic; they adore her, and had travelled from all over the world to be there that night. There were over 100 people from the USA alone. She performed two numbers, one of course being I Dreamed a Dream, and yes, she does have an amazing voice.

To sum up, this musical will make you laugh and cry. It covers a huge range of emotions, and is very evocative.There were many events and scenarios depicted which resonate with aspects in all our lives.

Elaine C Smith’s final line as she departs the stage, is to tell us, the audience, that usually a story has a beginning, a middle and an end, but in this case of course there is as yet no ending!
If you get the chance go and see it.

ATG

The Easter bunny has been and gone. For Easter I made chocolate muffins, I wanted them moist so I tweaked my carrot cake recipe. I replaced 2oz (50g) of the plain flour with 2oz (50g) of cocoa powder

INGREDIENTS 

1. 6floz (175ml) corn oil

2. 6oz (150g) caster sugar

3. 3 eggs

4. 1tsp vanilla essence

5. 8oz (200g) carrots

6. 4oz (100g) walnut pieces

7. 4oz (100g) plain flour

8. 2oz (50g) cocoa powder

9. 1tsp bicarbonate of soda

10. 1tsp baking powder

11. 1tsp salt

12. 40z (100g) chocolate bar to decorate

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 400 F, 200 C, Gas 6. Arrange 12 muffin cases in muffin tin

2. Place corn oil, sugar, eggs and vanilla in a bowl; beat well.

3. Grate carrot add to corn oil mixture with walnuts, flour, cocoa, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt. Mix well.

4. Pour mixture into prepared muffin cases. Bake in centre of oven for 15 min. to 20 min. until muffins are firm to the touch. Leave to cool completely on a wire rack.

5. Melt chocolate, decorate muffins.

And we have frogspawn in our little pond, it's the first year it has appeared on its own, one year we put some in. Looking forward to little froglets leaping about!

My son Ashley has flown the nest! Setting up his own home and buying his own furniture! My favourite piece of furniture is the  Ikea (Liatorp) coffee table.  Although a new table Ashley has put his stamp on it by filling it with plastic 'treasure' collected and accumulated for well over 20 years. We always keep the small plastic toys from crackers and kinder eggs as well as any curious, bizarre, peculiar or unusual plastic pieces from car boot sales and jumble sales. The table is a modern take on a 'Cabinet of Curiosities' bits of plastic nonsense turned into a talking piece. 

It also reminds me of  The Toy Shop (1962) by the English Artist Peter Blake. I was fascinated by this art work in the 1970's, when I first visited the Tate gallery. I took the children to see it a few years ago but disappointingly it's no longer on display, but Ashley now has his own version.

'Blake was interested in a wide range of cultural forms, from high art to pop music and children’s toys. Like many young ‘Pop’ artists of the time he was fascinated by American popular culture, such as denim jeans and the music of Elvis, which arrived in Britain in the late 1950s. Alongside this, Blake retained a strong interest in English popular culture. His work suggests a sense of nostalgia for the paraphernalia of his childhood. Blake collected old toys and related imagery; this piece developed as both a work of art and a store for his collection of objects.'

Ashley and I spent ages pointing out our favourite pieces and talking about when they were acquired, the best thing is there is space for more!

Now this is a bit of a puzzle, a bit like where's Wally (Waldo), can you find Mikhail Gorbachev's head? The head actually lights up and plays a strange tune when you hold it in your hand!

This is a post about stuff I like and think worthy of a mention because of the design and value for money. In the Harlequin Centre Watford I found the shop Tiger, I have seen it aptly described as a cross between Mujie and Ikea. I bought the bicycle paper clips (£1) and four peg Babushkas (£1) amongst other things! It would be a good place to find appealing and reasonable priced stuff for children's parties.

In Primark I found the very trendy 'London skyline' cushion, It wouldn't be out of place in the Design Museum shop but at only £4 it was a stylish snip.

A trip to London found me tempted to buy fabric, attracted by graphic prints. One fabric was printed with large stamps and the other with a map of London. A close look at the map shows a lot of artistic licence has been used, Camden is South of the river! If you know London maybe you can spot other anomalies, I guess it gives it an added interest.

Cath Kidston are doing a really charming range of London Olympic inspired products. I bought myself a Be a Good Sport Tea mug 
(£4), I love the way they have combined the 'athletes' with London landmarks.

Better known for its annual Herts Open Studios event, Herts Visual Arts brings you a photographic tour on Tuesday 17th April, at The University of Hertfordshire, starting at 7.30pm.

Wildlife photographer Andy Sands will take you on a photographic journey through the various and somewhat strange habitats of the British Isles. Focussing on the more elusive, rare and extremely small creatures that can be found amongst the British flora and fauna.

The interesting talk gives insight into the elusive and often intricate lives of tiny insects, rarely seen nocturnal mammals, as well as rare and less often seen birds. The photographic images will be accompanied by an informative commentary given by Andy Sands, as well as occasional sounds bites from the natural world.

Andy’s interest into Natural history is life-long, he has always been fascinated with insects, birds and mammals and the environment in which they live. After leaving school (some years ago!) he took a job in a camera shop and bought his first SLR camera. Naturally Andy started to photograph the things that interested him - wildlife.

Over the years his then hobby, photography, has grown into much more serious passion. Not only does Andy now own and run his own photographic shop, but he is still an avid watcher of wildlife, and always with camera in hand. Andy has had several exhibitions of his work, and his pictures are now marketed via the Nature Picture Library you will find that his work is widely published.

This lecture is open to all HVA members and is free to enjoy, for non-members there is a small fee of £3 payable on the door, this allows you to enjoy an interesting and insightful lecture by one of the counties leading wildlife photographers. The evening also includes light refreshments – what better way could there be to enjoy a cultural evening?

Don’t forget doors open 7pm sharp at The University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield – room A161 of the Lindop Building.

For more details on this event and others run by the organisation visit http://www.hvaf.org.uk/   

I know in St Albans the lights haven't been turned off yet but it is coming. I have an unease about this county council decision to turn the street lights off between 12am and 6am. Whether or not dark streets are statistically any less safe doesn’t matter, it's the perception. Dark streets make people feel less secure. It will be like a curfew, especially for women, imposed by councillors that have little regard for our feeling of well-being and the effect that can have on morale. There is a partition online you can sign if it is something you are concerned about.

https://consult.hertsdirect.org/petitions/petition?petition_id=26045 

Turn Our Street Lights Back On

PLEASE SUPPORT THIS PETITION, as we believe it affects all residents:

1. Increases Crime

2. Fear of Crime

3. Road Accidents - parked cars can't be seen

4. Shift Workers and anyone returning home late - NB lights go off before last trains and buses. We live in a 24 hour culture these days.

5. CO2 emissions will not be reduced if we all have to put on our own floodlights and buy torches.

6. Economy of the scheme - £4.5m spent to recoup £1.34m per year is not in our best interests.

7. Alternatives have not been seriously considered - LED lighting gives less CO2. Lights could be on PIR sensor and activate when walked past. Times could be changed. Alternate lights off. Many better solutions.

8. Savings don't outweigh any of the benefits.

9. Sheer lack of visibility for any street users - dog walkers, less abled people simply can't see in front of them.

10. Lack of consultation on such a major change to our lives. Public should have been consulted.

This petition seeks to get the Street Lights back on, pending a full and public consultation and discussion on the best way forwards on this issue, mindful that economies do need to be made.

You can find area maps and the date the lights will be turned off on the St Albans Liberal Democrats website
http://stalbanslibdems.org.uk/en/article/2012/559404/part-night-lighting-consultation-2012 

The inspiration for my twiggy decoration was a photograph I took last week, on a morning walk. On the walk I found a nice shaped twig too, bonus. I could have left my twig 'au natural' but decided to pain it white. I painted the twig and left it to dry whilst I made my pom pom 'flowers'. Taking yellow wool I wound it round and round my hand. I slipped the bundle of yarn off my fingers, took a length of yarn and securely tied and knotted it around the middle. With sharp scissors I cut the loops of the bundle. I didn't make all my pom poms the same size and shape, I think this gives it a more organic look. Once I had enough pom poms, and the twig was dry, I got out my glue gun and attached them to the ends of the twig. As Easter isn't far away you could also hang decorated eggs from it too. It would be an easy craft for children to atempt, with a little parental help.

I put my twig in a vase and placed it in front of a silk screen print by the artist Bryn Jayes, it was only then I realised the decoration echoed the print in the shape of the vase and the colour of the blooms.