Lovely lichens and a couple more pages.

I went for a walk at the weekend and kept seeing lovely lichens growing on trees and walls. They were growing on some of the tiniest twigs on some trees but I couldn't get close enough for a good photo.

These were easy and right beside the road.

I like this weird ivy stem - it looks a bit scorpion-like to me.

Tiny little ferns were beginning to grow between the stones on some walls.

I couldn't believe how far advanced these hazel catkins are - most of the other trees have a long way to go yet.

Another page for my tile book. I used a rubber stamp for this image, stamping it four times and rotating it to form this quatrefoil, then I doodled over it with the sewing machine. I used the reverse side of a piece of painted fabric as I found the colour on the right side too strong. This brings to mind those very faded tiles with little glimpses of colour showing through.

A detail of the one above.

The fleur-de-lis is on gessoed painted calico, the design stencilled with adhesive and gilding flakes applied. The outline was then couched with a fine cord to define it. The background has free machining worked on it and it was then trimmed to size and mounted on gold foil (from Ferraro Roche chocs) bonded on to felt. This was then zigzagged onto the calico page. It's amazing what you see in a photo that you hadn't noticed before - the bottom edge needs a shave!
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I am typing this post while taking a breather from clearing out our single bedroom. I need to work up a bit more energy before completing the job. The force has been with me today and the landing is covered with bags to go to charity, a bag of rubbish, stuff that I haven't decided what to do with and bits of work which have come back from various exhibitions.

I've found things I haven't seen for ages. Why is it, when clearing one room at least three others seem to get messed up? My workroom is recluttered, the bathroom has a small chair and various other bits temporarily parked there, and in the hall are several items for other family members to look at in case they can make use of them. It will be lovely when I'm shut of it all. Rest over - back to the grindstone.