More late summer blooms

There is a feeling of autumn just round the corner and the garden is responding.  Above is Japanese Anemone Bressingham Glow, which has proved to be really reliable over the years.

Clematis Heracleifolia New Love is also flowering nicely - it has a pleasant fragrance a bit like soap.

Hydrangea Paniculata Sundae Fraise is colouring up well - it reminds me of coconut ice.

This is a tri-coloured hibiscus - so far, just the pink is flowering.

Phlox is bringing a splash of colour to the bottom of the garden.  This one is planted in some not brilliant soil, but somehow manages to flower every year.

Another phlox, in a pot this time.

My favourite hibiscus, Oiseau Bleu, which features on here every year.  Such an exotic-looking flower. 

Finally for now, a Buddleia 'Wisteria Lane' which has long hanging flowers.  This is a couple of years old and has been planted in a big pot this year.  It has responded with some beautiful flowers.  The crocosmia Emily McKenzie is just starting to flower, so that will bring a punch of orange to the rather pastel proceedings.

Late Summer in the garden

You can tell it is late summer now. The roses had a break and some are now flowering again.  the agapanthus is flowering - above is 'Flower of Love'. This one didn't flower at all last year, so I repotted it this spring and it has rewarded me with ten flowering stems. 

Silver Baby is also flowering - four flower stems after I repotted it.  I really like the delicate pale blue colouring of this one

I remember an agapanthus grower on TV saying the plants do like to be potted on each year, which goes against the 'they like to be crammed in a pot' wisdom.  Personally, I am not sure that any plants likes to be crammed in a pot.  

This pelargonium 'Candy Flower' was bought earlier in the year and once potted on, sat and sulked for a few weeks.  However, it has come into its own now with these beautiful pinks.

This compact oregano was also bought earlier in the year and has been attracting bees through the summer.  I potted it on once, but I think it may need potting on again next year.

Finally, late summer into (whisper it) Autumn, here is the first apple from my little patio apple tree.  It is the variety 'James Grieve' which can be used as a cooking apple or eating one.  It is a little tart but quite delicious. It will need a bigger pot next year too, I think.  I took quite a few of the smaller apples off  earlier in the year as I didn't prune the tree at all last year (oops), so it has rather long shoots.  There are seven large apples altogether and I picked another one today.  I will prune it in Winter this year. 

Lots to enjoy as summer slowly begins to move to autumn.
 

Wanderlust 2021 - weeks twenty-nine to thirty-two - Texture

This month's theme was Texture.  The page above has lace, embossed card, a die cut, texture paste, acrylic paint and  water soluble crayon.

I created this simple page to showcase different textures which included collage, texture paste, sgraffito into acrylic paint, tissue paper, tea bag paper, a gel print and Liquid Pearls and Stickles to add interest to the background.

For week thirty-one, we started by making a 'mark making library' using pastes, paint, stamping and lots of different brush marks.

Then we created the layered page which had to be left to dry in between. This wasn't easy for me as I was impatient to keep going!  Small collage pieces were added as focal points.

Week thirty-two was more about how were feeling - what had gone well, what we were thankful for etc.  It was good to focus on positives.  We made a little origami envelope to hold a piece of paper on which we write our hopes and dreams - I haven't added these yet. My handmade felt became the focal point and dictated the colour scheme too. I haven't included any of my felt in my journal yet, so it was lovely to add it here.

On to the next theme - Rainbows.

Index-Card-A-Day (ICAD) challenge 2021 - weeks eight and nine

As promised, here are the final week of the ICAD challenge for this year.  Above is Typography (a definition, stamping and inks); Blur (another photo from a Christmas market of the Dodgems); and Ice Cream Sundae (inked background and magazine collage, which I really enjoyed making).

Then there was: Botanical (stamps and inks); Translucent (watercolours), Tendrils (inked background and die cut leaves) and Encyclopaedia (vintage encyclopaedia pages inked around the edges and a definition).

For the final week, there was Sea Anemone (inked background and gel print collage) and Improvise (printed definition on a gel print patchwork background).

Pocket (inked background and pocket with a die cut tag inside); Mix Tape (some of the songs on my Amazon playlist over an inked and stencilled background) and Forward (inks and stencils with a definition).

I really enjoyed the challenge again this year and found lots to think about from the prompts.  I also re-discovered my inks and have been using them a lot since then too.

Heavenly Hydrangeas

I am a person who (whisper) didn't used to like hydrangeas that much.  Luckily, that has changed and I can now appreciate their many qualities. They provide months of interest as the flowers fade and at flowering time, they bridge the gap between the end of the summer flowers such as the first flush of roses and the start of the late summer perennials.  I had a  wander around the garden, just to see which ones I had and was quite surprised as I didn't think I had acquired so many!  I took my camera along, so wondered if you would like to join me? Above is a newish one bought earlier this year - Hydrangea macrophylla Little White.  I have just discovered macrophylla means 'big leaf' - that make sense!

Here is my newest purchase, Hydrangea paniculata 'Pinky Winky'.  The name makes me smile!

Hydrangea macrophylla 'Fireworks'.

Going down the path, we have Hydrangea macrophylla 'Merveille Sanguine'.

Going past Hydrangea paniculata 'Sundae Fraise', not showing her lovely pink tones quite yet.

On to the patio, there is Hydrangea macrophlla 'Dark angel'.  I particularly like the small purple flowers inside the showy red bracts.

Probably my favourite, who has appeared on here many times, (and the only one planted in a border) Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle'.

Also on the patio is Hydrangea paniculata 'Little Spooky' with lime green flowers which should turn creamy.

Down towards the bottom of the garden is Hydrangea macrophylla Magical Revolution 'Blue', which is gradually turning purply pink, although I don't mind.  I decided I wasn't going to add colorant to keep it blue.

Next to the blue one is this one, Hydrangea macrophylla Magical Revolution 'Pink'.

At the bottom of the garden is Hydrangea macrophylla Endless Summer 'The Bride'.  I particularly like white hydrangeas in the garden as the colour shows up at dusk.  They are also a bit more amenable as they will stay white in non-ericaceous soil or compost.

Out at the front, brightening up the front door, I have hydrangea macrophylla Magical Revolution 'Pink'  - this plant is a great doer - it doesn't need that much looking after and seems to bloom for a long time.

Finally, (well done if you've stayed to the end!) is Hydrangea macrophylla Endless Summer 'Pink'.  This started to flower back in May and has been a lovely splash of colour in a rather drab-looking street.  So there we are - more hydrangeas than I thought (thirteen!) and all in pots and tubs except for Annabelle.  I have just potted on five of them as they were trying to grow out of the bottom of their pots, but they had been in them for quite some time.  It was a bit of a struggle, but I got there in the end!

Index-Card-A-Day (ICAD) Challenge 2021 - week seven

Here are Week seven's offerings for the ICAD challenge 2021.  Above, from top, clockwise: Lilac (inks and stencils), Roundabout (photos I took at a Christmas market), Kaleidoscope (inks and stencils).

Pond (watercolours and stamps), Record Player (royalty free image from unsplash, stamps and die cut records), Cupcake (stencil, inks and watercolours) and Tropical (inks, die cuts and a piece cut from a paper pad).

I'll post the rest together - the challenge finishes this Saturday.

New home made tools

Anyone who makes things using dies and a die cutting machine knows how easy it is to lose small dies.  They get cut out, put down on a table and then are lost under a pile of other crafting paraphernalia.  Companies have made special easel folders to store these, but I didn't want to spend any money on one, no matter how useful it was.  I thought I could just get a piece of magnetic sheet and use that, at a push.

I was looking at Youtubers I follow and saw this one when Ann from Positively Papercraft was making the very easel folder thing (Laminated Easel Desk Top Die Folder) I was needing.  I watched and then went off to make my own.  Mine is a little smaller, but will be so useful!  It's made like a easel card  and has thick cardboard for the covers.

Here's what it is designed for - to keep hold of the little dies so they can't get lost under a mountain of other stuff.  It works beautifully and the only cost was the magnetic sheet. Great idea, isn't it?

My other new tool is a stamp pressing tool. It is used with a stamp pressing platform, to help to spread even pressure across the stamp, particularly the bigger ones.  It works a bit like a printing baren does.   I have seen them on etsy (called 'Debby tools') in America.  I looked into buying one but the costs were prohibitive (£36 for the tool and £41 for delivery to the UK!). 

I showed a picture to Chris and  he has made me one.  It's an mdf block, with an old stamp handle attached above. I was going to go with a door handle, like the Debby tool, but he had this one, so we thought 'use what you have'.  

We bought some self adhesive felt, the sort that you can put under furniture to stop it marking the floor/other furniture and then I added an extra bit of my own felt on that. There are other options for a home made version, but I thought this would be the best for me.

I painted it with gesso and I thought that was it.  However, I was looking at it today and thinking it looked a bit plain...yes, you know what's coming next...

Here it is now, acrylic paint base and then stencilled.

Much better, don't you think? It works really well, applying an even pressure to the stamps. Two new tools, not costing much but they will be really useful.

Index-Card-A-Day (ICAD) challenge 2021 - Week 6

We're nearing the end of the challenge this year - it finishes at the end of July.  Above clockwise from top left is: Treehouse (magazine collage) ; Oasis (watercolour and ink drawing, inspired by the illustrations in 'The Land of Green Ginger' by Noel Langley - EC, you share my love of this book, I think); Postcard (using up some of my paper stash).  

Clockwise from top left: Nautical (inks and stamps); Train or Train set (inks and stamps); Silver (acrylic paint, stamps and embossing powder; Message in A Bottle (watercolour and stamp).  A bit of a neutrally coloured set this week - apart from Nautical.

On to the last two weeks!

Baumber Walled Garden

There are quite a few photos in this post, but I feel justified in including them, as this is the first garden visit I have had since June 2019!  We headed out last Tuesday and although the weather was a bit unsettled, with some showers, it was lovely to be out with my friends Katy and Alison.  Baumber Walled Garden is set in an old walled garden, as the name would suggest.  It is unusual as it has a double wall and the area in between has been planted up on a couple of sides.  You can read about it here and the history of the garden is here,

It is definitely not a traditional kitchen garden and has lots of different areas.  There is a large swimming pond and lots of grasses have been planted around it.

Some areas had an exotic feel.

You can see the swimming pond better in this photo.

They hold weddings at the garden and the marquee in the photo is evidence of this.

This relatively simple planting of alliums, where just the seed heads remain, together with the lavender was very eyecatching.

A white and green border led up to this little arch - perfect for romantic wedding photos.

The white and green theme continued on the other side.

Another area contained this interesting oriental structure, complete with replica terracotta warriors.

This perennial and shady border beneath the trees was one of the in-between-the-walls areas.

More grasses were dotted about in different beds.

On the wall where the greenhouses once stood is a lovely beachy area.

The grasses here become the waves as they dance in the wind...

...I think there were four types of plant to make this area, but it was really effective.

Looking across the swimming pond on the way out.

Looking back the other way.  Katy and Alison knew I would love this garden and they were right.  It has lots of quirky features and some fabulous planting.  There is also a very good tearoom which, of course, we had to try and I had a wonderful time.  They also have plants for sale and yes, I came home with one - a Rhodanthemum 'Marrakech' which is a plant I have been after for a while.  

I foresee more visits in the future.