This part of my blog is all about the things I collect or the things I make myself. I love so many things, I paint and draw and want to learn oils and pastels. I knit and crochet but want to learn tatting. I embroider and can turn my hand to most things given a chance. So much still to learn and do. I live in hope of some day reading all my books, learning all I want to learn and now I am learning to blog. You will often find my original poems, poor as they are I offer them here. I also appreciate other people art and will feature things I find that I have enjoyed. That includes pictures of fairies and fantasy or maybe just anything beautiful.
I try to use my own photo's as much as possible, sometimes I borrow from the web. If I inadvertently use your picture without giving credit, please do let me know and I will either credit or remove it, I hope you will do the same with mine.
If you wish to leave comments on my blog you can do that by joining google if you do not have a blog yourself, please comment if you can I appreciate that.


Thursday, September 26, 2013

back to baking............

As the weather cools down, praise God.......its time to get back to baking. I have been looking at lovely cakes and cookies to inspire me. Oh, I wont be doing anything as ambitious as these but they are beautiful and deserve to be shared. I hope you enjoy looking at them. They are after all, just too pretty to eat.
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Beautiful decorating is the main thing here. Who cares about taste, but dont ya wonder?
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Cookie anyone
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I am sure it must be easier to decorate a large cake than these small ones..........and there are just as pretty ones there too.
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Meanwhile, I will be looking up recipes and getting myself prepared.............but I wont be doing anything like this, you can be sure of that. I would not let anyone eat them

Saturday, September 14, 2013

It's the blues...........

I was looking for things that are beautiful and blue............I found that pink was easier. Yet blue is one of my favourite colours. It was just harder work to find the things I had hoped for. Here are some lovely gowns and things.......see what you think.
Blue flowers are always beautiful and when you get a great shot like this one, well it really shows the beauty.I would love to credit the photographer but I don't know who it is.
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So to show a few lovely gowns, always fun
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Take a break and look at this beautiful fairy
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More lovely gowns
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What about a pretty bird........there are some really pretty blue birds.
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Back to the dresses, look at the bead works and lace.
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Darker blues, but thats getting closer to black and that's always classy.
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Then the lighter going towards grey
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Well naturally this is just a taste......it was harder than I expected but I am please with these beauties. I should look at more flowers next time.

Sharing with A Dedicated house anything blue friday



Thursday, September 12, 2013

In the pink..............

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Soft shades of pink are just so flattering and feminine........and when it comes to cakes and flowers, well, what could be better.
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Pink is a soothing and calm colour when its pale. Perfect for a bedroom
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A beautiful dress with lovely flowers and a pretty snack, cant beat this.
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Dreamy
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Another lovely dress and flowers
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Baby girls, fairies and flowers
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Enjoy the beauty all around you, there is so much bad in this world that it is good to dwell on the beautiful and keep our minds above the rest.
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Its easy to find beauty and to make something beautiful
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Look for the good and the beauty in all things, you will find what you seek so dont look for the bad in people and things..........the world is made up of both good and bad, beauty and ugliness so look for the best and your life will be better for it.

Friday, September 6, 2013

more from sketchbook...........

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I have done one of these for each season. Not sure if I showed the summer and Spring yet. I know I didnt show winter. Now keep in mind I am not trying for realism here.
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Cartoon like

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I suppose I am looking for ideas for cards or kids pictures.
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really I am just doodling and having fun, you cant see it here but most of these have glitter on them. I bought Martha Stewart glitter pens and tonight will get another set so I have more colours.

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I dont seem to be able to get good pictures but that's OK this is just to keep a record somewhere of what I do.

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Mary had a little lamb, would this subject make a good kiddies room picture with a bit more detail added?
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I would appreciate some ideas what to do with some of these ideas. Do you think its worth making the effort and using proper paper making some of the images to sell? Or are they really not good enough. I would like to do some simple stuff............real pictures take a long time and I do not think they would sell at all. I also need ideas of what to paint on. It does not have to be watercolour or pencil as these are. I have done some decorative painting. That is quite successful.

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Eastern dress part 2....................

Who wears a sari? In the history of Indian clothing the sari is traced back to the Indus Valley Civilisation, which flourished during 2800–1800 BC around the western part of the Indian subcontinent. The earliest known depiction of the sari in the Indian subcontinent is the statue of an Indus Valley priest wearing a drape. Buddhist monks wear the equivalent of a Sari but it is the ladies who wear it best. Indian ladies wear it and some Pakistana if they are Hindu, the Muslims do not. The stricter code of body covering is accepted. The Sari should not expose the navel traditionally but the middle is uncovered.

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The fabrics are just wonderfully made. The method of wearing is quite simple really and must be quite comfortable
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Not all Indian or Pakistani people are Hindu, some are Muslim and so the standards are different for them.Some wear the burka and that is the most extreme. The face-veiling portion is usually a rectangular piece of semi-transparent cloth with its top edge attached to a portion of the head-scarf so that the veil hangs down covering the face and can be turned up if the woman wishes to reveal her face. In other styles, the niqāb of the veil is attached by one side, and covers the face only below the eyes, allowing the eyes to be seen.
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I must admit there are days I would not mind one of those. They are not the norm for most people and does not mean the women are oppressed, its is because of their religion they chose to wear this. However, if I do understand correctly if you are a Muslim, you will not become anything else according to the law. That I do not know a lot about. So I wont talk about that.......this is all about fashion.
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Sari inspired fashion on Western women
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If you look into the subject of Eastern dress codes and fashion you would be very surprised as to what is out there. It makes you want to try it.
So many countries wear Muslim styles and each are different. The Arab Abaya is simular but not quite the same as some of the others. Each has its own unique style.
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Of all the lovely clothes out there, these are all for public wear. At home they dress just as most of us would, some do not but all we can think of is this
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All I am trying to do is to show that there is more to it than that........these ladies are probably just as we would be going around in our sweats and flip flops. Who knows what they wear under this, it is of no concern of any of us............I say let them be. Don't be afraid, just try to understand that they respect their honour, their bodies and their religion and leave it at that. We could learn a lot.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Eastern Fashions...............

I have been looking at the fashions worn by Islamic women. It may surprise you just how beautiful they are. I will explain just a bit as to what they wear and why. It is a question of modesty not repression. It is a choice for most but not for some. As with all things there are exceptions, there are always extremists in all walks of life. I am not into debating that. All I can say is that while I was in London last year I saw so many lovely young women dressed in Muslim style and was amazed at the variety and beauty of it all. When I lived in England we had a lot of Indian and Pakistani people living around us. The women were beautifully dressed, even the poorer ones. The shops that sold the cloth to make a Sari had wonderfully beautiful materials. Exquisite in fact.
I will share a few pictures and bits of information in a couple of posts

This is how we imagine all Muslim women to look. This is far from the truth.
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Well, even that is beautiful but its far from average. Each predominantly Islamic country has its own rules. Some are very strict and some are not. What it comes down to is the law. In each country it only applies to Muslims. Their religion tells them to dress and behave with modesty. In actual fact so does our bible. The bible tells us women to cover our hair when at prayer. The Muslims pray formally 5 times a day. Our bible also tells us to dress modestly. In our world not many people believe this anymore, and even Christians seem to have lost the respect that we once had. It has only been in recent, post war years that women gave up wearing hats. SO WHY do we run down Muslims for doing what their religion teaches? Is modesty a bad thing?
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Tell me this is more attractive
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As I said, each Muslim country has a different tradition, different belief and different requirements.
The Hijab is a veil that covers the head and chest, which is particularly worn by a Muslim female beyond the age of puberty in the presence of adult males. It can further refer to any head, face or body covering worn by Muslim women that conforms to a certain standard of modesty. It not only refers to the physical body covering, but also embodies a metaphysical dimension, where al-hijab refers to "the veil which separates man or the world from God”. Hijab can also be used to refer to the seclusion of women from men in the public sphere. Most often, it is worn by Muslim women as a symbol of modesty, privacy and morality.
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The hijab can be complicated and decorative
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or simple and plain.........it all depends on where you are from.
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Covering the face is not a requirement except for the most extreme Islamic rules. Mostly it requires that a woman is modest, is covered in the presence of all but her immediate family. The Hijab has come to mean the whole thing. Covering from head to toe with only face, hands and feet showing. However the modern Islamic woman in many countries have set aside the modesty for fashion. While adhering to the law, they choose to dress in "fashion" with top designers just as we do. You only need to look in some of the clothing stores to see the extent of this trend. Many Islamic women though do not like the western fashions. Unfortunately many western women have no respect for the traditions of other countries and flaunt themselves where and whenever they can in public. Many counties are very tolerant of this but it does nothing for our reputation abroad.
What is wrong with modesty? what is so threatening about a woman being covered? It used to be that Nuns would cover their heads and chests, in fact their dress was not much different to this Hijab.

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I am not pretending to know a lot on this subject, but I do get tired of hearing about the oppressed women of Islam. Yes, some are. So are some of us. Some women here have cruel or abusive husbands and the law is sometimes not able to help them. SO in Islam there are wife beaters, but from what I know, and what I have been told by people who live there, or are married to Muslim men .........it is not the normal. Why do we judge people? If you read your bible (if you are not Christian ignore the whole thing) you will notice that even Mary covered herself. Women did in those countries. Its western culture that has made us look like .............I wont say it here. I have never been particularly modest, I liked male attention. However I understand completely why its wrong. A bit late in life I agree and very difficult to change but I admire these women who live their religion. One young lady said that the competition now to be trendy and yet still be within the laws of Islam in itself is not modest. It is in many ways a shame if they too succumb to western morals.
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This is a small part of what I want to show. You should see the Indian and Pakistani ladies fashions, and the mens for that matter. They are fantastic. In this post I have posted quite plain dress compared to what is out there. I also want to do a post on the countries and how they differ. Arab dress,Pakistan, India and Africa, Egypt, Iran and Iraq and Turkey so many different styles and yet all require modesty and express this in many different ways. I find it fascinating The only thing I do not understand is this........all those countries are HOT, how can they stand all the clothes?