Colin Bird's Kitchen Table

Just playing while it snows...Again! UGH!

Please click on photos for a close up.

This piece arrived today. It is the table Colin Bird made from the rough piece of yew I posted about not long ago. I wanted to photograph it simply without much embellishing so you could see the wood grain. I feel I have failed to do it justice!!! The top is silky smooth and the color is beautiful.

I told Colin I wanted a table that had a lot of tiny knots in the wood. He sure didn't disappoint me, not in any way. I love his work.

The very happy surprise was how nicely the ladder back chairs go with the color of the table. I bought them last year at the Tom Bishop show to use in a kitchen with no idea where I would ever find a table. What a happy unplanned result. I had no idea if it would work until today.

Thank you so much Colin. It is exactly what I hoped for and more!!!
http://www.colinbird.co.uk/

Swap Project

Cockerina invited me to make and swap something with her for a box of English tea she made. It even has tea bags inside the box!

I told her I would make her a fabric basket with some green apples in it. She asked me for a red basket but I told her I only had a red and white stripe fabric. I hope she likes it.

Thank you Lidi!!!

Yesterday I was surprised and thrilled to receive my Etsy order from Lidi Stroud. I couldn't believe how quickly it came in the mail all the way from Australia!

Her work is astonishing! She is truly a master artisan. I can only guess at how many years and miles of thread it has taken to achieve her incredible level of skill. I love the natural color of the thread she used. The inside of the basket is as beautiful as the outside is.

Lidi overwhelmed me with a magnificent gift! I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw there was a second basket in the little box. OMG!!! It is this gorgeous hanging basket! :-) It has little beads on both sides where the handle is. How in the world she wove this tiny shape is beyond me. The top actually rolls over on it's self.

Both of these are very special treasures in my collection. I am so thrilled to have them.

Thank you so much Lidi!!! I LOVE them both. XXXXX

PS... Lidi has a wonderful article in AIM this month with her lovely basket weavers shop. It is a must see!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/AbsoluteBasketcase?ref=seller_info

http://www.artisansinminiature.com/issue10.html

Roses

This is one of the English old roses kits I ordered from France. Finally...I got them together and in the vase today! I am afraid the rest of the flower kits I ordered are going to have to wait. They don't have English translations yet. I opened them up and looked at all the pieces, then quickly closed the plastic zipper bag!!! LOL

The glass powder jar, perfume bottle and white vase with the pink rim were made by my old friend Frank Whittemore. I am sure you recognize the mail Linda made for me. I love it so much I put in a few pieces in most of the pictures I take. :-)

Lidi Stroud

I have admired Lidi's work in CDHM for a very long time. I love the texture baskets add to a to a miniature scene. When I discovered she had opened an ETSY shop I couldn't resist this basket. Do stop by and have a look at her beautiful work. http://www.etsy.com/shop/AbsoluteBasketcase?ref=seller_info

A White World

It is a rare occurrence in my city for us get anything like this. We can go years without seeing any snow at all. Here are a few pictures of my house and garden this morning. I will be staying home (working on a cat sculpt)! No one in this city knows how to drive in it.

I guess the landscapers won't be here today to plant the other trees I bought for the front of my house. LOL

New Table LOL

I do love Colin Bird's work. He makes beautiful furniture. For instance... The "Double Bow High Back Elbow Chair" you see in several photos on my blog. I would have called it a Windsor Chair.

I have wanted one of his kitchen tables for a long time but I didn't want this particular piece made out of pear. Which is what he is using for them at the moment.

Recently he wrote to me and sent the picture above. It is a piece yew he has, it is just five inches long. He asked me if I liked it for my kitchen table. It didn't translate in my minds eye into a table nor could I truthfully say I could understand what it would look like when the wood had a finish on it. I do love all the tiny little knots in it. I just told him I trusted his judgement and to go ahead and make it out of this piece of yew. He is about to start working on it. It shouldn't be too long before I can show you the finished table. I am so curious. LOL