Brooch a Day in May

These are few of my favourite brooches, the knitting brooch was a present from my mum and the other brooches were so very exciting when I made them! 

As the end of the month approaches I feel a little sad that my challenge is nearly over! 

Brooch A Day in May

I really can't believe how May has flown by - there is just over a week until I finish my Brooch a Day challenge, and I have absolutely loved it!

I am noticing that I naturally pick up certain brooches for certain outfits, I do love to match after all, but I have really enjoyed trying out different combinations.

My Week...

This week has been delightful, full of happy moments and time spent wisely enjoying the first bits of spring. Sunday was a day of gardening, taking time to have a little look at the plants peeping out, breathing in the fresh Spring air, and having a chat with the Chickens. They are quite rightly fed up of the grotty winter weather, and were very happily trotting around munching on the weeds that flew over the fence to them. 

There was a lovely little jaunt to the big city on Monday - my sister and I had an adventure in Liverpool, where we shopped, and had lots of tea and delicious cake. It was absolutely delightful. I had a couple of thrifty-finds in local shops, I picked up a peachy little vintage tin from the market, and some fabulous floral fabric from a charity shop - two of my favourite things. The week was topped off nicely with a train journey to another city, this time Birmingham, to spend the evening with the charismatic Morrissey. "Every Day is Like Sunday" was the encore, and I was so happy I could have burst. 

Louise Bourgeois

During my visit to Tate Modern on Monday, I popped into the Louise Bourgeois "Works on Paper" galleries. I was lucky enough to see the Retrospective of her work in 2007/2008 at Tate Modern, and was of course struck by the scale of her work, but also the sheer volume of notes, sketches and small pieces that she had made. I am fairly obsessive in my note making, and try to keep a sketchbook continuously, so I always find it interesting to see the processes and 'behind the scenes' work. 

These were some of my favourite pieces in the "Works on Paper" exhibition - 
"Scissors" 1994
One of the "Ode a Ma Mere" collection 1995
"My Inner Life" 2008
Close up section of "Look Up" 2009
"What is the Shape of this Problem?" 1999
"Ode a la Bievre" 2007
"Spiral Woman" 1999
"Be Calm" 2005
"Hours of the Day" 2006

Shopping and Makings...

I had a lovely little mooch around the charity and crafty shops in Chester on Tuesday and came home with quite the little haul of goodies...

Cotton for crochet flowers, a see-through flower bag, some children's clothes to re-purpose, a Cath Kidston Cowboy cup and a sweet Budgie ornament.

I spent this morning sewing - making an age 14-15 dress into a cute skirt, and a little girls shirt into a tote bag. So now I will be on the lookout for more dresses to up-cycle, since it was such a bargain at £1.50 and so easy to alter - all it needed was a waistband and a zip!