Chakra blanket

If you are a regular reader of these ramblings you will know that we like to recycle and reuse as many things as possible and prevent waste. Last year, when younger members of the family moved away to study, we wrote about making off to college blankets in this post.

Since then I have decided to set off on my own college adventure for a four year BA Hons. in Fine Art at IT Sligo. I have dreamt of studying art and drawing for many years and it is lovely to finally get the chance. I will stay for a few days every week in a small student apartment and wanted to bring something along to remind me of home. So I came up with the chakra blanket. A creation completely made out of wool remnants from others projects and odd balls found in the charity shop.

I think there is great inspiration for projects like this to be found in Nature. The above image shows a progression from yellow to green to blue…

I started writing this post some weeks ago and by now I spend most of my time in my student flat. We don’t have a lot of on campus time but the WiFi at home is just not up to scratch for online classes. So the blanket is a lovely reminder of home as I work on the course material during the week. In these uncertain times I think it is important to stay hopeful and happy. The bright colours work as an antidote to any unhappy or uncertain feelings. The colours of the individual chakras reminds me that I need to look after and be mindful of the whole of me and also all those around me.

As Ireland has entered another six weeks of lockdown I am grateful for the social bubble policy that allows me to come back home for the weekends and spend the rest of my time in my student flat. I am so busy with my studies that there is little to no time to spend worrying. I hope you find yourself in a similar hopeful and restful place. Stay safe!

A vintage dream.

For the last couple of days we have had almost constant rain and we decided it would be a good time to finish up the interior of our tree house so that friends and family can enjoy it. It has been a few years since we started building it and the large beautiful rowan that was growing next to it has since blown over in a storm. At the moment it has hops and a lovely climbing rose twining their shoots up the structure and the hazels are slowly growing up to replace the lost rowan.

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More is More using Less.

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We have to admit to a love of colours. Our house is full of them. We definitely do not subscribe to a less is more approach when it comes to decorating our house. We are firm believers in that vibrant colours enhance mood and create a happy and relaxed atmosphere in the home.

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Dye and keep for longer.

First of all, if you are a regular reader of our blog please do not despair. This post concludes our soft furninshings interlude and from next week we will be back to our  usual topics!

A couple of years ago we were given some beautiful rattan furniture from friends. They were without any sort of cushions and not really usable in that state.We were lucky enough to rescue some foam from other friends who were getting rid of a sofa and it was easy enough to measure and cut the foam to shape. We then made covers from sturdy cotton fabric.

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