Monthly Creative Challenge Update.

Morning all. I'm running a bit late today and my body is in slow motion too, so to cheer myself up I thought I'd look through the entries we have for this months Creative Challenge. We already had some beautiful entries this month and there is still time if you want to get involved. I love the different ways each person interprets the topic. May's topic is 'children'.


The first person to add items to the Flickr group is the ever so lovely PrincessTigerMouse. This lady, despite her busy life with a young baby, is passionate about crafts and arts and regularly enters our creative challenges. Each time she does she creates something new and beautiful to share with us. She is a very talented woman, and her baby Izzy is gorgeous!

SaraCarr is a new comer to our challenge and is most welcome. This little man above is called Bert and he just tugged at my heart strings as he reminded me of Humpty Dumpty I used to own when I was a child. He looks to me like he is sleep walking. He needs to be tucked back up in bed. Beautiful work Sara!

Ok so now your heart has melted and you have stopped saying "Ahhhhh" I'll tell you who this beautiful baby is. This little munchkin is the nephew of Starpixie and this is him at 7 weeks old. Starpixie is a very talented photographer as this photo shows. She has a great eye for composition and lighting. We have featured her photos before and I would strongly advise you to check out her work on Flickr.

There are many people in Firefly's nest and as the picture says they are crowded. Coming from a family of 4 children I know that feeling of being crowded in. I love the way the nest/basket is drawn in this picture and adore the multicoloured patterned bodies of the people. They all seem very happy to be squished in together. I think this would look fabulous framed and on the wall of a children's bedroom.

Thank you to all those that have already submitted items and all of you that haven't yet but are thinking about it, well get a wriggle on. I'm longing to see what you can create!

Written my Lynne of the PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoop

Monthly Challenge update-the sequel

More fabulous entries to the monthly challenge have appeared in the Flickr group photo pool, which is just great! I love all the different takes on the same topic. If you are still working on your entry or this is the first you have heard of this challenge you still have until the first Monday in April to join in with this months challenge "New Beginnings".

Catching Apples AKA Fleassy AKA Malay, is a lady I met on-line a couple of years ago and I have to say over that time she has wowed me many times with her beautiful work. The leather brooches above are fab. I think I like the tree best, but then again the sun if great too... but the leaf is also... hmm I can't decide. Fleassy's skills with silver, copper and jem stones have always impressed me.

Paper Street created this utterly divine collage for the challenge. It was inspired by the poem Shadows by D H Lawrence

And if tonight my soul may find her peace
in sleep, and sink in good oblivion,
and in the morning wake like a new-opened flower
then I have been dipped again in God, and new-created.

And if, as weeks go round, in the dark of the moon
my spirit darkens and goes out, and soft strange gloom
pervades my movements and my thoughts and words
then I shall know that I am walking still
with God, we are close together now the moon's in shadow.

And if, as autumn deepens and darkens
I feel the pain of falling leaves, and stems that break in storms
and trouble and dissolution and distress
and then the softness of deep shadows folding,
folding around my soul and spirit, around my lips
so sweet, like a swoon, or more like the drowse of a low, sad song
singing darker than the nightingale, on, on to the solstice
and the silence of short days, the silence of the year, the shadow,
then I shall know that my life is moving still
with the dark earth, and drenched
with the deep oblivion of earth's lapse and renewal.

And if, in the changing phases of man's life
I fall in sickness and in misery
my wrists seem broken and my heart seems dead
and strength is gone, and my life
is only the leavings of a life:

and still, among it all, snatches of lovely oblivion, and snatches
of renewal
odd, wintry flowers upon the withered stem, yet new, strange flowers
such as my life has not brought forth before, new blossoms of me

then I must know that still
I am in the hands of the unknown God,
he is breaking me down to his own oblivion
to send me forth on a new morning, a new man.

Beautiful!


Lucy Jackson Designs has joined in with the challenge by creating a newly designed bag from re-purposed T-shirts. I love the choices of colour and the pretty little flower on the bag sets it all off perfectly. What a great way to give life back to unneeded t-shirts.

Isn't it great that we have so many talented people in the world. Join in with the challenge and see if you have any hidden talents you'd like to share with us!

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops

Monthly Challenge update.

I thought today I would gather together the items people have already submitted to the challenge for this month, so you can all see the inventiveness and creativeness of your fellow blog readers within the topic of "New Beginnings". I'm so glad people have made time to join it. I'm also very happy to have had so much feedback from people saying they are glad I decided to bring back the creative challenges to the blog. I love the fact so many people are so creative!

Christine of Lilly Bug Boutique has created some beautiful baby rabbits and chicks to enter into the challenge. The photos above show the process of making the sculptures and a finished baby rabbit and chicks. Beautiful job Christine! You can read more about the making on Christine's blog.


Cathie of MagicMarkingArt made this cute plate and posted it to the Flickr group. I love the fact the back is decorated to and I love the pretty little chicks back and front of the dish. It's cheerful and fun and I can see it as a table centre piled high with mini chocolate easter eggs.

Meekiyu drew this pretty little girl with watering can tending her seedling. I is entitled "Just a little bit of hope". You can read about her inspiration for the picture on her blog. I agree, new beginnings bring hope for the future and I feel we are entering into a new start just as Spring is arriving.

All of the 4 above photos come from the lovely, creative, yummy mummy PrincessTigerMouse. If you click the photos they will take you to the photo on flickr where she describes all about how the wrap skirt was made and all about why she now has a new baby hair dread. The skirt is definitely a great new beginning for an old loved pair of trousers and the story behind her new dread just made me grin ear to ear. I also love the button necklace in the last photo!

Thanks to you guys for joining in. I really love when people enter the challenges and show us such a diverse range of items all made within the same topic. I know there are people out there still in the process of making their items for the challenge and I've a inkling they are going to be as fabulous as the ones shown today. I can't wait to see them. Please show these lovely people some love and leave them some comments on their blogs and photos.

Oooooooo some late runners and racers!

We have a couple of late entries to the sunshine challenge from Nutty Jo and Princesstigermouse.

Nutty Jo penned this haiku...

Sunlight on my skin
Makes me feel alive again
Wakes me from my sleep


Which led PTM to write...

Golden orb dripping
Tiny sparks of life and hope
Into my dark palm.