Secrets of a Butterfly

pretty things to share

... a little bit of heaven

Technically i made this canvas for Lola L'amor but since it was my first of a vintage image, i'm quite likely to want to hang onto it. Thats the thing with using such hard to come by bits and pieces ,they may seem like nothing, but when put together they somehow take on a new life and are recycled into an object, that is worth more to you than the sum of its parts. I can't repeat this picture again, since the fabric is vintage scraps,alot of the paper is vintage wallpaper from the 1940's and i only have a small amount of the lilac lace. I'm going to have to get better at giving my pieces away though, if i'm wanting to open my etsy shop. here is a lilac cuff which is done in the remainder of the lace and will be one of my items to sell... What else was i going to chat to you about today, ah yes the new bird candle holder from laura Ashley made it here and was worth the wait. I love it! Though i've had plenty pretty tealight holders over the years i've never really had a nice taper candle holder, as they are quite hard to find as usually are a bit tall. This one is just right though... There's nothing more relaxing than candles burning and now i may get round to remembering to light them. Speaking of relaxation...I did have a relaxing shower today as with it being sunday there was every reason to be gentle and take my time.

I wanted to recommend an oil i use sometimes ( imagine a spa resort in Bali,but in a bottle,in your own bathroom!)  i think i'd rate this as my favourite product ever! its by Elemis and is called Exotic Frangipani monoi moisture melt and is quite literaly a little piece of heaven you can apply to the skin.  Its especially soothing as it comes solidified and to use, it has to melt first, by standing the bottle in hot water (or floating it in the bath!) which means when you come to apply it the oil is lovely and warm. I am a great believer, as are Elemis themselves, in the healing and soothing properties of flowers and herbs. Both in the format of oils but also as flower essences. The beauty of a frangipani flower

is unmistakeable and certainly it feels like a healing balm when you use it as you can really feel the relaxing of tension as the warm oil melts into the skin. Mmmm.    Apparently, and i can imagine this to be true, the treatment at the spa using this range is second to none. But whats great is, if you can't go to their spas, at least you can try out the products at home and do a sort of spa treatment on yourself. I found them through Qvc (elemis) as the benefit about purchasing from them is, they offer great prices, especially on kits of smaller sizes, to the actual elemis website,where things are full price. Though there is a special offer at the moment on their site where when buying 3 products you get a kit free which actually includes the small frangipani oil.

So getting back to Qvc,i've been trying things from them over the years and found what i like and what i'm prepared to pay for the quality of. If they don't work out for your skin, even after 28days of use,you can return them for a refund. I did this with the cleanser and toner for dry skin as i found i needed the senstive set instead. It has chamomile as its basis and an apricot toner and i've found it the best suited to my face. Though i still use Liz earle cream on my body as i find thats still the most moisturising. Again i found Liz Earle through qvc, many years ago and also l'occitanne. It would be an expensive business to try all these products on a wim, if then say, half turned out not to be what you're after, or not agree with your skin. So thats why i'm grateful to Qvc, for it sells so many of the top brands out there now and is a way of trying before you buy, which department stores simply don't have as a policy!

I thought i'd share a page from one of my journals from awhile ago which continues the relaxation theme and in a way sums up the qualities of the oil, a warm soothing sunset or walk along a beach like this...heaven. Xx

blue skies, seagulls and sunshine

This was down at Tynemouth about 2 weeks ago, i just haven't got round to blogging about it till now. I wanted to share it as its such a beautiful place and particularlly nice when there's blue sky all around. It was a touch windy that day but that made the surfing all the better. Not that i was partaking i might add, just nice to watch those that were. Wetsuits still very much needed, as the north sea isnt the most friendly of seas when it comes to its temperature. Though as far as cleanliness goes, its pretty top notch, which i think is what the blue flag is for. To the right of this shot is a structure which when my mam was little used to be a huge outdoor swimming pool that the sea filled but sadly its no longer used. It would be so nice to have it revamped but i expect not only is there a shortage of money for such things but that the cost to cover a lifeguard for the season would also be too high.  I do think though that when people complain abouyt teenagers causing problems they never think that there's just simply nothing for them to do. Somewhere such as this would be a great meeting place especially for the younger teenagers. Anyway if you drive a bit further along you come to the main street which has shops and if you keep going and turn left you can drive down to see where the ships sail into the harbour and also see the Priory standing up on the cliff.

and here is the right and side view...

Perhaps i'll finish with a pic of me and spot the seagull in the sky on this one,i love that! when wildlife make an impromptu appearance on photos..it certainly captured the beauty of the day all the more as you cant have a visit to the sea without the call of seagulls filling your memories of it.It was a gentle trip out and i felt the sea air really did me good. Kat x

What shall i gather today?

I gathered some blooms from the garden yesterday before any rain was to spoil them. The scent of them was so beautiful i think it even beat the sweetpeas that i had picked last month. How soft the pink of the petals is, both in colour and to touch. No one can really make anything more beautiful except for a baby. Flowers..life's little miracles all around us..so i stopped and took time to smell the roses and felt the more calm for it. Here they are for you, if you wish to do the same, though minus the scent via computer! and my usual closer up view... They are David Austen Roses which i think have something about them thats etra beautiful. Usually theyre more expensive because of this, but we got these on an offer last year where it was buy one get one free so that was more reasonable. I had been inspired to pick more flowers from the garden after watching the Gardener's world special on english flowers. And how much nicer those grown organically and arriving fresher in the select florists were. A bit like the way buying things on etsy that have been hand made with such care and have a great vibe about them. These flowers grown in britian and not flown(therefore creating a eco footprint and loosing their vibrancy after weeks travelling to a supermarket) in had such an energy and must have been what all flowers were like at one time. Our garden isnt all that big but i think we can squeeze a few more varieties in, and i'll persuade dad to plant some more for next summer that can be picked. I really like meadow flowers.  More free arrangements where some of the flowers arent perfect and you add grasses and wild flowers too. My least favourite are carnations and i'm not keen on Lilies.

I titled my piece today what i did because i wanted to upload the collage i made this week. It was a step for me into using acrylic paint on canvas. I compiled it like i do my cards, with a mix of vintage (wallpaper, fabric scraps, button and lace), vinatge images and modern background papers. It represents alot to me, about how i like to gather things and then make new things from old. And also how i like to pass on what i find. thats where the secrets part of my blog/etsy name comes from. Sharing things that at one time i wasnt able to and through this new way,blogging. The butterfly part comes from the representation of how a butterfly spends time in a cocoon but does transform and re-emerge to fly free. As you will guess this resonates,as thats me, after a period of confinement, spreading my wings and learning to fly bit by bit. 

i am over the moon

I am over the moon with my new banner its so me! i have the lovely Julie to give a massive thankyou to for all her beautiful handy work.Its something i have wanted for ages but hand not a clue where to start and dont have the software to digitally manipulate images.The same goes for my one on esty,wher i hope to upload some treasures to sell very soon. here's some i've been working on

i've been enjoying some quieter time abou the house lately so have turned my hand to a few different types of things, i want to have a good assortment on my etsy a bit like you'd find in a shop. I wasnt so good for a couple of weeks as some of you know but i'm coming back to myself again now. Alot of the recovery process needs to take its own time and sometimes emotional healing can effect my energy or vice versa. I found i needed to take some steps down a gear or two but it was nothing like the old days.

Dad was off work for a week and its been great as the sun hasnt stopped shinning so i had some runs out in the car with him and mam. Although mam drives us about locally her own health difficulties(rheumatoid arthritis from 30) mean she is unable to drive so far and so we tend to save those trips for time with dad. I feel strange talking about my trips out with my parents when other blogs i read are about trips with children or spouse. But then i think about alot of my friends dotted around Britian who are still very ill and unable to go on any trips out at all just like i couldnt for so long, and then i feel grateful all over again for the new turn my life has taken. (comfort parcels i sent annie and emily both very ill girls who need love light and prayers right now and have for a long time...the handmade crochet blankets were from a charity stall in Alnwick and the unique handmade kitten and bunny are fromTiddly winks on Etsy )

And so it doesnt then seem to matter that i am still living at home and spend my time with my parents because at least i have this second chance at life after 15 years away from living this was me Jan 06 and just about able to sit for a quick photo on my birthday also Jan 2006.........and this is me now just over a year into recovering from ME...sitting in an entirely different place. i didnt get out the house for over 10 years so now when i do whether in car,wheelchair or walking a bit i always like to take photos as it means so much!this is a farm shop this week

I always held onto getting better despite the length of time so severely ill and i hold onto other dreams coming about too in time, now that i have this change beginning it is even more likely. Even in the darkest times i just had something inside me that made it seem possible and which i had to hold onto.

"if we have hope we have strength to go on,  but if we have love we have everything ".  i am ever so thankful to have my parents and to get on so well with them.The biggest of all thankyou's goes to them it goes without saying i would not be here today literally without their unconditional love and support and all the caring for me theyve had to do. this was at the lakes in July,oh those mountains, to be back there again!....

As far as my improving health is concerned, I know i have worked at it and it hasnt been just presented to me but at the same time there is a timing to these things and for the way forward to come to me when it did was certainly divinely guided and for that to be gifted to me when it was i am also ever grateful. More grateful than just a few words can convey.

It seems this post has turned into one of great thanks as its theme! i think its because at the back of my mind i have been taking a leaf out of some of my favourite blogs 'books' and decided to be more open and expressive in my writing. to let some of you,dear friends old and new, into more of an insight to my life and what i'm feeling. I think its good for me to write about it more and to get the increased benefit of that. afterall i dont tend to talk that much to people apart from in this way. so i need it. Hopefully it is of interest too,to all of you. But even if i were just typing into thin air it'd still feel like i was chatting to someone, somehow blogs have that ability to end the isolation.Or at least take the edge of it, as you get to make contact with so many nice ordinary people with extraordinary lives,experiences and interets to share with you. So Thankyou to you too, for reading and being a part of my community. Love Kat

Share a cuppa tea with me

hello my friends and fellow bloggers. sit down and share a cup of tea with me, i have this new huge mug (from M&S) a bit like those they use in Central Perk on Friends, isnt it cute! gives you extra tea too. I've come in from the garden its a blustery out there today and though the sun is out the wind can be a bit too much when youre just sitting quietly. Ive been resting a bit more for a week or so, as my recovery needs that. The illness i had and am now in recovery from was ME also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, and lasted over 15 years,much of which i spent in our home largely in bed. So it with with great gratitude that i am now enjoying the wonderful countryside,seeing freinds and family, taking part in normal things like eating a meal, and generally slowly but surely getting back into life. So if at times i blog in spurts and am then absent for a while you will know i am taking a rest or indeed i could be branching out into doing something new that i havent in many many years,like walking in our front street.

Infact that leads me onto the other thing i wanted to talk about today and that is my street and my house which ive got some pics to share. Its not so iydillic a setting as some people's homes ive visitted on my blog travels but its ours and ive been here all my life, well since age 2, which is almost 30 yrs, gosh i hadnt thought of it as that long, but it is! Our street is very quiet really despite all the cars, everyone gets along and though we dont have the street parties we had when we were little(for the royal weddings and things like that) which led onto trips out at christmas to pantomimes and such. We are still a friendly place to be and everyone is nice around about us. Good neighbours are the sort of thing you take for granted when theyre there but which if things were different you would really wish for.So here is our house i was sitting in the car out in the street taking this which is how its a bit of a funny angle but it gives you a picture at least! and here's some of the view from my parents bedroom looking down and then up the street.. we have had some lovely colours on the hydrangea bush this year a mixture some blue some pink and some lilac i never got round to taking any photos but you can see the last of the pink ones on the photo of our house. i spotted this photo in country living magazine and thought it beautiful.. i love how the petals are in the shape of four leaf clovers!So with their good luck wishes i'll say goodbye for today Kat xx