The First Mild Day of March ....

"It is the first mild day of March:
Each minute sweeter than before
The redbreast sings from the tall larch
That stands beside our door.

There is a blessing in the air,
Which seems a sense of joy to yield
To the bare trees, and mountains bare,
And grass in the green field.

My sister! ('tis a wish of mine)
Now that our morning meal is done,
Make haste, your morning task resign;
Come forth and feel the sun.

Edward will come with you, -- and, pray,
Put on with speed your woodland dress;
And bring no book: for this one day
We 'll give to idleness... "

From 'To My Sister' - William Wordsworth

Happy Saturday lovely people.

Some of my Valentine flowers are still going strong!  I've 'weeded' out the lilies and roses as these were past their best, and have added some lovely red tulips to the mix to prolong the prettyfulness on my kitchen window sill.  There are some daffies too, in another vase, but they're in tight bud  at the moment.  I'm sure it won't take long for them to open though.

I hope you've all had lovely weather today.  Its been bright sunshine and blue skies here and although cool in the shade, the day has been relatively mild after the sub zero temps of late.  A line of washing has all but dried outside today which is a bonus!

In the slow cooker you can see in the background bubbles a home made chicken, sweet potato and spinach dopazia curry which we are due to scoff with some sticky basmati rice and a shared naan bread.  Go on - scratch the screen and see if scratch and sniff works.  If this were smell-a-blog you'd be drooling on your keyboards now!!

The poem is quite serendipitous really as not only is it, indeed, the first mild(ish) day of March but there is also mention of a dress!

In the Craft Pod today, I have taken inspiration from the amazing Gabrielle Pollacco and by following her  tutorial  Vintage Dress Tutorial I have enjoyed creating my take on her creation. If you click on the pictures they should enlarge slightly.   Its great to take inspiration from a project and then make it your own.  I loved having to hunt amongst my stash to find alternative products to use.

 

a fancy little Mei Flower closure rather than flowers on the waistband

A chipboard swirl covered in acrylic paint and some music
script rather than book text

Cut out hearts with black ink doodles and a clear sticker sentiment as
I didn't have any suitable rub-ons

Some scrunchy crepe paper for the dress underskirt rather than lace

I didn't have any faux chicken wire but I did have some plasterer's scrim so
used that instead!


Thanks for the inspiration Gabrielle.  I think that many more of these canvases will be popping up for  gifts in the future.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone

xxx