What a surprise!

This is a relatively new blog, so I was surprised, but delighted, to receive this award from Purplume.  I've been following her blog for a while, and always find something interesting there.  Following someone from another part of the world opens up so many new ideas and interpretations.  Thanks for keeping me interested, Purplume, and thanks for the award.

As always this award has to be passed on, and that's difficult, because it is to be passed to 5 people, and let's face it, we all know more than 5 bloggers!  There aren't many other rules, in fact, here they are:

The rules for accepting this:
Put the logo on your blog or within your post (right click and save),
Pass the award onto 5 bloggers,
Link the nominees within your post,
Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

So, I've done the first, the logo is above!

Now to nominate:

Firstly I'd like to nominate Jan.  Her blog is full of cheerful chatty bits and pieces, and she includes pictures of all the things she is working on, and those that she has received.  Jan is really prolific.  I warn you, be prepared as she accomplishes so much it makes me feel really lazy sometimes! 

Next I'd like to award it to Kim.  Her blog is always worth a read, and I have to admit to being tardy at leaving comments there.  Thursday's post was of a fun project.

If you follow my friend Pam's blog you will be assured of the sunshine, too.  She is the most considerate and thoughtful person, a truly lovely friend.  This post will inspire you.

Three down, and two to go.  This is really hard, how does one choose?

How about another textile blog!  Gina is an inspirational artist and tutor.  She is great fun to know, too, and I'm looking forward to catching up with her next week at Textiles in Focus.  We've promised to share a coffee break or two together!

This last one is really hard.  Some of you will know that I have a very accommodating 'hat' from which I take items when I can't make a choice, well, here's the fifth one to appear!

Amanda is a Twitter friend.  We discovered that we had more than a little in common, and if you look at her blog you will see why.  This post could be a picture of something in our garden!

When it comes to sunshine, in reality there are many more of you out there - but I hope you will be inspired by following the above links.

Talking of surprise - what a great subject for inspiration, so, if you are looking for some today (inspiration, that is) why not take a short walk along the road - say 5 or 6 steps beyond your boundary - stop - look down.  I'm sure you will find a shape somewhere very close that could be the starting point of a design.  You see, design is all around you......

Inspiration

I am often asked where I find my inspiration - and the answer is difficult.  It comes in a moment of time, and is always unexpected. 

Sometimes it will be a view as it flashes past during a car journey

Or from delving into the history of a landscape and combining elements in an abstract way

Sometimes it can be just a single shape that attracts

and sometimes finding the right materials to interpret can take a while

But sometimes - you just throw a piece of used paper down, and inspiration is instant

All I need now is time to interpret it in the way that I want.....

Look for inspiration - it is all around - and comes at the most unexpected moment.  It's at times like this that keeping a journal becomes very important.

From that......

This is another selection from the 180 colours.  However, they can also be converted into a design source, so here's a quick 'from that'

'to this'