Antony Gormley’s Another Place, Crosby Beach, Sefton

No trip to Southport would be complete without a trip to Antony Gormley’s Another Place, an installation of 100 cast iron, life size figures on Crosby Beach, in Sefton.

Another Place, Mariners Road, Crosby Beach, Liverpool, Merseyside, L23 6SX

The haunting sculptures are spread out along three kilometres of the foreshore and stretching almost one kilometre out to sea.

Each Another Place figure weighs 650 kilos and are made from casts of the artist's own body.  They all look out to sea, staring at the horizon in “silent expectation”

“According to Antony Gormley, Another Place harnesses the ebb and flow of the tide to explore man's relationship with nature. The seaside is a good place to do this. Here time is tested by tide, architecture by the elements and the prevalence of sky seems to question the earth's substance. In this work human life is tested against planetary time. This sculpture exposes to light and time the nakedness of a particular and peculiar body. It is no hero, no ideal, just the industrially reproduced body of a middle-aged man trying to remain standing and trying to breathe, facing a horizon busy with ships moving materials and manufactured things around the planet.”

I have been several times now, and love it more each time I visit.

It would be so wonderful to live close enough to visit every day, to see how the beach and installation change with the seasons, light, weather and tide.  I have only ever seen it on a dull day …………..

…….. with the sea so far out its almost impossible to pick out against the skyline.

It’s without doubt, not the prettiest of beaches ………….. but what’s been created there is special and holds a very special place in my heart …….. perhaps even more so than the beautiful beaches of my beloved Greece, this place makes me feel peaceful and calm, and weirdly, very safe.

Objects Of Desire In Southport

One of Lu’s and my ports of call for a good old mooch during our recent trip to Southport was the Royal Arcade (127-131 Lord Street, Southport) with over sixty independent trader stalls spread across 30,000 square feet of pure treasure (and a little bit of trash),  including memorabilia,  vintage toys, collectables and antiques plus a few new hand crafted items. 

Picture from :- https://www.southportvisiter.co.uk/news/southport-west-lancs/29-reasons-lord-street-southport-9268133

Although we didn’t actually make any considered purchases, there were plenty of ooooo ahhhhh moments as we explored the three floors and many fabulously filled nooks and crannies during our long mooch round, never knowing what we’d find round the next corner……….

……… though sorely tempted, we chose to allow the Simon Cowell doll to remain in its locked glass cabinet for another more enthusiastic browser to snap up for £15!

However, I was torn, either for Marc or myself by these hear no, see no, speak no evil jointed skeletons, they are soooooooo unbelievably Marc. They were £24, perhaps if they’d been around the £16 mark my money could have possibly been in danger. 

Also, way out of my price bracket and with no place to put them were these large, heavy, metal, gothic style candlestick mirrors at £345, gorgeous!

Lu wanted this Garfield phone £40 or £45. She had so many Garfield toys when she was growing up, I think she still may have a couple hidden away somewhere. This in the 80’s/90’s, she said, was the epitome of sophistication in her young eyes!

I think I’ve said before, I am on the market for a dolls house, but because I am so limited for space now, it will have to be a very small one, therefore even harder to find.  This was obviously far too big, the frame made of metal with warped, wooden floor upstairs, a project  ……. it was £65.

Lu and I both love a mirror, this was so sentimental and slushy ……and I think about £185.  I have an old mirror in my hall cupboard, I’d love to have a go at painting it one day, although painting isn’t really my forte. What do you think about using acrylic pens, would the effect be as effective as paint?

We also love a glass with gold trim, especially for our Midori melon liqueur of an evening ………. this may well have been our purchase of the day, however the whole stall was a mess and no price tags and we didn’t want to walk around with it for the rest of our visit to find out it was a bit too expensive for our taste, so its now back to the charity shops looking for something similar.

And finally, a while back Iris saw a bright red typewriter in a charity shop in Evesham for just £10 and said she’d like one.  Yes, I could kick myself now for not going back for it.  However, I spotted this children’s Lilliput typewriter in the Royal Arcade and I was really surprised just how sturdy it was, made of metal, not plastic as I had imagined, just like a miniature version of an old portable adult one.  This was £35 but it got me thinking when I got back home. I’ve found another one (among quite a few) dating back to the 1960’s in it’s original case.  After exchanging messages with the seller re: condition etc, I’ve put in a bid, fingers crossed for Iris’s “Nanny Christmas present” this year.  If my bid is successful I know I will need to buy a new ribbon (again researched and sourced on eBay).  Iris will be so thrilled and no doubt immediately set about writing a book …….. the only trouble is I know Bertie will love it equally too ……. so if needs be, I know there will be another on eBay ……. and if it isn’t the success I anticipate, well, I can see me using it on my crafting projects!

This motorbilty scooter made me smile outside another of Southport’s shops, it’s been covered with flat backed gems, not that sparkly, so I doubt they are proper Swarovski crystals ……..

……. hopefully it’s going to be a very long time before I’ll need one of these, but when I do, guess what I’m going to do with it?!!!

No Time To Craft or Blog .....................

Only one "proper" post this week (which was yesterday) and the same for a few weeks to follow, I'm sorry .......since Covid restrictions have lifted I've had no time to craft, let along blog, which is why I always like to have a whole raft of posts scheduled, but I've not even had time to do that!

Lu and I decided after so much time in lockdown and like everyone else, missing so many holidays and weekends away, we'd try to make the most of all the free time we have and staycation as and when we can. Anyway, August has been soooooooo busy, hence no reserves. We've done Portsmouth, Stoke On Trent and Southport, with Dawlish, Bournemouth and The Malvern Flea to come, plus as you read this I am in the depths of the Worcester country side with Marc for a week ........

Like this time last year, none of us can know what the autumn, winter and Covid have in store for us,  although double jabbed and with the prospect of a booster for us oldies, I am still being very careful and remaining masked up when I am out and about, BUT it's also time to make hay .......... crafting and the subsequent blogging can wait just a little, although I am hoping there will be a bit of charity shop shopping, objects of desire and few scenic views to fill a Monday post for the next little while.

Third Wedding Anniversary Easel

Sorry,  another easel for you today ……… I’ll get out this phase soon, I promise!

This was made for my lovely neighbours third wedding anniversary (hence the counting of days), using a small 7cms x 7cms canvas and easel set I found in Home Bargains for just 69p, you can’t even buy a card for that!

I also used my trusty old Dymo label maker, some plain wooden numbers (the Works) which I coloured with a purple Sharpie pen, followed by two layers of Ranger Glossy Accents, which did run, but I managed to carefully remove the offending blob before giving it.

A few tiny confetti stars here and there, along with a scattering of three dot clusters made using a black fine liner pen complete this very simple idea.

With my Christmas easels I’ve been gluing the canvas straight onto the easel as they are more of a decoration, which I hope will be brought out for a couple of Christmases at least, however as this is just a temporary sort of thing, I thought I would leave it as it was so that perhaps the easel could be used again on another occasion/purpose perhaps.

My Pick ‘N’ Mix Shower Room Charity Shop Shelves

My apologies, I have nothing else to bore you with today other than my en-suite shower room shelves, but at least it fills an otherwise empty post??!!!

Everything, except for the two shells on the bottom shelf (which were presents from my late mother-in-law) have come from the charity shops of Evesham over the past five years.

The most expensive piece is the large hand vase (above) which I think cost me around £4.99.

Everything else was anything from 50p to about £2.99, I am really mean in my collecting!  My particular favourite for “finding” at the moment is bohemian glass, the over the top bits with enamel paintwork and gold.  The tall vase on the left was £2.99.  The two little green jugs were 50p each, I pounced like a lion on a gazelle when I spotted them! Bohemian glass can be soooooo expensive, so I know there will be a bit of a profit for me when I move on to collect something else.

When I find new sparkly bits they go on to replace something that I don’t think quite goes, I can spot a couple of likely candidates a mile off in these pictures! They generally tend to be the smaller pieces which will either find a new home somewhere around the flat or be donated back to one of the many shops I frequent. I admit, I am pretty addicted to the luck of the chase and like a magpie it is usually something shiny that catches my eye …….. and it’s fun, and we haven’t had much of that these past 18 months!

Halloween Mini Easels

I knew once I started I wouldn’t be able to stop with the easels ideas!

Again using an easel from the Chalkboard Place Card packs from Home Bargains (4 in a pack 99p)  …….

I started by colouring the white edging orange with a Sharpie pen as well as the easel bar black, but that wasn’t really necessary as I got in to the project.

Once I had worked out roughly where all the embellishments were going to go I added the writing using a white Posca pen.

Next came the wooden laser cut embellishments (eBay), either coloured with Sharpie pens and then a layer of Ranger Glossy Accents or for the skeleton and web white Ranger Glossy Enamels .

I decided to use green Dovecraft 3D Enamel Effects (£1 The Range) on the bar I had already coloured black to add more dimension and texture.

When the oozing green slime had dried I could use more of the embellishments and start titivating the easel ……….

……. like adding green eyes to the bat and a skull bead to the top of one of the easel legs .......

……. plus tiny coloured stars and clusters of white dots wherever I could fit them in.

I might make a few more of these to use as place settings for my annual Halloween Sleepover Party for Iris and Bertie. I have a few more ideas for other designs along the same theme as I have quite a few wooden embellishments left over from last year that really need using up.  Happy days!

Home Bargains – Wedding Chalkboard Place Card Easels

Ohhhhhhhhh ……. flipping heck, after being in the Wedding Section of Home Bargains stores for as long as I can remember ……. but only just realising their full crafting potential …………..

……… I don’t think Home Bargains are stocking them any more! I have searched in various stores in other areas and nothing!  DOH!!!!!!!  I apologise to all those I may have also sent on a fools errand.  Thank goodness I managed to find a few packs in the huge Home Bargains just outside Evesham town centre when I did, so I was able to complete one Christmas idea I had for them.

I have done some research and I have ordered three sets of ten from a company called Lisa’s Stores on AliExpress – which cost me £9.92 (the cheapest I could find including P & P), which works out at around 31p each compared to the 25p from Home Bargains.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33000429707.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.75064c4d3bU2qh

These are in a natural wood finish as opposed to the painted white finish of the Home Bargains ones.  I really don’t know what to expect from them, other than they are not due to arrive until around the end of September! In the meantime, I shall probably still keep an eye out for them in the UK and let you know if I find any or anything similar…………

Teapot-tastic Charity Find!!!!

I am not usually THIS organised for Christmas  ……. but  recent charity shop moochings sort of got the better of me …….

……….. and well, it would look most rude not to use the Christmas planner Lu bought me last Christmas at the earliest opportunity.

It all started with the orange teapot at just £1.50 which I bagsed for Rick (Marc’s partner) as as orange is his colour of choice to put it away for his now traditional “festive tut sack”.  When I went back to the shop a couple of days later all the others were still there and then when I turned them I saw that they were all made by Price and Kensington and totally unused.

At first I thought they might be worth a punt up on eBay as they are not cheap, so I bought the lot (£9), but then I got to thinking again ………… what about Christmas fairing gifts for Iris and Bertie to take to school at Christmas?

With, generally, three staff to each class, it’s a no brainer.  So the plan now is to buy a pack of individually wrapped teabags putting them in a teabag poem card ……

……. plus an individual pack of two/three biscuits?…….. I am so chuffed with myself!

The Works Canvas and Easel Snowman Shelf Decoration

Another set of canvas and easel Christmas decorations for you today ……..

……. made using £1 easel and canvas sets from The Works.

I started by putting a strip of snowy sky patterned paper across the top of the canvases.  The "Stars Shining" paper pad is going to be really useful for my Christmas crafting this year, unfortunately I just can’t remember where I got it from, sorry!

I then used Aleene’s True Snow to add a bit of texture and dimension to the canvas.

While this was drying I added Ranger Glossy Accents on the 3D card snowman embellishments, again for extra dimension and texture.

The wooden Christmas sentiments (Hobbycraft £1 Christmas 2020) were not quite the right colour so I change them to red with a Sharpie pen followed by a layer of Glossy Accents.

It seems sacrilege, but although the wooden tree embellishments were the right size I wasn’t too keen to add glitter to the canvas (goodness only knows why?), so I simply turned them over and coloured them, this time with a green Sharpie (with varying results, I also don’t know why) plus more Glossy Accents.

When all the components were dry it was time to put them all together.

I edged the canvas with tiny faux stitches using a black fine liner pen.

I also added three plastic snowflakes (Aliexpress) to help fill the empty corners and spaces.

To keep the snowy theme going I also added Aleene’s, with another snowflake, on the easel bar.

On the prototype I coloured the easel with a red Sharpie pen, but this proved to be too time consuming and fiddly and looking at the pictures doesn’t really add that much to the finished decoration.

I’m really happy with how these have turned out, I can see them fitting in on a shelf amongst the Christmas cards ……….

I love the idea of sending them out instead of a card this year, something to keep rather than throw away at the end of the holiday.  Think they will mail as a large letter, a bit more expensive but I think worth it.

I am sure, judging from my box of Christmas embellishments left over from last year, in particular, there could well be whole variation on this basic idea.

For those of you looking for cheap easel sets, I have also found these 7cm square in the art and craft section of Home Bargains, they cost an incredible 69p each, a lot less than a card to buy!