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Wednesday, 29 June 2016

A Log Cabin is born

We had been planning on building a wee summer house in the garden this year, so we have somewhere sheltered that we could enjoy the garden and the amazing view we have on those not so sunny summer days. It could also be a creative space for myself and my OH, who plays traditional flute and 4 string banjo. After looking online at summer houses our plans and budget grew a little and we thought we would get more use out of a log cabin, so a log cabin was ordered.

OH has been busy clearing a space in the garden and laying a concrete base. We took our time deciding on the best position for the cabin as we wanted to  capture as much sunlight during the day as possible, be able to see our beautiful view, see the sunset and hopefully in the winter see the northern lights.

On Saturday we unwrapped the very large package and started to work our way through this massive jigsaw puzzle pieces that would be our log cabin. We laid all the pieces out so we could work better, ie back wall pieces at back of base, side wall pieces at the side of base etc. and what happened?...... it rained! not just a shower but torrential rain with thunder and lightening! So there we were running about like loonies trying to find anything we could to cover all the timber pieces to help keep them dry.

I filmed a couple of wee time lapse videos of us working hard. 


The rain really held us back and the only thing we managed to do on Saturday was build the base frame.


We were up bright and early on Sunday and the sun was shining so building started, we worked hard as we needed to get as much done as possible. Near the end of the video I knocked the tripod over with a roof beam and didn't get it in exact same position and then because we were so busy I never noticed the battery in the camera had died.


We managed to get the front half of the roof on the cabin and the guess what?.....We live in Scotland and yes it's summer..... so it rained! Luckily we have a big tarpaulin to cover the back of the roofless cabin but this was not easy to put up in the wind and rain, but between us we managed.

Monday evening when OH came home from work the rest of the roof was put on

building a log cabininside log cabin


There's still some work to be done for it all to be finished, but I'll fill you in on that as it happens.

Yesterday morning it was raining AGAIN! So I grabbed my camera and went into the garden in search of some summer colour, a lot of the flowers are still in bud so I'm looking forward to them opening soon, but here's a few that are blooming at the moment.

A big daisy like flower, not sure what it's correct name is, but if you know please tell me.

daisy flower

delicate Love in the Mist

love in a mist flower

and finally my beautiful bright Lupins surrounded with buttercups.

lupin flowers

What's in flower in your garden?

Friday, 10 June 2016

CRAFTfest & Swallows

CRAFTfest is now officially open and will be open from 10th - 12th June pop over and view all the virtual stalls, you can find me in the Artwork section.


There's so many clever creative people selling their lovely creations this weekend so it is well worth popping over for a wee browse, you never know you might discover that little something that you just really need to have in your life :) or that special gift for someone close to you. There's far too many virtual stalls to list here, but there is everything from jewellery, wood crafts, artwork, greeting cards, crochet & knitting, bathroom & soaps, weddings, bags, craft supplies and so much more. Get yourself settled down with a cuppa or glass of wine (depending on time of day lol) and take a look.

I hope all my fellow CRAFTfesters have a fun and rewarding weekend :)

My digital art has taken a bit of a back seat for a while due to some technical issues but everything is sorted now so watch this space for a new digital creation coming soon. While the sun has been shining I, with much help from my OH, have been working on the big garden makeover and my new creative space. I will post more about that with pics when it is all finished though.

I found an old piece of wood in the barn and was totally inspired to get my paints out and create a wee mixed media artwork (aprox 23" x 5 3/4"). This was a painting that appeared intuitively and naturally, there was no plan apart from I wanted a swallow in it, as there are so many flying around the croft and nesting in the outbuildings

Arise my Soul mixed media on wood by deborah dey

Well I ended up with 3 and then I had to think of a title. 

Arise my Soul mixed media on wood by deborah dey closeup

This is when I discovered that the swallow is a very symbolic wee bird.......It is said that if a sailor drowns the swallows will carry their soul to heaven. the swallow also represents love, care and affection towards family and friends, showing the loyalty of the person always returning to them. The bird also represents freedom and hope.

Arise my Soul mixed media on wood by deborah dey closeup of swallows


So I've called it Arise My Soul

Here's a wee video of one of the many pairs of swallows nesting in our outbuildings, it won't be long now till we have lots of young flying around too




Hope to see you all at CRAFTfest and enjoy your weekend :)