watercolour Archives - Laylock Knitwear Design

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I made these to accompany my Mum’s birthday gift. Perhaps you’ll find them handy? Especially if you’ve forgotten that it’s Mothering Sunday this weekend, which I’m sure you haven’t! There are two gift tags and a card which you can print out and customise.

You can use an image-editing program to add text to the front of the card, although I think some ink calligraphy would make the whole thing look more hand-painted and less inkjet-printed. Print them on cardstock if you can, and if you’re like me and diligently save tiny lengths of leftovers, use them for the tie.

Doodling with watercolours is almost as relaxing as knitting, as long as you don’t try too hard. I’ve particularly been enjoying this ebook: Fearless Watercolours.

Here’s another way to use your gift tags. These little roses are shockingly simple to create for last-minute gifts, party favours or just for yourself. I have prepared a post about them for tomorrow so don’t miss it! :)

14th March, 2012 // Downloads // tags: birthday, free, gift tags, printables, watercolour.

The rose was awake all night for your sake

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A few final, idle touches of England. The wind-blown rose reminds me of Maud, but then, as it’s one of those poems that is so musical that you memorise it without even realising, I find lines (both floral and florid) going through my head quite often.

Come into the garden, Maud,
For the black bat, night, has flown,
Come into the garden, Maud,
I am here at the gate alone;
And the woodbine spices are wafted abroad,
And the musk of the rose is blown.

John William Waterhouse - The Soul of the Rose

Tea & roses go beautifully together too, in tea rose perfume (still my favourite), rose hip tea, and Cath Kidston mugs. My mug was the first thing to hand when I wanted to try my new Pentel water brushes (Amazon UK | Amazon US). They’re great fun, and perfect for travel-sketching or for watercolour doodling when you can’t be bothered to get up and fill a couple of glasses with water. And it just occurred to me that they might come in handy for spit-splicing too, though I tend to use my tea for that!

By the way, if you would like to do your hair like the lady in the painting (& I spent most of my teenage years striving very unsuccessfully to look Pre-Raphaelite), then you might like this video. The fishtail or herringbone plait that Sam demonstrates is also the one I used for the braided tie for the Cornflower Hat, so you’ll be a step ahead!

15th September, 2011 // Photographs // tags: art, england, poetry, rose, tea, watercolour.