three times a blogger.....

B is for........bareness, bottles & buttons,  birch trees .

At this time of year taking a stroll in any of the local countryside it appears to be quite sparse and bare.

 However if you look closely you can see lots of wildlife. Watching last Sundays episode of Countryfile really opens your eyes to all the wonders of nature that are out there all year round. Despite in parts of the country it being bitterly cold, nature is still active. One would have thought that most would be hibernated away (like we would like to be...) however if you are out and about take a few minutes to discover what you can see. Nature can offer so much even at this time of year.  

Watercolour



Birch trees are one of the more distinctive trees to notice. It could be because of their silvery bark keeps them visually apart from the other trees. At this time of year it seems fitting that they are drawn and painted with cooler colours such as ceruleum blue and a light wash of burnt amber. 

 Painting a silver birch  full of summer richness doesn't quite seem right when it's so cold outside. The silver birch (Betula pendula) is native to us here in England and the striking trees can reach up to 30 meters in height.






Bottles!!

Ooooh. I LOVE collecting small vintage glass bottles. I was lucky to happen upon a few last year buried deeply in a field in Sussex that was once a municipal tip many years ago. Some of the bottles discovered there were amazing. Full of character - and unfortunately full of dirt as well!  Cleaning them was a job. Many of the bottles have glass inscriptions of them. 





The things I love about these glass bottles is how utterly versatile they are to use around the home.  They can be used for many things - the most obvious being a simple yet effective vase.  I like to arrange a few together complete with fresh blooms or pretty dried flowers.

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 It doesn't have to be expensive flowers - just piecing together a few stems and some  greenery from your garden is very effective.  If using a clear glass bottle the effect can be changed easily to match the décor or theme of the room. If the simple plainness is too ..... simple for you then you could easily liven them up with accessories such as ribbon, twine, raffia & Hessian. 

All you need to do is collect some matching materials as stated.
Measure round the size of the bottle allowing for a little overlay.
Tie the material around it neatly - and dab some glue on the ends - pressing firm until stuck.
I tend to find matching colours to match the flowers works best - but it's up to you.
Also layering is a really good look - using ribbon and lace and rafia together. 
A nice finishing touch is to pop a button or two on the hessian or ribbon.

It is a bit trial and error with some materials so always do a practice first. Some fabrics don't like all glues!

The ones that I found didn't have complete tops - most of them had rusted away. However there are many new modern copies in shops atm and they can be utilised in many more ways.

Some designs have glass pebbles in the bottom but personally I don't like them - natural small stones from the beach can be used instead if you wish.

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Hessian  and lace are two of my most favourite accessories (I love lace at the moment!)  - and used in conjunction with ribbon and raffia all together look striking! They can even be used as focus points on tables and many modern weddings have incorporated them in their table decorations.


Of course you don't have to use lovely vintage ones sourced from different interesting places - used jam jars are a popular alternative.






Thank you for reading my blog.
Vicky :-)

not all those who wander are lost