The Mattress Springs

They look so content!

Murder Mystery

It is supposed that while the family were at prayers, a man effected an entrance into the lower portion of the hotel, as soon afterwards the half decent body of Mr De Villere was discovered submerged in a vat of the hotelier's best wine. (swimming in wine....now there's an idea!)

To elimate 15 suspects and 6 possible weapons, embarking on a 1.5mile trail, hunting down clues on lamposts, war memorials, famous landmarks, advertising posters and car parking meters, a successfull narrow down of suspects to just one, a truely low life individual who had committed the murder most terrible.

The treasure trail described above was the entertainment at a birthday party and the way I've written it, was inspired by my local newspaper journal. They re-print news from 100, 150 and 250 years ago, and the language and contents are so amusing. I look forward to the paper every week.

FIRE, EARTH, AIR, WATER

There are many writings on the topic of the Four Elements or Temperaments depending on what your individual beliefs are, what your native customs are and which century you were born in. I understand that you can't have one element without the other and that they make contrasting pairs; earth and air, fire and water - pictured diagnally opposite one another.

I like the explanation given in 'Symbols in Eastern and Western Art' by James Hall.
"The Middle Ages...believed that man was a microcosm of the universe and that his body was therefore governed by various planetary influences. They worked through his internal organs that produced four kinds of bodily fluids, or humours, which determined his temperament... "
These humours had a similar essence to the Four Elements, but were also associated with the Four Seasons, Four Rivers of Hades and Four different Animals that shared the same character.

I sense another project.....

EARTH

The brown buckle represents the Earth, a significant circular 'element' that due to its structure and composition can adapt to a new purpose. The green beads and the larger rectangle button represent nature; trees and plants.

FIRE

The cylindrical shape that is red and frosted is the heart of the fire, it combines with the oxygen from Air and heat from the Earth to produce the state of burning, shown as dark red beads.

AIR

The completely clear glass sphere is the invisible gas and then the surrounding beads and buttons are the different particules carried within the atmosphere.

The Oxford Dictonary describes Air as:-

the invisible gaseous substance surounding the earth, a mixture mainly of oxygen and nitrogen.

Time for Creativity

Hello!


Did you miss me?
Don't you find, that you go through phases, sometimes you have so many ideas that you struggle to get them all down on paper and then other times, you have ideas, but perhaps no time outside of daily life to do anything about them.


I have made a list of my ideas so that when I get a spare hour one evening or at the weekend, I can review and make a start. Here is the (short) list so far:

• Create pincushion cupcakes - need to purchase the materials
• Floral broaches / bag accessories
• Make more themed notebooks - need better quality thick paper
• Christmas themed gifts
  

This morning I spent a lot of time on my kitchen floor rummaging around in my favourite Button Tin for particular colours and shades to complete my fire, earth, air and water representation.

Below is the symbol for water:- I love the huge bead in the middle with two colours representing water and oxygen. The purple and mauve shaded beads represent the coral and sea creatures.

Diversity