manonclarke

I am a mum of four children and I have been married to my English husband for 21 years. I was originally from the Netherlands. I met my husband while on holiday in the South of France and it wasn't long after when I followed him to the UK. I have been settled here for about 25 years now. We also have two dogs and a gorgeous rabbit who may as well have been a dog. When I am not looking after everyone at home I work full-time in the caring profession. I love my job but it can leave me a bit drained and this is where I feel being creative helps me relax and find my little spark back.

Dance, R&B, Buddha Bar.

Ik heb je nooit een rozen tuin beloofd by Hannah Green. The boy in the striped pyjama. Everthing written by Yvonne Keuls.....and of course all books and journals related to my work, psychology. I love psychological thrillers.

One flew over the cuuckoo's nest is my old favorite and The reader is my most recent favorite film.

I very rarely watch TV because I often work in the evenings but I have to admit that I religously watch causualty on a saturday...shame on me!

I have desgined and made my own clothes since the age of 13. As over the years the choice of shops has grown here in the UK my urge to get the sewing machine out became less apart from when I wanted something special.

Just recently my interest in textile art has started to grow bigger and once again I can see that sewing machine becoming a permanent fixture.

As a young girl I also used to love making art dolls. My mum encouraged me as soon as she felt I was old enough to hold a needle. At that time she also introduced me to the joy of modelling clay. I really liked to see a lump of clay transform into some form of a face. I made lots of creations. My family and friends still own some of my projects. Unfortunatley I am sad to say because I uprooted myself a couple of times in my life I have felt the need to throw a lot of my creations away.

Spending time on art became increasingly less over the years as result of having had children and trying to build my career. My inspirational flame was burning low until I recently came across someone who inspired me. She told me about her sewing and swapbot and guess she turned that little flame up for me once again.

I love all arts and find it easy to learn new things. Am I good at it all? I have no idea, I leave that for others to judge. However it is very pleasureable so who cares! :-)

I like everything that has been loved by someone and now needs to be loved by me. I like unusual and natural things.

I would be very happy recieving any ribon, lace, fancy buttons, glass, metal and handpainted beads (large or small) I love hand dyed fabrics, cotton yarns,mohair,silk and wool. I would be grateful for scraps of material or anything that I can use for making dolls. I would also like to start making some more unusual pieces of jewellary. Ideas, books or material will all be very much appreciated.

For the part of me that likes to relax I often use aromatherapy oils, scented candles and other relaxing treatments. So any of these items will always be l very welcome. I love anything sweet but I am not so fond of sour things. I like white and milk chocolate

I don't like anything cheap, nasty or plastic. Don't send me things that you would not like to get your self. I don't like things that look dirty or smell of cigaret smoke.