Rock your very own piddock-style pendant
The piddock is my new favourite sea creature. I love the shapes their burrows make in rocks (see main article, below).
I left the piddock rock I found in place on the beach in case there were any young piddocks making homes inside.
I decided to make my own holey rocks from air-drying clay – they look good and they are guaranteed to be mollusc-free. I turned mine into pendants, but you could make a keyring or hanging decoration.
YOU WILL NEED
Air-drying clay
Pencil and paintbrush Paint (acrylic works best) Ribbon or cord
Clear nail polish (optional)
METHOD
1. Take a small chunk of air-drying clay and roll it into a ball. Flatten it out to make a pebble shape.
2. Using a pencil point, make a hole in the top end of your shape. Make sure it is wide enough to thread a ribbon through.
3. Using different round tools such as the end of a paintbrush or the tip of a pencil, make indentations in the surface of the clay (see picture). Leave to dry for 24 hours.
4. When your clay rock is dry, you can paint it. We took inspiration from the seashore, using blues and yellows with gold and silver; from a volcano with black and fiery orange; and from the colours of natural rock. Varnish it with clear nail polish once dry if you wish.
5. When your rock is dry, you can thread a loop of ribbon through the hole and wear your pendant.
THE number of women who are having other people’s babies is growing. Surrogacy is banned in some countries, but in Britain it’s legal as long as women aren’t paid for it.
These days there are even apps and agencies set up to match people who are desperate for babies with women who are keen to help.
This fascinating three-part documentary follows five women embarking on the journey of being a surrogate, with all the emotional and physical sacrifices that entails.
“If someone needs something and you’re in a position to give it to them, you would,” says mum-of-two Caitlin, 26.
She’s agreed to have a baby for her boss Kate and her partner Matt, who have been trying for a couple of years.
“It’s become a bit of a joke in the office that I’m trying too hard to be the favourite,” laughs Caitlin.
Kate, who has been devastated by the loss of three babies, is trying to be matter of fact about it. She says: “When your heart has been broken quite that badly, you never put it back on the line.”
Elsewhere, 23-year-old single mum-of-one Emma is 12 weeks pregnant with a baby for Kevin, 35, and his husband Aki, 40, after they connected through an app.
Emma will be the biological mother of the baby, and since surrogacy is not legally binding, has the right to change her mind after it’s born.
But she says: “You go into it with a certain mindset, you know it’s not your baby.”