A List

Yes, one of those dread lists.  I've pulled out things that I really should make an effort to finish.  Some are quite recent and some are a few years old now and need to be moved on.

In no particular order: -

1) I've just finished this cardie for Olivia and it needs buttons.  It's a little bit on the large size for her at the moment but it's nice that she will grow into it some day!

2) A cute little panel I picked up from America and I've layered it up and just started hand quilting as it's small and portable. Great for travelling.

3) Mystery Item No 1.  There are one or two things I'm working on that need doing but I can't show you yet!

4) Mystery No 2. Yes another one.

5) Mystery No 3. I do have these ones listed so I know what I'm on about!

6) Mystery No 4. Not so secret but I'm not showing this one either!

7) The Travellers Blanket I started with a group with Dijanne Cevaal quite some time ago.

8) Another cardie for Olivia. They knit up quick and I don't become bored with them!!  She is never likely to be cold anyway.

9) The hand pieced Hexi which is dragged out every now and then.  It doesn't help that I don't like the fabrics! I am quite near the finish of this one and it's daft not to just plod on.

10) My Tweets.  Yes it's still lurking. Sashing done but I have to figure out what i want to do with the borders.

And these are without all the usual things that cram my head that want to be made.  Mind you they are all on holiday at the moment after the Art Weeks still but I know they will surface gradually.  I don't want to neglect the beading, the books or the dolls.

I am also trying to do a little drawing each day.  Nothing spectacular, just enough to keep the pencils moving. At the same time I have a felting course starting very soon, an arty couple of weeks in France and I'm doing another course with the Embroiderers Guild.  Good job my energy levels are almost back to normal!! 

Have a great week.

Collagraph

I know one day I am going to do some of this with fabric in mind.  I did this once before with Sarah Ross-Thompson but she has now moved up to Scotland, a glorious location on Lochgoilhead but terribly impractical to just pop up to for the odd class.  We are lucky in Dorset to have some wonderful collagraphists in the area though and one, Genevieve Lavers, is just spreading her wings in wanting to give classes and Jan and I were lucky enough to be her guinea pigs.    

Last week we spent the morning making the plates. The first using all sorts of items to see which of the textures would do what with the inks and the other two trying to come up with a coherent picture in mind.

Today we went back as they had now dried and been varnished.

First to be inked was the experimental plate.

I printed the one on the right first and the one on the left was the ghost print with a roll over of a contrast colour.  Quite pleased.  It is a good record of which materials do what.

I then did the tree root which I was over the moon with.

And then the cactus still life.

there was time to do acouple more of each but the first tree root is still my favorite.

It was an enjoyable couple of days.  I think Genevieve has some fun times ahead teaching this class.  I hope Jan and I were good, and useful, guinea pigs too.

On the home front Olivia was 6 months on Sunday and John was a few years more than 6 months old on Monday.  I think they enjoyed sharing their day.

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Well Hello There!

Long time no read!  I know a lot of you have been busy enjoying the summer so I'm sure blogging is the last thing you've been doing.  I have enjoyed seeing quite a few pictures of the Festival of Quilts that have been posted!  Yet another year I haven't made it.

My health took a bit of a dive again at the end of July just when John had gone away to South America and it's taken an age to find my feet again.  That and the absolute nothingness that has been my inclination to create since the Open Studios, a horrid feeling, I really have nothing much to show at all.

Today I finally had the guts to slash into some of my beautiful hand dyed fabrics which I bought at least 18 months ago for a particular thought that has, hopefully, coalesced into a project.  I took a huge breath I can tell you!  Fingers crossed what I have in my head I can put into practise.

I have just layered them all up and used the Micro Stitch to tack them.  I never did manage to buy the honeycomb plate that came with the gun and I believe they stopped making it.  Anyway I saw the big, stiff brush that is used with felting needles and shoved that underneath to push into.  Worked a treat! 

I have managed a few bits for Olivia. 

Do you know I have made four or five of these dresses and rompers and quite a few cardies and I just keep forgetting to take photos!  At least my dressmaking skills are coming along. 

One thing I did manage to do while I could actually still stand up for a bit was sand down a beautiful slab of ash given to me by Darren Wheeler, one of my fellow Dorset Visual Artists.  I cut some butterflies from ebony for the splits, (yes I chose the piece specifically for the splits!), and set them in.

Then a few coats of Danish oil and its absolutely perfect for the top of the sewing machine base John bought me for my birthday last year.

Yes, I've had another one of those too.  John came home on my birthday which was the best present I could have asked for.

Now if I can pace myself we have quite a laid back weekend ahead and I hope you all have a good one too! 

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Far Too Hot

Hasn't the weather been glorious?  But now a little too hot for me.  The thermometer we rely on for a consistant reading is in the north facing back porch in an airy out of the sun position.  When that reads 33C you know it's hot! Even the early morning dog walks have been at 22C, not good for them or me.  Lots of lazing around. I do keep trying to do bits but they soon get put aside.  I'm sure some of you are enjoying it but the House household is struggling a little!

We did have the village fete a couple of weekends ago and I picked up these three.

They are huge and rather heavy, especially the green one, to carry around for too long so that was my limit of purchases.  1963, '65 and '68 editions so quite interesting to flick through the demographics.  John can remember the Oxford one from school, I wasn't even born then. Some nice papers to add to something someday though.

I also have had another play at making some of the little books. Not quite as 'fluffy' this time, I wasn't sure about all the fabric in the last one.

Raw, as it were.

The small weights being very useful!

Left, Fairy Tales, is 2.5 x 3 inches and right, Wishes, is 2.5 x 2.5 inches.

 1.5 inches thick.

This has snippets of fairy tales in it...

 ...but also lost of blank pages to add drawings or stories.

 A slightly different spine treatment.

 And this time mostly filled with captured wishes instead.

Quite simple in the clasp and 2.25 inches thick. 

I hope you're coping with or enjoying the weather where you are! Have a great weekend.

A Christening

Yesterday was Olivia's Christening day at Salisbury Cathedral.  It was a lovely service and the choir sang beautifully.  The meal afterwards was really nice too and Olivia behaved impeccably.  She wore the gown her Daddy was christened in and some silk shoes I made for her.

Olivia with her Godmother Catherine, Dad and Mum, Godmother Elizabeth and Godfather Owen in front of the living water font.

Have a lovely week.


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Now What's Next...?

This week I have actually been using a sketchbook!  I know we are all supposed to be excited by using sketchbooks and keep copious amounts of them but they have never been my thing. I have a few that are more like scrapbooks but very few, apart from the C&G ones, that are actually filled with my dabblings and experiments.  I'm more your hands on kind of girl.  But I have now opened a new one and used it!  

I have been collecting a few motifs and ideas and making stamps.

I've then pulled a few prints off my gelli plate (something I'm very new at and still not too sure about) and added them to a pile of my fancy fabrics.

There are also a few bits going on with the experimental emblems department,

There is something fluttering around in my head that keeps knocking to come out.  Trouble is when I give it the opportunity it runs hiding at the back there somewhere again!  Anyone else have this problem?  Thoughts are just to keep fiddling about and hopefully it will be encouraged forth.

I'm having huge trouble with my keyboards at the moment.  The silly, tiddly thing that came with the Mac likes to put in extra symbols when it feels like it and the larger one I bought (the one with the delete button and proper number pad, I do finances for goodness sake and you can not calculate with numbers when they are in a line!) has the idea I need to capitalise everything every now and then.  It's favorite letters for turning this on are S, W and P at the moment but that changes at will.  Apologies for any un noticed typing booboos.

If you follow me on Faceache you will know about our latest neighbours, the Blackbirds.  We are lucky to have dozens of bird nests, high thick hedges and a large feeding station has encouraged them in.  That and John's ability to manically shoo away any predators like cats and rooks.  These Blackbirds have decided to nest outside the backdoor.

Last week on 1st July I waited patiently for mum and dad to leave, have a good zoom on the little point and shoot and took a quick photo.

On Thursday we found one of the babies in the garden, probably the little one you can see to the bottom right of the picture which didn't react to the possibility of food coming its way.  We suppose the siblings edged it out and one of the dogs found it.

Yesterday there was a lot of Blackbird scolding going on and we couldn't see any cats but the the Sparrowhawk shot through and John thinks it caught something.  We patiently waited to do a beak count and were quite relieved to see mum and dad come back to the nest.  There is still possibly a nest somewhere that has one parent down but it's not our little neighbours! And we love the Sparrowhawk too.

Today's quick snapshot of the two babies.  They are very vocal now and don't react the same way to our presence anymore.  Like the Robins earlier in the year we made the decision to carry on as normal and they would become used to us, which they have.  I think I will be keeping a close eye on them over the next week and being careful when the dogs go out though.

We have the F1 and the tennis finals and Olivia will round off the weekend by being christened so lots to look forward to.  Have a great one yourselves!

*Edit*
About 12.40 today they flew.  So far so good.  We can hear them but don't want to poke around too much to find them.  Mum and dad are still about feeding.  Fingers crossed for their onward journey. Aren't nests amazing?!

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Chalkland Flowers

Just a skim through what I've created this week. It's a commission of local wildflowers.

First was the layering.  Lots of open weaves in very neutrals stitched down with free motion.

Then I let Bob strut his stuff and embroider the flower names on the panel.  I don't use this machine often enough really and it was quite a learning curve remembering.  What would we do without the internet!

Afterwards I had a bit of free motion embroidery to do.  I enjoy this.  I will enjoy it more when Bob learns to thread himself every time I want to change colour.  Four different greens in these stems!

And all four done on the panel.

I was asked a couple of times at the Open Studio how do I make my work so flat.  I dampen it, stretch it out and leave it to do it's stuff!! And every piece is treated the same.  Obviously the media used can dictate the water content from a thorough washing to no water at all just the pinning and stretching but they all have time to be put into their shape and relax into it.  I was also asked five different times if I could do workshops, weeeeeeeellllll, I don't really have a lot to tell apart from things most people already know or things like this. And the few times I have taught it has petrified me so much I've been ill!  Daft I know but that's just me.

And finally the pieces mounted.  They are on 10 x 8 inch canvas panels.

I sprayed up some Khadi paper to compliment the flowers and tore the edges on a deckle ruler which, much to my surprise, gave them a lovely white contrast edge.  Quite pleased with them, I hope the recipient is too.

A little bit on the wildlife front this week.  Monday just as we were going to bed John found a HummingBird Hawk moth buzzing around the lounge.  There have been a couple in the garden but it was a surprise to find one inside.  After a bit of a chase and clambering about we managed to capture it and set it free.

And last night we had another bat fly in.  No photos this time but once we'd opened another few windows and doors it eventually found it's way out too.

I hope you all have a good week ahead!

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Back to School

At the beginning of the year I signed up for an online class with Luthien Thye on Artful Gathering.  It began at the start of the month and it was just the thing I needed after the Art Weeks.  Creating with most of the thinking already done.  

She used a couple of things I haven't used in my books before, polyclay and stamps, which was my main reason for wanting to do it.  

As well as new ways with the polyclay I also found out that though I am a prolific coffee drinker, sadly decaf nowadays, I really don't enjoy the smell of it when used as a stain! Back to tea next time. 

The additions were fun and quirky and the metalwork a nice way to finish off.   I can definitely take some of the things learned further.

I have also been trying to perfect the glass and I think I am making progress! 

The picture on the left is of the first batch which were better and the ones on the right the second which were even more improved.  Top blue black set already sold as buttons for a velvet jacket from a Art Weeks comission.

I am often using items to weigh things down in the studio, things that need to rest to stay (like the rather curved pages in the book above!) or for glue to set for example.  I most often use a couple of house bricks I have covered in felt.  Quite large and cumbersome so I have been looking for a nice set of kitchen weights for a while and finally found this lot on eBay.

They were taken into the factory for a bit of blasting (don't nag me about the rust dying potential!  I want to use them!!)

And John gave them a nice coat of paint.

They are a great size, the 4lb sits nicely in the palm of my hand and should just about cover all the jobs I need them for.

And yesterday John and I were major Grandparental Units!  Elsa had arranged a surprise spa visit and lunch for Mike for his birthday and we had the honour of babysitting Olivia.  A bit nervous as it was our first virtually full day but there were no tears and I think everyone had a nice time.

Happy birthday Mike!

Have a wonderful week ahead!


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