10/20/2013
a wrapping cloth
Lots of pictures today....should keep you out of trouble for a while. I had a hankering for a wrapping cloth do you remember? This one was carefully stored in several pieces, unfinished. I worked on it a little yesterday, joined a couple of sections and it felt so good to have it in my hands again. After having reacquainted myself with it I now think it needs more sections, more pieces put together. I'm not sure I will have time to do that before I go away but if I do I will show you.
Meanwhile ''operation spotless towers'' is almost complete. I cleaned my bedroom today...THOROUGHLY. I have such a tiny house and I am always astounded at how much cleaning is needed in such a small space. If I lived in a mansion I would need an army of cleaners every day. If you watch Coronation Street then to give you an idea my little place is smaller than the house lived in by Ken and Deirdre, I kid you not. Why then is it so hard to clean, time consuming to keep clean and the biggest question of all is how I ever managed to raise two children here???? All I can assume is that I must have, at that point in my life been a SUPER domestic goddess...super duper cleaner, tidier and mother.
10/19/2013
embellishing Astrid
The pages I am working on here are from the book ''Spyflungan Astrid'' by Maria Jonsson. Published by Bonnier Carlsen.
Yesterday afternoon I spent an hour giving a little attention to Astrid. She has been somewhat neglected since I brought her home from Sweden in June. Tiny amounts of stitch have been worked on the pages and scraps of paper have been painted, scribbled on and mounted into the book. There are also some copies of my own work in here, a reminder to myself of what I do. I wish...oh how I wish I could create as beautiful a background with sketch or paint as the one provided by this gorgeous book. I know, I know...I say that a lot. I moan and complain about my lack of artistic ability with pen, pencil and paint. I need to loosen up, perhaps sketch madly for a time. If I create say ten sketches and nine of them finish up in the bin maybe the one that remains will have been worth the effort. I owe it to myself to at least try and I owe it to you to stop moaning and get on with it!
10/18/2013
more.....
Two more pieces for my sampler cloth/pocket/body bag are taking shape in fact one of them, I am thinking, is finished. The hexagon piece has more added to it. There are applique petals, another hexagon motif and several little flowers dotted across the surface. The other piece here was started last night. Three patches and a huge applique circle which has partial edges of bullion knots are waiting to be embellished further. I think there will be cross stitch on here and more petals perhaps.
There has been longing for a wrapping cloth here over the past couple of days. The reason? some of the simply stitch group are finishing their cloths as part of the simply stitch process, uploading images to the group. I have such a connection to those cloths, a connection I hadn't realised was so strong........I do have an almost finished wrapping cloth languishing here. I may just have to finish it.
10/17/2013
paper, paper and stitch, paper and collage, basically....paper.
Yes, there's a bit of a paper theme going on today. For those of you who didn't take Simply Stitch 2 these images will be previously unseen. This is a glimpse of things that were used, created, conceived during simply stitch 2 during our paper play days. Here's hoping you like them! There is a mix of collage, stitched papers, ripped papers, torn edges, frayed cloth and pages of books that have been added to.
This morning has been positively insane. I have been here, there and everywhere. I have had no time to browse online, check flickr, read mail let alone answer mail. I have ordered the world to calm down.....take a deep breath....count to ten. This afternoons theme is serenity.....
10/16/2013
this morning
I extended my table earlier today in order to asses my progress with the body bag, the silk sampler pocket/pouch/sleeping bag. This is by far the easiest way for me to gauge where I am up to, what still needs to be done. One or two things are much clearer now too. First of all I have decided not to use lace cloth in this piece. It doesn't look right, it doesn't feel right. I had tried it laid against some pleated muslin last week and thought it would work, would add something but seeing it alongside the silk pieces I no longer think so.
Secondly, and blindingly obvious to me if not you, I need much more, I still have a lot of work to do. There is a definite need for more pleated muslin panels. I knew that already, initially I figured a minimum of 6, now I'm thinking 8. They don't take very long to create at all so I need not push myself in that direction. That leaves embroidered silk panels. You saw the start of a new one yesterday with the hexagon piece and I now think I will need another 6 or so of those on top of that. All in all this is far from finished. I'm in no hurry, it's for me. The longer it takes the more I will love it.
I also did more chores today, yes ''operation spotless towers'' is going well. I ironed clothes, I washed and ironed and put back cushion covers. My ironing board is still up as next on the list are curtains. Way to go girl!!! aren't I good?
10/15/2013
hexagons....
Hello from spotless towers....I told you I would clean up didn't I? To be fair I haven't done ''everything''. There are still cushion covers to wash, curtains to change and a bed to transform with new linen but it is definitely cleaner here than it was this time yesterday. I also give you proof that I was distracted from paper by hexagons....another panel for the body bag. I provided my own background too, a little artwork from way, way back that I think you have seen before but then you have seen my table many times too so at least this makes a change.
Technological issues abound today....boo!! I can't get my feeds to work...again, and I'm also not receiving notifications when I get comments and such so if you need me, if you want me, if you mailed me and I am not responding that would be because I am oblivious. Please persevere.......pretty please.
10/14/2013
paper on paper
One of the pieces from this post is now mounted on some rather nice acrylic paper. The acrylic paper background has also been slightly titivated, minimally, less is more. I have quite a few paper pieces which require more attention but last night I got distracted by hexagons. I couldn't help myself you know how it is.
It's been a funny old day today. I have been to the doctor for my yearly flu injection. I didn't cry, I was brave........didn't get a sticker though! and now I'm here, floundering a little. Class is finished, I miss it. I have decided I thrive when I have a huge to do list. Busy is good where I am concerned. Give me a little free time and I'm lost. I do have chores. I suppose I should do those shouldn't I?
First though I will shake myself off, give myself a good talking to and put the kettle on. Tomorrow I will be posting from ''spotlessly clean'' towers.......I give you my word.
10/13/2013
another panel for the sampler cloth/body bag
More silk, more embroidery, another piece for the body bag which in essence will be a human sized pocket, a cocoon, a soft, safe, secure and comfortable place. I may need to lay everything out soon, assess how much more I need, how many pieces of embroidered silk, how many panels of pleated muslin and how many panels of lace cloth....
Meantime, whilst this was damp stretching, I played with more paper. You can expect to see some of that later this week....
Simply Stitch 2 finishes today. I can't believe how quickly the 8 weeks have passed. As soon as I'm finished here I will be dashing over there to say goodbye. That means my ''holiday'' begins tomorrow. I'm not going away tomorrow but my free time begins in the morning and it will be time to make lists for going away, to get together any last bits and pieces I may need and to start cleaning the house. That's my Monday sorted then......
10/12/2013
another paper day
I'm still playing with paper and will be doing that for most of the rest of today. I've also been playing a little with the lace cloth I made this week, pinning it to other cloth to get an idea of how best to use it. Back to the paper though, I'm specifically thinking backgrounds. I have gotten out some ''old'' surfaces I made and am looking at them, figuring how to use them as a means of creating new pieces, new backgrounds.
Technically my ''break'' starts tomorrow after simply stitch get their last videos. I don't go away until 24 th but the days in between tomorrow and then will be full. I want to clean my house, change curtains, wash cushion covers....leave the place spotless for nobody to see. I will still be here...the blog will be posted up until the day before I go. Normal service, for now, will be uninterrupted......
10/11/2013
embroidered paper
I feel as if I have been playing a lot this week. This afternoon I have plans to play some more too, with collage and things and you may see that before the weekend is out. Meanwhile, today I give you embroidered papers.....soft papers, rigid papers with stitch and texture added.
Some of this surface is lace, snippets added to the paper and secured both by hand and machine...honestly the possibilities are endless.
10/10/2013
lace cloth
Wow....staged photos. Cloth draped casually over a cabinet door. I'm getting ahead of myself in the aspirational photograph stakes....I'm no David Bailey. I just thought....you come all this way and all you get is a bit of cloth and a pair of scissors lying on a table looking like a dogs dinner. You deserve better. So I tried, I did. The main focus here, the main evidence of my time spent working yesterday is the lace cloth. It is finished and damp stretched and just needs cutting from the scrim before I can use it. I love lace cloth, really love lace cloth....I am not best friends with my sewing machine but can find a little speck of love for it when I create this cloth. We will be doing more of this in Simply Stitch 3 and I plan to spend some time thinking hard about how I can mix this up a bit, add something else, refresh the idea.....I don't want to get stale and boring and predictable.
(what do you mean I already am!!??)
You must remember the cabinet? It's one of my new acquisitions, under used at present but I am waiting until I have been on holiday for the next stage of ''operation sort the house out after son moves out''. I can't face it yet. I can face the cabinet, oh yes no problem there. I just can't face the remaining cupboards that must be emptied, purged, cleaned etc etc before I am completely and convincingly ''sorted out''.
Just to say I may be a little late tomorrow. I have a nice man coming to attend to my non working kitchen lighting. I will no longer be cooking in the dark......it may also be bright enough to gauge how much muck has gathered since the lights went out too! Can't see, can't clean......
10/09/2013
lace cloth, pleated muslin, embroidery
Do you remember when I said I wonder if a few panels of lace cloth would enhance the body bag? Well there is only one way to find out so this morning I have been creating lace cloth and laying it next to my body bag pieces....I think it works, I think it will enhance. What do you think? It will be hard to get a final idea until I have created a larger piece of the lace, a piece that is a similar size to the embroidered and pleated sections but that should be tended to later today.
The wedding is getting ever nearer......I leave two weeks tomorrow, on October 24. The wedding is October 29 and as well as playing the role of mother of the bride, (I am far too young. I think there has been a terrible mistake) alongside that I will be doing a little visiting of other American places about which I am very, very excited. I will be posting on Instagram...... obsessively.....you have been warned.
10/08/2013
play.....
Where did today go? If you know please tell....I can't believe how late I am running. I have left the girls unattended in class, dread to think what's happening over there. I must confess that it could well be this book, the background to my tiny samples. I bought this book ages ago and put my hand on it this morning whilst I was searching for a background that wasn't my table for photographs. I can't claim any credit for the book, that goes to Marks and Spencer's.
I then got to thinking that it may cross your mind that I'm lazy, that I should create my own backgrounds. Then I got to thinking that maybe that is a train of thought that could lead me who knows where, that I will be overwhelmed by the desire to create my own backgrounds. Oh my.....do I really need another distraction? Is my life going to be long enough to fit everything in. I have always been a frustrated illustrator. I have a burning desire to be successful with illustration. It's a dream, I have neither the training nor the skill but maybe now is the time to try.
It's a distraction, it will continue to distract but it may provide ''doodling'' moments when I am searching for inspiration with regard to something else. Just to say too, don't you just love the sentiment in the third image? ( the small print at the bottom)
But back to my work, to the things I can take credit for today....two new pieces of paperwork. They're tiny, they are samples. I will mount them either in a ledger or on a sheet....we shall see. The cross stitch is mine too and the lace cloth square, the other piece of fabric is vintage, a rescued scrap.
10/07/2013
embroidery and snippets of paper
After the excitement of securing Glastonbury tickets yesterday and the stress of working a crucial part of THE bridal bag I decided last night called for some quiet stitching. some relaxing, no pressure embroidery. So I now have another tab for the body bag almost finished, a bright tab, a colourful tab that will find itself, eventually, securing a panel of pleated muslin.
I have been giving some thought to the body bag this morning actually, whilst taking these photos. I am wondering if I should have some panels that are purely ''lace cloth''? I will ponder and perhaps run it past my girls......but I'm thinking....why not? Watch this space.
I am also working on little pieces of paper, adding cloth to them, stitching on them. I hope to gather quite a lot of these for a bigger project....another idea....I have so many. Too many? Maybe but that's better than none and did I mention that I am such a domestic goddess that I made chutney yesterday? I didn't? Well......I made tomato chutney yesterday......
( I don't like cooking....at all...BUT you cannot buy nice chutney here so if I want nice chutney I have to suffer and spend some time in the torture chamber....sorry, kitchen)
10/06/2013
more paper
More paper based work today and looking forward to the week ahead this could become a theme. I am at the construction phase of the bridal bag in terms of embroidery and as I can't show you any more of that yet paper, my sideline of the moment, will most likely be what you get to see on here. I will try and mix it up a bit for you so as not to bore you I promise.
These images are of a ledger page, a page that has been in progress for a long, long time but which was finished yesterday. The piece of paperwork I showed you yesterday has also been developed a little more. I will show you that later in the week.
This morning I was up and showered sooooo early.......on a Sunday too. The reason? I wanted to get in the queue for these tickets....and success. It sold out after one hour and a half but I got mine after an hour and ten minutes!! I am so excited but I really hope the neighbours didn't see the funny, happy dance I did!! and NO, I will not be camping.
10/05/2013
paper.....
I am working on paper again, a diversion from the body bag when I feel the need for a change. I have a big plan for ''paper'', one that will be investigated further in the last week.....yes the last week of simply stitch 2 and which will continue in simply stitch 3.
Most of what you can see here was created earlier this week. There are other things that have been lying in a file, an inspirational ''bits'' file and which have been brought out to inspire, to spark an idea. That's the plan anyway and I think it has worked. I still need to doodle quite a bit and play a lot but I'm not complaining about that.
To keep you updated....the bridal bag is almost finished. The body bag is ongoing. When the bridal bag is finished I will tell you and perhaps show you a tiny section then once the wedding is over I will reveal all. How does that sound? I have a few chores to do now....then it will be stitching time, paper time....have a great Saturday whatever it is you are doing.
10/04/2013
bumps and cross stitch....
Phew.....I
made it. I have been distracted this morning. Firstly by the
supermarket, then by some dirty washing, then the telephone which I must
say NEVER stops ringing in this house. I am so tempted to get that
taken out....don't dare me....it could happen.
Still, I'm here now. A new tab for the body bag, resplendent with bumps and cross stitch and a tiny piece of paper that I have added cross stitch to...why? I just felt the need. Later, possibly next week, that piece of titivated paper may well find its way into a ledger but not before I've discussed it with my girls in simply stitch so watch this space.
10/03/2013
tiny
Yesterday was a little hectic, not much time for embroidery. Consequently I only managed a paltry amount of applique last night with a few added stitches dotted here and there. In order that you didn't come here today and promptly fall asleep with boredom I have included a page or two from a tiny ledger, hopefully to engage you, keep you awake.
It appears that my insistence on calling my piece a ''body bag'' doesn't meet with universal approval. I like calling it the body bag. I think it's all about perception. If you don't think CSI the term ''body bag'' is pleasing, comforting...try it..... and anyway...CSI is rubbish, you shouldn't be watching it.
10/02/2013
strips and cords
There are little bits of everything going on here at the moment. I am making cords for the bridal bag, piecing strips for the body bag....it's all about bags!! There is sampling happening for simply stitch and plans for a final push to actually finish the bag for Helen.....are you keeping up with all this talk of bags? To clarify.....I am making a bridal bag for Helen. I am making a body bag for myself.......I hope that helps.
I'm late today....my husband took me out for lunch. It was very lovely and now I feel like I have eaten too much. When I was out I bought some
I'm not saying it.....fill in the blanks......and if you see the girl in question please don't tell her.
10/01/2013
this morning
I have been practicing the art of a ''jack of all trades'' this morning. I have been collaging, taking photographs, cutting cloth, piecing cloth, pinning cloth, making videos for the simply stitch group. I also made a point of photographing the huge ball buttons we have been making in simply stitch so that you could see them. What do you think? I like them....a lot...I think the group likes them too at least I hope they do.
Now I have a few questions for you.....The USA has shut down apparently....yikes!!! Will I be able to get through passport control?? will air traffic control be working??? What is going to happen in terms of me coming to stay with you??? what is going to happen to the plans for the wedding of the year??? I am not taking this lightly, I'm not joking, I really need to know. I do know that it's no joking matter for ordinary Americans and trust me I am in no way making light of it....I genuinely do not know if things like border controls will be affected....
(just heard on the radio that essentials such as air traffic control won't be affected.....)
I'm going to listen to a debate about this later today....in nervous anticipation of some answers.
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