Apologies and a blog move

I realised recently I hadn't updated this blog in quiet some time. Between back problems and starting steady full time work my online time has diminished.

Due to certain reasons I have moved blogs. My new blog is over at wordpress : atheneandherowl

If you enjoyed this blog I hope to see you over there!

Books, Books, Wonderful Books

My mum was kind enough to purchase me some books this week and they arrived yesterday.

The main, fabulous three, are Stitch Magic, Surfaces for Stitch and The Art of Manipulating Fabric. Stitch Magic is all about new ways to interpret trad embroidery stitches, and incorporate them with interesting surfaces,
Surfaces for stitch is about using unconventional surfaces to stitch on and the Art of Manipulating Fabric is a how to on just about any fabric manipulation method you can think of and several I didn't know about!

If no one sees me for a few days I'm curled up somewhere with a cup of chai, a notebook and my books. I really should have been a researcher!

Next on my wish list are Felt to Stitch, Creative Recycling in Embroidery and Three Dimensional Embroidery.

Tags: books

Doll 1

Here are a couple of photos of my first art doll! She's not got any clothes yet but isn't she lovely!
She's not as successful as the one in the book but she is only my first attempt!

p.s. They are cropped quite tight so you can't see the messy shelves they are on!

Photo Heavy Post - Things I've been making

This is the padfolio I made for Carol T. She wanted black and red and thats what she got! Its my first go at satin stitching on the machine! I stamped the fabric (a recycled cotton shirt) with embossing ink and then very carefully headed it so it didn't sink in.

Here it is closed. The closure is silk ribbon.

This is my doorway project. Its coming along. It just needs the door itself and the leaves I'm going to have curling up one side of it.

I've been working on some beaded faces/brooches. The top set are fully beaded and the lower set are half done.

These are some felt brooches I've been working on. They are concentric circles of felt stitched on top of one another.

This is my first every rather straggly piece of needlelace. My great aunt sent me a book on it after I asked her to teach me.
This is a, well, I suppose its sort of canvas work piece I'm making for the flat (and therefore isn't high up on the priorities list!). Its in all different shades of blue and is going to look lovely when I've finished it.

This is what I did with most of the inchies I recieved! Doesn't it look nice? I've ,mounted them onto a box canvas I'd painted silver with acylics.

This little selection is the start of my current project. You shall have to wait and see what it turns into.

This is something I've been working on. Its a wonderful piece of slub silk that has a whole range of bluey greens in it, and I've picked those colours out with my threads. I may just frame this piece!


This is how far I've got with my doll. I ran out of stuffing so she's still at the stage she was a couple of weeks ago. Luckily I have some more stuffing now so shall get her finished in the next week or so.


Shall try and post more often now; especially so I can update you on all theses UFO's and WISP's!

And she returns!

Well, finally after several weeks absence due to concussion, getting back to work, the continued headaches from the concussion(have seen the doc and its normal apparently), and trying to make some stuff to sell so I can afford to take classes, I've completly failed to blog.

Its been a very odd few weeks. I've had so many ideas about things to make, but the actual wherewithall to make them seems to be escaping me. I'll still fuzzyheaded from the knock which isn't helping!

I've got several ideas in my head, though the primary ones are intended for sale and therefore I am having to think outside of my comfort zone. Shall have photos for you in the next day or so!

Concussion

Apologies my dear friends for not having posted much recently.

Nearly a fortnight ago, I suffered a serious concussion ( I stood up into the edge of a kitchen cabinet at work) and haven't been able to be on the computer since.

Will be trying to update much more frequently now.

Wow!

I've been plotting for some time now to find a way to be a 'proper' textile artist instead of just someone who makes stuff out of fabric that her friends like and plead with her till she gives them them...

I've known what course I want to do for some time (this one, here) and I've been frantically trying to find ways of funding it. This morning I went to future prospects and used there fundafinder database which has pointed me towards some charitable trusts that might be able to help. So, I get to spend the next couple of months filling in application forms!

I picked up some stationary stuff i needed and some sweets off the market stall that has sweets in jars that you buy by the 100g - god i miss those sweet shops and popped into the local art gallery to see the new show that was on. I haven't been in in a while as I've been rather busy but I was surprised with the reaction I got!

"Hey!Where you been? We haven't seen you months!Is everything ok?I thought you were going to bring some stuff in."
Last time I had been there it had been mentioned in passing that I might like to bring some of my work in. I never for the life of me thought they were being anything but polite! I'm to take some stuff in at the beginning of august!

That gives me a month to get some stuff made!