christmas cake

i actually got round to making it today. it is really horrible.

an irish observation...

this is another foundling piece, finished...it is entitled
... 'a white butterfly is said to be the soul of a dead child'
more images on my website; gallery 4.

visual stimulation

things with wings mostly, it seems.

finished!

the installation is complete...the shop counter is in place...and i think i have finished my studio spring clean... i was tempted to go to laura ashley for a roll of delicious wallpaper to line the drawers but i managed to save myself £26 and an hour or so by utilising an upholstery sample book i have been keeping, and after all you can only get a glimpse of it anyway now it's full of 'stuff'!

five days

i have spent the last 5 days...yes, 5 days, vamping my studio, 3 days longer than expected...all that tidying, sorting, cleaning...but i feel good! well i will after i have unscrewed the VERY neat threads from the wall and shifted a whole area of stuff to the other side of the room in order to be able to install my vintage shop counter...a little advice one should always follow...MEASURE FIRST!

progress in progress

this is approximately 10 hours of embroidery and a tiny part of the intention...it does not help that i need pliers to pull the needle through the fabric each and every stitch...i still can't decide if it is worth it...

new blog

vintage finds: 'du jour'

• objet trouve: daily

charm...ing

during the course i went on i made a couple of pieces to adorn the garments produced for my foundling work which is rapidly coming to an end; ...real silver and a real good time.

vintage lifestyle

inspired by my previous post, a recent purchase (!) and all the lifestyle blogs i have become addicted to, i have decided to set up a new blog with daily (this may be a little ambitious) postings of visual vintage treats, name/title suggestions welcomed!
today's treasure i picked up on my way through Manchester on Monday for only £3; an addition to my collection of embossing presses...isn't it sweet

rescued...

a new aquisition...a seating arrangement for my hall, a place to throw school bags and shoes at the end of a busy day...it works too...i must collect some old ladies...

blog hopping

i get lost in inspirational blogs!
hi to my new followers! Polly - check out www.lillarogers.com...

am still waiting for a date for my AA2A/ foundling exhibition...i need a deadline! i need closure!... have already got loads of idea's for my next collection, well actually the one after the next! what i need to do next does not inspire me that much but it shall be a challenge, and hopefully worth doing...still continuing my purses throughout though.

i am going away on a little course next week, am so looking forward to it... 3 days and 2 whole nights away with all meals included and a little bit of craft on the side! hopefully i will come back with some little treasures! (...and i don't mean babies!)

x

today...

the designers market place yesterday was a great day out...for spending every penny i earned on other peoples stuff! saying that i now have a vintage antony & alison handbag and also came away with a little silk scarf, some nicola parkin cards (fabulous) and some great nude magazines! a few less jewellery pieces, french man badges and cards of my own...it was a very sociable day with lots of lovely comments...thanks!
today i intend to relax but that shall include preparing for tomorrow...my last day as an aa2a artist and so much left to do
x

tomorrow...

...i shall be at the Designers Marketplace at Northumbria University Students Union with a few select items for your perusal...
see you there!

another 6 hours...

... i have spent on this dress... a grand total so far of approximately 24...and more than that to go, i have not even finished the machine embroidery then it's the hand embroidery, i am liking it more but not yet enough...wish me luck!

blues

i am working on the 'dress'...seem to be getting nowhere fast...i am sure it shall not be ready, it requires many many hours of embroidery... i am tempted to leave it until last, get all my other pieces finished off and framed/mounted so i can spend whatever time is remaining on this 'large' project...the chanel haute couture team can do it, i should be able to!

large project

the baby christening gown... well, it's large for me! i have very few days left on the AA2A scheme (2) and with the possibility of an exhibition looming i decided i'd better get going with something a little bigger than A4... i had prepared the dress weeks ago by dip dyeing and printing large soft turquoisey spots through a blank screen with manutex. it was ok but the actual amount of fabric in there put me off slightly and i wasn't sure where it was going. 3 weeks ago i digitally printed some images from my sketchbook and specifically for my dress, so yesterday i appliqued and i have started to embroider into it which you will see only upon close inspection...
reasons for dress: -

• focal point for exhibition
• had it for ages and wanted to use it
• fit with whole collection
• experimenting with stronger colour and 'busyness'
• had title of piece, ' each of these, my three babies' from a song by sinead o'connor (will be referenced!)

stages of design/production: -

• soaked dress in tea in stages to produce watermarks
• dip dyed in antique gold procien
• manutex screen printed spots using 2/3 colours
• steamed to fix
• washed to remove stiffness (and some of the tea stain!)
• embroidered words on bodice
• appliqued digital prints around hem
• machine embroidery, then to continue...
  
• hand embroidery
• iron
• add butterflies to symbolise letting go and setting free (in this case your children from poverty and certain starvation)
  
• hang
• voila

2 out of 5

it was really difficult to photograph my white cards...

list

today...

• parcel up and post my book for exhibition
• photograph card collection and jewellery for my website
• organise all printed fabrics and put pink post-its with instructions to develop
• complete at least one 'foundling' piece - 'white butterfly soul'
• stitch purses (3)
• relax
  

journey

i am enjoying my journey to work lately...
...through the chemical works, past the bird sanctuary and the landfills, a sideways glance at the seals sloppily basking at the river mouth, past the ghost ships, nuclear power station and the amusement arcades...along the sea front...ships on the horizon...

to myself...

am wondering if anyone actually reads any of my blogs, i can't imagine it so it seems a little pointless ...so i shall consider this my 'work' diary from now on... today i have finished another piece, after 3 weeks of working on it a little every day...it is part of my foundling collection, i was pleased with the design when it was a flat rectangle of fabric, now it is a bag and i am not so sure ...maybe it is only because i have looked at it so long in its previous form, i am sure i shall get used to it eventually and it needed to be a bag...conceptually...
i would like to put my new work on my website as it is completed piece by piece but shall do the proper thing and present it as a whole collection after exhibition (or maybe shortly before!)

printing...

today i have actually enjoyed screen printing, there must be something wrong with me...i even did 2 colours...on one sample!...however my acid red did bleed... have got quite a few great samples to embroider into... little birds...

new prints

am planning to incorporate some of these into my dress...

preview

showing... the 'pink' collection, am now back to teal...

purses (lips)

am onto my second purse, I am getting quicker... (and smaller)...although there are still not enough hours in the day. they shall all be different which makes each one exciting to create but unfortunately not so commercially viable ...i do it for love...
tomorrow I will finish the designs for stephen's wedding invitations...then the journey to see which (if any!) he likes...I am honoured to do it...

so many projects, so little time...

inspiration struck again this morning with a beautiful piece of poetry sent to me...here is a snippet..
'pearly membranes
impossible softness
beneath the speckled shell.'
but i need to draw... i need to stitch... i need to apply for a new exhibition; my new years resolution was to concentrate on one thing at a time, one collection then the next, it sounds logical but it is proving quite impossible...