Self Pay It Forward - Part One

Now that I know it's arrived at its new home safe and sound I can finally tell you about the little picture that I recently finished, the first gift for one of the people that were kind enough to comment on my 'Self' post back in January.

I have this lovely little dragon box (a gift many years ago from someone who was very special to be but now sadly in my past)

Well the dragon is safe guarding the names of the people who commented on the post (and provided me with their address details, there are still a couple of people who I tried to contact but never got details from so if you think that's you then please get in touch it's not too late)

I randomly pulled the first piece of paper......

After a bit of blog stalking I found that there is a house move in the future for 16 Muddy Feet, and it immediately bought to mind this little sketch that I did ages ago while I was sat in my car waiting for something or other.

I really enjoyed the little bison in the buttercups picture that I finished off last month so figured I would try this one using the same technique.  And voila  'The yellow house on the hill' came in to being.

I again used a canvas board to mount the picture and added a little message handwritten on the bottom.

The picture didn't turn out exactly as I imagined in my head, but I think it's still quite cute anyway.

It's nice to have another finished project as things seem to be slow going round here at the moment. I seem to spend way too much time procrastinating ..... I really must do something to address that, lol.

The dragon has given up the next name, so it's time to put my thinking cap on and come up with something for the next gift recipient :)

Bad Blogger

Well I can't believe that it's been almost a week since I last posted what a bad blogger I am.  I need to meet a rich man who wants to marry me and take me away from the world of earning my living, that way I'll have so much more time for the fun things in life like stitching, cooking, walking, going on holiday and blogging about all of the above :)

Apart from a couple of hours working on city and guilds I haven't had much time for stitching, though my latest patchwork/embroidery is winging it's way to its new home as we speak after I finally made it to the post office today.  Hopefully I'll be able to report soon that it's arrived safely and can show you the whole thing, but for now here is another little peek.

The sun is shining here today, I hope its the same where you are.  Have a great weekend.  x

Happy Accidents

I had an amazing weekend in warm sunshine and blue skies at Glastonbury.  Even though it's only really just down the road from me I've never taken the time to visit and explore.  I had such a joy filled weekend exploring the sites and soaking up the atmosphere.  I'll come back one day soon to post some pictures of my visit but for now I just had to share this coincidence with you.

I've been working away on my new patchwork picture, as I said before I don't want to share too much right now, but it features a big hill with a wiggly path running up it.

I was struck by how similar my picture is to this view of Glastonbury tour ....

... one of the many photos I took last Saturday.  I started the picture before my visit, it's based on a doodle that has been in my head for a while.  I've wanted to visit Glastonbury for the longest time and have seen many, many images of the tor over the years, and while my doodle is not exactly the same as the tower on the tor maybe my subconscious had this place in mind when the doodle came to me, and maybe knowing that my visit was imminent is what drew me to finally getting round to creating my image in stitch.

Coincidence?  Serendipity? Happy accident? Maybe my mind is just making connections that aren't really there, who knows? It's something fun to think about nonetheless.

Where next?

Having finished my little bison embroidery I've had some time this week to think about what projects I want to be working on next. I have two in mind.

The first is a new little stitchery in the same style as the bison one, I had so much fun with that project I thought I'd try again.   It's going to be based on a image that I've had floating around in my mind for a little while now, of a little house on a big hill.  I'll be raiding the scrap jars for this one again.

I probably won't be sharing too much of the progress on this one though, as I have chosen to make it as a gift for one of the people that responded to my 'self' post earlier this year.  So I'll probably hold off showing the finished piece until I know it has been received.

The second thing I will be working on is this needle felted bird that I made a while back.

It's another of those things that I made then it fell down the back of the desk to be forgotten about for a while ;-)  At some point this poor fellow had candle wax spilled on him, fortunately it's only blobbed on the white background so hopefully I'll still be able to salvage him and create something that's a bit more 'finished'.

There won't be much happening on either of these this weekend though as I'm off for a weekend of wanderings in and around Glastonbury.  Have a great weekend. x

Buttercups in winter

I have a bit of a hiatus from my city and guilds at the moment, it's nice. I'm secretly hoping it might last a couple of weeks longer.  It means I can get back to some hand stitching ..... it's been a while.

Anyone remember this?....

.....The beginnings of a little stitchery I started last summer, based on this picture that I took at a local farm of bisons in the buttercups :)

 

Unfortunately I managed to bury this among a pile of crap at home and the background I made has become slightly stained with ink in places, I'm hoping that it will mostly be unnoticeable once I'm finished.

Is there anything nicer than cosying up on the sofa on a winters evening, some good tunes playing in the background, getting lost in the rhythm of some simple stitching?

I have 4 days to survive at work and then I'm on a break for 10 days, am so hoping that I find plenty of time in those days to lose myself in stitch for a while.

Algerian Eyes

Before I get to the main point of this post I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post for their kind words of encouragement and support. Twelve comments so far so that is one person a month to send a little surprise to.  I'll be emailing you all soon for your snail mail details.

 I just realised that 2012 is the year of the Dragon in the Chinese horoscope, I was also born in a year of the dragon that has to be a sign that 2012 will be my year right?  :)

I've been a little lazy the last couple of weeks when it comes to creative endeavours.  I have been making a little progress on the surprise project though,

I've been working away on some Algerian eye stitching.  It's a bit hard going on the eyes working it on the linen fabric, but I love the delicate pattern that is emerging.  Well worth the effort I think.

Hope you all have a beautiful and fulfilling weekend.  XX