A brilliant weekend of bowl making and friends

I have just spent a lovely weekend with my friends from MEG - I was making bowls again- made loads (see photos) and SOLD 21 !!  Whoop Whoop !! PS Post is photo heavy ;-)

Busy Busy Busy and Mustard Seed

I have had a fantastic few days recently and more to come now too!!
Where shall I start to tell you... In no particular order - yesterday my daughter and I went to see Matthew Bourne's ballet Cinderella at the Bristol Hippodrome! What a brilliant production - set during the Blitz - such an original idea - it was just superb! Last weekend I attended a course at Urchfont tutored by Viv White - Learn to love your sketchbook - what a fun weekend that was - brilliant - We had to take our favourite things to draw - I took this statue - my first drawing... not bad! Then a close up - I got inspired by copies of my drawings and did several coloured versions - which then had a grid over the top - I won't bore you with the various combinations just suffice it to say I am inspired and when I have finished the costumes (very soon) I will be working on this design to see where it will lead me - possibly a panel or hanging - although I have ideas for costumes too I think I need to break away for a little while - especially as I currently have nowhere to exhibit them. OK Just one more design picture then..... Of course I had to Zentangle a version.... (This is the most inspiring for me !)
Now an update on Mustardseed.. I have been working on the seed pods, but the more I do the more I thought they were too heavy looking to hang on the bottom of the dress - then on Wednesday morning I woke up at 5am with a start the idea had come to me...... Don't have them hanging from the dress - give her an accessory to carry them in - I had to tear a piece of paper out of my diary and draw a rough idea..... but that was not good enough - I had to get up and pin a very rough idea straight away...I have also been busy hand stitching on the Volume Covers as mentioned in the last but one posting.. progress so far - all three have had some of my favourite Sorbello stitch in swirls (Little Secret for you ---- if you look carefully at the above photo you can see the covers were resting on a very rough draft of a future costume - The Queen of Hearts - but shhhh don't tell anyone!) and I have started some beading - yes beads - I don't often use beads but I have a large collection so time to use them up.
So this is what I will be working for the next few weeks -
Finishing First Fairy

Finishing Mustard Seed

Finishing the Volume Covers

Statue designs - she really needs a name - any ideas?

Queen of Hearts costume (design is in my head at present)

Blue silk Corset (fabrics collected and laid out in the workroom but not worked out yet).

This weekend (ie starting tonight) I have another fun packed weekend at Urchfont with the MEG group so hopefully some of the above may be close to done. Busy Busy Busy!!

Last Weekend - Oberon and Peaceblossom

So getting up at 5am is a side effect of depression - I would rather have sleeping longer but never mind!! Update on last weekend as promised. I had a brilliant time with the other members of MEG - they are so encouraging, enthusiastic and I would just love to spend all day every day with them!! I work so much better when I am in their company!! I worked on both Oberon and Peaceblossom - Oberon was put together (here is a mid progress shot) now I am working on samples for the slashing - YES I AM MAKING SAMPLES - I seem to be doing more sampling the more I work!! Then on to Peaceblossom - she started out pink but I felt that at a size 6 this would be a little small - my bodyform is not small enough anyway and it would be easier if the background was green... so I dyed and re cut a green version..... I may use the pink for something else. Then on to the flowers... I had foolishly taken my fabrics home so only had some spare white cotton to try out a sweet pea flower... For the moment (whilst I am not sleeping in the afternoon sunshine) I am working on my commission - the sample was accepted and in fact admired by the other members of MEG too!! So back to the machine before the sun comes round to my back garden.

(In New York,

Concrete jungle where dreams are made of,

There’s nothing you can’t do,

Now you’re in New York,

these streets will make you feel brand new,

the lights will inspire you,

lets here it for New York, New York, New York-

sorry keep singing thanks to Alisha Keys for the lyrics!!!!!!!)

Urchfont and Titania

Sorry I disappeared for a little while - life in general has been a little tough! (Well rubbish really!!! - I hover on the brink of a mild depression again!).

I did, however, spend a fantastic few days at Urchfont from Wednesday 24 - Friday 26th Feb I was with the group Textile 21 and then from Friday 26th (evening) through to Sunday 28th I was still there, but with the group MEG. I had a brilliant time, ate enough to keep a family of four going for a month (!) and would like to thank all my friends in the two groups for showing me how to make collographs and reviving my gold work and also for giving me so much good advice on my own projects! - I am still making notes even now!!. I started planning Oberon and Peaseblossom and I did manage to complete the machined wire Rebato for Titania....

Catch Up - Part 2

MEG and Oberon (now not Oberon)

Weekend before last I had a great weekend with M.E.G (Machine Embroidery Group) - the theme of the weekend was printing - I, as usual, did not do as much as I would have liked but one thing that was really great was the soft lino that Viv had for us. It was a joy to cut and I created this stamp... It printed beautifully on to my Blue cord. The Blue cord...... Oberon ....... I was given a commercial pattern for a Frock coat which I thought might be the starting idea for the Oberon costume. So I decided to make a toile during the MEG weekend. However, rather than use calico I decided to use the blue cord and the blue lining (which I have a whole roll of each) - so here it is... Made on Saturday (yes start to finish in one day!!) Fully lined!! only thing it needs is buttons and it is wearable. Only having completed it and chatting with Janet I have decided it is a) the wrong style for Oberon - it would obviously not be as plain and b) it is far too heavy for the costume in my mind. SO... this will now become the basis of another costume - brewing in my head - The Dandy Highwayman. You will have to watch this space for both Oberon and The Dandy Highwayman!!

A GREAT WEEKEND - REPURPOSING

I have spend a lovely weekend with the members of M.E.G at Urchfont - they are all doing the loveliest work (we now also have Jane Lemon as a member) and being amongst such lovely like minded people I started my next piece of Repurposed art. Using the following items:... Four blouses (shirts) - sorry did not bother to iron them until I took them aparttogether with some Hessian scrim and a piece of rather awful burgundy polyester twill and my now favourite tool.......

Yes my cheese grater!!!! I am only going to show you a tiny snippet of this latest creation - you will have to wait to see it complete......... This also means that I will get on with it as I want to show it to you!!