mega busy week

This week started badly...again. I was hoping it was just a 2008 thingy but it seems to be leaning over into 2009. Sunday saw Bert back in hospital with a stroke which sent me a bit dizzy and then he had another on the Wednesday when he thought he would be going home. I have not heard from him all week, not his fault, his speech is impaired and his arms/hands are numb. I have to tik-tak with his sister to get news and I don't feel I should bother her too much.

Wednesday was lesson 3 of my sampler course but I'm struggling to concentrate on that and only did one page. Thursday was market day and I collected orders for 1 adult and 4 children's waistcoats.

Friday night I went to scrapbooking evening and made a page called 'My Hero' mainly because that was the challenge from Mixed Media Monday - too late to upload but never mind, I did it.

Today I spent most of the day at a local quilt shop that also does day courses and this one was Mixed Media where we stuck, sewed, blasted with a heat gun and doodled over several pieces of silk and organza with all sorts of bits caught up inside. I had a great time and got to show off my super, mega Husqvana machine. The lady next to me was so new to sewing with a machine she had to be shown how to thread and snapped the needle after two stitches! bless her. She was a lovely person and so prone to mishaps, but she did manage to get two pieces done even so. The gold piece has a crisp packet stitched on and zapped with the heat gun.

Also this week, I managed to make a fairy, she's got an awful face, but it is the first one I've done so maybe I'll improve. I'm in the process of making wings for her with wire, angelina film and alcohol inks; I'll post pictures when she is finished but I'm having trouble with her hair at the moment and no girl should go out without her hair being immaculate.

One good thing this week is that the weather is a lot warmer and the mornings are getting lighter earlier - like when I get up instead of me having to trip around in the dark.

Inspire Me Thursday's challenge was 'the moon' so that will set me thinking again and possibly doing something zany, who knows?

Saturday...again!

This week has been taken up with family and friends so I've had no time for art or challenges unfortunately. I missed some really interesting ones too, like hearts and/or wings and I'd found a really good tutorial on making wings. Also Lace which is my speciality and I could have really gone to town on that one.

However, I did manage to catch up on I.M.T's 'Silver' and because I'm in the middle of a Sampler book course I decided to make one of the pages into a sort of stained glass window like you see in stately homes. I researched silver hallmarks and one caught my eye - Davis & Galt registered a fleu d'lys on a black shield as their trademark c1888-1896. I used this as the basis for the shield in black felt and stamped a fleu d'lys with paint and then embossed it with silver powder. Then I covered a vylene window shape with black organza, then an open net to convey a leaded lights and outlined the shield on it with silver and black cord and an edging of silver/black ribbon. I'm not too happy with it because although it looks OK it is too new and I think it needs distressing but the felt shield is not the right type to react to a heat gun. I'll have another go when I have time to play.

My Sample Book course started on Wednesday of last week, but I had not time to even read the first lesson until Wednesday this week. Bert was here last week and went back to Manchester on Tuesday morning and Ed and family arrived Tuesday afternoon and stayed until Thursday lunchtime. Gareth popped in for an afternoon too. I did have some time on the Wednesderay when they went off to the Big Sheep (a great place for children) and an afternoon at the Atlantic Village adventure park. I made a couple of pages then and completed lesson 1 this Friday but lesson 2 arrived on Wednesday and I've been working my way through 28 pages of instructions since then. I'm happy with most of it, but a couple of pages have not quite come out as they should but it's all a learning curve and I'm using up lots of supplies I had in drawers and never knew how to use. This course is great for that and some of the techniques can be used in my scrap booking.

I also had a mental abberation when I washed my keyboard before Ed came, thinking he would be updating my PC and this caused the keyboard to crash, with half of the keys not working. My new keyboard is causing my PC to crash too somehow, although the installation did seem to be idiotproof...Ha! I've been invited to join a mafia group on Facebook and had to stop before I killed half the town off, that could be quite therapeutic and I can understand people getting hooked.

Well, back to my pages...

Meet Ngozi

Here is a little art doll I made for the February challenge from Stitched Textiles. The theme was hearts and red, so I made a little African doll with an african symbol on her red blanket which means 'learn from the past', something we should all do. She also has hearts on her earrrings and etched into one of her hands. I based her loosely on a picture of a young maasi girl and gave her the name of a lady who did much for Africa.

Unfortunately I don't have much time for challenges this week as I'm full of waistcoat orders that have to be done by the beginning of the next week. I also have to start a course on Sample Books with Janet Clark, and there is Harts +/or wings for the Monday Mixed Media challenge - I'd love to make a fairy art doll for that one, but time is against me.

Bert is here this week and he has been busy getting the garden tidied up and a few problems solved in the house, bless him, he is very much better in himself and we have gelled together again. He goes back for chemo next Tuesday and then Ed and family will arrive, so I must crack on and clear the decks asap.

Folding

This week's challenge from 'Inspire me Thursday' was folding. I had just received a book CD from Maggie Grey called 'Paper and Beyond' and it had a section on concertina books, so I used the template to fold the little book here. As the book suggested, I washed the paper with water and dripped paint randomly over it, then when it had dried, I stamped it. Once I had folded the pages it seemed to suggest birds to me, like they were all round a birdbath twittering and having fun, so I cut out some birds from some paper I had previously painted and used these to make the covers. A bit of ribbon to close the book and hey presto! a mini bird book. I hope you like it. My red/heart art doll is progressing but I have a lot of beading to do before it is finished, thank goodness it is a monthly challenge.

Also I have been busy learning about shape and position thanks to GPP Street Team. I'm not ready to show my work on this yet, I'm still very much a newbie and have lots to learn before I have the confidence to show what I've done. I love the way Michelle has set up the challenges and done a mini workshop so that I can follow it without making too many mistakes. However, she says they are not mistakes just artistic interpretation (smile). It also gives me the chance to use all those tools and paints I have horded over the years and enjoy myself.

Carding, sort of

Yesterday saw the first of the card workshops at the local card supplies factory for 2009. I was shown how to dry emboss and made two cards whilst there. It made a change to get out of the house and meet like minded people and I really enjoyed learning a new technique. You'll note the well tied bow on the left of the green one. I make and tie bow ties to match my waistcoats and ended up showing all the other ladies how to tie a bow in a similar fashion. My contribution to the workshop.

The stitched textile group challenge for February seems to be hearts or maybe RED, not sure yet, but I have a great idea for another art doll - Africa. When making a book cover for another course I took last year I came across several african symbols and remembered one that looked like a heart. So, using that and the colour red I think I'll have a starting point whichever way the challenge goes. Just have to find a way of making a tiny african mask to finish her off.

Blizzard in Devon? Unheard of..

When I moved to Devon, I asked the local people whether it snowed much here, and was assured that they had never seen snow for nearly 30 years! Huh! Well, we have just had one massive blizzard with the snow topping at least 4" on the pots in the garden. I had to post a picture of my dogs playing in the snow as I think it is the first time they have seen/smelled/tasted snow. They keep going through the dog flap and running round the garden, kicking up flurries and dashing in to the warm again.

You can see the difference from the first two photos where the snow was just a smattering yesterday to the 3rd photo where it came down quite fierce today. And now at 11am we have brilliant sunshine...how did that happen?

I decided that I'll not go to the market this week, as Bert is coming next Tuesday and I'd rather spend the time with him. He said he would be giving me two orders for waistcoats so that will keep me going until I next get to the market.

I'm having a struggle with my embroidery software, as it wouldn't connect with the USB stick, so I phoned the shop and found out it was the software connections. I went onto the Husqvana site and lo, and behold, there was the drivers (a patch) for the new software they had issued last last year. I'd had the notice but never had time to follow it up. So, now no excuse not to get going with the embroidery on Miss Young's trousers - my next task.