Monday, 12 July 2010

Lindisfarne and blogger friends



We spent Saturday on Lindisfarne where we had arranged to meet blogger friends Julie and hubby (he of the picked photography brains!) Stewart. In spite of being overcast it was warm and even the rain was warm - not that we noticed as we were in a pub at the time! The five hours we spent being surrounded by the sea passed quickly and an enjoyable time was had by all! Will show you the lovely card from Julie next time.

Friday, 9 July 2010

I've started, so I'll finish

I'm far from finishing, as I'm still making squares to add to the ones I 've already made. I decided to add a border of sari yarn to each one as the colours go well with the fabric.
In addition I painted a few squares with acrylics on watercolour paper with the help of some scrim ..



which I then photographed and printed out onto fabric adding some wool tops and stitching.



Got a few more ideas to work out!

Wednesday, 7 July 2010

Hope


Words taken from poem "Peter" by Clive Sansom. I like them ..

Saturday, 3 July 2010

More squares



I've been making more squares to add to the ones already made. None are finished yet and I have to admit I don't have a grand plan but am making it up as I go along. I like the textures and the colours and that is what I am concentrating on at the moment before adding more embellishments and deciding how to make them all "hang together". I'm enjoying the journey!

Thursday, 1 July 2010

All the way from Australia!


Yesterday I received a lovely parcel from Linda in Australia, a prize for being the 100th follower of her blog. The small bag contained fabric samples dyed and stamped, plus a card with a sample of her stitching and fabrics. Thank you Linda for your generosity!


And all this arrived quicker than some post in this country!

Tuesday, 29 June 2010

Trains 'n that


If you can't beat 'em .... so it was off to Shildon to see an important visitor in all its glory.

Lots of enthusiastic men crowding around and learning strange facts about the machine, while I took myself off for some photos (not all of the Mallard!). As you can see, I still swerve to rot!

Saturday, 26 June 2010

Friday, 25 June 2010

WIP

I'm busy working on some embellished squares using voile and wool tops on felt with some added acrylics and stitching. I'm hoping to do some more so that I can build them up into some sort of hanging - all a bit hazy at the moment as things change as I go along. Still seem to revert back to my favourite colours although this is mainly because I need some more supplies of other colours. One of the best fabric warehouses closed down last year - can't think why as it was always full of customers.

But I've no excuse for using the same colours here! These are some of my sketchbook ideas when I was making a bag for a skateboarding GS. Had to keep it quite plain though - nothing too over the top for a skateboarder!

Monday, 21 June 2010

Layers



I've been playing with layers this week - each image has three or four layers, using my photos although this time I used a background layer from Shadowhouse Creations. I've also decided it's time to start something textile-y so the embellisher has had an airing this afternoon resulting in a broken needle. Too many layers!

Saturday, 19 June 2010

PS





A few more images from Crook Hall, the last one I altered in Paint Shop Pro. Just hoping they don't come out too dark as I have been so far unable to make this monitor lighter, so everything is looking darker. Must find out how to put this right.
Enjoyed a GS's beach hut birthday party today in spite of a freezing wind and grey clouds. Typical! just when we had a lovely week of weather!

Friday, 18 June 2010

Jaunts

Two little jaunts out this week, making the most of the lovely weather. the first to Crook Hall and Gardens in Durham, which we never knew existed - a real hidden gem and worth a visit.
You can just see Durham cathedral in the distance.
The second jaunt was with some of the members of the camera club to Bolam Lake, still with light in the sky after 10 o'clock. Lots of fun to be had with stones thrown in the water and trying to catch the shot. I learnt a lot from the others but still didn't get everything right. There's always a next time!

Tuesday, 15 June 2010

Passage of time





There's nothing like a few rusty things to brighten one's day! The last image is a mixture of sand and rust, but it will come in useful for "texture" images - well, that's my excuse!

Thursday, 10 June 2010

Take care




Several years ago I made this mixed media piece, about A4 size, using flour paste spread onto fabric and allowed to dry before adding acrylics and some red thread. Where the paste had cracked I added some black acrylic. In my mind the piece was called "fractured earth"; I never got round to doing anything with it (nothing new there!) but it was pinned on my workroom wall for years (it was difficult to store) and I got used to it being there until recently when I saw pictures of the oilspill and the terrible damage it has done. It's a reminder that we are meant to be stewards of the earth and not the destroyers, to look after this wonderful creation instead of ruining it. I think I'll leave it where it is.

Monday, 7 June 2010

Saturday, 5 June 2010

Sizzling!

A barbeque in the Northumbrian hills was just what the doctor ordered with all the family in one place at the same time! This was the remains of the feast before clearing up and heading home. Hills, river, sun, food - lovely!

This was a rather fuzzy pic of some dandelions, taken on the Camera Club evening, but I decided to change it into a digital quilt, which is about the nearest I'll ever get to making a quilt like this!

Tuesday, 1 June 2010

Day out


Along with 26000 other people we enjoyed a day at the Northumberland County Show held in Corbridge. The weather was hot! The GC were most impressed with the motorcycling display team (as was Grandad!) whose ages ranged from 5 to 16. Hope they don't get ideas yet!