Making books, boxes and journals!

Can't believe I nearly forgot to post about this!

This was one of the highlights of the Guild calendar for me last year. Although we are essentially a Guild of Spinners, Weavers & Dyers we like to mix it up occasionally with something a little different. Judith Fearnley is a lovely lady who makes the most awesome journals, handmade books and boxes. I had a fantastic day making books with her in 2010 so I was delighted to hear she was visiting again in 2011.

This is how the day started (note how tidy and organised we were)...

A couple of hours later - not so organised but Julia and I were having a great time...

My work in progress - this will be a sketchbook for my OCA course

And our completed project for the day - cute boxes covered with old maps!

And two finished projects from Judith's last class..

R is for...."R & R"

..."Rest & Relaxation" aka a quick holiday-related post....

Cornwall this year was fab as ever. We were hugely lucky with the weather and we stayed in the same house as last year so we had all our creature comforts (three large bedrooms and a shower/loo each!), nearby pub, best restaurant in Cornwall 5 mins away, our fave boarding beach and Padstow all within easy reach. Perfect!

I know photos of other people's hols are never as exciting as your own so I'll spare you the full album and share just a few of highlights of the week...

Clotted cream tea on arrival - nom nom : )

Dinner at the Journeyman - the best restaurant in Cornwall 

Sandcastle #1 (the first of many!)

Poldark Mine

The Eden Project

A trip up the biome platform - very high, very hot, super-humid (but worth the three trips round the dome to see if it was open!)

Not one to do if you suffer from vertigo!

 (Note my rather rosy cheeks!)

Labyrinth Circus at the Eden Project - awesome!

  And the Juggling Skills Workshop...

(Also note the obligatory tongue sticking out - an essential aid to any act requiring concentration!)

 The subject matter for my first "proper" watercolour  - there may be a pic of the acutal watercolour later but it's a bit "rudimentary"

Caaaaake! (At Pauline's in Newquay) And that pic does not convey the scale of those pieces, believe me!

And for you texture/colour lovers out there, I've uploaded some of the plants/buildings/rocks etc. onto my Pinterest page but here are a couple of my favourites...

"O" is for OCA... an update

Still working on Assignment One of the OCA Textiles Degree but plugging on and trying to make myself sketch. Last night's exciting subjects were my living room lamp and a felted basket with some spinning bobbins in! In a rash departure from pens/pencils I went full-on mad and got out the coloured pencils! Phew! I set myself a target of no edges as I'm a bit of a one for drawing the outline then filling it in - a throwback to kid's colouring books I think. It wasn't an outstanding success but a start at least. The DS is being awesomely encouraging and keeps telling me not to get behind with sketching as it is really important. Mrs Bleakley (Will's art teacher) has obviously done a good job there!

If you promise not to laugh I'll post pics of the sketches - hopefully you can tell which is which (!) but I warn you, they really are dire   : (  

Thank goodness my dyeing skills exceed my drawing skills is all I can say.....

 (ps. There are lots more sketches but I don't want to scare you all away! - and the separate OCA blog is under construction).

The lettter "O" has been brought to you by An Accidental Knitter's ABC meme - find more "O"s here.....

Sketchbook pages two and three - Wash and Leave(s)

Lots of dyeing to do today but thought I'd do a quick update of my sketchbook pages before I accidentally delete them off the camera!

Page two version 1.... (watercolour wash with black pen "clouds")


Page two version 2... (watercolour wash with ink "flowers")













Page three version 1... (inspired by the leaf shape above, pen, pastels and some interesting platinum pink pearlescent metallic paint I found in my artbox!)

Page three version two.....(a collage based on a very prolific weed with very pretty leaves from our garden).




Preferences from these two pages are the second version of page two - the first version is just not very exciting and looks like a landscape gone wrong! I like the boldness of the second one. Page three I think the collage as it's a bit different, using a combination of fabric and old wallpapers from a fabric/wallpaper sample book. I think a wash over the page on the collage might have been a good idea to bring out the white shapes.

Sketch book page one...

Finally got the sketchbook out and did a bit of doodling.....

I used coloured pencils so the colours aren't very intense in the pics but no surprise as to the choice of colours so pink and purple it is then.....

Page One (Version One)

And Page One (Version Two)

And (there's more!) Page One (Version Three)

As you will gather, I really enjoyed this : )

The DH wasn't sure about the "mutated cells" in v3 (his description not mine!). My personal favourite is probably v2. What about you?

(Oh, and a quick mention that Vicky's had to change the blog address for sketchbook updates - it's now here or you will find it via Vicky's main blog here).

A is for..."Art"

Courtesy of An Accidental Knitter I am taking part in the Learn your ABC meme. And my "A" is "Art".

My lovely friend Vicky, writes a super blog and it is always replete with amazing photographs and images. She is, of course, a very talented artist!

I, on the other hand, may be comfortable with art when it involves textiles but put a pen/pencil/brush in my hand and ask me to commit anything to any form of 2D medium and I'll run a mile! (I blame this on an a school art teacher who threw me out of her class because I couldn't draw a wall and make it look real. This same teacher threw out my friend for refusing to paint her tree blue - go figure). Anyway, not that I am bitter or anything but I've had a morbid fear of drawing ever since.

Soooo, this is my attempt to undo the damage done by Mrs X .

Vicky has created an amazing project, a kind of sketch-a-long. You can find out more about it on her blog 2.

To get me started I treated myself to some "stationery stash" (I do love stationery!). There's nothing quite like a new sketchbook and set of pencils to inspire even the most reluctant drawer! Here is my little haul.....

Then I remembered an older stash from my City & Guild days so I had a good rummage. And I found these....

So now I think I have all the wherewithal (and no excuses for not getting on with it!) watch this space. (And if you fancy a bit of sketching or just want to see what everyone is up to, do pop along to Vicky's blog and join in!)