This blog contains Digital Photography, designs and fabric art created using graphics programs, Corel Draw, Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop Elements 11. I shall share my thoughts and ideas about creativity in the hope that this will spur me on to greater things. I am quite technically minded and like to know how things work.
This week I need to use some of the fabrics I’ve made using the embellisher as a background for stitching.
Here is one I made today. I don’t normally do this sort of work, but I really enjoyed it. It started off just as a design but as it grew it took on a life of it’s own. Can you see trees, flowers and buildings?
I had every intention of sharing this YouTube with you in my last post but forgot to add it.
I hope you will enjoy it as much as I have.
I’ve been a little quiet because I’ve been busy finishing my beret.
Here I am wearing it.
Here it is showing how it looks inside on the right.
I must admit that it has turned out well and I’m very happy. It started out as a doll sized cap, just to see if it could be done and I just kept adding to it until I had a full sized beret that fits me perfectly. I think I will probably wear it in the depth of Winter, but I still feel a beret like this is not very flattering for someone over 60. Young women look good in them, but not people my age. My mother had a Kangol hat in this style and she wore it a lot, I wonder who remembers those? I know she would have been very pleased with it.
I think I will have another go and make one in another colour. DH doesn’t like this colour!
Addition to post. How strange, I just came across this now a Kangol news flash. This bit of news came out August 23rd 2010. So Kangol is still alive and moving with the times.
Some textile to start with. This is a little bit of fun I had using my embellisher.
The cycle/footpath here is in constant use and it is so good to find people are beginning to realize the importance of exercise after the overuse of cars and I can always recognize Weight Watchers because they walk at a brisk pace swinging their arms.
But this was the first time I’ve seen one of these along the cycle path! I wonder if these are becoming fashionable or did he belong to a circus perhaps?
We had a lovely sunset again this evening. can you see the ship’s lights on the horizon?
My husband is getting used to the strange things I photograph, but I think even he was quite surprised when I got up after finishing my meal and took a photo of the almost clean plate :) I’d had beetroot with my salad and one corner of the plate had this lovely pattern.
I’m determined to make a beret using my embellisher and so far, so good. I don’t think I will ever wear it because we were made to wear navy berets at school and one of the teachers always stood by the door as we came in to check if we were all wearing it. I think all these young women look good in them, but my memories of beret wearing women are very different. It was always worn by older women who wanted to hide their hair when cleaning the doorstep or working outside in their clogs. So you can imagine how I would feel if I wear my new beret, that is, if the next step is as successful as the first and it will all turn out as it should. All this came about after reading Jo’s blog Carlseapatch and seeing the berets they were wearing. these are wet felted at a class and are lovely.
This was last night’s sunset but the weather today has not been a delight. It’s been rough and rainy most of the day.
I’m back to thinking about my Sketchbook for the Art House Project.
Here are some interesting lines I photographed recently. I think I must do some textile work using these boats on the river.
This was a radiator in a shop at Betws y Coed this afternoon and it always makes me think about my friend Nadine in Canada whose blog is called Knitting with a Poodle. She had one like this, but the last thing she needs just now is a radiator.
How about these for lines, they always shine like this in the evening sun. I wonder what I can do with them?
We’ve had a lot of rain recently and this is the result. This is the river that feeds the Conwy estuary in front of my house.
All the froth that was created by the rough water gave a lovely texture and linear patterns a little lower down the river.
I don’t feel tired after my visit to the Festival of quilts, but I do feel lazy and am just sitting here blog hopping without really concentrating.
I only had a few photos of quilts and the ones I took were a very poor quality, taken quickly before someone else wanted to see the quilt. The lighting was not very good either or the setting on my camera was wrong.
I had to take this with all the lovely circles, but I’m so disappointed in the image quality.
Here is a close-up which is much clearer and nearer the correct colours I think.
I loved the colours in this group quilt particularly the mosquito and the padded diamonds. I haven’t got the colours right – the turquoise was much deeper than this.
I don’t have good photos of the quilts this year, but here are a few other things from the Festival.
Here are some of my online friends who have become much more than that over the years. Nine of us met at the Festival of Quilts, but only eight of us managed lunch together. Unfortunately Myfanwy of Winifred Cottage/Sassa Lynne couldn’t leave her stand long enough to join us. I went to say hello to her and intended going back to spend but never got around to it in my rush. We are a group of 40 on-line friends in all and love to meet when we can.
As I left my friends I came face to face with Marlis Egger - textilartand... who is another on-line friend that I met here for the first time last year at the Festival of Quilts. See our photo here at the Festival of Quilts 2009 with Francoise CREATILFUN who did not come this year. Hopefully she will be coming again next year.
Here is another photo of me with Lesley and Pat on the right and just a sliver of Liz Holliday and her friend who is to my left . We all met at the Computer Textile Design Group stand.
I met someone I knew every 4 or 5 steps and it was wonderful, but I only had time to rush around the quilts and stands, so I think I need an extra day next year.
I bought some Golden Light Molding Paste for a course I'm taking soon with Isobel Hall, then I bought the Screen Printing book and CD by Claire Benn and Lesley Morgan which was rather expensive at nearly £28. I'd seen it at Ally Pally but hadn't bought it, but I do love screen printing so I think I might find it useful. I also bought one large and one small Thermofax screen from Complex Cloth again. But I would rather have a machine of my own to play with, but they are too expensive.
I bought the two latest books from the D4Daisy Book Stand one by Sue Rangley and the other by Jae Maries.
I went to see Laura and Annette at the Trapsuutjies Fabric Paint stand and she has some lovely screen printing designs and maybe I can send my own to be made by her before long when I have some more money in my pocket again . She said they are not exactly Thermofax screens and are made differently.
I just had time to have a quick look at Ruth Issett’s demo each time I passed Art van Go as I do at each show. I would love to go these workshops at Moor Hall, South Shropshire but it is rather awkward for me to get to as I don’t drive long distances.
This is Angie Hughes, who showed a great technique with her usual sense of fun, so I bought her CD and then went to ARIO for some extras that I needed to try it out. If you have never visited this website, have a look now.Here is Angie’s blog. There are enough links here to keep you going for a long time.
Smile! This is what they call the latest exhibition at the Ruthin Craft Centre in North Wales and it certainly does make you smile, even before you enter the building.
This chair is in the window and it’s fantastic. The artist is Lucy Casson and I just couldn’t stop looking at her work, finding something new each time I looked. You will see images of all the little creatures on the chair at this website http://www.r-h-g.co.uk/artists/view/upholsterers_4/31,92,1850.html
A little taster of some of my photos and below is a special one for all stitchers.
My favourite artist at the exhibition I must admit.
I enjoyed all the work and I will try and show the work of some of the other artists soon. If you are anywhere in the vicinity I would certainly advice a visit especially if you have children. There is an exhibition by local school children which I found fascinating too.
I’m sure you will recognize this drawn by one of the chidren.
I just love this one of the little creatures by Lucy Casson. Just wonderful.
How about this one? Did it bring a smile to your face?
Last night’s photos of the Conwy estuary.
It’s been very busy here this week and today I took some photos of the sailing boats passing by. It’s the Conwy River Festival and today was the day of the Nobbies and Gaffers. now I’m not sure which is which, but following the schedule the Nobbies came first and then the Gaffers which means the Nobbies are a little smaller. But I do know they were designed to be used as fishing boats.
I came across this website as I investigated this A Nobby called Phyllis, so if you are interested take a look. I now wanted to know what a Gaffer was and found a Gaffer here, A Polperro Gaffer. You will find a lot more information about the conwy River Festival here on Jason Weyman's blog.
This is the HMS Pickle, but I’m afraid the power boat just ‘plonked’ itself in front of it. But here she is when I posted sometime in 2006 HMS Pickle going out to sea.
The only complaint I have about the Summer school is that it’s too short. I could have done with an extra 2 days to work with the other tutors Janet Bevan and Annette Morgan. Janet’s class were using Paint Shop Pro creating Kaleidoscopes and designing some special little boxes. Annette’s class designed and made collages using computer printing and a variety of fabrics including muslin. They were all very effective.
These are all works in progress and I would just love to see them all finished.
Some of this work towards the end here is Annette’s own work.
This is Maren from Germany with my friend Dorothy.
