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.
I spent today visiting relatives and doing mundane jobs like shortening a pair of linen trousers for myself and repairing a jacket for one of my grandsons. It has an Everton logo on it which makes it a very precious garment.
Cyclists galore on the cycle path.
But it’s this little cyclist going the other way is the one i like best.
the castle is surrounded by beautiful greens.
Isn’t this a smart duck?
This is as near as I got to the scarf colours, but it’s been great fun. I played with the Embellisher this morning and spent the afternoon watching the Monaco Grand Prix with one eye and stitching with the other.
This was also made today with some left over little bits I had and will eventually become a book cover. I’m afraid the lighter colour is nothing like the colour I used, the detail is a little better. The edges are stitched with some lovely thread I bought ages ago from Myfanwy, Sassa Lynne, which reminded me how much I used to love hand-stitching. I was a very traditional embroiderer at one time.
I was also reminded of a time when young I was not allowed to stitch or knit on a Sunday as it was considered a sin. A favourite pastime as a child was gathering firewood, but never on a Sunday!
You might remember the scarf I bought because I just loved the colours?
Today I embellished some fabrics and bought some tapestry wool to experiment with, trying to get similar colours.
This is an on-going experiment that I’m still not sure is going to work.
I love circles!
I’ve wanted one of these small ironing tables for years and have never bought one, but today at a Pound Stretcher shop I came a cross this one and decided to buy it on the spot. I’m sure it’s going to be very useful if I can clear a space for it on one of the worktops in my studio.
Facing trees
I had to take a photo of that strip of light on the horizon.
That is Anglesey in the sunset and in reality all the light and shade I could see was wonderful.
i love these dancing figures painted on the wall of the high rise car park in Chester and managed to get a photo on my last visit.
These images are in no way related but you might be interested to know that this is the best present I was ever given. I wonder if you know what it could be? It’s a make-up cape which I was given by neighbours when I was 13 years old and is still in use almost every day, it’s especially handy if I need to run a comb through my hair and I’m wearing a dark outfit. The same friends also gave me my first ever pair of clip on earrings and a copy of church voluntaries which I still have. I wish I could be as thoughtful when I’m giving presents.
This is how my embellished leaf looks now. At times I thought it would be a complete failure, but now it’s finished I’m fairly happy with how it turned out. I will now probably try using another technique to make one using the same inspiration.
It’s been far too windy to open the windows for photos today, but this is what the beach looked like in the strong winds.
There were huge waves out at sea.
This was taken early in the morning and the rainbow was very low on the horizon.
Just the weather for playing with my embellisher and the laptop. now I wonder what I can use this one for?
i think there will have to be quite a lot of trial and error before I’m happy with these new techniques using the embellisher and there are several ways to try. So many more hours of play in the next few days.
In the meantime I will relax with my laptop in between sessions of hard play!
I think I’m spoilt for choice with all these colours, but this is the part I enjoy most, playing with various colour combinations and techniques, but unfortunately this does not give me a cohesive set of work that I can use for a website or an exhibition. Now I wonder if I should try and restrict myself to one style and be more selective with my colour scheme or carry on having a good time?
Today has been spent doing some very necessary housework so I could continue ‘playing’ with my embellisher later this afternoon. I’m teaching three more workshops shortly and it seems people are enjoying learning new and different techniques, so I’m having fun preparing for them.
I happened to look out of the window and noticed these two fishermen’s silhouette against the pale river water.
A large family of blackbirds rule the shore here and if they are in the mood they send any intruders packing, but tonight this bird seems rather unhappy.
Those pegs in the mud were placed there many years ago and they probably measure the level of the silt.
I have to brag a little tonight about my cousin Robin the very talented stonemason who crafted this beautiful cladding on Snowdon Summit, the highest mountain in Wales. I missed his interview on television in 2009 when Hafod Eryri the new summit redevelopment plan was finalized and I was so disappointed. I hadn’t realised there was a blog that followed the whole process, but here are some photos of the building when it was practically finished. He rang me last night to see if I knew the history of our ancestors who were guides on Snowdon, but I had only heard stories when I was a child and don’t remember half of what I was told then. This is why I decided to find out what I could on the Internet, but instead came across this wonderful blog with his own story instead.
I am very proud of Robin as you can tell because he was also in charge of building the quay wall (below) you so often see here on Digital Gran.
As you can imagine, this was no mean feat as they had to fit in with the tides. On Snowdon it was a fight against the bad weather as you will see if you have a look at the Snowdon blog!
This card with a brooch attached is the work of another very talented person Helen Suzanne whose beautiful work you will find here on Flickr and you may also have seen her in The Studio that I have on my sidebar along with another very talented young friend Helen Cowans.
This is my post for today and it’s to share with you a blog I came across about an hour ago with such a beautiful story which I intend to follow as often as I can. It’s A Birth Story.
More play with PSP.
I love these piles of stones and the next photo also took a lot of patience, but I do love these little creatures and would love to have one as a pet!
I’m sure you never realised there were mermaids in Tenerife?
003
004
What a difference one night makes! These two photos were next to each other in my camera and I like them both equally. I couldn’t resist opening the window just as it was starting to rain to take 004 as the sea was a shining strip on the horizon.
And here is a closeup.
Today I gave a workshop to another group of ladies at the Stitch It shop in Llandudno. They worked so very hard, and as I always prepare far more work than I think I will need, these wonderful ladies coped so well, they covered them all. You can see how seriously they all took their work from the photo above.
All hands to the embellisher!
Here is some of the work they finished.
The centre piece was a very successful needle case finished completely, button and all. i didn’t manage to get very good photos of some of the other work, but they also managed to make a booklet full of further samples as a reminder of what they did.
This is a change from ducks, herons, seagulls and cormorants. We had a class of school children studying on the beach today.
I’m still playing, but I have also done some work and have been preparing for the workshop I’m giving in Stitch It in Llandudno on Saturday.
