Happy Valentines Day

Sending love to all my blogging friends.

We found this leaf on a beach in Skiathos last year.

This is the bush it came from.....

....does anyone know what its called? I've looked on Google, but can't find one similar.

Made a card for DH (need to use some of my ever-growing collection of background papers ;-)

And another mixed-media collage to add to the collection.....

Now I'm off to make a heart-shaped cake!
Whatever you do today, make it special for you.
As Whitney said.......

Learning to love yourself..... is the greatest love of all

So sad that she didn't seem to achieve that herself......

A Roman Holiday........

My husband and I had a big surprise on Christmas Day when our son gave us an extra present of a trip to Rome at the end of January. We've never been before so it was very exciting to do the research and decide on all the places we wanted to see. As DH is a huge fan of the film 'Gladiator', we decided to book a guided tour of the Colisseum and Roman Forum......it was amazing.

It still boggles my mind to think that something like that could have been built almost 2,000 years ago. We were given a lot of fascinating information from our guide...some it was very gory!

My favourite place was the Pantheon; I loved sitting in the Piazza drinking coffee (and Prosecco :-) whilst admiring the view. The back is very different from the front....and there's a hole in the roof (plus a drain in the floor below for when it rains). Apparently its magical in there when it snows!

We visited the Trevi Fountain at night, marvelled at the ancient ruins around every corner, admired the fountains and thousands of statues.....

 ......and couldn't help noticing how birds like to stand on the statues heads!! (maybe for the view?)
We didn't manage to go inside the Vatican or Sistine Chapel so may have to plan another visit sometime in the future...... :-)

As for doing anything creative..... I've been trying to make some postcard-sized mixed-media pieces to sell.

 I've just managed the one!!!

But I will persevere and make at least a dozen by the end of the month.......... ;-)
(The background paper is Beryl Taylor's 'fabric paper technique' from her book Mixed-Media Explorations)

Whilst I'm here I just want to wave 'Hi' to Mixed Media Julie who came and spent the day with Maggi and I last week. We had a lovely time visiting The Beetroot Tree Gallery, Peartree Yard Craft Warehouse and my favourite coffee shop/delicatessen in Breaston for lunch. Julie bought a selection of her beautiful art to show us and I gave her a tour of my chaotic art room! Hope we get to meet up again very soon....



Peachy says 'Hi' - he's been having fun in the snow this week.......maybe I should make him some boots ;-)

Re-working Old Pieces

I've decided to enter a few of my pieces of art into a local exhibition in February; I've never done this before so I'm not totally sure what I'm doing or whether my stuff is good enough!
I've chosen three of the paintings I did a while ago with Suzi Blu (I did two of her workshops). This one was part of the 'Piety and Passion' class (Tudor/Elizabethan influences). I spent yesterday making a few changes as I was never keen on her hair (see below).

I also changed her skin colour and dress...I'm happier with her now. I love her skinny neck and long face :-) This is a mixed media piece really, as all the embellishments are real.

Before

Then I spent some time improving Maria's nose and lips.....

 ...I always thought she looked a bit snarly.

Before

Finally I worked on Luana  - my alter-ego ;-) I tried to improve her nose as well, as it looked rather like an onion before.

Before

I couldn't do anything about her over-sized eyes....but I'm happier with her now.

I'm also going to enter my Gritty Jane doll, the Stef Francis piece and one of my fabric weavings. Fingers crossed they're accepted......

Latest Cloth....and Tales of a Bad Boy

Just thought I'd show my latest Spirit Cloth.....I can't seem to stop making these.

Maggi took me to Quiltessential in Cromford yesterday, and all I could think of whilst I was looking at all the beautiful fabrics, was ooooh, that would be lovely ripped up...... ;-)

Forgot to tell you in my last post...I went on an all-day jewellery making workshop last month in Nottingham; it was excellent (a Groupon deal). I made necklaces, earrings and bracelets

.... since then I've been researching other skills on YouTube and found out how to do knotted bracelets (if you're interested, see here). I'm particularly pleased with my sliding square knot closure! (see here)

I also made tiaras for all the girls to wear during Christmas dinner.....here's Liz wearing hers.

Now for the Bad Boy.......

Here he is looking all innocent ........ having just washed his tum (and fallen asleep on the job) after his dinner on Christmas Day .......aaaaah, you may say. (Does anyone else's cat sit in a chair like a human?)

Well, he is ......I'm sorry to have to tell you this........a mouse killer. See, you've all gone off him now, haven't you?

I have just cleaned up his 5th dead mouse off my hall floor :-(

Two weeks ago he brought a live one in and proceeded to chase it round the lounge, throw it in the air and cause mayhem, whilst Liz and I screamed and chased after them. It was like Keystone cops.

My Mum says they are presents for me because he loves me. Mmmmmm.... hasn't he heard of flowers?

Good job I love him........

Update

Hopefully the Strathmore link is correct now if you need it!

Making Resolutions.....

Happy New Year everyone!   I hope 2012 is a wonderful year for you all.
Well, you might be able to guess what one of my resolutions is, now lets see if I can keep to it ;-)
Here goes.....

Maggi sent me a link for the new Strathmore Online workshop with Traci Bautista (its free!) so I decided to take part. Its all about painting, collaging and doodling. Above are some close-ups of my efforts and below you can see the 'before doodling' and 'after doodling' stages.

Great fun to do!
I've ordered some Uni Posca poster paint markers (can't seem to find the Sharpie ones over here) to help with the doodling. I've also ordered some Adirondack Color Washes in bright colours so I can copy Maggi's idea and do some of these on fabric - great for adding stitching and beads later.
Of course I could stitch on these paper ones I suppose.......maybe I'll try that too.

Maggi also told me about TAST (Take A Stitch Tuesday) on Sharon B's blog Pintangle. Each week there's a challenge to perfect and use a different embroidery stitch.The first week was fly stitch - which is one of my favourites. I made a piece of felt and just enjoyed stitching onto it for the past couple of evenings...... I can recommend it!

Just one more mention for Maggi ;-)......I wanted to show you the fantastic box she made me for Christmas. Its so beautiful and neat - I am in awe! Sorry the photo doesn't fully show how the threads shimmer.
(There was a beautiful set of hand-made glass coasters I'd admired at The Beetroot Tree inside....so very thoughtful :-)

Can't go without showing you the progress Peachy is making in yoga. Following his amazing spinal twist in my last post, I can now show you his versions of......

....extended Child's Pose

.......and Savasana (Corpse Pose). Bless him.......

Now lets see how that resolution goes.......

Quitting the Quilting.....

In my last blog post I said I'd show you how I was getting on with my little strip quilt....well it has transformed into a fabric weaving! :-) I think I'll leave the quilting to Maggi and all you other brilliant people out there and admit defeat. 

I am not a quilter.                                              

On the other hand I do love tearing strips of fabric and stitching onto them. The one below is a work in progress....I was intrigued to find the colours perfectly matched the dried honesty that Maggi gave to me. 

(Not Photoshopped...honesty!)

Most of those lovely fabrics were sent to me as second prize in a give-away from Plum Quilts. You can see the gorgeous piece she made with them here.

I've got lots left and have started another weaving (with the strips unpicked from my failed quilting attempt ;-)

That's 4 I have on the go now.......

Just over a week ago Maggi and I visited Staunton Harold Craft Centre in Leicestershire. We wanted to see the work of Michelle Homes (who had her work displayed in a recent exhibition at The Beetroot Tree). She shares a workshop and gallery with another artist, Carol Saunderson...its called the Archangel Studio. Michelle's work was on the front cover of Embroidery Magazine last month - you can see it here.

We spent a lovely half hour in the gallery chatting to the talented ladies and I bought one of Michelle's little machine-stitched ladies. As you can see, Carol's whippet likes to keep warm in the workshop!
After that it was lunch in the craft centre.......

....everywhere looked so beautiful it was hard to believe it was the last week of October!

I spent most of yesterday crocheting....I want to make a blanket but first I thought I'd experiment with different yarns and patterns....

...some are wool, some are cotton but still haven't quite decided yet. I'm going to Yarn in Beeston tomorrow with Mum, to get some advice and buy more supplies! I really like the African flower hexagons (pattern here ) but I think I'll probably go to go for the square top right (pattern here ).

And finally..... a Peachy pic (of course).
 I do yoga most days and I think the Boy has been watching. His spinal twist is amazing!!

(This is his favourite hiding spot on the landing)

And definitely finally..... have you discovered Pinterest yet? Sharon and I have - its amazing!!!!!
http://pinterest.com/     (My boards are here)
 I can lose whole days there!!!