Bag Lady

I loved making the first collaged and embroidered bag so much...

 

 

that I made myself another one, slightly smaller and more handbag sized. (The first one is in our exhibition and for sale at Art Van Go)

It has got a brightly coloured lining and a pocket for my phone

 

As well as a holder for my pen.

 

I even added a label.

There is a story to the labels. I had them printed many years ago, probably about fifteen years ago if I think about it. I was just dipping my toes into the world of making and selling and thought that it would add a nice finishing touch to my items. I made some children's clothes which I then sold at a fair at my children's primary school (which shows just how long ago it is). A fellow Mum, a "friend" in fact, bought one of my tiny waistcoats for her son but her reaction when she saw my label at the neck completely floored me. I can't remember what she actually said but her words accompanied by load guffaws were along the lines of "Who was I trying to kid... textile artist???"

 

I must have been feeling fragile because as a result those labels have remained wound up in the back of a drawer ever since... but no longer. They are coming out and will grace more of these bags... because I'm already working on my third one as well as the pattern for the bag.

 

Yesterday I wore my bag to the Fashion Embroidery and Stitch show at the NEC. It was a wonderful show with much to see...  purchases were made, opportunities discussed and I have come home buzzing. But all that will have to wait for another day... I've got a bag to finish and a skirt to make!

What a Swell Party

Well it was quite some party!

I'm not sure if the crowds came for the cake or the art but the crowds definitely came yesterday afternoon for the Spectrum private view tea party. There was a wonderful atmosphere... the cakes were fantastic... so fantastic I might have actually eaten four (I wasn't the only one)... four little ones mind you...

 

 

The artwork was amazing... very talented ladies.

 

Art Van Go made us very welcome... thank you Kev and Viv!

 

And the reception we received, the comments overheard and the feed back were all wonderful. We (that's a royal We... I didn't sell anything)  even sold some work which was very exciting.

 

At this rate I might even persuade the members of Spectrum they want to do it again!

 

Some people even made themselves a special frock for the occasion!

 

I was given some lovely flowers and a gift voucher... why, I don't know, because all I do is boss them all around, but both were very much appreciated.

 

And today I've managed to relax and enjoy the sunshine and actually get some work done in the garden. All in all a darn good weekend!

 

And I haven't forgotten... the recipe for custard creams...

 

I'm not going to type it all out but I'll give you a link to The Boy Who Bakes which is the recipe I use. Just a couple of things I would add, first of all I like to cut out hearts rather than circles but that's just me, and secondly  that the filling is very stiff and you end up breaking as many biscuits as you actually fill, which is not really a problem because you get to eat the broken ones! I tried to pipe it like Ed suggests but the nozzle flew off my piping bag breaking yet another biscuit. So I tend to put a blob of icing on one biscuit and gently flatten it with my finger and then carefully wiggle the top biscuit into place but do not put any pressure on them AT ALL or you end up with a load of crumbs. Of course you could just make a softer butter cream icing by using half the amount of sugar but then you would have to eat the bscuits the same day that you fill them so they don't go soft. But on reflection that's not really a problem!

 

And the person who asked for the spongey sponge recipe... it is just a Victoria sponge baked in a mini sandwich tin.

A Plan

There was a plan... a quick trip to the supermarket and then a morning spent baking for our private view tomorrow, followed by an afternoon pottering in the garden and possibly followed by a bit of sewing...

 

 

I started with my speciality... the spongey sponge... but in individual sized portions.

 

While I was about it I made a full size version for my boys at home lest they feel left out.

 

Then there were lemon macarons...

 

Giant Jammy Dodgers...

 

but as I filled the Custard Creams at 6 pm I realised that perhaps things weren't going quite to plan... and the garden and sewing were abandoned for another time.

 

I know... why make Custard Creams when you can buy them at every little corner shop but humour me... I've enjoyed myself. And now we've lots of treats for the SPECTRUM Private View at Art Van Go from midday tomorrow. Do come and join us if you are in the area.

The exhibition is looking good!

 

Photo by Jill.

Fashion and Textiles

Do you remember me mentioning that amidst all the rubbish stuff going on I'd had a lovely day out in London? Of course you don't... but it was so good, and so inspiring that I'm going to tell you all about it whether you remember or not!

 

 

I went with Gill to the wonderful Fashion and Textile Museum, near London Bridge where they have an exhibition called Artist Textiles. In an attempt to make their work less elitist and more relevant to the lives of ordinary people, many 20th century artists designed  textiles for the mass market. This exhibition charts the course of this movement from Artists such as Raoul Dufy and Vanessa Bell through to Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol.

 

Post WWII many artists were commissioned to design head scarves as part of a strategy of national recovery after the war. Henry Moore and Matisse were among those who designed some of these head squares but we rather liked these fruit and vegetable inspired scarves too, designed by Marcel Vertes.

 

I also liked this one by Salvador Dali with its whirling dancers.

But there is so much more to see than just scarves with a wealth of glorious prints and some fabrics made up into garments. I loved this floral furnishing fabric by Marc Chagall. It is a wonderful exhibition and if you are remotely interested in textiles it is well worth a visit, especially if you go on a Wednesday like we did, when there is always an excellent short guided tour at lunch time.

 

The weather was so good that we then had a stroll through Borough Market, another feast for the senses, and then all the way along the South Bank as far as Westminster Bridge. On our way we browsed through the shops in the Oxo Tower and discovered the amazing work of Lauren Shanley, who has a shop on the first floor. Lauren makes the most exquisite appliqued and embroidered textiles... yet more sensual stimulation! Her work is an absolute explosion of colour and she was lovely, spending ages chatting to us about her work... we even offered to come and do work experience with her!

 

And so I came home inspired to try my own version of a Lauren Shanley fabric and started piecing scraps of fabric together... and in no time at all I had a bag!

 

It was such fun to make and a great way not only to use up masses of scraps and all thoose little bits and bobs we hoard but also a chance to showcase a wealth of machine embroidery stitches.

 

I loved the technique so much that I'm already making my second one and I've got my machine embroidery class making their own versions.

 

Plus it was a chance to put one of the hand embroidered buttons I made a few weeks ago to good use. I think we could all do with more inspiring days out like that! What's inspiring you at the moment?

No Time to Stop and Stare

Typical really, when life is full to the brim and there are dozens of things I think I'll share here, there's not a spare moment to stop and write a blog post. This week has seen back to back teaching including a weekend at Missenden Abbey, a University visit with youngest son and not much time for anything else in between and as a result the March edition of Workshop on the Web came out a whole week ago and I forgot to mention it includes an article from me!

 

 

You've seen the samples before but this is a chance to learn with step by step instructions how to make your own book cover decorated with "Graffiti Doodles"

 

Or even a cushion should you fancy it...

 

I'll also be teaching this technique as a day class at Art Van Go in Knebworth on Thursday April 3rd and at Art and Stitch in Peterborough on Saturday 3rd May.

 

And speaking of Art Van Go, I will be joining other members of Spectrum tomorrow to set up our exhibition:

An exhibition by

SPECTRUM

a group of ten contemporary textile artists mentored by Gina Ferrari

present new work inspired by the theme

"TRANSITIONS"

11th March - 5th April 2014

Art Van Go

1 Stevenage Road, Knebworth, Herts SG3 6AN

 

There will be lots of lovely new work to see including some fabulous "Round Robin" pieces where each member started a piece of work in the textile medium of their choice - some stitched, others printed or painted, patchworked or felted. These were then passed on to another member who could add or alter the original work in any way they liked. This was repeated twice more but the fourth member had to finish the work. It raised many interesting issues about ownership, letting go and working into someone elses work. Yet despite these sometimes uncomfortable feelings everyone agreed it had been a worthwhile experience resulting in some fabulous work. The Balloons and Sunflower cushion are just two of the pieces of work from our "Summer" Round Robin.

 

 

And these two wall hangings were the result of our "Black and White" round robin

 

 

Would love to see you at the exhibition and if you happen to be free on Saturday 15th March do join us for tea and cake at our Private View from 12 noon.

 

p.s. I forgot to mention that Terry was the winner of the Country Living tickets. Enjoy the day out with your daughter Terry... the tickets are in the post!

A Year in Books : March

You guys are just fantastic... thank you for all your lovely positive comments which are much appreciated and really have helped. I've decided my best approach to all the rubbish stuff going on is to ignore it all and focus on all the little good things and in particular on those snatched moments with a good book (usually very early in the morning before I get up)

 

 

My book for Circle of Pine Trees "Year in Books" project in February was Restoration by Rose Tremain. I mostly enjoyed reading this book, especially the historical setting but I didn't like the main character Merivel. I know he was very self depreciating and very much a man of his time but I found him rather too distasteful for my liking. I don't think I'll be reading the sequel.

 

I had thought I would choose Cambridge Blue by Alison Bruce as my March choice but I read it in about three days... long before February was over. This is actually our Book Club choice for March, chosen for its local connections. It is a thriller set in Cambridge and mostly I enjoyed it and found it quite a page turner. It was fun to recognised all the local references but if I had any critisism it was that it tended to be a bit cliched at times and rather too convoluted... but I'll happily read the others in the series for a light easy read.

 

And so I picked another book for my March choice The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion. I had the title of this book scribbled on a bit of paper on my desk - obviously recommended from somewhere but I can't remember where! So when I spotted it in the supermarket I popped it in the basket with my spuds..... and ended up reading this in three days too! It is the story of genetics professor Don who sets himself the task of finding a wife. It is funny and an easy read but somewhat predictable. Don obviously has Asperger's Syndrome and displays every single typical Asperger trait to the upmost degree.... and therefore it doesn't quite ring true. I live with someone with Asperger's Syndrome so I know! But it was enjoyable and I finished this before the end of February too.

 

And so finally I have picked yet another book to be my March read... Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth which is a historical novel set in the time of Louis XIV, the Sun King. It is the story of three women, three lives and a clever retelling of the Rapunzel fairy tale. I'm not sure I would have picked this if I hadn't read Stephanie's recomendation in her blog Millefeuille... but I'm loving it already.

 

What are you reading in March?

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Did I say a whole week ago that I was looking forward to getting back to some sort of normality? Who was I kidding? Not sure life is ever really normal round here but even by my standards it's been pretty rubbish.

 

 

Actually that is not entirely true as I had a lovely inspiring day out on Wednesday at a fabulous exhibition followed by a browse around Borough Market and a leisurely a stroll along the south Bank, a perfect day spent with a good friend...  I'll save the details for another post.  And last night I had a lovely evening with my eldest son as we cooked supper together, drank wine and later watched a DVD.... however...

 

The rest of the week has been somwhat overshadowed by a nasty experience to do with work. It would be unprofessional of me to go into details but I have been accused of things that are not true by someone who has not even spoken to me never mind met me, been threatened with possible legal proceedings and ultimately been left feeling like I never want to teach again. I don't think I've heard the last of it either but I'm resisting the urge to send hate mail and I'm trying to stay calm...

 

So I went into the next round of the Cambridge Bake Off yesterday looking forward to a couple of hours of escapism, confident that my Best Ever Chocolate Cake would win over the judges. But alas, it was not to be. The very same cake that scored 9 out of 10 last year on taste with the comment "Fantastic, deep adult taste" managed a pathetic 4 out of 10 this year with the comment "Flavours don't meld, lingering savoury aftertaste". Savoury? What was that all about?

 

I've renamed it my Crap Chocolate cake but fortunately my tasters and judges at home don't agree. They've voted it the best ever and this is all that is left!

 

So to cheer myself up, I've spent the afternoon doing some dress making. All afternoon I've been happily stitching away to find that I've put the lining of my dress in all wrong... I've hours of unpicking ahead... what joy! I might just bin it! I'm not going to tempt fate by hoping this week is better but I do have some good news for you my readers...

 

This week has seen blossom appearing on the trees, daffodils swaying in the breeze and birdsong everywhere, (crikey, that was a bit poetic) so what better time to announce that I have two tickets for the Country Living Spring Fair to give away to one lucky reader. Leave me a comment letting me know if you'd like a chance to win and I'll pick out a winner at the end of this week

 

The Country Living Fair takes place from 19th - 23rd March at the Business Design Centre in Islington. It features carefully selected exhibitors selling jewellery, fashions and items for interiors and gardens. There are talks and workshops as well as plenty of new ideas for your home and garden this Spring. You can read more details on the website:

www.countrylivingfair.com/spring

And if you aren't lucky enough to win the tickets you can get an additional discount if you book in advance on the website and enter the code Blog11... adult tickets for £12 instead of the usual £13 or £16.50 on the door.

 

Go on... leave me a comment... cheer me up!