In which there is a pug

I've been keeping up with my New Year's resolution to draw something every day.  Yesterday I drew a pug.  Whil I was drawing it I thought it looked a bit cartoony, a bit like a paranoid gargoyle, and then I looked back at the pug and remembered that's just how they look.

In which I petition my MP

As part of the #imapiece project, I've created a jigsaw piece for my MP.  I want to send this with a letter explaining what the project is, and how he can make a difference.

Thing is - should I send it now, or when the I'm a piece jigsaw artwork is complete?  I want this to have the biggest impact it can, and it would be cool to be able to show that this jigsaw piece is part of a much bigger project.  What do you think?

In which there is knitting

My best friend from school has just had her first baby - yay!  I wanted to make her some goodies, and decided to test out my new-found knitting skillz.  I taught myself aboutt his time last year - so far I've made a baby cardi, lots of swatches, and I've started knitting lots of socks.  And screamed at the socks.  And then unravelled the socks.  I have problems with socks.  So for this bebe, I knitted a blanky in a forest green, easy care wool.  I think this is basket stich?  With a crochet trim.

I also sewed some baby booties, and painted a card showing the stork bringing a baby who's holding a Reading FC flag - mum and dad are big Reading fans!

In which I receive a wonderful embroidery

Sorry blog, I should have posted this back in December.  But something called "Christmas" got in the way.  Huh.

For the Phat Quarter 'Tiny Thing' swap, I received this wonderful embroidery from jessicakelly.  As well as the lovely shell and seaweed, embroidered on paper, she'd made me some little buttons!  So sweet.


Thanks Jessica!  I love it, and it's really inspirational.  At the moment I'm working on my collagraph project for my printmaking course, and I'm getting interested in stitching on paper.  I'd love to make some prints and embroider details on to them - watch this space!

In which I finish the stole

I've finished Fiona's stole - the red one with the figures jumping and throwing their stoles in the air.

This pic isn't great, I'll try to get a shot of her in action in church!

Here's another stole I made for her previously, for her ordination.

In which I reflect on 2012, and look forward to 2013

Oh 2012, where did you go?  You disappeared in a flurry of embroidery thread and dissolved in a vat of printing ink. 

 At the beginning of year, I made the following resolutions:

1. Finish the OCA Textiles 1 course
2. Start (and do most of) the OCA Printmaking 1 course
3. Tidy and organise my studio into a pleasant working space
4. Blog more
5. Draw more!

(I also want to get a bike and do more exercise.)

Yay!  I achieved almost all of these - Textiles 1 is finished (I got a 2:2), I'm well over halfway on Printmaking 1, and I have made 75 blog posts this year.  Woot!  

I did not get a bike, and am still as fat as butter.  Also - my fucking studio is a fucking disaster area.  Sorry for the swears but I am so cross.  It's in our tiny back yard - it IS most of the back yard - and was built by the guy we bought our house from.  It's got a plastic roof which leaked - we got someone in to fix the leaks from the roof, but there are still drips coming in everywhere.  It is so damp in there - I went in to do some tidying yesterday and everything was covered in a fine layer of mildew.  I just sat and cried.  So until I have proper money to sort it out and get a new roof, I don't have a studio.  But, I have tidied all my crafty/ art supplies into boxes under my bed. 

I did draw more in 2012, but it's there that I'm making my biggest resolutions for 2013.  I want to do a sketch a day.  Wildly ambitious?  Yes.  Likely to be going awry by the second week in January?  Hell yes.  But I'm going to aim for a sketch a day.  It's the only way to improve my drawing, and I need to stretch myself more with visual ideas.  So, my resolutions for 2013 are:

1. Finish the OCA Printmaking 1 course
2. Start (and do most of) the OCA Textiles 1: Exploring Ideas course
3. Keep blogging
4. Keep my craft/ art supplies tidy
5. Draw a sketch a day!

I also want to join a gym and get more out of my allotment this year.  Wish me luck!

In which I embroider a seahorse

I took part in the latest Phat Quarter swap, organised by the fabulous cocoaeyes.  The theme was tiny things, and my swapee was cocoaeyes herself.  Woot!  I love her embroidery, so it was a real honour to make something for her. 

She mentioned she's really into saturated, vivid colours at the moment, so I decided to make something really bright.  I've been interested in seahorses for years, and decided to have a bash at embroidering one.   I looked at loads of pics on the internet, and sketched some composite seahorses.  The tough bit was how many ridges there are on a seahorse!  They're made up of bony ridges, so to look good this embroidery would have to have some good texture.  Here it is. 

I used little French knots for the high points of the ridges, and different shades for the lines between the knots.  One line is a slightly lighter colour than the background shade, and one line is slightly darker.  The dorsal fin is satin stitch, and the background stitches are long and short.  I think I used nine shades of orange for the little seahorse - they were all already in my embroidery box.  And a couple of greens for the seaweed.  The background fabric was a bit of batik from my fabric box.  The frame is 4 inches by 3 inches, to give an idea of scale.