Tuesday, 22 February 2022

WOYWW 664 - Gummy Silk and Doodly Birds


Wednesday again, doesn’t it come round quickly.
This week instead of shoving out of sight the fabric samples
I’ve made and don’t like, I’m going to curate them with
bits and pieces from around the house into wooden box frames.


This way I’ll have a constantly changing display of collages
on my studio wall for inspiration and meditation.


Monday night our textile group held a handmade paper making
workshop online. My goodness what a fabulously quick technique.


All you need is some gummy silk, baking parchment, an iron,
a water spray bottle and some bits and pieces like flower petals, threads,
anything flat to lay on top.


How to :

Lay thin strands of the gummy silk on top of a piece
of baking parchment.

Spray with water till damp

Lay another piece of baking parchment on top

Iron on a hot dry heat 

And there you have it.

Suppliers of gummy silk if you want a go






I’ve bonded this paper to a piece of cotton with Bondaweb
then machine stitched over it.


This is the back. I’m going to be adding some hand stitching next.

There’s potential to make paper to write on, make books, vessel’s,
stitched art, collage.  Stick with me. Hopefully I’ll have more
to show you next week.


Here’s a blast from the past. 2010 to be precise. I know some of you
will remember the Doodly Birds I created.
It came up on Facebook memories. There’s still a few nesting around
the world in the form of bags, clocks, cups and coasters. No I’m not
tempted to reintroduce them. My head has been pecked enough
with these cheeky chirpies.

Have a good creative week folks
Lynn
x x x

Sunday, 20 February 2022

Little Stories of life with the HOLLAND’S


Waking up the morning after Storm Eunice I looked out
across the valley to be met with a snow storm.

Not a sheep in sight or a blade of grass, only the tops of the
trees showed any signs of colour and they were rapidly
becoming white.


This sign tickled me. My sister who lives in Oxford
and is a true northern lass, quotes it to her fellow workers.


As it was obviously going to be a stay at home day
I settled into my craft room and made a bag for a special
book I received this week.


Books that I treasure all have their own little fabric bag,
mostly made with pieces of vintage material.


This image came up the other day for the clothing company
Toast.



I have a few pieces myself.




My thoughts were of how fabulous that they had used an older model.
Hopefully it shows that you don’t need to be young to be stylish.

Their colour descriptions appeal to me as well.
The outfit below is listed as
SAFFRON & NASTURTIUM 


We watched an online talk in the evening by
Great British Pottery Throwdown host Keith Brymer Jones.
It was really good, he’s such a sensitive soul and
enormously talented.  I’ve got his book on order as well, so
plenty to look forward to while the weather does it’s worst.


Stay safe and warm
Lynn
xx











Wednesday, 16 February 2022

WOYWW 663 - Listen to the pouring rain


Hello Wednesday desk hoppers, was I harping on about the
rain last week ?  Well I’m still harping on about this week.
It feels like it’s never going to stop and according to the forecast
we’ve got it every day until at least the 28th.
Still it’s an excuse to play with the new variegated threads
that have arrived from Rainbow Silks. Watch out for more
water soluble bowls and fabrics coming soon.
We don’t do Valentines Day in this house but we did drag out
the daft Cupid video we made in lockdown and got a few laughs
and cheery comments about it on Facebook & Instagram.


After 43 years together I’m happy to say we still rub along
well together. I think it’s the non stop banter and laughter
that does it.



Can’t hang about as it’s Blood Donation day.
Zoom Pilates and zoom textile meetings on the go as well.
Yesterday was the dentist and next week it’s mammogram.
Its busier than working heehee.

Keep crafting 
Lynn
x

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Friday, 11 February 2022

Here comes the weekend


There I was minding my own business admiring the snowdrops when
all of a sudden the dirty stinking water from the bird feeder ended
up all over my head and to say I smelt like a sewer is putting it mildly.

Lesson learnt  - don’t forget to give the birds fresh water regularly.



Someone posted this on Facebook this week, it’s our exam results
from school in 1972.  For some reason my six C.S.E. results are not in there
or my typing but at least I got some recognition for my Office Practice skills.


My first job on leaving school was in the accounts department at
Rediffusion television. My dad got me the job, one of the customers
of his mobile fruit & veg van “The Fruit Bowl” was the manager there.
Fortunately my low grade in maths didn’t put them off employing me.


The original school which was a girls grammar school, then a
high school for boys and girls has been knocked down in recent
years and replaced with a modern building.


This week we’ve woken up to some amazing misty mornings,
only to be replaced within no time with winds and rain every day.


So I’ve not been anywhere, preferring the warmth of home
and the comfort of a nice hot cup of tea, a bit of stitching, reading,
shouting instructions to Alexa to play various genres of music
depending on my mood and what I’m doing. My best friend’s
dad has had me listening to James Taylor this week.  Great music
for crafting along to.



My fixation with creating online jigsaws from my own photographs
and improving my word skills with scrabble and the latest once a
day Wordle puzzle continues. Apparently it’s been sold for
millions to the Americans.

Watch out it’s addictive


Nothing to see here this weekend apart from a couple of
friends calling round for a beer or three.

We will be watching The Great British Pottery Throwdown.
Last weeks episode was my favourite so far, creating vessels from the
1960’s.  I’ll be giving the BBC 1 new thriller Chloe another go.
I’m not to sure about it yet.  Hasn’t there been some brilliant dramas
on recently.  I was hooked on The Responder with Martin Freeman,
it was very intense.

Hopefully we will get some milder weather soon and things
will continue to pick up.

Have a lovely weekend.
Lynn
x






Wednesday, 9 February 2022

WOYWW 662…… Water, water everywhere


Gosh where did that week go.
We’ve had some horrendous weather, some days to
wet and windy to be going anywhere.


After seeing my fabric bowls last week a friend said will you make me
one for my front room. Some hours later spent hammering away at the
sewing machine and using a ton of sewing thread, here it is.


Here’s some other water soluble fabric samples I’ve been doing
for my course work.




I’ve trapped twisted raffia, wool and silk threads into this one and used the
fancy stitches on my sewing machine.  The little dress and brooch were handmade
and gifted to me some years ago by blog friends.


The prompt for February over at my No Rules Textile Society is
AUTOMATED STITCHING 


We are exploring all the fancy stitches that we rarely if ever use.
Here’s a start to my samples.  I’ve used the Shibori fabric I dyed back
in November and a piece of cut up vintage fabric


That’s all folks from me this week.
Have a super crafty time
I’ll be chained to my sewing machine if you’re looking for me.

Lynn
xxx






Wednesday, 2 February 2022

WOYWW 661 - Stitching magic and a trip to market


2022 is becoming a real learning curve texturally with
the new water soluble online course I’m doing and prior
to that a week of stitch and fabric painting.


I’ve been back on the machine making another fabric bowl.




Look they’re multiplying 


There’s been a trip to the famous
Bury Market, Lancashire which is about 20 minutes from home.


We got chatting to this lovely fabric stall holder.  His family
have had the stall for 76 years and had some real tales to tell.


They had some fabulous double sided wool materials.
If I was a dressmaker I’d have been bringing home 
some of the black dogtooth one.




The market is on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday and folk
come on coach trips from as far as Southampton.

It was great fun to visit with plenty of places to have a cuppa
and lunch.


This’ll make you splutter.  As much as I love the styles and
how they coordinate colours, there’s no way I’d pay the prices
of clothing and interiors company Cabbages & Roses.

I did spot a frock equally as nice online at good old M&S for
a mere fraction of the price and I’ve teamed it up with a Scottish
made tank top I got in a shop last year in Ulverston, Cumbria.

Well back to the stitching now.
Have a good week everyone.
Keep crafting


Lynn
xxx

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