Fruits of the Fingers.

I shall be off for my Summer Holiday soon. So I shall leave you with some rather nice photos of some of the work I have done over the years. When I return...I hope to have a new one to show you.

I'll be sitting in the ( I hope ) sunshine at my friend's house, in the very middle of the countryside, surrounded by sheep bleating for their lambs and horses neighing to each other, the calling of the curlew in the evening and the hooting of the owls by night. Bliss.

I hope to be able to get my creative self back - it has definitely gone walk about, since I was ill a massive EIGHT weeks ago.

Yes I have dabbled here and there but nothing like my usual fully functional creative self.

So I shall take my paper and stamps and my material and threads and see what I can come up with. 

Meanwhile...here are some items I made a while ago...

I discovered wool on wool embroidery when I went to a large show at the NEC some twenty years ago and have loved it ever since. It grows very slowly and there are a lot of stitches to learn. It's rather like Stumpwork ( yes I've tried that too), in that it's three dimensional and raised from the surface of the material.

Before this, the only work I'd done with wool was in crewel. Thinner strands of wool worked in intricate patterns on a cotton ( usually ) base - very beloved of those early sewers of the 16th and 17th century who needed to make thick, warm curtains for bed hangings. We don't have the bed hangings today in the normal run of things, but we can still do crewel.

This is crewel on wool... and I'll tell you more about it another time.

There are only so many things you can make for the house, so I decided that I'd have a go on a wool cardigan. I was pleased with the result. 

 Can't wear it any more...it's a size 12! But I keep it.

I didn't knit the cardigan, though I might have. I had a splurge of knitting many years ago when Kaffe Fasset brought all those wonderfully colourful items he made to exhibitions in the U.K. and eventually, into books.

I tried to get as many shades and patterns into my work as possible, though I did limit the colours.

 Honestly I did! I was trying to achieve the look of a millefiori paperweight.

My hands won't let me knit now.

I love wool tapestry too and have made many a cushion but can't do that either now because of the shoulder effort of pulling thrums through the canvas... so my only outlet for this kind of work is free embroidery, where it's an action of the wrist and not the shoulder.

Perfectly alright as there are many many variations on a theme. And I never get fed up.

So between reading lots of books and doing some craft work...and eating things I wouldn't normally eat ( well it's obligatory on your hols!) I think I might just have a very nice break. See you all when I return.

 

The World at our Fingertips.

It's incredible what you can do when you are not allowed to do very much at all.

At the moment, a health problem, ( soon, I hope to be resolved ) is keeping me indoors, quiet, still and practically comatose.

Have I been bored?
Well no not really.
But I have been creatively challenged. When you think about it, it might have been the perfect excuse to sit around playing with paper and fabric and bits and bobs. However, because I have been feeling particularly short of oomph, I have actually achieved very little on the creative front. And that is sad as, if I can't be creative ( I've said this before, ) I might as well not be here.

I have managed to write. I can sit and do that, for a while. Words have always come easy to me. I hardly need any oomph for those. In fact I shall probably die gabbling! ;)
I do feel as if I have lost about two months of my creative life though and although the spirit is most definitely chafing at the bit, the flesh is decidedly dicky!

One thing it has done for me, is allow me to sit at the computer and surf. Now, this is not something I am very good at. I tend to use the web as a tool for finding things and knowing things but not really just looking at things.

I have over the past few weeks been looking at things. Just for the sheer pleasure of it. I think they call it eye candy. I like the word Eyesmile......it does.

So I am going to present to you, some of the lovely things, ideas and creations I have discovered whilst letting myself, virtually, roam the world.

My starting point was of course...flowers.

 And my favourite of all sweet smelling flowers - violets. This one was a postcard.

And I ranged through quite a few nice sites on postcards and Vintage imagery.
This lead me to Victorian paper scraps.

From there it was an easy journey to Victorian paper working ( a topic I've actually searched before ).

Then, a little side step - and we are in the realms of fabric.

This one prompted me to become a friend on Facebook and set me off on a new tack creatively ( or it will soon)
The Vintage Drawer.
Inspiration comes from many sources. The idea is, however not to slavishly copy....but to adapt.

From there, it was back to flowers...in the flesh.
Some of them I have in my own garden This one is Rosa Mundi.

...and some which are representations on paper.

The rose Koenigen Von Danmark.
from the Botanical artist
Then a blog I follow posted some ravishing photos of flowers. My Romantic Home

And yet another one posted some lovely bouquets. SO off I went on a silk flower trail.

Polka Dot Closet

These flowers reminded me of a frock I once saw in a costume museum....
I suppose it's the colour and all the ruffles. :)

Now I love the 18th century ( especially the bit where this type of dress was fashionable ) and so of course my mind went off on frocks and then the late 18th century....and Mozart and then...... another lovely dress, a wonderful set and an absolutely ravishing voice.
Marriage of Figaro

The very best. Gundula Janowitz.
And there is a hybrid musk rose called Mozart! We have it in the front garden.

Then I found a very pretty picture..lots of flowers!
Then back to paper flowers...not my creations.

But some I could easily do. Had I the oomph.

The it was back to violets and those calling cards, trade cards and postcards.

So whilst I wasn't allowed to step outside the house, I roamed the world and back again. :)

And all without leaving my seat.... well I did once - to make a cuppa! :)
Thirsty work surfing.
;)