No Progress

Oh dear, life does get in the way sometimes!

When Sharon posted the March Take it Further challenge about noticing the little things I had an idea almost immediately and started work on it full of enthusiasm. But though I still like the idea and what I have done so far I don't think I'm going to get it finished before the end of the month.

My immediate reaction was a virtuous 'of course I notice the little things' but when I thought some more I realised that was true but I don't always notice them for the right reasons. I am one of those people who notices dust, things put back in slightly the wrong place, things crumpled at the edges that shouldn't be etc etc. About a week earlier I'd noticed a scrapbook range which incorporated a coffee ring into the design and I knew I couldn't live with that on a piece of my work. However, prompted by Sharon's challenge I have decided to embrace the coffee ring! I spent a happy afternoon dunking my coffee mug in a bowl of strong coffee and plonking it on paper, kitchen towel, fabric etc. I have decided to make a small sample book using brown parcel paper showing different techniques developed on from the coffee ring. I started well but have ground to a halt the last couple of weeks.

I've been telling myself not to worry, I was having Easter week off work so plenty of time to finish it, but then I decided this really was the best time to paint the kitchen - after all I did intend to do it last summer and here we are, spring again. So the ceiling has had 3 coats of paint and still needs one more and then I have to start on the walls.....

Still, the main thing is not to get in a tizz - things will get done or not and none of it is the end of the world and at the moment lying on the settee and having a snooze seems the best idea of all!

In the meantime I did have an afternoon playing a couple of weeks ago and did some ATCs all using scraps from my drawer, something that always makes me feel virtuous!

I Remember Sweets

This is my completed piece for the February Take it Further challenge. Sharon challenged us to think about what we are old enough to remember and I thought of all those major world events like the Kennedy assassination, but what I also kept thinking about was sweets! I had 6d a week pocket money (and yes, we're talking old money here for those UK folks old enough to remember) and I particularly loved Black Jacks, little square chews that were 4 for a 1d. I remember I used to spend ages in the shop working out how to spend my 6d and what to buy, but often I didn't get round to eating them, and a few months later would have to throw the sticky mess away.
I asked around at work whether you could still buy Black Jacks and you can (and that got everyone reminiscing about the sort of sweets they remember), and I managed to find them in an old fashioned sweet shop in Lyme Regis. Some things haven't changed: as I was at the counter my daughter asked if I was actually going to eat them, to which I replied 'Oh no, I'm just going to unwrap them'. The shopkeeper's face was a picture and as we turned to leave he said to my daughter 'Who'd buy sweets to eat them?!' I bought Black Jacks and Starbursts and my daughter will eat the Starbursts but yesterday when I finished the piece sure enough, the Black Jacks were consigned to the bin.
I remembered the Black Jacks as having a stripy black and white wrapper with a picture of either a pirate or a skull and crossbones on it. The modern version has black and white swirls and no picture so I searched the Internet and found a wrapper on the site of the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood site. It showed an original wrapper from the 1920's and the picture was of a golliwog, so unfortunately I didn't feel that was appropriate to use. So instead I used the Starbursts because I know I also bought bright citrus colour chews. I scanned in the wrappers, printed them onto cotton, backed them to a firm fusible and stitched them to my background. The Black Jacks are remembered in the striped ticking I used as the background (and ticking also reminds me of my Dad and childhood as he used it for his work), and the plain black squares. The black ribbon behind the squares represents liquorice - another favourite.

Valentine Countdown

Lisa Vollrath is offering free Valentine images to download between now and Valentine's Day. Visit her site here to take advantage - all she asks is that you link to her site from your own blog before downloading.

Stewart Gill Sampler book

Back in Sept I went on a 6 week course with Becca from Becca's Quilt Emporium. It was all about exploring Stewart Gill products: paints, stencils, stamps etc, and at the end we were to produce a fabric book of samples. Needless to say, at the end of the 6 weeks I had lots of samples but nothing resembling a book! However, I did start work on it and had produced a cover and about 8 pages when preparations for Xmas intervened and I put it to one side. I even took some photos of the completed pages ready to post here but never did. The last couple of weeks I have managed to get back to it and have done another 4 pages (which I haven't photographed yet), so I thought I would put up what I've done so far. I hope to make at least another 4 pages before declaring it finished.

So here is my cover:

Black cotton has been stencilled and then strips and shapes of painted tissue have been ironed on with bondaweb. And the pages:

Take it Further Challenge blog

I have just posted my TIF piece for January on the blog Debra has kindly set up specifically for participants to post their finished pieces. Whilst doing so I looked at all the other pieces up so far and the variety and quality of interpretations is really amazing. It's also led me to bookmark yet more blogs to read - whatever did I do with my time before I spent all my spare moments reading the new postings listed on Google Reader?!!

One Year Anniversary

I knew I started this blog sometime last January and thought I'd better just check back and see when it was, and lo and behold it was a year ago today! I have enjoyed the experience of blogging and especially receiving encouraging comments so thanks to everyone who has passed by in the past year.

Mizuhiki pendant

This little pendant is made using an idea from Tvweekly's Plum & Verdigris channel - a video presentation by Judi of Judikins. It uses Japanese mizuhiki cords laid in a pattern on double sided tape, then cut to the size of a pendant and inserted. A charm was added on top then I covered the whole piece with Judikins Diamond Glaze adhesive which dries to a lovely glass like gloss. My daughter has appropriated it for her keyring.