Vertigo is back

Vertigo is back ....... gutted

Vertigo Has Gone!

The vertigo has gone and I feel so much better

Dyed some fabric for Christmas Things - but now I don't want to cut into it!

But I will

Gentle Day

A gentle day in the studio to-day making a batch of these petal shapes with free machine embroidery on organza.

Tomorrow I will burn around the edges

I can not tell you what they are for - because it is top secret!
(With Christmas happening in 31 days)

Sketchbooks and Art Journals

Sketchbook page November 2006
I am sorry I cannot give a credit for the rubber stamp - I got it at a stamp fair - and I forget who from - it is however, not my design.

As I am not under high pressure for deadlines - but rather just having studio time, and this means working in sketchbooks - something that I am not very good at - or rather - not as disciplined as I would like.

I cannot believe that the page above is from nearly exactly a year ago. I start a new book - I do a few pages - then it all peters out - as I go straight into the "real" pieces. Then I spend the rest of the year making rough notes on scrappy pieces of paper.

How to "do" my sketchbooks is always something that consumes a large chunk of thought, (when I am not working to deadlines) and I have piles of half used books ranging in size from very small to large and if there is one thing I would like to do - it is to have a more organized approach and paradoxically a more spontaneous approach toward my sketchbooks.

I think I have definitely reached the point where I want to bind my own books - to include all the scrappy bits of paper and notes. I don't want to make beautiful hand stitched journals - although I admire those that do - and have done so myself to commemorate special events. I simply want to wire bind all my stuff up - once every few months - so that all my fabric experiments, figure drawings, notes etc are all in one place - together.

Ho Humm - The trouble with the vertigo - is because I am not working flat out - I have to much time to think! Back to the doctor tomorrow for a chat - and to see what is what.

PS Just found some beautiful handmade books here made by Kaija - sometimes I wish I was a bookbinder!

Quiet Sunday

Quiet Sunday today - pottering in the studio - but not accomplishing much.

The vertigo is still with me - so I am pretty fed up about that.

The image here is a sketchbook page - probably for my "Travelling Sketchbook" which I share with Linda.

It is only a rough sketch - using painted bondaweb, and free machine embroidery. I was reflecting on the things we say like "keeping your feet on the ground" or "Being grounded" and how just now - the ground does not feel like a very safe place - in fact is seems rather squashy!! The colours probably reflect my dreary state of mind.

Thanks to
Judy,
Lynn and
Marion
For joining in the PIF exchange. I am really looking forward to making something for you all - don't forget to e-mail me with your addresses if you have not all ready done so.

Denice will also be getting something from me - although she does not have a blog - I am sure she will join in the PIF ethos.

Thanks to all of you who left a comment on my "Friendship post" I am the one at the back left of the last photo! And I had a great time at our class reunion

Pay it Forward

I am sure that many of you will have seen "pay it forward" on other blogs around and about.

I think it is such a nice idea and I was delighted when I saw that Vivian was participating. As I love her work, and I love the concept of "Pay it Forward" I left a comment on her blog - and I was one of the first three to do so!

This means that sometime in the next 365 days I will receive a piece of art from Vivian and I have to "Pay it Forward" here on my blog. Here is how it goes:-

"I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 artists who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog."

I don't know where this started. I tried to track the "pay it forwards" exchange back through various blogs - but I found myself so diverted with interesting reading and other links - that I did not get very far - so I don't know who the credit for this scheme goes too.

So the first three people who comment, will receive something in the post from me - not to sure when, and all I ask is that you continue with the PIF exchange on your own blogs.

Friendship

"The Gang" - in our teens

I am feeling so much better - went back to the doctor yesterday and got different pills for the vertigo.

I am mightily relieved about this, as tomorrow I am off to a school reunion! Our class tries to have a get together about once a decade!

It is at this point that I:-

1) Wished I looked in the mirror more often - perhaps I could of done something about those wrinkles in my face a while ago.

2) Was more disciplined about things like moisturizer - then maybe my skin would not be like rhino-hide

3) Remembered to say "no thank you" to chocolate, coffee cake, new potatoes with butter and so on

But I didn't do any of these things - so there we go!

In our nearly 40's

Friendship is an amazing thing and throughout my life I have been blessed with wonderful friendships.
Some are fleeting and transient - a soul connection of two people who for that brief moment in a life time know that they are friends, this kind of friendship sometimes leaves the bittersweet memory of "if only ..."

Some friendships have a natural time span - they are wonderful for many years but then things move on and so does the friendship. No regrets - no blame - just the warm comfortable memories of shared laughter and shared lives.

Some are blossoming friendships - new and interesting in their newness - like the ones that are growing here in Wales since I moved back.

Also;- "cyber-buddies" the friendships developing because of shared interests, and ease of communication over the web. Friends who I may never meet in person - but who become friends nonetheless


Some friendships - are more enduring and my friendship with the three woman in these photographs has lasted for 4 decades! I think it is amazing.

We met at school when we were about 10 years old - and as we were at a boarding school our lives were perhaps more interlinked with each other, than those children who go to a day school. We have seen each others worst and best. My life is richer for knowing them.

We probably only meet up every few years as a foursome - but the joy of this friendship is we carry on just where we left off, it can be 2 years, 2 months or two weeks since we last saw each other it really doesn't matter.

This Spring the 4 of us went to Paris - to celebrate 40 years of friendship - although there was perhaps a little apprehension as to whether we would get on together for 5 days of constant company .... it was great and we had a ball. (it took me a week to get my voice back - and two weeks to recover fully - but hey!)

In our well over 40's!
Oh - Ok our 50's

Now all you have to do is guess which one is me!

Jeans Finished Work

Jean popped in to see me to-day - to see how I was doing with the vertigo - and to show me her finished piece of work.

This is a close up - I particularly like what she has done at the bottom with the machine wrapped cord couched down to form the sea. Also overlaying the organza to trap the pearls and shells. It is lovely to see finished pieces of work and I was pleased she came to show me.

I managed a couple of hours in the studio to-day and I am quietly happy with the progress I made on my canvas for the canvas swap - but I probably wont post any pictures of it until it has been received by who ever gets it! - Well maybe tomorrow I will post a little corner for you to peep at!

Last Class Photos

This is Denice's finished work - well almost finished - She was going to do some hand stitching at home - to blend the heavily textured area more into the background fabric.


The picture below is a close up - lovely texture - Denice was pleased with the finished result.


I spent some time in the studio to-day - with not much luck. I have the idea of a piece in my head - but trying to work out the "How To Do It" was frustrating me to-day. Sometimes I wish I could just to the same old thing over and over again - as I feel like I am trying to re-invent the wheel with every piece I do.

I know it is just the frustration talking - and probably not helped by the fact that I am still a bit wobbly on my pins - and my head is probably not as clear as it could be.

Never mind - it will all come together .... or something at some point next week.

More views

This is another view of Pats sampler - again apologies for the quality of the photography.

Pat is going to do a small amount of hand stitching onto the little square to catch down any loose fibres that have come adrift since she cut the squares from a bigger piece.

This is a close up of one of the squares showing the lovely textures Pat created.

Blogger is not being very responsive tonight and the photos are not quite going where I want them. Why does this happen sometimes?

Last Class

Here is Jean with her (nearly) finished piece of embroidery. She will be so cross with me that the photo is of her holding her work up! She didn't want to be in it. I did take a close up of the work - but it was very out of focus - I blame the vertigo.

Jean had to leave early - so she was disappointed that her piece was not complete by the time she left. However she knew where it was going. She had also used all the machine embroidery techniques we covered in the three weeks and was so delighted that she knew more about her machine than she did a month ago.

Here is Pat, with her piece. She probably had the most unsuitable machine for all the techniques we covered. (I need to find out more about this particular machine.) Pat made some lovely textures, which she cut up and her finished work was a "sampler".

I will post a detail tomorrow - still not really able to spend much time in the vertical position.



Thanks to ALL of you who have left such lovely comments over the past 10 days or so. I really enjoy hearing from you all - and I am sorry I haven't replied to you personally.