when, where, which, what

i should be cooking right now, and indeed things are probably burning to a crisp as i type...but i wanted to get this done straight away, because when i get in my mind i have to do something, i drop everything else. horrible, inconvenient habit really. anyway...i've been playing with fabric, paper and paint today and created this mixed media 'sketch' called 'when, where, which, what'. the pretty fabric is an old charity shop find- a hankie for 20p! oh crap.....there's a distinct smell of singed sausages...gotta dash...!

ever had one of those weird days...

when you feel you have accomplished nothing but have actually cleared up a few jobs hanging over your head? i finished this wedding sampler order today, it's the first one i've done in this colourway, it's called 'amish' and it looks really great framed in it's white box frame. i'm also really pleased because i didn't think i'd get it done for the customer to take to the wedding this weekend (she knew this and ordered it anyway) but i did, yay! i hate letting people down, so this has made me very happy. i've also managed to get a piece of work done for an etsy-related secret swap organised by charlotte. i really, really hope the person i've made this for likes their package...i've steered clear of her likes and dislikes, so fingers crossed :)

the ironing pile is growing...

...and instead of tackling it, i just posted these book pages in my shop. 9.30pm is far too late to do any chores so i'm going to watch the end of 'cold case' instead. tomorrow, tomorrow, i will do the ironing tomorrow. i'll have to, i've no clothes left to wear.

printed

hope you all had a good creative weekend. i wasn't particularly productive but i did use a little child-free time to fiddle about making this printed pouch. it actually looks a lot better in the pics than it does it real life; it's very lumpy and unglamourous, i made the brown linen side pieces too narrow; they really need to be wider like the first pouch i made. zip went it ok though! ;) suffice to say i shall not be producing these for sale anytime soon. how do people manage to make and sell them for around $6? it took me forever, and it's not even lined yet! what i am happy with, however, is the printed fabric. i used acrylic paint with a fabric paint binder, just cheapy products, and actually they work very well on linen. after i printed and heat set it, i gave it very rigorous wash and ironed it dry, and it was fine. it does change the handle of the fabric a little, but not horribly. so more experimenting i think!

opening

friday night was the opening of nahcotta's enormous tiny art show , oh how i wish i'd been there! it looked very busy and exciting going by the pics on the nahcotta photostream. in one of their photos you can see my work behind a couple of people; i have cropped it and it is above. it was nice to get an impression of how it looked, it's hard to imagine when you're so many miles away! oh yeah, i had a sale too! yay!

zip it!

i wasn't in the mood for doing much yesterday, but as it was a choice between tackling the never ending ironing pile, doing the hoovering or playing about with fabric in my workroom, guess what won out? the pic is my first ever attempt at stitching in a zip. yep, despite the fact that i've used a sewing machine everyday for the last fifteen years or so, i have never tackled the business of putting in a zip. i've always steered clear because i've thought of it as a really tricky thing to do and i'm terribly impatient. i'm one of those awful people who gives a job up if it doesn't go perfectly first time. so, yesterday i was determined to make a simple pouch from some pieces of linen i bought from namolio the other day. and while it's not perfect, i'm feeling ridiculously pleased with myself.

yep, you guessed it, one more!

that's it now, i'm all sketch-booked out you'll be thankful to hear. hurry, hurry, it's up for sale right now!

dare i say, another sketchbook?

just listed, (it's called 'shield') and i'm afraid there's another one tomorrow, in blue, but then that's it for a while 'til they sell, 'kay?

can you spot me?

this is the postcard produced for nahcotta gallery's enormous tiny art show ii can you see me? i'll be impressed if you can, they're so tiny! (just if you're interested: first row, second in; second row, second in; fourth row, seventh in; seventh row, first in)

i love a happy customer

i can now officially post the above pic, the cloak and dagger stuff is no more because my customer, the lovely dom, couldn't wait to give this to his partner, the equally lovely julie, for christmas which was the original plan. i received a really happy email from julie yesterday, so thank goodness, she loves it. it's all about their little girl luella and includes all sorts of things that she loves, like elephants and ducks, a swing and a lot of pink! it was such a joy to make. inspiration struck me, of all places, in our local 'pizza express'. they have some gorgeous paintings on the wall there and one had a lollypop tree in it...i scribbled down some ideas on the back of a napkin with those little packs of kid's pencils they give out, bloomin' useful that! it got my little brain whirring with possibilities and the piece went together like a dream. so tell me folks, where is the weirdest place that inspiration has struck you?

make, make, make

with frank at school today, (how cute and handsome did he look?) and arth at my mum's (it's 'me-thursday', yay!) i have been flitting from project to project. just a sneak peek into what i've been up to this morning...up in the shop this evening, after i've been regaled with tales of frank's first day.

'nother one

available in the shop

shop update

morning all! hope all has been well with you. just a quickie this morning to let you know about a shop update that has just occurred right here. they are small and lovely original collages and measure 4.75 x 3.5 inches.

com-mission complete

i've been working on this commission on and off the past week or so and it's now complete. i'm really pleased with it. i'm showing just a corner because it's got personalised info on it and it's for a gift. you never know who might be looking and my customer would not be best pleased if i blew the surprise! you may remember the piece in it's really early stages. it's now stitched and stretched over a frame so it's looking good! blimey, have i just posted about something other than etsy or the kids? yep!

although you don't get away that easily as it's arthur's second birthday today, so they'll probably be pictures of the family party aftermath. not pretty. ok, i'm off to scrub the downstairs loo ready for my guests. have a great sunday!

yawn, yawn

yep, another etsy sketchbook. you know where to get it. go on, you know you want to ;) interesting fact: the little teardrop shapes in blue on the right with a diamond pattern are from an airmail envelope (the inside) from the 1960's. the love letter inside was from my friend's husband (then boyfriend) to her when she was living abroad. she gave me all the old envelopes during a recent clear out as she knows i've gone a bit doolally over the patterns inside. and ones from the '60's and '70's...drool...

mint chocolate...

is the name i've given to my new sketchbook, available right now in the etsy shop.

a happy accident

i went to see my lovely printer steve to order some new colours of my 'plant life' print. i spent some time choosing four new colours and went to pick them up this evening. sadly, two of the colours while very lovely weren't quite what i was expecting, so i've put them in my shop at the discounted rate of $8, with a limited edition of 5 of each colour. just in case you were worried i hadn't mentioned the shop today.

mini re-stock

two more original 6x4 inch canvases for the shop, just uploaded! the green one is called 'more', the black and grey is called 'power of 3'. have a great bank holiday :) notebooks on their way soon.

blimey o'reilly!

i was just perusing the etsy front page and lo and behold, there's 'plant life' staring back at me. i'm so overexcited i can't tell you. sam doesn't understand the excitement. his comment was: "oh. is that good then?" hmmm. yes, it really is, darling.

arthur's word of the day

i really hope the person i'm doing this for doesn't mind me posting progress of this piece...i've been careful not to show anything too revealing. just thought you might like to see today's progress, it was a funny day today. the kids were bored and snotty, the weather was crap and i really, really wanted to lock myself away in my workroom and erm, well, work. i got bits and pieces done, but there were constant arguments over the toy tractors and farm implements, both boys got sent to their rooms; arthur for throwing toys in a temper and frank for throwing his weight around and bullying his little brother.

in my eight things post i mentioned that my eldest son frank didn't speak until he was way over two, but when he did it was complete sentences. arthur is totally different. his second birthday is in a week's time and every day is another word in his vocabulary. (i know to some that might seem late, just pity the poor kid for having me as a mother; it's as much as he can do to get a word in edgewise) it's so exciting, it's like a little present each morning, and they make me crease up laughing, they're such random words. the day before yesterday it was 'cheese', yesterday was 'nice', and today we had two; 'book' and 'boys'. love, love, love.