Merry Christmas & Taking Stock

[photo credit]

We're off very soon for the Christmas holidays so I won't be blogging again until next year. Don't know how I'm going to cope being computer-less but I'm taking my crochet with me and some embroidery things, as well as essential reading material! So, a big MERRY CHRISTMAS to everyone!

Thank you so much for a wonderful first year of blogging - I've enjoyed it so much and just loved all the new people I've 'met' through this incredible thing. This set me thinking about what I'd achieved this year... I started blogging in April and looking over my posts it feels like so much has been made and lots of creative play has been had... I'm not sure most of this would have happened without the blog to drive me. So, taking stock of my blogging year, the inventory includes....

... loads of brooches...

... learning how to crochet...

... some drawing and painting...

... cutting out stencils and screenprinting...

... more sewing than I'd realised...

... paper stitching...

... felt printing...

... embroidering...

... exploring collage...

... making bags...

... and, lastly, making my very first doll.

What a year! Thanks so much to everyone for being so supportive and so very inspiring! See you next year and best wishes for a wonderful holiday season :)

Brilliant idea: Tap Water Bottle

I love this idea - how brilliant is it?! Simple, stylish and seriously clever, the Tap Water Bottle strikes a winking blow at the bottled water industry by providing a safe portable alternative to this environmentally irresponsible and, quite frankly, ridiculous cash cow. Yep, I'm just not a fan of paying for some spuriously marketed product which is not that different to what comes out of the tap in my kitchen ;) Hats off to Canadian designer Racquel Youtzy and her brilliant idea. She sells them on her website here. I should add we actually have five clear bottles just like this (without the groovy text) all lined up and full of tap water in our fridge. They even are lettered A to E so the same bottle doesn't end up being used over and over... courtesy of my husband who really should be a Virgo ;)

Found via the wonderful Grey Grid Paper.

Inspiration: Spinthread

I am so very inspired by the magnificent work of Spinthread at the moment. My thoughts have been mostly revolving around crochet and plans for a crochet-filled holiday season, but you know, I think I might have to take some embroidery bits and pieces with me too ;) I've seen this wonderful work around and about a couple of times now, most recently on Emma's lovely blog. It feels strange to know little to nothing about the artist. I can only tell you that her name is Marañón and that her Etsy store can be found here and her fabulous Flickr Photostream here.

Inspiration: Paul Burgess

I'm feeling decidedly in need of a bit of inspiration at the moment and have been trawling through my bookmarks looking for that special thing that will lift me out of myself and put a bit of zing into my brainwaves... These works by Brighton-based artist Paul Burgess have fascinated me for a while now and I think they fit the bill. There's something of an edge to them that rips away from what I think of as traditional collage. They make me want to take a paint brush to things I've done... focus on the space between things and blur them, obscure them, in order to heighten new tensions or change the way the images are read.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment on my plagiarism post. I've loved reading them all and many times have wished we were all sharing a coffee and able to have a really good discussion about this face to face. Thanks also for your encouragement about my design. I'm still undecided about whether I'll bother printing it or not... maybe I'll play with it a bit more. I know I take myself too seriously but I just couldn't be happy with it in it's current state. I really want to create something that's mine... something that makes the brain zing. Sunday dreaming... reaching for the sky ;)

And another one..!

No sooner had I posted the last post about an art swap arrival than another appeared in my mail box! I am feeling so spoilt. This one is from R. Devi Schåfer-Tjandra in Konstanz, Germany. I've scanned it on some orange card so you can see all the components better. I so love mixed media - can you see the tiny knitted section coming from under the grey card? Just gorgeous :) Many thanks to Belinda for telling me who the last artist was... Does anyone know the links for this artist? S/he included a lovely card, but alas, again there were no links.

More postal goodness...

...has been arriving as a result of the art swap I took part in. I'm so overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of these pieces. This one is by Hollie Chastain from Chattanooga in Tennessee (I know, I started singing too!). Isn't it just divine? Can you see the pencil doodle in the background? The piece is mounted on an inch-think wooden frame... just love it :) She didn't leave an Etsy or blog address with her parcel, so if anyone knows Hollie I'd love to know her link, if possible?

My Creative Space - Softie for Mirabel

Skidding in at the last minute seems to be my style at the moment, but I'm so relieved to have finished my Softie for Mirabel at all. This is the very first doll or softie I've ever made and I found it a bit more challenging than I would have supposed. Somehow she has evolved into a funny little thing... looking very Holiday in Queensland to me... What do you think?!

I've loved the Mirabel idea ever since I first saw it on Pip's site, but it was the wonderful Leonie who gave me the extra push I needed to fit it in when she so generously offered up some fabric to anyone who wanted to make one. Following Leonie's advice, I purchased the doll pattern from Hop Skip Jump and began pottering away on it. It really was a great pattern but as I do have my (undiagnosed) dyslexia with instructions, I'm not surprised that some things just didn't quite work out. My poor "Qld Holiday" dear does have neck problems (no doubt from a botched facelift attempt on the Gold Coast!) and one arm does hang lower than the other (I'm guessing from kids reluctant to walk up that hill to school!) but she's happy enough and I've loved taking pics of her in the old dolls' house my dad made for my sister and I when we were little. Thanks to Pip and Leonie for inspiring me to learn this new skill!

For more creative spaces, visit the lovely Kirsty over at Kootoyoo.

Giveaway Winner

photo credit

Thanks to all the lovely people who entered the 3 Giveaway for a chance to win the 101 Crochet book, the V&A 50s pattern book and the 3 meters of Michael Miller fabric. As usual, there is but one winner and today's luck in true random generator style has fallen on Amy from Sweet Sweet Life. Congratulations Amy!