My Creative Space - Placing hexs

I'm playing along with Kirsty's meme My Creative Space this week. Visit Kootoyoo to see more or to play along yourself.

I haven't had the opportunity to do much crafting this week but I have finished crocheting all of my hexs for the blanket. I've laid them all out on the dining table in place and have my photo now so if they have to be moved I can see where colours should go again. And now begins the process of crocheting them all together..!

p.s. sorry for the bad photos - I just couldn't get high enough to take a complete shot ;)

p.p.s. I'm celebrating my first blogiversary with a giveaway. See the post below if you'd like to enter :)

1st blogiversary giveaway :)

I've just been reading M*'s post about missing her blogiversary and I thought, Hang on a minute...! There was some frantic checking of the calendar and... I realised that I've missed my first Blog Birthday too!

April 10th last year I started this funny old thing called 3 Sheets and the year really has whizzed by at an incredible speed. The growth I've experienced as a person because of the amazingly supportive and encouraging craft blog community has helped me refine what I'm doing and the directions I decide to go, at the same time as teaching me a swag of soul-boosting lessons.

Thank you :) Thanks for supporting me and thanks for telling me to get a grip when I needed it too ;)

So.... a giveaway is in order I think. As I am spectacularly unorganised for the occasion, I've decided to pick out three things I've made over the last year for your choice. There will, of course, be three winners so you need to leave a comment and specify which of the three choices you prefer...

Choice 1: Embroidered brooch

Choice 2: Crochet and felt brooch

Choice 3: Pen + wash picture (A5 size)

Now, some apologies...

First, the trivial: I seem to be having a bit of a green moment in my choice of items, sorry.

Next the fixable: the photo of the pen + wash is phenomenally bad I'm afraid, but I will replace it when the sun comes out for a better look-see. Surprisingly it is actually quite a vibrant colour ;)

And lastly, the unavoidable: I have to start working this week (and for the next couple of months) in my husband's optometry practice (yep, I giggled too... can't see it yet but I'll be there!). So, apologies that I won't be posting as often or crafting as much or visiting as often... I imagine I'll be one of those midnight lurkers! ;)

Anyway, many thanks again for the wonderful support and I hope you like the choices for the giveaway.

I'll make a random draw on Saturday 1st May :)

the first little pig made his lamp out of...

I'm so in the mood for a dollop of humour and fun today and coming across this fabulous lampshade Gulp by Tim Fishlock did make me smile. Don't you just love people's inventiveness? Gulp is made from 3000 translucent drinking straws that have been woven into a dense sphere for use as a lampshade. But the best bit is... all the straws are connected together, so *technically* you could drink through it if your powers of suction are up to it ;) Each one takes a massive seven days to construct and the finished product is 80cms in diameter. You can find out more on Tim Fishlock's website here.

via

Friday Finds: Sculptural Ceramics

There's something about whimsical ceramics that I find incredibly inspiring and the work of British artist Katherine Morling has me longing to see it in person. I think it's the interplay between the fine artistry in its detail and the satisfying sureness and weight of the pieces that seems at once fragile and permanent. When I first saw them I felt sure they were made out of cardboard - they almost have that 'window display' kind of presentation. Discovering they were sculptures in porcelain and ceramic made me want to touch them and feel that cool surface that one would think was so at odds with the inventive forms they portray. They're so much fun, don't you think? :)

You can find more of Katherine Morling's work here and here.

via Coolhunting

See Right Through Me...

I'm in Sydney for the next couple of days so I won't be around to visit all my favourite blogs... and in some kind of spooky synchronicity, lovely Sydney-sider Susie at Flowerpress has posted an interview with me. Thanks Susie :)

p.s. I should mention this interview comes with a 'bad mother' warning ;)

Apologies for not giving an attribution for this photo... I just can't remember where I found it.

My Creative Space - Another brooch

Playing along with Kirsty's My Creative Space meme today... Pop over to Kootoyoo to play along or have a peek at all the spaces. My space this week has another embroidered brooch in it.

Reverse dress

I was just looking through my photos and found some pics of a dress I made for my youngest daughter. It's black (of course) because that's all she'll wear these days... and the fabric has been over-printed with a lino cut I carved out of a cloudy moon with bats flying around... because that's the kind of thing she likes. The fully reversible lining in red pin-stripes was my idea because... well, it needed a bit of colour ;) I love that she's nearly 10 but already knows who she is and what she likes :)

(Sur)Prize!

More postal excitement in this little corner of the world... I won a painting and it arrived today! Big thanks to the lovely Kate at Blue Sky Butterfly Studio for my beautiful prize :) I'm still deciding where to place it, Kate... Don't worry about the planter box photo, that was just because I wanted to see it with the greenery! ;)

Handmade goodies

It was another excellent week for post this week. So exciting that the very talented Melanie from M* has opened an Etsy Store. Have a peek at her fabulous jug/glass covers here. Also, the lovely Evie from Handmade Romance just keeps coming up with brilliant ideas in her Etsy Store. I couldn't resist her courting couple who now sit saying 'hi' to each other on my bed :) Hope you are having a great weekend!

My Creative Space - Crochet blanket wip

I'm playing along with My Creative Space today. Visit Kirsty's at Kootoyoo to see other spacers or to play along yourself.

I have been steadily working away at my crochet hexagon blanket for a while now. My eldest daughter claimed it a week or so ago but put in a special request that it include more blues and greens. So, off to Tangled Yarns we went and selected some sumptuous shades. I've really been enjoying crocheting these hexagons. When it was going to be all green I was joining as I went (otherwise known as the fancy pants method)... Now that a chaotic cluster of colour has been ordered, I'm making piles to lay out in their places when finished. Loving these shades of blue and green.

p.s. Did you see my new sewing/crochet/reading specs?

Loving them too :)

Pen + Wash

I've been working on some pen + wash ideas over the Easter break. It's been such a satisfying meditative thing to do. First I do the watercolours and add colour wherever it takes my fancy. Then, after they dry, I draw with the pen responding to the colour dabs. I'm trying not to think too much as I do them but often I find myself adding more colour with a pen afterwards wherever it feels bare. If you click on the image you can see them in more detail. Hope you like them. I think the bottom one is a bit Marimekko ;)

Textiles: Orla Kiely

I was going to leave the textiles thing alone now but there are a couple more that do deserve a mention I think. Firstly, Orla Kiely... can you think of a better example of someone who was in the right place at the right time? Somehow she has come to embody the universal love affair with funky retro. Her designs grace seemingly everything from fashion to homewares and furniture to luggage. Good on her, I say. Love her designs and her spirit in providing us all with so much beauty :) Visit her website here.

Textiles: Becky Earley

And so we come to one of my all-time favourite textile designers... time to worship at the altar of the incredible Becky Earley. I first discovered Becky's work when I became interested in fabric cyanotype printing also known as photograms where you use the sunlight to print indigo blue images on fabric or paper. It totally captivated me and I intend to spend time this year creating photogram fabric designs. The amazing Earley is my inspiration.

Just about every article you read about Becky Earley cites that she's "not as famous as she ought to be". She's had thousands of photographs of her work in major fashion magazines and yet very few people have heard of her. Currently the Associate Director of the Textile Futures Research Group at the Chelsea College of Art and Design, she is a pioneering innovator in a myriad of new fabric technology and, more recently, is forging fresh directions for old and recycled fibres. She is a complete legend.

Below is an image of a Becky Earley "Pins" photogram piece worn by Bjork.

Earley has been lauded for her commitment to sustainable textiles. She was one of the first designers to print onto light-absorbing fleece made from recycled plastic bottles, and she broke fresh ground by developing eco-friendly printing processes and even came up with a new paradigm of garment recycling. Her latest group venture, Ever and Again, was an exhibition on experimental recycled textiles last year.

Visit her amazing website to see more.

Textiles: Clare Tough

Apologies for the late posting today... not sure if there's been a big April Fool's joke on the internet but ours has been down all morning. So, the next installment in Textiles Week... constructed textiles and in particular the amazing work of Clare Tough...

British designer Clare Tough was a knitting superstar even before she finished her MA degree at Central Saint Martin's College of Art & Design, London, in 2004. Her reputation as a visionary in constructed textiles has only grown since then with her keenly juxtaposed combinations of oversized, extravagant shapes and streamlined, thought-provoking details in her silhouettes. Her winning combination of traditional techniques used in a modern application provide at once the comfort of the familiar and the excitement of the new. I guess this is all a very formal way of saying that she's an experimenter and a bit of an outlaw and I love that :) I wish I could post all the images I found of her concoctions - yarn mixed with silver thread, metal chains, divinely-edgy embroidery.

"For me, knitwear gets interesting when you find something unusual in it. The contrast of a soft structure and a piece of metal is unexpected, so it's fun to wear." (Clare Tough)

What I love most about her work is that her textiles are the outfits... the construction of the textile is integral to the construction of the design of the clothes. That's more than just a bit cool I think :) Find out more about this innovative textile designer at her website here.