In the shop

Pixel crochet cushion is now in the shop :)

Inspiration: Sera Waters

I'm finding a lot of inspirational embroidery lately and have found myself sneaking 
off to indulge in some stitchery when I should be doing other things. 

Adelaide-based Sera Waters is my latest inspiration for her meticulous use of 
embroidery and blackwork, but also the quirky 'edge' to her subject matter too.


The 6 pieces below from Waters' "Butchering Series" are amazing examples
of blackwork, where a honeycomb-like patterning of stitches is used to create the 
impression of shading and depth.

Butchering: Rib Eye Roast, 2009

Butchering: Tender Loins, 2009

Butchering: Loin, 2009

Butchering: Boneless Pot Roast, 2009

Butchering: Hack, 2009

Butchering: Knives, 2009

This is only the exhibited work from 2009. Waters has an amazing body of 

work which you can see on her website... so many thoughtful and intriguing pieces.

She currently lectures in art history and theory at Adelaide Central School of Art 

and at Adelaide University. I feel very envious of those lucky students, don't you? :)

:)

Making me smile today... a little scene I snapped in my home. 


The Mr has recently become obsessed with playing the banjo
and I'm surprised at how much I love it.


These flowers are from a vine - I have no idea what they're called.

They're actually the neighbour's and I pinched them from our 
shared fence for a dinner party on Friday night.


What's making you smile today?

Our Creative Spaces - Pixel in Progress

I'm supposed to be working on my 'month of finishing', but I've strayed... 
I kept thinking about this wonderful inspiration and found myself 
crocheting a million little squares... 








Strike while the iron is hot, as they say... 
and welcome to pixel crochet cushion :)


Find more Creative Spaces here.

Weekend Adventures

We've just returned from a mini-break at the mountains again. I should confess that

I usually spend this time by the fire crocheting, but they talked me into going on a

walk this time. It was supposed to be a 'short' walk, but that was just to get me out I think ;)

This view was my reward...

Oh, and this one too. They decided the occasion merited a special walk along what

looked like a goat track to me... a track to the very top edge of the waterfall...

This is standing at the edge looking down...

They thought it was hilarious... I loved the look on their faces :)

Then I found another reason to smile... I saw some 'scribblies'.

Have you ever seen these mysterious markings in a tree trunk before?

I've always been fascinated by them.

They reminded me of one of my favourite books as a child, "Nin and the 

Scribblies" by Nancy Cato. I don't think it's in print anymore but here are 

some pages I've scanned...

Nin discovers some scribbles on the trees while visiting her grandma

and discovers they are made by little creatures who live in the tree and 

becomes friends with them.

I know it's silly but it takes me right back to childhood and writing on 

trees to see if the 'creatures' will talk to me ;)

Does anyone else remember this book?

Hope you've had a great weekend too :)

Crochet Love

                             

A happy mix of crochet love today... 

These fabulous wheel covers really made me smile when 

I saw them at Lynn's.

They reminded me of this fabulous piece of artistry when Kate 

yarn bombed the spare tyre on their caravan...

Then I found this yarn bombed car... 

and I found myself imagining Kate's caravan covered in yarn :)

I'm not doing my creative space today... I don't really have anything to show just yet as I'm 

embracing Alisa's idea of having an MOF (month of finishing). There are a couple of projects on 

the roll here that have been far too long in the finishing. When I do eventually post on them, 

no doubt you'll be stretching your memory for when you saw them last ;)

Anyway, on with my jobs. Hope you're having a great day.

Inspiration: Sashiko Fabric

Maybe it's because the weather is getting warmer, 

but I'm thinking about fabric a lot lately.

This is an inspiring find... Sashiko Washaway Fabric 

by Kokka Fabrics.

It's printed with an ink that washes off in the laundry. So, you 

can go wild with your creative ideas along any of the guide 

lines and then wash them all away, leaving only your 

embroidered or appliqued or painted design.

Pretty cool, huh? :)

I found it here.

Inspiration: Humlegården Apartment

I found these images the day I finished my new design for the triangle cushions. 

It was such a Wow! Snap! moment. It's given me fresh inspiration to do more...

and this green is definitely calling my name ;)

So where is this amazing place? It's the Humlegården Apartment, developed

by Tham & Videgård Arkitekter in a traditional Art Nouveau apartment in Stockholm.

The oversized multicoloured parquet floors and walls are so visually striking, 

it makes me happy just looking at it :)

As much as I love it I have to admit that I find some of the rooms a tad overbearing. 

Perhaps these are the architect's show photos and there are real people living 

there now with real things...?

... and perhaps a few books on those shelves ;)

It's an exciting idea, though, don't you think?

I found this on a very inspirational blog, Plenty of Colour 

via another fabulous blog, elisabeth andrée.

Our Creative Spaces - Another Cushion

My Creative Space this week is another finished cushion.

This one is a commission for a boy's room. Hope he likes it.

You can find more creative spaces here.

Thanks Rebecca for mentioning my cushions! :)

New in the Shop

Two new cushions in the shop. 

There's the Red/Pink triangles all finished which I mentioned before...

... and the new design composed on paper as described before.

I'm not entirely sure that it works actually... but it is nice for a change.

It's taken double the time to crochet and put together 

though - all those tiny triangles!

And this is the custom-made 3 Sheets cushion insert...

with '3' branding.

Big thanks to Elisabeth and Carmel for mentioning my cushions :)

For my cushions I use Biggan Design DK Merino and 

Jo Sharp Alpaca Silk Georgette yarns.

All the wools I use are from Tangled Yarns in Brisbane. 

They have a great online shop and they taught me how to crochet too.

1000 Poems

There's a lot going on around here at the moment and my mind has been spinning with ideas as well... I've had this post on file for a while now, but lately, I've found I keep having a peek at the photos. They are so calming. This is like a fairytale garden to me :) 

1000 Poems by Mail is an installation by Luzinterruptus, guerilla lighting artists extraordinaire. They filled one thousand envelopes with poems written by 17 poets and hung them from the leaves of the garden at the Madrid Poetry Festival venue last year.

On the last night of the festival, one hundred visitors were offered the chance to have a poem sent to their loved one with the light inside.

One of the things I really love about this installation is its aim to highlight days past when special words were sent by post.  

I have a computer-phobic friend in London with whom I correspond. We put together tomes of clippings and photos and pages and pages of news in our letters. We also take care to comment of every single inclusion in our replies... it's quite a task and takes forever. 

I only manage to send 3 or 4 letters a year but I love doing it :) Do you get many letters these days? Do you write letters?

p.s. 

In case you don't already know, the

 Queensland Poetry Festival is on 26 - 28 August.

via 

Our Creative Spaces - Repeat Patterns

I've been trying to be more pattern-organised in my creative space this week...

and this is what I've come up with.

My process with composing the crocheted triangle cushions is so erratic, 

so haphazard... I'll crochet up the triangles I think I'd like and then only 

once I see them next to each other do I realise whether they'll 'work' or not.

Consequently, I have a lot of spare triangles in the 'didn't work' pile.

So, I've gone back to this wonderful book and have been 

playing with pattern making.

It's been a fabulous help with figuring out more complex forms.

My own triangle grid has helped me compose colour combinations on the 

computer so I can get a better idea of whether they'll work...

... and I can calculate how many triangles I'll need ahead of time 

so there's less time wastage.

This is all probably sounding incredibly anal, but it helps me feel more 

productive and less like a meandering ninny ;)

More creative spaces can be found right here.