cement, clay and sunburn

Tags

cement, clay, community garden, crafting, flowers, photography, photos, plants, sculpture, workshop

This weekend I spent my time getting my hands dirty in Mudisland Community garden. But I wasn’t digging up dirt or planting spring greens, I was mixing cement and forming clay at a sculpture workshop.

It was all about getting to know the material – as our wonderful teacher Vivian told us- and I have to admit I think cement and I have stayed somewhat strangers. Unlike clay you can’t mold it, you cant make it hold it’s own weight, unless you create a mesh backing or a mold.

After the first day of spending time elbow deep in cement in the sunshine I went home somewhat disappointed in what I had created – nothing of that would last or I really liked. But yesterday I think I may have made a tile I’ll be able to use and work further with, and I think the hanging balls I made do have potential.

But somehow it wasn’t really about the outcome, it was about the work itself. Instead of sitting at my desk for hours and wearing the keys on my keyboard thin, being out in the sunshine, using my hands, was what this weekend was all about.

The only downside to the beautiful sunny weekend was that got a little bit sun burnt, not much, a patch on my leg and two bits on my arms, and of course my nose. But since bad weather seems to be on its way I will just enjoy the sun as much as I can while it lasts.

bowls

chicken wire

some mini clay men

hanging cement ghosts

in full bloom

pods

back with a snotty nose & runny eyes

Tags

boats trip, crafting, dragon, family, hayfever, holidays, painting, runny nose

My two weeks away from home were exciting and fun but I arrived back with a snotty nose and runny eyes. Somewhere on my road-trip around Denmark I got a massive attack of hay-fever that decided to manifest itself with a vicious tenacity. So now I am at home blowing my own weight of snot into tissues and trying to work with teary eyes, but this too shall pass – at least I hope it will and just in case I wandered down to the pharmacy and bought the entire aisle of “hay-fever-be gone!” But even through all the sniffles and sneezing I had a lovely time away and I even made sure that my nephew and niece don’t forget me now that I am gone again – I painted a big boat on the “lookout” in their garden and even managed a decent looking dragon on my nephews shield.

pirates beware

the skull may look a bit off but the waves turned out great

fire breathing dragon

And even though I will miss my family and enjoyed my time away I have to say I was glad to be sleeping in my own bed last night, and not having to get up at 6.30am was an added bonus!

a tote bag from tea-towels

Tags

crafting, crafts, photography, projects, sewing, sewing-machine, tote bag from tea-towels, tote bags

I’ve been wanting to teach myself to sew for a good while now and while my mother is a great seamstress and my aunt is extremely talented, I have never really sat down at a sewing-machine.

Of course there was the obligatory time in school in which I did sew (with help) an apron but I never really got the hang of it and my mum always felt quite protective of her sturdy sewer, especially since my big sister seems to have played  a little havoc with it.

Anyway I have always liked the idea of making little cushions, tote bags and even patchwork blankets but I have never owned my own sewing machine. I did pull one out of a  skip one time but it didn’t work and so i disposed of it again.

However this year IKEA had a great deal on a lovely little white one, with blue and yellow (Swedish colours) trimmings. And while I have been trying to save I splurged on my very first own sewing machine.

Not quite sure of where to start I made a wonky pincushion for my neighbor and left it at that. I needed fabric but couldn’t afford an awful lot, but I did use it for my sock zebra, too. But when trusty Penny’s (or Primark) had some lovely tea-towels on offer and I decided to try my hand at making a tote.

And I have to admit I am quite proud of the result, it even has a lining made out of a bed-sheet. Now, I know my mother would give out about my wobbly stitching on the handles, but I did find them rather tricky. And yes I haven’t quite managed a perfectly straight line everywhere but for my very first try I am delighted.

And since it’s my friends Birthday on Wednesday I will gift this very first tote to her, and hope she can overlook the little messinesses and enjoy using it anyway. 

 

 

 

sock zebra for Germany

Tags

crafting, crafts, gifts, hand made, photography, sewing, travel

Since I’ll be heading off to Germany on Tuesday I started making lists yesterday. Lists of what to pack, what to do and what to wrap. The wrapping is actually quite an important part of preparing since I’ll have one Birthday to go to and four nieces and nephews to shower with gifts.

Over the past few weeks I have been collecting bits and boobs but somehow I never really saw anything I wanted to gift my new baby niece. Not wanting to leave her out I decided to make her a little something and when I saw some lovely stripy socks my mind was made up what.

I sat down yesterday in front of my sewing machine (I am trying to teach myself) and started on a little sock zebra. Once the main bits had been tightly stitched together I stuffed and fluffed the body with filling, attached ears, sewed on eyes and et voila my toy was ready to be loved. I just hope my baby niece will like it.

 

art-icipation

Tags

architecture, art, arts, crafting, creat, creativity, literature, Pablo Picasso, Picasso, quotes, random, thoughts

Tomorrow I am going to grab my pad and pencils and brave the word of art. I am going to create, if good bad or absolutely ugly is yet to be seen. But I am still excited, an art-icipation flowing through my veins, hopefully getting those proverbial creative juices flowing.

So as I sharpen my pencils and dust off my sketch-book, I can’t help but wonder about what role art plays in our lives, not just for those who make, but for those who take as well.

Art seems to be what is left, when all else is gone, and it doesn’t matter if it’s words, images, sounds, crafts or architecture. The Colosseum in Rome or the Pyramids in Cairo, the pots left over from Pompeii or Faberge’s golden eggs, melodies composed by  Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, Brahms and Bach, sonnets and stories written by Shakespeare, Wilde and Austen, are all mementos from the past, yet they still find a home in our world of today.

I read somewhere that many see creativity as the source of meaning in our lives. This doesn’t mean that if you are not creative you have no meaning, but when we create, we experience a surge of energy, a sense of purpose, fulfillment and contentment when we achieve what we set out to do. And it doesn’t seem to matter whether it’s crafting with the family, knitting a sock or painting a masterpiece.

Art is what separates us from monkeys, the way we use language to tell a tale, how we combine colour and fabrics, how we decorate our homes, own things we love but have no purpose other than just being beautiful. We value  the result of an individuals creativity, a four-year-olds painting holding pride of place on the fridge, a crooked vase holding a bouquet of flowers reminding of a ten-year-olds attempt at pottery, photographs decorating our homes taken for their beauty or the memories they hold, music a constant friend (or foe) to our ears, films and plays while away our hours,  gallerys, museums, monuments are places we visit, talk about and remember.

We may not always realise it, but we are surrounded by art, in one form of the other, our world filled with the results of creative thought. And it is what makes the trudge of every day life bearable, cushioning us from reality and showing us the true beauty of living. As the master Pablo Picasso said so well:

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life of our souls

magnetic letters

Tags

crafting, crafts, fun, magnets, miscellaneous, photos, random

A few years ago I went on a trip to Helsinki and in one of the many museums and galleries I visited I bought a set of magnets from a lovely crafter. She had taken old keyboards apart and stuck magnets on to the back of the letters. She had a whole selection of words and key combinations and I selected  the word “dream”.

Ever since then that one little word has been reminding me to dare to dream but it has also made me want to make my own “letter magnets”. So when a little while ago my keyboard broke I finally had the letters to work with , sadly it took me quite a while to source the magnets. Who knew that there seems to be some sort of shipping ban of magnets on Amazon.

On Thursday I stumbled upon a whole bag full in a little crafting store and I couldn’t contain my excitement. And yesterday I finally had a little bit of time to create. Now all I need to do is figure out how many words I can make out of one set of letters … after all I think letter magnets could be great gifts. If any of you have any ideas let me know

a pile of letters

self sticking magnets

clear out the back of the letters, mine had bits of glue and plastic stuck to them

stick a magnet on to the back

voila … magnetic letters