Spring..........

.........it's a bit chilly but glory be, the clocks have gone forward so " hurrah" says my body clock. Is there anywhere in the world I could live on British Summertime all year?   This is the optimistic photo I have on my desktop.

The stitching on my trees is finished and I just have to mount it. So another achievement for my 1 Year of Stitches.

We visited the embroidery exhibtion at Ramster, only held every two years this is a treat to see work of a high standard. My favourite piece was this cushion by Lucy Poland, unfortunately she doesn't seem to have a online presence so I can't post  link. Glorious colour combination.

The rest of the week has been spent finishing a junk journal, although every time I pick it up I see another spot where it could be embellished.

It was fun and a bit addictive.

One other little thing I did this week is aquire the pattern for Janie Crow's Mystical Lanterns crochet   blanket.  

 Now I need another blanker like ......but I have admired this pattern for some time now and over the summer hopefully I  can give it a go.  Now I just have to decide on colours.

Something to play with.......

.... I have a lot of toys and some I haven't played with for a while.  With last weeks Sunday papers there  was a supplement which had great fashion pictures on a rather nice paper and I suddenly wondered if Citra-solve would work. Haven't even thought about it since this post  in 2011. To my delight it worked

Then I wondered what would happen if I put it through a stencil?

That worked too.  I thought they would make good backgrounds so I scanned them in and then I played a bit more. I combined them digitally in  Paintshop Pro..

this one used one of Seth Apter's stencils.

Here are the stencil masks I used. Please feel free to use.

Now I want to incorporate them into some kind of book pages. We'll see.

Week 11 in 1 Year of Stitches and my little clump of trees looks like this.

I have prepared things for the exhibition, a bit of a chore,  I love making, not too keen on finishing off.

Some time ago I made these art prompts

Wanting to play with paint I drew out three, funnily enough they turned out to be March,Rain and Peeling Paint

Here it is tidied.  The tree is made from a technique I learned from the late Renate Keeping, on memorable visit to ~The Keeping Gallery.

 

This has gone in my "Because I Felt Like It" book..

Variety is the spice........

.... so they say, so this week has been quite spicy. Visit to the Library, followed by a visit to the electrician to repair my beloved Dyson handheld which I had wounded by putting in the cleaned filter before it was completely dry. I thought it was dry but it wasn't. Expensive mistake.

Realisation that our long awaited exhibition is now coming up SOON, sent me into a bit of a panic for I have framed my pieces but am still working on the piece which I am submitting as part of the 1 Year of Stitches challenge. I think there will be leaves on the trees before I am finished.

I need to frame this too so when they said it was going to be a very mild day yesterday I put myself on a train and went up to London for the first time this year.  Bliss.  I met my daughter for a quick coffee and then had a lovely wander. Bought my frame in Muji and just took my well trodden route around Seven Dials and Covent Garden, didn't have time to do more but I was very envious of the people who were wandering along the south Embankment of the river as I left.
But I took pictures, another first this year.
Covent Garden was very boisterous with Lincoln football supporters hoping for glory.Alas their hopes were dashed but I am sure they enjoyed the anticipation at least.  Be proud Lincoln first non league side to reach quarter finals since 1914.

There was a mixture of winter and summer treats on offer.

there was more colour with these flowers.

There were four decorated benches which were delighting tourists being photographed on them.

A more subdued arrangement was also being used as a back drop.

The market halls are undergoing some restoration and one end is clad in what looks like tin giving marvellous reflections, so I decided to have my own souvenir photo.

This fine fellow must have seen missing the tourists who usually surround him as he is rather hidden at the moment.

From the train on the way home, the London skyline is ever changing the building in the middle of these three was only the lift core the  last time I went up.

and I love this mix of old and new,

I said I was enjoying the Great Pottery Throwdown so I fell in love with these  teapots which were on Seth Apter's Sunday Papers last week.  The artist's name is Andrew Massey.   My son has a big birthday this year and I would love to get him a piece but I think shipping may be an issue.

hoping to see The Viceroy's House this week, I was introduced to Lord Mountbatten many years ago, he was totally charming.

 

Time is agin me......

....Week 9 of this year already and not many of those plans I have been planning have been acheived yet.
The trees are slowly beginning to emege.

On the sewing front this week it was Mayland Textile Group.  We are getting ready for our exhibition next month and yesterday I dashed to Otford to catch the frame man who comes on the first Saturday of the month.  Piles of mounts and frames to choose from and of course, they will custom frame if you wish. I hope I have chosen wisely, trouble is you never know if it is right until you hang it.
My little world is also being framed. I took it to Craft Frames in Dartford because they are expert at mounting and framing embroidery and my piece, having evolved the way it did , was not exactly a standard fit.

I have been following Carolyn Saxby's beautiful blog and was wondering where she was taking the Surface Treatment Workshop that she references,  Doh! I realised it is a book I have had for some time and she is working through each tutorial.

 

 I started a similar exercise back in 2014 with another book Mixed Media Master Class 

Two of my favourite pages, 

wax crayon resist through Seth Apter stencil

 grunge paste and rubber stamps.

I also found FIVE unfinished art journals

Favourite TV this week has been the Sky Arts Portait Artist of the Year competition.  My goodness those people are amazing and my absolute favourite at the moment The Great Pottery Throw Down

Both of these knockout competions with interesting contestants  and without soul destroying judges. Now please BBC can we have the Great British Sewing Bee back?

I complained. Bluewater shopping centre  has several shops where the in-store music is so loud it spill out into the aisles.  Now Bluewater management  "in response to guest feedback" has started playing music in the aisles as well.  .I know I am not the only one to complain and their solution and standard reply to this is"the volume of music will slowly increase from the low level 1 before opening time, level 2 at opening time and the level 3 at our busy times".  Why would you need lound music when it is busy and there is so much noise from the "guests". Why would you need music at all.
 Hurrah for John Lewis, M&S, WH Smith ,Lakeland who do not play music.  I am not a guest, I have been shopping at Bluewater since it opened and I have never been given jelly or cake.