Another week of faces

I have not gotten much done EXCEPT faces this week for a few reasons, firstly a sick DH, who thinks anything that goes wrong is the end of the world (sigh). and secondly our first hot spell this year, though why it has waited until half way through Feb is a mystery to me.
so, beyond a bit more embroidery this morning

I am actually quite surprised at how much I got done!
So, without further ado, faces 11 to 18 (I am actually a day ahead!).  The first seven are exercises from Pam Carriker's new book

this last one is awful and looks like a nasty little pixie!  They are exercises on faces at different angles and it is clear to me I need lots more work.  I also did a little more work on expressions, but it is not fit for consumption.  I am amazed at how difficult angles and expressions are, but of course a likeness is infinitely harder and I know, because my last face this week is my own and, frankly, parts of it look like me, but not the whole. 

I suppose more practice is in order, but I suppose that is why I am doing the challenge in the first place!  To Practice!

Embroidery

I have been doing a little embroidery.  Hand embroidery.  At the moment, I seem to be obsessed with samplers!

One day when I couldn't get moving, I threaded all the embroidery threads in my box and added them to a piece of felt.  It really helps keep you going!
I am doing one with Sue Spargo on Craftsy, which I have showed before.  I am also doing two with rebecca ringquist on creativebug.  I am only just

starting on these.  The stitch combination up the top, I enjoyed, however the red and blue stitches are supposed to be tete de boef or the head of the bull.  Rebecca taught it differently to how I know it.  She used three sepearate stitches, on the right.   I was taught to do it as a fly stitch with a chain tail, at top left.  I also tried reversing the fly stitch and adding the chain below that.  The variations are interesting, and who's to say which is right.  Stitch names are not really that important to me so long as I don't get confused.
The third sampler, is a set of samplers from Christen Brown's book Embroidered and Embellished.  At present I am working on the first one with simple stitches.

I am also doing some crochet for charity for our local CWA (country Women's Association)  branch of which I am secretary.  We have decided that we will start the year with a drive to make hats scarves and blankets for the homeless as winter will be along soon.  This is something I have been wanting to do for so long.

I have been doing a little journaling.  This is this week's page for daily journaling.
Also The Tangled Textiles Group I belonged to has come to an end at challenge 15.  On the page, there is a grid for each of the challengers showing their work.
I thought I might show my grid here for you.

So, a quiet week for me.

Happy Creating!

Another week!

Another week and this week I feel I have done a bit more and been more productive, Even with some saddening family news this week.  I am glad I have been keeping busy, because I think it does help when life happens - having things to do.  Stops you reveling in your own sadness.
But anyhow,  Let's look at what I have gotten done this week.

This is my first bit of embroidery on my Sue Spargo sampler with craftsy.  It has taken me a while to get started, but hopefully I will get some done on Tuesdays at Quilt group which begins again this week.

This is a Thread painted moth I finished during the week.  Not sure what I am going to do with it yet, perhaps it will become a fabric page.

I finished unpicking this piece of printing on chiffon, which had some free motion I didn't like

Another of the fabric and paper collages I am making for Fabric books.

Getting along with my crochet!

Some thread lace leaves.

A teeny tiny embellishment - again for fabric pages.

A page in my doodle book I am working on.  The red leaves are a deli paper page that has been cut - over the top of the green and purple page.

This is a page from week two of Lisa Congdon's Sketchbook Explorations on creativebug.

If you have known me for a while, you might recognise this pile of fabric pages ready to embellish.  I have used my collage background challenges from last year.

And here is one of the pages, with a free motion sketch which has been painted.  Quite happy with this page, but still needs a little more work.

Another fabric page in process.

And finally another fabric page, a two page spread ready to free motion stitch.  It might seem that I am a bit obsessed with fabric books at present and I probably am.  I have been interested for a few years and never yet completed one!  So this year is the year.
My pinterest page has lots of inspiration if you want to look, but the main artists who are inspiring me are Frances Pickering, Ro Bruhn, Jill Taylor, and Annette Bolton and of course Cas Holmes. As usual quite a few UK artist in that group!

Happy Creating!

Playing Around

Well it was last year last time I posted and it's now this year!
I am still keeping busy, even though the weather has heated up quite a bit.  It is now true january weather!
First, Stitching
I have been working on a Sue Spargo sampler for the craftsy class I bought ages ago!

Here is my base for the sampler.  The one on the left is just pinned and the one on the right has been stitched down.  My hubby couldn't tell the difference and remarked on how little I has got done.  Men!
Of course, as I always do, I got distracted by something.

This is the beginning of a pincushion by Sue spargo I saw on Quilting arts TV  episode 1501 (don't go looking for the pattern as it is not there yet - I made it up myself)

And here is where I am with it.  At least this is a related project!

This is an old piece of work, that I am currently beading the edge of.  See on the right.  Madness, I know, but it is easy, mind numbing work.
I have done a bit of journaling, as well

This was my first page for the year.  Just playing with  inkblots.

This is my second page for the year, based on Jane davenport's Art Lesson 1 from last year on inktense blocks and pencils.  I finished the dragonfly with a silver gel pen

And here is today's page, which is based on Yesterday's lesson from creative jumpstart by Jimmy Leslie.

And it all came from a bit of napkin I had collaged down!

I have a word for this year, although I will leave it to you as the year goes by to decide what it means!

EMERGE

Happy creating!

Not really doing nothing!

As I said, I have actually been really quite busy,  A trip  to Queensland that made me ill again! (although I quite enjoyed the wedding, I suffered from extreme nausea most of the time I was away and for a while when I came home!)  Then I visited my Mother at the seaside for a few days.  Our Quilt Group had a market day, for which I made a few things and forgot to photograph, sorry.
But now Christmas is over and I have settled back into work.
I am having an exhibition locally in June and have started getting my work all mounted and framed.
Here are a few I finished mounting this week.

Some of these are from a while ago, and some are quite recent.  Obviously, this is my main objective for the next few months, as well as actually finding somewhere to store them!

I have been doing quite a lot of crochet over the last few weeks.

This is the beginning of "Eolande Shawlette" from the Summer 2014 edition of Interweave Crochet. I think this one will take quite a while to finish.

This is a large part of the Rivulene Shawl from The new tunisian by Dora Ohrenstein.  I am really looking forward to finishing this one and am enjoying doing it!

This is the multi motif scarf, which is a red heart pattern I heard about in a video - Crochet Me Workshop: Crochet Corner, Basics and Beyond with Kristin Omdahl.  This is one of those just for fun type patterns that is just nice to do.

I have also been doing some hand work.

These are two sides of a scissor fob I made using a pattern by Mary Corbet on the Craftsy Blog.  I am really finding embroidery very enjoyable at the moment. especially circles.  You might remember these shisha circles I started before christmas.

I have also been working on a free motion embroidered layered piece.

I am really liking how this looks. I have not added a picture for T for Tuesday , but as you might have guessed everything is my cup of tea today!  Go over and visit over at Elizabeth's page, where she is having a 2014 retrospective.