Craft Goals for 2021 - My Make 9!

The Make 9 craft challenge has been around for a few years now, but with everything that happened last year, I had completely forgotten about it. Even when I was reminded by seeing other people's goals popping up here and there on the internet, I hesitated. It just seems strange to plan for the future these days. Finally though, last week I felt an urge to work on some craft projects again and thought, maybe I'd like to do a Make 9 anyway!

(The accompanying pictures aren't really relevant, they're just nice backgrounds from photos I found on my phone!)

I deliberately made the goals very vague. My interests tend to change rapidly and without warning, so I wanted goals that would accommodate anything I was interested in at any given time. I did take the chance and looked through my current and planned projects list to add some to the grid. I made sure to choose some smaller projects, with the awareness that I'm starting 6 weeks late. Here are my thoughts:

1. something I want - probably my next sewing project: a skirt from a blue/silver floral fabric I bought recently. Hopefully it will be more successful than my last sewing project!
2. something I need - a pair of shorts, because I need them. Not sure what fabric to use yet.
3. a gift - a secret project! Ideally I'd like to have it done by the end of March.
4. a long term project - Green Plushy Monster. It's not that long term, I guess, maybe 18 months. But he only needs some arms and maybe a fuzzy hairdo and he'll be done.
5. a small project - to finish off: Trollen Braid. Over Christmas I had a mini-obsession with making trollen braids (a new-to-me craft). I started 2 and I'd like to finish at least one.
6. for a festive time - future project: Christmas garland. I bought some supplies to make a Christmas garland a couple of years ago and haven't gotten around to putting them together yet. It can sit on the back burner until close to the end of the year.
7. spliced - Lace Gilet - an experimental work in progress at the moment. I bought two lace dresses and want to try to splice them together into a gilet (sleeveless cardigan thingy).
8. altered - pants enlargement. I bought some pants online and they were a bit small, so I'm planning a way to make them fit.
9. decorated - Tablet Weaving piece. As I talked about earlier in the year, I taught myself tablet weaving. My enthusiasm slowed down a bit on the third piece, but I'd like to finish it off and find something to use it for.

Of course, this may change at any time!

New Art and Craft Projects

After finishing off my blanket, which you can see in my last post, I was a little bored. Crocheting back and forth, back and forth for 13 months, I really wanted to do something different. Though, kind of strangely, I still wanted to make things with crochet. So I started this scumble. Scumbles are freeform crochet -- they can be any mixture of stitches, shapes and textures. This one evolved in a completely un-planned way. I started out just mucking around, sticking with a blue and green colour scheme, then decided to add some sequins and beads. Then I decided to make it round and attach it to a backing board to make it easier to hang. Some bamboo plates I found at the supermarket make perfect backings. It just needs to be filled out around the edges now. I'll probably stuff parts of it to make it more 3-D. Maybe there'll be bits hanging off it. Who knows.

I also had an urge to make another plushy monster, so here is Splodge. All they need is some stuffing, attaching the arms and adding hair to be complete. Hopefully that won't take too long.

I've been working on this paint-by-number for a while, and it's almost finished. The kitten is finished, anyway. I want to add some text, and I've ordered a stencil for that. I hope it arrives soon!

Finally, well, I've already warned you that I can't draw, but I want to improve. I had an urge to use my dip pen to try some drawing, so I did pictures of Vincent van Gogh and his brother Theo. I always get the urge to draw them in the darker part of the year. Though it's not quite Winter yet here, they're as good a subject for drawing as any. I confess: I smudged them a few times and tried to make it look like it was deliberate. Perhaps I'll practice some more before I waste any more good watercolour paper.

I've ordered some wool for making a Newt Scamander scarf, so perhaps you'll see that soon!

Make Nine Challenge 2019

On Instagram there's a challenge among crafters called Make Nine. At the beginning of the year, you pledge to create 9 items in the course of the year. I have no idea why nine in particular, except perhaps that photos of them look good displayed in a grid format. Apparently it's been running for several years, but this is the first year I've heard of it. I decided to jump on board in the hopes that it'll motivate me to be more creative.

The challenge seems to have originated in the sewing community, as most of the pledges I've seen seem to be for that craft, with a few by knitters. Being multi-craftual (if that wasn't a word, it is now!) myself, I decided to mix it up a bit. I also left many of the slots deliberately vague, as I know my own tendency to get bored easily and I'll have no idea what I want to do in a years' time!

Here's my pledge (explanations below):

1. a skirt - to ease me back into sewing after many years away.
2. pants - I’ve been dreaming about making pants from this awesome lightning bolt pattern fabric, so that will be my second sewing project.
3. top - once I’m feeling more confident, I’d like to make a top, either this fabric or something else.
4. my blanket - finish my art blanket for my exhibition coming up in May. Despite having several blankets in progress, one of which I started nearly 20 years ago, it’ll also be the first blanket I’ve ever finished.
5. knitted project - probably just finishing off something I’ve had on the needles for a while
6. enviro-helper - something good for the environment. I have no idea what yet!
7. vintage-inspired - again, no idea what yet.
8. new craft - I did a screenprinting workshop last month, so I could put that knowledge to use. Or something else with fabric.
9. photography workshop - I want to learn more about photography and developing film.

Happy crafting, whether you've joined the challenge or not!

I Want to Make a Temperature Scarf

Since the start of the year I have been following Jillian of One Pink Hippo as she makes a Temperature Blanket. I'm feeling inspired to try something similar! The weather in Melbourne is so changeable that I'm sure the result would be very interesting. A blanket is a bit too much of a commitment for me at the moment: I really can't see myself crocheting/knitting a whole row every day. It's also a financial commitment to purchase enough yarn in enough different colours. A scarf seems much more manageable. I've been doing some research to work out the details.

Jillian's hexie blanket, about 2 weeks in. Picture Source
A Temperature Scarf/Blanket/etc is a conceptual project -- different colours are assigned to temperature ranges in your local area (e.g. on a 11-15 degree day, you might knit a light blue row; on a 6-10 degree day, a dark blue row). At the end of a year, you'll have a record of the daily temperature in crafty form. The project can take any form you like, any pattern, any combination of colours. There are so many ways of going about this project that it's a bit daunting! Jillian's method of making a hexagon-shaped granny square every day is cute and wouldn't take too much work, but on the downside, there will be a lot of ends to weave in, and she has to make adjustments to plan for the fact that 365 squares won't fit neatly into a square afghan.

A straight granny stitch afghan. Picture SourceI had the idea of making 12 granny squares, one for each month, and a row for each day. That would make a nice blanket size/shape, and you could start the next month before finishing the previous one if you fall behind. However the downsides of that are: having to adjust for shorter/longer months to make the squares the same size; having increasingly long rounds to crochet by the end of each month; possibly many ends to weave in; not telling the 'temperature story' in a flowing way.

A finished blanket embroidered with the year. Picture Source
Several others that I've seen made scarves using double/circular knitting, which I've done before in making the Harry Potter scarf. I'm really drawn to this idea, as there isn't too much knitting to have to do each day, I know it makes a nice smooshy scarf, and -- the BIG upside -- there's no weaving in. You can just knot the ends and hide them on the inside of the tube. The downside is that there's a visible jog in colour changes with this type of continuous knitting, but that can be hidden a bit on the edge of the scarf.

A circular-knitted Temperature Scarf in progress. Picture SourceI also saw various other cute ideas such as: making the width the same number of stitches as the person's age; adding in a metallic thread on snowy days or important dates; making the stitches taller or narrower as the days grew longer or shorter; adding in a second narrower row between each main one to record the minimum temperature as well as the maximum.

I adore the colours in this finished scarf. Picture SourceOf course, 1st January has well passed, but I feel like it would be more appropriate to start the scarf in Autumn, rather than the middle of Summer. So I'll wait until 1st March. That will give me a month to go through my stash and purchase any colours that I need, as well as think a little more about taking on a year-long commitment like this.

My September

It's Spring here in the southern half of the world. The days are longer, the trees are waking up, and the cat spends his mornings lazing in the sun. It's taken a while for the weather to warm up -- even now there are just as many cold and rainy days as Spring-like ones. As inspiring as Spring is, I'm not one to love the Summer heat, so I'm enjoying the cooler days while I can. I've been working on lots of creative activities, though not being able to focus on any one thing on particular, so I feel like I haven't made much progress.

This coming month is Inktober, and also the next round of Creative Sprint. I know many people love Inktober and I'm looking forward to seeing their work, but I have decided to participate in Creative Sprint. Because of my dilemma above, and the ridiculously long list of WIPs I have at the moment, I have decided to focus on working on current projects of all types. I will try to post my progress on my Instagram every day, and also weekly updates here on the blog. But now, back to what I did in September...

What I've been painting ...
There are so many interesting e-courses out there, many free, that it could take me a lifetime to get through them all. I finished the Fluent Self Journalling course, and began Tara Leaver's 10 Days to Making Art You Love course. The first assignment is to do a very simple, quick landscape in any medium you like. I've been very inspired by dreams lately, so I did this dreamlike scape, like something from a primitive myth or an alien world.

What I've been visiting ...
During the month I was very busy with events. Well, one event per week is 'busy' for me, I have to admit! I went out of my anxiety comfort zone and went alone to the Bad Girls' Club exhibition, at a pub in the trendy part of town. There was so much amazing, feminist work there, and I met up with my new friend, one of the artists. I was very inspired and spent all my spare time in the next few weeks writing for my zine, designing plushies, etc.

Bad Girl Zine and bottle shrine work by @possumparcel
What I've been reading ...
I had a renewed interest in reading last month, mostly sticking to the older junior and young adult books that I found while unpacking. There's a library near my new work, and I've set myself a little challenge of reading and donating 12 books before I join. My favourite, which I remember from my childhood, was Helen Keller's Teacher, about the life of Annie Sullivan, who taught Helen Keller to communicate and was by her side most of her life.

Selections from Instagram
With clearer weather, I've had a chance to go for walks before work in the mornings. After rainy nights, the early morning sunlight has a soft, hazy feel to it, and even in the city there are some beautiful shots to be had -- especially when water is involved. It seems I've had a fascination with reflections lately.

The Native Mint plant in my garden. It smells divine, but I haven't yet been able to find out if it's edible:

3 Days of Craft :: Semi-Festive Edition

I'm happy to say that I have my craft mojo back good and proper! So much that I decided to declare another 3 Days of Craft! True, the 3 days aren't consecutive (the public holiday falling this-coming Tuesday), and I have plans to do other things as well, but I'm not letting that stop me!

Technically I didn't make this first item during 3 Days of Craft, I made it earlier in the week, but I'm sharing it anyway. It's Husband's birthday cake!

It's not actually a cake, it's the Chocolate Peanut Butter Brownies from an older issue of SBS Feast Magazine. The fudgy chocolate brownie mix is given a heavy dose of peanut butter sauce, swirled through it before baking. It's supposed to be served with more peanut butter sauce, melted chocolate and ice cream, but I just made a chocolate icing and decorated it with store-bought white fudge writing icing and mini chocolate eggs. He loved it!

Now to 3 Days of Craft proper. Unfortunately there was a bit of a hiccup on Day 1 (yesterday). I decided I wanted to make a Christmas project (possibly a pair of advent calendars), so I just quickly hopped on to Pinterest to get some ideas. I ended up spending all day on there.

Oops.

It did help me narrow down my options and be more realistic, though. To make a really nice pair of advent calendars is going to take time and money. Even the more budget ones involved supplies that I don't have. (How would I get hold of 48 matchboxes??) I think we'll just buy a couple of kiddie ones this year, and I'll start earlier with making some really nice ones next year. Having pinned pictures of hundreds of festive craft projects, I decided to start with something quite simple - a Christmas garland!

I crocheted a chain using some red acrylic yarn leftover from another project. I held it together with a strand of sparkly silver yarn that I saw when I was re-organising my projects. I hung it up in front of the lounge room window. Then, using photos from Pinterest as a reference, I cut out some circles of paper and cut them into snowflakes. I'm a bit ashamed to say, but copying designs from the internet makes prettier snowflakes than ones I've made in the past.

Then all I did was staple them onto the garland! I have only done 5 snowflakes so far, and the garland is less than half full. But I figure: it's not even December yet, so I have some time to finish it!

Then, I was inspired to start doing decoden! If you read my last post concerning the nature of decoden, you may have wondered, when is it going to actually happen? Well I declare it happened today! But it's still just baby steps so far. Here's my decoden setup:

I happened to have a cute tin from Ikea lying around, so I'm using that to keep all the supplies in. So cute! I used an old envelope to work on and squeeze the glue onto. A plate to put the gems on. As for the chopsticks, I'd read that you should have a thing called a Magic Picker to pick up the gems with, but Violet le Beaux said that a skewer or chopstick with a blob of blutac on the end works just as well. And it does! I used the other chopstick to dab glue onto the projects.

I have to say - those gems are darned tiny!!

But the 'Magic Picker' really makes it so easy! yay! I decoed my lip gloss (inspired by the photo of the decoed lip gloss tube, which I showed in my last post), a pen, and popped a couple of gems on the ends of 2 of my crochet hooks. I had a bit of glue left over, so I went rushing into my room in a tizzy to find something else to deco. I grabbed my BB Cream and glued a little bow to it. So fun!

Maybe a cheap disposable pen is a strange thing to deco? But it's only a few gems, and every time at work when I look at it, it'll remind me that I'm more than just a public servant salary-man drone. Here's a juicy close-up:

Other things I've been working on lately:
✔ As I mentioned above, I re-organised my craft projects. I put some wintery ones from the lounge back into the hobby room, and brought out some that I do want to work on so they're handier to get to. Yesterday when I was on my Pinterest bender, I also created some more specific pinboards for different crafts, so instead of spending hours trawling through stuff, I can go straight to what I'm looking for in future and hopefully spend less time on the internet. (I'd like to think that time spent wasn't all in vain!)
✔ The Rainbow Afghan. I've finished all 14 sections now, and I'm just waiting for the black edging wool to arrive from Bendigo Woollen Mills to finish it off.
✔ I've been working quite a lot on the Babbi Blanket. I'm on the 2nd-last square (out of 20), but I realised today that I don't have enough edging yarn left to finish it off (I've been using it for the Squares Blanket as well). So I had to place another order with Bendigo Woollen Mills! Oh dear! ツ
✔ I've decided on a new zombie afghan project and I have both the wool and the pattern all ready to go. BUT - I've vowed not to start it until I've finished BOTH of the above projects. I promise!

Happy crafting!

[Later]
I found a parcel on my doorstep soon after writing this post - it was my wool! So happy! I can finish off my Rainbow Afghan now!

Consider if you will : Decoden

What is Decoden? It's a craft and/or fashion that comes from Japan. The 'deco' part is short for 'decorated', and the 'den' part is short for 'denwa', meaning 'phone' in Japanese. In a nutshell, it's the Japanese version of bling. Decoden has been popular in Japan for a while, but has only been seen in other countries in the last couple of years. I can see why it's such a popular craft: youth culture in Japan is very much about self-expression and individuality, and when everyone is walking around with the same model of phone or ipod, the urge to personalise it must be irresistible!

When I first heard of decoden a year or so ago, I liked the idea of it, but thought: it's not for me. Part of me loved it and wanted to embrace it, but the realist in me knew that it wouldn't fit into my current lifestyle. As anyone who knows me knows, I'm not that into my mobile phone. Heck, I forget to take it with me half the time! Plus the model I have is a style that doesn't come with a case. And I could picture myself on a crowded tram, tired after a long day, in my conservative work outfit, whipping out something like the above. It would be just too bizarre. So I had no desire to decorate it. And quite frankly, things like this were a bit scary:

The other thing I'd seen decoden used with was nail art. From day to day, I'm lucky if I have nail polish on at all, let alone unchipped and more than just a quick swipe of a single colour. So when I saw things like this, I was gobsmacked!:

Wow! I really admire art like this, but it's just too impractical for me (or for most women, I imagine). The dress code at my work doesn't specifically cover nail art, but I'm sure that if I turned up one day in something similar to the above, I'd be pulled aside for a bit of a chat.
For a long time I was content to sit on the sidelines and consider decoden as one of the Crafts I Don't Do. I admired it from afar. But then .... a few weeks ago, I saw this:

My heart started beating faster. I suddenly realised that I could have decoden that worked for me. I could bling up things that I use every day. Things that I only use at home, if I wanted to keep it private. And it didn't have to be precious things where it had to be perfect, either. I could do a little bling or a lot, as the whim took me. I suddenly had an overwhelming urge to decoden!
To the internet I went, checking my blog reader for tips and most importantly, where to get supplies from! Mana Starre's Blog had a handy list of her top 5 decoden suppliers, which led me to Miss Sapporo on Etsy. I procrastinated for a few days, and I'm glad I did, because when I went back, there was a 20% off everything sale! See, it was meant to be. So I bought up big. Here's my haul:

Look out for decoden soon!

In other news, I've taken up a little crochet again as well. Not so much to really be worth taking photos of, but hopefully soon. I worked a little on my filet crochet horsehead design, and quite a lot on my rainbow afghan. In fact, I'm excited to say that I've started the last section! (It calls for 14 in total.) It's finally time to buy the edging yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills. I think the reason why I've suddenly latched onto this project after all this time is: it's a zombie project. You know the ones, even if you're tired after a hard day at work, you can just sit in front of the TV and churn out a couple of rows without any thought. You don't need to refer to the pattern or try to remember complicated stitches. It's just nice and easy.

In fact, I'm specifically looking for a zombie-style pattern for my next afghan project. Yes, I am.

Tiny Thriller, from Mochi Mochi Land.

What I Wore: to a Birthday Batman BBQ

It's been so long since I did a What I Wore (let alone anything, really!), in fact the last one was in December 2010. However, I wore an outfit that I liked so much on the weekend, that I was inspired to draw it. I've increasingly interested in Japanese fashion styles in the last few years, and I've been experimenting with adding an accessory here and there. Last weekend though, I finally got up the courage to try a whole ensemble.

My favourite style is Mori Kei ("Forest Look"), and this is what my outfit is based on. In a nutshell, it's what a girl wears when she's wandering around in the forest, taking pictures with a Holga camera and communing with nature. Or, if she lives in the city, she can be seen in a coffee shop writing in her journal, staring dreamily at the clouds from a street corner, or just watching the world go by.

There are many interpretations of the style, from "I'm a prairie girl about to build a barn", to "I'm an ethereal deer spirit who decided to wear every lace item I own today". Unlike many Japanese fashion styles (I'm mainly talking Lolita and Gyaru, here), there are really no rules, and you can pretty much interpret the aesthetic however you like. And guess what! Handmade items feature very heavily in the style, which sings to my need to crochet and sew little treasures to my heart's content.

Here's a description of Mori Girl attributes (both fashion and lifestyle), and the Mori tag on the rabbit hole that is Pinterest for visual reference.

I call this outfit 'Semi-Mori' because it would really need more layers and accessories for me to be entirely happy with it. In the end I had to rush out the door, so I didn't put as much effort into the finishing touches as I would have liked. But I think it isn't too bad for a first go!

I'm pretty happy with my drawing - considering I haven't drawn at all in over a year! I even had a go at drawing proper hands. I found quite a few half-finished sketches in my art journal (mainly other What I Wore pictures), which made me a little sad. But I felt so good after I finished my drawing, that I'm determined to take it up again regularly. Since I started my new job in January, I've been too tired to put any energy into creative pursuits, but it's time for that to change!

I'm excited to announce that I've almost finished Top Secret Project #2! It just needs the finishing touches and then I'm handing it in to its owner tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm going to go through all my projects, evaluate them and hopefully finish a few off. I want to clear the board in readyness for ... baby season! No, no NO ... I'm not the one having a baby, no fear there! But, to paraphrase the song, "All my friends are having babies".

Stay tuned for more crafty things!

{Ditzy Tuesday} Embroidery

I have a sudden and all-consuming obsession with Gingham Embroidery, also known as Depression Lace or Chicken Scratch. (More about it and why it's called that here.)

1. Chicken Scratch blue on white, 2. Chicken Scratch tan and brown,
3. Chicken Scratch red and white, 4. Chicken Scratch black and white (Link not available.)


It all started on Sunday afternoon, when I was at Boy's parents house and happened to glance over at their side table and see an embroidered mat. Suddenly a flood of creative juices left me in a daze, and since then the ideas have been flowing non-stop. I love it because it's retro and whimsical, but the grid gives it a base of order and stability. Co-ordinating the threads with the colour of the fabric is fun. Not to mention that you can embroider directly onto the fabric without having to transfer the pattern first, which I always find highly annoying. It's put me off embroidery in the past.

I only found a small piece of yellow gingham in my fabric stash, but it was enough to plan a small rectangular doiley. I drew up the design earlier today, and I'm looking forward to starting it when I get home from work tonight. I haven't been so obsessed about anything for a while. It feels good!

{Ditzy Tuesday} Warm Those Tootsies

Is it Tuesday again already? Wow! Last night I stepped out of the bath and the shock of the cold nearly undid all the good the hot water had done. So I think I'd like to make one of these for my bathroom floor:

Crochet, the Couch and Cups of Tea

Cat and a hot water bottle, originally uploaded by stripedtiger71.
What is the go with this extended cold??

Is is Climate Change? Have we entered a Nuclear Winter and no-one told me? Have I slipped into an alternate universe where it's always frikkin cold a la The Chronicles of Narnia? The cat hasn't started talking or anything, so that can't be it.

The cold has been making me kinda sad and grumpy, but this week I've been determined to get past it and get on with my life. I've started making a knitted scarf/necklace thingy, and I'm a bit excited about it because I got to start making it within 12 hours of having the idea instead of letting it slide away into the ether like so many of my ideas often do. I wonder if they're floating around out there somewhere, waiting to slide into someone else's head? Is that how they get into mine? Perhaps I should have a nice cup of tea.

Things I Want Right Now:
* cupcakes!
* tea from a teapot with a tea cosey on it!

Changes

A few factors have come together recently to make me think about how I do things.

Why do I go into a flap every time I sell something on my Etsy [shop closed] and then procrastinate like crazy until the Guilt Monster swallows me up and I fail my ridiculously high standards and the parcel doesn't get sent for *GASP* 4 whole days!! Why do I find that unacceptable?
Why did it take me nearly a year to get up the guts to ask for leave at work? Why do I have such trouble asking for what I want?
Why do I keep clinging on to things I don't really need or want anymore? Like the two cupboards-full of yarn that I know deep down inside that I'll never use up? They're clogging up space so much in our hobby room that I don't have room to do things I really want to do.
Why do I write notes when I send my orders saying, "I hope you like it"? They bought it for a reason, didn't they? I should be writing, "you're probably gonna like it because I think it's great!" I appreciate all those wonderful shoppers so much - thank you! I should appreciate myself a bit more, though.
Why do I use the word "should" so much?
Why do I spend so much time on the computer looking at other people's creativity and so little exploring my own? And why does the Guilt Monster yell at me about that, too?
Why do I spend so much time curled up into a big, tight Stress Ball when I'm pretty sure I know enough about myself to know how to uncurl from it?
Why do I act more like my real self at work than I do with my friends? Am I the only person in the world to be in this situation or what?
Why don't I seem to manage to drink 2 litres of water every day?
Why aren't I Naturally Slender yet??
Why does it even matter?
Why have I had Bad Romance by Lady GaGa, but sung in the voice of Olive Oyl, stuck in my head for the last week? Does my brain hate me??

What's prompted all this self-reflection and scary over-sharing? Blogs!
* A while back, I subscribed to Four Rooms blog [now closed]. The writer has made it her mission to live by the old Native American concept of Four Rooms. Our lives consist of the Physical, Mental, Emotional and Spiritual, and we should endeavour to spend some time in each of these 'rooms' each day to lead a balanced life. I realised that I've been trying to do this for some time by making sure I do some exercise every day, as well as having some quiet time and some creative time. Most days I don't quite get there! But on the days that I do, I feel much better. It's helpful to me to have concrete concepts and imagery to concentrate on, so I want to adopt the Four Rooms idea to make my life more balanced.

* I found Havi at Fluent Self recently. She's all about improving herself, overcoming fears and coaching others to do the same. I love her lighthearted style and use of silly words to make the process more fun and interesting. I could probably do with some more Iguanability (accountability) and regular Chickens (check-ins) myself!

* I also like to read Hyperbole and a Half, because Allie reminds me that you can be individualist and nonsensical and a little bit crazy and you can talk about your experiences and fears and people will still love you and it's not that scary after all.

I've made a decision. I'll tell you about it in a couple of days, when I have the details sorted out.

Now here's a pretty picture to remind us all that life is colourful and really quite good:


Colorful lanterns, originally uploaded by lelandadam.

A Trip to the Library, Part 2

The next book I borrowed was A Guide to Making Decorated Papers by Anne Chambers.

Sorry, this was the best picture of the cover I could find.
Published in 1989, it's quite an old book, but still contains much valuable information. The history in the introduction was short but interesting. Of the 9 techniques, the ones I found most inspiring were paste papers, orizomegami and suminogashi. Paste paper involves cooking up a flour and water paste and adding colouring. Then you spread a layer of paste on your target paper and mark it using various methods. Once dry, areas of light and dark shading are created. This technique was quite exciting, because it's so easy and, with almost endless variations available, you can make a paper that looks funky and modern, or baroque and intricate.


paste paper - raspbery & blue, originally uploaded by lubsy1uk.
Orizomegami involves taking rice paper or another absorbent paper, accordion-folding it, and then dipping the corners in dye. I have seen this technique before recently, but using paper towels and not acknowledging its Japanese origin. I was a bit iffy on it then, but Anne Chambers' explanation of the process and her use of a more substantial paper was a lot more interesting to me. The illustrations showed some beautiful results, reminiscent of stained-glass windows.

Suminogashi is a close cousin of the more well-known marbling technique that uses oil paints swirled on a turpentine bath. This technique however, uses writing ink and water, which is much less messy and toxic. The result is a light, delicate marbling effect with a lot less effort than you would have thought.

I will be trying all of these techniques in the near future. Another interesting section was on rubber stamping - a concept that's pretty straightforward, but Chambers demonstrated some shapes and configurations that I hadn't thought of before. Using rubber stamping in combination with the paste paper decoration seemed particularly intriguing. I'm definitely glad I borrowed this book!

In other news, I'm going away on a mini-holiday for Easter! It's fast turning into a tradition that Boy and I go somewhere with lots of food and wine at Easter. Cos that's what it's all about, right? This year, it's the Mornington Peninsula:


ashcombe-maze, originally uploaded by thealexandertoddwilliams.
There's hedge mazes, too!

A Trip to the Library, Part 1

I think I'd like to talk about some art & craft books I borrowed from the library over the last few months. Firstly, I borrowed The Complete Guide to Altered Imagery by Karen Michel.

I'd heard quite a bit about this book from other journal artists, and I have to say, I was a bit disappointed. Perhaps it was just because most of the techniques didn't fire anything up in me. Maybe it was because some of the materials are quite hard to come by. Perhaps it was because I don't like the author's style of art - which is completely a personal thing and has nothing to do with the content of the book. I put it aside for a couple of weeks, and when I picked it up again, I started to see it in a different light. I started thinking about which techniques were more 'me', and how I could apply them to my art journal.

The first section deals with altering photographs. There is some amazing stuff to be done with rubbing, scratching, colouring and bleaching original photographs. Unfortunately they're a lot harder to come by than they used to be, especially since the Polaroid camera was discontinued. All of my photos these days are taken with a digital camera and then printed out with my mini photo printer (I love it! <3 ) However, Boy has informed me that techniques involving chemically altering the image emulsion are not going to work with photos printed in this way, which was a bit disappointing. The last part of this section has some interesting examples of how to incorporate the altered photographs into a collaged and painted artwork.

The second section looks at altering images digitally using photo-editing software. It has some interesting techniques, some of which I hadn't thought of before. It doesn't go into the nitty-gritty of how to use particular programmes - there are so many out there, it would just be impossible. There's some food for thought here, though.

The third section covers altering found images (from magazines, etc) and incorporating them into artworks. I've seen all of these techniques before in collage books dating back to the 1970s, but it's nice to see them presented in a new way - and in colour!

The fourth and last section is a gallery of pieces by artists working in the altered and/or mixed media genre. Some of these got me really excited. I started to think about which particular artists, both in this book and online, I like the most. And looking at their styles got me thinking about what my style might be when it eventually emerges. I haven't come to any firm conclusions yet, but there are certain techniques and juxtapositions of elements that I seem to be using more than others. I'll do some scans soon and show you what I mean. I know I've only just scratched the surface when it comes to using different materials and techniques, and I know I'm a long way off from being able to define my style, but I feel I'm inching closer and closer.

In other news, I've been writing away furiously at my new zine - and I've started a second one! Busy busy writing time.

Have a great weekend!

Unfinished

I think I mentioned a few weeks ago that I have about 15 pages in progress in my art journal. Sometimes they lurk there for weeks or months before the inspiration to add something hits. I'm at work, or I'm lying in bed at night and ... wham!
"I know! I'll cut a decorative border on that page with the gel transfer face on it! Yeah, that'll be great!"
Other times, I'll just grab a Sharpie or deco tape and flip through the whole journal, adding a little bit to the pages where it seems 'right'. And yes, it can take what seems like forever to finish a page. But I guess that's just the way I roll.

With that in mind, I thought I'd take you on a short tour of Pages in Progress at Casa de la Apartmentcat. Also, the sun came out this morning at just the perfect time for taking art photos, so I took as much advantage of it as I could.

[Below] I hated this page when I first started it. I couldn't stand it and was baffled by what to do with it. Adding the blue paint really helped a lot, and those stamps with the dark postmark on them were such a lucky find! That paper on the right-hand side wouldn't stick down no matter what glue I used, so I got out some embroidery thread and sewed it down. That fixed it! Most recently I added some art marker doodles. I still have no idea how or when the page will be finished. It only needs a little more, but what?

[Below] These are really two separate pages. On the left is a background I made with yellow acrylic paint, nail polish and coloured liquid paper that I scored from work. They'd been storing hundreds of bottle of the stuff in the basement for the last, what, twenty years? Crazy! But good for me! On the right is a gel medium transfer of a girl with a cat. I got the image from Flickr. Recently I've discovered lots of groups offering vintage photos and other copyright-free images that can be used for all sorts of stuff. Yay! I don't really like how this transfer has turned out though. I think I printed it out using the wrong type of printer. No matter how much I rub with sandpaper, there's still a thin layer of paper over the top obscuring the image.

[Below] This is a collaged page from a fashion magazine. Yesterday I added some thinned-down acrylic that I had left over from working on the Wish Journal Workshop. I love how the paint has collected where the paper has wrinkled, especially on the model's face. I'm sure I can tease something profound from that.

[Below] When I first started this art journal, I used a couple of the pages for practising calligraphy. Later on when I wanted to do some actual art journalling on the page, I thought - why not incorporate it instead of just painting over it? So I used some acrylic paint thinned with glaze medium over it. The calligraphy ink ran and made the green paint darker than I intended, but I'm going with it. On the left is a short piece of writing. I didn't want it to get lost in the bowels of my laptop (euw, sorry for that visual) so I printed it out and glued it on a blank page. I didn't really think too much beyond that at the time! I've also added some doodles across the top and deco tape at the bottom. The purple band is my Fat marker from Smiggle. It's a wedge-shaped marker 5cms (2 inches) wide. *gurgle* Most of the work I've done in my journal so far has been with brushes and paint. I'm only just starting to branch out to using pens and other drawing tools. I'll certainly be using that marker more, methinks!

[Below] Finally! A page with a clue! On the left is a background done with Sharpies and the white gesso. Actually, for the sake of full disclosure, they're not Sharpies, they're 'Shoupies' from China. This is the 'Sharpie Ghosting' technique from Comfortable Shoes Studio. I love it! On the right is a cut-away page with pure black acrylic on it. I don't usually use dark colours in my journal, but the sharp triangular shape of the page just seemed to call for something with a dramatic contrast. And I think I know what I want to do with this page! I was originally planning to jazz it up with my new set of brightly coloured Sakura Gelly Roll gel pens, but then I found a wonderful quote which would fit here perfectly. It's quite wintry and reflective, and it requires a more sombre colour of gel pen. Lucky I have the silver Pilot Choose. Quotes? Long blocks of text? Large swathes of black? My own handwriting?? (gasp!) Not normally my style, but again, I'm really trying to branch out.

There are a whole bunch more new techniques I want to try with my art journal. But in the last few days, I've caught myself having thoughts like, "is it OK to use bought stencils in my journal? Are they artistic enough?" What a silly thing to think! Negative Nancy (aka my inner critic) can be so devious sometimes. I'll try them out, and if they don't feel right, I'll just turn the page. That's what art journalling is all about!


In knitting news, I have just under a week to finish Bec's hat. I'll have to work steadily, but I think I can do it. The weather's getting cool enough now that I'm thinking of making some kind of shawl or capelet to wear at home while I'm indulging in mammoth internet sessions. My shoulders get kinda chilly. Keywords I'm looking for are 'chunky' and 'cozy', not 'lacy' or 'delicate'. 'Poncho' isn't high on the list, either.

My Nephew!

I've been rather busy lately, and here's the reason why!

Introducing my nephew Alex.
Awwwwwwwwwww. I hate babies, but I love this kid!
I've been working hard on things for him, and done lots of work in my art journal. I'm also taking a new approach to writing. I've had ecstatic highs, and crushing lows. What is this, a cheap romance novel?

I'll show you some of this stuff when I get around to taking some photos.

Have a good week!
xx

Desperately seeking a shrug pattern!

I used to be a predictable crafter, a seasonal crafter. In the winter I would knit and crochet, in warm weather I would embroider, and in hot weather I would draw and paint. Now I'm all mixed up. It's the middle of summer and I want to crochet! Specifically, I want to make myself a shrug (or bolero, if you prefer). I never used to like them very much, but now I've realised they are my friend. I have a purchased one that I wear all the time. I can wear it to work when the weather's cool in the morning, take it off in the office when I've been moving things around, then put it back on when I've cooled down and am feeling self-conscious about my arms again. I love my shrug, but a girl needs variety, so I decided to make myself another one. I trawled through Ravelry until I had a short list of patterns. It took me quite a while. The vast majority of them were too long, too short, arms too long, no arms, front wrong shape, too lacy, too solid, too wierd, too many dangly bits, etc etc. The modular patterns with crocheted squares seemed to appeal to me the most, perhaps because I've been working on the baby blanket in modular form recently.

Still, none of them were quite right. Perhaps if I chose a stand-alone square block pattern and used the joining method in these patterns to construct a shrug? I can do that! I can use my existing shrug to work out the measurements! So then the process of choosing the right block began.

My long list consisted of about 15 blocks on Ravelry, not to mention any that might be in my 200 Knitted Blocks and 200 Crocheted Blocks books! I let things sit while I was waiting for my yarn to arrive - my first order from Bendigo Woollen Mills - yay!!! It arrived yesterday and now I want to get to work! I logged on to Ravelry today to record my new purchases in my 'stash' section, and then I decided to see what other projects had been made with the same yarn. (Ravelry is great like that!) Well, I just happened to come across this!

It's perfect! The body is made all in one piece, with the arms added by working along the armholes. So no sewing up or joining pieces. And the pattern is really pretty. There's only one drawback - it's not available for free on the Ravelry website. I can't have instant gratification, dammit! It's from Debbie Stoller's book The Happy Hooker. (Get it?) I'd borrowed it from the library some time in the distant past, so as soon as I got home, I went through my half-organised stash of photocopied patterns. But I didn't find any from The Happy Hooker in there! How strange! And how frustrating!

So I logged onto the Library website and put a reservation on it. There are 3 copies, and they're all out! How long will it be until I can have my shrug?

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All images thanks to Ravelry.