Progress!

It seems to have taken me forever to get to the point where I had a few finished pieces that I was actually happy to put online for sale, and even then I wouldn't say I was particularly confident with them. What I've learnt though is that it is so true that you learn by doing more than anything else. I realised quickly that whatever I had planned in my mind about how things would work out with new projects, art, life, work etc were always going to be different from the practical application of any ideas I had in those areas. I think though that just getting over the initial anxiety and actually just making a start is sometimes the biggest hurdle. So today I have just listed two of my prints on Etsy for the first time. It might not seem like a big deal but in my head it was a mountain to climb. Anybody who makes art or creates things in some form or another is acquainted to some degree with that feeling of 'putting' yourself out there. Sometimes though, you just have to bite the bullet and do it!

I'm quite pleased with this particular piece. I did a pencil sketch then traced over it in graphics pen. I then scanned that into Photoshop where I added colour. I've found that I very much enjoy creating drawings with an eclectic mix of motifs, patterns and images, all inspired by my interests in nature, femininity, line and colour. This one uses motifs inspired by vintage chinese fabric patterns and I think it does have a slightly oriental feel. 

This was a fun project. It was just a doodle that turned into something I thought I could actually use. I did the original line drawing in ink then scanned it into Photoshop where I added colour and used some of my watercolour washes for backgrounds. I enjoyed it and I think it makes for a decorative print. I'm selling prints of it currently in my Etsy shop.

Mixing Mediums I Enjoy

This was a quick sketch I did last year that I then scanned into the computer and worked on in Photoshop. I had the idea to make little coloured pencil drawings based on pretty origami paper models that I liked onto paper from a shop bought maths notebook and then cut them out. I then scanned in some vintage fabric and pink lace. I liked the contrast of delicate textures and colours. I'll try and refine the sketch a bit more. This is was just a personal project to try a few things out but I like it.

A Change of Direction

    Finding a Focus

It's been quite some while since I last posted on here but you could definitely say I've been through some major life changes over this last year and a half. One of which has been to decide where to take my creativity and focus my skills and interests. At the moment I seem to have arrived at the point where I really want to be producing art work based on the subjects that I love and homing in on that as a career move while having other interests as side lines that I go to for fun and enjoyment.

This piece was done as a detailed freehand pencil sketch which I then traced over using a variety of  different width graphics pens. This was the scanned into Photoshop for some reworking and tidying up. I wasn't sure whether I should go with a stronger colour palette but settled on a very subtle simple touch of colour to emphasise the colour work and harmonise with the femininity of the pice. This is really my first finished worked up piece. I learnt  a lot from the process about my personal working style and what I need to improve on next time.

Little Birdie Brooch

I 'drew' this little bird on felt with my sewing machine, then had it for ages before deciding to make a little brooch with it. I sewed it on to  another piece of yellow felt, then hand embellished it with some pretty bugle beads. I backed it with another layer of yellow felt and sewed the two together with blanket stitch and put some stuffing in to add dimension before finishing. Lastly I sewed a brooch pin on the back. I wasn't sure about it at first but now I think I really like it.

Drawing with thread

A little soft sculpture also for my brothers birthday, it's meant to be a kind of characature of him. I did however realise afterwards that I'd neglected to put on his poor ears, oh well!

I've been practising my drawing with the sewing machine, I have in mind some ideas for combining my love of textiles and art to make some interesting illustrations. This was just from a random photo in a magazine I had to hand.

Enjoying Textiles

Over the last couple of weeks I've really gotten into working with textiles again. That is my current passion. I'm exploring things to do with embroidery, on the sewing machine, and by hand. I really do love working with pretty feminine things. I get slightly ridiculously excited when I look at my collection of ribbons, beads, buttons and vintage fabrics. The combination of beautiful colours, patterns and textures inspires me to want to create something beautiful, fun, cute, feminine, delightful etc etc.
So I made these little badges/brooches by doing some small freehand sewing on felt, I then added a backing of wadding and another layer of felt and then added details so you got a slightly quilted effect. I always back my fabrics with interfacing so that it's a bit thicker for the embroidery, especially machine embroidery which can really pucker the fabric without it:

I made this quick fun card for my brothers birthday. I did the same thing, I used felt with interfacing underneath. I don't always bother to iron the interfacing on, I just pin it in place, it just saves a bit of time and still does the job of making the fabric more stable to work on:

This is a little purse I made, which isn't brilliantly finished and needs a good iron, is a mixture of freehand machine embroidery and hand embellishing. I used pieces of several different vintage fabrics and layered them on the base fabric, machine embroidering them on and then hand stitching details and adding items such as beads and bows etc to create a rich feminine surface of colour and pattern and texture:

Rainbow Cake

It's my sons birthday party tomorrow and I just haven't had time to make a large fancy cake but my sister did point out a link a few months ago to a tutorial on how to make a rainbow cake! That is, a cake that is multi coloured on the inside when you cut it open. So I've decide to give it a go, since I figure if I was a kid and I had a slice of rainbow cake I'd be pretty happy, even if the outside wasn't something big and fancy!

This is a basic sponge cake mix divided up into six bowls and coloured with paste food colouring.

This is the cake tin with all the different cake mixes poured in, one on top of the other. Sorry for the poor photo, it wasn't done in very good light.

This is the finished result, although as you can see it's been half eaten. I think the kids were pretty happy with it, they were certainly surprised when I cut it open and they saw all that glorious technicolor inside.