Thinking inside the square...

A garden cane grid.
An interwoven mess.
Crocheted rings and loops.
Enclosing straws, ribbon & threads.
Weaving.

Embossing & beyond!!!

On Saturday I attended an EG workshop with Suzanne Shaw, who is a member of the Scottish Embroidery Tutors. It was a fun day getting to grips with the delights of heat guns & soldering irons! Firstly I painted bondaweb was ironed on to organza. This was then covered with heat resistant glitter, mica flakes and accent beads. Another layer of organza was layered on top and ironed over. A light brushing of metallic acrylic paint was painted on the surface. Although it seems quite delicate, it is actually quite strong.
Next a piece of velvet had some garden fleece ironed on to it (apparently nappy liners will also work). This was then painted with acrylic paints, and a pyrography tool was used to create the triangle pattern in the surface.
Other samples were made with Tyvek, plastic bags & fusible film, kunin felt, wadding, metallic tape, plastic ribbons and a glue gun.
Possibly my favourite sample is this:
Looks to me like a dinosaurs skin. What to know how it is made? If you turn it over the secret is revealed.
Ironed crisp foil covered in acrylic paint!

Dreamcatcher weavings

Using three chopsticks to create a triangle, I explored weaving, winding & interlacing. I purposely used bright colours, and like how this contrasts with the shadows.
I realised that I had yet to post a picture of the front of my third tapestry sample. This sample uses wire, mohair, ribbon, string, plastic bags, sock yarn, embroidery threads and many other weft materials found around the flat.
Notice how the warp is revealed when using wire as the weft.
Fancy knitting yarns and mohair threads create interesting textures on the surface!

Yarn bombing isms...

Due to an IT hiccup, brain ache and a couple of photos sneaking into the wrong folder, I'd completely forgotten all about this yarn bombing I seen last September in Davie Village Community Gardens, Vancouver.
This yarn bombing had obviously survived the elements! This lovely knitted wall is apparently the work of Jessica Glesby. Yesterday whilst wasting my time (I mean being 'creative') on Craftster, I saw a new addition to this very garden from WooWork. Raining cats and dogs quite literally!
In between all this internet browsing I have finished reading one of my Christmas books ...isms: Understanding Art. As someone with aspirations to next study art history, this is a fantastic book. This book does not pretend to be ultimate art history resource. Each movement is given a 2 page spread with a definition, key words, artists and key pieces associated to each isms. A great book to go back to time and time again. I'll admit there were quite a few isms that I wasn't aware of!

Twist & Shout

Rope goes back to prehistoric times, though they probably didn't make them quite as vibrant as these.

I've also made a selection of braids, chevron, round & flat.  Reminiscent of childhood 'friendship' bracelets.