My last sketch before hurting my elbow was of a beach. I had realised that my new sketchbook had no colour in it, so when thinking of what to add, I thought of the seaside. Using watercolours and pastels, I sketched a beach from a magazine. At the weekend I actually got to go to the beach. Admittedly it was rather bracing, as an English seaside resort generally is in December, but I wasn't there for sunbathing. Minehead Butlins played host to Bowlie 2. Twee indie pop stars Belle and Sebastian curated the event. And my reading for the journey, Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Inspiration for the forthcoming Centenary of International Women's Day events. Back home to chilly Glasgow now.
Ages ago I attended a Kantha class, my samples of printed fabric lay untouched in a box. Until I realised that the elephant would be a great thank you card for my friends. So I started stitching. I had a great idea to outline the elephant in a golden thread. This thread split, hurt my fingers and generally was a pain in the arse! Remind me to never sew anything in gold again! Still feeling in a creative mood (but with sore fingers!) I decided to attempt free motion embroidery. Inspired by my current reading The encyclopedia of Machine Embroidery by Val Holmes. I had been putting this off, as I knew if meant getting out my sewing machine manual! Surprisingly it was super easy to switch my machine to free motion embroidery, all I had to do was take off the foot & put a cover plate on the feed dog. I used felt, so that I didn't have to use an embroidery hoop to stretch the fabric. Firstly an ode to this blog... The blue at the start of 'gets' is the bobbin thread coming through - shhhh! Then getting excited by learning to write with the sewing machine, I decided to write the title of this song by Billie Jo Spears.
I like the spidery stitching! Great fun to do, just mind your fingers on the exposed needle!
Flicking through shiny glossy pages is fun. The new Cath Kidston pocket guide came in the post. Who wouldn't want a big pile of fabrics like this to admire? Or cake tins? Preferably full of cakes! I couldn't resist the 21st anniversary issue of Elle Decoration. Some beautiful bird patterns, to adorn your house. And Simply Knitting, what about this jumper? Gorgeous! Who wouldn't want to wear a reindeer on your chest! When not collecting magazines to file on the living room floor, last night was the first birthday of Trongate 103. I love the Eduardo Paolozzi work inspired by Alan Turing. Turing is of course, the mathematical genius who was part of the Enigma code breaking team at Bletchley Park. And Bletchley just happens to be my home town. My favourite gallery at Trongate 103 is Project Ability, maybe that is my day job coming through! The current exhibition is from Robert Reddick, with the walls of the gallery were covered with his many sketches. The drawings depicted Glasgow life, books, animals & memories. Oh, and as a special treat, Sons and Daughters played live!
Friday was my birthday! I was definitely spoilt with fantastic presents, delectable food & a day trip to the east coast. Off we went to Dundee, as the DCA currently has a Chicks on Speed exhibition. CoS if you are not familiar with them are an art/fashion/electroclash/feminist/DiY group! They don't play guitars... they play wireless high heeled electric shoe guitars, which are on display, along with videos, banners & cigar box synthesisers. Also on display is an amazing theremin tapestry! Woven by the Victorian Tapestry workshop, this giant eye contains metal threads allowing it to be used as an instrument. It is quite something!
At the weekend I actually got to go to the beach. Admittedly it was rather bracing, as an English seaside resort generally is in December, but I wasn't there for sunbathing. Minehead Butlins played host to Bowlie 2. Twee indie pop stars Belle and Sebastian curated the event.
And my reading for the journey, Women Who Run With The Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes. Inspiration for the forthcoming Centenary of International Women's Day events. Back home to chilly Glasgow now.
I had a great idea to outline the elephant in a golden thread. This thread split, hurt my fingers and generally was a pain in the arse! Remind me to never sew anything in gold again!
Still feeling in a creative mood (but with sore fingers!) I decided to attempt free motion embroidery. Inspired by my current reading The encyclopedia of Machine Embroidery by Val Holmes. I had been putting this off, as I knew if meant getting out my sewing machine manual! Surprisingly it was super easy to switch my machine to free motion embroidery, all I had to do was take off the foot & put a cover plate on the feed dog. I used felt, so that I didn't have to use an embroidery hoop to stretch the fabric. Firstly an ode to this blog... 
The blue at the start of 'gets' is the bobbin thread coming through - shhhh! Then getting excited by learning to write with the sewing machine, I decided to write the title of this song by Billie Jo Spears.
Or cake tins? Preferably full of cakes!
I couldn't resist the 21st anniversary issue of Elle Decoration. 
Some beautiful bird patterns, to adorn your house.
And Simply Knitting, what about this jumper? Gorgeous! Who wouldn't want to wear a reindeer on your chest! 
When not collecting magazines to file on the living room floor, last night was the first birthday of Trongate 103. I love the Eduardo Paolozzi work inspired by Alan Turing. 
Turing is of course, the mathematical genius who was part of the Enigma code breaking team at Bletchley Park. And Bletchley just happens to be my home town. My favourite gallery at Trongate 103 is Project Ability, maybe that is my day job coming through! The current exhibition is from Robert Reddick, with the walls of the gallery were covered with his many sketches. The drawings depicted Glasgow life, books, animals & memories.
Oh, and as a special treat, Sons and Daughters played live! 
