donderdag 23 maart 2023

donderdag 16 maart 2023

hospital ...

March started with hospital time.
For me with a new lens in a cataract operation :
very clear sight now but trouble with glasses !
(though now I have one pair with a zero glass on the left side)

Then, last Monday, came more serious hospital time for man :
carcinoma surgery !
Bad for him and a long day for me in the waiting room,
but I took some tiny stitch work with me.
Mirjam 
made these amazing tiny embroidered "pockets".
I know now how to make them
and took some felt, threads and scissors with me
(apart from a book, a puzzle book and more stitching)


(I gave it to someone who also had surgery)

Today at home I made another one


I not only added thread, but also
some tiny snippets of fabric.

THANKS Mirjam !!!


dinsdag 28 februari 2023

February over

Whether "winter" is also over,
we have yet to see
. . . . .


The tiny bit of icing sugar this morning
can hardly be called SNOW !
(and we had LOTS of sunshine later)

Snow and ice is more for these "critters"


Another FUN workshop online by Yaroslava Troynich
to make these cute seals



*
And, though we feed the birds
to keep them alive through the cold season,
when someone flies (flees) the wrong way
the windows prove to be a deadly barrier !


a male finch
*

Last Sunday I kind of celebrated 25 years survival breast cancer !
And daughter brought today some delicious pastries
(from Rotterdam)  to celebrate it extra !


zondag 19 februari 2023

spring garden inspiration



Just a little bit of sunshine
and every little spring flower
turns its face to the sun !




So when a next Stitch Club workshop arrives
(by Yvette Phillips )
it makes sense the garden is where I look for inspiration !!!

To "stitch a collection" 
 brought me to the actual ingredients
that I need to start stitching some piece.




After many many days with tiny stitches
this is the end result





(stapled to a 15 x 15 cm wooden frame) 

zaterdag 11 februari 2023

print making

Ages ago I bought a book about printing
with Medium Gel Matte
(normally used in painting with acrylic paint)
but never really used it in my work.

Stich Club had another workshop with
Cas Holmes
and there this method was used.
So a good reason to have another go
at Medium or even white acrylic paint.


"my secret garden"


I made lots of tests,
not all of them very successful.
It depended probably on what magazines
I took the photos from, too vigorous rubbing
or just too wet, so all disappeared.



After rubbing off the paper I let them dry on the kitchen tiles !
(the second batch)

It surely is a fun way to add personal stuff to your work !
(this will surely be continued)


In the real garden things are moving to spring !

Always happy to see these again !!!

woensdag 1 februari 2023

second month !

A month passed in a blur :
reading
stitching
going to the shops
and looking after Man
. . .
But for that last bit I can say that things are improving !
Though slowly, things Man is getting better !

Though another workshop (by Cas Holmes)
is already on its way,
I'm still stitching on the big circle
for April Sproule's workshop.



The stitching is done
(as far as I think now)
and I'm attaching sequins, beads and buttons.
right in the center there will be a small silk pompon
(a leftover of my necklace making)
I first thought of adding a felted piece in the middle.
In fact that was the start of the whole design
(but I will keep that one as a brooch
as I originally intended)



A picture taken with the daylight lamp
and not ALL of the piece.
When it's truly finished I will mount it on a 40 x 40cm canvas. 


woensdag 25 januari 2023

a heart

This year hasn't begun quite well for Man : pneumonia is a nasty business !
Two courses of penicillin were needed to make a start in healing
Ever so slowly he is getting better now
(with a setback on some days)
Again we see what a precious thing
good health is !!!

After all the felting last month
it was time to pick up stitching again :
so many wonderful ideas in STITCH CLUB !



This little heart is for the workshop of
Chloe Patience

Stitching with so much texture is really fun !
(it seems that January 25 is "St. Dwynwens day in Wales :
the equivalent of Valentine's day   :-)  !) 


It is only a small work
because the two weeks are almost over
and I'm still busy with some bigger work
from April Sproule's workshop.
That gets bigger than I thought it would
(I added another strip of cloth on the outside !)
I will show that when I'm really finished with it