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 !

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) 

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 !!!

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.