needle lace

 The Stitch Club workshop that I started again with
was by Bridget Steel-Yessop
(it was in fact the second one, but I didn't do the first)
Needle lace has a variety of different stitches
but she taught us one, and stuck to that.

We should first make a square, to learn and try the stitches
then do a more complicated work : an insect with wings !

 
Adding beads into the work was my own choice
and was really fun to do.

After the lace was completed it was taken
off the temporary background
et voilá : lace !

(my next piece is finished, but needs to be stitched on a canvas 
and then photographed)

*

For May I still had a task to do for the
BIBABO WILD MARATHON

Because I was late again I was looking for a way out :

no felting this time !!!

I took my wonderful Karisma colour pencils
and did the task for May :

an animal starting with the letter "H"

AND
extra . . . it hád to be in only black and white

This is an ENORMOUS  Hercules beetle,

the biggest, plus the "horn" that only males have
(which speaks for itself !)

is about 17 cm !!!!!
NO WAY I would pick that one up
. . . . .

But luckily I was just in time yesterday !!!

walking

 The last two week took me walking 
photographing
and mark-making
for  STITCH  CLUB

Shelley Rhodes
gave a wonderful workshop that I liked very much !
But because my legs (knees) are not what they once used to be
my walk was just a small "around-the block" kind of walk
that's why I thought of a special way to depict that "block"
by making a square instead of the
suggested long strip.

After preparing and drawing my marks
with different materials
I could start adding stitch
which resulted in my final piece
that I then framed in a deep frame with glass on both sides.

some details of the stitching

I added some real alder seed cones
in the middle.
The fun thing is that in Dutch
the alder tree is called "els"
so what better way to make this really mine

:-) 

faces

This week's Stitch Club

was a bit of a problem for me.

The style in which Ailish Henderson works

"is definitely not me"

too loose

Luckily I was still busy with a "travel book"

for Anne Kelly

that took most of the week :

to find stuff

(old pictures, bits of paper, bits of fabric)

glue all of it on the background,

let it dry,

add more embellishments and hand stitch,

and finally stitch with the machine.

BUT

as it is a present for a faraway friend (and in the mail right now) 

there are no pictures !

After my travel-book was finished

I had no other option

than to leave the Ailish's workshop alone or give it a try 

Some of the results that came through in the group

were just lovely, and that helped !

The third sketch

(after a first try and a second that I ruined with pen and paint)

Adding less paint (water colour) than the first time ...

The end result

and finally happy I gave it a go and kept going ! 

Lots of tiny snippets of thin fabric (including tulle and mesh) 

on face and hair

and the pencil lines stitched with one strand of floss

in different colours

Definitely NOT as loose as Ailish

but I love what it finally turned into ...

Another one (daughter) is ready for stitching

Thank you STITCH CLUB

for some really challenging workshops

that certainly added to my skills !

giveaway

Leap year

gives us an extra day

so a good moment

for something extra :

a giveaway !

My wonderful "Karisma" colour pencil box

has been waiting patiently in the cupboard for a long time :

I was busy with other things.

But this leap day

gave me the opportunity

to make a small special (mandala) drawing.

(the paper is +/- 20 x 25 cm) 

If you're interested

just leave a comment

down here

When there are more, I draw a lucky winner in a week

Have a FUN 

LEAP  DAY

And a happy birthday to everyone
who has this special birthday !!!

a new year

...

is just around the corner.

When I look back it has gone by quickly

but there were a lot of wonderful days in it.

And lots of new work.

I'm hoping to keep that up

in the year to come !

What remains on this late afternoon

is wishing you all out there :

a very happy

light

joyful

healthy

and most of all creative

2020

Love to all my friends,

Els

enjoy !

Holidays give many opportunities.

You can spend them with family

with friends

with the cat / the dog

or alone

("home alone" can be sooo good,

though there still is that movie

they show almost every year about this time ... )

You can party

you can cook / eat some extravagant dinner

or just look what's in the fridge

...

Everyone can choose (I hope)

what suites her or him best.

The main thing is :

  ENJOY  

(these last few weeks I've enjoyed another

online felting class

made quite a few felted birds,

and made some special presents

that will be unwrapped in two days)

But

in case you are one of the many people

who have to WORK right now

then I hope you catch some

  happy time  

later !

last day of April

(Ohhhh where did this month go ?)

Some years ago we had our

"Queen's day"

on the last day of the month,

but now that we have a king

"King's day"

is already on the 27th of April ...

(that was a sunny day...

but today was WET and COLD !)

The garden is greeeeeen !

With blues of the forget-me-not, muscari,

bluebells and the wonderful

camassia leichtlinii 

I couldn't help it : HAD to draw one ...

(first pencil, then pen, and gouache,

though I loved the paper  that I used before better)

Will do some more around it ...

but I'm not sure what yet

(the trees almost stopped flowering after the rains

of the last two days)

I hope for a bit warmer May !

18 - 1 - 18

The year has quietly started ...

and I continued with what I was doing

at the end of December :

drawing.

After the "Snowman" and the "Star catcher"

I was in the mood again !

Other crafts have been quiet for a while,

that's how things work best for me.

I have a whole page with little sketches

with ideas that I might make

into a bigger little painting

with gouache paint (poster paint)

Normally I work with acrylic paint, "oils" is not me ...

The little grandson is very happy that I'm using that now,

instead of acrylic paint !

(that HARD to get from his clothes,

should he make a mess ...

so now he's happy to work next to me !)

After making the layered background

I start with the drawing in chalk pencil
(which is in fact for sewing, but it works great)

Working the light colours is a bit tricky

(because the layers underneath easily dissolve again)

The rest is for tomorrow ...

Red, yellow and blue ...

and learning how to mix the other colours !

:-)

*

We had a mighty storm today here in Holland :

roofsblown off, trees fell and trucks blown over,

all train traffic stopped

and some roads were closed.

In the afternoon is quieted down, thank heavens !

A true winter storm !

nearly there ...

Ohhhh ...
how fast time went when you look back !

Another year went by

with highs and lows
with dear things to remember
and things best forgotten
...........

I hope, you all out there in Blog-land,
that you catch one, or even a few,
wishing stars
so that some of your dearest wishes come true
in the year to come ...

And my wish for you is a

healthy
joyful
peaceful
creative
and innovative

  2018  

Els

nearly midsummer

Sometimes time rushes by

and I don't really notice

what date it is

(being retired does that to you)

But now I have started a small piece (15cm x 15cm)

for Summer  Solstice.

The weather is very warm right now

so why not take colours that match that !

Of course I started with

"glue-stitching" it all together,

so no nasty pins that catch your thread

when you start stitching !

In my stash was something a St'nB-friend gave me

It's the finest batiste

and believe it or not :

this is definitely hand stitched !!!

It's so hot right now

that the garden isn't the right place to do the stitching.

The sunshade down, the garden door closed,

to keep the heat from getting inside,

hmmmmmm ... that's better !

*

Here's the "Sweet Sunrise" piece of some days ago,

finished but not yet mounted on a canvas.

(I think the crochet is a bit from my Australian friend Jacky)

Love how the thick bundles of stitches work ...

A few weeks ago it was

"fish" time

See for yourself !

But not only for me,

also for Man who started drawing himself !

Around the drawings of his favorite colouring book

(always thought he couldn't ...)

Isn't that FUN !

Spring is in the air ...

Today it definitely was :

spring was in the air.

(though there wasn't that much sunshine)

Our private bulb field !

These delicate crocuses fall over with a bit of rain or wind

but today they stood proud !

Sad to admit, but the snowdrops are already over.

Every late winter I long for them

and always too soon they are gone

So I picked a few

and made some drawings.

This is just a start :

I will work on them with water colour

and other techniques to keep them 

for a much longer time !

A new baby was born in my nephew's family

so I made my usual present

for that occasion

Welcome Fie !

There was more knitting these last two weeks :

the indigo blue shawl I made was a success

so I started another one

with homespun yarn daughter gave me

combined again with some fluffy

Rowan Kid Silk Haze Stripe.

(and while it was Stitch'nBitch-day today

I took it with me to Rotterdam)

Tadaaaah

(though it was a day late

it still was included in the good cause KAL donation !)

In my search for new knitting projects on Ravelry

I found something interesting.

Though I don't have the pattern for this Norwegian jacket (yet)

I had to give it a go

(on some smaller scale : mittens)

I frogged it already three times

and even now the size is too big ...

(must do some more tests)

And finally I received the (very) last felted piece

of the felting-exchange

(with one extra for the delay, ha, ha)

We hope to set a date for a meeting 

of all the felting-exchange members this summer.

It will be fun to see each other

ánd to see all the work.