and Bright Blue Beads

I've noticed "collar" style necklaces in the shops lately, but they're two chunky for my taste. Here's a much more delicate take on the idea.

Please excuse my dusty old black t-shirt, fresh from a bout of house cleaning. And please admire my cleverness in photographing the necklace in action. I suddenly realised that I could point the camera at myself and check the viewfinder in the reflection. The focus isn't brilliant, but it's better than the funny effects I would have got from the grotty mirror. Believe me! 

Just one more bit of cleverness to cap off a good day. I'm typing this on Sunday afternoon, but have scheduled the post for tomorrow morning when I'll be busy elsewhere. I know lot of people schedule posts, but I've never done it before. I'm hoping it will work.

Edited to add:
Not so clever after all. I've just got home and published this manually. Whatever I did to "schedule" it wasn't right. I'll have to try again sometime.

Brighten My Day

I'm stitching away at this hand-dyed bamboo fibre.

It's smooth in my fingers and bright to look at--and an easy pattern. All perfect for a quiet Sunday afternoon.

It's a little birthday project, so no more details at this stage.

Doing and Undoing

I don't know if you noticed that my beading attempt on the blue-green cabuchon used the same base as my free-form wiring attempt. I deliberately broke and pulled off the silver wire wrapping I'd tried previously.

I like the empty shell of woven strands of wire better than I liked the original setting. I think I'll work with that idea. As for this cabuchon, I've already pulled the beading out twice and it's still not working the way I would like it to. I think it might be the size of the beads I'm working with, so I'll have to try some different ones. I do like the effect of the teal beads against the stone, so I'll stick with that idea.

By the way, it took quite a bit of effort to break off the improvised bail from the free-form wiring. That's good news for when I want to make a piece using this technique.

Printable?

My small experience of printing from my linocut the other day has warmed my creative juices and fired up my imagination. As usual I'm generating a thousand ideas and will struggle to implement a few, but the energy of all those possibilities is a good thing. So I picked this grevillea flower on my way home from my walk today and kept getting closer to it with my macro lens, trying to see elements which I could use for a design. 

I didn't pick--but looked with interest at--lots of other leaves and flowers which might also become designs. Probably I should start with something simpler, but it's good to dream.

Today

I woke up late and missed my walk. I didn't get out to the studio, but had enough bits and pieces in my living room to do a bit of beading in the little pockets of time I didn't think I had.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get organised and finish the job.

Thank You

I just spent an afternoon learning about printmaking. I'd carved a lino-print for a project and then  found myself stuck, having never printed anything of that magnitude before. My limit was handcarved stamps a couple of inches across.  Amanda has heaps of experience with printmaking, but isn't used to working with fabric. We met at Sussex Neighbourhood House and ended up with this.

The process was slower and richer than I had expected. And the thought of being able to make my own prints on fabric is absolutely thrilling. Thanks Amanda!

Quick Post and Another Confession

I was sure I didn't need any more fabric when I agreed to meet a friend at a local fabric store the other day. My plan was to enjoy her fabrics and head off for a coffee, however when I saw these two prints I didn't even try to resist.

In case you want some, the selvedge says, "world of Susybee for Hamil Textiles Design # SB 20049" and "20052".