Cheeky Smiling Cake

This little fellow was one in a million.... well.. one in a doz!  He arrived along with a bunch of other cakes, but none of the others were as cute as this.

Opipods

Ink and Watercolour

Poppy seed pods produced around 2008

Above taken using a flash
Below taken without a flash

On the reverse I found another sketch of three poppy seed pods.

Landscape Rocks

Here I have uploaded two pictures I completed at college around 2008.  They are composed of red and blue tissue paper, ink and wax crayon.  I have used bleach to highlight the edges and bring some depth to the finished image.

Knitted Blankets

Here are two brightly coloured blankets, made from knitted strips donated by a knitting group from MAST.  My task was to colour coordinate and arrange the strips in the most varied pattern as possible.  I tried to avoid having same coloured sections next to each other.  I have done quite well.  I used a crochet hook and red wool to double crochet the strips together and the same stich to edge each blanket.

This one would be suitable to lay on a single bed or as a knee shrug or wrap-around.  The wool is very soft and feels lovely and snuggly.

This one would lay over the top of a double bed quite happily.  They are both rather bright especially the orange/red one.

Infact either of these blankets might be good for someone who may benefit from the stimulating colours.

They both took quite a few hours of work just putting them together, never mind the time spent by others in the knitting.

Sunflower Duet

'Sunflower Duet' is an acrylic on canvas artwork I completed this week in an art workshop.  I am fairly pleased with this, while still being aware of my naive skills at present.  I enjoyed painting this and used brushes to start and then using a knife to paint with for the first time.  It was tricky and fun all at once!

Green and Co. Scarf

Wow, I've just been introduced to the craft of felting and have made this lovely scarf. In essence it was easy, though time consuming and quite tiring on the arms.


I bought 3 silk scarves from a little shop in Moffat, on the boarders of Scotland, at the end of August this year. I talked to the lady about using them in a feltmaking class and said I would send her a photo of the result, which I did.


If you are interested then read on for the Method...


• I cut 1 square scarf into 4 strips. 2 strips for each makeover.
• Tacked the 2 rough ends lightly together making 1 long scarf.
• Placed the material on some bubblewrap and old towels.
• Using marino wool in matching colours I teased out pieces to lay all along the length top & bottom.
• I then tucked this undernieth and teased out another layer of coloured wool over the top.
• I placed a light layer of wool under and over the join to hide the tacking stiches.
• A length of net curtain over the top.
• The next stage is to sprinkle a generous amount of soapy water or plain water rubber over with a bar of soap.
• Rubbing up a lather and helping the wool to knit with the silk.
• Add more water or soap as requried.
• Then the work is rolled up, with the bubble wrap but not the towel, onto a rolling pin or leg of an old stool!
• A couple of elastic bands to hold it all together.
• Rolling back and forth about 100 times.
• Unroll and check to see how well the wool is attaching to the silk.
• Roll up again and roll back and forth another 100 times!
• By this time arms are aching and have worked up quite a sweat!
• When happy that it is fixing together, unroll and remove the work from the other materials.
• Rinse it out and remove much of the soap.
• Next the fun bit...
• Scrunch it up and through it down onto the towel.
• The wool will shrink and the silk will gather.
• Keep doing this until again you are happy with the shrinkage.
• Leave to dry fairly flat.

Voala!

It took me 2 morning workshops to complete this scarf. I have not made another yet.


Make 2 per day and you could sell them at craft fairs and have muscles like PopEye!



Do you think you would get paid for the labour involved?

I think not! I was great fun though.

Record of Past Profiles 1

This is not my first profile, as I have only just decided to archive inthis way.

I was born 1961 under the star sign of Aries the Ram. I'm married with no children and 5 grandchildren. I trained in Natural Health and ran my own business in complementary medicine for 5 years, giving this up to concentrate on my current job in psychiatry as a Technical Instructor, teaching IT to adults with mental health issues. I am now also responsible for the Art & Crafts Department and am enjoying a renewed interest in all things Arty Farty and Crafty Dafty. I am dyslexic having just recently been assessed, so if you see any errors please comment. I am researching my ancestral past and have visited relatives in Surrey & Sussex and viewed an ancestoral home in October 2007. I have also traced a relative from a different branch of my family and they live in Reading. I contacted them in 2009 and hope to meet up with them some time. I also run a Family Research group at the day centre where I work and one lady has so far been able to link into Royalty! We are confirming this just now 2010.

Cyril the Caterpillar

I got the idea for Cyril the Caterpillar from a magazine, but the owner of the magazine took it with them, so I made it up from the visual memory. 

He's very simple to make.  Just casting on 30 stitches and knitting around 20 rows for each colour.  Each section of his body was done in a different stitch pattern. 

Knitting straight until all eight sections were complete.  I stitched him up like a sausage, only stopping at each change of colour to stuff and pull in to produce the shaping.  I used old buttons for eyes and nose and crocheted on a tonge.  I could have stitched on a smile instead.  However, I like the cheeky look.  I found a load of white dufflecoat toggles and used these for his feet.  He feels good to hold and is quite floppy.  His feet clatter about on hard surfaces.  I have made a few more which have sold on our craft stall.

I do like Cyril, but don't really know what I will do with him.  He is currently crawling along the top and over the edge of my wardrobe, while watching me type this blog right now!

Afghan in Greens

I've been workng on this one for months.  It is made from oddments, some soft but some more corse.  It will make a warm lap blanket over the top of clothes.  Maybe for someone sitting watching TV or going out in a wheelchair?

Unfortunately the photo is a wee blurd.  I may take it again and re-post it.

This one has not turned out as good as I was expecting.  I think the colour coordination is not quite right, or the combinations for each patterned square is not balanced well.

The Prophet by Kahil Gibran

The Prophet by Kahil Gilbran is a most powerful and beautiful poem.  This book conveys the wisdom of many lifetimes and is a must for any person seeking spiritual growth.  Follow the link below for futher reading:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=n5BlBsFbGOQC&lpg=PP1&dq=the%2Bprophet&pg=PA15#v=onepage&q&f=false