Origami...

When I am not embroidering, felting, beading or sewing, my other favourite craft is origami.  I find it mind-bending and fascinating, and very satisfying (when it finally works after many practice runs!).  It was my birthday on Sunday...

(We went up Arthur's seat for a picnic... here is my friend's dog, Jackson, looking longingly at my cake!)

...and I was very lucky to recieve some lovely non-traditional origami papers, as well as a fantastic rare book called 'Origami for the connoisseur' by Kasahara & Takahara. I heard about this book through Flickr, where there are so many photos of people's amazing origami projects which are very inspiring.  Most of the projects in this book will take some building up to... but I'm looking forward to the challenge!

In preparation I've been practising some 'modular' origami - where you make a compound shape using multiples of a base 'unit' made of one folded sheet.  I've been working with 'Sonobe' units with a lot of help from a wonderful book called 'Marvelous modular origami' by Meenakshi Mukerji.

30 Sonobe units folded and ready to be assembled:

I am fascinated by all the permutations that are possible using the same basic units.  

These are all built from the same base unit, but in different multiples or sizes of paper sheet:

(6 pieces for the cubes, 12 for the octahedral assembly and 30 for the icosahedral assembly)

These are the smallest ones I have managed!

More brooches...

Today I finished the rest of the wooden bezel brooches - here are Topaz, Lavandel, Natsu, Nimbus, Baya, Melocoton and Agua.

I still can't get enough of these wooden bezels: I love the way the beautifully smooth wood contrasts with the texture of the felted pieces.

Brooches...

I'm working on some more brooches using the beautiful wooden bezels made by brightcolorart.  Hoping to have them all ready in time for the Magpie Market!

Here are the first few I've just finished: 

Moonshine, Islet, Guava, Pomme and Flamenco.

Affodell...

Today I finished the second of my two narcissus brooch experiments - I wanted to explore colour, petal/sepal shape and corona size, so here is an alternative to Jonquil: Affodell...

 Giving shape to the edges of the corona:

The felt for Affodell is made from silk throwsters waste, wool roving, silk lapps, wool locks, bamboo fibre, silk fabric and wool nepps, with glass beads, freshwater pearls and seed, colonial knot, bullion knot, detached chain and detached fly hand embroidery stitches.

Here they are together - my ode to spring!

Jonquil...

I managed to finish this today.

'Jonquil'

Another attempt at a more 3D beaded and embroidered felt brooch, this time inspired by the beautiful narcissi and daffodils that are blooming all over Edinburgh at the moment.

Here are my preliminary notes - I found out that 3 of what I thought of were petals are actually sepals!  The corona posed a particular challenge.

The felt is made from wool roving, silk velvet, cotton scrim, organza, soy silk, bamboo fibre, silk noil and silk tops, embellished with glass beads and colonial knot, seed, bullion knot, detached fly, detached chain and Algerian eye stitches.

Work in progress...

Trying to get this finished before all of the inspiration finishes flowering!

Sakura...

I'm really ready for proper Spring now.  We woke up to snow this morning!  That just doesn't seem right.

The crocuses and snowdrops are out here at least, but I'm longing for narcissi... and cherry blossom!

This is a piece that has been in progress for some time.  She's my first experiment in slightly more 3D work (she's not hugely 3D but I needed to start somewhere).

'Sakura'

Sakura is made from 5 petals made from beaded and embroidered felt:

After making each petal, I gave them a little bit of extra shape:

and then joined them all together...

...into a brooch!

Phew...!

Finished! (and more besides)...

These amazing wooden settings are by brightcolorart on Etsy - I love them!

hat pins

...and now all packed and ready for tomorrow!

Byres Road Makers Market... this weekend!

An opportunity arose this week to make a last minute booking for a craft fair being held across in Glasgow this Saturday, so I decided to go for it!  It's the Byres Road Makers Market - organised by the same people who put on the Edinburgh fairs I have shown at in the past.

This has left me with slightly less time than usual for all of my beloved lists and tables and organising (maybe not such a bad thing?!) but I think (hope?) that I'll be ready... 

I'm going to be crafting like a demon over the next couple of days.  Fortunately some fantastic supplies from Etsy have arrived in time, so I hope to have some new styles available at the fair.

Hope I get them all finished!

If you're in the Glasgow area on Saturday, it would be great to see you there!  The market is in Hillhead Library on Byres Road and runs 11am -  4pm.

Dreamcloud...

My first new brooch of 2011 - and another experiment and attempt at working with colours I don't usually favour - this time, pink and lilac.

I had a brainstorming session trying to come up with new shapes for brooches and necklaces, and this shape was one I decided to try to see how it turned out.  While I was sewing around her edges I remembered about some labradorite droplets that had been languishing in my beady stash, and the idea developed from there.

'Dreamcloud'

Felted silk hankie fibre, cotton scrim, chiffon, organza, tencel nepps and silk throwsters waste, embellished with tiny 2mm sequins, glass beads and seed, colonial knot, detached fly and detached chain stitches.  The labradorite drops hang from assorted sterling silver chain.

I love labradorite.  It's my favourite mineral!

Bellevue Christmas Fair...

This Saturday I will be selling at the Bellevue Christmas Fair, in the Bellevue Chapel, Rodney Street, Edinburgh from 10am - 12pm.  

If you're in the Edinburgh area and can make it through the snow and cold, it would be lovely to see you there!

~*~

Unexpected...

I tend to work in a rather intuitive way (maybe that's just a nice way of saying completely unplanned and disorganised!) - I felt first with my embellisher in a sort of spontaneous mess, and then I bead and embroider along contours whispered to me by the felt.  I rarely, if ever, plan layout in advance, and although I usually have a rough idea of the finished overall shape even that sometimes takes me by surprise...

Two cases in point, finished today:

'Cephalopod' - somehow became reminiscent of an octopus!

'Meteor' - some sort of pomegranate asteroid fallen to earth?

Leaves...

It definitely feels like winter is well on her way here - so I've been trying to eke out the last drop of autumn inspiration before all the leaves are gone... .

An autumnal gust of wind must have swept through my flat to leave these on my desk!

New brooches - Ginkgo, Maple and Holly:

Kindlecase...

I've been very excited this week at the arrival of my Kindle e-reader.  Of course the first thing I had to do once it arrived was to make it a protective case...!

I decided to make a two-part case - a padded protective one for everyday storage and a 'hardback' case to protect the screen when I'm carrying it around in my bag.

For the inner soft case I used some of my precious vintage Japanese kimono fabric that I got at a temple market in Kyoto back in 2007 - this is one of my favourites with stylised Japanese clouds in cream on burgundy.  I sandwiched in a layer of wadding, and lined it with beautiful hand-dyed viscose felt from Sassalynne:

For the 'hardback' case I padded pieces of very thick card with more wadding, and then slipped them into a fabric case made with wonderful hand-dyed cotton fabric from AngelicaV.  

I added a lovely big coconut shell button, and some couched threads, hand embroidery, tiny 2mm sequins and glass beads.

I braided a thin 4-tama kumihimo braid and added this as a tie for closing the cover.  The inner 'cloud' cover fits into the hardback cover for extra protection if required!

My first ebook is 'Frankenstein'!

Bosket and Namida... and believing in your own work!

I'm beginning to gear up for fully reopening my Etsy shop with revised photos and pricing.  It's something I've been thinking about (and struggling with) for a long time - the different ways to value one's work and having the confidence to do so.  After some while, and many helpful discussions with myself and other friendly ears (you know who you are - and thank you!) I have decided that it's time to support my own work more strongly.  


One of the main ways to do this unfortunately involves money - price often being construed to equal value (although often not actually the case) - but when your work is in the public sphere I do think this has to be taken into account.  There is so much information and advice available on the internet regarding pricing - what factors need to be taken into account and so on.   By the time you have factored in supplies and time often the numbers just don't add up to a feasible amount.


When I first started out, I couldn't believe that anyone would actually want to buy my work - I loved making it, but the process was the goal for me and the end result it was sort of extraneous in a funny kind of way.  Now over the months and years, I feel my skill has developed and so has my confidence (in myself and in my work) which means now that I can better value the time, care and skill that I put into the pieces that I make - pieces that I feel are beautiful and original.  This isn't meant to sound like blowing my own trumpet (so apologies if it does!) but rather it's an understanding that is very significant for me personally as well as for my work.  If I don't believe in it, who else will?!


It still feels all rather nerve-wracking though, particularly as another goal that I have set myself is to approach some galleries and boutiques in Edinburgh to see if they would consider selling some of my jewellery... *gulp*! I plan to do this after my shop is sorted out... and I'll let you know how it goes!


So anyway, back to the crafting - amidst all of this soul-searching I have actually been making things too :P - today I finished two brooches:

Bosket 

(loving this word - just learned it today - it means a clump of small trees or bushes :D)

and Namida (which is Japanese for 'tears')

Terrain...

Recently I had an experimental session felting onto upholstery linen for the first time, using small scraps left over from other projects.  ... although slightly tricky and needle-bending, the linen is very satisfying to work with, and I feel the muted natural colour of the fabric brings out the colours of the fibres.

I was working with a wonderful selection of hand-dyed fibres that I picked up at the Festival of Quilts (called a  'texture pack'), made up of scrim, viscose felt and other goodies.

I was quite surprised to find that the linen took to the felting quite well:

Then of course came the beads, couched threads and embroidery:

It measures about 11cm x 8cm. 

What I learned this time was that yes, I really should have used a hoop for the beading and embroidery (I hate using hoops but linen this thick is just such a nightmare to get flat...), and that next time I would use a slightly lighter-weight linen to felt onto.

I got a bit carried away during the linen felting session though, so I have a few heavier-weight pieces to finish first - details to follow!

The reel thing...

When my Dad visited recently he bought a rather large box full of interesting things, amongst which were several pieces of driftwood.

We have been collecting driftwood in one way or another for as long as I can remember, so now there is quite a stash in my Dad's workroom.  We have been trying to think of a good project to use it on but hadn't had many viable ideas.

Then, recently, whilst trying to tidy (!) my own crafty stash I started thinking about all of my thread spools and whether there would be a way to store them more accessibly and visibly - to see them all at once for colour inspiration.  I started thinking about some sort of wall-hanging-spool-tidy, and drew a few sketches which I sent to my dad for suggestions (thanks Dad!).  The idea gradually developed, and then we realised we would finally be able to use some of the driftwood!  Hurrah!

Here's what we came up with:

(it was my Dad's idea to call it 'the reel thing', honest)

I really like the mishmash of different types of spools and it's great to see all the colours together.  I'm hoping it will inspire me to develop my machine embroidery skills!

Sunburst and Vortex...

It has taken me quite a while to get these finished... . I've been otherwise engaged all over the place doing lots of fun things like the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and travelling down to Birmingham to see my sister and nieces and going to the Festival of Quilts.  The Festival of Quilts was quite an event (I had never been before) - and although I am not a quilter we had a wonderful day drooling over all the stalls and getting lots of inspiration.  The highlight of the day though was actually getting to meet lovely Myfanwy of Sassalynne in person and to see (and buy!) a collection of her wonderful supplies 'in the flesh'.  Over the course of the day I bought lots of exciting and inspiring supplies, and discovered new sellers like 21st Century Yarns, which was great too.

Anyway, back to Sunburst and Vortex - these are prototype necklaces, the first two end results of my Sassalynne viscose felt project. 

'Vortex'

I haven't done any felting myself this time - the colours of the felt were so lovely I didn't want to cover them up by adding any more fibre.  Instead I just beaded and embroidered onto the surface, and experimented with a more 'ethnic' feel with dangly (not sure how else to describe them!) additions at the bottom of the felt piece and on the chain.

Glass beads and tiny sequins, with seed stitch in ribbon and cotton.

'Sunburst'

Glass beads, and seed and running stitches in gold thread.

The addition of the metal drops is a bit of a departure for me - the idea arose from wanting to try to incorporate a bit of movement into a necklace.