Our Christmas card list may be a little short this year …

because I can’t find our address book. I have a nasty feeling that, when we sorted out the desk drawers earlier in the year, it was either:

1. put in a safe place – or
2. thrown away because I thought I’d transferred the addresses to the funny pop-up address book we keep by the phone. Except I hadn’t.

It’s not  a very long list,  but some of our aged relatives may be a little upset not to get cards …

I’ll have a thorough search later, after the miniature tornado heading our way has gone home.

We managed to get the Freecycled doll’s bed repainted, and bedding made, in time for the tornado’s arrival. This isn’t a Christmas present, as we keep a few – er – several – er – quite a lot of toys here for when she visits. Her daddy said how much he had enjoyed having different toys to play with, when he was little, and we visited my parents – so the Freecycled/charity shop stuff stays here and most of the new stuff goes home with them. Apart from things like books and jigsaws and books and oh – some books.

Those twin dolls came from a charity shop, with all this lot, which are more-or-less in scale with the dollies.  Never having had a daughter I missed out on all this cuteness – although I do draw the line at Barbie and My Little Pony. There is only so much pastel coloured plastic a woman  can take.

These prints from my C&G sketchbook were made with the polystyrene print making material you can use if you are not a cheapskate like me and use pizza plates. [It is better, actually, although it’s name escapes me at the moment.] I made them on a course at Southampton Art Gallery, and they were inspired by a Ben Nicholson picture  in the Gallery.

I can’t find it on their site but this one is similar.

Going through my old sketchbook like this is good because it remind me that in those days I had a lot of ideas!

On Wednesday Kim Thittichai commented that a lot of embroiderers ‘collect techniques’ but rarely do anything with them. I think she’s right – much as I enjoy workshops, I always feel I’ve ended up  making pale imitations of the workshop tutor’s work, when what I need to do is adapt the technique to my own work. Or decide it’s not for me.

So I have spent odd times during the day [and night, unfortunately] pondering on how [or whether] I can make Kim’s techniques work for me. I really need to get into the workroom and try some ideas out but that will have to wait for a few days!

A blast from the past

Today’s photo is another of the ‘reasons to love charity shops’ series – although Wensleydale described it as my mission to save all the vintage textile equipment and textiles in Hampshire from landfill.

Hands up who else had one of these when they were little? Although mine was smaller – you certainly couldn’t weave up to five feet on it, as this box claims. [Which suggests it dates from before the UK theoretically went metric, about 40 years ago.]

If you had one, did you ever finish anything on it? Or did you, like me, end up with a short piece of irregular weaving that got narrower and narrower?

I think its previous  owner  got discouraged even quicker than I did.

But that was before I knew about the exciting things you can weave with. Like sticks, and torn fabric, and pipe cleaners, and paper, and bits of cut up embroideries.

And if the worst comes to the worst Babybel can use it when she’s a bit bigger to make a short piece of irregular weaving that gets narrower and narrower …

Why I love charity shops – an occasional series.

£1.50 – still with his original ‘Build-a-Bear’ label. I shall remove the collar until Babybel is a bit bigger and won’t try to eat it. The white blob on his arm is a label which says ‘Press Here’. If you do he sort-of-barks, sort-of-laughs. Larks? Baughs? Perhaps not.

 

 

 

£3. OK, it’s in French – and my French is rusty to say the least – but look at the plates.

 

There are about 20 of them, and diagrams as well.

No date, but I would think it is about 100 years old, judging by the William Morris-ish / Art Nouveau-ish designs.

That was the good bit of the day.

I did finish this – but after three attempts using different threads I’m still unhappy about the long stitch binding.

 

 

 

 

  I’ve done long stitch before and liked it – I think it’s just not right on this book.

I may have another go tomorrow. Or maybe not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As it has been another sunny day – another photo from outside. Not our garden, I'm afraid, just a quiet corner near the Cathedral.