Index card a Day (ICAD) 2023 - weeks 3 and 4

Here are the next two weeks' of ICAD.  Above, Seaglass; Alphabet; Sunflower and Xylophone. Inks, paint and magazine collage featured here.

Violet; Tranquility and Postage Stamp.

Unexpected and Enchanted Forest.

Inside Unexpected is a surprise...

...and a unicorn is hiding in the Enchanted Forest.  This one took a while as I kept changing the opening sections, cutting bits out, then putting them back.  I used a tree stencil with some inking as well as paper from a paper pad with the starry sky and the unicorn stamp which was embossed in silver. I finished it with lots of stickles (glitter glue).  It got there in the end!

Bubbles; Dictionary (using a piece of dictionary page with the word 'dictionary' circled; Indigo and Pinball.

Finally for now Asanoha, which is a traditional Japanese pattern based on a hemp leaf inside a hexagon. Thanks to the internet for this and for how to draw it too!

Some of these prompts are certainly giving me a challenge but it's an enjoyable one.
 

A Hare-y box and a pinafore

I made a hare material box for my friend Maria who was visiting from Canada.  Unfortunately, the unseasonable weather curtailed our plans for meeting up, but we did manage a day visit which was lovely.  I  made her a fabric box using this hare fabric - light and squashable for taking back on the plane.

 I have also made myself a needlecord pinafore using this pattern, 'Cleo' from 'Tilly and the Buttons'.  The pattern is really well done with both written instructions and photos too.  I made the knee length version and put the split in the back rather than the front.  I used the automatic buttonhole on my sewing machine for the first time too - I had a few issues and had to unpick a bit, but this was because I couldn't find the 'buttonhole lever' on the machine.  Eventually, thanks to the internet, I discovered where it was (up inside the part where the needle mechanism is held - but this wasn't obvious from the machine handbook).  Thank goodness for the internet!  I made a toile in calico first, just to check on the sizing.  The pinafore is designed to be loose, but I wanted to be sure the size would fit my hips.

 Here it is - success!   I had bought the needlecord a couple of years ago and it had been sitting in my material stash ever since.  I used buttons rather than the dungaree clip option.

Here's the back too.  I'm really pleased with it and have worn it to work several times.  It is really comfortable too, which is always good.  A denim one and another needlecord version (a very floral pattern) are being planned next.  For my pinafore (size 12), I needed two metres of material, which is a bonus as there are some lovely needlecords out there... 

Car Boot Sale goodies

With the lure of lots of plant stalls, which is what Chris told me, he persuaded me to go to a local car boot sale on Saturday.  It was a very hot day, but I had the foresight to take a bottle of water with me and we had both put suncream on.  A few years ago, I would have come home with a huge amount of things, but I am slowly realising that we don't have a lot of room for more stuff, so anything I bought would need to be small and easy to store.  I think I did reasonably well!  Above is a rubber stamp with a really intricate pattern, which I thought would work well with polymer clay as well as with ink and embossing powder, to use with paper crafts.

Of course, I needed to try it out and then paint it with my metallic paints, which gave a nice effect.

(I still need to be a bit more careful to keep in the lines!)

 I also bought this little cat stamp too, which worked well.

 I saw some little flower brooches at a vintage fair a few months ago, and although I really liked them, I couldn't justify the price that was being asked,  So, when I saw these, I almost pounced on them!  There is a brooch and a pair of earrings and the little white carnation has broken off something else, but I couldn't just leave it there, now could I?

 Seeing the brooches at the vintage fair made me think I could make something in a similar style, so here is one of my attempts made from polymer clay at the front.   I think I did quite well with the colours!

 I also bought these earrings which I think I shall take apart and use as charms in other pieces.

There was also this peridot chip necklace which I shall also take apart and use other jewellery - perhaps in a memory wire bracelet.
There were a couple of plant stalls and I did buy two lavender plants as I haven't had much success in keeping lavender and would like to try one more time...
All in all, I did quite well, I think.  Small things, easy to store and not costing too much money!

More on Benedictus

You may remember that I bought some fabric based on the designs of Edouard Benedictus, which had been created from the V  & A collection.  I decided to try to find out a bit more about him and bought the book above to help.  I had also searched on the internet, but there wasn't a huge lot available. According to various websites,  he lived from 1878/9 - 1930 and was an artist, designer and chemist (who discovered and created laminated glass in 1903).  He also created designs for fabric, textiles, upholstery and wallpaper.

The Benedictus pattern from the book on the left, with the material (Floral Stripe - a new one which I discovered I hadn't ordered, so immediately remedied that!) on the right.

 He created wonderfully blowsy floral designs.

 He could also create geometric patterns inspired by the colours he saw.

Here are a few complicated geometric patterns he designed.  To me, they predict Bridget Riley's Op Art, but 30 years before she was designing.  These designs above date from 1924, 1926 and 1930.  According to the editor, Charles Rahn Fry, of the book:
 Edouard Benedictus was one of the outstanding artist-designers of the early twentieth century.  Productive from 1900 - 1930, Benedictus witnessed and was magnificently influenced by, the revolutionary developments in European art and design - Art Nouveau, Cubism and Constructivism among them.
Why has it taken me this long to discover him?

Inspired by Klimt

 I have ordered some more jewellery making equipment - sculpey/polymer clay (you may know it as 'Fimo'), to make my own pendants.  So why is this post featuring Klimt, you may ask?  Well, I was watching jewellery maker on a polymer clay demo day and the designer made these beautiful pendants which reminded me of a Klimt painting.  Not the figures, you understand, but the lovely jewel colours and amazing patterns in the backgrounds.  In my opinion, Klimt would have been a fantastic textile designer/maker.

Apologies as the quality of some of these images isn't very brilliant, but that's due to them being tiny cropped pieces of not very big pictures (most from www.klimt.com).

 I really like the repeating shapes and the colours.

 In fact, to me, the backgrounds are far more interesting than the subject of the paintings.

 Here are a couple of flower filled sections.

 This one combines shapes and earthy colours very effectively.

 I love the purple and pink swirls here.

This is from an unfinished portrait, but still has the pattern and colour taking shape.
So, I am waiting rather impatiently for my new kit and DVD and then I shall launch myself into the joys of making canes, using foils and trying to bake the clay at the correct temperature.  I am very excited as I love learning new things! 
At the moment, I have two creative projects on the go - a blog swap, with the theme of 'cosy autumn' where I need to make at least two items out of a minimum of five and send them to a partner blogger (my partner is in Ireland) and also Peacefelt 2012, where I will be given the name and address of someone to whom I send a piece of felt work.  Someone else will be given my details and they will send a piece of felt work to me.  It's all very exciting at the moment and I am enjoying the various challenges.

A new project

I have been having the most enormous clear out of the bedroom (something that has been needed for ages!) and after removing eight bags of bits and pieces and donating them to the charity shop, I am feeling very virtuous. The room looks twice as big as it used to and it is a huge improvement. While going through some of the accumulated stuff, I came across this Laura Ashley double duvet cover. I bought it on a whim from a vintage-type shop because I loved the colours and the floral pattern. However, that was when I had a duvet! I now have blankets and quilts, because I like the layers. So, reluctantly, I was going to put it on Ebay. I then had a real lightbulb moment and decided to turn it into a quilt, with a wadding filling and stitching to hold the layers in place. Brilliant - I can be a bit creative as well as making something that I can use and enjoy. It will also be a gentle introduction to quilting as I do want to have a go at a patchwork quilt at some point. I'll let you know how I get on.

Repeating pattern

Above is a completely new repeating pattern that I created using a segment from a photo I took of some grasses and with a little added Photoshop magic! It is something I learnt to do on my art course and once I'd created the patterns, I translated them into textiles. I really enjoyed creating a brand new pattern and the finished result is always interesting. It makes me look at objects in a different way. The above was a practise to make sure that I hadn't forgotten how to do it.
The original photo is one I would like to use for a new felt piece...