A Mini Wallhanging

I was really tired at the end of last week, so missed a blog post. I didn’t want to write anything I could come up with just to post because if I’m inviting you to read my blog, I want it to be good enough for you.

So, here, at last, is something I’ve been working on.

To start off the new year, I’ve gone with something small and gentle as an easy project to get me back into my work. (I needed something easy; after the holidays it’s been difficult to get back into everything, even though I really want to get on with my textiles.)

I’ve made what I’m calling a Mini Wall Hanging because it’s quite small, only 12.3 cm x 14.9 cm (excluding the hanging ribbon). It’s an image of a hydrangea flower to presage the coming of Spring.

Here’s the finished thing.

And here’s the process it went through. First, I stamped an image onto fabric and coloured it. Then I put it on a backing fabric.

I added some stitching around the edges and some beads…..

…and sewed it all together.

I’ve also begun a personal drawing project where I’m hoping to do a small drawing or sketch every day for a year. This was my first one, a couple of toadstools. The fairy hasn’t arrived yet!

And here’s a cat.

I’ll (hopefully!) be posting my daily drawings on my Twitter and Instagram accounts, which you can find here if you wish to:

 Twitter

Instagram

I hope you’re coping with the cold weather. I am, just about, although I actually like cold, frosty days; it gives me the chance to layer up with warm clothes and scarves and enjoy being cosy. Also, the coldness now makes us even more welcoming of the warmer temperatures in Spring when they arrive. I hope Spring also comes with more energy for me.  

Speaking of warmer weather, this rose has been flowering all Winter. It doesn’t normally – an effect of global warming do you think?

The blooms haven’t lasted very long though. They’ve been withering at the petal edges and turning brown fairly quickly, giving a lovely wabi-sabi effect.  

I’m just about keeping on track with my aims for January with the drawing and plans for my textiles, I just hope I can keep it up. Do you have any goals for this year? I’d love to hear them if you do. For now, enjoy the weekend.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Christmas and New Year seemed to go really fast for me and now here we are in at the beginning of 2018. I hope you enjoyed the holidays and had a chance to relax. For some reason I don’t really feel like I had that much time to ‘just be’ as it all went so quickly, but I had a lovely Christmas anyway.

Well, it’s back to normal from now on I suppose, with the decorations coming down today. The rooms will look extremely bare. I’m thinking of making some decorations that can be put up at different times of the year, although it depends how much time I have! 😊

For now, I’ve made this to remind me of the Spring and the light, sunnier times ahead.

It’s a cherry blossom which fell from my tree last year. I pressed it and stuck it to card with tissue paper, then stamped butterflies around it.

In the garden there are signs of Spring already. My mother’s camellia has been flowering for a while. It always flowers during the winter though. 🌼

There are daffodils sprouting in my pots. 🌱

And there are bluebell leaves emerging from the earth. 🌿

I don’t really make New Year’s resolutions, I gave that up a long time ago because I just got disappointed if I didn’t stick to them. But I have got goals for this year which I hope to share with you as and when they’re achieved. They include new textile projects to work on, more painting and one big goal that I’ve been hoping to achieve for a while, but I don’t want to say too much about that yet. When I seem to have got near to it before, I’ve had setbacks, so I’m waiting until it’s actually done so I don’t speak too soon!  😃

Whatever your plans are for this year I wish you all the best with them. Have a lovely weekend. 💖