Valentine Gifts and a Story of Dwynwen

Here in Wales we have St Dwynwen’s Day on 25^th January. It has been described as the Welsh St Valentine’s Day, but I’ve found out that that isn’t quite correct because of what happened to Dwynwen.

There are two versions of the story, more or less the same, but this is the one I know.

Dwynwen was one of 24 daughters of King Brychan Brycheiniog. She loved a man called Maelon Dafodrill but when, before they were married, she rejected his advances, he became angry and left her. In her sadness and fear, Dwynwen prayed to God for help and Maelon was turned into a block of ice. For rejecting him, Dwynwen was granted three wishes.

First of all, she wished that Maelon would be thawed, second, she wished that her prayers on behalf of all true lovers be heard so that they either obtain those they love or be cured of the love, and third, she wished that she would never marry. Dwynwen became a nun and set up a convent on Llanddwyn Island on Anglesey.

The second version of the story is the same, except that her father had arranged for her to marry another prince, not Maelon. Dwynwen fled and begged God for help. An angel appeared and gave her a potion to forget Maelon, after which, he was turned into ice and Dwynwen was granted the three wishes.

The story was first written by Iolo Morganwg, an 18^th Century poet, antiquarian and literary forger, who most likely made it up. Dwynwen may well have been a real woman, though, as there are records of someone with that name in the genealogies of Welsh kings from around the 4^th Century. Her father, Brychan Brycheiniog was a semi-legendary figure and I think all stories come from some kind of truth, however small.

The name Dwynwen means “she who leads a blessed life” and, as well as being the Welsh saint of lovers, she is also the saint of animals.

The day itself has become more popular in recent years and can be celebrated whether you’re Welsh or not. The Welsh for “St Dwynwen’s Day” is “Dydd Santes Dwynwen”.

A little shameless promotion: if you’re looking for a gift or keepsake for someone for Dydd Santes Dwynwen or St Valentine’s Day, the hand-painted hearts in the photos here are available in my shop, currently with 10% off!  Rusty and Boots Shop

As usual, you can find me here:

instagram.com/rusty_and_boots

twitter.com/RustyandBoots

pinterest.com/RustyandBoots

facebook.com/RustyandBoots


If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact me. Have a lovely St Dwynwen’s Day.

Wall Art for Your Home

Hello again! It’s been quite a while since I last wrote a blog post. Things, such as life, have been getting in the way and as time marches on, there seems to be less of it. I’ve been busy with my shop and some personal things that have taken my time. I hope to post regularly from now on though.

While I’ve been away from my blog, I’ve been making lots of new wall art and having lots more ideas, which are all drawn in my ideas sketchbook with notes on colours, shapes, etc and I hope you’ll be seeing them soon. 

One of the new things I’ve been working on is dreamcatchers as wall hangings. I’ve been interested in them for a while, since my mother bought me one for a birthday years ago and I love the idea of them.

They’re originally a Native American creation, made with string, beads and feathers and are meant to catch the bad dreams and let the good dreams through, but I have read somewhere that the opposite is true: that they catch the good dreams for you and let the bad ones through so you don’t have them. Most people agree on the first explanation, but if you have any thoughts on which one is correct, let me know.

Just a side note: I love the Native American mythology and way of looking at the world; I think it’s quite similar to the Celtic myth and view with its connection to nature, respect for the land and seeing Spirits in every tree, rock and river.

With the dreamcatchers I’ve made so far, I haven’t tried to copy those traditional types; I’ve done something different, using weaving and crochet. The lavender crocheted dreamcatcher is inspired by winter with its pale frostiness and I’ve tried to make the crochet look like a snowflake. The “frosted” leaves are all handmade from scratch and take quite a while to make. It would be a lovely addition to a cool, minimal décor.

The purple and orange dreamcatchers are hand woven and are the first two items that I’ve woven in the round, apart from experiments. One is very bold, with warm colours and the other I decided to make an opposite, with cool, calming hues. They’re both finished off with a simple fringe and the varying yarns – from 4 ply to chunky – give a lovely texture. Also, because they’re handmade and I can’t achieve the same placement of yarn with its varying colours every time, each one is unique. If I make another purple one it won’t be exactly the same as this one, meaning that you’ll have a one-off piece.

I think I now love weaving as much as crochet! 

All of these, along with other items, are available now in my shop with free shipping to the UK. You can find it here: Rusty and Boots

They won’t be on their own for long as I have more dreamcatchers on the way.

This one has recently joined them:

It’s handmade with chunky yarn in blush pink and beige and is a bit of wall art that will bring a hint of cosiness to your décor this winter. Just looking at it makes me feel warm and comfy!

As always, you can find me on social media where I try to reply as soon as I can:

Instagram: @rusty_and_boots

Twitter: @RustyandBoots

Facebook: @RustyandBoots

Pinterest: RustyandBoots

Slow Burners

There are a few “slow burners” for me to tell you about today. The first is that, if you haven’t seen my social media posts, my shop Rusty and Boots is now open on Etsy! Yay!

I’ve wanted to do this for a long time, very long, but now it’s finally happening and I’m excited but nervous about it too. Some of the items on my shop are my wall hangings that I’ve already shared on this blog and some are newer, my hand painted hearts, for example, but all the work is handmade by me.

There have been quite a few hurdles to overcome in getting my shop open and the work ready for it, setbacks and delays etc. but it got there in the end. It’s now a reality and I can’t quite believe it. Textiles and art have been really big things in my life since I was old enough to hold a paintbrush and my mother taught me to sew and knit as a young child, so to have an opportunity to create things for you is amazing.

Here are a few of the things available so far:

My painted hearts.

 My wall hangings.

The wall hangings are made to order so may differ slightly in the details but that means that each one is unique, no two will be exactly alike. Here is the link to my shop if you’d like to have a better look: RustyandBoots

I’ve got more things coming soon and I hope you like them.  

I’ve also been experimenting with something else;

I’ve had a bit of an interest in pyrography for a while and always wanted to have a go. So, for my birthday this year, my parents got me a pyrography tool. Yay!

Pyrography turns out to be not a great thing to be doing in the hot weather that we had this summer, but it’s good for keeping you warm on chilly winter days.

As I’ve only just begun to try this, my attempts are not perfect, but they’re ok I think. They’re good enough to give me encouragement to carry on and get better. Here are a few of my first forays into pyrography.

 Here, I’ve tried to get the pattern going all around the box.

 Finally, I wish you a happy Winter Solstice… 

…and a Merry Christmas. 

Progress

I know I’m going really slowly with this but I don’t know why. My “Wild Nature” wall hanging has now been embroidered by hand and I’ve got to make the leaves.

I think this is going slowly because I’m having so many ideas at the moment and I’m getting distracted by them. I bought this lovely hand-dyed wool top from Crafty Cat Knitty Bits to try to do some felting with it. 

I’ve had ideas about trying felting again for a while though I haven’t done anything about it, but when I saw this, the colours were so gorgeous I had to get it.

Lovely Debs who made it sent an extra piece of wool which I couldn’t wait to try, so I made this bracelet.

It’s fairly easy to felt really, you just need wool, water and soap and rub it all like mad. I first learned how to do it when I was 18 and doing the Foundation Art and Design course. My first attempt didn’t turn out that well though; it was felted but because I’d used different colours of felt in a pattern, they weren’t really that neat. I hope I’ve improved!

I’ve begun some of my new ideas as well and I’m going to give you a sneaky peek at them. Here is a painted heart which I’m going to use with some fabric.

And here’s another painted heart with a grass and flower picture.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been boiling during the last week. This heatwave is kind of nice in that it’s been dry, but it’s been too hot for me. The air has seemed thick with the heat, like it’s pressing on me and I’ve resorted to eating ice cream and lollies nearly every day. It’s been hard work! I’m thinking of emigrating to Norway. Or Iceland. Or maybe the North Pole. Yes, the North Pole sounds nice. Here’s hoping it cools down this week, just a bit. Have a nice time whatever you’re doing.

Wild Nature II

With the wonderful weather we’ve had the last few weeks, I’ve been inspired and more energised to create more textile pieces. I’ve been working on another version of my Wild Nature wall hanging; the one I made before was a bit too small so I had to make it again to my satisfaction. It’s still in the work in progress stage, but here are some shots of its development.

As with the Wild Nature no.1, it began with strips of satin in varying shades of green:

Then I printed organza with a leaf pattern and layered it on top:

And now I’m hand sewing swirls through all layers:

It’s important to me to get this right because

1, I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I like to make sure everything is done to the best standard I can achieve, although I’m aware that being a perfectionist can have its downfall in that you can sometimes not want to let something go, to believe that it’s done and done well. I’ve mellowed a bit in the last few years and I’m happy if something is “good enough”. I’m also more inclined to see a problem as a challenge to overcome rather than immediately thinking “it’s not working!” and having a meltdown. But if a line of stitching isn’t straight or isn’t going the right way, I’ll unpick it and do it again, otherwise it will be on my mind all the time. Someone else might not notice, but I’ll know it’s not right!

2, It’s all part of the goal I have for this year. I know I keep mentioning this goal then not telling you much about it, but I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to shout about things until they’re definite. It seems to be coming together at the moment though, so hopefully it won’t be too long before I can tell you everything.

Meanwhile… the flowers are continuing to grow and bloom. The bluebells have chimed…

 …and the tulips have shone with bright colours.

 My aquilegias have unveiled their glory…

 …and this beautiful flower appeared nearby.

I think it’s Cuckooflower, also known as lady’s smock and it’s beautiful, but then I think all flowers are beautiful. 😊🌺🌼

Enjoy the holiday weekend. 

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.