‘Lino’ Print Owls

I’ve been wanting to try lino printing for quite some time now but I don’t have the correct tools or the inclination to buy the tools.  I do however, have a pack of vinyl floor tiles and a series of gouges that Alasdair uses for his carvings.

Ever the type to make do with what I have, I decided to see if the vinyl tiles could do as good a job as lino.  I think the outcome is passable although nowhere near as clear as those I’ve seen from lino…this could also be to do with my lack of ink and brayer and my improvisation of kids paint and a spongy paint roller (also designed for kids).

Not at all bad though.  I printed the outline shape and then cut the same piece of vinyl further to create lines, which I then painted black.  I love all the extra bits that are created from the carving.  Many would remove these ridges but I think they add something of a handmade quality.

I’m thinking of combining this technique with some of my handmade paper and a more elaborate picture for some more luxurious prints.

Blue Suede Birds

Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to come across a lengthy piece of blue (what we think is fake) suede in the fabric shop.  It was screaming out to me to make some birds…so I did.

It was kind of difficult to sew with.  I kept feeling as though the needle hole would tear, but when I came to stuff it turns out that fabric is really hard wearing and the resulting bird has a really nice soft appearance and feel.

I also tried something different with the legs and they have held in position really well, while being a lot easier to get in place.  The eye is sewn on this one rather than being a bead…just because I couldn’t be bothered to find my pot of seed beads!

The stitching on these is with darning wool rather than embroidery floss.

And, the underside is the opposite side of the blue suede effect.  Still lovely and soft though.

Available in the shop

too soon for Christmas decorations?

We’ve been renovating our house since moving in almost four years ago.  Progress is slow but steady and lately we’ve (read Alasdair) been ripping out the old electrics in one room that will eventually be our living room.  The old wire is a lovely thick copper wire that we just couldn’t throw away.  So, I made some Christmas hanging decorations, while Alasdair replastered the walls!

Simple one first…the star.  Made from heavy grade copper wire that has been lightly sanded and bent to shape.

So pleased was I with the star, that I decided to branch out and try an angel.  I must admit to having to raid some colouring books for the basic outline!

Pretty good, eh?  The star and angel set will be available from our stall at the fairs we’re attending this winter.  Who knows, they might be joined by a gingerbread man or two.

Just in case all that Christmas decor is making you feel a little out of season, I also made this rather fetching copper and vintage button bangle.  I am particularly proud of this, my first attempt at real jewellery from scratch.

With copper in such short supply, it makes me feel I’m doing my bit for the planet by recycling the wire rather than throwing it out.

Now, back to the renovating I think.  Today the central heating is having a good old clean out.

Chocolate meringue torte

I made this cake at the request of my wee boy who wanted it for his seventh birthday, no doubt he wanted it due to the large quantities of chocolate involved and the extremely pretty picture in the recipe book which was all swirls and twirls of chocolate … not a finish I was able to achieve, although not for lack of trying!

We decorated the cake in the only way kids generally know how, with a range of sprinkles and a mismatch of candles, as things stand I’ve been referring to this, and I apologise for the crudity, but it’s ‘the cow-pat cake’!?  Not that it tastes like one you understand … not that I know what one tastes like!  Definitely one for the chocoholics out there though.

What you’ll need:

• 6 egg whites
• 220g caster sugar
• 140g slivered almonds
• 95g dried fruit
• 200g dark chocolate, grated
• 300g ricotta cheese
• 180g single cream
• 80ml Tia Maria
• 200g white chocolate melts
• 200g milk chocolate melts
• 200g dark chocolate melts

What you need to do:

1. Preheat your oven to 150C.
2. Grease a 24cm spring-form tin lining the base
3. Beat the egg whites in a medium bowl – if you are intending on eating the cake yourself you should probably do it by hand to burn off some of the calories you’re going to be consuming later – until soft peaks form
4. Gradually add the sugar beating it in every time you add some.
5. Fold in the nuts, fruit and half the grated chocolate.
6. Deposit mix in the greased tin.
7. Bake in the oven for around 1 1/4 hours until it’s firm, cool meringue in the oven leaving the door ajar
8. Meanwhile, beat the cheese and the cream in a medium bowl until there are no lumps, stir in liqueur and remaining chocolate, place to one side, in the fridge is good.
9. Melt the chocolate melts (in 200g gram batches) adding each batch to the cream mixture.
10. Mix the topping together well, as it cools it will begin to thicken.
11. Liberally spread the topping over the meringue centre.
12. Decorate as you wish, or not at all, and serve.

Glasgow West End Craft Fair – Saturday 10th July 2010

Preparations are well under way for our first craft fair of 2010, which will take place in Hillhead Library in Glasgow’s West End this coming Saturday.

In the true spirit of leaving everything until the last minute, we have a list as long as both our arms of work to complete before Saturday morning and, in the true spirit of procrastination (something that we are very good at) Alasdair is currently rewiring the house and replacing the plasterboard, while I am busy redesigning and packaging my button pendants.

Going off on a tangent for a moment, these boards to hold my necklaces were made partially from the paper I made a couple of weeks ago.  I mounted the paper onto mount board and stamped ‘madestuff’ along the bottom, cut a couple of notches in the top to hold the cord and (in a later version) threaded a piece of wire through to hold the cord in place.  I’m so pleased with the way they worked out.

So, the list of things to do is still as long as our arms; however it’ll be alright on the day and if you would like to come along and meet us in person, and see some of the many other wonderful crafts on sale from numerous other makers, we’d love to see you there.

The details are on our events page.

making paper while the sun shines

Back in April I entered a competition on the Craft Scotland website to win a copy of Papermaking and Bookbinding: Coastal Inspirations by Joanne B Kaar and was delighted to learn a few weeks ago that I was one of the lucky winners.  I was even more delighted when I received my book last week to find that making paper isn’t the painful experience I remember it to be from my childhood attempts, where the paper ends up all pulpy and useless.  The book also contains all sorts of suggestions for jazzing up your handmade papers and what to do with all that paper you’ve made.  I particularly like the embossing from driftwood idea.

This Instructable describes the very method I used.

On a complete whim today (so wholly unprepared with any sort of shop bought materials) I made my first batch of paper, which is now handing merrily in the bathroom drying slowly – as directed in the book.

Tomorrow I get the iron out to flatten them out and decide what their fate might be.  I can’t decide between labels for my handmade photo notebooks or whether I should print onto them and frame them as works of art.  I kind of like that idea though…such ugly, unnecessary junk turned into art.

Just in case you think we’re really clatty, that grout is in fact pink and not dirty!  We inherited a baby blue and pink bathroom (complete with pink grout and, for some very odd reason, an orange shower tray) when we bought our current house and it’s not up there on the list of priorities to change, in spite of it’s very scary appearance.

Given wings, would we fly?

It seems like forever and a day since I originally thought about giving my bonnie birds wings, indeed, it seems like forever and a day since I actually started making this one!  Based around the same principles as it’s forebears I had to add some additional armature to build the wings both from a practical point of view but also to ensure that they would be strong enough to stand-up to life’s little knocks.  This is the end result

I’m reasonably pleased with the finished product although, contrary to what it looks like, I had an abstraction of a Green Finch in mind when I painted it!

{image source}

You would think that given, aside from chaffinches, that this is the only bird that visits our garden with any regularity that I’d be able to summon up an image in my minds eye and work it up on one of my bonnie birds; it seems my mind is prone to wandering when I pick up a paintbrush and the notion that I might paint anything in the fashion that I originally intended is completely lost!!

Available to buy from the shop

Iris – rainbow sock creature

Iris thinks of herself as a Greek goddess with her lush lips and impatient stance … it’s why she always seems to have her hands on her hips, no doubt tapping her toes. The truth of it though is that she is more messenger than goddess, her purpose being to take those dreams that are lovingly whispered in her ear and help make them come true, she’s on first name terms with the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and, most important of all, the Fairy Godmother. Of course the more cuddles and love she gets the more likely she is to pass on your hopes and dreams.

Available from the shop.

Eating Daisies …

Seemingly daisies are edible, yum, they have very light peppery flavour and there are loads of them around.  Which is handy, since the kids seem to be permanently hungry … or at the very least bored which seems to inevitably lead to cries of:

“I’m bored.  Can I have something to eat?”

Now I have the answer:

“YES!  You can eat daisies!?”

In light of this revelation here is a wee homage to the humble Daisy (clicking on the images will take you to the artist or crafter’s site):

Daisy Flower art poster by Derek McCrea

Daisy by chavez666

tiny daisy post earrings by peculiar forest

Daisy and ribbon by Sighs and Whispers

Webs of development

It seems that the higher the temperatures get with the incredible – if not late – onset of spring and summer the lower my enthusiasm for doing crafts becomes.  Given the choice of doing ‘work’ in the garden or sitting doing crafts it seems that the garden chores win out every-time … not that there isn’t plenty to be getting on with out there!

I’ve not been completely idle though on the craft front with a couple of developmental pieces underway.  This one was just done for fun when I was messing about with some left over mache.

The spider in the foreground here was my first, half-hearted attempt at a spider, partially inspired by some fabric spiders I caught a glimpse of on Ann Wood’s blog that Jolene follows, clearly it bears no real resemblance to that spider – it really just provided the kernel of a notion that later developed (and is developing) into an idea.

Following the creation of this rather cartoon-like spider I went on to work on something a bit more life-like with reference to a variety of spider photo’s and biology models that I found around and about on the internet.  The end result was this spider pictured below.

I’m still not entirely satisfied with the spider – although I do like the mandible’s – I think the Abdomen (back bit) is too small in relation to the Cephalothorax (front bit).  I may work up another version of this, weather permitting, that’s a bit more anatomically correct – although I don’t think I’ve ever made anything that’s not largely abstract … it might be an interesting challenge.

I’ve nearly finished working on a winged version of my bonnie birds, another development piece, and I’ll share that when it’s finished too.