Showing posts with label presents. Show all posts
Showing posts with label presents. Show all posts

Saturday, 16 January 2010

another sampler

I never seem to have enough hours in the day to get everything done. I procrastinate too much I know. Today started off well but petered out after dinner when the dishwasher flooded half the kitchen, and the book binding didn't seem to go so well after that, gluey finger prints all over... I have all these ideas in my head but I seem to take so long to start. And the list keeps growing...

Anyway, this sampler, a gift for a friend, took me nearly 2 years to make (with lots of procrastination breaks of course) but I got there in the end...


If a child lives with criticism,
he learns to condemn.

If a child lives with hostility,
he learns to fight.

If a child lives with ridicule,

he learns to be shy.

If a child lives with shame,
he learns to feel guilty.
If a child lives with tolerance,
he learns to be patient.
If a child lives with encouragement,

he learns confidence.

If a child lives with praise,
he learns to appreciate.
If a child lives with fairness,
he learns justice.
If a child lives with security,

he learns to have faith.

If a child lives with approval,
he learns to like himself.
If a child lives with acceptance and friendship,

he learns to find love in the world


Dorothy Law Nolte



It's harder than it looks designing a sampler; the last two I've done I've spent ages on the computer colouring in pixels on photoshop, moving about the design elements in their separate layers until the whole thing looks right, and then started to sew, having to check back at the computer and count pixels on the screen to follow the pattern.


This time I thought I'd take a more organic approach and just started sewing in the middle of the cloth... I really admire old samplers, done by women and girls to practice their embroidery, learn stitches and sayings and record their family history. I love to visit Bankfield Museum near my parents house and look at the samplers they have on display. I found an old one in an antique shop but it was too much money (I'll just have to make my own...) I think sometimes the design of then looks quite random. Sometimes they don't look like they've followed a pattern but rather just copied elements from other samplers or made shapes up to fit the space they had. So that's what I tried to do...


It was quite liberating when I managed to stop worrying about what should go where. Just picking a motif I liked and making a start. Looking back I wish I had planned it slightly more as it was very hard to find a frame that fit the proportions, and I think maybe I should've centered the text to make it more symmetrical, but all in all I'm happy with how it turned out. And Abbie liked it which is the main thing after all!

Tuesday, 5 August 2008

secret belgium dinosaurs...

This morning I finished making the prints I was talking about a few days ago in to a dino book for my friends wedding present...


Above is the front and back, and here is what it looks like opened up...


Ahhh, dinosaurs in love :)


I'm getting to like this style of binding (the secret belgium style), even though each time I've sewn it I've done it a different way... This time I used a combination of methods involving sewing the cover around the pages but not attaching it, then sewing in the pages loosely, looping around every spine thread and then tightening them up at the end. The book feels fairly sturdy, it just took ages :)


Anyway, I'm going to be away for a week or so now as I've got two weddings in various parts of the country and a trip to Amsterdam to keep me occupied... So, have a good week, hope the sun shines where you are :)

Wednesday, 15 August 2007

perfect little birds

I've had a bit of a busy stressful day at work today, on the phone all day for clearing, so I though I would tell you about something that will definitely cheer me up...


The other day I received the most lovely gift in the post, from Marianne at applehead. One of the beautiful Japanese books she found in Melbourne, can you imagine my reaction when I found out she wanted to send one to me!





I'm actually lost for words at the generosity and just... perfectness (I know it's not a word) of this gift. It's so me in every way, I think she certainly knows me, even though we've never met!


And she included some of her lovely postcards, what a treat! Of course I'm trying to make her something extra special in return, although I doubt it could make her as pleased as I am... I really love this aspect of blogging, both giving and receiving really is such a joy. When I began blogging it never crossed my mind that all this fun parcel sending would be part of it, but it's such a treat to be involved, to post something out to someone that makes their day, and to hopefully do the same in return. Look at the little birdies!


Yes blogging is definitely good for the soul!

Sunday, 29 July 2007

tweedy

Not much on the creative front today, as I've been tidying out my cupboards and boxes and shelves and reorganizing everything into more sensible places. I'm telling myself this time spent will be helpful in the long run, that now all the cotton is together in one box and coloured paper together in another there will be less 'where is this?' distractions and I will be more productive in general...


or I could just be procrastinating...


Anyway. I didn't make this bag. It's a gift (I'm so lucky at the moment! I suppose it's my consolation for not having a summer holiday this year) from Donegal in Ireland, this tweed is normally made into rather fetching hats. Well, I love a bit of tweed so this is perfect! And silky mustard lining too, what more could you want...


Happy Sunday!