Summer stuff

"Foxglove, foxglove, what do you see?"

The cool green woodland, the fat velvet bee;
Hey Mr Bumble, I've honey here for thee!

"Foxglove, foxglove, what see you now?"
The soft summer moonlight on bracken, grass and bough;
And all the fairies dancing as only they know how

Cicely Mary Barker

foxgloves at Morvah

I've never had a lot of luck with foxgloves in my garden
but these quintessentially English summer flowers
grow prolifically in the hedgerows and woodlands around me
so I delight in them there

I love foxgloves almost as much as I love honeysuckle
the hedgerows far more alluring than a cultivated garden
"round whose feet ... a thousand fairies flock with blossoms sweet"

July and summertime bring many sweet pleasures
the strawberries that grow in the wild are by far the sweetest!

of course ... I sampled :o)

and this was on my way to Tescos
which was a rather strange experience for me since
I got half way there and discovered I still had my slippers on
my mind not quite on the job in hand obviously!

in fact there has been too much going on recently
and once again a bit of a catch up is necessary

Friday 10 June

I had a trip on the open top bus to visit a friend
who lives in the stunning countryside near Morvah

I always enjoy sitting out in the fresh air (and I mean fresh!)
it's alright so long as your dressed for the occasion
(and take a plastic carrier bag to sit on)
so would thoroughly recommend it if you get the chance!

the day passed far too quickly with visits to galleries at
Morvah School House and Yew Tree Gallery
as well as lunch at The Cook Book in St. Just

and a trip to Flying Squirrel for the purchase of batting
for my art quilt for Festival of Quilts
(separate post about that later)

and another blustery ride back to St. Ives!

looks can be deceptive!
Wednesday 15th June
Crow Day with Jo

Crow Days with my friend Jo are always loads of fun
really it's just licence to be silly, laugh a lot and have time to stitch
otherwise known as "professional development"

I started this spring landscape piece earlier in the year
but it has since turned into an autumn landscape
with the addition of seedheads, bare trees and autumn leaves

it's still not finished ... there are many more leaves to stitch
but soon ... I hope ... there will be some peaceful time to sew

Jo and I went to see the poignant exhibition of work by Roy Ray
"Observations on a Journey" and
"Where their footsteps left no trace"

Roy Ray with four of the five panels

an incredibly powerful exhibition of his paintings and assemblages
which form part of The Evilution Project
(please do visit)

These five panels each measuring 5ft x 2ft are part of the first phase of the Evilution Project and are memorials to the millions of innocent men, women and children who became victims of conflict by the corrupt use of science and technology: many because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time or from the wrong country or wrong race. Every single one of those people meant something to someone and should not be forgotten

the panels are shortly to be installed at
St Peter's Church, nr. Ground Zero, New York

from 30 July 2011
they will be exhibited there during the 10th anniversary of
the September 11th terror attacks on The World Trade Centre

see press release for more information

Friday 17 June

We had friends arrive to stay with us in the cottage for two weeks

Just before (really bad timing) my washing machine "conveniently" broke down and I waited all week for parts to arrive and then it became apparent it couldn't be fixed and I needed a new one so then a frustrating few days was spent catching up with laundry etc.

The weather was really bad too with rain and cold chilly winds
so I stayed home and made beads whenever I had the chance

Tuesday 21 June

Jo and I went to see the exhibition of mixed media
and fine art textiles at Camborne College

I enjoyed seeing some fabulous and interesting work
from the fine art textile students
my favourite pieces were by Annie Ward

followed by a trip to the Cornwall Scrap Store for stash top ups

and photographing some natural patterns on the wall
of the old building round the back of the Scrap Store

and a treat of hot chocolate drink and
lemon cake at Costa Coffee in Hayle ... yum!

Sunday 26th June

We had our hottest day of the year so far ... swelteringly hot
and on Monday we had a day of fog and Cornish mizzle in St. Ives

we woke to a misty morning

our misty morning inspired this mosaic for Mosaic Monday

with thanks to my friends on flickr for sharing their beautiful photographs

1. Somewhat compulsive 2. Beach
3. Porthmeor beach, St Ives 4. Misty water spotty rocks

it didn't stop us getting out for beachcombing
and it didn't stay misty too long

early evening in St. Ives

Thursday 3oth June

a seaside inspired mosaic for TILT ♥

Things I love Thursday

seaside piers, board walks, shiny shells, white coral
sea fans, sea urchins, mussels, ethereal seascapes
birds, shimmery wet sand and white surf spray

1. Southend on Sea pier new pier extension, c. 1908 2. ATC Seaside traded 3. Shiny 4. White coral 5. Felted vessel 6. Sea fan 7. Shell collection 8. Pieces of the collection 9. Little seascape 10. Grey morning 11. Shell 12. Mussel shell 13. Starling

1st July

better late than never ... my calendar for July

image courtesy - rosewithoutathorn84

July wishes ... sunshine and time to enjoy it

Sorry it was a long one again but I had to catch up because the next month is also going to be another busy one with family coming to stay on Tuesday and the rest of the month spent bent over my sewing machine working on my entry for Festival of Quilts. I will be sharing the progress of my quilt at a later stage ... for the time being I need to make some serious headway with it!!!

I shall be at Festival of Quilts on Thursday 11 August

I don't leave Cornwall to go "up country" very often
so it would be nice to meet as many of you as I can on the day

please do let me know if you will be at FOQ on Thursday
it would be lovely to say "hello"

creative wishes
Carolyn ♥

Mosaic Monday

Good morning Monday
Mosaic Monday - red paint

delicious red paint - all textured and peeling - so wonderful!
1. Arch 2. Red door 3. Red paint 4. Painted bondaweb
5. Nicola 6. Red barn paint

thank you to my flickr friends and faves for sharing their art ♥

because every now and then a girl needs a fix of red!

have a "fabulous" week ♥

A recipe for natural dyeing

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart

Celia Thaxter

1. Make a wish 2. Dandelion textures 3. Dandelion 2
4. All that we lost 5. Universe
6. Taraxacum Officinale (Blow-Ball)
7. Dandies 8. Blowball 9. One

a final goodbye to summer ...

that end of summer feeling

As always thank you to my flickr friends and faves in both mosaics
for sharing their beautiful photos:
1. . 2. Save the best for last 3. Letting go 4. Almost

and welcome autumn with all it's beauty

pumpkins and gourds


I'd like to introduce you to a flower I've come to love

the montbretia or crocosmia

It looks and grows like wildfire in Cornwall

Until a couple of years ago I considered it to be a problem plant in the garden, very hard to control, very prolific. Every Autumn, I would clear my garden of it, pulling most of it up at the bulb, but each Spring it would be spread across the garden. It even grows in our granite walls, in the tiniest of stone crevices

It's now my new best friend ;o)
since discovering that it produces a lovely yellow dye

Last year I managed to get a really strong, sunshine yellow batch of fabrics
This year, not quite so vibrant but still a pretty, true yellow

I used snippets of the faded montbretia fabrics
to make some hearts stuffed with lavender
with beaded danglies

beaded danglies

snippets of montbretia fabric

For this one I used scrim dyed with onion skins
(see the last post)

shells, beads and french knots
one of my favourite combos

... and so I thought I would answer
some frequently asked questions about natural dyeing ...

The question I get asked most is whether or not I use a mordant

when I dye with plant materials

The answer is that I've never mordanted my fabrics before dyeing. However, some silk fabrics may have been pre-treated for colour-fastness before purchase which is why the silks are more vibrant sometimes

My interest in natural dyeing lies in the gathering of the natural plant material, the dyeing process, what colours can be fetched from leaves, berries and flowerheads and how strong and naturally colourfast the unmordanted fabrics stay with time. I'm experimenting and recording my results with samples ... and the results you've seen on my blog so far are all completely natural

Treating fabrics with the correct mordant prior to dyeing will make them more vibrant and colour fast. I shall be repeating all my experiments with treated fabrics at some stage, but at the moment I'm still playing with the natural process

beautiful patterns on a eucalyptus leaf

The other most frequently asked question is about the process
I tend to use same method, no matter the plant material I'm using
There is nothing fancy required


Very simple recipe for natural dyeing

Ingredients
dedicated* metal pan/saucepan
dedicated*seive/strainer
dedicated* spoon
some old glass jars/jam jars
a variety of different natural textured fabrics
(ie. cotton, linen, silk, scrim, old bits of crochet or cotton lace, cotton/silk threads)
your chosen plant material

* dedicated = a utensil saved especially for dyeing purposes
(not one you are going to cook tea with later!)

[I have to say this - it's health and safety!]

♥

Method

1. Boil a kettle of water
2. Place your berries/leaves/flowerheads in your pan
3. Pour over boiling water - just enough to cover your plant material
4. Set a timer for approx. 15 mins
5. Simmer the pan on a low heat for approx. 15 mins
6. Allow the pan to cool
7. Pour the liquid into the glass jars (straining off the plant material)
8. Put your fabrics in the jars
9. Leave for up to a week
10. Don't worry if it smells a bit or if mould forms on the top - it makes interesting marks
11. After a few days or up to a week - rinse fabrics and wash thoroughly
12. Dry fabrics and iron (if required)


More ideas ...
Place soggy leaves/flower heads between sketchbook pages and press
Use the dye for colourwashing sketchbook pages or drawing with a dip pen


Natural dyeing with eucalyptus leaves
already a darker brown - I'm feeling hopeful!

... and finally ...
a very simple autumn project for the children

printing with leaves
using paints and rubber stamp pads


kick through some leaves this weekend
and collect a few favourites to take home

Happy weekend
Carolyn ♥

Autumn blessings (part 2)

The art of being happy

lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things

Henry Ward Beecher

softly October

Soft autumn colours for Mosaic Monday

Thank you to my flickr friends and faves for sharing their beautiful work:

1. The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness
from common things - Henry Ward Beecher
2. 3. Blätter 4. Oak Leaves 20 Sep09


♥

~ thank you for visiting me and leaving such lovely comments ~
~ it's a pleasure to hear from you, when I know you are busy too ~

~ simple pleasures ~

to ramble along a dusty lane
to feel twigs snapping underfoot
to hear leaves rustling in the wind
and chance upon conkers and acorn cups

~ happiness ~

is a delicate sycamore seed
a falling leaf, a seed pod, a shell
raindrops and birdsong
an umbel shaped seedhead

~ happiness ~

is arranging autumn's finds in a playful way
and using nature's gifts to dye with

more avocado dyeing

Avocado

This was a bit of an experiment. I left the avocado skins in the fridge for a month so the skins darkened to almost black and the insides were quite brown. I wasn't sure they would work at all as it looked really yucky in the pan, but I still got an earthy pink from it eventually. I like the piece of scrim at the bottom ... crinkly like lace

Eucalyptus leaves

Eucalyptus leaves with a soothing aroma

Eucalyptus leaves

A dear friend gave me a huge bag of these leaves. They smell heavenly! I have only used a fraction so far. This is my first attempt at using the leaves to dye with. Next time I try it I shall try to get a stronger solution. This was a bit too watery. Anyhow, I got a gingery brown coloured dye and left the fabrics soaking in it for a week


The fabrics have a subtle yellow/brown. The silk especially is very pretty. I want to try this again. If I have a stronger solution I feel I may get a more vibrant ginger brown

Brown onion skins

Brown onion skins

A tried and tested favourite. I had been collectiong onion skins in a bag in the fridge for months until I had absolutely loads. I used the whole lot in one dye batch with not too much water and got such a strong colour almost immediately. I think the onions themselves (an English variety) were very strong indeed as I had such sore eyes from peeling them when cooking

I'm really pleased with these fabrics
They've been through the washing machine
and are still really deep in colour

The piece of lace (which is not a natural fabric)
came out a very pretty pale yellow

I also have some natural dyeing with montbretia (crocosmia) to share with you in the next post and some more hearts I made with the montbretia dyed fabrics (a paler, truer yellow)

from Cathy Cullis

~ happiness ~

is reading poetry
handling deliciously soft threads
sorting your stash
colourwashing/painting sketchbook pages
and preparing for new projects

Stef Francis threads in early autumn shades ... very inspiring!

Sketchbook pages

~ happiness ~

is spending time with friends
allowing yourself some time to play
and nice surprises in the post

Autumn inspiration

Art Sketchbooks Workshop

Julie and I both love the work of artist Sally MacCabe so we treated ourselves to Sally's sketchbooks workshop last Wednesday. Sally's studio and all her work and sketchbooks are just so wonderful you can't help but be inspired

The first thing we did was cover our sketchbooks to personalise our books and identify a theme. My sketchbook is going to be full of autumn inspiration so I chose pumpkin orange and gold for mine. We used gesso for texture and then acrylics to colour

I'm really pleased with the texture and colour gradiant. It's got a nice feel I want to keep handling it, which is a good thing!

We played with many techniques such as monoprinting, drawing with ink and water, wax resist, wet in wet watercolour and painted and stamped pages to make a Tim Holtz book

my tile - monoprinting

another tile - monoprinting

after a while the samples started piling up

playing with wax resist and wet in wet watercolour

pebbles in autumn colours

Sally cooked us a lovely lunch and then wouldn't let us leave the studio until we had stuck some things in our new sketchbooks. Julie and I both had such a lovely time. It was a grand day out :o)

~ happiness is a sweet surprise ~

The very next day I couldn't believe my luck but I had another lovely parcel with sweet gifts from Cathy ... some of her beautiful hand dyed fabrics, a small painting and one of her acorns

I adore my acorn!

Cathy's used her hand dyed fabrics
with hand stitched decorations and buttons

I went for a ramble along a dusty lane and
hung the acorn on a lichen covered tree

and then noticed I was being watched ;o)

~ simple pleasures ~

pleasant walks
and making an ATC I made for a friend
with sycamore seed wings painted in copper

and making little tags with fabric layers, text
and sycamore seeds tinted with gold

I know it was a long post
thank you for reading down to the bottom ;o)

hope you find happiness in simple things this week
Carolyn ♥