Sorting out fabrics for EDAC

Last night I sat down and started sorting out the fabrics for EDAC. Here are some that I am going to take with me. Some of the ladies have already booked them for themselves. I think my bag will be raided as soon as I land there tee.. hee...

Paintings that evoked some fond memories

Today I came across my old oil painting pad which I used to use during my school holidays. Actually I thought I had lost it but oh I was so thrilled to find it hiding amongst my other things and was very pleasantly surprised to see these two paintings which I had started but never finished in the pad.
The first one is a painting of the place where I grew up, a hill station nestling amongst the Sathpura ranges known as Pachmarhi. It brought back so many memories. I remember I wanted to paint this picture of the lake and that particular spot was my favourite spot from the road which used to skirt the lake because of the view. All the views were lovely but this one was my favourite. I think I had grand ideas of painting this picture. I thought I could paint like Constable or Turner LOL! I remember being quite disappointed when it didn't turn out the way I had pictured it so I left it unfinished.
Anyway let me give you a small tour of the painting. On the far right hand side there was a little hillock on which was my Dad's office. You can't see it as it was hidden amongst the trees. It was a lovely old Colonial type building. By the way most of the area that you see in the picture belongs to the Army. So as you move along towards the left far beyond you see a clump of trees those are supposed to be Eucalyptus trees and there was a big Banyan tree under which the Indian Army Bands used to practice. As you move along again still further to the left you see the bridge. Oh what fun we used to have as kids there. During our summer holidays my friends and I would tag along behind our brothers and come fishing here. Not that we caught anything but it was fun. Since my dad was in the army and being such a small place everyone knew everyone else so we kids were sort of tolerated by the army camp people.
The bridge that you see is a concret bridge which replaced an old wooden bridge as some of the planks had disappeared. It used to be very exciting for us as kids to cross this bridge. Now moving again towards the left you see some tents and some buildings. Well there were rows and rows of them still further left which is not in the picture. Those were the tents for the soilders. If you look closely you will see very close to the lake couple of pens. They were not used but I guess during the time of British Raj they would have been used. Those used to fasinate us but we were not allowed to go near them. That big hill straight ahead was known as Club Hill at first because there was a club at the foothills. Later on it came to be known as Pachmarhi hill. Although this hill was not the highest point but the panoramic view of the whole town was fantastic. We used to often climb it during our holidays. You see that house on the hillock on the opposite side. One of my friend used to live there. We would often walk back together from school and her dog would spot us from far and come running to meet us. It would then take the bag from my friend and take her home. A pity our house couldn't be seen from any part of the lake otherwise I would surely have painted it. It was just past my dad's office. All the mountains you see in the background are supposed to be the Sathpura ranges.

I tried to copy this horse from a card and found that I ran out of space for its tail so thats where I left it.




After all that nostalagia I come to the present. Some pictures of the flowers in my garden. Today was a lovely day and I did a bit of gardening. That's it for today.

Fairy Perch

Well this is the perch I have made for my fairy. I think I can show this to you.The flower and the leaves on the stem are ready made but the seat is made by using paverpol. I wanted the doll to sit on the stem of the flower but knew it would not be able to support the weight of the doll. So I made a seat and you know me, anything that can be done easily I do it. Not much brainwork required here. First bent a wire and wrapped it around the stem to make the base then wrapped this base with dyed linen dipped in paverpol and let it dry. This steadied the base. I then dyed some thin linen with some green colorhue which was lying around. I know colorhue is for silk fabrics but I used it for this linen to try it out. After all I thought, it was going to be covered with paverpol so what did it matter what dye I used. The colour has not faded. I purposely left it near a window where the sun comes in. I then bent thin wire into the shape of leaves and stuck this dyed thin linen onto it and cut out the leaf shapes and applied the paverpol with brush onto the leaves and made it lean onto the base. It stuck to it! Once it dried it was amazing how strong it became. I think one can even make some lovely fairy wings with this stuff. It is wonderful stuff. I am going to try out something else soon but got to finish my fairy first.

Now it is there and now it is not!

I have not posted for a while simply because nothing exciting has been happening at my corner of the world and nor have I been productive with my doll making. Well I have a doll in the making unfortunately as I said earlier I can't show her to you yet. I will post her picture just before I leave for the States next month.
As you can see weekend passed by with getting rid of the pond that we had. We found it very time consuming to maintain it. All it did was breed frogs and mosquitoes and goodness knows what. The fish disappeared as breakfast for the herons sometime ago. The foxes also kept chewing up the tubing for the filter system. So now we are building a rock garden which should look nice once it fills out and have got a pebble pond in its place. At least we can hear the noise of water falling even though there isn't a water fall only a small cascade of water overflowing into the pebbles. Also the birds can have a dip in the water. You cannot see in the picture but water comes out of the big stone at the centre of the pebbles and spills over and there is a small shallow area where the water collects so the birds are happy and so are we.

Saturday I went for my dollclub meeting. We had a workshop of how to make felt dolls. I came back with a head its not much of a head but still a head. I seem to be making only heads lately ha!

The sun was out at last!

At last the sun was out and the weekend was just beautiful. I took advantage of it and just relaxed in the garden with my nieces who came to visit us. Oh it is so lovely to feel the sun. Feels as though it is years since I saw the sun!
I also did some work on my fairy's perch. I experimented with Paverpol. Sorry can't show you yet. But all I can say is I am very pleased with it.
Today back to work and guess what, the weather is still beautiful. The weather changes constantly here that no wonder we get excited over just a fews hours of sun in this country as well as we talk more about the weather than anything else!!
Glad to know that Paris is having the sunshine as well Isabelle. So now I can imagine you too enjoying the sun.

Some pictures of the lovely climbing roses in the garden



This little bee was very very busy





Thought this tree looked beautiful in the sunshine the picture doesn't do it justice. The yellow is almost golden in the sunshine.

Some pictures to share

Here are some pictures of Paris that I took

This is Place de la Concorde



This is the famous wide avenue Champs Elysees it was a cold and windy day but not so cold as England
Another view of Place de la Concorde a bit brighter now



A street artist at work

Had to rest my legs after all that walking

Who could come away without the picture of this famous landmark? Whenever I have been to Paris I have always taken one picture of it.

'Paris' magic never wanes

I got back last evening from Paris. I have always loved Paris so the magic never wanes for me whenever I visit it. I love the lovely tree lined boulevards the beautiful buildings and the soft french accents.
We just walked and walked and didn't actually visit any museums or other places of interest as we had seen those already. I would have liked to have gone to a museum but thought I wouldn't put my husband through that as visiting museums is not his favourite pass time. We did go to Pompedu and looked at it from the outside. My husband was quite intrigued by the building.
On Monday I met up with Isabelle. I was so thrilled to meet her. She was exactly as I had imagined her to be. Petite, lovely and has such beautiful hair and above all as a person she is lovely. She made special time to take us to some of the lovely fabric and trim stores inspite of her tight schedule.
We met at the Opera metro station. I was so scared that I would miss her that I kept staring at every girl that resembled even remotely like Isabelle. At one point I nearly ran behind a girl who had beautiful hair like Isabelle and was petite and wearing glasses. Whew! it was a close call I am sure I would have freaked that girl if I had approached her. But Isabelle was so sure she would recognise me that she didn't even say where at Opera we would meet. Suddenly I saw her appear beside me like magic and all was well from then onwards. She took us to Bouchara and the other fabric shops. The trims were lovely in Bouchara but I had to restrict myself to a few since they were pricey. I did manage to get some lovely fabrics and suede from Sacré Coeur fabric shops. The choice there was amazing and all under one roof. Isabelle bought some lovely fabric for herself as well. All too soon it was time for us to part. I do wish so much that we had had more time Isabelle. Next time when you come to London we can perhaps have a meal together and chat or if you have time you can come home. If we come to Paris we will make more time to spend together and we would love to meet Seb too.
Here is Isabelle and me outside on the street where they sell trims and fabrics

Gifts from Isabelle
Isabelle gave me this lovely antique lace. I simply adore it. I wanted something like this so much but because they were pricey I didn't buy any. Isabelle you must have read my mind.

This is a lovely scented box of soaps. I don't think I can pick up the courage to use them. I will perhaps put them inbetween my cloths. That way they will keep my cloths beautiful scented and will not melt away.



Earlier that weekend my husband and I went to one of the big flea markets. It was very interesting. The antiques section intrigued me a lot. There were so many things I would have liked to have bought but ended up buying some antique lace and tiny silk buttons. The silk buttons are a bit soiled but I think I can dye them since they are white. They should be ok then. I would like to wash the lace but I am not sure if I can do it with out spoiling it. Will have to ask the experts if it is ok to wash. If anyone knows could you tell me if I can wash it.

Paris here I come!

I am going to Paris for the weekend. This weekend is the Bank Holiday week here. Everyone just waits for the long weekend. It sort of puts everyone into a summery mood. Although the weather has not been anything like summer. It has been raining, windy and cold. There's nothing new about that I guess. It is a typical English weather. I hope the weather will be a bit better in Paris. I am so looking forward to the weekend. The icing on the cake will be I will get to meet Isabelle. We are going to meet up and ofcourse visit the fabric shops. Isabelle has been kind enough to fit me in in her busy schedule on Monday. In France it is a normal working day.

I would like to thank everyone for visiting my blog and putting some lovely comments. Take care all and I will be back with some more pictures and stories from Paris.

Pottery and heads

Well I have not been doing anything very interesting lately. So many other things on my mind. Just showing you a couple of heads of which one is for a swap and the other for a project I can't tell you about yet. Some hand made pottery that I got from Italy. I liked those very much as they were hand made by this artist who litterally worked behind the shop front. I saw many pottery shops but they all seemed to be made commercially. These have the natural blemishes that one would expect when they are hand made which makes it all the more interesting and quaint. The artist has taken some of the designs from old Roman tile patterns that were found in some ruins.

Blooming

Yesterday I looked out of my window and saw this creeper in full bloom. It looked so pretty so I thought I would share. Unfortunately I don't know the name for it but it is fairly common in this part of the world.

Free pattern links

Ok yahoo is being funny again so I am posting these free pattern links here.
I like the one with the pincushsion very much.

http://www.marcusbrothers.com/makeit/projects/gypsy_pin_cushions/index.html

http://www.caron-net.com/designerfiles/desmayfiles/maychrt.html

http://www.sewing.org/enthusiast/html/esb_man_in_the_moon.html

The Italian experience

We drove a lot around Amalfi Coast which has some spectacular scenaries. The roads were very windy and narrow and the drivers as mad as the Indian drivers but we survived and here I am all in one piece to tell the tale LOL!
Here is a typical village narrow road and the people still park on the road even on bends!


This is Positano a typical village nestled on the cliff side.


Another view of Positano. Residents living here generally walk up and down the steps that are built on the cliffs to get to the main town down below. It keeps them fit I guess.

The Church in Amalfi.

This is Capri where the rich and famous live. We had some delicious Icecream here but paid double the price for it than in Sorrento.



We visited Pompei and just thought it was amazing.
This is where the gladiators practiced.

These are the bodies of people found during the excavation. They are preserved by casting them in plaster.

The arena where all the important events took place


A fresco so beautifully painted



The Vesuvius in the horizone


View from Sorrento of Vesuvius

I am back

I got back on Monday from India. I am slowly catching up with things. I must have got some sort of bug on my way back as I have been feeling pretty grotty for the past few days. The weather in Chennai was too hot. The temperatures were soaring and touching 105 degrees. May be I have got a touch of that hot sun. My head keeps aching and my limbs too and I have lost appetite. Keep wanting to drink something as my throat keeps drying up. So I am trying to drink lots of water and juice.

My trip to Sorrento was wonderful. We had a great time going around the Amalfi coast and visiting Pompei. The scenary is absolutely stunning. Have many photos and I will post them a bit later when I feel up to it.

For now I have a picture of the handmade paper that I bought in India. The cream one is made with banana leaves and the other two have boughgenvillia(wrong spelling) leaves embedded in it they are lovely.

My sitting room at last has curtains. Not a good photo but here it is anyway.

Will post more once I am up to it.

dyeing

Today will be probably be the last day of blogging before I go on my holidays.

I dyed these silk pieces for costuming the doll I am doing in Patti's online class. Somehow the colours are not what I wanted them to be. I think I will use the one with some green in it. I will probably trim off some of that yellow. I would have liked some red in it too but now I have run out of that colour as I made the purple with it. I should have got more of this dye but since I don't know much about dyes I decided I would try them out with starter packs. The silk catches the dyes very well and I used Colorhue dyes as Patti suggested.

Tomorrow I am off to Italy and then to India. I am looking forward to some warm weather. It has been freezing the last few days over here.

Procion dyes

I made the dyes according to well nearly according to the instructions. Made the chemical water first which was a mixture of 1 and a quater tsp of urea plus 1 and half tsp of calogen in 1 litre of warm water. This mixture can be kept for quite a while. Then a solution of 500g of soda ash with 1 litre of hot water. This mixture has to be used on the same day. Take a quater of a tsp of dye and make a paste with little water. Add a ratio of 60 to 40 of the chemical water and soda ash water to it. I might be slightly off in my measurements as I can't remember exactly. I had to half the quantity , as this measurement was too much for a small doll. Infact even when I halfed it, it was too much. So that is why my measurements sort of went a bit haywire and the dye became lighter than intended. But when I added a bit more of it it was brilliant. The colours are really bright. Cotton really takes well to this dye. It just ran into each other and blended. Then I let it dry and once it was dry I heat set it in the oven at 225 degrees for 20 minutes. Actually I only left her in it for 10 minutes as I felt my oven was too hot and I was scared I might burn her. I also remembered just in time that she had wooden joints! It was begining to get a bit brown. I felt that since she was going to be only a doll that should be enough. You can also iron her to set the colours or put her in the dryer to set the colours.

Thanks for the tip about the embossing Judi and I hope the above was clear enough. Now I am looking forward to dying my silks.

Patti's class DIP

Here is my Doll in progress which I am making with Patti Culea's on line class.
Today I got to work on her. Had fun dyeing her. I have never dyed a doll before. I used the Procoin dye and got fed up of trying to figure out the proportions to make up all the solutions. I guess I was being a bit lazy as I mixed the dyes not strictly as instructed, so at first the colours came out a bit light so had to add more colour to make it bright it turned out ok. Next time I will use Dy na flow colours which don't need any mixing and are not messy. I then used Lumiere for stamping and which came out fine. I had lots of problems with embossing. I either burnt the glitter or blew the glitter away. I think I must have got more glitter on me than on the doll! Well I am slowly getting the hang of it though. Perhaps I will try paint than the glue for the glitter next time.

Heat it up!

After seeing Judi and others playing with the heat gun I decided to go and get one for myself. I don't know when I will be able to play with it but I have it with me yeah! I seem to be collecting lots of things to play with buy not playing with them ah the story of my life.

Here is something I have that has been sitting and doing nothing for oooh perhaps for ages. Judi you are an inspiration to me. You jogged my memory and made me search for this high and low and I guess, I will have to make her up now. Didn't I say we think alike sometimes LOL! I don't have arms for her though but I could do something really weird LOL! Perhaps I should send her to you. You will definitely get her finished before I will that is for sure.