Slow progress!

I have finally managed to get my sewing/art space up and running after the move, although I still have a couple or three boxes left to unpack as you can see in the picture below!

It's a smaller room than I had before, so I need some more storage! The bookcase is going onto the landing, so that will free up room space.

Mrs. Frou Frou cocking a snoot at me!

It seems so long since I actually really got down to some serious stitching, so apart from the abstract piece I posted about last week, the above little Christmas wall hanging is one of my first attempts at getting back to being creative. If you subscribe to Linda and Laura kemshalls' DMTV, you will know where my inspiration for the Partridge in a Pear Tree, and the little sketchbook below has come from!

For those of you who don't subscribe, the sketchbook is made from a large sheet of good strong cartridge paper that is printed on both sides with acrylic paint, using stencils or printing blocks that you like to use. If you prefer to paint straight onto the paper then that is ok too, in fact you just cover the paper with paint in whatever way you want. The beauty of this technique is that you don't have to be necessarily good at painting or drawing, because the paper is going to be torn into much smaller sections, so that you are left with pages giving some interesting colours, textures and shapes that may inspire further working into.

The spine showing how the four signatures have been stitched together with the back and front cover. I used mountboard for the covers. I used some gelli printed papers that I found in my stash to cover them both.

This page seemed to form a sort of frame, with a space in the middle, just crying out for a small sketch or painting, so I decided to make a small painting of a Six Spotted Burnet Moth.

Some pages are quite densely  covered...

...others less so. I also included some tracing paper in a couple of places, although I'm not sure yet how I will use them.

I found this small ATC that I made a few years ago when I was unpacking. It had been inspired by a visit I made 6 years or so ago to the public toilets in Kawakawa New Zealand, designed by Hundertwasser. It perfectly picked out the colours on this page, with a space that it fitted into perfectly.

If you live in the UK, it looks as though we're in for a very cold snap this coming week, so keep snug and warm. For those of you who live elsewhere, have a good week too, and thanks for reading.