a week in pics...plus the odd word or 2...

 what a week...and it's still only thursday!

it all started with Ruby's Bat Mitzvah weekend which went brilliantly.

i had been very anxious about it for weeks partly due to how much work i have on at the mo and how on earth i was going to have time to prepare for the batty as well and partly due to not having dad with us. i have been very emotional about that for the weeks leading up to the batty and was worried i wouldn't be able to keep it together...

i did keep it together...

for most of the time...

well, some of the time.

we had a truly wonderful weekend and one thing it did teach me was, whilst it is beyond sad that dad is no longer here to share these occasions with us, it is so important to build new happy memories.

the work side of life has had to fit in alongside. it couldn't stop altogether due to the up coming xmas fairs and other deadlines.

the newly discovered silver brussels linen was made up into cushions and napkins. i can't tell you how much i love this fabric. it's so soft and smooth and of the most exquisite colour and i blame that for my little sideways distraction of piecing it together with some of my printed pieces. i haven't quite decided whether this is destined to become a quilt or wall art...time will tell.

then things got a bit more colourful...

selvedge needle books for the xmas fairs...

ruby's horse printed onto vintage fabric that is destined to become famous...

printed fabrics for a new exciting commission...

a play around with lotje's gorgeous pattern for this week's big city girl QAL...i couldn't resist...it's so cute!...and besides my new love kona fern had arrived and i just had to find something to sew with it...

and then finally, not made all this week, my screen printing table drop cloth... 

it could just be the colours but i'm thinking it would look great framed as a piece of art...or maybe not!

another mad week in my mad and hectic world and looking at the calendar it isn't due to get any less mad this side of 2014 so you may just see photo mosaics cropping up regularly just to keep you up to speed with what's going on around these parts!

a crafty pretty collaboration

 i absolutely love my job and i absolutely love it when something unexpected happens with it...

a little while ago the very lovely claire from crafty pretty got in touch about us doing a collaboration. 

when you essentially work on your own it is really lovely to occasionally work with someone.

claire designs wonderful ceramic wall art by adding transfers to air drying clay. she saw my fabric samples pic and her brain went into overtime (a girl after my own heart) and asked if i would be interested in us doing something together.

i am absolutely thrilled with how they have worked out. she's a genius that girl!

at the moment they are available (here) in these 4 versions but you can commission your own colours/arrangements (i'm saying you can, claire is probably cursing me right now) in almost any colour on the kona card.

it's been an absolute pleasure working with claire (partly because i haven't really done anything) and so exciting to see my designs presented in this way. 

i haven't quite decided which one i am after...possibly the 9'er...possibly a completely different set of colours.

which one would you choose?

I got back into the screen printing workshop yesterday, having missed a week and boy was I chomping at the bit to get there.

One of the wonderful things about study of any description is the fantastic new possibilities that arise as a consequence. It sounds obvious, but having not formally studied for many years I had forgotten that and started the Screen Printing Course thinking I knew what the sole end result of doing it would be - to be able to print fabric.

But by the end of Lesson 1 this thought had been shattered and so many more possibilities had already started filling up space in my head.

I knew that screen printing was widely done on paper, it just hadn't entered my psyche that that would be something I would be doing with it.

I think I have mentioned before (just the once or twice) the excitement of discovering new skills and the potential of what to do with them, so when I went in yesterday I wanted to spend some time seeing where this would take me.

I was playing around with my Tweet design on paper and am really pleased with the end result. As I said, this has really taken me by surprise, the fact that I'm interested in doing this, and am thoroughly enjoying trying new things and taking skills I have learnt to a different place.

The trouble is, life often feels too short and it's hard enough to fit in all that we need and want to do without adding to it. But, let's face it, I've never been one to put ideas and projects to one side.

This will consequently mean that my shop will have a new section to it...paper goods...of which there is one item currently in it, but hopefully it won't be too long being it is filling up nicely. In the meantime, this sole item can be found right here...

More deliveries at Blueberry Park this week...

I think I've mentioned before how I get a little bit over-excited when I find new pieces for Blueberry Park.

I get very impatient when I find something fab that I know my customers will love as much as I do, to be able to get it up on the site and let everyone see.

I can't wait to get everything on the site and can't wait to then hear everyone's reaction.

I can't wait to find out if I've got it right. If everyone has the same reaction as I did when I first saw the new items.

Well I haven't had to wait too long. I only discovered these amazing Wall Art pieces by Sweet Dimple yesterday and Natalie, the talent behind the label, was obviously just as impatient to have them on Blueberry Park as I was, because less than 24 hours later (a record) they are all right here in all their glory.

And now I need to know...

...Do you love them as much as I do?

If you wandered into my studio it would be fair for you to think I had been ransacked and invaded by the most violent of intruders. Unfortunately the only intruder around here is me.

I have to admit I have a very messy approach to my creativity. The pile you see below is off-cuts from projects. As I cut and sew I discard the pieces that are too big to be thrown, yet too small to be refolded and put back away.

There's a smaller pile that sits on my desk. These days, with my love of log cabins, this pile is full of strips. There is something quite therapeutic about this little pile. And they have obviously been inspiring me somewhat, because having stared at them for a few days, I realised they were the answer to some much needed wall art for our new bedroom.

I've never decorated in these colours before, so any art we previously had up somehow doesn't look great in this room. Not that a room has to look clinically coordinated. But you wouldn't want to see anything too clashing would you?

So I set to work with my precious off-cuts and in a very short time later had a new piece of art for the room. The question now is, do I put it on the wallpaper wall or bring it over to the other side of the room, on the grey?

I'm leaning towards the grey...I think...