Emboridery

This week I was sick and needed something to do while sitting and groaning, being totally ignored by my family unless they wanted food.

I decided to embroidery a piece I had been dreaming up and went to work.
Here is a picture of Klimt's Tree of Life.



I drew out my version onto a piece of fabric and got to work in stem stitch (which is not my strong point) and was delighted with the outcome, but of course I had to embellish more.



This was about half way through.  I filled in the green knots a lot more as I felt that it needed to be more lush The concept is spring through winter.  I had just started on Fall here with the red knots.

Now I am done with the leaves and I am working on lettering the seasons around the edge.  I am using chain stitch ( my favorite) to write the words.  When that is done I plan on decorating them with more embroidery; blooms for spring, a sun for summer and so on.  Ambitious aren't I?  Yeah.  I am already thinking about my next project.

What am I going to use this for when I am done?  Well I don't know.  I thought about a pillow, but I really don't want someone sitting on my hard work.  Maybe I will frame it.  I don't know, I will probably give it away. 

On a side note, I went out to make glass beads yesterday.  I bribed Meghan at the beginning of summer.  I told her if she would practice her flute that I would give her bead lessons.  Well, she has practiced (only a few times) so I took her out and let her make some beads.  She did pretty well for her first time, and with practice I think will be great.  This is definitely a parental supervision only activity though and I hate giving up my own time at the torch.  Maybe I can set up my old Hot Head for her to use. It is a beginner torch and will be great for her to learn on, but it is noisy!   I will see how it goes.  I learned my lesson after she was gone though.  I have a habit of getting really close to the torch to see, too close actually.  A piece of hot glass popped off my rod and landed on my lip.  As most everyone would do I used my tongue to push it off; bad idea!  I burned my tongue too.  As any respectful beadmaker would do, I finished the bead before going in the house for ice (it is not a bad burn, just not in a good place). Glad I did finish too because it turned out pretty cool.  Pictures soon.

Love is

Well, it has been a couple of days so I am already not doing well on updating every day. It has been and emotional few days for me. I watched history being made with a light and cheerful heart, and I tried not to watch all day today again as news happened.

I realize that February will be here before we know it. I know this as it is my birth month, and each new year it slams toward me like a freight train speeding down a hill. Gone are the days of youth when I would wait impatiently for the day to get here. Now I am trying to savor every moment of my life it goes way too fast.

The point is that I have to think about valentines day soon, like this week. I am terrible at gift giving. I either buy something early and want to give it straight away because I am excited at the 'perfect' gift, or I blather over what to get that is 'perfect' that I leave it until the last minute. Often times I will make something for my husband for the lesser holidays.
This is what I made him a couple years ago.

I suppose I have to think of something this year. Since he reads this I guess I will not share until AFTER the day!

Short and Sweet

The kids did not go to school today because our wind chills were in the -30's. They are off tomorrow too for the same reason. Monday is Martin Luther King Day. So that makes 5 days in a row they have off school. Just kill me now!
Needless to say I don't get much done with them in the house. Even though they are 16, 15 and 11 it still makes more work for me. Essentially I make them get their own lunches, as they never all want the same thing, but it is a continual battle to get them to put stuff away, to help me out with my daily chores (I am sure hubby is laughing at that one, "what chores?") or to even help in any small way.
Today I didn't do much of anything really. I played on the web, I drew a few things in my moleskine, and took a nap (sleeping is getting harder for me since I have the sniffles). Yesterday I started a crochet purse and I am winging it, I will show a picture when it is done. I was thinking I might write the pattern but I have never done that before and I am not sure if I can. I have some fleece that I am making into toys/beds for the rats. They are very warm bodied and need to stay all huddled up and they love their blankies.
I have to go out in the cold in a little while and get milk. We could go without but then I would have to get some tomorrow anyway. Easier to get it tonight and have some for the morning. We easily go through a gallon a day. With the kids home I am sure more.
So that is my day today. Hopefully I will get more done tomorrow.

Make your own stamps

I am probably not the originator of this technique. In fact I had forgotten all about it until my son Brandon was making one a couple of months ago out of my good eraser. But since I mentioned it I thought I would make some instructions.

Please forgive the one or two blurry pictures. I was trying to hold the camera and the tools at the same time. Not a good way to get crisp clear pictures. I really need to get out my photo tent again!

One thing I want to be clear about this is not something you want to do with young children. The knife is sharp and it will easily cut large holes in fingers and hands. Take it from someone who already cut off a finger tip. (No, not doing this, but cutting quilting squares) You don't want your kids to do this!

On we go to the first thing.

Supplies and tools.

• Eraser, you can use one you have around. I think that the pink ones would work really well for this as they are not as crumbly as the white ones, but the white ones are easier to cut into.
• Some type of craft knife; preferably with a pointed edge. I am sure you can use a paring knife too.
  
• Pen or Pencil.
  
• Stamp pad.
  
• And not shown in the picture, a cutting surface of some kind. In later pictures you will see I have a cutting mat. I have 3 or 4 of these and this is the oldest one, so I use it for crafts. A thick book would also work, maybe an old phone book.
  

Step 1.

Choose a design you want to cut and transfer it to the block with a pen or pencil. I hand draw all my own, but you might want to use some clip art or something remember Simpler is easier. The more detail, the harder it will be, as these blocks are small. Also you want to plan what is going to be your negative space; what you are going to cut off, and what will be the image; what you want to leave behind. This may sound simplistic but believe me, it will make a difference. When I was making the owl, I had to really think about it to get defined areas. Once it is cut away you cannot put it back.

Step 2.

Now start cutting away the edges. Take rough cuts first then go back and define. You can carve small pieces away as you go. Go slow, and think about your cuts. On the leaf here I should have left the edges on the block as it is very fragile in the stem area where the leaves meet. I find that I can put at least two designs on one block; as the skull and owl, so if you want to do that just cut around your edge down about 1/16^th inch and then cut into the side to meet your cuts. These cross cuts have to only go to your line though or your will cut under your stamp and that part may not stay attached. I accidentally cut under one of the owls wings. I am going to try some glue to keep it there.

On this one, I have cut all the way through the block, it is a small stamp and I figured I would need something to hold on to.

Step 3.

The details. OK this is tricky, but you can get it. Make angled cuts along your detail lines so you are cutting V's out. You might have to dig at the waste to remove it, but not too much or you will take your design as well. Just a shave to start and deeper if you need to. These lines do not have to be as deep as the edges. (The body will support the stamp so that they negative will not print).

Now is a good time to test stamp, so you can see the lines and make additional cuts to define or change overall appearance.

Finished stamps

I also cut this mermaid today and it looks like nothing by itself (if you look at the plain stamp I ended up cutting off the corner as it was too square for my use.) But when I added the pen marks you can clearly see what it is.

If it is a one color image, it works to use an ink pad. If you are going for a more two or more colored look, brush pens are great.

I hope you have fun with this. I do. I like to make these for things I need to repeat so I don't have to draw and color them over and over. Wrapping paper, fabric prints, scrap booking, and backgrounds for art. There are tons of uses.