Happy Christmas

boxes

boxes
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

A couple of boxes made from ATC sized pieces,embellished with beads and embroidery

Sinterklaas

These are the best from a very poor selection of photos I took in Zandvoort at the party Abi and Michel gave for Sinterklaas this year. I must have had my camera on the wrong setting or something because the pictures were all over exposed. Izzie and her cousin Haike were a delight to watch as they unwrapped each parcel watched by three Oma's two Opa's one "Oma-Oma" four parents and an uncle and auntie. Everyone had a lovely time. I just hope Sinterklaas didn't put his back out carrying those sacks!

I spent a lovely week with the families in Holland and even though the weather was atrocious we managed a shopping trip to Utrecht as well as our time in Zandvoort. Came down with a stinking cold on my return so have not done anything much since I got back, suddenly 25th Dec seems very,very close!

still doodling

The black and white doodle I think looks like a dancing queen and the aviary just naturally followed the menagerie

zendoodle

zendoodle
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

taking these 'doodles' one stage further

Zentangles

These drawings, which I would call advanced doodles were inspired by an article by Sandy Steen Bartholomew in the latest Cloth, Paper, Scissors and which she has given the much "posher" name of Zentangles. I can see why she does because the mere sitting down and letting your pen do the work is a very soothing experience. Time becomes unimportant and the next pattern is all that needs to be thought about. I am really enjoying this.

October Workshops

These pictures were taken at the first of two workshops I ran at Walmley Library this half-term. Both were a great success and the work the children (and their mums) produced was really imaginative. It's good to see them enlarge and develop a given theme and I am constantly surprised by the way they do this.

I only took pictures at the jewellery group as the mini notebooks workshop on Friday was so large that it took me all my time to get the notebooks laminated and finished. In fact, it was thanks to the total co-operation of the adults and some serious input from staff that everyone went home with their books intact! Several children managed to make 3 or 4 and one participant had completed enough, she claimed, to give out to her friends at an upcoming party!

All in all a good time was had by all and it is so good to see how much creative spirit is out there just waiting to be tapped. I intend to have a break from workshops for now while I get my creative juices going again, it seems an age since I actually made something new.

Who's a lucky boy then?

Oldest grandson Nicholas and his lovely bride Florine . These are the first pictures of the happy couple after their wedding in Las Vegas. Only their friends in the US knew of their plans in advance! They left Amsterdam for their holiday in America and surprised both families by tying the knot in Nevada before honeymooning in Hawaii! We are all delighted and wish them every happiness. I shall be over in Holland for SinterKlaas so will see the rest of the pictures and hear all the details then. Just couldn't wait to put these pictures on the blog. Talking of pictures, get a load of those shoes!!!

red 2

red 2
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

still playing with scanned fabric and 'painting' it again with Photoshop

clem4

clem4
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

swirly

swirly
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

spirit of the flower

spirit of the flower
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

cgi,making one poppy photo into many

two more

Another doodle. Certainly beats watching tv and takes me right back, using watercolour crayons and just letting the pen do the walking. The spirals were of ocourse done in Photoshop. I keep finding new things to play with. Trouble is, without keeping notes, I forget how I got there after a couple of days! I would put it down to age except I was talking to a woman half my age at the printers the other day and she showed me her Photoshop notebook and said she found it impossible to keep it all in her head. So, I have bought me a big notebook and written Photoshop boldly on the cover. All I need to do now is remember to use it. I have managed to put a link to my flickr page on here at last,it wasn't the one I wanted, but at least it works.

I am on the last lap of the project with the children at Wylde Green Library, I haven't posted pictures yet as it's all individual pieces that will be assembled in October. The children are very enthusiastic and a pleasure to work with and can't wait to see the finished item. It's certainly the biggest piece of this kind that I have worked on, 1.3 metrs x 1.2 metrs!
Isn't it ironic that the children go back to school after the summer break (what summer?) and we get gorgeous sunny days? I am not complaining, I love September.

The "terrace"

One of the really good events this summer has been the work done in the garden. For months I had been agonising over getting rid of the lawn and finally made up my mind.(I am Pisces!) It was the best thing I could have done, I still have lots of greenery but the need to keep cutting the grass has gone, I couldn't call it a lawn anymore, since Stan has not been here to tend it, it had become a soggy,weed filled green nightmare. Now each day I pull back the curtains and this marvellous light fills the kitchen. Even on a wet morning the light reflected into the house is amazing. I can re arrange the pots with the seasons and take my coffee out and just enjoy my garden again. With the grapes and figs at their best I now feel v.Italian. Who needs Tuscany when its in my backyard? sorry, terrace.

Back again!

Well, after a long and mixed up summer, the first of September has prompted me to get back to enjoying blogging and flickring. I am not going to dwell on the past couple of months other than to say that with few exceptions it has been a summer to forget.
I have been trying to get back to drawing and painting and have been shocked by how rusty I have become! They say 'use it or lose it' and I can really appreciate the sense of that truism.
The most fun was the inksplash doodle which is on felt and will get stitched in some way eventually. In the meantime I uploaded it to the computer and drew the flowers straight in using a graphics tablet. I really appreciated layers after a couple of disastrous errors.
I know I have said it before, but I really, really mean it this time, I will do at least one thing each day and try to make it a 'new' something each week.
good to be back in blogland and I look forward to catching up with all those blogs I have not visited recently!

doodle plus

doodle plus
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

menagerie

menagerie
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

flowery2

flowery2
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

my coral reef

my coral reef
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

Yesterday I had the opportunity to have a table at the Flower Festival to display the corals that I hope will be the beginning of a much larger local reef

just the first few

just the first few
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

We were booked for two hours but after two and a half we still had people either viewing or joining in, so here's hoping for great things

close up

close up
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

a small section of the reef

"summer" scrumble

This was my scrumble for the FFcrochet group who asked for pieces to reresent the four seasons. 52 artists sent in crochet pieces,and Myra Woods who organised the whole thing has not only published all the entries on line

www.freeformcrochet.com/2009/Pages/main.html

but has had a book published containing all the entries. The proceeds are all for charity

journal 3

journal 3
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

latest of my journals, this has a mix of drawing and coloured pages.I like the bright colours on this one and the crayons just give that extra twist

inside cover

inside cover
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

coloured page

coloured page
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

inside back cover

inside back cover
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

new reef

new reef
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

These are my new crocheted bits for what I hope will be the beginning of a local coral reef. Later this month I will be demonstrating at the local flower show and hope to interest other "hookers" in joining me to make this a truly community venture

new reef

new reef
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

detail 2

new reef

new reef
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

detail 1

journal 2

journal 2
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

second journal. This is larger and has removable pages. It makes a pretty fancy sketchbook, will I have the nerve to draw in it? Of course I will. The pages are removable!!!

det of paper cloth cover

det of paper cloth cover
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

detail of the paper cloth cover. I glued scraps of paper to fabric and covered the surface again with glued on tissue paper. The glue dries to a great shiny finish.

inside

inside
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

Inside the sketchbook are an assortment of pockets for tags,cards etc., and I have used A4 drawing paper, coloured pages and paper with interesting textures. The front page is just for show and is a cgi of a phote of honeysuckle!

journal 1

journal 1
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

signed up for a journal making class online with Sue Bleiweiss. This is No.1 and has been great fun to do. Quite different from all the stitching that has occupied me for the past few weeks and a welcome challenge.

front

front
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

inside with fabric pocket and clear pocket on the signature wrap to hold tags etc.,

back

back
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

another clear pocket to hold cards etc., some of the pages are splashed with colour.

signature wraps

signature wraps
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

computer printed sleeves for pages, to hold pockets

bookmarks

bookmarks
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

tags

tags
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

ATC book

The 10 recent atc's made into a book

atc 1

atc 1
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

atc2

atc2
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

atc 3

atc 3
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

atc4

atc4
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

atc 5

atc 5
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

atc 6

atc 6
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

coral island

coral island
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

Final,final picture of reef !! time to move on. Build a bigger one??

coralreef 1

coralreef 1
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

Three different views of the finished coral reef. I have really enjoyed making this and have ambitions to do a much bigger one (this one is about 20 inches long) but the problem of where to keep it after it's finished rears it's ugly head!

coralreef2

coralreef2
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

coralreef3

coralreef3
Originally uploaded by bostinstuff

Unveiling of the Library Leaders' Project

At last the children from St. Gerards and Topcliffe schools were able to see their hard work assembled and unveiled at the Library. They had all worked well both individually and in their school groups and all agreed that the final result was worth all the effort. Apart from this wall art the group have bought books, soft toys, bookstands and soft furnishing for the children's library as well as acting as "reading ambassadors" at their schools. The project was sponsored by Core Skills Funding to celebrate the Year of Reading 2008.