The owl, the fox, more fabric painting and a box of embroidery threads

I said the other day that I'd post a photo of the ATCs - a total of 30 - that I made for a Facebook group swap. Well, they're finally done and have been posted. I'm glad to have got them completed before the deadline, even though some weren't exactly my best work. Themes chosen by the group members were wide ranging and a few almost defeated me. They included Buffy the vampire slayer, Victorian architecture (preferably done in pencil), life drawing (ditto pencil), a Harry Potter creature, Shane Warne, and a horror film character whose image I definitely didn't want lodging in my head. I went a bit rogue with some themes, going for abstract images or - in the case of the pencil life drawing - just ignoring that and doing a version of a Matisse collage instead. Sorry!

Overall, I don't think I'd take part in this kind of challenge again. Partly because postage cost me £7.00, Royal Mail prices being as steep as they are, but also because I've realised I really, really resent having to spend time making something I don't enjoy or aren't inspired by. I don't want to google images of TV programmes like Buffy or Alf in order to try and cobble something together. I know that makes me sound tetchy - yeah, okay, I'm fine with tetchy - but if I'm being creative I want to enjoy the process as well as be pleased with the finished result. Anyway, there were a few of the cards I was especially pleased with.

I had a lot of fun making a collage version of Beaker from the Muppets. But I especially liked my collaged-from-gell-prints owl and also the fox drawn with watercolour pencils.

I've also spent part of an evening splashing paint on to fabric again, much as I did with the fabric used to make my mini dolls.

Not sure what this'll get used for, but something will occur to me.

Finally, I took delivery today of a box of embroidery threads. All the colours of the rainbow, and a few more besides. Before I sloped off to slimming club this afternoon I spent a little while happily sorting the colours into order.

Let's see how long the neatness lasts!

Comments

Taking a blog break ...

Hello! And goodbye, at least for now. The blog's on hold for a little while as I'm easing myself into 2026 gradually. I'm still stitching and reading and enjoying life with Badger the cat. Even though he treats my sofa like a giant scratching post!

Badger!

Here's Badger, looking like the little cutie-pie he is. He's settled in so well, is absurdly affectionate and eats anything and everything I put in his food bowl. The only fault I can find is that he likes to sharpen his claws on the side of my sofa. This is despite having two scratching posts, one of which is part of a cat tower that's taller than I am! I may have to try trimming his claws, but I don't know how Badger will react to that. Anyway, expect to see more photos of him, so sorry in advance for any of you who aren't feline fans. Apart from gazing in admiration at the cat I've continued to experiment with embroidery. I really can't decide whether this mainly pink piece of stitching is something I like or just a dog's dinner of a mess. This is another embroidery I've been stitching. Frankly, at the moment it looks like it should be lobbed straight into the bin. I'd painted with a mix of watercolour pa...

Final post for 2025 (I think. I mean, unless anything amazingly wonderful happens that I can't keep to myself any longer ...)

The days are marching by at record speed, and I've finally - possibly - bought all the presents I need to buy and written all the Christmas cards I need to send. I decided not to put up a full-sized tree this year as I'm convinced Badger the cat would simply view it as a climbing frame, and I'd find it toppled on a daily basis. Instead, there's a small green tree, and a simple white twiggy one that has lots of vintage baubles dangling from it. To be honest, I prefer the twiggy one, so the green tree might be permanently retired from now on. I've not gone crazy with the decorations, but there are various strings of fairy lights that look so pretty when they're lit. I have - between internet shopping and baking mince pies - made a little fishy pin cushion, decorated with seed stitches, French knots, chain stitch and stem stitch. I'm on the look-out for grey tweedy material to make another fish as I think that'd look better than plain ...

rubykittyruby

Search This Blog