rubykittyruby

  Hello.  I hope you're well and - for UK based blog readers - not too thrown out of kilter by the clocks going back an hour.  For overseas readers, our clocks go back an hour in the autumn and are put forward an hour in spring.  It's all rather discombobulating.   I've been making progress with my 'Under the Sea' wall hanging.  It's still in the early stages, but I've slow-stitched a fair amount of the background, & am currently adding shisha mirrors, which are meant to look like air bubbles.   The first of my embroidered fish is almost done.  I realised today I've splashed paint on the blue material in the hoop, but luckily the splashes missed the actual fish.   I also realised I'd made a couple of things that I can refer to for ideas about what to include in my underwater scene.  I'd sewn this mini wall hanging, and want to recreate these fishes in my larger piece. I'd also done this embroidery, and will recreate el...

  Summer's slipping away, isn't it?  The evenings are shortening, conkers are beginning to fall from trees and there's a feeling in the air that autumn's on it's way.  Hopefully the cold weather will hold off for a while as I've no intention of putting the heating on for a long, long time.  I grew up in the Seventies, in a house lacking central heating, so I'm used to chilly bedrooms and wearing extra layers being the norm, not the exception.  Anyway, I thought I'd begin this crafty round-up with a few successful gell prints I've done lately.  I mean, they're successful in my eyes.  Who knows what anyone makes of 'em! I love the effect you get layering white on top of the print. All of these have three layers in total - a plain background, then a stencil, then another stencil on top of that.   I've been using prints to make seed packets, for the love-in-a-mist and hollyhock seeds I've collected from the allotment.   Easy to make and...

  I thought I'd talk a little more about my wall hanging that's getting nearer completion.  It's my interpretation of the theme 'Creation', and is made with a calico base, measuring roughly 16 x 17 inches in size.  I've pieced together various fabrics to try and represent sea, land and sky, and embroidered and appliqued fishes and - so far - just a solitary bird.  There will be more!  The material making up the land is my handpainted material, done with a mix of acrylic paint and Inktense.  The line of yellow that runs between land and sea is meant to be sand, as on a beach.  I did think about making some pretend rocks and pebbles here, using either grey material or grey beads, but neither of those looked right when I tried them out.  It's all very much been a process of trial and error, and there are definitely things I'd do differently if I started from scratch all over again.   The trees are made of brown felt which I've lightly padde...

  I'll begin with photos of gravestones.  Yup, gravestones.  Why?  Just 'cause I was taking a shortcut through a cemetery this morning and these old stones are so beautifully made.  All the little glimpses of past lives you get as you wander by.   The grass was being mown, and the scent rising up from it was lovely.  Apparently grass releases the scent as a stress reaction to being cut.  According to the all-knowing Google, the scent's made up of chemicals called GLVs (green leaf volatiles), a mixture of oxygenated hydrocarbons.  The things you learn from a casual internet search.   My photos aren't the best, are they?  I mean, you can see my trainers in this one!  I'll have to go back when I've more time and take some decent shots.  But this inscription's interesting as Ann Robinson, the blacksmith's wife, lived until a ripe old age.  82 was pretty good going in the 1800s, wasn't it?   During my w...

  August has rolled around, meaning it'll only be a matter of days before we start seeing Christmas themed gifts and decorations in the shops.  (I'm hoping that's a joke and not an eerily accurate prediction.)  I have started making things that're meant for the festive season, namely several little owl tree decorations.  I was sewing them this morning while listening to Olympic coverage on the radio.   They're all getting red and green embroidery on their wings, and I'll add a sparkly gold thread for a hanging loop.  I didn't finish 'em as I needed to spend an hour on the allotment, the ground much easier to dig into after a hefty rainfall overnight.  I collected a bag of blackberries while I was down there, keeping aside a bowlful for tomorrow's breakfast and the rest destined for the freezer.  If I can cram anything else in there.   Back home, after lunch I headed into the front garden to tidy up a raggedy looking flower border, w...