Studio Journal

The online course proposed by Joggles and written by Sharon B has started!

Sharon aims at showing us how to use a sketchbook to enhance our creativity. The idea of this course was more than welcome by her students in former classes. Indeed, among the students for the Studio Journal, many have followed several courses by Sharon. It is fun to meet all again!

So, I've started my home work. First, I decided to go on with a sketchbook I had started some time ago, with the aim of collecting ideas and trying to draw some sketches. I just added some decoration on the covers, and an envelop to carry a view finder. I put my name and address too.

Then I played with drawing stitches:

And started working on a Van Gogh work, trying to translate it in stitches:

That's all for today, but certainly not for the week as this course is very inspiring...

GTS

Green Thumb Sunday



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I let my amaryllis spend the summer outside. And this is the surprise of the week:

Not only did it flower, but I think that is one I've taken from the office. We had a large basket filled with red amaryllis, except for one stem that had white flowers, although the other stems from that bulb had red flowers. I guess this is the bulb I've picked...

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

TIF

This month theme is:

So this month the idea to think about is stories that are and stories that are possible.

Challenging as always... Even more challenging because I did not have much time for TIF this month. I even considered skipping that month altogether... but felt "guilty". So yesterday, TIF has been my afternoon task.

In the weeks before, I kept thinking of stories like paths that interlace. Kind of metro map. Hence the painted background. By luck, I kept a metro map from my weekend in Madrid, and I could use torn pieces of it. It is was I get yesterday, before and after stitching.

Stitched and reframed.
Now, I'd like to print some tags to add, such as "What if?" or "Which side?", etc. Hope I will be able to finish it before the end of month.

Anyway:

• I 'm glad to have spent time on it. I guess it is what this challenge is for...
• I confirm I'm not comfortable with collage or mix-media not involving fabrics,
• that won't be my best piece ever, I rather consider it as an experiment or an exercise.

I wish you all a very good week. Mine will be quite busy, with work, training for work, training for the show on Sunday and the usual chores.

GTS

Green Thumb Sunday



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This is canna Durban, which I've introduced into my garden this year, because I love its color. This is its first flower.

Here it is in the background, with By Myself daylilly just in front, and Calico Spider daylilly in the foreground.
Some dianthus
A lantana
A bougainvillea. It was more orange when I planted it, it is turning red now...

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Happy Sunday all!

Birthday

Can you imagine that this young lady in trousers is my 26 year old baby? Happy birthday to you, Emilie!

Exquisite Corpse

Please go there to learn more about Nellie's square on my piece.
And take the time to visit her lovely blog!

Many thanks to you who have left a comment. We have enjoyed playing this Round Robin, but your compliments are a plus!

Exquisite Corpse

Arlee has organized a special Round Robin, based on the Exquisite Corpse, that means that once you made your square, you cover it, leaving only 1 cm visible all around. The other participants try to mix with this little border, and cover their square too.


My theme was Fairies, mainly garden fairies. And they reached home today. Here they are:

The participants are
Julie Zaccone Stiller, Susan Sawatzky
Me, Nellie Durand,
Arlee Bar, Carolyn Watterson

My square is the empty one in the middle. I will add some leaves like the ones below, as Arlee was kind enough to send me some.

I'm so delighted with the result, and I thank all those gifted ladies very much!

I'm already very late for the belly dancing rehearsal, but I had to show that piece at once!

Knitting

When a friend of one of my daughters is expecting a baby, that daughter comes to me and suggests that I do myself a pleasure: knitting something that won't take me hours. And I'm glad to do that.
This time, it is for a little boy, due in less than two months. His parents are a bit flashy, Mum has red hair and Dad used to have a green hair crest. So soft blue was not really an option. Besides I like bright colors too. In the reality, this is a bit more poppy red.
Now, I'll be back to my poncho, the one which require circular needles, and a lot of patience, as it is all mohair lace :-) Will take me some more hours, certainly even months.

Green Thumb Sunday



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As usual, my assistant is helping:

I'm lucky she does not sit on the seedlings, but between them...

Yesterday, when I left to do grocery shopping, the buds were closed. When I came back, the sun had reached them and they were open. Here are the first daylillies of the season.

This one was given to me, I don't know its name...

This one is called By Myself. This is one I've purchased last autumn after reading a post by Kerri of Colors in the Garden. She had been visiting a lilly farm. I was already planing to start gardening again. This post has been a great incentive. Thank you Kerri! If I remember well, they did not flower before mid-July last year. Maybe the rain of this spring makes the bloom sooner...


Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Relaxing

I was home for the whole week, taking some vacations. I needed to relax from work, and my assistants helped me in that task:


I needed something to play with, but it had to be quick, and preferably with no creativity, I mean mine, involved. This was the perfect piece:

It is a welcome/bienvenue heart by Isabelle Vautier. She makes very nice Xstitch patterns, with a series of heart for any message, and a love for cats :-)
I don't know yet how I will finish this one.
Now, I'm off for a new adventure: being on ravelry, I read a lot about circular knitting needles. I've purchased a starter kit this week, and I'm going to try them... Wish me luck...

Cat

Again, I've taken my inspiration from Cloth Paper Scissors, from the May/June 2008 issue. Diane Taylor has presented a mixed-media collage. This is my version. I did not have the time to search scrim (I was heading to my patchwork club). So instead I took the vegetables nets I had at my hand, and little scraps of fabrics. Our meeting lasted two hours, this is the time I needed to achieve it.

Sewing with a cat

I'm enjoying a week at home. So i've tried to play with textile, under strict supervision as you can see: Of course, it is far too small for that cat, but when she set her mind on something...
Anyway, this is my interpretation of the doll illustrating the interview of Allison and Tracy Stilwell in the May/June issue of Cloth Paper Scissors.

GTS - Odette's Garden

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I'm a bit late for the Green Thumb Sunday: I've spent the weekend with my in laws, in the West of France.
My mother in law, Odette, has always liked flowers and gardening. While she was still an active farmer's wife, she did not indulge in that hobby. She would do with a few containers. So I was very surprised to see what she has made in the little space in front of her house. This is tiny, but I could see all the gardening love she had put in it. She grows most of her plants from seeds or cuttings, surely making the most of a short budget. When I arrived, she was enjoying a tour in her garden. She was glad to take me with her and show me her treasure. The perfect gardener to me.

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

In the mail

See what was in my mail box this weekend!

This beautiful ATC is from Nellie Durand of Nellie's Needles who was in my group for the Exquisite Corpse Round Robin organized by Arlee.

Thank you to Nellie and Arlee who gave me the opportunity to share a wonderful experience.

More photos on that Round Robin soon!

GTS

Green Thumb Sunday

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My daughters wondered why I wanted so much to go to Atocha train station in Madrid.
From the outside, it is a busy station, with lots of cars, coaches, taxis and pedestrians.

Inside, there are many travellers and commuters, but there is also an exotic garden right in the middle of the hall.
This is only the front view, the garden continues on a large area, but I could not proper pictures from the sides. As you can see, the palm tree are large! In the ponds, there are turtles, and some birds (local ones, as I could see, I nearly expected parrots...) enjoy the garden too.
We had a nice drink just in front of the garden.
There is also a restaurant at the back, above the garden.

There is not much to report from my own garden. It has been raining since the beginning of May, the earth is soaked, which did not happen for several years. This week, I could not even enjoy a tour in my garden, since it rained until I left home in the morning, and rained when I reached home in the evening.
As you may guess, weeds are growing fast. I could have weeded yesterday, but the last two weeks at work had been quite busy and I was too tired, but I felt guilty. It has rained again in the night, and I was still a bit lazy, but the guilt was stronger. Still in my pyjamas, I made some weeding. In a perfect world, I would have get rid of the weeds. Instead I made heaps of weeds in the path, for me to deal with next week. They were too wet to got in the shredder anyway.
I finished with some deadheading, just before it started to rain again ... I was wet from head to feet, and quite muddy, but relaxed and happy with myself :-) At least, I can see the day lillies that have buds, and some other plants.

Have a nice weekend all!

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.