Intricate Inspirations

There are so many lovely things amongst the stalls at CRAFTfest - today I have decided to choose a few of the more detailed and intricate pieces.

It's amazing the effects you can create with different materials and techniques! Click on the photos to visit the stall.

Ceramics...

JillyBeanPottery

...jewellery...

Fairy Elephant Design

...painting...

Trudy's Art

...papercut...

Floppsie Moppsie

...soap (!!)...

Scentcosmetics

...mosaic...

Juesaics

...needle-felting...

BlueShedCrafts

...and embroidery...

Silent Companions

There's still plenty of time to go and explore CRAFTfest - it's open until midnight Saturday (GMT).

Meet the bears... Pip

 Pip would like to be formally introduced after his first public appearance on Tuesday. I was going to wait for the weekend but he insisted.

He tried all the name suggestions out and decided that he liked "Pip" best. 

He explained that this was largely due to the simultaneous implications of something small...

 

...and therefore cute, like me...

...and something filled with inherent possibility and wisdom (while also being a little bit magical)...

...pips! We know they do, but how do they grow? Wow! Makes my brain hurt just thinking about it...

I see I'm going to have problems with Pip. He's just a little too cute for his own good.

Earlier, since the sun was making a rare appearance, I was trying to take photos of him for his blog post while he was sitting on a bedroom chair. And all the time he looked up at me with a definite

...can't we take photos on the windowsill again?...

So I told him "bears can't sit on windowsills for too long..."

...hmmm...

"...in case they fade.You wouldn't want your nice fabric looking all washed out now, would you?"

....hmmm. 5 minutes couldn't hurt. I like to see what's going on...

So you see, I think Pip might prove to be a handful. It hasn't taken very long to get to know Pip, now he has his name: he seems to be the sort of bear who wants to be where the action is. The centre of attention.

(I haven't the heart to tell him that he'll have to be packed into a box soon to keep him clean until he is adopted!)

Whoever adopts Pip will need to be ready for the responsibility of looking after a demanding young bear. He'll need a comfortable chair, at least, but preferably the chance sit in all sorts of spots throughout your home. You'll have to be prepared to stop for a chat regularly and give him the occasional pat on the head as you walk past.

He gets on very well with other bears but would prefer to be kept out of the reach of pets...

...especially dogs (shudder) - all teeth and drool...

...and small children.

If you are interested in adopting Pip, he will be appearing in my Folksy shop very soon.

Thwarted efficiency

There are some advantages to a family member who sells patchwork fabric.

I know that for some it is hard to envisage disadvantages in this situation but imagine fabric stash multiplied many times over (the phrase "fabric everywhere" in a literal sense!) and then there's also the temptation...sigh...

Anyway, I came home from a recent visit to my parents armed with a selection of new fabrics to add to my growing collection of fat quarters...

...some new designs and some pieces with minor flaws that I can cut around but couldn't be sold (these donations are a definite advantage of the situation). 

Then I went through all my fabric and realised just how much I have...

...so after a small promise, to myself (and my other half!) that I would use some of the hoard to actually make some bears, I set to work.

I wanted to experiment with a more efficient system of working. I thought about the time it takes to work progressively through the stages of bear making. I thought about the time wasted getting equipment out and putting it away multiple times.

So I decided to try to work conveyor belt style.

I chose a few fabrics, got the ironing board out and ironed them, then started pinning the pattern pieces in place. Then I cut the pieces out, removed the pins and started on another piece of fabric. I repeated this until I had the pieces cut for nine bears. 

By this time, I was thoroughly sick of standing at the ironing board and my fingers hurt from pushing pins through card and fabric. Plus it took AGES! I always forget how long this stage takes!

So I moved on and started getting the pieces ready to sew. I matched and pinned the pieces ready for the first round of sewing. It was a lot of pieces. So many that I ran out of pins.

Time to get the sewing machine out. Hooray! And to my astonishment, I was finished in an hour and a half! Having done all the preparation work, all I had to do was sit and sew. It was amazing!

Then it was time for the second round of pinning and sewing - completed in another hour. I began to think that perhaps this conveyor belt thing had its merits after all.

And then I hit a snag. 

I wonder if you can guess? If you've read my bear posts before then you might be able to....

... let me give you a clue. What are my least favourite parts to work on? 

You've got it - foot-pads! 

I had left myself with eighteen foot pads to sew.

By hand.

Plus the noses (although the rest of the head can be done on the machine, I always sew the nose part of the head gusset into place by hand for better shaping). Nine noses.

So I turned and stuffed the completed bodies and arms instead.

And then the excuses started. 

"Well I don't have enough buttons to make nine bears anyway"

So I ordered some buttons and waited for them to arrive.

And finally I realised I didn't really have an excuse any more. So I gritted my teeth and, grumbling and complaining, I forced myself to get on with making just one of the bears. I sewed the nose (which I grudgingly have to admit took about 15 minutes!) and then used the machine for the rest of the head. 

Then I pinned the first foot pad and started to sew.  About half an hour later, I moved onto the second leg. And then that too was completed. 

I had been procrastinating for two weeks over a job that took me less than an hour and a half to complete! 

And would have been much quicker if I hadn't been fighting myself the whole way!

Sometimes I am my own worst enemy!

Anyway, I could now get on with the fun part: turning, stuffing, closing seams, jointing and adding eyes, nose and ears. 

The bits that create and cement character. 

The tasks that bring the bear to life.

And here he is...

Am I pleased? With the bear - a definite yes.

With myself? Sigh - one day I will learn that the things I put off are generally not that epic. That I allow them to appear bigger than they really are so that I can pretend that I don't have time. That I always feel far better when I get on with something than when I leave tasks hanging over me. 

So much for efficiency! I have completed one bear in three weeks. Oh well.

Who's next?

 

I would have said that I don't have enough eyes for another bear but my wonderful mum has taken that excuse away by finding some amazing vintage boot buttons at a French craft show this weekend (you can see the photo on her blog) so all I have to do is wait for them to arrive! So exciting!

I think I'll go with this bear next: the head is already done.

What part of projects do you procrastinate over the most? Have you ever been surprised by the time a long-put-off-project actually took to complete?

Oxford Inspirations

On Sunday, we went for a wander around Oxford. 

 There were a few signs of life in the botanical gardens....

...and a few hints that spring is on its way!

The greenhouses were much more lively...

Time for a cup of tea, I think...

Happy March everyone! Spring's nearly here!

Spring Craftfest 2013

Silent Companions will have a virtual stall at Craftfest again this spring.

It would be lovely to see you there!

200 years of Mr Darcy

It seems that today is the 200th anniversary of the first publication of one of my favourite books; Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. 

I first read this fantastic story to coincide with the BBC's adaptation in 1995, starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, and I was hooked. This adaptation is still my favourite and I've seen it so many times that I know it by heart! This weekend I've been having a bit of a P&P fest - I've watched the BBC version, the Bollywood style Bride and Prejudice and the more recent Keira Knightly version as well as re-reading the book.

I recently helped a student studying for her English Literature GCSE (in my other life, when not crafting, I offer tuition in English). She'd read Pride and Prejudice in class and was preparing for her final exams.

I think I was very lucky that I never studied this book during my GCSE, A-level or degree level literature courses since I'm sure I wouldn't enjoy it so much if I'd had to pick it to pieces. In fact, I haven't read Mansfield Park since studying it as an A-level text yet I revisit Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion and Northanger Abbey regularly. 

In many ways, it is a strange choice for a GCSE text. For one thing it's quite long - there's so much material to work with and it's very hard to find the quotes, even when you know they're in there somewhere!

Another huge hurdle I found was that, intrinsic to the story (and our understanding of the characters' motives and choices) is a way of life that's becoming increasingly alien to the young people of today. It's hard for them to understand many of the concepts that permeate the novel: the role of women in society; the choices available to people; the obsession with marriage; the importance of fortune and making a good match; the concept of the old maid; the restrictions on behaviour; the importance of honour and respectability; and the hierarchy of social class. There's a huge amount of work needed to truly understand the background to this novel.

Another thing, that I noticed for the first time during our discussions, is just how often Jane Austen chooses to use reported speech. She barely lets some of the characters speak at all. She regularly cuts Mr Bingley off with an "etc" suggesting that what he's saying has little or no importance to the story. And whole tracts of conversation, that I remember from various adaptations, don't exist at all! Even Mr Darcy's famous first proposal is told almost exclusively from Elizabeth's point of view. It's no wonder the BBC adaptation ended up as six episodes each an hour long. It must have been a nightmare trying to create the right words to live up to Jane Austen's purpose.

It's good fun to be analysing texts again, something I haven't done since I finished university, and to re-read an old favourite with a critical eye is very enlightening. I'm beginning to notice Jane Austen's subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle!) manipulation of the reader. I've noticed passages that seem to be in her voice, passing judgement on a situation. I've noticed details that I glossed over before. 

I really hope that the next generations continue to find ways to connect with Jane Austen's work so that Pride and Prejudice doesn't end up one of those books that they studied and hated at school.

Anyway, I've just reached the bit where Elizabeth and her aunt and uncle are visiting Pemberley. So I'm going to join them, over a nice cup of tea.

Snow inspirations

It's snowing again - a fresh blanket of snow is obscuring the grey sludge that still lingers at the edges of the roads. 

For my inspirational picture selection this week I have decided to show some of the photos I took after our first snow fall on Friday.

I have tried to choose photos for interesting contrasts, textures and shapes. 

It does look very pretty! The twisted branches and architectural features are really highlighted by the white background and the monochrome palette brings out all the different textures.