New best friends

I have had an unseemly amount of enjoyment with this new needle felting lark. I used to make a lot of things, which is why I have so much textile-y stuff gathering dust in corners of my studio, but I had to bite the bullet and concentrate on becoming a vaguely competent painter. However - being a typical Cancerian - I hung on to everything, as sewing paraphernalia tends to be beautiful as well as (eventually) useful. In fact - and I am somewhat horrified to count back the years - it has been about a decade since I crafted anything. This month I have other publishing work which must be completed, so grabbing a precious hour or two with my felting needle has been a very guilty pleasure, hence keeping the curious waiting for my initial efforts. As well as waiting for delivery of little ribbons with my logo on, which are obviously being hand embroidered by Mongolian elfs, they are taking so long to arrive.

My first tentative stabs were loosely based on an old artwork, Mr Apricot -

- he started off like this...



- and ended up like this. Amazingly after all these years of non-sewing, I can still just about embroider a nose and managed to make halfway decent French knots for eyes.



At this point Andy's mum should not be reading, as he is her (very late) birthday present. He was missing something though...and unexpectedly, the wonderfully kind and very wool-centric Border Tart sent me a gorgeous collection of bright fluffy 'accents', all wrapped up in a fairy tale.



Funnily enough, I had just been looking through her shop to see if she sold these self same articles. Thank you so much Lindsay! Now my rabbit has what every bunny needs; a carrot.






Many years of painting and drawing 2D toys means that I am not at a loss for designs...in fact I wish I could sprout extra limbs, in order to be able to work, spider-like, on several projects at once.

The next idea was unashamedly inspired by a story from a favourite childhood Enid Blyton book, (and from where many early ideas and images fixed themselves in my imagination, still resurfacing in my work today).

Using a cotton wool base, she started rather bizarrely; a miniature yeti-like creature.

But several thousand stabs later, a bit of embellishment and a pink heart on her posterior she emerged looking plumply cute and rather like a Japanese crafted toy.

Wanting to move back to a more vintage style, I ransacked my Moleskine again -

- and started to roll, mould and stab again. Using cotton wool in the kitten saved on actual felting wool, but I seem to get a more satisfactory, organic shape with 100% wool top. So far she is eyeless and wingless. Does she need a crown or a frock? Or both?

I find it hard to believe there was life before needle felt.

Little studio snaps

My studio, it has to be said, is full of many things - it is my creative nest, where I can surround myself with the treasures I have found and been given. Although I may not use many of them from day to day, they inspire and console me. Many tokens from blog and non-bloggy friends...spot the Lily Moon card from my friend Maya -

(for detailed notes, please go to the Flickr image)

The old year ended with the little people in 'Cat's Cradle' journeying far away to their first job. It is always a wrench to know I will probably never see most of my paintings again, but good to know that they are watching over someone, somewhere.

The new year started with one of Rima's beautiful calendars. I cannot think of a nicer way of getting through the year - she still has one or two left I think, so if you hurry...

Entering January with some gorgeous letter blocks, with huge thanks to fellow illustrator Paula for her thoughtful gift...

...and my triple good luck charm, to keep bad things away from me this year, especially timewasters, as I had enough of them in 2007. White china heart from Tara, rosehip heart from Higgledy Piggledy, textile/embroidery heart from Border Tart - thank you my dears - I defy anything truly bad to happen with the combined love of these three friends.

A big red hand to point the way bravely forward to 2008 - there is something very commanding about this stern indicator. It arrived unexpectedly in the post this week, mysteriously unsigned...for a few minutes I felt like my all time hero, Tintin, receiving an anonymous signal summoning him to a new, exotic adventure. But then I remembered kind Alan Brignull of the Hedgehog Press, and his lovely picture on Flickr which I had fav'd. Thank you so much!

I am under the weather and feeling like this at the moment -



So I am going to retire for a few days, and bury myself in my sketchbook, as I seem to have got my drawing mojo back at last. Have a good weekend everyone!

Packages part one

Oh deary me...I feel like some party bore who, after several glasses of wine, has done little but drone on about fungus and letter press tags for hours, while people politely yawn and try to shuffle away discreetly. It's over. Never again will I ever go about a job in such a cockeyed way. Everything I did was wrong, from the inks used, to hand cutting 400-odd different sized tags by hand, with Stanley knife, hand rolling each block at a time, and then trim, corner punch, and thread up. Not to mention packaging the wretched things. Twenty five packs...

And all entirely my own fault for rushing headfirst into something I was only dabbling in at the time. I am simply relieved and somewhat amazed that they finished up looking alright. Lessons learned, solutions found, move on. And open presents. That'd be the Hallowe'en box I've been hoarding for weeks - someone who did not leave a name, but who knew me very well indeed...Arthur Rackham on the front...

Victoriana fairy on the back...

Horribly realistic, almost untouchable spider lurking inside with beautifully wrapped packages - autumnal pages from Country Living magazine. By now my attena are twitching...

Well worth the wait, the most beautiful autumnal box, so thoughtfully put together; and everything that I like from preserved leaves, an amusing article on vintage childrens fiction, to wild cherry tea and vegetable transfers. And a sweetly messaged but anonymous card - a red squirrel (only found in a handful of places in the UK) - twitch twitch...hmmm.

Gorgeous cards, laid out with suitably warming soup recipes...and this, which sealed my suspicions...

I have only encountered this delicous substance once in my life - tablet. The Scottish form of fudge - hard and sweet, and tasting distinctly of black treacle. And given to me by the same person; I might possibly be wrong, but I think - I think my secret fairy is a certain Border Tart. Correct me if I'm wrong. But whoever it was, thank you for such an amazing box, which has given me enormous orangey-warm pleasure on this grey, mizzly morning. When all has been consumed and stashed away, it is just the right size for storing letter press blocks in...no, shut me up now, before I get started again.
However, Emma, our latest admin fairy who has been wonderfully holding the Secret Fairy fort, has set up a Christmas SOSF event. Skates on, as last post dates are nearing and the closing date is 30th November!

Oh, for those who asked, I do have some spare packs of tags which will be in my Etsy shop, (alongside my pathetically small selection of Christmas cards) so if you wanted some, I aim to get them in by Thursday. Now I've told y'all what a bodge job it was, I'm sure you are tempted.

I'll shut up now. About tags and letter press and all that. Hic. Falls asleep on sofa, quietly drooling...to everyones' relief.

Mostly about chickens

Birds of a feather...the chicken on the left is a V.I.B. (Very Important Bird). She came all the way from the Border Tart, with a gorgeous Easter card of her sisters. Unfortunately she arrived in the middle of the upheaval, (see below) but now she has her own hanging space, next to the folk bird. There are some very special and affordable treasures on this site, and we at the Hovel wish the Tart all good wishes with her new venture.

Meanwhile, in the new improved studio...attempting to print for the first time in oh, about 13 years...most of it came back quite easily, some memories emerged when I hit problems. There were snags right from the start - last year I invested in 'proper' lino inks, water based...nasty. Flat, dull, thick. I had 25 sheets of nice pink linen effect card, upon which I wanted to print a poultry design. It doesn't matter how often you do test pieces on bits of scrap, sooner or later you have to bite the bullet and print on your precious stock...

The ink pushed out to the edges of the design and soaked into tiny crevices. The lino didn't want to accept the ink. The card was too shiny. I finally remembered that oil based inks are best. I went online and found a great medium, Daler Rowney Georgian block printing medium. It's recommended that you use it with their own oils, but essentially it's a sticky glop which thickens up normal oil paint and gives it the 'tack' you want for ink rolling. It saves re-investing in 'proper' relief inks, which are the best part of a tenner per tube, way beyond my pocket. It's quite frustrating at these times, when you need something 'now' and live miles from any decent shop, without a car. Internet shopping is brilliant, but delivery times are variable. I found it cheapest at Ziggy Arts and I was really pleased when it arrived the next day. That is service! And their postal rates are very reasonable too, so they get top marks from me. Bizarrely they don't seem to have it in stock anymore - did I buy their last tube?

This is how the water based inks performed...not so good.

Unfortunately, my first attempts with the new medium didn't give significantly better results at first. The (large amount) of lino I bought last year isn't 'how it used to be in the good old days'. I did check; I've got some old plates filed away, and the surface is sumptuously dense and ink saturated. The new stuff is greasy and the shiny surface pushed the ink about. I consulted Andy. He was a whizzo printer in our college days - he still is when he puts his mind to it, but that is another story. Firstly he told me my ink was too thick and then that the medium didn't work. I was determined to make it work as I can't afford to spend any more money. And as I was tidying up the edges of the design, a vague memory of 'sandpaper' crept into my troubled mind. Whizzo printer didn't think it would work - but it did! Gently sanding the surface gave the lino 'teeth' and the ink a purchase, enabling it to soak into the plate. With that, and spritzing the card, then blotting it in an old magazine, I was away. The studio started smelling nostalgically like a print room, even with the window open (remember kids, always print in a well ventilated area). There's still a lot of work and experimentation to be done, but I think I'm getting there. Better had be, I need to earn some pennies!

There is nothing like seeing repeated images Andy Warhol style. That's one of the things I love about printing.

Francie from the Scented Cottage has asked me to name favourite five blogs. Well, most of my favourites are over there in my links. Some of them are superstar popular, and for good reason. Some are not so well known, but I visit them every week, because they are brilliant.

1) The newest kid on the block is Children Chocolate and Wine. There's a long story behind this, involving the ill fated Country Living 'find a new columnist' contest - but on this barely fledged central hub-blog you'll find a plethora of new bloggers, all writing wonderfully, mostly about Real Country Life - in which very little Cath Kidston features. Many of them have never had a 'proper' blog before, but you wouldn't know it. So please extend the big bloggy hand of friendship to them and make them feel welcome.

2) Ramblings of a Cotswold Gent. Very funny and often mustard sharp. One of those rare blogs which can perform on writing alone. Also the only other blog I'm aware of in our area and it's nice to know someone local.

3) Remember I'm the Bloody Architect. Supreme, witty writing, always makes me smile - does the wondrous thing of making architecture entertaining...it's the way she tells it.

4) Hannah's Country Kitchen OK, listing this means I have to divulge our new status of TV owners (yes, yes, I'll confess all another time). We got hooked on Masterchef. I was thrilled to find that the lovely Hannah, one of the finalists, has her own blog, where she shows her mind-blowingly beautiful cakes and shares her recipes. This is one of the blogs you go to for time out and niceness.

5) Oh dear, only one left...hmm...ok, quilt and patchwork heaven...Feeling Simply Quilty. Gorgeous. Simply gorgeous.

Ah yes. I hooked my web cam up. It's on when I'm in the studio, (UK time) and I put my open/shut sign up as necessary. Not that seeing my grizzled head bent over artwork is at all interesting, but it gets me to work in the morning.

EDIT - Blogger turned the comments box off! Thanks to Penny for alerting me...