Messy Monday!

What a messy worker I am, but at least it proves that I've been trying to get back into doing some creative stuff again.

Ahem! Not a very tidy table top either, this was the state it got into after just a short while, so no wonder my hands got covered in paint too.

I started by making some stencils from some thin plastic sheets. As you will see when you scroll down, the favourite seemed to be the one on the bottom right with the holes.

I used my Gelli plate to print with, and used the stencils I'd cut with some leaves from the garden, a feather, and a few other bits and pieces from my stash.

I worked on copy paper, cloth and some white tags.

Leaves and bits from the garden always seem to give good results.

After I had finished, I just had to take a photo of the leaves and garden bits, as they looked quite pretty all covered in blue paint!

One sheet has already come in useful to cover one of my sketchbooks. My latest quick sketch of the roof tops I can see from the upstairs window where I make all this lovely mess!

Well, I have enjoyed my holiday Monday having fun with paper, paint, leaves and my Gelli plate, so I hope those of you reading this, have also enjoyed your day wherever you may be.

Inspiration taking a rather long break!

What do you do when inspiration decides to take a long break? There's a struggle going on for enthusiasm to bubble up from the depths too, but I did manage to put together this last week. Quite honestly, I don't even know where to start at the moment, so I just dug around in my box of  painted and gelli printed scraps, cut or tore them up a bit more, and layered and stitched them down onto some backing felt. It looked a bit like weedy undergrowth, so I added the insects as well as the snail and butterflies. Oh well, better than nothing I suppose, but I will feel happier when things perk up a bit, and ideas start to flow again.

Working on my mojo.

Trying to get back into some kind of normality after my hubby's death, I took myself off to Eastbourne for a couple of days. I was blessed with good weather, so consequently enjoyed some walks along the seafront. I managed to make the above very quick sketch whilst resting on a boulder.

Our weather has suddenly decided to warm up at last, so yesterday I took a short train journey to Kew Gardens for the day. Living in London can have it's drawbacks, but this is one of the perks, being close enough to spend a day in such beautiful surroundings. I made a quick sketch of some trees, and then took loads of photos, some of which are below.

A glimpse of the Thames from the edge of the gardens.

Gorgeous examples of spring flowers and greenery. The unfurling fern reminds me of my recent holiday in New Zealand.

Then today, another warm and sunny one, I sat in the garden and sketched our tubs of azaleas and rhododendrons sitting on the patio. I did that thing of just letting the pen follow the contours of the images my eye was seeing, which seems to give a more spontaneous impression, rather than a fiddly detailed sketch. I was pleased enough with my result to do a copy of it onto cloth with some free motion machine stitching.

Finally, I did lots of free machine quilting on the image of my daughter that I printed onto some canvas. (above). Then I have continued to play around with the idea, the result is below. I used a combination of painted papers, painted cloth, commercial fabric, net and lots of free machine quilting. I'm not particularly happy with it, but thought I would show it as it's part of an idea that I'm trying to develop.

Thanks for taking the time to read my blog, and enjoy your weekend, wherever you are in this troubled world of ours.