Dipping my toes in to glass fusing ...

I have an enquiring mind & a creative streak. I don't mind 'having a go' at new things.

My friend Ellie saw a 'glass fusing workshop' at a nearby National Trust property & she said we should dip our toes in to the taster session in the morning. 

It is another completely new thing for both of us as neither of us had done any glass fusing before. 

We did a glass painting workshop together earlier this year but this is completely new to both of us. However,  we booked glass fusing & were ready to go.

Our little group of about 12 of us were prepped in an upstairs room at Wightwick manor & we were keen to have a first glance at what awaited us.

Hot drinks & biscuits are always welcome so we looked over the wares of the tutor Suzie & settled at the table. 

Being a short workshop of just an hour, Suzie ran through the basics really quickly before we were free to explore the wide range of glass materials on the table. 

The various glass elements were laid out on the table & we got to work selecting & placing our bits. 

Time was of the essence so it was important to go with what you thought without too much fussing about it. 

I opted to work horizontally on my glass strip, Ellie decided to do vertical (a popular choice at the table)

Soon we were passing, sharing, chatting amongst ourselves as we arranged the various glass elements that fire differently - some spread, some stay a blob, the fish food like ones just melt etc.

I did a small floral scene, knowing that this is just a test with very new materials & I used various glass elements because I will be interested to see how the final fired product looks. 

We took photos so we can compare the before & after to see how the glass behaved when fired ... 

Suzie had a table of some of her wares & I purchased those two cute glass Christmas trees at the back.

Then it was on to a quick glass pendant using any glass shape from the selection on the table. Being so small, it was a decisive time to arrange elements that went together. 

It was over too soon & we wrote our names & indicated a direction next to each item for when the hanging loops are put on. 

We  moved around, admiring each others work. 12 of us had access to exactly the same materials & all of them were very different. I love creativity & how we all do our own thing.

We have a 2 week wait while they are taken away for firing, before picking them up & seeing if they resemble what we hoped for. 

I will update this post ... 

I hope you are inspired to try random things too, life long learning is recommended. 

Dee 🖼️🖌️🎨

An afternoon exploring mixed media nature collage ...

 

When I stepped away from a lifetime in various educational settings in July, I set my mind on doing more of the things that interest me. 

I am a firm believer in lifelong education. 

I have always been a creative person, filling my time with activities that interest me or advance my skills via workshops.

A local one came up for mixed media nature collage. I have not done a lot of mixed media, this one in covid times was interesting & I enjoyed it. 

I am always happy to just have a go at new things, taking advantage of the skills of the tutor to guide through the processes. 

I have visited this shop recently which is how I came to know of her courses. She has only been open since the summer but her varied workshops appeal to me. 

I  arrived & the work table was set up for 7 of us ladies. We settled in with a cup of tea & some biscuits, before getting down to the guided workshop by Netty. Most of us had limited experience in mixed media so we were without expectations that hold you back.

We prepped our canvas to work on the inside of it as a frame - gesso & matt medium mixed with plaster of Paris powder to give it texture. 

These were set aside to dry while we explored the lovely selection of papers, card & fabrics in our pack.  

Using paints, pens & selection of objects, we covered the sheets in marks that would be used in our final collage. 

I restricted myself to just black & white paints & markers so I could concentrate on the marks rather than colours which can be distracting. 

We then used plaster of Paris & gesso with the lace on our marked sheets to give a texture. Some of our  sheets were a little wet but it worked fine. We used our sheets to make banners / strips around twigs / make paper beads to use in our nature collage. 

Then came the assembly / artistic part. We looked at Netty's examples for guidance but I do tend to overthink so I got to it, tearing, gluing, arranging my papers, twigs & paper beads in a way I liked. 

Because I had limited my colour palette, I found it surprisingly easy to arrange the mixed media in to a design that I liked.  

The gesso base was tacky so the papers stuck & this meant I had to be decisive in the placements which really helped to galvanise the thought process. 

We overran time wise, soon 3 hours was past & I must say, I am rather pleased with this first effort using these techniques. 

The table certainly showed our creative efforts with things out everywhere. 

What I always find fascinating in workshops is that we all started with a very similar pack of papers & fabrics, yet the finished items are always very different. 

It really shows how creativity works. 

I will still add some accent stitches on once the canvas is completely dried. 

This will need my awl to pierce the canvas - another decisive move because you have to be certain where you want the hole. 

That helps to combat analysis paralysis that often happens. 

I am already eyeing up some of the other workshops. 

However, I have two very different ones booked already for October elsewhere ... 

Lifelong learning continues, as it should. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 🎨🖌️🖼️🍁🍂🧵🪡

A creative week at Making Zen

 

I am naturally a creative person who loves the quiet time of making things that do not have to have a purpose at all, other than to bring joy to the maker.  

I took art at tertiary level & always found the drawing side to be more challenging than the making side. 

My Mother & Grandmother could turn their hands to most sewing projects & I am comfortable with 'just having a go'.

I love to join the online 'Making Zen' retreat run twice a year usually because it exposes me to new skills that I might use in a different project but the skills are never lost. 

These are some of last years projects from the Making Zen retreat -  

Sewing a pouch with a gusset 

Weaving with intention 

Making a tsunobukuro style bag

and some previous ones 

Using new stitches to make a baobab tree 

Using water soluble film to make a new fabric 

Stitching some little zen bags 

I do not subscribe to the (bought) VIP package, but print off the workshops & handouts & make notes along the way to help me remember the techniques further down the line. Each unpaid one is only available for 24 hours which galvanises the mind to concentrate on the techniques. The ethos of reusing fabrics is a great one across all the workshops & the tutors all encouraged it. 

Meredith Woolnought, who did the reverse applique technique I used previously, had an interesting workshop on negative spaces. It was a paper activity that has many practical uses. It is not something we think of too often, the spaces between that define an image. Her workshop used a background circle & then torn or cut paper to create an evenly spaced work. I had a travel brochure at hand & decided to use that while she was demonstrating. 

I did a second one with another 2 pages from the travel brochure but was drawn to the words on the article so I cut them out & it then became like a journal entry - a very interesting concept that can be applied to journaling I think. 

The Stitchers pocket companion pouch by Giovanna Zara was not as straightforward as the tutors expert work, but I used fabrics 

I already had & it was passable. Short cuts seldom work & the machine stitched sides kept bunching up in the bobbin & I had to then oversew with blanket stitch anyhow.

 I should have just done the hand sewing instead of using the machine. You live & learn. 

Many of us were looking forward to the workshop by Claire Voelkel-Sedlmeir where she made wishing houses to hold intentions. 

I told you these workshops are totally self indulgent & zen at the same time. 

It uses a 4x8 inch scrap of cloth that is embroidered, stitched & then folded over. 

I had a piece of vintage lace out so used that for the roof part then got totally carried away with the stitching on the front, a cottage covered in rose blooms. 

It was a fun one to make & her lettering advice was very helpful indeed; I find my lettering is not as neat as it should be but that is simply a lack of practice.

I am always extremely grateful to the inspirational & diverse workshops offered & the new skills I learn. 

I hope I am not the only one who believes in life-long learning & honing in of skills. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is greatly appreciated

Dee 🏠🪡🧵📍🔖📝

Making Zen - Weaving remnants with intention

 I love participating in the Making Zen creative workshops twice a year - there are 25-30 workshops over the week  & I make notes of the new techniques I want to return to. The online workshops are for 24 hours only unless you purchase the VIP pass.  This year again, there is an ethos of using what you have rather than buying additional supplies & I am embracing this to whittle down my stash. 

Sometimes I am not sure if the workshop is 'me' but I watch as many each day as I can because knowledge is power, & I have often returned to my notes months later when I thought a technique would be useful for a completely different project. 

Lisa's Weaving Remnants with Intention was one such one - first painting a background on a thick card, marking out the weaving holes then using remnants / scraps to make a woven piece. 

I had some card that I painted but then thought it was a bit flimsy / wrinkly so I merely glued a second sheet behind it to strengthen it & give it substance.  Then it was time to mark up the painted card with pencil for the weaving threads - 11 holes marked top & bottom, lining up perfectly. I used my sewing awl to make the holes neatly. These were then threaded with a pearl cotton thread to make the warp threads of the card loom. 

I had some fabrics at hand from the other Zen project I was working on so these were cut  or torn in to strips, along with some wool to be woven on the 'loom' to form the weft threads. 

It was very relaxing to do something different & the little loom took no time to fill with interesting threads & fabrics. 

Lisa encouraged us to put in a quote or something & I decided mine was simply 

                               JUST DO IT 

I am guilty of procrastination & spending too much time planning so just going for something new is liberating.  Make something rather than just think about it too much, go with intuition. 

A great workshop that I had not blogged before, so I hope it inspires you to try something new. 

Thank you for stopping by, you are always very welcome to share my content 

Dee 🧵🎨🖌️👩‍🎨

A free motion 'threads bowl' workshop

The life long educator in me loves learning opportunities & I avail myself to local courses whenever I can.

A local haberdashery shop runs interesting workshops. I have done several there & I did my first free motion workshop there a few years ago. It was for a 3D tree in a tea cup & it was great fun & I was delighted with the result even though I had to work through my machine settings to get set it up. 

This one popped up for Free motion threads bowl & it looked absolutely gorgeous - making a bowl using soluble fleece & then shaping it. 

It incorporates a fabric pattern you might like so the possibilities are endless. You have to take your own threads to match the sample of fabric you wish to incorporate as well as a glass cereal bowl to dry your shape on. 

What fun it was, the machines set up for just 2 of us, what a privilege to have a small class. 

Bobbin & machine threaded with a grey thread to do the 'spiders web' support for the bowl & soon the 2 machines were humming happily with a steady sound. 

Tea & cake while colours were threaded, we both opted for the variegated thread in pinks which saved on winding bobbins & rethreading the machines. 

Free motion machine embroidery using water soluble fleece relies just on threads to hold it all together when the fleece is washed away so you have to concentrate on the stitches touching each other & sufficient stitches to maintain a shape. 

I rather liked the example with a flower shape in it so I roughly drew one on my fabric & embroidered it, going over the shape several times to give it support. 

The variegated thread gave a lovely tone of pinks. 

Using circular movements helps to give your shape more structure because, from past experience, straight lines tend to collapse because they are not joined at enough points. 

I had a few flower fabric shapes cut out so those were machine embroidered on lastly, more to check the technique than a must, being aware that the circular shape will become a bowl shape so placements need to be right for when it is done. 

Un-hooped, trimmed of the excess soluble fabric then a quick dunk in a basin of warm water before it is placed over the glass bowl & eased in to the final shape.

 I straightened out some of the lines of thread, flattened some of the circular bits I had embroidered around the top edge etc. 

The two bowls were then left to dry over a towel overnight.

 The fabric bowls are then eased off the glass bowls & only then do you know if your stitches will hold the shape you want or if there will be a collapse needing a starch spray ... 

I returned to pick up my bowl this morning & all is well. It came off the glass bowl easily & holds its shape well. 

It is a flatter bowl but with interesting edge details & I am rather pleased with this first effort at a new technique. 

Are you up for new challenges too? What is on your list? Thank you for stopping by, it is always appreciated. 

Dee 🧵🪡🧺👩‍🎨