My Sketchbook Project - Part 1

Good news - I did indeed manage to finish my sketchbook on time for the Sketchbook Project (but only just!). Now that it's done & dusted - and has safely arrived at its new home in the Brooklyn Art Library (yay!) - I thought I'd show you a little bit more of it.

I really enjoyed working on this project because I treated it as a kind of fun exploration of pattern and texture via drawing, painting and collage. It so was nice to do something that was about inspiration and an exploration of creativity (and not about making a product for sale, for a little change).

If you haven't come across the Sketchbook Project, it's an annual art project open to everyone worldwide which encourages people to get creative with a standard sketchbook.

The brief is really up to you (there are suggested themes, and my chosen one was "It's winter where you are" but I used it fairly loosely and really as more of a starting point!) and the final submissions go on tour, eventually being housed at the Brooklyn Art Library in New York.

For more information, and to see the dates of the 2012 Sketchbook Project world tour, visit the website.

Creature Comforts

I just came across these wonderfully squishy-looking comfy things of loveliness via Deirdre Nelson's twitter feed. Don't they look deliciously soft?






The pouffe is called Slumber (appropriate, no?), designed by Aleksandra Gaca and it's available from Casalis.

The Silken Thread

I was recently inspired by this gorgeous cashmere & silk yarn created by the lovely Snowberrylime to collate an etsy treasury along a similar theme, entitled "The Silken Thread" - I hope you like :)


The interactive thingy above was created using CraftCult's Etsy Treasury Widget. Yay!

Adornment

Day Seven: Embellish the story.

I can't believe it's the last day of Knitting & Crochet Blog Week again, already! This week has really flown by but it's been a lot of fun and I've very much enjoyed reading the blogs of other crafters taking part too.

Most folks are covering "your knitting and crochet time" today, but as I did a post last year which I feel would be a bit too similar, I have gone for the wildcard topic which will hopefully make for a more interesting read!

I'll be honest here, I don't really do huge amounts of embellishment on my knits as I like them to have fairly clean, classic lines. An obvious example is these shell buttons which finished off a pair of shoes neatly:


There have been, however, have a few memorable occasions where I have had a bit of a play around with some ideas!

When I was working on pieces for my degree show, I experimented with knitting on huge needles and creating my own yarns from strips of fabric sewn together - I decided to make the stitched joins a feature, using zig-zagging contrasting thread:


Around the same time, I also tried various ways of embedding fibres into knitted woollen fabrics, using needlepunch and hand felting techniques:






...and finally: you'll probably think me a little bit nutty for including this, but I'm going to incorporate it anyway for the fun factor!


In case you're wondering, they're meant to be 'textile art' and were made for a Comic Relief challenge project several years back ;)

Beautiful Texture

I have to admit, one of the things which really inspires me and gets my 'creative juices' flowing is texture. Unsurprising, I suppose, as I am a Textile Designer after all. I think it's something I've always subconciously been drawn to.

In fact, I remember when I was preparing my portfolio for art college, my Art teacher at the time suggested that I consider Textiles, having noticed a textural theme in my sketchbooks. Oh how right she was! Strange though, that I never spotted it myself before, and yet now I can't believe I didn't realise sooner, as it is such an intrinsic part of my nature.

So, without further ado, here are some rather beautiful examples of texture that have caught my magpie eye recently.



Ruched Leather Bag from Pixie Market - Just the description 'crackled leather bag with ruched leather' makes my mouth water! Such a gorgeous grey colour and an almost crinkly look to it.



Sonia Rykiel AW 2011



Deconstructed Corset Top from Elizabeth & James - This is simply divine, grown-up feminine glam but a little bit rough around the edges. Rock chick chic!

Ah, if only I could afford some of the loveliness above... *sigh*