birds and chairs

not sure about my stuffed birds......not sure about them at all

they are kinda cute - but not sure I like their heads...should I keep putting eyes on them?

think I will do a few more and then move on to my next project

whatever that is.......

oh! me and S went to an upholstery class this past Saturday - loved it!!

I was hoping I would

I had no idea what to expect from the class, so I got two really (cheap) simple

chairs to work on

when we walked in, it was like we had walked into the middle of the class

everyone seemed to know what to do

some people had taken the class before - but the new ones even seemed to know

I panicked -

but then settled down and started taking the ugly, stained, ancient

(not ancient in a good way)

green fabric off the seat (duh, forgot to take “before” photos!)

I thought perhaps there would be some sort of opening talk or explanation

from the teacher - who is a very old, sweet man who has an upholstery shop in town

but no......just dive in

then he'd come around and show you things - or answer questions

I loved watching the others - who brought far more complicated chairs

deconstruct their chairs - seeing the layers of old fabrics,

horse hair or ancient fillings

I especially liked the chairs with just the bare bones

and hessian (burlap for you US people)........the rough materials

with the tans and brown colours

anyway - we finished our little chairs, who have actually been growing on me

study and capable with a bit of mid-century “design”

I settled on a simple, linen stripe with lovely muted colours of brown, tan, grey and a minty-green

with the original seat colour; the orangey colour of the wood was really awful

but with the new seat; it tones it way down

I still want to strip the wood and stain it a dark brown

what do you think?

leave it or stain it darker?

tomorrow; I am spending the day ion London

there are so many show I want to see;

V&A, Mall Galleries, Hayward

not sure how many I will actually get to

I always have such good intentions;

and then forget that it takes forever to get to each one..........

you walk around.......back to the tube.......next one, etc

then; I am going to the opening night of

CAMERA OBSCURA AND OTHER STORIES

a show of works by Ellen Bell

beautiful work.......check it out!

and as always; thank you so much for stopping by and seeing what I am up to

I appreciate it.......very much

I know.......I know.......

well, that break ended up being far longer than expected!

as you might imagine; my passport did indeed show up in time

our trip to Mexico was lovely - perfect weather and nice company

the view right outside our gate

the wandering mariachi band!

on our first day; we came back to our place after shopping -

and the maid (we had a maid! I know......a maid!!)

had folded all of our towels into swans!

she had a bouquet of flowers from a wedding and used some

of the bougainvillea petals to decorate two large towels in the front room -

so pretty and such a lovely surprise!

my favourite thing!

mango on a stick with chilli pepper, salt and lime juice

she cut the mango into a flower shape -

convenient to eat it on the beach so you can wash off all the juice that

inevitably drips down your arms

so good......had one every morning for breakfast

my sister’s dinner

I wish I would have been closer to this statue;

so serene and beautiful overlooking the little cove

now I am back at home -

and as usual......trying to get myself together!

I finished the bird I left before the trip

it is on its way to the US now

for my next project; I am working on some little stuffed birds

(I know......again with the birds!)

using these fabrics.......

the top of the bird will be one pattern

with the bottom being a contrasting fabric

will of course show you when I have a few done

similar to the aprons I made

which I have put in the cafe next door

and have sold 3 of them!! yea

so......that’s it for now

thank you so much for not giving up on me!

I will try to get back into “the groove” of writing more posts.......

and getting on with all the different projects I have in my head

and on several different lists floating around the studio

happy spring!

__a

yikes!

random photo of buttons

my head is about to explode

I cannot think nor do much of anything

and of course, my to-do list is massive

I leave early Thursday morning for the States

however, my passport hasn't come back from the embassy!!

I sent it off to get pages added

and miscalculated how long it would take

now I have been spending the last few days with

a stomach full of acid......worrying

I have spoken to someone in the embassy twice now

and they have said it will be with me tomorrow

and if it isn't?

aaaarrrrggggghhhh!!!!!

I know, it is totally my fault

once again a product of my not getting things done

got.to.stop

I am flying into KC to stay with my mother - and then she and I

and a few other family members

are going to Mexico for a week

I am really hoping to spend a good portion of my time

emptying out this head of mine

it is so cluttered......and noisy

I think some people are good with that

I am learning it stops me

stops me from doing things

distracts me so much

I cannot settle anywhere

with anything

am not too thrilled with being away from S for so long....

my main purpose is the few weeks I will be staying with my mother

we will be tackling all the cupboards, closets, boxes, drawers, shelves, etc

that are completely filled to the brim

donating, selling, keeping - clearing!

I think it will make us both feel really good

altho, I think there will be some emotional moments

a couple of scenes of my desk....which I am leaving in a terrible mess!

and the unfinished bird I was supposed to finish before I left

wait..what happened?

I didn't mean to have such a long pause between blog posts!

just never.........took the time

have been busy doing non-creative/paying design jobs

but have also finished a piece that I am submitting to a local show

(which I probably now have jinxed by mentioning it)

a couple of weekends ago S and I went to Budapest. I have wanted to go there

for years!!

such a beautiful and elegant city

lovely, lovely Art Nouveau buildings everywhere

you had to keep looking up

sometimes the most amazing part of the buildings were the tippy tops!

below is a wall of tiles and statues in the hall of the thermal baths we went to

I was quite intrigued by the wings coming out of her head!

Parliament in the background........so ornate!

this statue was so beautiful

she looked so modern

it is Queen Elizabeth, the wife of Emperor Franz Josef

such a delicate statue

this was a man in traditional Hungarian dress playing some sort of instrument -

I couldn't get closer to take a better photo

looking from Pest over the Danube to Buda

such stunning scenery; its hard to take a bad photo!

it was actually sunny and even slightly warm today

I actually sat in the sun a bit

I am still going to do a collage from the items I took from the collage box

a label for onion chutney

and finish another bird I have started

it's only Monday - so I still have a chance!

hope you are having a sunny, creative day too

and thank you, thank you, thank you for coming by!

__a

Alice

I wrapped up the collage box and have sent it on its way to Monika

I will now get to work on that collage

but first.......I have another date night tonight!

(Monday, we went to a private preview party at the National Gallery and then dinner at Terroir)

My lovely S. somehow got us tickets to the new ballet, Alice in Wonderland at the Royal Opera House, which we will see tonight.

The Gala preview was this past Monday.

the shows are all sold out

but we were able to get a pair of tickets........probably in the clouds

so.......for Valentine’s Day, I gave S. these French mother of pearl opera glasses;

I am sure we will need them!

the sun is shining, but boy is there a strong, arctic (or Siberian?) wind blowing!

hope it is at least shining where you are!

__a

collage box

I signed up to be included in a collage box swap through LaWendula quite a while ago.

The box just showed up!

I have never done anything like this and thought it would be an interesting way to

challenge myself with new materials, etc

dopey me didn’t realise how much paper would be involved

uh.......I know.......what else would there be?!

I think I was thinking there would be all sorts of different materials

fabric, ribbons......

but, of course, most collagers (if that is a word)

would be using all sorts of different papers and things

anyway; this is what I found in the box

so, the deal is now I take 12 pieces out of this box

and put in 12 of my own

below are the things I took out

and here is what I added!

thought I would do a mixture of fabric and paper

there’s also a bit of bark, which I thought might interest someone

(upper left of photo)

a green feather, button, and a fabric heart

hope the next people to receive the box find

my things interesting

at first, I thought I was just taking things out of the box

and using them however I wanted

but upon reading the rules a bit closer;

I am to make one collage with all the bits I chose from the box

this might be a bit more difficult

only because as I chose things, I was thinking of using them

in several different projects

I can also add other things to the piece

this should be interesting

something different for me to think about and work with

have a lovely weekend

and thanks for dropping by