My new relationship

Last week I told you about my experiment with new thread. Today I can show you how that continued. In the picture above you see needle-weaving, needle-lace and french knots all laid down on paper.

On another piece of paper a snoregaffel (lucet) cord is couched down, in the middle you see the Vandyke stitch and last but not least is the herringbone stitch.

One last picture in which you can see the five different ovals. The two that I didn't mention are one in bullion loops and another snoregaffel (lucet) cord couched down in a different way.

It is very satisfying to work with new materials, simply love the challenge .. :-)

Enjoy your week!

Elizabeth

Back home again

A new post for my creative archive after a week of spending time in the Netherlands. I was totally ready to come home again and since there was lots of laundry I had lots of time to swing my needle,  my main chore was being done by machines. 

In the previous post this new thread was introduced and I'm still over the moon with it. 

While doing the bullion knots and trying to figure out the best way to do this I thought; starting to embroider with a new kinda thread, wool no less, is like starting a new relationship. One, me in this case, need to find out what are the possibilities, what are the pros and cons and do I want to make the effort to get to know my new thread. Questions that can also be asked when a new person enters your life too. For me these little thoughts are funny and add to a feeling of being happy and content. 

Enjoy yourself!

Elizabeth

So excited!

In my previous post I already told you that I returned to my old love, helleristninger. I have hundreds of pictures made while visiting places where they are still visible but also photographs of books. I just love to look at these drawings in stone.

This photograph was found in a book from P.V. Glob, Helleristninger i Danmark. Since I am so taken by this stone I decided to take some elements from it and use them in a different way. 

This was my start and I only took one detail and with the use of the template I made I could paint and prick these. But what could I do more with it? While thinking about it I remembered a card I bought last summer. This card was the cover of a magazine and was painted by Karin Larsson. 

The attraction is the layering in the card and so that was what I wanted to try. The work I made so far had a female feel to it and I wanted to keep that. There aren't many helleristninger with women but I saw one in Tanum.

Made another template that was inspired by the first picture, the card and the picture above. 

I really like the result although I wished I had put the yellow drawing a little bit lower. My mind started asking what about stitching? Didn't want to use embroidery floss since that has always a bit shine to it and blomstergard is very thin. Time to go shopping. 

Came home with these two beauties which normally are used for crochet or knitting. The woman behind the desk was more than surprised when I said I wanted to embroider with it. The blue one is wool with cotton blend, the green one wool with silk. But I simply had to give it a try because I loved these colours. And I was planning a small sample but .... 

I found a long strip of paper and so the sample became a bit bigger. As you can see it is possible to make bullion knots with a wool blend on paper. The blue one gave no problems whatsoever, the green thread broke a few times but not that often that it became a hassle. The green bullion knots are not so defined as the blue ones due to the silk snippets that are in the thread. And probably needless to say but I will say it anyway: I love it!

There are still loads of possibilities swirling around and so it is time to get back to work and enjoy myself big time. Btw, did you find the two elements I used from the first photograph in the stitched sample?

Time to wish you a wonderful and most of all a creative weekend.

Elizabeth

Another handkerchief

My love for helleristninger isn't a secret since I talked and used them in my work a fair number of times and it seems that I'm back with my old love. 

It is now almost two years ago that I made my first handkerchief and did make a couple of them since than. Similar shape but each time totally different. Today I used an old photograph from a stone found on Vivebrogård in Himmerland. The marks from the stone are transferred onto my drawing of the hankie. Added the colours with water-colourpencils and carefully put a wet brush over it. After letting it dry the running stitch is added so the folds/lines remain visible. 

I love it and it will become an appreciated addition to my ledger. 

Time to start doodling again.

Have a wonderful creative tuesday!

Elizabeth

Changed my mind ... again!

Last time I told you about the decision to make an artists book. Well it turned out that my urge for pockets was stronger.

In the collage above you can see the different pages that I made. All the material is from old jeans, my husband discarded shirts, handkerchiefs and some cloth that I dyed years ago with avocado peels. In other ways a fun project for recycle materials. 

Maybe you have a hard time to find the 5 pockets so I'll show in another collage.

Heartsong is a special word for me and in these pockets I plan to keep special stories and quotes. As you can see some have already landed there. Loved working on this project and I hope to enjoy it for a long time.

Have a great weekend and keep swinging your needle.

Elizabeth