Easter holiday comes to an end

But what a busy weekend it has been. Grace and Sam (her mum) came to lunch today and I cooked roast beef and all the trimmings. The Easter Bunny brought Grace, amongst other things, (but no chocolate) her first paints. She ended up with red hands, red face and red teeth - had to keep checking if it tasted nice or not - but seemed to enjoy it. A girl after her Nana's heart.

I really should have been getting on with my NCFE Creative Textiles coursework but the bits of lutradur that Marion sent just wouldn't stay in my SABLE (new acronym that I came across recently - Stash Accumulated Beyond Lifetime Expectancy) so out came the transfer dyes and several papers completed and left to dry.

While the workroom was in "wet" mode, I couldn't resist having another go at painting on kitchen foil and completed a 12" x 15" box canvas. Always with one eye on the cheaper alternative, I used pva to stick the foil to the canvas. This proved to be a big mistake as it didn't stick properly all over which resulted in lots of air bubbles and some unsightly ridges/folds that just wouldn't stay down. I painted it anyway but I'm not nearly as happy with this as with the canvas book cover (see blog 9th April).

Yesterday was spent trying out the transfer dye papers on the lutradur. I'd made the dyes quite concentrated as I wasn't certain how well they'd transfer. I needn't have worried as the colours came out really strongly. In fact, next time I'll definitely dilute them more to try and get something a little more subtle. I'll live with the lutradur samples pinned to my wallboard for a week or so before I decide how I'll use them.

I've also been working on some needle felted samples (including the A5 felted notebook cover - see blog 9th April) to take along to the Mid Norfolk Guild of Spinners, Weavers and Dyers meeting on 20th as they've asked me to give a demonstration. I want to show them felting isn't just twee embellished felt flowers and the like so I've worked up a triptych design, using the embellisher, based on the changing colours of Uluru throughout the day, hence the title, "Uluru Dawn, Day, Dusk"‏.

And here's some detail - Dawn,

Day

and Dusk.

Apart from the box canvas mounts, the triptych was made entirely from old/worn/discarded items from the Sheridans' wardrobes. John's close scrutiny while taking the photographs resulted in a plaintive, "But I liked that old jumper" .............