'tis the season

to be busy...

but not as busy as previous years. 

What have I missed?  Why the blasé attitude? Yes, I still have to make an enormous Christmas stocking for the youngest nephew, to match the one for his cousin made this time last year and yes I still have lots of presents to order or go find and yes I still have ideas for stitched presents noodling around in my head that I haven't even begun to bring into reality yet...

Maybe it's just because it's been a busy term, and now I've only got one class left to teach, I've wound down so much I've come to a standstill!

Either way, I haven't been doing what I should have been doing, I've been doing this:

cutting up lots of colour copies to make these:

signatures for a hand-made sketchbook:

with painted pages, copies (colour and b&w) and tracing paper.

Quite pleased with this frosty effect:

I'm working myself up to some major pieces of work (!  Sounds so grand!  If only I can pull it off!) for an exhibition next year.  So I'm not really procrastinating, I'm making a start. 

I've actually been attempting to make a start since about October, but don't tell anyone.

I've been using ideas from this book by Sandra Meech.  And it hasn't felt like procrastinating, as I haven't really enjoyed the process yet...it's been a bit painful, so I must be on to something...

And finally, talking of painful.  Got in a tantrum the other evening because I never have "time to do what I want to do" but then having carved out some time, of course I didn't know what it was that I wanted to do.  So in desperation I got out my boxes of rejects and offcuts, and made a collage.  Hmph. 

So there.