Let the tidying begin. Or not...

First though, here is the craziness of last week in pictures (but not including the train'n'tram trip to the Big Blue scandinavian emporium of white picture frames and the "interesting" journey home again with three Big Blue Bags in a heat wave...)

Stitching a new sort of doodle on a piece of embellished felt

Foiling a huge piece of painted Bondaweb and felt, ready for sari silk strips. Note that the kitchen worktop is not man enough for the job, so I've now moved onto the dining room table ...

Stitching said huge piece of foiled sari silk strips.  

The complete Slater, put to good use sticking down my book covers.

Sari silk bead production line

Picture/gift bag production line

The beginnings of a big foiled bit of velvet (the random one I mentioned last time)

Now with foil

and now with stitch

to be turned into book covers, a bit like this one (sorry for bad pic).  Glad I did these, turned out to be popular!  I also did a demo of this technique on the stand, and lots of people came to watch, even the "serious" oil/acrylic painting types over the way!

My lovely huge corner stand at Art Trail.  Boy, was there Much Faffing, I've never taken so long to put up a display before.  Pleased with my sticks!

But just LOOK what I woke up to on Sunday.  It's Tuesday evening and I still can't face it!  Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow...

Busier than a one-armed paper-hanger

(Dolly Parton, Steel Magnolias).

Some people have been doing a lot of this:

while others have been creating more of this:

There was some dispute after the last pictures I put up of my table, with people suggesting it wasn't really mess.  So here's a close up.  The screwdriver has been living there for at least a week, not sure what it was used for but it obviously needs to be kept handy.

Reassuringly, a theme is emerging:

Blue.  Lots of it.  Hmmm.

But I've moved on from "big" things to "small" things, easy wins (I hope):

These now have assorted dingle-dangles and are little brooches.  I've only just stitched the pins on, and I'm supposed to be getting ready to go and teach (last session of the year) so I'll have to post a pic of the finished ones another time. 

And if my East Sussex public don't feel the need to adorn themselves with embroidered felted dingle-dangles, I've signed myself up for an Etsy shop - to be launched post-Art Trail!

From the ashes

Well, not ashes as such, just the general scene of destruction and chaos that is my desk:

which has also spread, somewhat...it is like a tide of messiness, now lapping the shore of the remaining clear bits of dining table...we will surely drown in messiness....this little arrangement next to where I sit to eat has been growing steadily all week:

I'll just have to eat off my lap "in front of the box" as Granny used to say.

How did we get from ashes to floods to TV dinners? 

Anyway, from the ashes springs new life - I have been busy sticking stuff in frames to make it all look a bit more "pro":

and spot the difference:

I found these frames locally, and I've also rescued a fair few from the charity shops.  I intend to strip those ones back and take the glass out, and have spent countless hours perusing the interweb looking at framing equipment.  (Why isn't Gonecycling "Gonecarpentering"?  He cuts wood like I cycle up hills - a lot of moaning and effort, and ending up all hot and bothered).

OH YES.  I forgot to mention.  Remember this?

I came second!  Hooray!  I lost to a rockpool...

My scattered mind

 

My scattered mind means that I often work surrounded by what some would call mess, and I call getting things done...such as this pic, done spontaneously after a bit of fabric/papier mâché:

And this, the start of Warming Pot 2, drying in the sun: