My creative space...

... is all decked up in holiday cheer !

I recently rearranged my sewing space, due to the holidays, my usual sewing machien needing repairs, the arrival of the serger... amoung other things.

The sewing machine is a 1933 Singer - it only does straight stitch, but it does it well, and for the rest, I have the Babylock. I should get my Pfaff back one of those days but I might stay with the current configuration, it saves space on the big table and I've come to *love* the Singer.

Above the machine on the wall are family photographs and wedding pictures from friends (and ours). I still want to add a few, and I'd love to find my grandparents' wedding picture to add them as well. The little cabinet on the left of the machine is decorated with etched metal plates by my Grandma and holds little sewing and knitting supplies.

In the picture on the far right you can see Karringa (the dress dummy) in my newest corset, and Madame Veto (the styrofoam head) sporting a hat-in-progress

My creative space...

... has been a little wuiet lately. The printmakig workshop was closed during the holidays, and the whole family has been sick in turns. We're all tired and slowly recovering. But I did manage to sew a teeny tiny bit !

It's not the prettiest t-shirt ever, but it's my first one using my serger/coverlock machine, which I adore ! I'm so happy I actually paid the extra $$$ for the Babylock and the cover stitch... I want to make a lot of things with this but I need pratice first. Lots of practice !

Hop over to Kootoyoo's blog for more creative spaces !

Transparency

This is my latest venture into testing possible etching materials. May I present you : Rhenalon. It's transparent and flewible and very easy to work into with the drypoint. I want to do some tests with superpositions of plates as well. I'm curious about how it will turn out, but won't be able to find out for the next two weeks - the workshop is closed during the school holidays. *sad panda face*

Hop over to Kootoyoo's blog for more creative space !

Grump grump grump...

Today my creative space is grumpy. I have been trying out new materials for drypoint, as working on a shiny mirror kinda hurts my eyes. Yesterday's try-out was a "Schappa" plate. It's a kin d of platic, very soft, very bendable, with one smooth side and one matte side. The engraving was very pleasant, as you can draw in pencil on it and the drypoitn moves easily through the plastic. The printing however, was NOT.

The one problem with the plate is that it is BLACK. And the ink is black as well ! So I never knew how much ink I was applying or wiping off, it was a nightmare. Byt some miracle, the first print I made (the one in the center) is somewhat okay. I want to re-work it a little, spruce it up with a little bit of color. The others ? I almost threw them in the trash right away. I was SO angry. Next week I'm giving the material one more chance : I'll try light colored ink (yellow or white) on a dark background. And I still have to try the matte side of the plate as well... but still, I'm so [censored] that the print didn't work out... I really, really loved the design. In fact, I may re-draw it on another medium.

Hop over to Kootooyoo for more creative spaces !

Lack of inspiration

I probably have a weird creative process. I start from an idea of what I want to make, I start drawing and then the picture just creates itself, it tells me what it wants to become. Sometimes though, I get stuck, I lack the starting point. That's when I look at places like Illustration Friday or the weekly European Etsy Street Team for prompts. This time I dug up a challenge theme from a few weeks ago : stripes.

(Hard as hell to photograph, evrything is shiny on this !)
This is a good opportunity to show you a part of the printmaking process. This zinc plate has been polished and covered with a coat of protective varnish. I'm drawing on this with a metal point, scratching of the protective layer. When I put the plate in the the acid bath, the acid will attack the metal in the unprotected areas.
I started doodling and thinking about all the stripes one could see in a picture, about their regulatiry and imperfections, and about how rain is often represented by vertical stripes... This is a work in progress, it may well change again before I print it !

There are a few other things going on in my brain right now - actually, there are so many I couldn't sleep !
There's the sewing, and the writing about the sewing, and there's still this drawing in progress on the desk, and two knitting projects, and I have blogs to update, and at least three different plates I want to prepare before our next printmaking session...

I was totally going to stop here, but on my way to my blog en français, I stumbled upon this beauty by Criska.

I'm not usually blogging that much about other people's product, but this is just... wow ! I can't justify buying it for myself so please, let someone take it to a good home...

More creative spaces at Kootooyoo's blog

My creative space

Long time since I haven't shown you what's going on in here, he ? Let's see what I have...

What's this ? you might ask... This was, in its past incarnation, a 1892 woollen evening cloak, which I wore to a ball many years ago. But I don't like the shape, it's too wide on me to be wearable in everyday life, so into the recycling bin it went, and it is going to be remade into a man's rococo justeaucorps. Quite a change ! Unpicking all those decorative stitches was time-consuming to put it mildly.

This is more familiar... Black ink and colored pencils, we'll see what it morphs into...

In lieu of an apology....

... I have been silent for a looooong time, and I owe at least one post to the "Shop Swap & Blog" organized by Pattie of Structured Chaos. Bad, bad blogger !

But look I managed to take a picture of my creative space ! Which, in turn, means there IS such a thing as a creative space, that is, something else than milk bottles, feeding times, diapers and falling into bed whenever the kid sleeps.... I can barely believe it.
Theses are the cards I had printed for Christmas and that I've started putting online on Etsy. It's a first batch, so I only did 25 of them and I'll see which designs work best. Actually, 10 of them are already taken (I just don't know exactly which ones), so grab some quick if you want them !

If you'd like to peek into other artists' creative spaces, check out Kootoyoo's blog !

My creative space is on fire today !

See ? Quite litteraly ON fire.
This is not the place I usually most of my time in - although I do love to cook. But not to the point of spending all my productive time there. This is where I spent these last few days however. I am preparing meals and freezing them for the time after the birth when we will be very tired and trying to adjust to our life as new parents. I don't foresee much time for cooking then, pasta everyday does not sound that appealing, and the pizza place nearby has closed. Hence, I'm preparing homemade pizzas, salted cakes, and some dishes that are easy to cook in big quantities and taste better when reheated. I have one more rabbit to cook tomorrow, and an onion tart, and after that I'll probably have to stop because the freezer will be full. I feel very productive seeing the little boxes with the labels "blanquette" and "bourguignon" waiting for a lazy evening !

For more creative spaces, have a look at Kootoyoo's ! Come play with us !

My creative space...

... is a day late, I know, I know... I actually took the pictures yesterday, but after a busy afternoon I didn't feel very well in the evening, and just vegged out with my knitting and pencils (okay, so that's not technically vegging out... but still).

Two big changes ! First, the antique craddle. Isn't it pretty ? We're still waiting for the mattress, we had it custom-made and it should be here next Thursday. The craddle was in a really sorry state when we bought it, but my Dad is an awesome woodworker and redid the damaged pieces, you can't even spot them now !
Second, you might notice it's the first time I post a picture of my computer desk from that angle. The reason being I can now open the window right next to said desk and step out on the balcony ! We replaced the old window and door with two big sliding doors. now I can show you the big mess that is my work area... I just need to have all that inspiration around me, the pictures, the materials and the projects in progress. I know some artists can't work amidst chaos, but I can't create without it.
As usual, see more creative spaces (from yesterday) on Kootoyoo's blog.

Proof that it works : two new listings in the shop. The Autumn print has been waiting for me to photograph it for some time, now it is finally online. Then comes another World Wonder, the Pharos lighthouse. I really have to thank Baahar for this wonderful challenge theme, it keeps me inspired ! I'm working on a third print on that subject and it has brought me so much... I'll have to make a separate post about it.

I do have to thank all the wonderful euro and UK peeps who included us in treasuries lately. It's been amazing to meet so many adorable and wonderfully talented people through Etsy. Thank you so much !

My creative space

I've abandonned my desk and drawing desk and invaded the living room wiht my sewing gear. Can you guess what I'm working on ?

J'ai abandonné le bureau et pris possession du salon avec mon attirail de couture. Saurez-vous deviner à quoi je travaille ?

Three pictures...

Trois images pour résumer ma longue absence...

Une coiffe à froufrous de dentelle, une chaussure à moitié recouverte de brocard... J'étais plongée dans le dix-huitième siècle ! Mais les arts graphiques reviennent sur le devant de la scène, maintenant que ma casaque 1740 est finie.
Je fais des essais à l'acrylique, beaucoup de travail pour trouver la bonne forme d'expression en ce moment, je ne suis pas sûre que la majorité ne finisse pas dans un carton mais j'aurai au moins appris quelque chose.



Three pictures to sum up where I disappeared... A frilly lace cap, a shoe in the process of being recovered with brocade,... The eighteenth century got me ! But I'm transitionning back to graphic arts now that my 1740s casaque is done.
I'm doing trial runs in acrylics right now, working a lot on finding what media works best for me. I'm not sure most of it won't end up in a storage box, but at least I'll have learned something in the process.