Making Things

There was rain predicted for the weekend but it turned out to be sunny, if a little cool.

My craft skills are amateurish but I like making something or the other, I suppose it is relaxing in the way some people may find cooking or playing a game to be a restful hobby.  My earliest memory of making something was my mother, brother and me making cards for his birthday party when he was 6 or 7. My mother had found an old book with sweet animal illustrations which we used to make the invitation cards.  I still make my own cards.

Most things I make happen serendipitously.  I find things when walking or something may catch my attention in the shops and I pile them up in boxes and then just put them together when I am making something.  The pieces above were found over several years in different places, the felt background was a little dyeing experiment.  I am undecided on whether to leave it as cards or to frame them.

 

Left over fabric scraps are part of the beginnings of the tee shirt above that I started this weekend - I don't know yet how it will go though I might be painting a bit on the hem when I have the time.  The jewellery purse below it is complete, its a shoulder pad from an 80s dress. I have been putting these to many uses and I fear I may soon be buying dresses for the pads.  The brass bit was a lost earring I found on the street. I quite like how it all came speedily together. 

I pretty much use the same approach with the house.  My brother and I have never really planned the look of any place we have lived in, we rely on an inner aesthetic coherence when we acquire (or retain) things piece meal.  Neither does it follow any particular order, I like propping up paintings on the floor.  By and large most places we have lived in have had an organic and folksy element with a definite pop of colour.  I like to bring the outdoors in a little bit and that frond must be the largest thing I ever carried in.