WEEKEND NEWS

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’re all well and enjoying life to the fullest. I’m still quietly stay home and social distancing in order to stay well and healthy. The sun is shining brightly as I compose today’s post. I might even step out into the garden to do a little tidying up while the going is good. Who knows what next week will bring?

It’s day 60 of my self-imposed and slightly extended challenge. I haven’t posted for a few days because I had a family health crisis to get my head around. And although I did not post I still worked on some simple art journal pages. Here are Day 58, 59 and 60 …..

When I was working on day 60, I was so determined to make something different when I realised that if I wanted to do something similar to a previous journal page it didn’t matter. In fact, as it’s my art journal, I can replicate the same page everyday if I want. The whole point of doing this art journaling is to keep my mind occupied while times are strange. I can’t ever remember stranger times in all of my sixty years on earth.

Now that I have reached 60 art journal pages, I will switch to another art journal book. The next book is a little larger giving me more scope. I will most likely repeat my favourite designs over again while combining them differently. And I will most likely get a great sense of fun and accomplishment when I can stand back and look at what I have created. I am still planning on translating some of my designs into patchwork blocks and quilts. I’m still doing the fine hand appliqué from the first art journal pages I chose to turn into a quilt top. It’s just circles but it looks pretty good.

I mentioned the other day that there was a family health crisis. Well I can now tell you that my beloved 82-year-old mum fell and broke her hip on Tuesday morning. She was in agony. Well she has now had surgery to put the broken hip right. And apparently the surgery went well. I haven’t spoken to her myself but she is keeping in contact with my brother. My family are in Canada so it makes this quite difficult to get my head around. As things stand at the moment I cannot fly to Montreal and even if I could I would have to quarantine myself  for 14 days and I wouldn’t even be allowed to visit her in hospital. I’m not moaning; I’m just trying to make sense of it all. I’m doing my best to keep a positive head on. I will be very glad when I can speak to her myself. My mother is the bravest person I know. She faces everything head on. I have no doubt that she will work hard in order to get home as soon as she can. Home is where the heart is. And my mother too!

So, it’s been an interesting week to say the least. I look forward to seeing what will develop next week. Life is just getting better every single day.

Well, my lovely friends, I guess that my news for today. I shall be back on Monday or Tuesday hopefully with some positive stuff to tell you and some interesting progress on my projects. I hope you all have a super cosy weekend doing lovely summery stuff. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching, one quilting stitch at a time does it.

Lucie x

SEEING SPOTS

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’re all well and in good spirits today. Life is pretty good here in my little corner of the northeast of England. It’s good but it’s not perfect. Perfect comes later after you’ve put a little more effort in but there’s always something to be thankful for.

I’ve done all my new normal usuals this morning. A few chores, walk the Maisie old girl pup, gave Sarah a ride and then I dragged my art supplies out and worked on this …..

Another simple art journal page. It’s now day 57 of my ongoing challenge. This little time spent playing with art supplies grounds me on days when I find it difficult to shut myself away in order to keep myself safe. As you can see, today’s effort is simple again. This is how this page started off …..

I spent a little time doing some fine hand appliqué work last evening. It’s amazing how quickly to get back into the groove after a long stretch of not doing any fine hand appliqué. I credit my success to using the finest thread I can find, Invisifil by Wonderfil. I have been this particular thread for fine hand appliqué for many years and it has given me such good results. I highly recommend it.

We are experiencing some really good weather here in my little corner of England. Plenty of sunshine, a little breeze and the gardens are greening up beautifully. Glorious.

Well, my friends, that’s my little bit of news for today. I may not be posting for a couple of days as I have a family health crisis to work out. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing whatever makes you happy. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching and messing around with art supplies.

Lucie x

QUILT MAKING NEWS FINALLY

Hello my lovelies. I hope you all having a fab day. It’s been an interesting day here in my little world. I have stayed home quietly minding my own business as per usual. I’ve done a few chores and cooked some food. Same old stuff done on a different day.

I recently decided that I wanted to use some of my art journal pages as inspiration for quilt making purposes. It was just a question of choosing a page and getting on with it. So, I chose this page …..

Now, this quilt top is not identical to my art journal page but inspired by said page. Here is the art journal page that lead to this simple quit top …..

I started by finding by finding a large enough piece of fabric that would do for a background. And then I selected some three circle templates. In fact, they are the templates I am using for my current hand quilting project. So, that was easy. Then I chose some grey scraps for the circles. I produced the circles, laid them out and moved them around until I was happy with the layout and tacked them down. I plan on appliqueing the circles to the background with a fine hand appliqué stitch and the finest blending thread. This method is my favourite for securing patches in place. The piece measures approx. 30” square at the moment. And it will probably be used as a wall hanging or perhaps a table topper. I’ll have a better idea of how to use it when it’s done.

As per usual, I have worked on an art journal page today …..

This is how it started off …..

As always, I have kept this simple and sweet. I love bright green and pink together. These are proper sweet little girl colours.

So finally, I have some quilt making news for you. I will be sure to select another art journal page to use as inspiration for another project soon. It means I can use up more scraps. Yippeeeee

Well, my lovely friends, I guess that my news for today. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something that gives you a sense of accomplishment. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching and messing around with art supplies.

Lucie x

BANK HOLIDAY BLESSING

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’re all having a brilliant bank holiday. It’s been a good weekend here in my little world. Today is Monday the bank holiday. Contrary to the usual, the sun is shining brightly, the wind has finally died down and it’s a splendid day. Quite often our bank holidays are a total washout. So, it’s a real blessing to have such a such brilliant weather today.

As I promised on Friday, I have set some time aside to be creative. Here are the art journal pages I created over the last three days …..

Here’s what this page looked like before I added embellishments.

Here’s what it looked like before the collage was added.

Here’s what this page looked like before embellishments were added.

Messing around with art supplies has somehow become the new normal from day to day. I do a few chores, cook some meals, spend a little time tidying up in the garden which then gives me permission to play with paint and paper etc. What a difference a couple of months makes. My thing would normally be to play with fabric.

Something I have recently noticed, I do far more cooking from scratch. Because there are very few visits to the supermarket, I do not purchase ready meals anymore. I’m not a super-duper cook but we are eating well; plenty of fruit and veg and I even started baking a little now and again.

Well, my lovely friends, that’s my report for today. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching and messing around with art supplies.

Lucie x

BANK HOLIDAY BREAK

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all had a great work week. It’s a beautiful bright morning here in my little corner of the northeast of England. It’s rather breezy but the sun is glorious and most welcome. We took Maisie for her morning walk and she was quite lively in the breeze.

Now, I’m coming to you early morning today because I have a few bits and pieces that need my attention. It’s day 52 of messing around with art supplies. No, I haven’t given up yet. In fact, I’m really getting into it. So, without further ado, here is today’s effort …..

All is Bright ….. now that should really cheer us up. There are 217 days left until Christmas. Doesn’t it make a nice change talking about something cheerful rather than how many deaths due to the invisible enemy!!!!! Once again, I kept this art journal page simple. Once the background was prepped …..

I added some cut outs, a wee bit of simple text and some wate colour pencil shading. Voila …. Now I feel all cheery. Has anyone started their Christmas shopping yet? Hahaha

So, my lovely friends, it’s a bank holiday weekend here in England. I shall be taking the long weekend break from blogging. Rest assured that I will dedicate some time to being creative. And I will be staying home in order to be safe. I hope to have one or two interesting projects in progress when I return on Tuesday. I hope you all have a super cosy weekend doing all your favourite things. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching and messing around with art supplies.

Lucie x

INSPIRATION FOR APPLIQUE WORK

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’re all enjoying our beautiful summery days. It was so nice yesterday that we had the barbeque going to cook our evening meal. Oh man what a lovely day it was.

Yesterday was quite an exciting day. It was our step out to collect our click & collect grocery shopping day. It took us a few weeks to be able to get a collection slot but I persevered and we got there in the end. Now I don’t have to hit the supermarket at all. I must admit that I feel safer and more relaxed knowing that I don’t have to set foot in a supermarket. I do miss clothes shopping. It just goes to show you how we can learn to adapt to situation beyond our control. My shopping list is getting longer by the week.

Now, today is day 51 of messing around with art supplies. This is today’s effort …..

Once again I kept it simple. I added some more stencilling, some paper tags, washi tape, pen doodling and water colour pencil shading. This page started off looking like this …..

 

 

In between a few household chores, I prepped a few more art journal pages. Here are my next six endeavours ……

A little paint and some stencilling make such a difference to a blank page. The most difficult part of art journaling is actually doing some with a white page. That first splodge of paint is such a relief. I try not to think about it hard. I choose a colour and add it to the blank page. Once that’s done it gets easier. I don’t worry about spoiling the pages anymore.

I mentioned that I was hankering after doing a little appliqué work using one or two of my art journal pages. Quite a lot of my journal pages could be translated into appliqué work. They would have to be resized but would work quite well. They wouldn’t look exactly like the journal pages but quite similar if you closed one eye.

So, my lovely friends, I guess that’s my little report for today. Rest assured that here at happy stitching manor, life is ticking over nicely. Things are getting done at a slow and measured pace. We are settling into the new normal. I hope you have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy doing. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching and messing around with art supplies.

Lucie x

PONDERING INSPIRATION

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’re all having a brilliant day. Mine has been a bit busy doing something and nothing. And although I have been busy, I have carved out some time to produce another art journal page. It’s day 49 and this is my effort for today …..

I love this simple page. Some cut outs, a little pen doodling, water colour pencil shading and a little text. This is how the page looked before I started embellishing …..

We’re experiencing a wet dreary day here in my little corner of the northeast of England. The garden needs the rain and to be honest we haven’t had nearly enough rain these past couple of months. So, I’m not complaining if it’s wet. I spent a little time in the garden doing a little tidying up over the weekend. The garden waste bin will be full and ready to collect next week.

I have been hankering after doing a little appliqué work inspired by my art journal work. I keep looking at my pages trying to choose one or two designs that would translate well into appliqué work. I am spoiled for choice. I may dive into my scrap basket to choose some fabric to help in making my choice. Pondering. It’s all a bit exciting turning inspiration into the real thing.

Well, my lovely friends, it’s a short report today. Tomorrow will be wordless Wednesday but before that I will need to produce a new art journal page, day 50!!!!! I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something productive. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching and messing around with art supplies.

Lucie x

STILL ART JOURNALING DAY 48

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all had a lovely weekend. Mine was lovely and relaxing. Life is a little more relaxed around here lately.

So, as the title suggests this post is about art journaling again. Most of you will be hoping for some quilt making tales. Well for the moment are none because art journaling has been my solace during these strange times. Rest assured though that these art journal pages are giving me inspiration to take this craft and translate it into arty quilt making. So, you’ll have to keep tuning in to see what happens, if anything.

Today’s effort started out like this …..

And now it looks like this …..

As always, I kept it simple. For those of you who have never done this type of craft, it’s a lot easier than it looks. After the doing the background I simply layered some paper cut outs, a bit of Caran Dache water colouring, pencil doodling and water colour pencil shading. You can get quite good results from simple art supplies that you already have in the house. The internet is full of inspiration and suggestion. I can recommend this type of artwork for anyone who is having a hard time finding something they can concentrate on.

For anyone who may not be able to keep up with what day it is …. it’s Monday. I’m getting a little better with keeping track of time now. I have kind of settled into my new normal. I haven’t quite found a proper routine but ever so slowly things are falling into place. The only thing that I do on the same day every week is put the rubbish/recycle bin out for collection!!!!! I used to do my laundry on the same days every week, well that has gone by the by. If nothing else it’s quite liberating rebuilding a schedule.

Well, my friends, I guess that’s my report for today. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy doing. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching and messing around with art supplies.

Lucie x

SUNDAY CATCH UP

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’re all enjoying your weekend. Mine was spent doing a combination of tidying up and relaxing with a little bit of art journaling.

Today I have a couple of art journal pages to reveal. This one which is Saturday’s effort is day 46 …..

It started off looking like this before I added some cut outs, a little pen doodling and watercolour pencil shading …..

And this is today’s effort day 47 …..

Which started off like this until I added some simple cut outs, pen doodling and watercolour pencil shading …..

Both examples are simple but quite effective. It’s amazing how simple circles and ovals can gussy up a page.

I’m enjoying the weekend. I didn’t get very far; I reluctantly ran an errand. I’m still a little worried about going out among folks although we have been given permission to get out a little more whilst still respecting social distancing. All pretty daunting really. We have to make an effort to move forward even if it’s scary.

Well, my friends, I guess that’s my report for this weekend. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching and messing around with art supplies.

Lucie x

EVERYDAYNESS DAY 45

Hello my lovelies. For those who don’t know what day it is …. It’s Friday. I hope you’ve all had a lovely week. I seem to be more aware of the days starting and ending nowadays. I am settling nicely into the new normal because at the end of the day and for the most part it isn’t much different than what my old life was like.

So, today is day 45 of messing around with art supplies. It has become part of my everydayness. The art trolley comes out and I mess around with whatever I fancy. Here is my effort for today.

You are enough dear heart, just in case you didn’t know. Once again, it’s a simple art journal page. A bit of pen doodling, water colour pencil shading and come cut outs.

This piece started off like this …..

It’s been an interesting week. Isn’t it funny how with a little new info you can make really positive life changing decisions? The latest government directives have eased restrictions making me feel a bit more relaxed. Somehow there seems to be a pinprick of light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll be joining thousands of other people this weekend when I head over to the tip to drop off some rubbish and recycling. The pile has been accumulating over the last few days. I am really looking forward to going out for the first time since last Saturday.

Well, as boring as that report may have been, that’s my news for today. I hope you all have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy doing. Until next time,

Let’s all keep on stitching and messing around with art supplies.

Lucie x