I’m very excited that I’ve got a stall at the next Bearwood Handmade, 10th March 2012, organised by the fantastic Crafty Muthas.

Just before Christmas there were a couple of Bearwood Handmade winter fairs and my partner Keith made this little film. I’ve had lots of fun writing, playing and recording the music to accompany it.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There is a gorgeous making of book for the film “Heads On and We Shoot“, it includes lots of production pictures and on set photos. I bought this book for my partner who is also a big fan of the film (he wrote a great review, here).

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I read Maurice Sendak’s book “Where the Wild Things Are” when I was a child and I bought it for my own children who are now fans. Another Sendak book that I also really liked as a child was “In The Night Kitchen”. Here is an animated versions of this story using Sendak’s illustrations.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There was a choice of themes for the sketchbooks and I chose “The Companion Book”. I decided on this theme because I felt it was very general and my plan was to use the project to get back in the habit of using a sketchbook in a broader way than I had been doing. I tend to work on specific things in my sketchbooks, projects that I already have some ideas about or have already started working on. I’ve been so inspired working on this project, my “companion book” has given me the freedom to find new starting points and this has given me lots of ideas for work. I am going to continue using a sketch book in this way.

I did take the project quite literally and mainly used the book to sketch and draw. Much of my work is textiles based or 2D paintings and collages, I felt I was loosing the discipline of drawing and wanted to devote some time to it through this project.

Here are a few pages from my book (click on images to enlarge).

Love this video of some of the sketchbooks arriving at the Brooklyn Art Library.

Click here to view the embedded video.

You can see some sketchbooks and more from the Brooklyn Art Library here.

(click on images to enlarge)

They are available from my etsy shop.

There is also an accompanying exhibition Lost in Lace : Concealed and Revealed. It a was real treat to see some exquisite pieces of hand made lace from the museum’s collection and read more about it’s production.

Both exhibitions were really interesting and inspiring. I love working with and using lace and lace-like materials, I tend to use them in a very decorative way but I’m now thinking of making pieces that are more completely lace. The accompanying exhibition also gave pause for thought as to how such beautiful artifacts were made and the status that those artisans had.

(click on images to enlarge)

You can see some more of my photos from the exhibitions here.

As a treat in the Christmas holidays me and my family went to see the film Hugo by Martin Scorsese. It was a hit with all of us. The film was a visual feast.  The settings of the railway station, a snowy, wintery Paris, and the details of early 1930′s fashions, the automata and toy shop were beautifully filmed. The story was intriguing and compelling and it reminded me how much I am enchanted by the films of Georges Melies. I haven’t read the book on which the film is based but I plan to track down a copy.

Click here to view the embedded video.

A clip from one of Melies best known films.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Decorations have found their way on to our windows and these we do make new each year. This year there are fir trees and snow flakes on the front room window. We made the snowflakes from junk mail inspired by this post.

I always have evergreens, holly and ivy, fir and yew in the house for Christmas. Collecting greenery or ‘scrumping’ as it’s known in our family has been a Christmas tradition for me since I was a little girl. You might be wondering why I’m writing about Christmas decorations and traditions at this time but for me Christmas isn’t over yet. I don’t start putting up my decorations until the week before Christmas and they stay up until twelfth day (6th January), just another tradition.

(click on images to enlarge)

UK Handmade is running a campaign to get people buying handmade and supporting independent designers and makers throughout the UK. In support of this they run a number of curated online showcases each year and I’m lucky enough to have been featured in some of these including the current Christmas showcase. You can find out more about this campaign and join the cause here.

And I’d just like to wish UK Handmade a very Happy 3rd Birthday and every success for the years to come!

Materials

felt

ric-rac-braid or other braid/trimmimg (this could be in a contrasting or similar colour)

ribbon for tie (I chose colours to match the braid)

embroidery threads (again I chose colours to match the braid)

sewing thread

scissors, needles and pins

stuffing

paper for pattern

Patterns and cutting

there is no limit to the shapes you could make but I think simple shapes work best such as circles, hearts and stars

here you can download a heart pattern, small heart, star, small star, moon, small moon and bird pattern

place two pieces of felt together, pin on the pattern and cut out (you will get two of each shape)

to work out how much braid you need pin the braid onto the shape in it’s final position, then cut

Sewing

(I added braid and embroidery to just one side of the bauble but you could decorate both sides)

first attach the braid using a running stitch, make the stitches as small as you can on the side you can see, stitches can be bigger on the reverse side

then embroider your pattern

once you have completed the design put the two pieces together and blanket stitch around the edge to join them, leaving a small gap through which to add the stuffing

you can either add the ribbon tie before you blanket stitch around the bauble by sewing it to the inside or add it after by sewing it to the reverse of the bauble

insert the stuffing, don’t over stuff the baubles they work best if they are still a bit soft rather than solid

close the gap left for inserting the stuffing with blanket stitch

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Please credit meeni with these designs

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These and other items are available from my Etsy shop.