MORE SEWING THIS WEEK

 

It's been a wet and windy week here in France so I've been very happy staying indoors playing with my sewing machine.  I realised at the garden party last year that I needed to come up with some new products to sell as the hand bound books have slowed down in sales.

 

I have a lovely collection of printed fabrics that I use to cover the books and the idea of pencil cases or cosmetic bags came up.  They are so easy to make and only require the purchase of a matching 20 cm zip to complete.

 

I already had some iron-on stiffening to give the fabrics some body and by the end of the day I had made this lovely collection to put on sale next April at Justine's charity garden party.

 

I had a lot of fun photographing them too as I've only recently discovered, quite by accident, the 'creative shots' button on my camera.  It takes several views at a time, zooming in and cropping and changing the angle of the view.  I really love this last one, especially as it features the poppy bag, perfect for yesterday, November the 11th.

 

 

Here is the latest collection of sketchbooks I made and already some of the match the bags so I might be able to sell them as a set....

 

And finally here is a pretty summer top I made for my friend Carolyn after we bought some fabric while we were on holiday together in September.  We were at Rochefort-en -Terre and found a delightful craft shop selling handmade items as well as the fabrics and findings to make them yourself.  We had a wonderful time browsing while our husbands waited patiently outside on a bench, thankfully not worried about how long we were and how much money we were spending!

I couldn't resist making another little bag for her too as you can see in the background.

JUSTINE'S FANCY DRESS PARTY

 

I've just returned from my annual autumn visit to England to see my family and fortunately for the first time it coincided with Justine and Kevin's firework party.  They hold this every year with a different theme and this year it was Game of Thrones.  I had never seen the programme so I researched the costumes on the internet and discovered a wealth of beautiful mediaeval dresses with pointy sleeves and wrap over fronts. 

 

 

I had a search through my fabric box and came across Bob's old Japanese kimono with a dragon on the back.  He hadn't worn it for over 30 years, preferring something with less encumbering sleeves.

I completely dismantled it, keeping the red lining with each piece as the outer black fabric was very thin and slippery, and recut a long wrap over jacket using a dress pattern I converted.

 

The dragon just fitted on the front as the main feature and I used the front corners of the dressing gown to make those fabulous pointy sleeves.

I edged the neck and sleeves with some gold lycra from the stash and had a lovely couple of days sewing and fitting my new design.

 

The collar of the gown was lined in the red and long enough to be used as the ties which wrap across the front and pass through a hole in the right side seam so they can be tied at the back.

 

To finish off my outfit I decided to make a necklace using a bit of snake printed leather and the rest of the lycra.  I used a piece of Bob's electrical wire to stiffen it and make the spiral, then added some extra glitter paste to make it sparkle.

 

Justine said "wow!" when she saw my costume as I emerged on Saturday evening ready to party and I said the same to her in her amazing warrior costume and blonde wig.  Kirsty had also made a beautiful dress and here we three are waiting for the guests to arrive.  Everyone had made a special effort to dress up and after watching a few episodes of Game of Thrones on Sunday afternoon I could recognise a lot of the characters who had been represented.  By the way that's a dragon on my shoulder that was lent to me in my role as the "Dragon mother-in-law"

We had a fabulous evening with a very professional display of fireworks by Kevin and I was able to catch up with all of Justine's friends I've got to know over the years.

INKTOBER WEEK 3

 

I've been working away on this project every day but sometimes the pictures get put together on one page, like this collection of fruit, mushrooms and an oyster shell from last weekend.  The Triplus pens are so versatile, I've only used the 6 colours in the nature set and an extra pale green to draw all these different items.

 

One morning during the week I looked out of the window just in time to see this sight of a magnificent magpie lit by the sun with the rain clouds looming in the background.  Within a few moments he flew off for shelter as the rain storm began.

 

Our walnut tree is laden with nuts this year and I've started to harvest them as soon as the husks start to crack.  If I leave them on the tree too long the birds will make a feast of them or they will fall to the ground and rot.  I drew this one with a dip pen and ink in sepia and raw sienna colours.

 

Another multi-day page, autumn leaves this time collected on a walk down our lane on a sunny afternoon.

 

I had high hopes of this one using the runny acrylic inks again although I'm not really happy with it but I'm sharing it anyway in the spirit of inktober.  I think the drawing paper in my sketchbook isn't quite absorbent enough for the watercolour effect I was aiming for.

Well, that's it for my Inktober this year, I've just got back from a week in England with my family and haven't had time to do any sketching apart from a few scribbles in my tiny handbag moleskine.

 

 

INKTOBER WEEK 2

 

On a wet Friday afternoon I looked through my studio window down onto the garden and saw something white shining in the rain so I put on a mac and went to have a look.  This is what I found, a fabulous parasol mushroom with a couple of others already growing through the undergrowth.  I brought it indoors and placed it in a tall glass to draw.  I later added the sunrise colours that appeared the next morning.

 

I love fir cones and the challenge of drawing them with their complicated design based on the Fibonacci spiral.

 

I spent a few days collecting and drawing some fruit and nuts found in my garden and down our lane.

 

The mushroom lasted several days indoors slowly drying out and dropping it's spores on a piece of paper I had fortunately laid underneath the glass to prevent them soiling my tablecloth.  The skies for most of the week remained bright and sunny so I  added a delicate background again.

 

The next few days were very busy as I had decided to bind several books to take to England with me next week for Justine to sell at her Christmas fair.

 

I only sat down to draw in the evenings and I amused myself drawing the view from the sofa.

 

The Staedtler Triplus pens worked very well washed with a little water to tint this set of sketches.

 

INKTOBER 2016

 

I have decided to take part in Inktober this year, it's an annual challenge to sketchers who want to draw something every day in pen without preparatory drawing in pencil.  I decided to draw the objects I see around me at home and here is the plant on the coffee table at the moment, a cyclamen bought for only 1.50euros at Lidl.

 

This bunch of lilies came in from the garden so we could appreciate them without getting our feet wet walking across a rather long lawn.  At the same time I decided to try and capture the October skies as a background.  Luckily the weather is fabulous this month so it was a joy to use my blue and pinky mauve pencils here!

 

The scallop season started on the 3rd of October so I marked the occasion with a shell and a description of the lovely young woman we buy our seafood from down at the port.  The scallops I cooked in a light coconut curry sauce were delicious too!

 

On Wednesday we were invited to lunch at a friend's house deep in the countryside.  We eventually found  his haven of peace with it's tumbling stream and pretty cottage after negociating winding lanes and smelly farmyards!

 

We enjoyed a delicious lunch on the terrace with this view towards the pine trees and weeping willows as well as the little interesting vignettes he had created next to the path with barrels and old logs.  I found the mushrooms hiding in the grass unnoticed by their owner!

 

Before we left to go home, Daniel-Alain picked me a bag full of cider apples to draw as unfortunately they turned out to be too small to do anything else with .  Now I know why they are used for cider, far too small to bother peeling and coring for stew or chutney.

All these sketches were drawn in Staedler triplus nature colour pens which are water soluble,  and coloured with pencils. 

BRITTANY TRIP PART 3

 

We found a lovely campsite at Arradon on the Bay of Morbihan where the shore was only 200 metres from the back gate of the site.  We walked around the bay several times while we were there and this is one of the interesting buildings we saw along the way.

 

The weather was very warm and it was a pleasure to walk under the old pine trees and feel the refreshing breezes blowing off the sea.

 

We ate most of our meals outside, accompanied by a robin who appeared as soon as we sat down but he soon decided he preferred our cheese to our wholemeal bread!

 

One day we cycled to Vannes, a beautiful old walled city about 10 kilometres away.  The road along the country lanes was a delight and then there were cycle paths for the rest of the trip when we arrived at the edge of town.  We had a good look around and then stopped for a beer on the edge of the market place which was beginning to pack up after a hectic morning's trade.  We were very surprised later when we walked along the quayside, to see our boat, Chardonnay moored there.  Obviously the new owners had decided to do a tour of Brittany after taking her to the Azores last year.

 

This is another view across the Bay with the oyster beds at the low water mark.

 

After a few days it was time to move on to Rochefort-en-Terre where we had arranged to meet up with our caravanning friends from England.  We had a wonderful weekend together walking, talking and eating and drinking outside in the lovely warm evenings.

 

Their adorable Labradoodle, Florrie, spent most of her time curled up on her master's lap or under the table.

 

Some dried fruit pods from an interesting tree on the site which I haven't been able to identify yet.  The green fruit grow together in a sort of pyramid shape and the leaves are velvety on the underside, so if anyone has an idea I would love to know.

Well, that's it for now; see you again soon with something completely different!

BRITTANY TRIP PART 2

 

During our time at l'Aberwrach we cycled to Lannilis, a few kilometres away, to visit the market and have a look around.  It was very busy  and we bought honey and garlic from the friendly street vendors. After a beer in a café we decided to cycle back to our home port for another lunch at Captain Crepe where we were warmly welcomed by the owner who remembered us from our last visit a few days ago.

 

 

A few hours later I was sitting on the beach drawing the view with a variety of different water sports passing in front of me in the late afternoon sun.  The strangest thing I saw was this group of wave walkers in wetsuits following an instructor, really working hard to keep up and tripping over the rocks hidden beneath the waves.  There were at least 20 or more but I couldn't fit them all on the page!

 

 

The next day was our 44th wedding anniversary and we celebrated by moving the camper car into the carpark at the port so that we could take a special meal at the Vioben restaurant, only a few metres walk from our spot.  We had a delicious lunch of oysters, fish and a nectarine dessert.  Later in the evening we took a bottle of champagne and sat overlooking the river and reminisced about our sailing days there.

 

 

The next morning it was time to move on and we decided to go to the other side of the river where there was another campsite overlooking the light house.  We chose this fabulous spot with a perfect view that I drew while Bob took his afternoon siesta. 

 

The weather that day was drizzly and getting damper as evening came.  I sat and drew the view through the front of the car while the light changed and the lighthouse disappeared in the mist.  The tide was rising and splashing against the rocks that only half an hour earlier had been surrounded by sand.

 

In the morning it was all change with lovely sunshine and we set off on our bikes in search of coffee and then to get as near as possible to this amazing lighthouse.  I sat on the rocks at the tiny harbour used by the lighthouse men when it was manned to make this sketch, reflecting on the fact that we had now seen it from all sides but never yet gone inside, maybe you have to leave something to the imagination!  I doubt if either of us could climb the 365 steps to the top now!  Afterwards we ate a delicious lunch of oysters and Muscadet at the café owned by the 'ostreiculteurs' (the growers in English).

 

Later on we started to make plans for our next move to the bay of Morbihan on Sunday morning.  Bob got out the GPS and worked out the route ready for the morning.

 

It was a stormy evening and we were being buffeted by the gusty winds as I drew this plant I picked from the bank next to our pitch.

Next time we'll be at Arradon on the beautiful bay of Morbihan so I look forward to seeing you then!