JUDY SCOTT- KINROSS SCOTLAND- Mixed Media and Textile Art

Perthshire Open Studios - Venue 37 - Kalamkari Textile Artists

2011-08-25T22:49:00.000Z

A month of marks

2011-05-04T20:03:00.000Z

a new post on my uni blog - I will be making marks for the month of may :)

my first movie

2010-10-21T11:34:00.002Z

What a busy time its been lately - so much happening especially with uni work . As you'll know I have to keep a separate blog for my design studies where I have to talk about the lectures I've been to and put up assignment work - my latest challenge was taking a video! thought I'd let you see my studio space and the screen prints I made - the film is a bit shaky and it was taken on my iPhone!

This week I've had reading week! But Monday saw me back up at Dundee as I'd been desperate to get back into the studio to print however its all very different to the screen printing I've done at DCA. We're using acid and reactive dyes and to screen print we have to use a carrier either manutex or indalca. At present to create an image we're using stencils cut out of thin newsprint paper or by painting manutex onto the screen to create a barrier for the dye. The dye lab where we have to mix the dyes has special extractor fans and we have to wear face masks and gloves for Health and Safety - no more guessing the dye quantities we have to measure everything properly and log the information! But I do love it - every day I get there I cannot believe how lucky I am.

In the afternoon I used the heat press this is great for using transfer dye that's been painted onto paper and then pressing with heat onto fabric - usually poly cotton or chiffon etc anything as long as its not a natural fibre. Sometimes the painted papers are better to look at than the fabric!

paper protecter

painted image on thin newsprint paper

another protecter

layers of images built up on poly/cotton and painted paper

lightweight chiffon with different colours pressed while the fabric is scrunched up

painted papers

above and below layers of images on polycotton

these image were layered in photoshop and the levels were altered and blended

its all great fun :) must go now and do some course work xx

everything just now is nature and communication

2010-10-10T23:14:00.000Z

Last weekend I went up to WASPS open studios in Dundee and saw some beautiful artwork, what really caught my eye was the table outside one of the jewellers studio - all kinds of bottles filled with flowers - so pretty.

Also saw my drawing tutors studio - Lindsey Gardiner, author, illustrator and designer - her work is just gorgeous.

Earlier that week I'd spent the morning at the uni's Hawkhill House - filled with museum pieces associated with D'Arcy Thompson and also amazing things gifted to the uni. Below is just one of the D'Arcy Thompson slides

and following on from D'Arcy Thompson I'm photography anything with petals, swirls or leaves with the Fibonacci connection!

I did say anything!

Got a new post over at my uni blog on communication any kind of feedback is appreciated - Judy xx

have a great week

New art blog ........

2010-09-24T22:24:00.000Z

.... while Im studying at Duncan of Jordanstone, Dundee I have a new blog to share my journey, assignments and artwork - you can find it here.

latest update

2010-09-23T21:59:00.002Z

Where have the last two weeks gone? Last night I was at the award ceremony at Dundee College to receive my award from the Dyer Trades Dundee. I feel very honoured to receive this and its so great that I can continue my studies with printed textiles at Duncan of Jordanstone. I've drawn more this last two weeks than I can ever remember - I've been to Scone Palace, Botanic Gardens Dundee and even drawn in the D'Arcy Thompson Museum - I've had lectures on drawing, talks on colour, museum tours and workshops in the yarn store (wow a serious amount of yarn), the print studio - oh yes - amazing!!!! and today my first tutorial :) all good tomorrow is my first design studies lecture and for this I've set up a new blog - part of the studies - judy scott designs.

Here Ill be putting up my assignments for the world to see, discussing (hopefully) The Tipping Point and mind mapping and more. Ill leave you with some of my million photos I've also taken this last fortnight.....

week zero and back to study

2010-09-10T20:52:00.000Z

photos from my recent visit to Dundee Botanic Gardens

Week zero of University is over already! I've spent the week travelling to Dundee, battling against rain and very dangerous drivers and trying to find somewhere to park within decent walking distance of my college!

Its been an exciting week though, I've met some of the students in my school year but the majority of my week has been in the lecture theatre with Gateway to Learning students learning about academic reading and writing its been extremely helpful and hopefully when I receive my first essay I wont panic.

Dundee University is quite an amazing place with some beautiful buildings and just walking round and finding my way through the maze of lanes and corridors has been very satisfying - its taken me 32 years to get here not having done uni when I was 18 and I cant quite believe its real.

I've been to the Principals Opening Ceremony at The Caird Hall, Library Induction, Visual Learning Training, the Gateway to Learning Lectures and met with friends for lunch and last but not least - matriculated! I was so excited to get that little card and so wish my mum was here to see it, think she'd have been really happy and proud.

Next week I have a lecture on drawing, will receive my module briefs, have two drawing study trips; one to Scone Palace and the other to the Botanic Gardens in Dundee, one of my favourite places. I also have a 3D workshop and trip to the D'Arcy Thompson Museum - thats just one week! oh and every day try to find somewhere to park.

We have to use a blog for our Design Studies Module so I hope I can use this one - if not Ill post a link so anyone who wants to see what Im up to can follow my progress.

Judy

arthouse co op sketchbook project fun and book list for uni

2010-08-10T10:20:00.000Z

My book list for uni has arrived - will I be able to do this? I'm starting to panic and my brain feels like cotton wool, sounds like anxiety ........

   Gladwell, Malcolm (2001). The Tipping Point
   Buzan, Tony (1993). The Mind Map Book
   Cottrell, Stella (1999). The Study Skills Handbook

on a lighter note here are some of my pages for the sketchbook project

colours of the rainbow

2010-07-05T19:51:00.000Z

This weekend Jim and I went to the intermediate weaving class at Coburg Art Studios with James Donald ~ tutor extraordinaire.

We learned pointed draft weave structures and took the warp further this time by being very aware of colour ~ using more than one colour and paying attention to when we changed the colours .

last time I used kingfisher blue and cream

so this time I wanted bright summer colours

remember my latino inspired accessories

the weave structure is

starting to show

below ~ the weave structure instructions I choose

called birds eye 1/3 twill

(there had to be a bird in it somewhere)

above and below samples woven by James Donald

It was an amazing weekend filled with information, excellent help when needed from James

and lovely company with old and new friends.

the journey home from Edinburgh was abit hairy!! Crazy winds and rain, branches falling from trees 'things' hitting the windscreen and general battering about.

driving across the Forth Road Bridge

an amazing rainbow appeared arching over the Forth Rail Bridge ~

70 mph gusts with rain on one side of us and sunshine the other.

heading up the M90 towards Kinross ~ the Ochils in the

distance

All photos taken on my phone camera

Monday

A little tired after the busy weekend ~ I started a job which I had to do for

my church ~ a while ago (2006 ) I and the banner

group made a wedding banner and when someone marries

I always make lavender hearts to hang on the banner.

Lavender from my garden and some of my friends

it was picked last year and dried

silk lavender gold thread and ribbon

and the finished hearts

the crazy wind got all my washing dried and I've got everything ironed ( a miracle for me) the hearts are made, dinner is eaten and now Im waiting for Mary Queen of Shops :)

have a fab week ~ Judy x

The Sketchbook Project ~

2010-06-28T23:47:00.000Z

Blankets jackets and sheets. I want this little book to be fun and allow me to play - I have a serious project to do for uni over summer and two other projects that need serious thought so this one is about being free and not getting anxious :) Sounds good to me!

I started to play over the weekend and have managed to do a few pages - I'm looking at blankets first off; covers, quilts :) (one of my favourite things in the world) and it all just started to grow - once I'd made my first mark I couldn't stop and the size of the pages is tiny so they fill up really fast

from blank sheets

the pages have begun to take a life of their own

collage and

mixed media techniques

stamping and sticking

my jar of pencils

(these aren't in the sketchbook)

going to make some granny squares they make

awesome blankets

paper and fabric patchwork

paper and stitch

and finally a real piece of patchwork

made from my scraps

hope you've enjoyed the pages so far

not sure if they'll all be included yet

still got jackets and sheets to do :)

THOUGHTS

thinking of trying some lino cuts and I have some vintage sheets for

stitching and then I remember sheets of music, newspapers,

and then there's the jackets; Harris Tweed, cuff's pockets and button holes, book covers, potatoes

(I could do some potato printing)

my head buzzing with ideas now

Till next time cant wait to see what friends are doing

love Judy x

college sketchbook pages

2010-06-24T00:57:00.001Z

I've recently joined the sketchbook project at art house co-op, any one can join in you don't have to be an artist - read all about it through the link - its going to be fun. Once my little book is finished I send it away for ever and it goes on tour!! then once the tour is over the sketchbooks go into a permanent collection at the Brooklyn Art Library. My theme is jackets blankets and sheets :) Some of my friends from blog land and facebook are joining in too. Its a tiny book so that will be a challenge in itself - I'll try and post my progress as I go.

these are some snippets from my college sketchbooks

have a fabulous sunny week

Judy xx

Me at Dundee College end of Year Exhibition

2010-05-29T12:16:00.001Z

Created with flickr slideshow.

the exhibition is taking place from Wednesday 2nd June until Friday 4th June, if you can make it along it is held at the Dundee College Graham Street Campus..

http://www.dundeecollege.ac.uk/News/Events-Calendar/Art---Design-Exhibition

I have to say a great big thank you to Angela Taylor for letting me do the course over two years, to all my tutors Angela Taylor, Jo Hodge, Susan Basham, Tracy, Dermot Curnyn and last but definitely not least James Donald who was also my course tutor and such an inspiration. Its been an amazing couple of years and I have loved every minute of my time at Dundee College. I had lovely class mates too and will miss them all.

Im off to Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in September to do my degree in textile design, I was fortunate to get straight into second year, so I'll have another three years of hard study to do. At the end of my time there my dream is to be a designer maker, have my own studio and screen print facilities and from my printed textiles produce a range of items which I can then sell. Dreams - but they sometimes do come true - lets see if three years down the line I still feel the same.
Good luck to my fellow students - two of whom are going onto study at Duncan of Jordanstone and one who is going to Lancaster to study surface decoration.

Thats all for now - Judy xxx

Great excitement

2010-05-11T08:29:00.001Z

Concrete Wardrobe Edinburgh now has my framed art work for sale!!!!! they also have new work from amazingly talented designer maker artists and I feel really happy and excited to have my work hanging alongside theirs.

Concrete Wardrobe

Of course now you have to take a day trip or even a long weekend to Edinburgh and visit Fiona and James who co own the shop :) You wont want to leave :)

have a great week - Judy xxx

messages...

2010-05-01T21:48:00.001Z

digital images featuring my girlies

a little note to cheer me up :)

Happy May Day to you all

Highly Commended Cerificate

2010-04-24T23:23:00.006Z

After an amazing two years doing my City and Guilds at Dundee College, Sheila Mortlock my tutor put my work forward for the City and Guilds Medal for Excellence. I was delighted to be awarded the Medal for Excellence Highly Commended Certificate. On the 5th March 2010 Jim and I attended a delightful day at Murrayshall House Hotel, Scone near Perth for the Scottish Award Ceremony. Here are photos of some of the work I did for my course. I could never have predicted how this course would change my life.

weave workshop with James Donald Edinburgh

2010-04-19T19:26:00.002Z

at last Im back online with a lovely new computer - such a dream to use and fast :) thank you so much Jim.

Jim and I had an amazing weekend taking part in a weave workshop organised by James Donald of Pick One and Concrete Wardrobe. Never again will I take cloth for granted, as everyone knows I'm already addicted to fabric and creating designs to print onto cloth whether through dyeing or screen printing, but we actually created our very own cloth - it was incredible - I used lambs wool and Shetland wool and limited myself to two colours so I could play with different weave structures. We created the warp, tied on the yarn and then threaded the yarn through the heddle's the hardest part; to the most incredible part - weaving. This all took place in Coburg House Art Studios Leith Edinburgh where James has his studio. We used an Ashford 4 shaft table loom (beautiful)

James helping us

Nobody was more surprised than me when Jim said he'd like to do the weave workshop - his mum worked at the local mill in Kinross and it fascinated him to have a go. The smell of the wool brought back lots of memories of his mum and she would be so very proud of him. The piece he has woven is beautiful and the colours are so rich. Here he is below working away .....

there were beautiful yarns to choose from

gridded notebook, heddle hook, fish eye hook, pins, pens and markers

samples created by James to show the

different weave structures

one of the looms warped up and ready to start weaving

this is a portion of my weave - the colours are a beautiful peacock/indigo blue

lambs wool and a warm cream Shetland wool

my loom

Margarets loom

It was a fabulous two days - excellent value for money and if you're able to get to one of James' workshops I know you'll love every minute of it (mmmm maybe the threading will test your stamina!!!)

IMPORTANT PLEASE READ

James trained at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee where he also taught and did his MA sadly the powers that be have decided to drop Weaving from the course choices and are no longer
offering this craft as a choice at degree level, this is in a country where weave has such a strong heritage and sadly will be another skill that is lost and forgotten - if you feel strongly please join James facebook group Killing Craft through Educational Vandelism its got everyone talking. Judy

textile pieces

2010-03-01T12:52:00.000Z

College work has taken my time away from blogging however I have a few minutes to spare today so thought Id post some images of textiles I've been working on. Hand dyed with procion dye and rust and snippets of printed fabric make up these pieces

liquorice allsorts ~ the next stage

2009-12-03T20:26:00.000Z

Hello everyone, how are you all! I would love to say Im back but that depends on the box Im sitting in front of, it 's being really naughty, you name it its being it and a new one isnt possible at the moment!

paper collage made with a variety of papers ~brown, wallpaper, newsprint and cartridge paper

then decorated with gesso, acrylic paint, white oil pastel, dye and bleach

Anyway Ive been wanting to share my news so thought Id try tonight to share some of the paper and stiched work Ive been doing in my textile techniques class based on Cake and Candy, its been a good project but would have liked to be stretched a little more however I am pleased with my results. If you remember the liquorise all sorts then you might see where they have led from ......

above and below ~ paper collages

A variety of fabrics were then created to take the designs to the next stage, I dyed and coloured loads and loads far too many to show here

above ~ shibori

muslin dyed with jelly dyes

silk coloured with fabric paint and salt sprinkled on whilst wet

distressed with soldering iron

distressed with wire brush

We also went over embroidery stitches both hand and machine

and then with the fabric created I then started to make fabric samples

strip patchwork

shibori with free machining

reverse applique

free machine cupcake

free machined roses

reverse applique with strip patchwork

three more to add! but they're in the car and its pouring down so they can wait for now

see you all again soon computer allowing ~ Judy xxx

Fabric Collages

2009-10-20T10:18:00.007Z

appliqued with hand and machine stitch

Going back into college this afternoon ~ legs are still wobbley though but when I get home Rachel will be there :) cant wait for a hug. Thought Id share some little bits Ive been playing around with.

embelished, appliqued hand and machine stitch

applique fabric collaged purse

Needle case for a friend at college who's always so lovely :)

Hope youre all having a lovely day ~ Judy xx

Wire Tea Pot - A Charming Exchange Auction and seagulls

2009-10-18T20:29:00.014Z

I'm a little teapot,

Short and stout

Here's my handle,

Here's my spout

When the kettles boiling,

Hear me shout

Tip me over and pour me out!

This little teapot was made by me for my observational drawing class! first we had to draw on paper with our left hand (or right hand if we were left handed) with a 6B pencil which is really tricky but you do approach the drawing differently and with less perfection so is a good technique for mark making and then we had to 'draw' with the wire. Working with wire is really tricky too and you could really use three or four hands but Im quite pleased with the results ~ to photograph it I had to use the chimney cap as a teapot holder so it would show up.

I do quite like the effect of the wire against the old copper china mans hat chimney cowl!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now I just have to say thankyou to the wonderful bidder who bought The Forest Floor which has my machine embroidery leaf work in it ~

whooo hoooo Im so pleased and happy ~ all proceeds will benefit Breast Cancer Research ~ and heres a little plug for another piece which has some of my embroidery in too Sweet Refuge Necklace why not have a look at all the other wonderful jewellery too. Perfect time to buy some Christmas pressies :)

All images from A Charming Exchange Blogspot

Hope everyone is ok out in blog land, I am now in my third week of feeling rubbish and have not been able to work or go to college!!!!! Sinusitis ~ horrid and painful and the pills they give you to make you better are even more horrid, still my lovely Jim took me out today ~ (first time in ages) for some sea air, we went to the East Neuk which is my fav place ever (apart from Queensland) and breathed in the wonderful VERY fresh air brrrr it was chilly and the cloud was low but the sound of the sea was amazing and relaxing.

Took a photo of rust ( couldnt resist )
and a seagull :)

how gorgeous and fluffy this little fella was,

here's a snippet of a screen print with stitch I did a while ago

so Im off for now, hope all my friends out there are ok ~ loads of love to you ~ Judy xxx

Charming Exchange Breast Cancer Auction

2009-10-12T08:39:00.011Z

The amazing jewellery collaborations created for The Charming Exchange written by Ruth Rae and Kelly Snelling are now up for auction HERE. All proceeds will benefit Breast Cancer Research. There are beautiful pieces available, some have my work in them too which is such an honour for me.

Click here to to bid on The Forest Floor

images from from A Charming Exchange

images from from A Charming Exchange

make a bid here

One of my fav bracelets

images from from A Charming Exchange

images from from A Charming Exchange

Check out the video below to see Ruth and Kristen create a piece based on one of the many amazing collaborations from A Charming Exchange.

If you can support this amazing auction thankyou so very much ~ Judy xx

kokeshi doll applique, art cards and more drawing

2009-09-12T16:12:00.015Z

This last week has flown by since we moved Rach and Lu into uni halls, needless to say they have had an amazing week in Edinburgh as I expected. Heres a photo of Rachel outside the Craiglockhart campus where she'll be studying ~ sorry Rach I will remove this photo if you want me too but I do think its rather lovely of her. Still have to take one of Louise, by the time we got to her campus it was extremely windy and cold and I forgot all about taking the photo..... I will catch you yet Lu.

So this last week Ive been busy with college homework and crafty stuff and even fitted in a visit to the DCA to screen print and today worked in the salon :) which I love as its a day away from my usual creativity.

so I wanted to share some of the work I made this week, first a little kokeshi doll appliqued bag (but I realise I need to figure out how to take better photos though this photo doesnt do the bag justice)

Also the next of my drawings from my observational drawing art class. Soon as I saw this I was reminded of the 70's and going out for Chicken in a basket meals, does any one else remember these where there was a candle stuck in the bottle! except it was usually a mateus rose wine bottle!

And finally for now some more miniature pieces of art

Ernest

Hector

Polly

Ziggy

Ive got more to show but need to photograph it! Rach has just come home so have to go now ~ one happy mum :)

computer problems needle cases and hangings

2009-09-06T20:36:00.006Z

My computer is poorly so its going to be fixed ~ its going to be repaired next Monday night and I should have it back for Tuesday night ~ phew. I need it for my college work if nothing else, so its going to be a pain without it.

In the meantime I'll leave you with some photos of the little goodies I made for Rachel and Louise's rooms in their relevant uni hall of residence. They are both really happy and loving being in Edinburgh :)

needle cases for needles and pins of course!

new house/flat/room hangings to brighten their rooms

Ive got lots of other things too but everything is uploading so slow that Im giving up for now, have a fab week and see you again soon ~ Judy x

university, college, liquorise allsorts and art

2009-09-03T20:35:00.011Z

Well its all change in the Scott household, the biggest thing is that Rachel and Louise head off to university this weekend ~ Im just getting used to having them back with me ~ at least its only Edinburgh :)
Im back at Dundee College as of this week and I hope to complete my HNC this year; as Im not doing City and Guilds anymore Im hoping it'll be a little easier, although I do miss the girls and my tutor from last year.

This semester Im taking Textile Techniques and the topic is Cake and Candy ~ how wonderful is that for me, in our first class we started by drawing goodies and in my case I chose Liquorise Allsorts ~ for the first two weeks we have to do a series of drawings using different media and papers.

caran d'ache neocolor ll

pen and ink

water colour crayons

I will keep you posted over the next few weeks.

My next class is Design Semantics which explores the principles of design; line, texture, shape, form, proportion, colour, rhythm and pattern ~ today we search magazines for examples of these. Tomorrow I have Observational drawing.

I been busy finishing my screen printed bags

some mixed media collages

and other goodies too,

hope you're all having a great week ~ Judy x

screen prints

2009-08-24T14:40:00.009Z

Well Ive had a very busy summer creating lots of things and have found a new love .... oooo no not like that! I have fallen in love with screen printing and thought Id share some of the images I've created... screen printing adds a lovely quality to the image and you're never quite sure how they'll work out ~ the image below is made of 5 different elements! The vintage wall paper image, the rose, the cup cake and tattoo font and ofcourse I had to include a bird. The screens are made using photo emulsion and exposing the images to UV light and like magic the images appear ~ there is a little more to it than that but it really is amazing

three colour screen prints

above and below a two colour screen print

To put the images here I've photographed them but they look alot better in real life ~ its been great fun and great to use some of my doodles from other times ~ dreaming of Australia :)

If any one would like to purchase one the screen prints the prices are really reasonable for the time involved and of course they are all original and hand done by me! Ive also printed some bags and cant wait to finish them, be back soon ~ Judy x

playing around.....

2009-07-24T23:51:00.002Z

Corners of my home ..............

another Judrops .................

.................................only 28 hours till they're home

a time to heal, move on and be happy ....

2009-07-23T16:33:00.015Z

................ and Im sorry for not being around, we had to make an unexpected trip to Bakewell Derbyshire

down by the river in Bakewell

in and around Bakewell

The Square

Bakewell River where we had huge fun feeding the ducks :)

Jim feeding the duck

Today this song came into my head

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time for every purpose under heaven
A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal..............

My paternal dad died three weeks ago and it's left me very sad and confused about the emotions I'm feeling. Sadly I have very few happy memories of him however I do remember him singing and playing his guitar, one of the folk singers he liked was Pete Seeger who wrote the music these words are often sung to, is this a coincidence or a message from the angels.
My dad's wife has so generously given me his easel, watercolours and pencils ~ Ive been using them today ~ could that be why the song came to me? I wonder if they're telling me to move on, I am trying to leave the sadness around my childhood behind, just stuff keeps happening to dig it all up again.

I returned to Derbyshire for the funeral and met with family I'd not seen for 30+ years ~ it was all very emotional. We stayed in Bakewell where I spent most of my childhood weekends and fed the ducks on the river ~ it was very soothing watching the ducks and the people walking by, the pull was very strong and it was really hard to leave and I'd only spent 5 days there!

Anyway now Im home in Scotland and I have to get on with my life here, I've had two lovely lunches this week ~ one with college friends at Dundee Rep and one with my sisters and Ed (my other dad) for Tina's birthday

Happy Birthday to Tina

and Bill

I have college again soon, screen printing at the Print Studio at DCA (my new favourite place) and last but very certainly not least my gorgeous girls are back in 63 hours, I cannot wait

here's the Judrops Angel I painted this afternoon

( : judrops angel : )

So to the future I hope you are all happy and making the most of living and life and making plenty of art ~ God bless and love to you all ~ Judy x

Had to leave you with some crazy images of this little bird who wouldnt leave us alone till he got cake!!!

and wanted more!

Erraticus Zine feature

2009-06-21T21:38:00.005Z

Afew weeks ago Melissa contacted me about one of my pieces I'd made for Nances Crow About Group on flickr saying she would like to use it in her final Erraticus Zine as she was doing an article all about Nance's amazing group ~ I was very honored to be asked as this is the third time one of my pieces has been used. So now the final zine has been published ~ there are only a limited number so act fast to get one ~ they are available here ~ Melissa always features lovely articles in her zines and they are well worth treating yourself to, there's also a free collage sheet with the zine too. If you dont know Melissa check out her artwork as she make the prettiest collages ~ this set and this set are some of my favourites but get yourself a cuppa settle back and just have a look at all her work :) Enjoy

Ive had a quiet week with college finished ~ have make one or two things for my etsy shop so just waiting for good day to photograph them before I put them online.

Counting the days (35) till my precious girls return home to me ~ they survived a sky dive this week in freezing cold New Zealand~ when they landed they were covered in ice!! They have loved exploring both islands and soon return to Brisbane to spend their last few weeks with Scarlett and Stevie. Stevie had some wonderful news this week too ~ his bands new single has made it onto the play list for ABC radio how amazing is that ~ I would love our radio stations to pick up on them ~ perhaps one day:)

Got a creative week ahead of me ~ making art all week with my friend Christine, we're trying something new to us, so watch this space ~ have a fabulous creative week ~ Judy x

exhibition

2009-06-07T06:29:00.011Z

above
corset made with silk and fine wool tops trapped in water soluble fabric and free machine embroidered

Hello dear friends and family what a busy busy week ~ getting up early and going to bed late ~ I could do with some extra hours in the day at present! The exhibition is now over for this year and so for Rachel, Louise, Stevie and Scarlett and all who couldnt make it to Dundee here are my pieces of art which have filled my time this year ~ if they take a long time to load its because I've kept the images large so you can see the detail ~ the images below are from my City and Guilds Machine Embroidery course a two year course. I chose to make accessories for a bride; a stole, bag, lavender heart and peace bird and I made the corset for my free choice piece. The fabric was all made by me using free machine embroidery on water soluble fabric with Madeira Thread

above
close up of corset and the stole, this was made from silk organza, three strips which were joined with free machine embroidery insertion stitch and design . The edges were also free machine embroidered

better view of stole showing the three pieces and how they were joined

back of corset and the cover buttons

close up of back of corset

detail of stole

my bridal bag all made with free machine embroidery and finished in a dolly bag style

bridesmaid bag made with fine bridal net
hand dyed abacca paper and free machine embroidery

bridal bird of peace made with silk and free machine embroidery

confetti bag made from silk paper and free machine design
with hand dyed abacca paper flowers, hand made cord and filled with rose petals

lavender heart for my bride

I will upload the images from my HNC textile art exhibtion during the week ~ have a lovely day ~ Judy x

yellow

2009-06-02T08:36:00.008Z

Happy June to all my blog friends and to all those who come to visit but havent said hello yet ~ I know there's a few ladies from my college who come to visit, so here's a wave to you all.

fabrics ~ scrim velvet and cotton

Well tonight is the night for the Dundee College exhibition ~ I have work in for my HNC units and my City and Guilds Machine embroidery course which I have now finsihed ~ where has two years gone. And what happened to the person I was, scared of my own shadow and still very shakey after coming through my breakdown ~ well thanks to Sheila Mortlock my tutor my friends Christine and Julie, my embroidery guild and the college friends I've made, blogging friends new and old that have stuck by me and of course my lovely family Jim, Stevie, Scarlett, Rach and Lulu. Ive come on leaps and bounds ~ my City and Guilds course has allowed me to be me and explore and show case my artwork ~ a little different at times ~ some will probably remember the Alice in Wonderland theatre
from last year with the machine embroidered back drops. It also gave me the confidence which wobbled at times to go and do four HNC units ~ so all in all Ive had a busy, productive and art filled year. Its been amazing. This September Im returning to finish my HNC units and hopefully finish it within the year.

I hope Ill be able to get some photos of my work in situ tonight and post them here very soon.

For now though A Year of Colour for June is featuring yellow ~ beautiful.
Here are some of my own photos to celebrate yellow ~ enjoy

painted background

polka dot ribbon

vintage buttons

painted and textured background ready for stitch

poppy peeping though

yellow thread

more to come through the month

cheese grater and ice cream scoop

2009-05-26T23:34:00.008Z

inspired by a cheese grater ~ this piece also has hand stitch and is one of my favourites

we're getting ready for our exhibition at college and that means painting wall and boards for all the work to be arranged on. The rooms look fresh and bright and on Thursday all the work has to go for final assessment and is then hung!! and so Im collecting all my work together Ive done so far in my HNC units, I dont think Ill be given much space to hang my things as Im part time but never the less it will be brilliant to have my work up with everyone elses

this piece is inspired by an ice cream scoop

My first wish is that my mum was here to see it! She would be so proud of me ~ that I know. My second wish is that all my kids would just come home from Australia ~ just for the exhibition mind they could then return to rainforests, diving off the Great Barrier reef, playing gigs and generally having fun ( what a life)! Back to the business in hand though ~ the exhibition, I'd forgetton some of the work I'd created back in September and so tonight I photographed it and thought I'd show those of you who are interested.

this piece is also inspired by an ice cream scoop

This unit was surface decoration for textiles and it was done with kitchen untensils! The media (which had to be black, white or shades of) could be dye, water colour or acrylic paint we could also use black ink and bleach and any kind of paper. We had to draw with our right hands and our left hands we had to oil the paper! bleach the paper, candle wax and batik wax the paper and then paint it with our kitchen utensils, the results were piles of fabulous papers which we then had to collage with again using the kitchen utensils as our inspiration.

this piece is inspired by an ice cream scoop

as you'll see, my chosen items were a cheese grater and an ice cream scoop.

this piece is 3 dimensional and the cones are made from painted tissue paper
this is definitely inspired by the cheese grater

another cheese grater inspired piece it is also
3 dimensional

think that will be all for now ~ will try and post more images if I find enough time later in the week, till then ~ Judy x

green for a year of colour

2009-05-23T21:06:00.030Z

lime green leaves and mossy green

for May a year of colour is featuring the colour green ~ here's a selection of my work and photographs with all shades of green. Hope you enjoy click on the photos to see large! ..............

artist trading card

rose photographed at Aldie Castle open garden

inchies made to go with some banner triangles I made

one of the banner triangles

silk fabric

atc made for a swap

a sketch book with cover made for a friend

shisha stitch around a bit of rusty drainpipe

from my garden scimia I think

a little embroidery

simple stitch

inspiration from my garden

charms made for a swap Ruth Rae organised

old pan tiles

mossy walls

hand dyed fabric using procion dye

threads

more hand dyed fabrics after theyve been ironed

prefelt with stitch ready to be felted

algae on an upturned boat at Elie Fife

taken from a back street in Oxford England

my friend Julies mothers day flowers

great inspiration

2009-05-17T18:29:00.013Z

At Dundee college we have 3 artists who come in and teach ~ they are all designer makers (I love that expression) and are all so different but a great inspiration. They gave us a chance on Friday to ask questions about their businesses and their art, it was brilliant. So the first tutor is Ruth who owns Roobedo which is based in Pitlochry Scotland where she makes contemporary Harris Tweed clothing, all to order and accessories and gifts which are beautiful, her wide leg trousers are amazing and when I finish my "healthy eating" (ok diet) Im going to have a pair made.

Click on the picture and you'll go to Roobedo!

Our next tutor is Claire Heminsley who graduated from Glasgow School of Art specialising in textiles. Her business is known as incahoots and here she sells her illustrations and textile art ~ Claire brought in her sketch books showing how alot of her designs are created, all I can say is that it was amazing and such an honour to see her work in this form. She has an exhibition coming in July in the Collins Gallery in Glasgow and if you can go ~ then go!
Claire does amazing illustrations in scraperboard and sells them as prints

Click on the picture and it should take you to Claires site.

Lastly but definitely not least we have James Donald ( he has been one of my mentors during my graded unit) who is a weaver ~ he is based in Edinburgh and has a studio Pick One and shop Concrete Wardrobe ~ 50a broughton street, edinburgh, which he co owns with Fiona McIntosh who also owns Tessuti !!! We are surrounded by so much talent. James weaves amazing beautiful scarves and shawls in scrumptious colours ~ I have my eyes on one which is red, pink and a touch of purple ~ look at the wonderful detail, they are real heirloom pieces and just beautiful.

Click on the photo and you should go to James' site

James is one of the founders of designEd a collection of 13 designer makers from different fields including glass, ceramics, textiles, fashion, metalwork, basketry, lighting and furniture the group stage exhibitions and are individually successful award winning artists and designers. Look out for their exhibitions Ill try and remind you when they arise.

So you see how fortunate I am ~ the morning with them was so informative and as the class was a mix of textile art students and fashion students there were questions relating to all aspects of their art. Hope you enjoy their sites ~ Make a cuppa and explore all this Scottish talent from the comfort of your home, till next time ~ Judy x

samples sketchbook and collages

2009-03-15T18:32:00.015Z

how time flies ~ I realise now its only possible for me to come to my web log once a week ~ there just aren't enough hours in the week at present.
Monday is City and Guilds day at college ~ we found out this week that the city and guilds format is changing again as from next year ~ its to be run more like the Higher National units Im taking which are run by SQA ( Scottish Qualifications Authority) a similar body runs in England and I think they are having some input into the new C and G ~ we werent told much detail ~ does anyone know anymore Id love to find out.
So on Monday the class was full, everyone turned up which is very unusual so I didnt manage to work on what Id taken in to do cause I needed space to work on my project, so instead I worked some of my many samples Ive to do here's a peep .....

above ~ shadow work ~ looks really lovely in real life

above ~ practising my whip stitch
and below the reverse

above cutting and burning and reverse below

Tuesday my new life drawing class started ~ Im in a class full of young students but they are all very lovely and I had to draw one of the guys in the class and then he drew me ~ his drawing was amazing and he made me look very young :) I will try and photograph the drawing I did of him this week ~ I was really pleased with my first attempt ~ whenI got home I had to draw again so here's Jim in his working gear watching the football !!!

my first drawing of Jim!!
he doesnt have a moustache ~ its shadow!

Wednesday and Thursday I worked on my new Thursday class project ~ the Fabulous 50's. I had searched eBay for anything 50's the previous weekend and the goodies had started arriving ~ there werent many magazines on eBay though from the 50's (in the UK ) and it'll take too long for things to arrive from the USA ~ so I got some sheet music, a butlins flyer, and board game, wrapping paper, I'd sourced some vintage wallpaper from Sweden but cant find any from UK, even it arrived!! I also found out about a fantastic designer from the 50's; Lucienne Day her designs are amazing ~ well Glasgow school of art have permission to digitally print some of her designs so they are sending me some samples! Im so excited to receive them. I also got some pictures from a vintage flickr group Im in where we share images ~ there were some wonderful images there for me :) So this is my inspiration and from all of this I am now making my development designs ~ I love this bit. I have to make thumbnail drawings/sketches paintings taken from my inspiration. So this is now very much work in progress.

above ~ quick painted thumbnails based on the
Ford car

above fabulous colours from sheet music cover and painted background

lots of inspiration

and below some little collages made with mixed media

Friday

I did do some cooking and cleaning today!!!!

For the last few weeks Ive been painting this little case for my sewing goodies its painted and collaged

breaking news............................. Saturday ~ saving the best until last ..............................

went back to work at our local beauty salon The Complete Look ~ Yes quite a momentus day, I went back to the salon where I used to work to see what it would be like to go back ~ just for Saturdays ~ it was amazing and like Id never been away, am seeing the 'bosses' on Wednesday ~ they are two of the most 'beautiful' lovely warm people ever and it would be lovely to be back with them again ~ so watch this space ~ this time next week I might be in very part time employment doing my beauty and complementary therapies again.

Sunday

Church this morning and Im really missing my children today it always hits me in church where its quiet and Im still, there's always lots of lovely people asking after them too which is lovely but brings it home how much they are loved. Miss you Rach and Lu Stevie and Scarlett xxxxx

This afternoon I worked on my projects whilst Jim fixed our roof!!!

Now Im off to catch up on my friends blogs ~ till next week ~ have a happy week
Judy xxx

sketchbooks felting and wedding accessories - what a week

2009-03-08T17:18:00.013Z

some more judrops in progress

I've had another extrememly busy week finishing up lots of things ~ here are some more of the pages from my sketch book for the DCA project, its done and Ive passed I saw the paper saying I had last Tuesday ~ a great big yipee!!! Loved this unit too but found it very stretching ~ why???? the colour ~ the subject ~ the size of the piece ~ having to evaluate my work after; a great learning curve. But I learned from it and am now preparing for my next units, Tuesday I have life drawing !!! I am really excited about this one and then on Thursday I have a 'graded unit' where we're given a brief and have to work to a time plan which we have to set ourselves and be mentored along the way ~ we're not allowed any help from our tutor and at the end have to present it ~oh my goodness ~ thats scary ~ but its an exciting project ~ we have to design a range of textiles for kitchen ware ~ tea towels, aprons and oven gloves etc. Ive chosen the 50's from the selection that was given. Ive had a wonderful week researching this era which I shamefully knew little about ~ here's some photos ~

Last Saturday 28th Feb my Embroidery Guild held a workshop with the wonderful Margaret Lappin we worked with felt and made it to pre felt then stitched into it and added fabrics then felted it completely ~ we also made chunky felt jewellery which was great fun ~ here are some of the pieces I produced as a result ~ loved every minute of the workshop ~ wonderful friends, laughter, chatter and lots of tea and biccies!

prefelt during stitch

prefelt with a little more stitch

finished pieces

above in my fav colours :)

starting to make prefelt and below
with stitch

above finished piece

this is for my city and guilds accessory project just some little finishing touches! Almost there with this one too :) Once its finished Ill post the pics on my other blog 'specially for the course ~ have a fab week ~ Judy xxx

Lots to show you

2009-02-26T12:07:00.022Z

I want to say thankyou to Jody who was one of lots of lovely people who donated to the Australian Red Cross for the bushfire appeal ~ my little contribution to the raffle ~ a Judrops in Wonderland canvas ~ is on her way to USA

Working on some hearts and trying out my new camera!!! Yes I got one I just couldnt wait any longer ~ eventually I will get a digital SLR but they are mega bucks which I dont have ~ so in the mean time Im very happy to have got a Canon Ixus recommended by some of my lovely blog friends and my friend Julie who visited me a couple of weeks ago has one and let me take some photos on her camera ~ it was easy to use and the quality of picture really good.

Other exciting news, I entered into OWOH give away that Kelly and Ruth were holding on their blog A Charming Exchange and out of so many people I won ~ I just couldnt believe it ~ I won one of the pieces that Kelly had made, a beautiful 'Lucky You' necklace ~ here it is below on my mantelpiece.

also with the necklace are three of the charms which werent used in the book A Charming Exchange which Kelly posted back to me and below more charms ~ I had three of my charms in the book which were made into beautiful jewellery and one other collection of pieces which Ruth asked me to make especially which was made into a beautiful neckpiece

On Monday at college we did Mono printing this time with colour below is one of mine in turquoise ~ surprise surprise:)

In these I used some brighter colours ~ I needed some brightening up so used pinks yellows and red, I have a little turquoise in there too ~ of course. Its all one long piece but photographed separately to photograph.

the collection below are the prints that the whole class did ~ they looked wonderful layed out ~ I had to stand on the table to get the photo!!

Now deadlines are looming at college for my HN units Im taking and even with the 6 weeks away in Australia I have finished my Fine Art for Textiles unit ~ I am so happy with myself ~ here's are a wee peep at some of the work Ive done ~ it's based on the DCA ~ Dundee Contemporary Art centre, Dundee's cultural and social centre in the heart of the city. The steel and glass really caught my imagination and these were the starting point for my piece.

A wet felt sample from the beginning of the developement back in October when I was still deciding where to take it

detail from the finish piece using techniques from samples below, three dimensional triangles and reverse applique

above and below ~ playing with fabric, emulsion paint, paper and stitch

emulsion transfer stitch and layers of paint and dyes

close up

detail from front inspired by the steel frames and glass

as above but reversed

detail of back of piece

So you can see I've had a very busy week and this isnt all of it!!!

have a happy day ~ Judy x

everyday beauty

2009-02-19T10:37:00.005Z

On my Year of Colour blog Artsy Mama ~ Kari, is encouraging us to photograph the everyday surroundings and looking at art in all things ~ thought Id have a go when the sun shone yesterday in my bedroom ~ I loved how the sun shone through the lace diffusing the light and creating a shadow on the pink and white polka dot wall paper

on my dressing table I photographed some of my treasure boxes ~ and below is a necklace I made last year using a wet felt method of felt making and then threading the felt beads on to special wire with coordinating beads.

All the photos are taken on my mobile phone ~ which I always forget has a camera ~ still making a decision on which model to buy and am getting very impatient now without one ~ I really dont think I can wait to save up for the SLR version I would love ~ have a fab day ~ Judy xxx

nuno

2009-02-17T22:36:00.007Z

Nuno felt is created by layering very small amounts of wool tops onto fabric ~ usually silk or cotton. During felting the wool fibres migrate through the open weave of the fabric, shrink and tangle together which distorts the cloth gathering the fabric in giving the finished fabric wonderful texture, it drapes beautifully and is really lightweight

You may have already seen this piece before here

My nuno felt sample was quite small but I wanted to use it for something so I embellished it with my machine to make the flowers more prominent, this process made the piece even smaller so I then free machined the fabric to give more texture and to firm the felt ~

It was then made into a book cover ~ I still dont have a camera so I had to scan the book this made the flowers a little squashed :) oops

another of my first ever samples of nuno!

pink

2009-02-02T22:03:00.009Z

Scarletts beautiful pink bouquet

Wish

Pink is the colour for February in A Year of Colour ~ Pale Red ~ as one of my teachers once said.
A beautiful warm colour which most girls love and I adore

Peonies Lisianthus and lilac stocks so beautiful together

Roses through the looking glass

Judrops and Owl

2009-02-01T13:54:00.004Z

Judrops and owl ~ mixed media collage on paper patchwork background with Stewart Gill Metallica, Golden Fluid acrylics and scrapbook papers.

My new camera which I bought to take to Australia, has broken ~ it wasnt expensive but it got me thinking about cameras and the false economy of me always buying 'cheaper' cameras ~ I do have the worse luck ever with cameras ever ~ it must run in the family cause Stevie is the same.
Over the weekend I've been looking on line at all the different types and it's like another language ~ you get digital and then you get digital SLR!!! where do you go to for advice without someone trying to sell you something. I want one that will take good close ups of my 3D artwork (that wont fit in my scanner), one that will take good close ups of plant life and take good landscapes for my textile art research ~ is this possible. Im sure it must be, I think more research will be needed and also a trip to the camera shops in Perth :( scary places.

On a brighter note I heard from my beautiful girls again, they are having the best time ever in Australia ~ thought Id let you all see them, this was taken on their 18th birthday in November. They've booked their flights to Melbourne and will be leaving Stevie and Scarletts very soon and then this week they're climbing the Storey Bridge in Brisbane ~ what crazy girls they are.

So has anyone got the snow yet ~ so far none here in Scotland ~ hope youre all warm and cosy ~ speak again soon ~ Judy xxXxx

judrops has eyes :)

2009-01-28T17:53:00.006Z

Judrops without eyes :(

My Judrops needed eyes and I just couldnt get them right ~ so I decided to take SuziBlu's Les Petit Dolls workshop to help me out ~ here are my first results, on paper for the time being ~ been doing this instead of sewing for my college classes but the break was good therapy!! Did go to college Monday and Tuesday and really pleased with what Ive done ~ once we have a good photographing day I'll take pics of my work ~ here is the first little Judrops.

This one is 4" x 4" really tiny and fiddley to paint but she is my fav I think!!

how do you do!

little bird I will climb up into a tree

little bird

once I saw a little bird

paper patchwork background for my next judrops

mmmm me thinks I love birdies!! off to bible class just now be back later ~ Judy xxx

blue

2009-01-21T19:07:00.008Z

You know how I love colour ~ well I came across ArtsyMamas blog by chance whilst "researching" things on the internet!!!! (I know I should have been doing college work) ~ and she has started a special blog for the 2009 called A Year of Colour

~ she has got together the most amazing artists ~ from all walks of the art world ~ to share techniques, ideas, inspiration etc. Ok I joined ~ I know, I have a heap of stuff to do but you cant have too much inspiration can you ~ this month the colour is blue ~

so I got together some of my fav photos.

so here's to a happy year of colour!

at last I made something!

2009-01-19T20:41:00.008Z

Today I needed to get back into my workroom and tidy up after my escape to Australia for the holidays ~ well where to start, all my college things were in different places with all the projects in different bags and piled up on top of each other! Great fun.

Once I'd sorted through my bags I decided to create some quick collages ~Carol suggested I make small things to get me back on track ~ I got all my lovely papers out and here are the results ~ very little time was spent on each one and the purpose was to get my brain going again :)
Tomorrow I tackle college work ready for next week when I must return back to Dundee.

Happy New Year

2009-01-14T15:46:00.010Z

from me to you all

here I am with the Sydney Opera House (it its there somewhere) in the background
what a fabulous time we had

Lulu Stevie Scarlett and Rachel
in the background is the sunshine coast

Hello my lovlies ~ thankyou to all who've enquired after me. I needed a break from blogging which went on longer than I thought it would and then there was college and family things and then my trip to Oz to see Stevie and Scarlett. And so now my life is very very different ~ all my children have left home!!!! ~ yes Rach and Lu have stayed in Australia until August when they'll return home for university. We all had a wonderful time together and enjoyed the lovely weather very hot and at times very stormy and we saw some amazing sights in Queensland and New South Wales. I also managed to visit Laura and Linda at Lilly Cottage and Rach and Lulu just loved it there too as much as me, of course I had to purchase one or two goodies!! Also just across the road from Lilly Cottage is Trishalan and I was fortunate to meet Trish there and of course I had to buy some of her gorgeous threads and fabrics.

me and my family

me and my lovely man
he looks quite the thing dont you think!

So back to now I have some things planned for Jim and I to do together and of course I have my college courses to finish ~ one finishes in February and one in May/June ~ inbetween I have some art workshops to attend which will be awesome. I promise to try and blog more and post more photos of my artwork too. Well Ill try ~ lots of love to you all Judy xx

hello

2008-08-25T18:50:00.014Z

Hello everyone hope you are all well and enjoying the summer!!!
Ive been really busy with lots of different projects and the only thing that brings me to the computer just lately is Nance at Crowabouts Collage play ~ it is awesome ~ she post a selection of amazing images and we play.

I ve said before how I love the Anahata Katkin style here is the same face in the style of Anahata ~ Ive used my own background and brushes are my own in the background the bird was from Croque Choux from Collage Image group on flickr

My embroidery guild are having their exhibition at present at the Fife Museum and Art Gallery and what a wonderful space we have to show case our work in, if you live close by to Kirkaldy the museum is right next to the railway station. Let me know if you go along!

Ive been busy creating lots of things over the summer which I still have to photograph and also working hard towards my college course, here are some of the treasures Ive been making for friends ~

these were made for Chel ~ Queen of ZNE, they were sent to adorn a tree which Chrysti
had made and was presented to her along with other treasures at the

ZNE ConvenZioNE 2008

below is a wet felted vessel which was made at the beginning of the summer
at a workshop run by a friend.

below is a Judrops doll made for Dotee
to let her know how much she is loved :)

a little postcard made to say thankyou to Gina

a little postcard for dear friend

flower to say thankyou

I'm off again on Wednesday to the Embroidery Guild Summer School at Stirling University for a 4 day course with the famous Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn how lucky am I, I cannot believe Im actually going to learn from these amazing ladies. Will tell you all about it soon.

Well thats all for now, only 14 weeks and 6 days till I go to Australia ~ yippeeeee.

beautiful poppy gifts

2008-08-06T17:46:00.004Z

A month ago I was visiting Ginas blog and saw these awesome poppies, having a sister who is mad on poppies I love to see diiferent kinds and to draw them and these are so beautiful ~ Gina very kindly offered to collect the seeds for me and today I received a lovely envelope with the seeds and a really beautiful card.
Thankyou Gina so much I cant wait for them to bloom :)

exciting times

2008-08-04T14:44:00.006Z

Time has flown since I last came by and my one week has grown to two and now I have so many emails to catch up on and blogs to visit and sooooo much to tell I dont know where to start first!! So I'll start with now I think and work backwords, here is my journal page prompted by Nances' new group Collage Play with Crowabout! Nance provide the collage sheet and we all make a journal page/collage. Love the vintage style images she provided for the first week and they immediately reminded me of my visit to Stevie back in 2005 where there were so many vintage cars on the streets and to let you all know that its only 18 weeks till I leave to visit again ~ time is flying ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ my second piece of news is that I have received my "A Charming Exchange"

book by Ruth Rae and Kelly Snelling ~ what can I say when I opened the package today my hands were shaking and I couldnt breathe properly with excitement. Why you may ask???? well I have some of my work in the book. I still cannot believe it, it all started back in Jan 2007 when I was asked to join with a Ruth, Kelly and friends to make small pieces of textile art which they could make into jewellery along with art from other friends I was so excited and then Ruth contacted me in March 2007 about a special piece to be the centre which she could create around ~ I did this and sent if off for Ruth to play with ~ well the results are stunning I would just love to see the necklace in real life cause it looks amazing ~ if you have the book it is on page 98 and is called Forest Floor, or you can read and see more here on Ruths blog ~ I have 4 other pieces of my work in the book too which Im so happy about because there is some amazing artwork in there from some amazing artists. Im breathing normally now! The book shows you how to make extraordinary jewellery and I cannot wait to have a go. Congratualtions to Ruth and Kelly on such a wonderful book ~ not biased at all ~ it is brilliant :)

Saturday was another brilliant day ~ I spent it with Jeanette Sendler (fibre artist) in her shop Hat in the Cat which she shares with Alison Mountain ( artist) I was helping them out and it was a wonderful day ~ I rearranged the window and table displays and was just inspired once more by her after spending the previous week with Jeanette at her summer school. I will have to come back to that another day once Ive photographed my work I did there and show you all the wonderful things I learned. Have to go for now but will be back soon ~~~~ Judy xxx

Blooming Marvellous and how I made it

2008-07-11T16:49:00.011Z

Last year I made this Journal Quilt and I thought I would share the process of getting the quilt to the embroidery stage.

I used the following items
cotton wadding
calico for backing and hand dyed calico for binding
wool tops in buttercup and grape jelly,
hand dyed scrim in red currant and sea green
snippets of purple velvet and purple pink organza
machine embroidery thread
hand embroidery thread

I buy my wool tops from a wonderful shop Twist Fibre Craft which is only half an hour away from Kinross in a beautiful place called Newburgh, Fife ~ they do mail order too!!

I started with a piece of cotton wadding which is lovely and soft to handle, you could use wool prefelt as well but I didnt have any at the time ~ its lovely and soft too.

Next I pulled off some buttercup wool tops and layered them all over the wadding, first horizontally

then I layerd the wool tops on vertically

once the wadding was covered in both directions with wool tops, I moved to my embellisher and continued to embellish the piece all over, if you dont have an embellisher you could also use a foam pad and felt needles and do this by hand, it might take a little longer but will look just as good

embellished all over

now I started to lay on hand dyed scrim in sea green

adding the scrim in red currant

I then embelished the piece all over

Now the piece is embellished all over I decided it needed some more depth at the bottom and top right so I added some more scrim in red currant with little snippets of purple pink organza

this shows where I added extra scrim

I also added some purple velvet snippets

~ this time though I just held them down with pins and didnt embellish them.

I then used the calico for a backing and continued to do free machine embroidery over the piece using coordinating thread to represent the flowers and their stems. Once I was happy with the free machining I added some running stitch and some colonial knots by hand, I prefer these to french knots cause they sit better ~ but its down to preference ~ Check out Sharon B's site for an amazing directory of stitches, a really wonderful resource.

I 'squared' the piece and made some binding with hand dyed calico to neaten the edges sewing this on with the sewing machine and finishing by hand on the back.

I hope this encourages you to have a try ~ Judy x

judrops in wonderland is back!

2008-07-05T17:51:00.007Z

Judrops is back in lilac and turquoise

she has her own lilac corsage and pink forget me nots,

on her way to the tea party she meets the Cheshire Cat

theres lots of tea and cup cakes :)

Another happy day in Wonderland
~~~~~~~

Fabric and paper banner triangle in my fav colours:)

my little birdie has to feature and of course there has to be roses

I love the two turquoise fabrics in this triangle and only have tiny tiny pieces left ~ I never want it to end ever :(

Thankyou for all the lovely comments yesterday

you all made me

SMILE

sunshine on a rainy day

2008-07-04T15:05:00.004Z

Have been struggling big time over the last couple of months with life and stuff in my head and scared that the big black cloud is taking over again pushing down. Im praying that its just a blip but even thinking talking and being amongst people is really hard work and it exhausts me ~ I want to hide again ha!!! In saying that, sometimes days happen and they are wonderful and just like sunshine on a rainy day and so I had to come out of my hibernation to share a really wonderful lady I met yesterday ~ Gwen Hedley an internationally known textile artist from England.
I did a workshop with her organised through my embroidery guild and she is so inspiring ~ our list of requirements was amazing and included cocktail sticks, lolly sticks, staples, twigs, pins fasteners and all manner of things which could hold something down not necessarily associated with sewing. We had a wonderful day attaching paper, fabric and collected twigs and sticks with all manner of 'attachers' and then using threads to weave and enhance the piece ~ the day passed far too quickly ~ dont they always on workshops you enjoy. Ive attached glimpses of the work I did and have still to finish. Gwen was very generous with her ideas and also explained how to float mount our work ~ as a way to finish textile art. Looking forward to hanging the finished piece in my own frame!!!! Well we'll see

Happy Mothering Sunday .......................

2008-05-11T09:54:00.004Z

to all my friends in Australia and America who mother someone whether it be your children, your husbands, your parents or your kitties have a wonderful happy day

we had our mothers day back in March it seems an age away but I just want to remember my mum and Jims mum who are now beautiful angels and to send love to those friends far away who miss their mums, Judy xxxx

Embroidery

2008-05-08T09:32:00.009Z

Been busy making embroidered cards

sold

Raindrops on roses......

2008-05-04T23:16:00.005Z

Here is todays journal page ~ It was quite lovely today in Scotland although rain threatened at times but it was warmer and so when Jim came home from work he decided to tidy up the garden a little ~ especially my little potting table area where everything had accumulated. Old plants and pots and broken things. Im abit of a scardy cat cause there were lots woodlice and spiders and wriggly things so I didnt fancy touching anything!! I watched him and suggested what we save (Im a really good supervisor) and then dont you just know it ~ the rain came!!! so I had to dodge the raindrops but they were so beautiful and the air smelled so fresh and clean and there was a beautiful perfume in the air which would be wonderful to capture. Lulu came out and was dancing in the rain it was warm and mild for Scotland and the garden is looking lovely out there now, cause he's such a good man he carried on working and I supplied the tea. Didnt do any sewing though ooops! Not to worry, maybe tomorrow ~ Jx

I have to leave you with a song!! Sorry Suze I know you'll be singing this all day now

I'm singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin'
I'm happy again
I'm laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I've a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin',
Singin' in the rain

or then there's

Raindrops on roses
and
Whiskers on kittens

ok, I know my roses arent out yet!

seed

2008-05-02T21:19:00.006Z

a seed placed it in the soil ~ so tiny
an egg in the nest
both precious and fragile
from these
beautiful creations are born
~~~~~

"the smallest seed of faith is better than the largest fruit of happiness"

Henry David Thoreau

Felted Flower and Scottish Thistle Hanging

2008-04-21T21:54:00.006Z

The weekend has been quiet for me and Ive not ventured out at all not even to church and today only as far as the nurse again :~(
I even had to miss college too ~ now that is certainly not good.

Anyway less of that ~ I managed to get to my studio and finish one of my flower corsage/brooches, I love the colour of this one and would love to keep it but its going in my etsy ~ I have to try and raise some money for us to rent a car whilst in Australia ~ Jim and I will be there for a month and we'll need one big enough to take Jim and me, Rach and Lu and of course Stevie and Scarlett, so that means a people carrier sort of thing!!! You know the sort Im sure.
Only 220 days untill take off....................................................

I'm also working on some "stitched sketches" with the lovely Scotland as my inspiration. I am surrounded here in Kinross with beautiful countryside and of course the loch ~ here is the first one based on the thistle ~ I love the colours in this piece and have made it using wool tops; which I wet felted, hand dyed fabric, recyled silk sari, hand dyed threads and ribbon and recycled Scottish slate. The threads used were beautiful silk noil and spun silk and Maderia Machine Embroidery threads ~ my favourites:) This too is going in my etsy shop.

After work tonight Jim made me some brilliant slate buttons which I'll photograph tomorrow. They are awesome but actually broke three of his drill bits, oooops.

Primitive - Folk Art for IF

2008-04-18T20:06:00.004Z

Primitive was this weeks topic for illustration friday ~ the first thing that I thought of was folk art and so the above illustration came about, still lying low, so here we have coloured pencil only on paper!!!

new canvas'

2008-04-16T07:18:00.004Z

rose fairy

Thought I'd share the canvas' Ive just finished they are in my etsy shop now along with some of my old creations in print form. Ive just finished a commission for a dear lady which was sooooo beautiful to work on and will be listing some of my felt flower corsages by the end of this week ~ just have to put on the important finishing touches:)

In Rose Fairy I've used on of my favourite little girl which is two images altered to become one. The Roses are my own design taken from a watercolour I did whilst in Australia in 2005!!!
The background is a lovely mix of layers; from gesso, collage to Golden acrylic paint.
Spring Blossom was inspired by a scrap of vintage wallpaper I have in my treasure box this is made using gesso and Golden acrylic paints.
I have other canvas' which Ill be adding as they are finished

I've been making the Alice in Wonderland theatre over the last months and have been so excited by that, the exhibition is really soon. I have made an assemblage inspired by my theatre, its almost finished and I'll be putting that in my etsy too, Ive been amazed by how from my little sketch book which started completely blank so much inspiration can flow..... maybe it because its spring, its putting a 'spring' in my step, haha sorry!!

spring blossom

Off to see a friend this morning ~ I think the sun is coming out so have a wonderful day, Judy x

Fail for IF

2008-04-12T01:01:00.005Z

"I fail to see how I could have changed things
After all beauty is only skin deep
~x~
ahh but a smile can fill the world with joy"

xx Judy xx

My Alice in Wonderland Theatre so far

2008-04-08T20:59:00.004Z

You can see more of the fun Ive been having
here

2008-04-08T17:08:00.005Z

Thankyou so very much to Helen Suzanne and Evie for awarding me the Art y Pico Award ~ an award for blogs filled with art and creativity ~ there are some rules attached to this award and in passing it on to others they are as follows;

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.

4. The award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico' blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. To show these rules.

Sue

Gunnel

Beate

Holly

Fran

I 've chosen blogs with different kinds of art for you all to enjoy ~ Judy xx

Save the Last Dance for Me!

2008-04-04T18:29:00.006Z

Save

The Last Dance For Me

Alice, beads, ribbons and a theatre

2008-04-03T15:25:00.012Z

Well while Ive been away things have been happening in the Judrops studio!! I have not been idle and here's a little snippet of what Ive been up to ..............................

...................... if you take a stroll over to the studio you can see the Alice in Wonderland Theatre Ive been making its not finished yet but Im on my last finishing details with it, probably another six weeks work ~ just in time for the exhibition at the end of May.

So what else have I been doing, well Ive made more of my felt flowers in lilac for a lovely lady who adores lilac and turquoise more than any other colours in the world

and red and pink for a wedding this weekend ~ I saw the red flower on the outfit its to be worn with and it looks so lovely

French Knots in the centre with free machining on the petals

little pearls in the centre with free machining on the petals

Im working on some other projects which have spun off from the work I've done for the Alice in Wonderland Theatre extreme fun and lots of happy colours ~ well I do love colour and happy things heres a little preview

And then Ive also been and bought some goodies :) :) :)

and my favourite hand cream in the world

it is gorgeous :)

2008-03-24T20:20:00.003Z

for you and for me

2008-03-21T22:30:00.004Z

My banner - I love it :)

2008-03-10T18:15:00.005Z

At the end of 2007 I joined with Sara (the amazing textile artist who inspires so many) and other wonderful talented ladies in a beautiful banner triangles swap. My lovely triangles from all over the world arrived and now I have my banner hanging in my home, it looks amazing.

If you click on the photo you can see it large and see all the wonderful work which went into each triangle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also photographed the rest of the triangles I made before they were sent off!

Jacky

Sara

Lisa

Jacq

Martha

All together

my letter was 'a'

preparation and organisation for making the triangles

This was a fabulous swap with such wonderful artists, thankyou to you all, Judy x

My Saturday

2008-03-08T20:40:00.025Z

Today in my beautiful part of the world we have had every season in one day!!! So wrapped up with walking boots hats and scarfs, Jim and I have had a very precious day together ~ we set off to St Andrews in Fife and had a wander around the old town ~ we had sun rain wind and bright blue skies one after the other.

We then drove onto Cambo House near to Crail in Fife where the garden and

woodland walk are covered in snowdrops

~ we walked down to the sea through the woods

where the water was crashing up onto the pebbles

and making the most amazing sound and then drawing back so quickly and leaving these beautiful shiney pebbles

fairy needle
how awesome is that!!

and it was just out of this world and really magical. We followed the path round to the gardens

where the most exquisite Hellebores

in beautiful colours grow along side snowdrops and logs with moss

and a garden fork just left for the next time.

Trees with amazing bark shone in the rain and the wind at this stage was singing through the trees and blowing the rain in our faces!! Fabulous:)

We had a look around the house and saw a beautiful exhibition of art (which a friend had emailed me about) the art work included textile art (quilts and embroidery), watercolours, prints and etchings all with the theme of snow drops, it was so beautiful. At the bottom of the stairs was a collection of old trunks and suitcases I could have bought them home with me!!!

We then went onto Anstruther

where we were greeted with this beautiful rainbow reaching out on to the water

and a discarded lobster pot appeared out of the water.
We had some of the famous Fish and Chips very yummy and had
a lovely walk in the harbour and watched the life boat come in ~

there was a amazing display of spring flowers which I couldnt resist snapping

The above photo was one side of the road and the picture below the other side ~ check out that cloud!!
So we quickly headed for our car and drove home with the rain chasing us all the way.

The drive was a bit wild and you couldnt see Edinburgh over the Forth it was shrouded in rain clouds so we headed back to Kinross singing to all our favourite songs from the 70's ~ brilliant fun and a brilliant day!

Never Forgotten

2008-03-06T11:17:00.005Z

...................."In February of 2008, JoAnnA Pierotti, a founding member of the artist community known as ZNE, lost her mother suddenly and unexpectedly. In the week following, 68 artists from all over the world stepped forward. They provided artistic images and financial contributions in order to create an art volume which would express their sympathy, concern, and support.
The result is this extraordinary collection which celebrates motherhood and love, and honors loss and the healing process." Chelise Stroud Hery

Never Forgotten is such a beautiful piece of artwork and I feel so honoured that my little tribute for JoAnna is included, Chel is amazing to have put this together so beautifully and sensitively.

My own dear Mum Ruth died in 2004 and I miss her everyday, her beautiful spirit and energy for life lives on though through her family and all the memories she helped to create. I know so many who miss their Mums and art is such a beautiful way to honour them and heal the sadness.

Sending love to JoAnna and to all who miss their Mums, Judy x

little fairy princess

2008-02-14T22:56:00.005Z

Encouraged by Pearl at a story book life I made this little fairy princess today, she's under her special shabby chic bunting gathering flowers in her magical garden, what a beautiful day she's having!

Pearl has created a wonderful segment called Creations Under Glass and asked me to put together a little creative display for her to feature. I thoroughly enjoyed making this little piece and will definitely look out for more beautiful glass to use again, could be another little hobby!!!

You have to check out the other beautiful creations ~ they will make your mouth water!

~ Judy :)

ZNE award made my day!

2008-02-04T10:36:00.001Z

neighbours

Im so happy today, Ive been chosen as winner by my wonderful ZNE flickr group ~ my collage 'neighbours' was in the bird challenge and was picked to appear on the home page by other members, thankyou all so very very much.

Here are some more digital collages I've been making using my artwork and doodles along with copyright free images

Feeling a little better today although not managed to go to collage, couldnt manage the drive ~ you do need your whits about you driving up to Dundee and I just dont have the energy yet but on a positive note at least Im up and about!!!!!

Please send positive vibes to my gorgeous girls this fortnight as they have their prelims' for the Higher and Advanced Higher exams and also to Stevie and his band as they are touring!!!!!!!! Yep going down to Melbourne Australia to tour on Friday, good luck my precious son.

So off to have some food, Im hungry today :) Loads of love ~ Judy xx

Blanket

2008-02-02T17:11:00.001Z

blanket for Illustration Friday ~ a digital collage using my artwork and copywrite free images ~ Under my cosy blankets and quilts where I've been hiding all week and where Im off again now, thought I was feeling better but Im not :( not managed to make any art at all ~ that shows how bad I am. Thankyou to everyone who left me comments on my last post I'll get back to you all when Im feeling well, bye for now, Judy xxx

Tales and Legends - Alice in Wonderland

2008-01-27T13:05:00.001Z

Alice in Wonderland ~ through the door and into the woodland searching for a way to get into the beautiful garden!

Mixed media collage.

stitch

2008-01-17T17:19:00.001Z

IF topic for this week is stitch how very appropriate for me!!
Here are two illustrations done with free machine stitching for my latest project here they were done very quickly and havent been mounted yet hence the crinkles!!

My new swap group

2008-01-16T21:21:00.000Z

Thought it was about time I uploaded some of the work I've been making! Before Christmas I joined with Sara and other wonderful like minded artist to make a banner triangles. Its lovely to work on a larger scale after inchies and I've really enjoyed making these little treasures. We've to make ten and they are to spell out the word 'creativity' each of us has to attach a letter ~ mine is the letter A, I've still to make the letters but I think I will do them in free machining on 'Romeo' water soluable~ should be fun!

So here we are, my first four triangles ~

you make my day

2008-01-07T00:40:00.000Z

Waltraud and Hideko Ishida have given me 'A you make my day award' ~ thankyou both so much, its lovely to know your blog makes someone happy ~ there are many many blogfriends who make my day when I read their blogs and I've been venturing out there and finding some lovely places to visit Dot and Suze are the first as they have been so lovely to me over the last year and then there's Izabella Lilia and Ruth in the US, Ro Di and Judy all in Australia.
and Julie in England and Moira who lives quite close to me.

There are many blogs I love these are just afew of many ~ you are all special

The award rules are to

“Give the award to up to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel so happy about blogland! Let them know by posting a comment on their blog so that they can pass it on. Beware! You may get the award several times! ”

Have a wonderful day ~ Judy xxx

things I've been making over the hols

2008-01-05T23:32:00.000Z

Here's some of the artwork I created to send to friends this Christmas, I made mini quilts instead of cards this year, took me ages though but really loved making them.

Mini Quilts

Atc's made for friends at quilting group ~ you can see I used my lovely rubber stamps to make them!!!!

made a heap of lavender hearts here's just one

for darling Dotee

for special Suze

Done loads of felting as well here's another flower I made for a friend

Hope youre all settling back to a normal routine ~ Im not! maybe next week will improve, Jims back at work ~ girls back at school and me back at college.

greetings from Bonnie Scotland

2007-12-31T00:45:00.001Z

Wishing all my family and friends world wide, a happy and joyful Hogmany and a very peaceful and wonderful New Year

Hugs and kisses ~ Judy xxx

Peace to all at Christmas

2007-12-24T09:10:00.000Z

A child is born to us!
A son is given to us!
And he shall be called ruler.
He will be called
"Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace"

Isaiah Chapter 9 Verse 6

Taken from the Good News Bible