Winter Blooming

Since I've been absent from this blog so much this past autumn and winter, I have a lot of catching up to do. Here's another project that I haven't shared with you yet. I learned this technique from Linda Kemshall. She calls the technique 'hydrangea blooming' in an episode of Design Matters TV. I just had to try it. There are four layers of cotton in this hanging bag; three of which I've cut open on the grain, to produce maximum fraying. I like the way the frayed threads form stamens in the middle of the blooms.

Speaking of blooms, here's an image of an amaryllis I was given by some of my students at the end of term in early December. It bloomed just before Christmas, again after New Year, and now it has produced a third stem, which is very short, but with full-sized flowers. Amazing!

Here's a view of my neighbourhood this time of year. We had gorgeous winter weather at the start of the week, and I treated myself to some free light therapy. The snow catching the sunlight and frost on the tree branches was a sight for light-starved eyes.

 Have a great week, and remember to drop by again soon! - Annika

News from Planet Sålunda

I hope the new year has started well for everyone. I spent the holidays in Larsmo (500 km to the north) with my parents and my adopted pet-sister Fia the Terri(fi)er. She made sure I got out of bed by bursting into my room almost every morning, and jumping into my bed.

When I got back it was time to start planning classes again, and to set up an exhibition, where I, together with three other teachers at Arbis (the adult education centre where I work), will exhibit our work until 26 January. Here's a photo of my corner of the exhibition:

The beautiful oil painting in the background is painted by Hanna Uggla, who's an art teacher at Arbis. Here's a link with information about who, where and when.

No sooner did the classes start than I was hit by a nasty cold. So I've been lying low, trying to cure myself. Not an easy task, as I'm a impatient patient. But since I wasn't strong enough for physical activities, I did some thinking instead; about what I did this past autumn, and how I could do things differently now, to make more room for myself and my friends and family. And this poor neglected blog! I was actively making things all autumn, but never found the time and energy to show you. Here's a sample of some of the printing I did for the fabric design class:

The samples include printing with hand-carved eraser stamps, softcut stamps and linoleum stamps, engraved foam stamps, glue stamps, found stamps, monoprinting and found stencils. I've been having fun while working like a horse! And there's more coming up. I love teaching this class.

And I finished the two Pretty Purses I showed you in my last blog entry:

The photos don't do them justice, as you can't really see the glitzy quilting in lilac-silver metallic thread on the top purse and violet-gold metallic thread on the bottom purse. But it'll give you an idea. Both these purses will be for sale at the Arbis Fair in March, where teachers will be able to show what they do and sell their products and artwork. So I need to warm up the sewing machine and get cracking!

Thanks for visiting, and see you again soon! - Annika

On the First Day of Christmas...

Happy holidays everyone! I’m sorry that I’ve been a stranger to this blog all autumn. I’ve been working hard, and I guess sometimes you just have to give yourself a break and accept that you don’t always have time and energy for everything. I’ve neglected a lot of the things I normally love to do, but now I feel it’s time to reclaim those things. I guess it’s all about planning: I need to consciously make time for art again, as well as blogging. I’m starting with a short update on what I’ve been up to so far during my Christmas break.

I’ve been working on two new Pretty Purses:

Purse 1, quilted (in progress)

Purse 2, quilted (in progress)

and with added hand embroidery (in progress)

I’m also working on a mini quilt with the same poppy motif I used last summer.

Surface designed fabric ready to be quilted

Quilted, and with some hand embroidery (in progress)

And, joy of joys, I did some work in my sketchbook, inspired by patterns I found on a gift wrap and a flower pot:

And of course I have a Christmas knitting project…

for when I want to relax in the sofa with Fia the Terri(fi)er. (Mum’s busy hands can be seen knitting in the background.)

I hope you're having a wonderful holiday season! Thanks for dropping by! - Annika

Whoo-Hoo?

I'm sorry that I have been a stranger to this blog this autumn! I hope you haven't forgotten me. It's not that I've been idle, on the contrary. I've been working like a horse with all sorts of crafts. I just haven't had the time and energy to blog about it all afterwards. I hope that will change soon! Until then, here's an image of a fun little wishing owl I did with the kids. (It's based on Lynn Krawczyk's pattern.) 

Thanks for still remembering me! - Annika

Breast Pockets with Love from Finland

Last week I did my best to promote Melanie Testa's Breast Pocket Project on my blog, in Facebook groups and at the adult education centre where I currently work. I don't know how many of you blog readers joined the project (please leave a comment if you did!), but I got ten pockets from the fabulous women at the adult education cenre, two from my mum, and I made two myself: a total of 14 pockets! So far, that is, because there will probably be one more next week, which will travel to New York bravely on its own. A heartfel Thank You to everyone who joined the project! Here's a photo of the whole ensemble, getting ready for their journey across the Atlantic:

And these are my pockets, with some sort of sashiko embroidery. Melanie is the only "flattie" I know (of), so I made two pockets, as she is a full flattie.

And don't forget that October is breast cancer awareness month, so please give a donation to your local breast cancer reserach organisation. Even a small donation helps!

Have a great weekend, and thanks for popping by! - Annika

Call for Art: Breast Pockets

(Ni som talar svenska kan skrolla ner en bit, så får ni samma information mera lättillgängligt.)

*****************

My friend and mentor Melanie Testa, whom I've mentioned many times on this blog, as she's had a major influence on my own creative journey, needs your help! Melanie is a breast cancer survior who has chosen against reconstructive surgery or prosthetics, and she wants to turn the repressive body image pressures off for women. Women should be allowed to feel sexy, strong and beautiful whether full, flat or half flat. Melanie wants to raise awareness and acceptance of this alternative, and therefore she has started an art project which involves breast pockets. She needs 1000 pockets before 22 October 2012.

Please, make a breast pocket (use Melanie's pattern, or your own imagination) for every woman you know that has chosen to forego reconstruction, add her name (first name only) to the pocket, and send it to Melanie to show your support. Leave a comment on her blog and she will contact you and give you information about where to send the pocket. If she receives 1000 pockets by 22 October, an ABC News reporter will do a story about the project. I will report back to you on how it went.

Please read Melaines blog post and recent article for more information, and visit her Facebook page.

Thanks! - Annika

*****************

Och eftersom detta är ett så viktigt ämne, så skriver jag samma sak också på svenska denna gång:

Min vän och mentor Melanie Testa, som jag har nämnt många gånger på den här bloggen, eftersom hon har haft ett starkt inflytande på min egen kreativa resa, behöver er hjälp! Melanie har överlevt bröstcancer, men valde att inte rekonstruera sina bröst eller skaffa protes. Hon vill avskaffa den press som läggs på kvinnokroppen om hur den ska se ut. Kvinnor borde få känna sig sexiga, starka och vackra vare sig de har båda brösten i behåll, är delvis platta eller helt platta. Hon vill väcka medvetenhet om och accepterande av detta som ett alternativ, och därför har hon startat ett konstprojekt som handlar om bröstfickor. Hon behöver 1000 bröstfickor före den 22 oktober 2012.

Snälla du, tillverka en bröstficka (använd Melanies mönster, eller din egen fantasi) för varje kvinna du känner som har valt bort rekonstruktion. Sätt hennes namn på fickan (bara förnamnet), och skicka fickan till Melanie för att visa ditt stöd. Lämna en kommentar på hennes blogg så kontaktar hon dig och ger dig information om vart du kan skicka fickan. Du som känner mig kan också ge eller skicka din ficka till mig, så skickar jag alla fickor jag fått in till Melanie om en vecka, dvs. fredagen den 12 oktober. Om hon får ihop 1000 fickor till den 22 oktober så kommer en ABC News-reporter att göra ett reportage om projektet. Jag återkommer senare med rapport om hur det gick.

Läs Melanies blogginlägg och en färsk artikel som hon skrivit så får du mera information om ämnet, och besök hennes Facebook-sida.

Tack! - Annika

*****************

Why not take the opportunity to try something new while making this quick little pocket project? I've wanted to try sashiko and a pocket is the perfect place to practise:

Varför inte pröva något nytt när du gör det här snabba lilla fickprojektet? Jag har velat pröva på sashiko och fickan är ett perfekt ställe att öva:

Discharged!

Yesterday, as I was picking out my usual laundry detergent at the supermarket, my eyes stopped at something interesting: Dr Beckmann's Colour Run Remover (English link, svensk länk). Hah! Potential! I grabbed a package straight away.

Today I put Dr Beckmann's colour remover to the test, and it passed with flying colours. In fact, it was so efficient that nearly all the colour on my sample pieces flew away. But let's take this from the beginning.

On the package it reads that you should leave the item you want to strip of its colour soaking for at least 4 hours, perhaps even over night. So I mixed the powder in hot water from the tap,  took a few of my hand dyed pieces of cloth, which I'd folded and scrunched in tie-dye style, and plunged them into the colour remover. Now, I was expecting to leave the fabric there for 4 hours, so I wasn't paying much attention to what was happening in the bucket. I should have. Oh my! Dr Beckmann was quick to get the job done. Not even a minute had passed when I noticed that the first items I'd added to the liquid were turning very pale  So, I had to take everything out immediately. The first two samples were so pale that there was hardly any patterning on them at all anymore. But the other two: Yay! Cool! Bellissimo!

Before:

After:

 

Before:

After:

You wouldn't belive, would you, that this piece of fabric actually came from the bright blue one I show you above? Where did the rusty brown come from? It's gorgeous!

I also did some icecream tub dyeing with EMO Tuotanto's fibre reactive dye later. I'm trying to explore this product, since it's a Finnish brand, and a lot easier to get hold of for me than Procion MX dyes. I hope to discover ways of using the EMO dyes in the same ways that I've used Procion MX dyes. That would make me a very happy puppy.

I can't wait to get to the rinsing stage with these! Yum!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week! - Annika