The colours haven't come out exactly in the scan as in real life they are more vibrant. Not exactly postcard shaped but that is its charm. Long and shaped! And shiny! Special!  

Postcard no 8!

When I got home there was postcard waiting for me on the mat. It is card no 8 from Smarcoux which means that there is only one more to come in this swap. This is the most interesting card. Lovely colours. The shiny turquoise top is slashed to reveal ....pink! It is really lovely and a very unusual shape. A truly unique card. I love it!

Not fair!

Looking at Deb's blog Red Shoe Ramblings...she who started the Halloween quiz thing which was then continued by Gabrielle of Handmaiden, well I find that her prediction was much more fun. She can be a pirate wench! I've always imagined myself as a pirate wench but instead I have to be a naughty animal. Doesn't that just boggle the mind! lol

I blame everyone!

Halloween Horoscope for Gemini

Halloween is a huge party for you, except you're never really sure what to go as. No matter what, your costume will make people's eyes pop out of their heads. Costume suggestions: A sexy cop or a naughty animal Signature Halloween candy: Twizzlers

What's Your Halloween Horoscope?

So what are twizzlers? What month do you have to be born in to rate chocolate? Bah humbug!

Happy Halloween to everyone! 

Halloween!

I took the photo in a graveyard in a small village near Penzance and then played with it in Photoshop to create the 'ghosts'. It is dress-up day at work so I may go in as a witch! I have the hat and plenty of black clothing to choose from. As I have my first session observation this morning for my new job as a Session Observer in Adult Education I may not feel like being frivolous this afternoon. It depends how stressful it is. I may need the light relief!

A Happy Birthday to Ginger of Gingerfied. What a great day to have a birthday on! Enjoy!

I have been impressed with all the before and after pictures of people's workrooms/studios. The only trouble is that when I go up to my workroom with tidying in mind I get sidetracked before I've dealt with one box. I am promising myself that this Christmas when I get ten days holiday that I will have a real blitz on it. I'm getting quite excited about my new cupboard in the dining area and if that works well then I may have some more built in cupboards put into the spare room. Floor to ceiling is good as that way maximum use is made of the space. At the moment the free standing cupboards and wardrobes have all got stuff piled on top of them which adds to the chaos. I'll take some pictures this evening before I get any inclinations to tidy up!

Today I have to:
1. Do a session observation from 10.30 .......
2. Write up the notes from above
3. Go to work
4. Continue with leaf project but I'm not going to bore you with this anymore until finished! Promise!
5. Print out hand-out sheets for classes at end of the week.

I feel tired already! Grin

Had an exciting postcard from Karoda yesterday. This postcard is really scintillating but I don't think you'll see that in the scan. The gold doesn't show up so well. Lovely card. Thank you Karoda. Now only two to go! And its nearly November!  

Close up of Leaves Mark II 

Leaves Mark II 

A very stupid thing to do!  

Less is more or how I stuck an oak leaf to the ironing pad!

Sometimes I know I am working on only half a cylinder! Why do I know this? Because today thinking I'd straighten out an oak leaf I'd painted I ironed it, totally forgetting that I had already applied Bondaweb and removed the backing paper! Stupid!

So I am an oak leaf down but this isn't that important as I have decided that less is more and that I can get two pieces of work out of one. This has made life much easier for me as I now don't have to decide between two backings but can use both and still maintain the effect I wanted. In fact I can have my cake and eat it! Pictures will be posted in a minute! Having spent all yesterday evening deliberating on my leaf piece and even painting more leaves I am quite relieved to have come to this decision. Now I can fuse and sew. I shall still put the black edging round the smaller piece but will probably leave the larger piece as it is.

This morning it poured with rain but we had a successful morning in Falmouth. Firstly we had coffee in Wetherspoon's on the Moor. We usually try and get a table in the window in the circular part so we can watch the world go by. The orange bit is the bus shelter!

This is Sue at our window table! She'll hate me for this photo as it isn't one of her best!

Then I bought a gorgeous skirt and Sue bought a pair of amazing black suede boots with fur around the top. I didn't think to take a photo! Several charity shops later I had a couple of books, some picture frames and a fruit bowl! We parked in the Gas Works car park on the harbour. So called because in days gone by it used to be the site of the old gas works but no one now remembers that except me or so it seems! I am that ancient! The wind was tremendous and off the sea. This is Sue's dinky little sports car!

We drove home by the scenic route which took us past the beach. The waves were gorgeous. I do love rough seas. There were even kids in surfing! Brrrrr!

And now I'm going to dye!

Success!

Well the problem has been solved. I have to say that each time I've written to the help desk at Blogspot I've had a reply within the day and they have been incredibly helpful!

A box of Procion dyes arrived today so I have to go and find a home for them. Hopefully I am having a floor to ceiling cupboard built in the corner of the dining area in my kitchen and this will solve loads of problems. Not least of which is the getting rid of extraneous litter which comes under the heading of sundries for dyeing with or in.

This is how I see it so far!  

Trying again! The original picture that inspired me!  

Couldn't help myself! Grin!

you are violet #EE82EE

Your dominant hues are red and blue. You're confident and like showing people new ideas. You play well with others and can be very influential if you want to be. Your saturation level is lower than average - You don't stress out over things and don't understand people who do. Finishing projects may sometimes be a challenge, but you schedule time as you see fit and the important things all happen in the end, even if not everyone sees your grand master plan. Your outlook on life is bright. You see good things in situations where others may not be able to, and it frustrates you to see them get down on everything.

the spacefem.com html color quiz

Pictures

I'm having trouble getting pictures uploaded. If the problem is still there when I come back from work I'll deal with it then! Three methods of uploading pics and not one of them would work properly!

The original photo that inspired me!

This is the plan so far. I shall add the black borders and take it from there. Using a hand-dye the black will be mottled so not so heavy as an all over black. 

Forging Ahead at Full Steam!

Thank you for the comments, both on the blog and by email, on my dilema with regards to the leaf piece. I have looked at the pictures and decided to go with the original plan. To that end I arranged and re-arranged the leaves but wasn't happy. Then I realised that what I liked about the picture was the black background which formed an edging for the piece. The black was just teflon so as not to iron Bondaweb to the ironing pad but it made a good background piece. And I liked the way some of the leaves fell over this making the edge irregular. This gave the piece more balance. So this is where I'm at now! I liked the randomness of the piece. And looking at the original picture of leaves on water that inspired me I felt happy with the outcome.

Update on problem!

I am apparently not alone in this. Many bloggers who are NOT posting spam are being caught out by this spam detector. The fact that I posted several pictures without resorting to Blogger Dashboard is apparently enough to trigger the anti spam software! So not good but at least I am now aware as to what is going on and can try and work round it. Still a pain in the proverbial! And blogging used to be such an enjoyable passtime! Now is that spelt correctly or should it be past-time? Who knows! Who cares! Lets use the word occupation instead!

Wrong picture!

No, no you are all getting the wrong picture. This isn't the word verification that comes up in comments. That is no problem. What I get is word verification when I'm actually typing in what I want to say. Before I can upload I have to put in the word into a small box. This is before it has actually hit the blog or got any comments! Pain in the proverbial!

Word Verification on Blogger Dashboard!

Is there anyone else out there that has this awful Word Verification on Blogger Dashboard? When I've finished writing this I will have to write one of those weird words into a box before I can publish! This is not only a pain but it stops me using Hello/Picasa for posting more than one picture! Does anyone know what I can do about this? Or do I have to leave this site and look into blogging on my website? Or somewhere else which doesn't have this nuisance stuff! I shall now take myself off to work and quietly seethe!

In fact space it out more to make a wreath formation and I think I like this best. Will the leaves fuse to the velvet? That will be the next thing to find out. I am now spoilt for choice. And what am I going to do with it when I've done it? A cushion? A bag? A part of something bigger? Too many choices, too many decisions! What do you think? Do you like any of these or should I go back to the drawing board? Comments welcomed!

Or another colourway in the same thing? This is getting nearer to my idea

close up

Or this? This background from the heap was a piece of yucky slime yellow which I overdyed. Then I placed a piece of muslin behind it, stitched and then washed. The muslin shrank but the velvet didn't, hence the smockery look. Then I stitched yarn over it! Makes a good background for something but is it for this!

How about bigger? Another UFO background. Well really they arn't UFO's they are backgrounds in waiting! Grin!

Or this?

Try another UFO in a different colour way? Difficult!  

So I dragged out an old woven background from my UFO pile. Don't know!  

It doesn't really work though in itself it is a good background for something. But not these leaves! Well I don't know, looking at the picture I'm having second, third thoughts. Hmm!  

So I cut it in half and wove the two pieces together. The idea being that I would fussy cut my 'painterly' leaves and apply them to this background.  

I painted and stamped this piece of hand-dyed fabric last night. When I looked at it this morning I wasn't overly impressed!  

Success!

Well that went like a piece of cake! Fantastic! I am always fascinated by other people's views of where they live that I thought this small tour might be of interest. Falmouth is such a gorgeous place to live. Caitlin I don't know of any canal here so are you sure you are talking about the right Falmouth? Can you give me more details? I'm always keen to learn more about the town where I live. Its biggest claim to fame is that it has the second deepest natural harbour in the world. I think the first is Sydney but I could be wrong. So I don't know anything about the amazing Falmouth Wheel. I shall go and Google it! I also have to go and do some writing on my sewing machine using the embroidery unit. I need to refresh my memory as I have a class tomorrow doing this! And I need to press and heat set the fabrics I painted yesterday. I'll post pictures later and keep my fingers crossed that this ease of posting photos continues. Hasta la Vista!

This is my Mum's house facing with the green garage. I live round the bend! Its a small close.  

Nearly there now. Turning into our estate.