Why is it?

Why is it that when things go wrong they go wrong in groups? Why is it that as soon as one is on a roll and sewing up a storm the phone suddenly goes ballistic? Why is it that as soon as one has a brilliant idea there isn't enough fabric to complete it? That's the kind of day I've been having and its been compounded by the fact that stupidly I lifted something heavy which set my tennis elbow off and tonight by the fact that my broadband internet connection has been playing fast and loose with my favourite sites. Those I don't want to look at it will open, those I desperately want to see it says it can't be done and sulks. And its gone very cold and I feel as if its winter not just autumn. However this could be because I am still wearing summer clothes as it was a lovely sunny day and I didn't realise when I got up this morning that at six pm summer was suddenly going to end. And even though I've got jumpers on I am too lazy to go and find socks so my feet are cold. And if you're feet are cold then the rest of you will be cold regardless and you'll feel miserable....as I do!

Tonight we had cold sliced chicken with an avocado salad and tomatoes plus a mayonnaise dressing. It was a meal for summer! Tomorrow I plan warming soups with home made bread and casseroles and jacket potatoes but I bet you it warms up as soon as I serve them and then Martin will start talking about having the last bbq of the year! We've had six last bbq's so far! I am doing a detox as I need to feel fitter and lose some weight. At the moment I am feeling very inspired and thinner. Having got so far I can count today as day one and go to bed feeling eminently good. Will I be able to keep it up tomorrow? I think so, and also tomorrow evening I go shopping and so can buy the right foods to keep me on the straight and narrow. Its very simple. It means no sugar which immediately cuts out cakes and things; no wheat and no dairy. This means no coffee but I can survive without it. I have porage oats or rye bread so that solves the no wheat dilema and I can just about live with the no dairy. Its the cheese I'll miss and the cream. But after a fortnight I can add dairy back little by little and if I start gaining again and feeling bloated then I'll just cut out that particular food. It is an easy detox and works if I can stick with it. I like to go into the winter cleaned out and thinner as all those warming winter foods stick to the bones! And I've been eating junk food lately as if there were no tomorrow! Now having published all this will it shame me into keeping going? I'm going to go and soak in a hot tub with deliciously smelling oils and creams. Clean from the outside in!

More from a sketch book. Bleach on velvet with glitter paints. 

Lazy Sunday

Because its been such a glorious day I really haven't done an awful lot at all. This afternoon I pottered about and read the Sunday papers. That can take quite a while. Then I tidied up in the workroom after pulling everything out for the sale table yesterday. I gathered together my notes for class. I need to go and look out some old handout sheets to see if they are updateable. But really I did a lot of sitting and cogitating. It was refreshing. Sometimes one needs to re-charge the batteries and just let the world go by.

Diane of Going to Pieces blog asked what magazines we subscribed to. Well the answer is not many. I used to subscribe to quite a few but after a while they all began to look samey and so I stopped them and now only pick them up in the shop if they look interesting. I do subscribe to Quilting Arts. I started the subscription recently but did feel that it wasn't as good as it used to be when a friend sent it to me. So I may not keep up with this one. I also get the Australian magazine Machine Embroidery. I like this as it has lots of ideas in it and is a good source of inspiration. And I also get the Fons and Porter quilting magazine which I forget the name of. However this isn't as good as I thought it would be so I may not renew this one either. A friend has given me a subscription to Creative Machine Embroidery. I do like Belle Armoire as again it is inspiring. But really I would rather save my money and buy books.

I have just bought the new Ruth Isset book Colour on Fabric and it is very good. Plus I got the book from StewartGill paints and that is a mine of information. I want to get the Ricky Tims DVD plus Mastering the Art of McTavishing. I think these two will help me with my free machining. There are so many ideas bubbling around in my head and one of these days I must really let them out! Its like having a swarm of bees in there. I don't have a bee as my logo for nothing! Grin

More on Creativity!

While browsing through the blogs this morning while waiting for my friend Sue to show up I came to Gingerfied and Ginger had made her 'five words' into a sentence which I though was pretty neat so I started thinking about my 'five words' and this is what I came up with.

It is Necessary for me to create Colourful art that is Meaningful and which Liberates and Satisfies me.

See what you've started Gabrielle? I've been having deep discussions on this subject with my quilting buddies and it is amazing how differently people view their reasons for creativity. One could almost write a book on it. Therapeutic was one of the words that cropped up time and time again. It is fascinating how one's art/craft can alter one's life for the better. This is I think because the thought processes involved in creating something take one out of oneself and away from one's problems. I know this is how it works for me and it is also not time conscious as I can be in my workroom for what I think is only about half an hour and then I find a couple of hours have gone by which, because of my absorption in what I'm doing, I haven't noticed. Well enough philosophising from me this early in the morning. The sun is shining and we are going to have coffee and cake in the garden and natter about this and that and sealing wax and kings to misquote from one of my favourite books Alice in Wonderland!

ideas in my sketch book - making a stencil from the markings on a zebra 

making a stencil using the markings of a giraffe 

experimenting with the stencil from the giraffe markings 

more ideas from the sketch book - using the stencil as a motif on a pocket 

More from the sketch book. Stencil on calico using metallic paints.  

Playing around in Photoshop

Doing good!

Beautiful sunny day and a really good experience at the meeting I went to today. Sold lots of fabric and ribbon and met up with lots of lovely people I knew from a past existence! Time flew by and before I knew it I was home again with a much depleted stack of fabric. I did debate whether to do a batch of dyeing tonight but decided I was much too tired. Last night was the pits! At just after midnight I was woken by raucous laughter and shrieks plus loud music and this went on until nearly three at least. In fact it was so bad that I had to decamp and move into the front bedroom. I can get really ratty when deprived of sleep and was thinking really evil thoughts about the girl next door. This only happens when her mother is away but she is the most selfish, inconsiderate, juvenile out! She is naturally loud and after a few drinks (I'm supposing this - I could be maligning her!) and with a host of friends round she is unbearable! Why is it that youngsters these days have to yell and shout so much? And the music is so mindless! Oh gosh don't I sound like an old fogey! Grin As I sit here playing Stevie Ray Vaughn in retaliation. If you can't beat them, join them!

Now I can start thinking about a piece of work I want to do. And I can get on with making the postcards for the AQ postcard swap. I know exactly what I'm going to do so its just a question of doing it. Even so I expect mine will be among the last to arrive.

End of the day!

I fully intended to sit down when I'd finished packing up for the sale tomorrow at the Embroiderer's Guild meeting and write something here. However I am totally exhausted. All I can say is thank goodness I don't do this every week! So I am going to read my emails while eating a large bowl of icecream with an equally large dollop of double cream! I shall feel deliciously decadent but will thoroughly enjoy it!

Tiramisu icecream with mascapone and toffee icecream plus a dollop of double cream. Nothing like gilding the lily! All sitting on top of my Wacom pad!

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Two things of note!

Firstly I received a postcard in the post from Jen this morning. Can I just point out Jen if you read this that there is NO 'e' on Valeri! Thanks. It is a very 'strong' card in red and black and my postman had to ask me what it was as he found it interesting! Very striking and I love it. Thanks Jen. I'll forgive you the name! Grin. Sadly, still no card from Lisa! So now I have two! Way to go!

And the second thing of note is that I am one of the 'invitees' to make a block for the Katrina Auction Quilt organised by Sharon Boggins of In a Minute Ago. The theme is All That Jazz which will be wonderful to do as I am really into carnival colours. Lime greens, oranges, hot pinks with turquoise and purple and touches of bright yellow. Hm, delicious! I feel really honoured to have been asked to be one of the 19 well known crazy quilters and will really put my heart and soul into it! In fact when Sharon emailed me I was quite touched!

So a lovely day and I've been busy and productive as well! I'm going to have to spend my spare time tomorrow ironing ribbons and making them up into theme co-ordinated packs and 2 metre lengths ready for the meeting I am going to on Saturday. I have been invited to have a sales table at the AGM of the local chapter of the Embroiderers Guild. I've got fabrics and fabric packs ready so it is just the ribbons. Silk ribbon is such a pain to iron! Now if I wanted it for a project I'd be doing the bare minimum; the fact that it is for selling will motivate me to do it all! Grin!

Since writing about my creative streak yesterday and what makes it active and why, I've been thinking about what I actually do. To date I've tended to scatter my fire and have done a bit of this and a bit of that, but now I know what my metier is and I'm going to stick with it. Oh I'll still do bits of other things, especially for class work but my own projects will work along this line. Because I want to have an exhibition next summer, possibly with a couple of like minded friends, I shall work on a body of work that follows this theme. The two things I do really really well are to dye fabric and to machine applique. Suffice it to say that those two things will form the basis of my work. I have the same problem with my wardrobe. Its full to bursting with lots of random clothes and when I want to choose something to wear I'm bemused by the sheer choice. So I'm going to be organised there as well. I'm going to pull out main garments; trousers, skirts, and then put with each a selection of tops that go with them plus jackets and knitwear. This way I will have complete ensembles. I shall then get rid of anything that doesn't work and any colour that doesn't do at least three mixes. And then I shall hang them in their 'families' so that when I'm rushed I can see immediately what goes with the main item I've chosen to wear. Of course I shall be ruthless so as to make more space while I'm doing this! Have you heard these words before? Grin! Anyway if Gabrielle hadn't started me thinking I wouldn't have had this positive approach to things so a big thank you to Gabrielle and I'll forgive the sarky comment! Grin!

Got to go print labels for packs. The amount of stationery I use is phenomenal. But its necessary! While I'm printing I shall lie on my back on the floor with my legs in the air to rest my feet! Its been a long day!

Why am I?

My raison d'etre today has been provided by Gabrielle. Since reading her blog at lunchtime I have done nothing but meditate, cogitate and pursue the subject she raised for us to deliberate over. 'What drives you to create......' So what have I done all afternoon at work? You've got it in one....I've researched. First I HAD to read the WHOLE of Gabrielle's blog to find out what, who or where Asilomar was. However it stills remains a mystery to me but I now know a lot more about Gabrielle! Grin! Then I got involved in researching Artist's Statements as I have an enquiring mind and thought I'd go down this path first. My knowledge on this subject has also multiplied fourfold. In fact on one site I was able with the judicious inclusion of a few well chosen adverbs get an artist's statement written for me.

Valeri Bennett's work investigates the nuances of modulations through the use of slow motion and close ups which empathise the Generative nature of digital media. Bennett explores abstract and liberating scenery as motifs to describe the idea of infinite reality. Using fulfilling loops, non-linear narratives, and interactive images as patterns, Bennett creates meditative environments which suggest the expansion of space.....

Sounds good doesn't it but what the hell does it mean? You can have four guesses as to the words that I suggested! Grin

Anyway after a good time was had by all playing with the concepts I actually got back to the subject in hand. Firstly I chose my five words to describe creativity. They were: colourful, satisfying, meaningful, necessary and liberating. This is the order that they came to me but if I had to put them in order of importance then I would put them in this order: necessary, liberating, satisfying, meaningful and colourful. Its interesting (to me anyway) that my first thought was of colour as colour rocks my boat and yet it came last in order of importance. From a very early age I was encouraged to be creative. My grandmother was a milliner and it was she who taught me to make silk ribbon roses and other 3-dimensional designs. My great-aunt had been a court dressmaker and she was the one who gave me scraps of delicious fabrics and started me down the road to ruin! To this day I HAVE to have fabric to look at and touch! My glee when at the age of six I made a doll's jacket in green velvet complete with tiny set in sleeves, knew no bounds. I was hooked! My mother let me use her old treadle sewing machine to make dolls clothes and then clothes for me. Dolls were a pain to me and only good for clothing. I was forever cutting their hair off and expecting it to grow so they were always bald manniquins. Lucky for some that I didn't have designs on being a hair-dresser! From this early start came my desire to create. I couldn't be doing with bought patterns and made things up as I went along. And then I went to Art School. My eyes were opened, my cup ran over! One of my subjects was woven textiles and that streak of indepence was still with me. I didn't want to buy already dyed wool for weaving, I had to dye my own and I never looked back. That first rya rug I made is still on my floor forty years later - a bit worn but still looking good and the colours are still bright and strong. Orange, blue and green and bright at that. I dyed several shades of each colour and then blended the wools together so as to get a mixture of colour. From that time on colour has been the engine that drives my creativity and yet it isn't the most important aspect. It is absolutely essential that I am being creative even if its baking a cake or making up a salad. It is also essential that the process is liberating. It has to free me from this mortal coil....allow me to get away from everyday hiatuses and yet at the same time be satisfying and meaningful. This can apply to anything creative and I would get the same buzz if it was in black and white but colour adds the icing on the cake for me. My preferred medium is fibre because I love the look and feel of fabric. The way it can change depending on what is done to it. How one moment it can be ethereal and the other down to earth and heavy! It can be cut, stitched, folded, pleated, draped, etc etc. And fibre can mean fabric, ribbon or yarn. What I do know is that if I was deprived of all my 'arty' things and my sewing machine I would slowly die inside unless I was able to channel my visions into other mediums. But they wouldn't be the same. It is very nice to make money from one's art but on the other hand the art comes first. Commissions are great but I have to identify with the subject matter. In my case if I try to create with money in mind it doesn't work! This is why I teach because I like to pass on what I have learnt in a life-time of 'sewing' and get paid for doing so. This enables me on the whole to make things because I want to and enjoy the process. The 'what if ' factor is always strong. Well I don't know if that answers Gabrielle's question but its made me think deeply about why I do what I do. It liberates me!

But I'd be much happier if I had a bigger workroom and could see all my fabric at once! Grin!

First rug I ever made on a loom. Approx 4' x 6' 

Dyed threads waiting to be organised.

A very interesting day!

This morning I went into the local Adult Education centre for Falmouth where I teach classes in Patchwork and Quilting, to set up a portal on the AdEd network with the help of one of the IT guys. This is to enable me to post all sorts of things; pictures, information, links, how-to's, etc and for students to be able to access it and find out things. Also to run a forum so that students can discuss things amongst themselves or with me. Its a great idea and I think now that I am fairly conversant with how it will work. I just have to get some stuff up there before classes start Thursday week. Each student in the class will be given an enrolment key and then they can register and use the site. Should be fun and useful. Another good thing about today was that I found out that one of my classes is full and the other one only has a couple of spaces left. As someone has just this minute rung me up to enquire there is every chance that by the time the class starts it too will be full. I also found out that I am going to get a printer in the room we use which will mean I can take my lap top in and print off sheets etc. So very useful, especially for students who have missed a week. And..... a projector so I can give slide shows if I want to. So its brilliant. It is all good, good, good! I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm halfway through the orders and will be able to post some out tomorrow and possibly part orders of those in hand as they will be too big to go in one lot anyway so I might as well post what's ready. So I am feeling positive there. Then I hope to use Thursday and Friday to get ready for the show on Saturday. This mainly entails packing ribbon and making price boards. I have given up trying to get any more postcards done as I realise that they need time. Something I don't have at the moment. But after classes start I will be able to devote myself to them exclusively.

Talking of postcards I am unhappy not to have received one from Lisa yet as she mailed them all out together and Frances and Liz have had theirs! And Frances is even more remote than I am! So is it lost? Or is it just taking its time? Watch this space! The one's I have seen so far are absolutely delightful. I don't think mine will be similar as I get a kick out of variety! Perhaps I'll do a series with the whole making the story and each one a part! Grin!

Have to eat! I'm starving and Martin isn't home yet so I shall have some toast and ? It's Tuesday so no prizes at guessing what I'll be doing later this evening! Groan!

and it continues!

Here I am rushed for time before going to work and I'm playing with quizzes! Well only because I visited Gabrielle's blog. See side bar under Handmaiden as I haven't got time to post a link! Got time to play though! I'm being led astray! Grin!

Your Inner Child Is Happy

You see life as simple, and simple is a very good thing. You're cheerful and upbeat, taking everything as it comes. And you decide not to worry, even when things look bad. You figure there's just so many great things to look forward to.

How Is Your Inner Child?

It just gets worse!

My name is Valeri and I am a blogger! Grin

Your Blogging Type is Artistic and Passionate

You see your blog as the ultimate personal expression - and work hard to make it great. One moment you may be working on a new dramatic design for your blog... And the next, you're passionately writing about your pet causes. Your blog is very important - and you're careful about who you share it with.

What's Your Blogging Personality?