Sewing Projects

After what seemed like a crazy couple of weeks I'm feeling fresh and the batteries are somewhat recharged so here's a few new things to share.

Felt Ball

"Make me a ball" came the request from a dear friend. So, ever up for a challenge I agreed this was my fourth attempt. They say a poor handyman blames his tools but I blame the poor instructions that I got from my book. I had to get out a protractor to measure 72 degree angles for my hexagon, which I'll admit I cannot remember the last time I needed to measure an angle with a protractor since Maths GCSE. Failed attempt No1 looked like a star shaped ball, so not a ball. Maybe I hadn't cut them out accurately enough, so I cut a second set of 12 hexagons, remeasured all the angles on my template just in case and guess what ? Star shaped ball no 2. So I went on the internet googling " hexagon ball gone wrong" and while I didn't find any images that matched mine I did find some more detailed instructions. I undid both star shaped balls and cut out 12 paper hexagons and pinned them to the two halves of my ball and then stitched them together et voila almost perfect ball. It seems bizarre that not having the paper made that much of a difference. (Note, nowhere in the book did it mention using paper.) In one set of instructions I read online the writer had somewhat defensively written, if it doesn't turn out right you haven't followed the instructions.Anyway, here's Sanford eyeing the ball, he didn't quite know what to make of it if I'm honest.

 Project No. 2 - Use embroidery hoop

I've been meaning to try my hand at embroidery for a while now and finally made an attempt while watching Season 2 of 24. I sketched an owl using my invisible ink pen and kind of made it up as I went along. I pulled out what I think is a machine embroidered table cloth and tried to copy a few of the stitches. It's a start.....

Sleepy Owl

Also my new dslr camera finally arrived which I didn't use to take these pictures with but I did take the ones below with it. Learning all the menus is a feat in itself. Farley looks like a poster boy for animal rescue but he loves to sit on the balcony, snooze and watch the world go by.

Three Faces of Farley

Photography - Surf Groms

We were asked to photograph a friend's children at Surf Camp. It was a strange morning light wise but it's amazing what you can post edit. Here are some of my favourites. Mackenzie and Griffin were both very photogenic and it was a fun morning.

Surf Ramblings

Summer's here, yeay. The water is finally warm enough for the Spring suit which  I wore today. Trouble was my skin sort of stuck to the wax a little bit which was slightly uncomfortable. The solution is apparently vaseline, who knew ? It's these pearls of wisdom that I get when chatting to fellow surfers. I managed to elicit a "That was really cool" from an audience of four when I caught one of my few waves from that session which was very gratifying. It's not something that has happened before so I'll take whatever I can get.
The other day I met a photographer who was working on a new magazine called Boardtalk who also gave me a good tip about riding steep waves which was to be at an angle. It's nice to practice a sport that has time for leisurely chats every now and again. The dolphins have also been out a lot lately I'll admit when I see the fin pop up I freak out a little bit but as long as there is more than one I know everything is good.

Birdwatch

The other night I had the idea for a surfing bird series if you thought there's only a finite amount of bird
puns you would be wrong. I am steadily working up a few of the sketches and having a lot of fun doing it. Some of the surfing greats have names appropriate for bird puns which for me is a good sign.

June Update

 Here are some new owls that I've been making, complete with feet.

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 Sneek peek of a 20ft owl banner in progress.

New Owls

So many projects so little time. It's been a really busy couple of weeks and I'm not complaining when I'm not drawing I'm sewing and by the time I remember to take photos it's night time but I took some today because the night time ones were terrible.

Bedouin Soundclash @ Santa Ana

I love this band have seen them twice before and they are amazing. I finally figured out how to trick my pocket sized canon into taking some decent pictures. The solution was a custom setting: small aperture, fast exposure, spotlight metering and a steady hand. If I had stuck to the party indoor setting it would have been wild flash and blur. I stuck to black and white mostly and took a couple of color. The music is very unique a blend of reggae/rock/pop influences and a host of others. Best you just go listen to it and then buy the record.  www.bedouinsoundclash.com

Eon Sinclair

Eon Sinclair

Sekou Lumumba

Watching the drum solo

Jay Malinowski

Jay

Owls, thrift and other news.

It seems of late that I have neglected the old blog. Been keeping busy with lots of design work which has left me not wanting to stay longer on the computer. A new website is coming together slowly but surely. More card designs have been added to the collection and still the drawings continue to flow which has resulted in four new owl prototypes in production as I write. Well I finished one sample at least. It can take a while to fine tune the pattern but I was lucky enough to find some very appropriate buttons that make the project.

The husband helped me to make a card display using an old frame which is almost finished just a few technicalities to sort out but I'm excited about it. Since I wrote it's now complete. I had planned on using fishing line but it sagged too much so I switched to wire and it's perfect.

 In thrift news following on from mini chair I found a fabulous office chair on castors. Very sturdy and comfortable, given the current overstock of furniture in our apartment I did debate purchasing the chair for maybe a minute till a man decided he would use it as a perch while he tested a TV. In the end I asked him "are you buying the chair ?" to which he nodded. I don't think he understood me because after half an hour of testing every possible button on the TV with a cracked screen he just left it there and I swooped in and wheeled it away ! The moral there is go with your first instinct or prepare to do some mindless hovering.

the back can be adjusted which is very cool.

No distressing needed !

the perfect office chair

So there you have it three blog post's for the price of one. Enjoy !

Thrift Store Find - Mini Chair

What's better than a full sized chair, a mini-chair of course ! There was not a moments hesitation as I handed over $5 for this treasure. Baby owl jumped right in to have a nap in the sun.