very quick update

this is a super quick update because no photos have been put on for ages i thought i'd quickly add some. i've been growing things, and cooking quite a bit recently, but not taking pictures. but here's some things i've been working on. some lovely cards to start off. amazing what a difference a gold pen can make :)

i have been doing a few mini cross stitch experiments, with good results ! not sure what i'll do with these yet, perhaps put them on book covers, or bookmarks for christmas gifts maybe. I'm going to keep the tractor for myself tho- i love it!
this is my threadcatcher - my solution to the threads that were collecting on the end of the sofa ! bit different from the normal straight ones, just made from card attacked with a hole punch, and you get a lovely colour wheel into the bargain. hurrah!

A death in winter

today the guardian has an article, and subequently many comments, containing poems about death. this one grabbed my attention.

poem by Jeni Couzyn, from the Bloodaxe Book of Women Poets.

A Death In Winter

Beside the exit, seated at a table
is a grey clerk with a ledger.
At his feet is a kind of box --
a trunk perhaps, a hope chest or
a rubbish bin.

Cross-legged in the doorway
my friend sits, watching light
stream in through the opening.
It soaks her in beauty.

She has given back her future.
In character, neatly folded, she placed it
carefully in the box
and the clerk ticked it off.

Now she takes off her feet, like shoes
gently, one beside the other;
she takes her speech and returns it
syllable by syllable
she unpicks it thoughtfully, like knitting
unravels it, one plain, one purl
meaning by meaning;
she gives back her hands --
lays them down in the box with a smile.
There is no regret in her.
She knows their excellence.
And now she gives back continence, choices,
understanding the strange
comings and goings about her.
Everything she returns is fine and cared for.
The clerk ticks it all off in his ledger.

She is hardly human now
she is almost entirely love
she has given back her children
and very little of the personal #is left in her heart.

To the left of the doorway is a linen basket.
A plump girl, laughing, kneels besides it.
She is handing out gifts
to the souls who come trooping
in through the opening like sunlight.

Hands to grip a finger
feet to walk
the first smile
Mama, Papa, I want, I think
all the trappings of the journey.

My friend smiles across at the girl
as if she were a daughter.

The radiance streams in and over her
soon she will take off the last of her body
and step out
into the stillness.

hemming curved edges

this is a Brilliant tutorial on hemming curved edges .

http://www.burdastyle.com/howtos/show/1125

once again this reminds me that adding an extra stage in (the ironing) actually makes things much easier and saves time in the end. i'm lazy and always cut out whatever i consider unneccessary stages. but once again i am reminded that this rarely pays off when in comes to sewing.

now, i just need to find a tutorial to show me how to hem curves going outward (eg necklines)...

well a quick search did NOT come up with any genius solutions for curved necklines, but it did turn a quite brilliant tutorial for making a dress out of a pillowcase !

http://www.askingfortrouble.org/crafts/2008/03/07/pillowcase-dress-tutorial/


and i almost failed to write my biggest bit of crafty related news of all! i have finally just ordered myself a brand new (and therefore fully working!) singer sewing machine! it should arrive on monday... i'm so excited to finally be able to sew again without feeling the dread that comes from battling with a useless machine .

fun with wordle

depends

the phrases were taken from shinzi katoh products: What can you see out of the window? The view depends on your feeling; Here is the crossroads of your life. Which road do you choose? you can decide; It depends on your heart whether your life is fun or not.

888

it will soon be 8th august 2008, and to celebrate flickr have started a group for people to take a photo of anything they like, so long as it was taken on this date. Moo cards are going to print some of them as postcards later in the year too. learn more here.

today i planted carrots, spring onions, and salad leaves. i have let it a little late really but the autmns are so mild i think it should be fine. this is my first attempt at a veggie garden, i'm very excited!

festival girl

oops, i am so bad at updating this summer! i have been to festivals and camping trips, getting an awesome tan, getting rained on, getting drunk. have been crafting lots in between, but not blogging or taking photos. terrible form.

for now i can but offer one snap of my postcard frenzy that followed on from reading the griffin and sabine books. i have hopefully brightened a few letterboxes by sending these ...


also, here is a plushie i made for my boyfriends birthday, from an old jumper and scraps. if you are a fan of neurotically yours, so may recognise this fella .