red_swirl

Mood: Relieved ... and I will finish Mr. Feb one day

Posted by red swirl at 23:38 | Permalink | Comments (1)

So, did I buy some amigurumi books? Umm, no. Why not, I hear you ask? Well, several reasons. There's a definite upper limit to the amount of cuteness I can handle. Sure, I like cute stuff, but there's a point at which the head is just too big, too distorted. I think my limit is rather lower than other people who are interested in "crafting Japanese". (By the way, there's an interesting post on that phenomenon here). Also I'm rather enjoying figuring it out for myself, and thinking about exactly how I want MY amigurumi to look. And I'm being a bit careful with money.

What I did buy was a magazine, "country craft" 2006 Spring edition. I noticed a lot of (French??) country style inspired magazines actually. I'll post a full review once I've had more of a read (and slowly, slowly spelt out more kana ;D).

Mood: I'm working on an amigurumi and a softie currently, I'll show you when I'm done

Posted by red swirl at 15:18 | Permalink | Comments (3)

Posted by red swirl at 19:11 | Permalink | Comments (4)

Mood: First assignments done, maybe I can do some craft this weekend ... before I start on the next lot of assignments

Posted by red swirl at 16:35 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 17:04 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by red swirl at 18:55 | Permalink | Comments (2)

Otherwise known as ... the living room wall, viewed from the sofa. Blu-tacked up, during those first 2 intense months of having a newborn to care for, when I worried about how much visual stimulation little Squiggle was getting, but didn't have the energy to move far from the sofa. If you'd like to reproduce this look, simply buy a set or so of origami paper and arrange ( as Vogue Living would say). ;D

Mood: First assignments due soon ...

Posted by red swirl at 15:32 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (1)

Well.

I'm finding it harder and harder to explain these images for Illustration Friday.

However, some possible explanations are:
+ I have mixed feeling about tattoos - I can appreciate them on other people, but would never want one myself;
+ I thought a love-heart was the obvious tattoo motif, but wanted to do something different ... started thinking about some Pet Shop Boys lyrics "Violence. Religion. Justice. Death" (remembered wrong - see Paninaro) and decided they'd make good tattoos. Pseudo roses instead of hearts;
+ I've been wanting to try out black ink painting for a while;
+ I've been learning Hiragana (Japanese syllables);
+ I like the contrast of the flowing ink strokes and square-ish red texta;
+ breast-feeding makes you think about bosoms in non-sexual ways;
+ I'm female, so that was the natural body to draw.

Mood: Thanks so much for the comments on my previous Illustration Friday! ;D

Posted by red swirl at 18:17 | Permalink | Comments (4)

And I'm rather proud of her ;D. She was inspired by these photos of a vintage amigurumi on needle book / Claire Milne's blog. Inspired, because my little amigurumi girl is rather different. Same green, same flat face and little stubby arms. But she has peachy / red hair, skinny legs and looks overall a modern Miss. Not quite as demure as she looks, I reckon!

Details: She sits 5.5cm or 2.25 inches high. Green chenille, peach mohair from Lincraft, other wools from Kmart, wooden bead from empire beads, painted with nail polish.

I think she might be the prototype for a few other little amigurumi people / animals.

Mood: Spent all Saturday struggling with the green chenille. No way could I crochet with it! I tried different sized hooks, no luck. Went through all the wools in my stash (which is very small, only 5 balls really), no luck. Different sized hooks for each ball, no luck. Then on Sunday ... suddenly, no problems!

Dunno why, but my best guess is - all that changing my mind was good practice, got my eye in so I could see where the loops where in the funny chenille. Or I was over tired, and stopped fighting with the crochet, just went with the flow ;D

Posted by red swirl at 19:47 | Permalink | Comments (3)

(To the tune for the verses of Waltzing Matilda):
Once a silly council planted some native trees,
Hoping that one day they'll give us shade,
And we sang as we watched trees grow into the clear blue sky,
Won't it be a nice and green sub-urb?

Along came the RTA to pu-t up a stre-et sign
Why not in the centre of the bottle-brush tree?
And we sang as we watched trees grow into the clear blue sky,
Won't it be a nice and green sub-urb?

Up rode the Power Co, "the trees might touch the power lines"
We must lop the trees down, one two three!
And we sang as we watched the trees grow all dis-to-r-ted,
Won't it be a nice and green sub-urb?

Seriously, does this happen elsewhere???

Ah well ... I guess the red "No Stopping" sign looks good amongst the bottle-brush ;D

Mood: Glad it's Friday!!

Posted by red swirl at 17:04 | Permalink | Comments (0)

It just had to be cicadas this week, an insect I know well and like. Not sure why they are in a patchwork quilt, but the idea of paper patchwork quilts has been in my mind lately. Below are some details - a cicada inspired by Aboriginal art, the most realistic one, a cute one and one where I was playing with darkened outlines.

Posted by red swirl at 06:45 | Permalink | Comments (5)

I've been wanting to participate for a while ...

And I'll need to break up this little gathering soon, as I don't want little Squiggle pulling herself up on these shelves. It's theme is items from childhood. My Sasha dolls, Sasha and Amy. Lster's dragon from Bali, and his Veritech fighter (pilot Roy Focker). The red cat shoes were a gift from my cousin to Squiggle. Note the little rabbit in Amy's arms, I never knew I'd be interested in rabbits when I was older.

Mood: I wonder what Squiggle will do next? She wants to stand constantly, holding onto our fingers. I reckon she's said her first word "ou...t" and maybe "ab" for apple.

Posted by red swirl at 10:05 | Permalink | Comments (0)

This was meant to be a depressive post - about how difficult Mr. February is to finish. And yes, that's true.

But actually, I'm excited!! I just finished his arm, and it turned out pretty much how I imagined it, yay! Unfortunately, that means I have to redo the legs, because they didn't turn out as well. I reckon the reason the arms turned out better was the gingham, so I'll have to be thinking "measure twice, sew once" for the legs.

By the way, note the plastic lid - I'm proud, it's a cunning way to keep my sewing away from little Squiggle, even when she wants my attention immediately. Just chuck the sewing in the box, and keep the scissors, pins and needles there. It's only the size of a lunchbox, easy to carry around.

Mood: I always knew the arms would be difficult, but now I definitely know why most beginner sewing kits come with thimbles ... not that I have one. ;D

Posted by red swirl at 22:39 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Motto: when you've nothing of your own to show, show somebody else's work!

Where I live, people aren't shy about sticking up ads for bands, share houses etc. Periodicaly, the council tears them done again, hence this piece of street art. (And, as you may have guessed, I've got my hands on a camera that's more than a 0.5 megapix phone!!!)

I've often been facinated by slight decay, bad printing and rust. At one stage, I was thinking of a series of serious artworks about rust ... you never know, I may get round to it one of these days.

Mood: calm.

Posted by red swirl at 17:01 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tea. Pouring into a Chinese cup. Painted with ... tea.

I've been thinking of trying a watercolour for Illustration Firday for a while, so it was good excuse. I soaked 3 tea bags in an old, washed vegemite jar. Took ages for the picture to dry, 'tho.

Mood: Looking forward to some crafting on the weekend ... and I guess some first-week-back study.

Posted by red swirl at 18:46 | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not much craft going on at all here. I'm adjusting to going back to Uni after taking a year off to be with Squiggle. It's quite an exercise in logistics, my husband is a student too. We've arranged all our subjects so they don't clash (why are enrollment procedures always so fraught??) and Lster is bringing Squiggle in to Uni, meeting me & then I'm taking her home. Tiring, but we'll get more used to it.

Plus, Lilika the rabbit got sick. If you have a rabbit, and s/he stops eating, it's serious. Rabbits are not like humans, they can't just skip a meal or two and be ok. They can quickly go into a not feeling like eating / being unable to eat downwards spiral. There's a good article here. Also check out this excellent rabbit info. Anyway, we were lucky. We gave Lilika enough pain killers, water and baby food that she started eating again - phew!! But no craft progress at all.

Mood: Lilika looks totally sceptical in the photo - cameras make too many weird noises for her liking. N.B. the empty bowl ;)

Posted by red swirl at 18:17 | Permalink | Comments (0)