Wednesday, 29 December 2010
Christmas Goodies - Drawing Lab by Carla Sonheim
I haven't had a chance to look through this book yet but I have started one of the exercises. I think with 52 exercises, I ought to aim to do one a week. The idea of the book is to get you to regard drawing as fun. The first thing I did was to draw 30 cats. It seems that I am inclined to draw cats facing to the my left, I wonder if this is because I am right handed. Click on the image to see it in more detail.
Christmas Goodies - Print and Stamp by Traci Bunkers
I keep a wishlist at Amazon and always make sure it is tidied up around Christmas and my birthday. Our Christmas was a 90% Amazon Christmas. One of the books I was given was Print and Stamp by Traci Bunkers. If you are in to printing, then this is an excellent book. It has all sorts of ideas for creating printing blocks from every day objects. It has been very cold here over Christmas so I haven't had a chance to get in the workroom to experiment. yet. It is warm enough today, but I had to work. I plan to create some printing blocks, experiment on paper and then cover a T-shirt. That will, of course, be blogged.
I love my NHS
I went to Spain for a week, came home to do a workshop at Mayhill textiles on the Saturday, and "played" on the Sunday. I started, and almost completed, a velvet hand bag (purse). My friend Ann had given me lots of furnishing fabric samples and there was enough velvet to make more than one bag. After I had finished for the day, I took the bag and laptop downstairs. I couldn't find the light switch at the top of the stairs and missed the top stair. I went down from top to bottom and dislocated my right shoulder. A paramedic arrived and decided that I needed an ambulance to go to casualty, so an ambulance arrived with another couple of paramedics. They were very competent. The hospital I needed to go to is about 20 miles from our house. One paramedic drove whilst the other kept me company in the back. He made sure he kept me up to date on how close we were to the hospital.
When I arrived, I was whisked straight to a cubicle. I was given gas and air so that a Dr. could relocate my shoulder. I was instructed to look at and listen to a nurse who was on my left side whilst the Dr. on the other side did the business. I reckon that when he was nearly ready, the nurse said "right then Julie, breath really hard now". My brain says "oh - he is going to do it now, it is going to hurt - lets tense". So I was nearly passed out before it could be done. I said to the Nurse "I think that took longer than usual, I was worried about the cues" and her response was "don't worry about the queues, we have lots of room at the moment". She didn't get it when I said "cues with a C, not a Q". I was quite impressed that I had sufficient compos mentis to work this out, but then she might not have got it because I was jibbering away!
I have discovered that I am unlikely to become a drug addict because certain drugs make me feel very ill. Morphine makes me really really ill. I also had to have some diazepam a few weeks later in order for me to get into an MRI scanner and that didn't do me much good either.
So, I had a second week off work. I felt such rubbish that I didn't check my laptop for a few days. That had travelled from the top of the stairs to the bottom and had slid a few feet further. Fortunately it works perfectly, although a bit of it is a bit loose which is sad.
5 weeks later, everything is hunky dorey. It looks as if I was very lucky to get it put back in as quickly as I did, within 3 hours. I have heard some horrid tales about how bad dislocations can be. I can do everything as before apart from reach high up behind my back. The consultant says I can go higher than some people who have never damaged their shoulder so it isn't anything to worry about. I have had three physiotherapy sessions at our local hospital which is only about 10 minutes away.
It is lucky that it happened when it did because we haven't been able to get a car to the house for at least 15 days out of the last 40. Although we didn't have much snow, it was very icy and we have 2 90 degree bends within a few yards of each other that are impossible to get around when it is slippery.
So, why do I love my NHS?
When I arrived, I was whisked straight to a cubicle. I was given gas and air so that a Dr. could relocate my shoulder. I was instructed to look at and listen to a nurse who was on my left side whilst the Dr. on the other side did the business. I reckon that when he was nearly ready, the nurse said "right then Julie, breath really hard now". My brain says "oh - he is going to do it now, it is going to hurt - lets tense". So I was nearly passed out before it could be done. I said to the Nurse "I think that took longer than usual, I was worried about the cues" and her response was "don't worry about the queues, we have lots of room at the moment". She didn't get it when I said "cues with a C, not a Q". I was quite impressed that I had sufficient compos mentis to work this out, but then she might not have got it because I was jibbering away!
I have discovered that I am unlikely to become a drug addict because certain drugs make me feel very ill. Morphine makes me really really ill. I also had to have some diazepam a few weeks later in order for me to get into an MRI scanner and that didn't do me much good either.
So, I had a second week off work. I felt such rubbish that I didn't check my laptop for a few days. That had travelled from the top of the stairs to the bottom and had slid a few feet further. Fortunately it works perfectly, although a bit of it is a bit loose which is sad.
5 weeks later, everything is hunky dorey. It looks as if I was very lucky to get it put back in as quickly as I did, within 3 hours. I have heard some horrid tales about how bad dislocations can be. I can do everything as before apart from reach high up behind my back. The consultant says I can go higher than some people who have never damaged their shoulder so it isn't anything to worry about. I have had three physiotherapy sessions at our local hospital which is only about 10 minutes away.
It is lucky that it happened when it did because we haven't been able to get a car to the house for at least 15 days out of the last 40. Although we didn't have much snow, it was very icy and we have 2 90 degree bends within a few yards of each other that are impossible to get around when it is slippery.
So, why do I love my NHS?
- They came very promptly.
- They took me to Casualty very promptly.
- They relocated the shoulder very promptly.
- They gave me a consultant's appointment within 5 days.
- They didn't think that I was a dork for falling down the stairs in the first place.
- They gave me an MRI scan in time for my following appointment with the Consultant.
- They have said I can ring up for a consultant's appointment any time I wish within the next 6 months.
- They are giving me as much physiotherapy as I need.
Amesbury Workshop
In July this year, I visited my Dad. His wife, Carol, treated me to a work shop in the local craft shop. Two things I discovered:
- if you spray diluted white paint on to collages it takes away a lot of the sharp edges.
- a big shot is a brilliant tool for creating holes for brads. I can't find a picture of the big shot, it looks a bit like a large stapler, not to be confused with the Sizzix big shot die cutter. I had about 6 different tools for punching holes, they have all gone to other homes since I bought the big shot.
Displacement Maps in Paint Shop Pro
After reading Maggie Grey's blog the other day, I decided to play with displacement maps in Paint Shop Pro. A displacement map uses one image to displace (move) the pixels on another image. The first image on the left is the original image. I don't remember what I used as the displacement image for the second one. I turned the second one into a kaleidoscope and then used it as a displacement map for the fourth image. Maggie Grey is a textile artist and had mentioned in her blog that she could use one of her "play" images as an influence for textiles. This is much more practical if the images are simplified. I have used the Buzz simplify filter in the past for this but when looking for it on the web I discovered that the software company who produced it no longer exists. So, I found a simplifier from topazlabs. The smaller images are simplifications of the larger ones. I thought that I might use one of them on the embroidery machine. Click on the image to see more detail.
Clouds Cushion
Earlier this year I found the site spoonflower.com. They print your own designs for a very reasonable price. You can also purchase designs from other people. I decided to give a teenage family member a present of a cushion or a bag made from their own design. They came up with a design of clouds (unfortunately I don't have the original design to hand) and decided they wanted a cushion. I finally created it in November. I only used half the fabric and passed the rest of it on for the family member to do with as they wish. Click on the image to see more detail.
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