mosaic monday

1. one done, fifteen to go, 2. swaddling band progress, 3. regret, 4. etude 4, 5. Untitled, 6. paysage sombre, 7. sneak a peek, 8. acorns, 9. Untitled, 10. tram way, 11. acorn wreath, 12. Eliza, 13. WAWAYA ami#43#44#45, 14. bighorn sheep, 15. collection, 16. eggplant ghost wouldn't miss this for the underworld, 17. winding yarn, 18. river meets sea, 19. sun dust tree, 20. Life Class.2-12mins, 21. flickr.com/photos/40558875@N00/3954542211/, 22. Untitled, 23. Creature comforts, 24. weird bear jug, 25. rust free pins!, 26. Dead Moths, 27. in Wallung 090913, 28. drying prints, 29. toys in the attic tunic, 30. The Lucky Ones, 31. Progress 2009-09-23, 32. Tess, 33. liberty tana lawn acorn with a crocheted cap, 34. half hexagon quilt, 35. little ones, 36. mademoiselle

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

Another Monday mosaic...... feeling a little more Autumnal..... many thanks to all the artists and photographers featured here for sharing their work, via my Flickr contacts.

This week I am working on new artwork for future events and for my own shop. There'll be no shop update this week but there will be next. I hope to share a few photos with you as the week goes by....

There's work available right now in my shop, if you would like to look......

Heart series on Etsy will be taking a short rest, until Friday when I'll start offering again.

Many thanks for all your comments - I know I keep saying but they really are appreciated....

Some time in the near future I'd like to put together a Q & A post, of some kind. I'm often asked what sewing machine I use, what special equipment you might need etc.... And I am glad people ask because I am happy to help and answer questions.

So, do you have a creative question you might like me to answer? If so please leave a comment and I'll put together some answers to share in a future post. If you prefer to email then it's: ccullis at gmail dot com - It is good to hear from you.

Have a creatively brilliant week x

new mixed media & a winner

'please herself' - a new mixed media piece.... this is a smaller work featuring one of my monoprint drawings, with snippets of fabric and stitch, of course.... I'm working on several new mixed media works and will share more with you next week.

And so, a winner is to be announced for my September giveaway (see previous post)..... and the winner, picked at random is: JenMeister

many thanks to each and everyone for leaving a comment, thank you for your thoughtful words and for just reading and being here - cheers:)

In other news, there is a new poem 'And the bird' over at nevering

Hearts series continues over at etsy. There's a rather special one 'something happened' listed today.

I'm busy with new work and want to get several pieces completed in anticipation of future events - and so there will be no shop updates next week. But there will be a few previews here, I hope, and an update the week after.

Have a relaxing, creative, happy weekend x

please

please do not borrow my dreams...... another in my hearts series

Each day I attempt to make something new. I find it best to work on several ideas at a time, as one often feeds into another. I enjoy making new ideas into real pieces to hold in my hand.

I like to know, in my heart, that what I make is a tiny part of being me. I'd not like to be anyone else. Not really, despite my weaknesses and negatives and untidy work table and so on.... here I am, just being me. Crinkles and all.....x

Autumn giveaway

It is time for Autumn....... I see the leaves falling and the birds feeding and the feathers twirling and the clouds turn burnt orange at twilight....... And so here we are over half way through September. Time I feel to give a little something away, as a thank you for all your kind comments over the past several weeks. Indeed it's been a few months since I moved house from novembermoon to this new blog, and I have almost, just almost got the hang of how it works and how it can work for me. Again a thank you to you for updating your bookmarks and continuing to read.... So today I am offering this tiny yesterday's doll - I'm calling her September. Which seems like the name of a wise woman, but perhaps she was.... These anonymous photographs delight and intrigue, and I especially like this young girl's face. Her serious, lost-in-thought expression. This tiny doll can be yours, if you like, if you would care to leave a comment here. I'll make the draw on Friday evening. Someone will win her but there can only be one....

This doll has been made using fabric dyed with violas. And as I described the process of dyeing with flowers here, earlier in the Summer, she seems like a good choice to give as a small gift.



This journey, with its twists and turns, seems to be keeping me very busy right now. But these shifting tides and seasonal changes require some alertness. Some kind of knowing. I know my body clock is a bit wobbly, I suppose you could say. Hence my drinking valerian tea before bedtime (see yesterday's post). I'm not getting quite enough sleep but I know this happens at this time, and then I'll get used to the shortening days and enjoy the long dark evenings. I think I can.

New work added yesterday to my own shop

Hearts series continues over at etsy.

I hope your week is going well x

new

Just a brief extra hello for today, whilst I sip my valerian tea (which smell awful and doesn't taste that good either, but....).... Here are few new pieces just added into my shop. You are welcome to take a look. Please note: free worldwide shipping continues in my own shop for the time being......

tomorrow an Autumn Equinox giveaway.... until then, night x

mosaic monday

1. Melville Byron Nox, 2. Tara Badcock- Silver Gull cushion, embroidered Silk 2009, 3. ottawa, 4. i have tried in my way to be free, 5. China ink 01, 6. moss experiment 3, 7. Doll thread bobbins waiting for a bus., 8. 消愁, 9. 0169, 10. Ben Bear and Friend, 11. IMG_1366, 12. Untitled, 13. diabolical, 14. flickr.com/photos/36048110@N00/3929133533/, 15. Hooked pillows, 16. Prairie Potholes No 23, 17. Untitled, 18. pulling out roots, 19. It was that cold, 20. index card: water, 21. livedeathsing, 22. Untitled, 23. Untitled, 24. Untitled, 25. Rêves de Thé : 4/12 - Tea-Tea, 26. Untitled, 27. Untitled, 28. pile, 29. "dry herb growing on my head", 30. Untitled, 31. trees 09, 32. Five Spice Entangled, 33. translating a shell, 34. mrs bunny munro and the twins?, 35. Untitled, 36. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

A Bright Monday to you...... this morning whilst stood at the kitchen sink I saw thirty or so starlings pecking at the lawn, three robins, a ring-necked dove, a magpie, a blue tit and a wren all enjoying our tiny garden. That's just my little bird watch for a Monday morning....

Many thanks to all the artists and photographers for sharing their work, via my Flickr contacts. This week it seemed there were so many more images to look through, it was a delight to see... I suppose now school is back and people are getting to work on their new ideas for Autumn. I am grateful for the opportunity to see all this individual creativity and responses...

Tomorrow is Autumn Equinox. And so I am going to offer a small giveaway here. It will be something different and that's all I am saying.

Later today I shall be updating my own shop with a few new stitched pieces. You are welcome to take a look, of course.

Hearts series continues over at Etsy... not much to see there right now, as hearts seem to sell quickly....

This week I'm continuing to work on several ongoing projects. I've got plenty to do so I better get on with it now. I wish you a very good start to the week, many thanks for all your recent comments, and more soon....

At Madame Daydream's house

At Madame Daydream's house (we saw faces in the carpet).... a larger stitched work measuring about 17 x 13cm..... So very detailed and textured, if only I could show this to you in person so that you could really see and feel it.... but I hope you do get some sense of tactile intensity and movement here...

New poem 'Daughter' at nevering.

Have a lovely weekend x

monoprint heart

monoprint heart...... one for my hearts series over at Etsy...... Monoprint drawings on fabric - not so easy, it takes several attempts to get a result I am happy with .... A while ago now I did some more 'grungy' monoprints, using acrylics. I think I may experiment with that again too, some time....

I'm working on a larger stitched piece, something that is more like my 'moonlit' style of many faces together and I like the texture of it very much. I'm not showing it yet:) I hope it might be completed for when I update my shop again next Monday. I'm not rushing anything right now, I want it to be just as it should, of course.

More soon....x

new yesterdays

New yesterdays.... A new group of 'yesterdays' doll ornaments, inspired by vintage photographs and Autumn tones.... I'm just about to put the four into my own shop. So I'll be in 'maintenance mode' until their arrival - shop updated!

I'll be adding new stitched items, including a couple of new snowglobes, into my own shop next Monday. Time has flown by and I don't like to rush things...

Hearts series continues over at Etsy. I'll be adding a tiny one later this evening....

Thanks for all your recent comments, much appreciated. I hope your week is going well, more soon x

dye studio tuesday - blackberries

I've been dyeing again..... it is blackberries season and I'm fortunate to have some growing into our garden, gentle invaders.... There are many hundreds of different blackberry varieties but they all have the same distinctive dark fruit and bramble growth... One of my earliest memories is squeezing under barbed wire to get to a field so my sister and I could pick blackberries, and getting my hair caught in both the wire and the brambles....

You are perhaps wondering how I got yellow from blackberries - well I didn't, that is onion skins. A strange combination and perhaps one that wouldn't inspire in any culinary sense, but I thought I would see how the two dyes might work together...

If you have read my previous dye studio posts, you will know I choose to use a slow jar method of dyeing, when ever possible. This saves energy, allows the dye experiments to be contained on a window sill. Just to recap a little: I nearly always mordant the fabric with alum before dyeing. Again I use a jar method to do the mordanting, dissolving a large pinch of alum in hot water, in a jar, then soaking the fabric for several hours, perhaps overnight. I then rinse the fabric and it is ready to dye. Most of my dye experiments have been with cotton, just recently, but I also like to dye silk and wool....

So to dye cotton with blackberries. A handful of fruit in a jar, boiled hot water added and then the berries mushed up. Fabric added and time given...... the results look pinkish and purple, but after rinsing and drying the fabrics have lilac to slate blue tones, really quite gentle and lovely I think....

Dyeing cotton with onions skins. Again I mordant the fabric. But I have to cook up the skins to get that yellow colour. So I put them in a stainless steel pan, cover with water and simmer for a short while. As soon as there's enough colour, I turn off the heat and add the fabric. I might leave the fabric overnight to get good bright results.

Intrigued to know how the colours might work together, I first dyed a piece of cotton with onion skin and then whilst still wet folded the fabric and placed inside a jar of blackberry juice. I left it for a day or so. I admit I was doubtful. But I do like the shibori effect.



I really thought the whole thing might just look a bit murky. I was hoping to get some hints at green. And I did. It's pleasing to see just how distinctive the colours are, and after washing and drying. It will be interesting to see how much change, if any, occurs over time. Onion skins don't fade particularly, blackberries on mordanted fabric will fade very gently.....


And so, for my hearts series I've made 'rainy heart'..... Using cotton dyed with blackberries, of course, I've stitched this patchwork and hand stitch heart ornament. It will be in my etsy shop in just a short while....

I've got more dye 'on the go', more shibori folded pieces slowly soaking..... One last tip: now that the Summer has faded and Autumn has arrived, cooler weather means less sunlight to 'cook' the dye jars on a windowsill. So, if I want to help the dye process, I stand the jar in a bowl of hot water. I'll use water from the kettle that might have been boiled to make a cup of tea....which is what I am going to do now...... I hope you enjoy your own dye experiments x

mosaic monday

1. Spleens-in-a-box, 2. monkey say monkey do, 3. secretary, 4. autumn, 5. winter boulevard, 6. Untitled, 7. Pear Trio, 8. ., 9. in process detail, 10. Viola in a silvery jug, 11. perseverance, 12. eternally loved, 13. Untitled, 14. Altered Art Sacred Purple Heart Fabric Embellished, 15. Untitled, 16. Untitled, 17. red like brick, 18. 9月桐花開-2, 19. art prize, 20. Work in process with two friends in the same situation, 21. Tomorrow, 22. BN CONI, 23. t-shirt, 24. Untitled, 25. index card: by river, 26. autobiographical fragment, 27. Karen Ruane, Joetta Maue, Cathy Cullis, 28. handful of berries, 29. Retrato., 30. At home, relaxing and trying double exposure with my oly!, 31. Felt, 32. Untitled, 33. stitchery detail, 34. the butterflies gathered round to protect them from the night (detail), 35. M.'s creation, 36. Untitled

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

A Happy Monday to you and another mosaic.... many thanks as always to the artists and photographers featured for sharing their work via my Flickr contacts...

This week, yet again a busy one but happily so....

I'll be updating my own shop this Wednesday afternoon (UK time) with a few new pieces...

Hearts series continues over at Etsy....

Tomorrow, I hope to write/post a new dye studio Tuesday entry... until then, have a very good Monday and take care x

new hearts series

My fascination for simple heart shapes.... if you visit my home you will see them everywhere..... and so it is that I am exploring the heart always, in different ways....

I'm pleased to share with you a new project starting today and going on for as long as.... my heart desires (or something like that)..... I'm calling this my 'not quite daily heart'. Each day, Monday to Friday, and sometimes on a Saturday, I will be creating a new heart for sale. The hearts will appear in my Etsy shop. I've been thinking about a specific project to put in my Etsy shop and so here it is...

Some of the hearts will feature stitched poetry, others may have hand embroidery, others..... well, we shall see... Different sizes, colours and ideas.... Or maybe quite similar to begin with, I am not sure and want to keep this as open to possibilities as an open heart can allow.....:)

So the heart featured here will be in my Etsy shop in just a short while....


Most probably I'll not preview hearts here - not every day.... I have a dedicated flickr set here http://www.flickr.com/photos/novembermoon/sets/72157622212339213/

I will write a twitter message to let you know when a new heart is in my Etsy shop.

Thanks for this week, for your encouraging comments and much appreciated lovely words. I hope you have a good, creative weekend...... x

ps. new poem over at nevering

autumn dreams & more

autumn dreams..... a new brooch in my 'snowglobe' series..... I popped outside and picked rosehips and dry leaves from my front garden.... proving that even tiny basic urban plots have something to offer for the season....

I've lots to share, as I have just finished several pieces ready for my shop update later this evening (from about 9pm UK time)...

three new yesterdays doll ornaments.....

fly now (and tell your story) a smaller artwork

slow dancer .... another snowglobe brooch....... there used to be a small poetry publisher called slow dancer press .... I thought it was such a good name and it published some very good poets.... but it closed at the end of the 90's.....

which reminds me, I should write and post a new poem some time....

more soon x

new birds & more

buried in leaves
imagined whispers
quiet bird dreaming

Yes, I am making new poetry birds..... feels like a good time to be making birds, now so many are soon to migrate....

I'm busy working on new designs. I've got lots of snow to stitch, I realise now - that is I have several snowglobes 'on the go' at the moment.....


waiting - a smaller artwork....... yes my love of smaller pieces continues.... For a while now I have had a challenge for myself, to complete a seated figure, and now I have.....

Yesterday I travelled to Cambridge for the day to visit my lovely friend Emma..... it was lovely to see you Emma and thank you again for the all the fabrics, buttons and vintage linens.....

Now for a cup of tea and perhaps more snow...........stitching........ Shop update tomorrow.....

mosaic monday

1. little treasure, 2. rain dance, 3. Strange horses/houses, 4. Untitled, 5. Untitled, 6. You looking at me?, 7. a sloppy situation, 8. 照片 023, 9. Bazar no domingo, 10. untitled (tangle), 11. Forsvunnet kyss\The disappearing kiss, 12. Untitled, 13. * a little thing we made in Seattle ..., 14. Florence Vanderploeg and Otto take a drive and enjoy the early fall foliage, September of 1938., 15. Untitled, 16. je suis une métisse, 17. mothlight, 18. pillow, 19. Untitled, 20. Album cover redesign for Uppercase Magazine, 21. landscape, 22. cloth for sparkle, 23. Tocado por la mano de dios, 24. Untitled, 25. old fashion, 26. Untitled, 27. Dorcas and Demitri, 28. el-corazon, 29. september in the forest, 30. Nnnno, 31. 1767, 32. 20090829 Trick Or Treat (With Mica), 33. Rocky view Portstewart, 34. flickr.com/photos/30848604@N05/3876891735/, 35. belo amanhecer, 36. golden hues

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

The first September mosaic..... many thanks to all the artists and photographers for sharing their work, via my Flickr contacts..... A drizzly, dull start outside but inside busy with new designs. The coffee is brewing and I have plenty of in-progress pieces to continue with, things I started over the weekend.

This week I shall be updating my own SHOP THURSDAY 10th at around 9pm ish UK time..... I'm attempting to vary days and times, to see how that works out....

I'm looking forward to sharing new work.

Thanks always for your kind comments and have a very good week x

autumn

Everywhere I look, outside, there are hints at Autumn..... blackberries galore along pathways and by urban walls.... the garden is ungardening itself.... so the little yellow flowers make their seed heads, and leaves fall, flowers droop and frazzle, grasses become bronzed and ready for frosts.... Things are getting blown over in hectic blustery hours, pots unpotted. Tomatoes are green and have only a few weeks to go red or else I have to try and concoct some kind of green tomato relish, or leave them. Next year I'll start tomatoes earlier....

Autumn for me is about a change of pace and shortening days, and wearing boots and tights again, and layers of favourite old clothes, and eating veggie pies and gravy and mashed potato (I am hungry, no bread in the house!) oh and listening to music late in the evening, listening to the wind blowing, the letter box rattling (where ever I live the letterbox rattles - but this house has no ghosts!)..... Autumn is about lots of family birthdays...

Inside, plenty plenty, that is inside my head I can see all the little stitched pieces I want to share with you over the coming weeks..... I am pleased people like the snowglobes. I'll enjoy making them. I have more faces to explore with my yesterdays dolls..... And I am writing poem notes again, especially now I have some quiet time in the house, by myself. I enjoy working alone. But I would be lost without my music and opening the window and listening to the dry leaves and the neighbours working in their garden....

Have a very good weekend.... more soon x

new

Keep you safe - a new piece for an exhibition.... both the pieces featured today are going away....

as I'm getting work finished to send asap to Camilla, who is curating a group exhibition at Frou Frou.... read more about this event and other participating artists here.

Hopefully my parcel will be leaving the studio tomorrow. I was dreaming tiny stitches last night. I do that a lot. Sometimes a whole piece of work comes together, in a stitch dream, and then I wake up and realise I am far from the sewing machine - and all that 'effort'..... was just dreaming....

snow globe brooch - green girl..... this is yes another in my new series, and quite an intricate - a very intricate piece.....

meanwhile, I am writing and making notes toward new poems.... I updated nevering with a new poem earlier today - grey girl

thanks always and more soon

new at nevering

A new poem notes at Nevering - St. Paul's...

This photo is one of my favourite views, taken from Tate Modern.