Paper Cutting

The big problem with being an enthusiastic crafter is the amount of space and storage it takes up.  There are some crafts however that can produce really pleasing results that require very little in the way of equipment and space.  All you need is time and patience.  I'm talking about the amazing art of paper cutting.  There are so many styles and versions of this craft, but I got the bug in Switzerland where I was lucky enough to visit some exhibitions of work by current artists.  It was a feast for my eyes! So much detail and skill I had to have a go.  This was my first attempt.  A really simple cut it took a few hours to draw and cut, but it was a great opportunity to learn how to handle the paper and the scissors and get a result I was happy with.

Paper Cut,  Karen Mehta 2004

My old faithful paper cutting scissors

The only special equipment I use are paper cutting scissors that I bought in Switzerland, and paper which is black one side and white the other.  Scissors are easily available on the web now, and many paper cutting artists use a variety of craft knives, scalpels and cutting mats to achieve their finished designs.  If you take a look on google you will find all kinds of resources.  I however like to use scissors.  It is simple and portable - I can cut a design on a plane, train, sitting by the pool on holiday, or on the sofa at home watching TV.  The white backing on the paper allows you to draw your design and then follow your pencil marks with the scissors.  The picture below shows how the design started out with some of the pencil lines still visible on the back, along with some parts of the design which I did not cut.  They were a bit too intricate for a first time exercise!

Pencil design is still visible

The other thing this picture shows is that the image started life folded in half.  This is a real help as you know that as you cut through the two layers, you are creating a symmetrical image - this is far less demanding on your drawing skills than doing the whole thing free hand.  In Switzerland they call the art Scherenshnitte.  If you google this and look at the images you will be amazed at what can be achieved with paper and scissors.  Have a go…doing one will make you brave and you will want to try again.  My second cut was a mixture of folk art designs, flowers and a spiders web.  It took about 40 hours, but I was  pleased with the results.  I have been cutting ever since!

Paper Cut Karen Mehta 2004

Christmas Came Early!

My husband got back from a two week business trip to India this weekend, it was great to have him home, I really missed him :-D  He has many gifts and talents, but confidence with colour and all things crafty are not on the list, so I was doubly amazed, surprised, touched and very very happy when he produced this pile of 100% cotton fabric from his case for me!

This is a lovely fine, tightly woven cotton fabric often used to make sari blouses and this little pile is all mine!  So now I'm dreaming about what I can do with it…so many possibilities…so many colours…no doubt they will make an appearance in a later blog :-)

What would you do with this lovely stash, it would be great to hear from you!  Bye for now

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Tools of the Trade - Watercolours

Nesting Robin by Karen Mehta

I thought it would be a good contrast with my last 'tools of the trade' blog to look at my watercolours this time round - back to real world painting instead of the world of electronic media and art.  My favourite 'go to' watercolour set is a Winsor & Newton Cotman 24 half pan set.  I love its practical design and versatility, it works for me inside or out and about.

There are lots of different manufacturers of watercolour out there, but I have settled with this Winsor and Newton product.  This is a good set, but it is not in their top end artist quality watercolours  the Cotman range is a notch below that.  It is however more affordable, and more widely available too, which means it's easier to go out and pick up refills or extra pans.

You can get the Cotman range as solid pans or as tubes, but I like to keep mostly to pans as I prefer them outside - they are just easier to manage.  Tubes really come in to their own if you want to colour wash larger areas, or you are looking for very dense colour.  If I was water colour painting for many hours in a week I'm sure my views would develop faster and the greater range of colour in the artists selection would become very attractive, as well as some other benefits of tubes that are less obvious to me now.  But for the time being I'm really happy with what I've got.

So what are the deciding factors for me?
 - I wanted a good quality paint with a good selection of colour for a reasonable price
 - I wanted flexibility in where I painted so the design of the box and palette was also important
 - The box needed to be robust but light
 - When open and ready to use it had to feel balanced in one hand

You may find that if you go through a similar process you will end up with a different product and manufacturer - this is just what works for me…Happy painting!

Winter Camel

I tried something new today.  I created a polyvore account.  It's a great web based tool a bit like Pinterest but different…I think it has the potential to be a bit addictive.  It allows you to create sets with collections of images from the thousands and thousands they have available, as well as load images of your own.
To try it out, I created a set bases around camel coats.(Always had a soft spot for them!)
This is the result.  I think it has great potential for promoting The Moon And The Sun, if I take some time and work on my photography. Worth a try I think!
If you are interested in trying it out click here…POLYVORE

Winter Camel by karenamehta featuring christmas holiday decorations

Carven coat
$2,345 - avenue32.com

Rebecca Taylor coat
rebeccataylor.com

Rebecca Taylor coat
shopbop.com

Anya Hindmarch coin purse
yoox.com

Topshop satchel handbag
nordstrom.com

Beige patent leather handbag
$21 - newlook.com

Missoni scarve
$155 - pret-a-beaute.com

Brooks Brothers vintage hat
brooksbrothers.com

Ski headband
owntherunway.com

Christmas holiday decoration
lawnornamentsandfountains.com

Pier 1 Imports holiday decoration
pier1.com

Pier 1 Imports christmas ornament
pier1.com

Christmas holiday decoration
$6.44 - liberty.co.uk

Jonathan Adler Wallpaper Scroll Light Blue
laylagrayce.com

6' Sparkling Gold Copper Sequin Ice Christmas Garland #XDZ437-GO/CP
christmascentral.com

Christmas Lights Photography Print - Soft Lights of Christmas -...
etsy.com

Christmas Preparations

I'm doing everything I can to get my Etsy shop ready for Christmas!  I thought it might be fun to create a seasonal shop header so I spent some time today drawing this…

It's been fun but quite time consuming!  It's not exactly the way I want it due to the limits of the software I am using, and I am sure the limits of my knowledge.  But I am reasonably happy.  I have also been busy creating a whole load of product photos to load up tomorrow, to add stock to the shop.  I have set myself the 1st of December to be ready for Christmas... I might just make it :-)

Tools of the Trade

Hi there.  I've been thinking some more about how I can share my experience and some of the skills I've aquirred over the years for creating and making.  In my experience the tools you use really matter.  So every so often I thought it would be good to share some thoughts on some of the tools I use to make the things I make.  Some times it will be things as simple as drawing pencils or glue, but today I am going High tech!

I'm going to share the joys of owning and using a graphics tablet.  In my case it is a Wacom Bamboo Create.  This is a great middle of the market product, which is consistently well reviewed.  It is a treat to use for those who would consider themselves in the beginner to intermediate category of digital painting, drawing or photo editing.  I love using it and I am learning so much as I go!


One of the things I am really enjoying is the variety of painting
and drawing options I have at the click of a button.  At the moment I am working on what would have been an ink on paper drawing of an angel.  I am drawing into my computer directly on the tablet.  It is a bit weird at first, whilst your hand is drawing you are watching the result and controlling the process by looking at the computer screen.  It is surprising how quickly this becomes second nature though.  I am using a technical pen from the range of presets that are available to me in the software I am using, but at the flick of two or three screen buttons, I could select a watercolour brush for wet on dry, choose a shade from the colour picker and be adding a watercolour wash to my drawing.  I might want to select an airbrush tool instead, and in a few seconds be wafting soft layers of colour cloud across my electronic page.  (The airbrush thing is a particular joy to me, because unless you have a professional set up and use them all the time, they are awkward, time consuming and wasteful of paint, which means my airbrush stays packed in it's box).

The other plus is that when I finish a piece of work I have it stored on my computer ready to use for any project I choose.  I might simply want to produce a limited run of prints.   I can select a print service and send them the art work.  I might want to print it locally and use the design for cards or some other project, or I might want to upload it to the web and share the file. (The Christmas tree giveaway a few blogs back was drawn this way).  So it gives great flexibility.  I drew this man on a rickshaw for a bespoke card, but having done the work, I can make use of it again in the future.  There are of course some drawbacks.  a painting produced this way means you do not have a real, hands on, 'see and feel the brush strokes' original, and sometimes that matters. But for the most part this is a great tool for me at the moment, and I am loving the opportunity to learn and use it. What are your favourite 'Tools of the Trade?'  Please feel free to share!  Bye for now.

Konnections Christmas Craft Event (2)

The Moon And The Sun at Konnections Craft Fundraising Event

Last Saturday was the Konnections craft event.  It was lovely to be there, and catch up with so many families I hadn't seen for quite a while :-)

It's quite a fascinating business analysing what people buy at events like this.   Over the last few months I have been to a few craft fairs, and the only thing that seems to consistently sell well is earrings!  At some events I sell cards or knitted items at others I might sell bracelets and Necklaces, but I always sell earrings.

I made quite a few pairs especially for this sale, and they nearly all went, so I will be making some more over the next few days to replenish my stock, and also to load up on to Etsy.  Maybe online shoppers will be looking for earrings too!

Anyway, well done to Anja and the Konnections team for all the hard work you put into organising the event, I hope you raised a good amount to continue the important work you do.

Sweet Treat for the Christmas Tree

Hi there.  On my last post I said that I had a make to share for the Christmas tree that also tasted good.  So this is it…  A basic patchwork piece put together to hold just one sweet treat, and ready to hang on your tree.

The idea for this came from my sister Tina, who was given one by her friend and work colleague Diane (Thanks girls!).  So I had a good poke and prod, and worked out how to put it all together.

First you need to cut 8 squares of fabric each 2.5 x 2.5 inches.  Choose some fun festive fabric, two  different contrasting prints.  Cut 4 squares from each piece of fabric.

Once cutting is done pair together one of each pattern and place them right side together.  Leaving a quarter inch seam, stitch around the edge of the square on three sides.  On the fourth side only stitch along half the side.  Do this to all four pairs of squares.  

Press each of the stitched squares.  Using scissors cut the points of each corner (take care not to cut your stitching!).  The square should now look like this.

 Now turn all four squares the right side out using the opening you have left down one side.  Take some care to work each corner out.  Tuck in the unstitched half side and press.

Put the four squares together, placing the open edges at the centre, and stitch each together, from half way along each side.  The stitching should form a cross shape.  This can be done by hand or use the zig zag stitch on the sewing machine.  By piecing this way the openings for turning the squares are sealed.

Now place the four square piece on the ironing board right side up, and fold the opposite corners of each square to meet each other in the middle. Press.  Do this to all four squares.

Stitch together the folded corners and stitch a bead onto the corners.  Now it's beginning to take shape!

Last thing to do is to draw together the four points stitching to secure.  The loop is made from 4inches of ribbon doubled and stitched into place.

Now all that's left to do is fill with your favourite wrapped chocolate ( Ferrero Rocher fit very well!), and hang on the christmas tree.

If you have a go at this let me know.  Happy making :-)

Konnections Christmas Craft Event

So hi everyone!  I've been away for a few days R&R down by the sea.  I had a very relaxing time.  Managed to visit some craft shops too...well it had to be done :-)

So back to making and blogging and trying to get my stock ready for an upcoming craft sale, The Konnections Christmas Craft Event taking place on Saturday November 9th starting at 5pm until 8pm at the K2 building at the Kerith Centre in Bracknell RG12 1EH.

Konnections is a cause very close to my heart.  It's a local organisation based at Kerith Community Church in Bracknell, Berkshire, UK.  Konnections provides respite care for disabled children, young people and their families.  The work they do is a life-line for so many children and families who would otherwise not get a break.  As well as offering respite Saturdays and days during school holidays, they also run a youth club which opperates for 11 to 16 year olds and then for 16 - 25 years.  They run a brilliant programme for siblings of disabled children called BandS (Brothers and Sisters) as well as a summer sailing project and a vital Mums support group.

Some of the work is funded by contracts with the local authority, but much of what is done relies on grants, donations and fund-raising, so if you can, come along on Saturday 11th November or find some other way to support the great work that goes on, such as making a donation through the Kerith website.

So in preparation for this important event... my sewing machine has been smoking hot, my crochet hooks are going at full pelt, my dipping pens are dizzy from dipping and I have been threading beaded necklaces and wiring earrings into the wee small hours.  I have to say I love every minute of it!

 

Still just over a week to go so lots more making to happen.  I have a great pattern for a really cute (and tasty) tree decoration to share with you in the next blog...see you soon.

Too Many Apples!

So It's that time of year again...there are apples everywhere.  Piles on the kitchen counter, windfalls all over the lawn, and still a whole load on the trees!

It's fair to say I have apples on my mind. I ended up drawing them in my art journal the other day.  I was thinking of the Keats poem about Autumn, Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness.... such inspiring words.  I ended up making this black ink drawing on a mottled water colour background, a Zentangle.  I then mounted the piece in my journal page after first preparing the page with pastels to match the watercolour. Finally I added some black zentangled leaves and finishing them with holographic embossing powder.

Of course thinking about apples and drawing them does not do anything to get rid of the glut sitting on the kitchen counter!  So how about some apple sauce muffins?  Really simple and so tasty.
Ingredients:
 3-4 apples depending on size
75 g raisins , 1/2 tsp cinnamon and ground cloves
15ml of honey or to taste
300g self-raising flour
150g firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
180 ml buttermilk or plain yogurt and milk mixed                                                                                125 ml vegetable oil
Method:

1  First make the apple sauce by peeling coring and chopping the apples and adding them to a saucepan with a little water.  Add the raisins and spice and cook until the apples have become completely soft.  Add the honey and taste to see that you are happy.  set aside to cool.
2  This will make about 9 generous muffins, so prepare 9 holes in a muffin pan either with paper cases or by greasing them with oil and dusting with flour.
3  Sift the remaining dry ingredients into a large bowl and then stir in the wet ingredients. Muffins do not like to be over agitated so combine by stirring not beating or whisking.
4  When the mixture is nearly combined add 150g of the apple sauce, and stir in so that the sauce is rippled through the mixture.
5 Divide the mixture up into the prepared pan and bake for about 20 mins in a moderately hot oven

So now there are three less apples to deal with, and if you make extra apple sauce it is a really tasty treat served warm with vanilla ice-cream. Yum!

Christmas Tree Follow-Up

So a couple of posts back, I attached a jpeg of a christmas tree I had drawn as a download.  I've been messing around with it trying different things... and came up with this triangular card design, just really simple.  I've printed the tree three times, and stuck one on each side.  The one that is front facing has been decorated with some sparkles, really simple but quite effective!

How are your Christmas cards going?   :-)

Lavender Harvest

I love the smell of lavender, and at the moment my conservatory smells beautiful as this years lavender harvest is laid out drying in there.  It lasted a long time in the garden this year, and I don't like to harvest it too early, because it is bee central!  At any time during the day you can see at least 4 different types of bees buzzing around doing their thing.

It just seems wrong depriving them of such easy pickings until the nectar finally runs dry.
So it wasn't until the third week in September that we finally got around to cutting; and now it is all nearly dry ready to be used in all all kinds of things.

I like to make simple paper sachets and fill them with my lavender and a bit of stuffing, and then hide them away in draws and cupboards, ready for the lovely scent to waft out every time a door is opened.

I choose a piece of paper I like, the smallest you can manage with really is 15cm x 15 cm ( 6"x 6").

Then mark up 4 small corners to cut out.  I have placed mine so I will have a rectangular sachet.

Cut out the corners you have just drawn and then score between the points of the corners. 

Fold along the scored lines.  You can now see the sachet taking shape.

Stick 3 sides of the sachet together leaving an opening to put the stuffing and lavender. 

Stick down the last flap and turn the sachet over.  Finish the front as you please; I have just used a simple label.

If lavender is not your thing then try some coarsely ground mixed spice to bring some winter warmth.