Vintage Moths and Yarn Cards

On my desk this week are some lovely vintage yarn cards I found at an antiques fair recently.  I had to get them as they were perfect for my ongoing project of Decay and Repair.   I love the delicate mint green colour and I knew I had some similar coloured moths in my collection.  

I'm linking up with What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday, why not pop over and have a look at what other people have on their desks this week.

Mosaic Monday and Farewell to Autumn

My last few photos of Autumn...

These last two photos were taken for the Themes of 2014 challenge - there are more photos in the series over on my Velvet Moth Photography blog for anyone interested. 

I'm linking up with Judith over at Mosaic Monday.

Pin Cushions and WOYWW #275

For WOYWW this week I don't have much on my desk - I have managed to spend a week making a pin cushion - yes, just one! Being in the throes of decorating I was quite pleased that I managed to get something done at all!  I decided to use a little vintage patty tin and some favourite fabric scraps with bees on - it's the start of my Christmas gift making - see how organised I am!  

Warm and Woolly

It's time for WOYWW again, and this week summer really has disappeared - after last weeks Christmas trees I'm now in woolly scarf mode!  

I found some rather cosy knitting and crochet patterns on the internet and I felt so chilly and miserable over the wet August bank holiday that I dug out my knitting bag and got stuck in!  My newest finds, the little jug and bowl, were sitting on my desk and I noticed how beautifully they matched the wool - what a lucky coincidence!

For anyone interested both lots of wool are Dune by Trendsetter Yarns.

Stamp Carving and Peonies

On my desk this week for WOYWW I 've been having a go at stamp carving for a long term project I'm doing on coral.  I usually use lino but decided to give this pink stuff a go - it's Speedball Speedy-Carve block and it's great stuff!  It's so easy to use and following Julie Balzaar's advice of using a glass cutting board it made the job a whole lot easier.

I'm also having a bit of an obsession with Peonies at the moment, so following on from my previous blog post I'm adding some more photos of this beautiful flower.  Sadly after being messed about by me for the photo session they decided not to open up in their vase but stayed as tight buds for quite a while before dying!   They really don't like me!

Peonies

I was so pleased to find that Mosaic Monday is now being hosted by Judith over at Lavender Cottage - thank you Judith!  Next task - to put together a mosaic to post on it!  I have a great love of Peonies but can't seem to grow them in the garden - they simply disappear over winter, never to be seen again!  I took these photos a few weeks ago after finding a bunch of them in my local store - I was unable to resist!

WOYWW #270 and Moths and Yellow Roses

I don't know why I'm sharing my desk for WOYWW this week - it's a complete disaster!  The last week of the ICAD challenge just didn't happen for me - below you can see one of several failed attempts at an index card - I somehow couldn't get the ideas out of my brain and onto the actual cards!  I now need to find the Oomph to tidy my desk - I just hate it being messy and unorganized!

Failing at the index cards I turned to my trusty old moths and photographed them on a little pink dish that I picked up in a local charity shop, a rose from the garden and an old book.  Mmm, salmon pink and yellow - not sure about that colour combo - but it's growing on me!

Decay and Repair Embroidery

This week for WOYWW I have done another 4 index cards for the ICAD challenge.  As part of my decay and repair theme I was pleased to find a couple of old button cards which I used as backgrounds - one still had the white circular marks on it where the buttons had been (top right).  

Also this week, with it being too hot to do much I got stuck into my new, updated copy of The Subversive Stitch - Embroidery and the Making of the Feminine' by Rozsika Parker.    It's a fascinating book for anyone who loves embroidery and needle craft, or has an interest in women's history or feminism - it was an incredibly useful book when I was studying for my degree in Textile Art and I was so pleased to find it had been republished and brought bang up to date.

NIGHT MOTHS AND EMBROIDERY

For WOYWW my desk has been busy this week! I have been having great fun trying out a new technique I learnt about from the incredibly talented Morag over at Paper Rainbow.  It involves Citra Solv cleaner and National Geographic magazines, and the process dissolves the ink leaving beautiful background papers.  For anyone interested I found this tutorial here particularly helpful.   The backgrounds on this weeks index cards for ICAD are all from my first attempt at this technique and they led me to work with darker colours and a night time feel - I ended up with a wonderful mix of highly patterned papers and more subtle ones like these - you never know what you are going to get!  I introduced blue as I adore this peacock shade but very rarely use it - I thought the black really enhanced the vividness of it.  I used some pieces of real wings from my old antique collection and I matched them with some brilliant blue embroidery thread  and black lace.

Some close-up details

I love the darkness of this one with the delicate blue spots - so perfect for my theme! 

I used some of the Victorian butterfly wing jewelry I've collected over the years to photograph with the index cards, including a brooch that fell apart when I picked it up - strangely I was thrilled, as I would never have pulled apart a perfectly good piece of jewelry but I love the old, broken look of it and I know I'll put it to good use in the future!

Moths and More Moths!

At the risk of being predictable, here is my work desk for WOYWW this week, and once more I have my index cards for the ICAD challenge - only 4 this week as I have had a lot on, but I'm pleased I managed that many!  I kept them fairly simple and used a combination of machine and hand stitching, with a few very small matt black beads.   On my learning curve this week I discovered that if you sew your stitches too close together on card you end up with the piece of embroidery falling completely out of the overly perforated outline! 

Close up details

OK, so it's a butterfly and not a moth - but what the heck, I love it and I think it goes well with the antique deeds.  This photo influenced my colour scheme for the index cards this week - I really like the simplicity of the black, white and brown

Decay and Repair Project and ICAD Cards

For WOYWW today I have on my desk another six index cards for the ICAD challenge, and once again I'm working with the theme decay and repair.  I used tweed pieces and bits of antique lace, plus printed moth images.  During the often steep learning curve that is my art journey, I discovered that if you embroider a zigzag stitch around anything circular it looks like a sun drawn by a child!  Hence the rather large amount of zigzagging added to the bottom left card to try and detract from the 'sun' - it's an absolute disaster but I decided to keep it in - I am using these cards much as I would a sketchbook, for trying out ideas, so disasters really ought to stay as they are all part of the process!

For anyone interested I have a large embroidery that's pretty much finished now, and some moth photos that are all part of the 'decay and repair' theme on my previous blog post here

I have a real weakness for old teacups, and I thought this one went so well with the colours I 'd chosen for this weeks cards that I just had to photograph them together!

An Antique Collar, French Knots and Needle Felting

I have almost completed a piece of work I've had on the go for what seems like years - it just needs to be stretched and framed now.  The work is part of the decay and repair project I'm working on and it started life as a very badly damaged antique lace collar.  

Using a muslin background I needle-felted into some of the holes and embroidered around them with French knots, trying to create a drifting feeling of on-going repairs - I wanted to create a feeling of 'preciousness', and to capture the love and care that goes into preserving and restoring a treasured possession. 

 I simply had to photograph it with a moth - I love the idea that the beautiful and tiny moth caused such decay in the first place!  I now need to stretch and frame the embroidery - I am hoping to organize an exhibition around this theme of decay and repair in the new year - fingers crossed!
  
I also photographed some moths from my much treasured and very old collection as part of the same theme.

I am linking up with Mary over at Mosaic Monday.