As its Sunday...

here are some summer holiday shadow shots....

...and one of my faves from last summer...

Clippings!

The other pattern Tracey has in Craftseller 13 is for pretty hair clips:

These three were made for a special little lady celebrating a family event last week...

there are two clips and an elastic

each made from 2 strands of rainbow sock wool.

A couple of shadow shots as it is nearly Sunday!

A peek at my TUSAL jar...

..filling up slowly!

...and finally - another of the hair clip patterns (slightly tweaked) used as a feature on a card

sent to wish our friends Eid Mubarak!

xx

Out of this world...episode two!

I have so much to show you all..but blogging time is tricky in the hols...most of my makes have been crochet as it is more portable and can be picked up or left at random moments...

.I'll start with some more monsters...

these have all found their way to new homes as birthday presents...

each made especially for the recipient.

I like the option to have head decor or...

 

a frilly bottom...or should that be frilly foot feature?

Each new item teaches me more tricks and patterns and I much prefer playing to counting stitches!

 

The first TARDIS has been hung on a wall. During a recent clearout Mr RW spotted this paper lightshade innard gubbins as a perfect frame 

 

 

to strengthen the floppy woppy, wibbly wobbly, timey wimey machine. 

I had used spray starch but it was still a bit unstable! 

I must say I had to broggle in my TUSAL jar to find some left over ends to attach the frame.

 

Although its Monday I thought I'd share some shadow shots with you, as Anne commented  - it is an addictive occupation. 

I have lost count of the number of times I have aggravated RW Jnr by exclaiming 'I wish I had my camera!'  There are some pretty stunning shadows in our urban environment, if I (remembered my camera and) had the courage to snap them with so many people around!

(Downloading from my very old mobile has been possible - but those pics come out very small.)

 

After one such camera-less excursion, on returning home we were greeted by these:

 

Later that day this (amazingly dusty, please don't look too closely!) candle holder

created this amazing shadow.....

....I really can't imagine the angles required to re-create the revolution of the flower head!

Happy Monday everyone...I'm a bit lost without the outstanding  Olympic coverage but the footie season starts this weekend and the Paralympics are not far away....

A fantastic day out

Lost in Lace...and I literally was...

This will be one of my click the link posts...

This week Mum, Dad and I visited BMAG to experience the Lost in Lace exhibition. The museum was buzzing (numbers possibly enhanced by visitors to the 10 daVinci drawings currently on loan) with a wide range of ages. We approached the LiL hall via displays of traditional lace, from BMAGs textile collection, and information about its history, techniques, and makers. Whilst interesting and informative it could not have been more different to our exciting experience in the main exhibition!

The information leaflet invites you to

'Step into a world of lace like you've never seen before. See how the patterns, materials and cultural traditions of lace are represented through radical new approaches by UK and international artists. Featuring large scale, theatrical and visually spectacular work, this exhibition challenges perceptions of what lace can be, involving the visitor in an environment where spaces become fluid and thread creates entirely new boundaries.' ...and we did just that - we were challenged to think out of the box (and in it in a couple of installations!), it was certainly theatrical and visually spectacular!

On entering we were mesmerised by the sparkling beauty and ingenuity of Atelier Manferdini's Inverted Crystal Cathedral glimpsed through the magnificently tall yet delicate  Cosmos Series by Naomi Kobayashi. 

There was an amazing video installation by Kathleen Rogers of a piece of black lace (donated to BMAG by Lady Cadbury) magnified by an electron microscope accompanied by a soundtrack of noisy silkworms munching on mulberry leaves.

I loved walking in and out of Piper Shepard's  Lacing Space exhibit enveloping and complementing the architectural structure of part of the hall.

However we were all blown away by Liz Nilsson's The latticed eye of memory. It was amazing on so many different levels and angles! Patterns and colours came and went as you walked around, up close or far away, shadows were cast and moved...you could see all sorts of images and they would change as you moved a fraction - just as the artist describes.

Each exhibit had a desk with information about  the designers and their approach, relationship with or philosophy about lace.  I particularly liked Reiko Sudo's definition of lace. Most also included a sample of fabric so you could add the dimension of touch to your overall experience.

I could enthuse so much more about each piece - however some of you local to Brum may wish to catch it in the next week  and I'd like you to form your own interpretations...
..alternatively  the Lost in Lace website gives you some glimpses of the background to the exhibition and fabulous artists..

I have a fascination for peering through holes (!)(framing the items within and beyond) and watching the patterns shadows cast on objects ...

this exhibition was a dream come true for both of those preoccupations - even the grates in the floors were a feature!

Quoting from  the booklet again  'The works in this exhibition play with the ideas around the holes, spaces, boundaries and structures that lace creates.'

I realise that this has been a text heavy post and without much space or holes! I regret not taking my camera as photography was permitted...but I will add a few lace-y images from my own archive..

The guide talks about lace continuously evolving -
and I can convincingly say it is..... and how cool is that?!