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My Main Blog can be found at http://www.milliande.typepad.com

Artplay with Milliande

~ enjoy

...milliande

If I remember one person from those days... that could "match" me in my passion for art, my exitability for new products, my curiosity for new techniques and ability to just PLAY with a wide open heart to see what happens ...it was Julie ...

After selling my business we completely lost touch for 7 years ... and on a whim and a string of coincidences ..i decided to look her up last week ... and when we spoke on the phone it was like not a day had past... we giggled for an hour trying to stop each other from talking to fast in all the exitement ...

So we decided to hook up and have a day out .... which seemed to coincide being right the day after I met Julia ... having gotten home at midnight ..i was straight out of the door again at 9 am to "go play catchup with Julie ...

I suprised her by taking her to one of my favourite higgledy piggeldy little craft stores that reminded me soo much how our on little alladins cave of a store used to feel like ...

Would you like to take a peek ?

We drooled over colourful fibres, american magazines, beads and dyes, tempting templates and rows of fabulous books .... 2 hours later, overwhelmed but not yet finished ... we left our baskets in the store and took a lunch break in the courtyard of the adjacent coffee shop ...

All day I struggled between calling her Julia ..having spend 12 hours with Julia the day before ..and now trying to get it right and calleing her HER name Julie ...:-)

She was kind enough to invite me back to her home after our shopping spree where I got to view her amazing garden where a little river slowly meanders throught the undergrowth, the foxes come at dusk to get their food and the moonlight casts a special light onto her vegetable garden ....

I felt really deeply joyful, glad to have connected with her again as we are truly "cut" out of the same wood ..as the saying goes

... As she cooked a delicious vegetarian stir fry dinner I happily sat in the garden creating a beaded bracelets with her stash of beautiful beads ... .... well i started off around 8 pm ... and many cups of tea , remembering anecdotes and sharings later ..i finally got home this morning at 1 am with a real big bellyful of happiness ...

I had a lovely time driving up to a little place near Richmond Park, London called Petersham Nurseries .... a little garden/flower nursery place that had such a beautiful flair of the nostalgic olden days ... not that I got a chance to see that much off it ..giggle ..

Because I was here to meet Julia, who was teaching a watercolour beginner class, for a cup of coffee.

Julia has been a member of our Art Community for Women for a couple of month and we have gotten to know each other a little online and decided to hook up for a chat ...as it turned out a very LONG chat indeed .....

We had such a fabulous time , catching up as if we have been old friends for a long time ... I enjoyed watching her demonstrate some watercolour techniques to her group of women that had come to sit in the summer sunshine of this beautiful nursery to paint some wonderful shades of floral purples and pinks ...

~ whilst I was sipping my cappuccino and tasted some delicious homemade chocolate cake

The rest of the day was spend in giggles, pouring over art journals , sharing favourite books, ideas and feelings about our art community ,looking at her sketches , paintings ....moving from lunch , into more coffee at Julias house and finally to a beautiful Thai restaurant for dinner as our conversation was far from running dry ..giggle

It was nice to meet a kindred spirit in person ... much as i love the online aspect of our art community , to meet in person adds  the icing on the cake ...

and I have been hearing whispers that she will be sharing her watercolour "secrets" with our members soon ... so watch this space ;-)

SO here I am , all by myself .... maya and husband off on holiday in cyprus and time is a strange thing ... suddenly I become aware of all these little things I have been meaning to do

~~~ so first up ... had a new haircut and coloured it today ....

~~~ second up ... still holding on to a thread of patience trying to follow some sewing patterns . Having successfully PREWASHED lots and lots of fabric... then iron it with my new iron ( it took 4 hours) I felt ready to conquer my new handbag pattern ...

~ I got reminded of how I just dont do well with written instructions, there were barely any pictures and I struggled big time getting of the ground ...

~ It was quite an expensive pattern ( here in the uk) ...it had the full size print outs in them which was great ... but the instructions were just lines on lines of words with no step by step pictures etc ...i found it really hard to follow

~ I ended up using the main pattern pieces and then winging it when it came to assembling pockets and handles ... as I just could not make out the steps..nor find the pattern piece for the pocket

here are my altered  results

trying to make sense of the sewing pattern ... I wondered whether I had chosen a project wich was a tad ambitious for me ... luckily ..with no one being home I could spread out on the floor, lay everything together and muddle my way through the handbag pattern pieces

I chose some japanese line fabric for the main background pieces ... I fell in love with this little linen with the delightful dots all over it and found a matching printed cotton with a flower meadow design on it

As I could not find the pattern piece or template for the inside pocket anywhere, I just used 2 recycled pieces of printed cotton that had been used for displaying fabric samples and I had picked it up in the fabric store's free basket ... they fitted perfectly

I lined the inside with a piece of brown linen I had found in a newly discovered fabric shop in Kingston ...

For this handbag pattern piece I used another japanese fabric linen ...this time with little strawberries on it ... and matched it with some vintage lace and a cotton flower print fabric

I was up until 1.30 am yesterday trying to assemble all the pieces together... giggle

~ In the end I am pleased with how it turned out, I loved the feel of it , glad that i did not add all the heavy canvas lining the pattern suggests as it would have made for a very heavy bag indeed ..

~ third up ... It looks really fabulous with my new tunic dress I made from my japanese pattern book ..

can you tell I am just a teeny weeny little bit
happily engaged with my sewing machine at the moment

~ giggle ~

~~~~~~~~~~~~


We have a new subgroup in our art community called
"What made you happy today "


~

and this made me happy today


~ taking a peek into our freezer being really hungry ... to find a little tub of homemade Tavas my husband had cooked for me before he left ... labelled Sunday ..so I would have something nice to eat whilst he and Maya are away on holiday
( there are a couple of more labled friday and wednesday .. giggle)


awwww ..I feel loved



~ milliande

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My local Print Studio "Ochre's " took part in the Surrey Open Studios for the past 3 weeks.

As part of the activities we held a monoprinting taster session all visitors to the studio could partake in. Each person was given a small 10cm square piece of foamboard to engrave a design into ..then 3 colours of ink could be applyed with a brayer roller to create a unique image .

Last weekend the unveiling of the Tapestry print took place at the printmaking studios ..it is interesting how 2 common denominators ...size and color..could create such a unique print collaboration that ties all the diverse elements together into a unique whole ..

here a peek at some images of the tapestry print unveiling..

~ Members of Ochre Printmaking Studios ~




Julie ( on the right) the owner of Ochre Printmaking Studio - which is an open access studio where we all get to play

The lady in the middle runs the Lockwood Day Centre ... a centre for adults with learning disabilities that works in a co-joined partnership with the Lockwood arts Centre and Ochre Printmaking Studios





The Tapestry Print




It was funny ... Maya had attened the opening day of our exhibition and participated by making her own piece of the tapestry print . The Final Collaborative piece was assembled by several members...and when I took a peek ...Maya's and My Print were snuggled up right next to each other :-))


~~~~~~~

I will be uploading a video tour of the printmaking exhibition and a little look at the making of the tapestry print tiles  a little later on today if you would like to take a peek


milliande
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Over at our Art Community for Women we are running a photography prompt on MOTION

A Sunny Summer Afternoon yesterday and Maya is on the move .. she loves expending her energy through motion, is rarely still and imitates every animal she encounters in her wake ...

I love the way she smiles her way through the day ...experiencing everything the the fullest ability of her senses ...

I stumbled across this musician, Marcio Local , today ... and was stitting on my computer chair with my bottom cheeks dancing to the samba rhythm ..

Music evokes motion .... evokes e-motion ...and a response from my senses ...i feel the beat, I feel the passion ...and my body responses ...

This made me think of the many little moments of happiness that a day can bring ..but that often escape with barely a glimpse given to acknowledge them ....

It is with a sense of gratitude ... that i open a new subgroup at our artcommunity for women ... the celebrates the little moments of happiness TODAY  ...

A Song ..
A Dessert
A Hug
A Smell
A Purchase
A Thought
A Touch
A Visual
A Phonecall
A ......

This is a place to share TODAY'S moment tiny moments, jump for joy moments and glimpses of happiness almost forgotten




What made YOU happy today ???




milliande
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I have always wanted to try the Illustration Friday Prompts ... so this week I have given it a go .. quick 10 minute sketch for this weeks
Illo Friday Topic " Drifting"

~ Japanese Sewing Books have such a beautiful aesthetic feel to them ... I love many of the free flowing designs... the way they are tailored to offer a loose , comfortable design , yet with little feminine touches like added lace and felting details

~ I am not very well versed in sewing to a pattern or following a design ... but I am hoping to learn a little more this year -- giggle and i am starting out with patterns that are written in japanese ...

~ However all the japanese craft books are beautifully illustrated, with lots of step by step details that make it easy to follow the instructions by visuals alone ...

~ For my first project I have decided to take a linen/cotton blend trouser ( pants) that I already own and alter the length to make it suit the style I like. I am adding a cotton lace edging trim for a delicate touch

~ i you like to take a look at the japanese sewing magazine pochee no 7 and how i altered my pants...

take a peek at the little video

milliande
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