new stitched-up photos now available!

just listed in MPC - the shop - a batch of stitched-up photos - get them while they're hot!

and now you can even "like" MPC - the Shop on Facebook

(yes, i finally broke down and made a page.)

oh, and if you're looking to secure a christmas present, i just put my whirlygig snuggle quilt on sale.
just making room for more fun stuff in the near future.

shadows on the wall

we all have shadows on our souls that haunt us. sometimes in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes in the middle of the day, sometimes when we're under pressure, they cloud our judgement or make us behave in bewildering ways. i think my primary shadow is having grown up in a small town where everyone knew everyone. and while that was good in many ways, it makes me overly eager to be accepted and liked, because it meant too so much in that little society. but this isn't really about my shadows, more about how we are affected by the shadows around us.

spending time with a whole lot of people who are long-term unemployed and interviewing them for my book on the danish welfare state, i have seen and felt a lot of shadows in recent weeks. and i think that it can't help but cast a shadow over your own soul and your own existence, to be in contact with so many sad stories and depressed people. it drags you into a kind of darkness yourself, no matter how much anthropological distance you try to have. there is something to the notion that the people you hang out with have a big affect on you and how you view the world (and i knew this, but i didn't realize how hard it would be to keep it separate). and i think it's also difficult, when you're in the midst of a situation, to realize what's really going on, especially one like this, where at the same time i'm very grateful to these people for opening up to me and telling me their stories.

by the end of last week, i found myself feeling short-tempered and crabby. and i couldn't help but be hyper-critical of everyone and everything around me. it was like all those shadows ganged up on me and gave me a very bleak outlook, expecting the worst of the world.

so today, i stepped back from my project and worked on something else - a whole stack of new stitched-up photos that i actually started last week. i hope to get them backed and photographed tomorrow so i can show them to you. there are a couple of new themes...hedgehogs and mushrooms (unsurprisingly) and some travel dreams. it was just the the thing to push those shadows back where they belong...against the wall.

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and don't forget, the last batch of stitched-up photos are 25% off - and i've made it easier...the price you see is the sale price, no code necessary. if there was one you were wanting, now is the time to pounce! and there aren't any aliens or fish in this second round, so it's the last chance at those (for now).

cut out and keep quilting

here it is, finished at last! the cut out & keep quilt that i made for kristina. i struggled a bit with this one. first, because it was for kristina and i wanted to get it "right," but also because i love the cut out & keep fabrics that heather moore did for cloud 9 so much that it felt like i had to do justice to them.  so suffice it to say that this one took me much longer than it should have, tho' if i'd thought about it, what i needed to do was there in the name all along - i just needed to cut it out and keep quilting! but, sometimes the muse is wily.

i was inspired to do some slightly random lines of quilting by the quilting done by filminthefridge on this quilt. the batting i used was natural cotton and rather thick, so this ended up quite heavy - it will be comfy-cozy for winter for sure. and i can tell you that after two days spent quilting it, my arms and shoulders were very tired.  quilting is more work than you would think.

next, i've moved on to a quilt in autumn-inspired solids. and i've got some bags along the lines of the one i made for sabin on the go. and a new stack of stitched-up photos. apparently once the muse was tamed, she got down to work in earnest.

to make room for the new stitched-up photos, the remaining ones in my shop are on sale - 25% off! - just typed in STITCHED at checkout.

stitched up party invitation

probably the coolest technique i learned at anne brodersen's class was this one...a new way of stitching up photos. normally, my stitched up photos are done on the machine, but for this one, i made a couple of small embroideries - of a bottle and a glass of wine and i embedded them into a picnic photo that i took at the viking market in bork havn. i love the result. i'll be doing more of these. for sure. to start with, as invitations to a gathering we're going to have when my family is here next month.

this was my first attempt and i didn't do a great job of cutting off all my pen marks. but next time, i'll do better.

don't you think it would make the perfect party invitation? now if the weather just warms up for their visit!

a new take on stitched-up photos

i took a weekend embroidery course with artist anne brodersen at her studio out in ringkøbing, near the west coast of denmark. it wasn't a typical embroidery course, where you learn stitches, but where we learned some unique new techniques for combining embroidery and photography and embroidery and other materials (like sticks and stones found on the beach). in addition to learning some really inspiring new techniques, my very soul feels renewed.

we took a photo with good lines to it and traced out the best of those lines with a pen. then, using a lightbox (must have husband build me one of those), we transferred those lines onto a sheet of handmade paper that could withstand stitching. then, with two black threads, we stitched those outlines. i chose this photo of husband looking down at something on the beach. the water, the horizon and husband's silhouette seemed like the perfect subject matter for my first attempt.

it took me awhile, but i stitched up all my lines and then it was time to add watercolors. me being a sucker for non-fiction, i didn't intend to stray too much from the colors of the water and the photo as it was. it did end up a bit bluer than my photo, but that had more to do with my color-mixing abilities than with what i actually wanted to do. i clearly need some practice to achieve the colors i want.

i love the notion of combining my many photographs with paint and stitches and i want to explore this technique further. i think it will push both my photography and my stitching, not to mention my painting skills. it feels like anne was able to open a door to a whole new world of possibility for me.

longtime readers of my blog or those of you who know me in real life, may have noticed that i'm not the most patient person in the world. both stitching and working with watercolors on handmade paper require patience. patience that is difficult for me. i was actually fine on the stitching part and even achieved that meditative state (when i wasn't philosophizing on the intersection between art and craft) that i can't seem to achieve in actual meditation. stitching the black lines helped me clear my mind of extraneous, racing thoughts and i was just there, in the moment, stitching. it was wonderful and relaxing.

in places, my watercolors were too wet and they bled through my stitched lines. unfortunately, right there where  it made it look a bit like husband had had a little accident. happily, on the second day, anne showed me how to fix that with some pastel pencils that i brought along, so it wasn't the tragedy it seemed at first.

i still haven't fully processed the experience - it was two days and they absolutely flew by. we drank tea and discussed art and artists. we talked about how giving and open anne was with her techniques and how even tho' they were unique and "secret," in passing them along to others, she didn't diminish what she herself was doing with them. the three of us who attended each achieved something very different with our individual applications of the techniques (i'll show photos of that in another post). for each of us, it was quite unlike what anne was doing and somehow reflected our own personalities and preoccupations. it made me think that there needs to be a whole lot less fear about sharing out there in the art world.

here's my finished product. we backed our delicate works with interfacing, to make them a bit more sturdy and i'm going to find a frame for it and hang it here near my desk, to remind me of husband when he's not around and of an inspirational weekend where i began the next chapter in my personal creativity.

i'm already started on the next one, using one of my many shots of the field across from our house. i can't wait to get stitching.

the second photo in this post is one of anne's works, where she used this technique on a photo of obelisks on a beach in bretagne. she takes to the level of art, don't you think?

more on the other techniques i learned and what my fellow students (including elizabeth) made in another post.

stitched up photos

a limited selection of stitched up photos are now available in my big cartel shop! they are one-of-a-kind, totally unique and there will never be another one like them (can i say it any other way?). they're a professional photo, not just one i printed myself and feature fun stitching and fabrics. the titles are done on cute woodgrain on my dymo junior, which adds a very whimsical touch (as if aliens weren't whimsical enough).  they're signed and dated and mounted with archival tape on high quality passepartout - ready for you to frame (size 5x7"/13cm x18cm)! so get them while they last!

i will be doing more batches of these as well as cards in the very near future.

sorry for all the exclamation points, but i'm rather excited about these. they're just so much fun!

periwinkle finds a home

our sweet and only slightly chubby periwinkle is going to go to her new home later today.
some old friends were in the market for a cat, so i'm taking her there later.
she is molly's firstborn and we will miss her.
but we've got way too many cats around here.
these recent photos are a little goodbye to her, i'll miss how she meows at me when she sees the camera.
i hope she has molly's genes when it comes to being a good traveler.
otherwise it's going to be a long 3-hour car ride.

* * *

i've been preparing for an upcoming christmas market

and decided to list a few stitched-up photos in my long-neglected shop.

please have a look!

* * *

absolutely stunning photos from a russian photo contest.

* * *

while you're there, test your internal nationality.

mine's swedish.

that probably means i need a new wardrobe, those swedes dress well.

when i tried to fill it out to end up american, the result was malta.

i had no idea they were religious and mistrustful of their politicians there too.
but perhaps it was because the test only included europe.
oops, didn't read the headline that closely.

now available (round 1)

new stitched-up photos - now available on big cartel

two new quilts - now available already sold on big cartel

old norse series: a new set of feather touchstones with the names of nordic mythological goddesses
for the goddess in you.  on etsy.

i took photos for over an hour yesterday and i'm still nowhere near finished with editing, resizing and writing listings! it's a process that takes a long time! but i will be adding items to the shops all week.  still to come...fish, clarity birds and feather scarves (as soon as i figure out how to best photograph those) and a few other surprises.  i'd better go get some more photos while the light is good!

finishing friday

if you hang around here at all, you know that i've been on a creative roll of late. this week alone, i sewed two dresses for myself, made my first batch of stitched up photos, mended a couple of sabin's shirts, made bread twice, and worked on adding finery to some clarity birds. our dining table is so covered with projects that we can't actually use it.  so i have declared today (and every friday henceforth) to be finishing friday.

i'm doing a handmade market april 9 together with jude and elizabeth, so it's important that i have some finished products to sell at the market. somehow i just don't think people will be keen on buying half-finished works in progress. so today, i will not start any new project, not even this, which is very tempting. especially because it's still really cold outside.

i have no less than 3 quilts to finish and one of them (the sherbet cupcake quilt) you didn't even know about because i hadn't shown it here yet. so, i've been busy. busy starting things and not so busy finishing them.

i leave you with one more shot of the basket of unfinished garlands, tea cozies and clarity birds, just to remind myself that i need to get to work...

* * *

i'm enjoying the photos here. 

and also the photos here and here.

2020 :: a plague year, in pictures

january 2020

it all started off just fine, didn't it? a nice 70s themed evening with friends to welcome in the new year (i did this mosaic backwards, but didn't want to start over, so start in the bottom righthand corner), a resolution to do a creative act of some sort every day (i did that, but only because i count writing and cooking as creative acts) and of course, cats.

february 2020

experiments in baking, more creativity, some vintage finds and of course, cats. the pantry filled up with water because it never stopped raining, not even for one day. i went to louisiana museum of modern art with a friend, not knowing that wouldn't be possible again for much of the year. 

march 2020

despite reports about the virus, we still met sabin in barcelona and had a lovely week there with her. i came home and immediately started a new job the next day, and the day after that, they sent us home to work from home for the next few months. i kept up the creativity, cooked and hung out with the cats.

april 2020

spring came, despite the pandemic, nature just began to grow and burst forth, marching on. there was a lesson in that. we cooked a lot at home and even had a few chances to eat outdoors. seeking comfort, i began a rereading marathon of the mrs. pollifax books. and as always, i enjoyed times with the cats.

may 2020

still working from home, but the weather improved and we started to be able to go to the office at least part of the time. that was really nice. i discovered an app called too good to go, where local grocery stores and bakeries and even restaurants sell a "magic bag" for a song and you save food from being wasted. i plan most meals around these bags now.

june 2020

the strawberries began and i made loads of cordial from them and from the elderflowers. there was actual sunshine and i spent time in the garden - with the cats, of course. and i bought handmade items from individual artists. and i stitched up some masks for myself. there was no mask mandate in denmark, but i was headed for the states, where there would be.

july 2020

i went to arizona to help sabin move out of her apartment and into the dorm. we had quite some adventures and her car broke down while i was there and couldn't be repaired, so she had to get a new one. got a new small bee tattoo while i was there and we spent evenings cooling off in the pool. it was so nice to be together with her. and traveling in the pandemic meant my flights were pretty empty.

august 2020

home again to a new car - my first new car ever! a citröen cactus, which is a little baby SUV. we embarked on our big roof project and so i did a lot of cooking and the weather was beautiful, so we ate outdoors. the light meant that husband could work long days. he had help for a week and they got a lot done, but not everything.

september 2020

more berries, more cordial. i regularly bought myself flowers at a pick-yourself field nearby. the roof project continued and we got the actual roof on. weaving began again and i started on my latest runner for the kitchen. there was still a lot of cooking and baking.

october 2020

corona anxiety started coming into the picture again. numbers were rising. a good friend's kids both got it - being the first people who i know in real life who had the virus. i made great progress on my rug and we were back in the office regularly, though still not 100% of the time. i voted and sent it to chicago via DHL to be sure it was there in time. 

november 2020

the darkness settled in, and we began working from home once again. but sabin came home and we did two small gatherings for thanksgiving since it wasn't possible to gather in larger groups. it was so nice to have her here, but she was a little depressed by the darkness and the constant drizzle. i put up christmas lights on the house for the first time, both to combat the darkness and because we would be home for christmas this year. 

december 2020

a corona scare, frustrations with the isolation and not being able to see friends, and wearing masks and constantly being tested. but we made it through. we ate a lot of good food, i made yet another turkey and we did see family for christmas. sabin went back to arizona for the new year and arrived safely. i bought a sequined dress that i wore for both christmas and new year's, because we all need a little sparkle in this plague year. 

* * *

this was a bit of a belated review of 2020. i'm once again grateful to my daily photo habit, which hasn't let up since i began it in may 2008 when i got my first "real" camera. these days, i often take the photo with my phone, but since it's an iPhone 12 pro max, it's got a pretty good camera in it. having all those photos really helps me stroll through the events of the year, but it also took some time to get them uploaded and made into mosaics. it doesn't really look all that great so far, but here's hoping 2021 will be better. fingers crossed it will improve when biden takes the oath of office.

make hay while the sun shines

those WIP stitched-up photos

autumnal solids

soft, supple leather

i confess that i have been led astray from my creative endeavors by glorious autumn weather. when the weather got good last wednesday, i abandoned my post at the sewing machine and went outside. i've only come back in to do things that were absolutely necessary (laundry, meals, making sure the child takes a shower), but otherwise, i've been out with the horse and the bunnies and the chickens and the child. puttering in the garden. helping husband clear an area to plant some grapes and some special cider apple trees that we ordered. ok, i didn't actually help that much, but i discussed where it should all go before i settled down in the hammock with a book.

however, i do have all of these lovely materials, waiting patiently for me on the table in my makeshift studio and they promise rain tomorrow...

up close and personal with embroidery

it's very much unlike me to blog photos that i took ages ago, but i don't think i ever blogged these. they're macro shots of a beautiful embroidery that hangs on the wall at a good friend's house. 

if i remember correctly, it is a stitched piece made by her grandmother. (judith, you'll have to correct me if i remember that wrong - i am on my way to the nursing home soon at the rate my eyes and memory are failing).

i will say that i think it looks like this little boy might be having a wee. unless it's a girl, then i guess not.

the details are just incredible. such a variety of fabrics and notions and stitches. i can't imagine the time it took. it must represent months and months (perhaps years) of work.

the piece is very large, tho' i apparently only took close-up shots of it, so i don't have a shot of the whole thing. i think i was very fascinated by the details, so i concentrated my lens only on all those beautiful stitches.

a path or a stream or perhaps a tree trunk - it's hard to tell close-up, but either way, i love the variety of stitches and textures and the cheery little daisies on the lower right.

i'm fascinated by embroidery of late (you had probably gathered that). i think as winter approaches, i begin to think about snuggling up in a chair and working on something homey. and these stitches, in their variety and their use of bits and pieces of other fabrics are pulling me in.

this work has a more traditional feel than anne brodersen's work and the variety of the stitches is impressive. anne actually uses very simple stitches and not that many different ones. this piece is fascinating in a different way.

with such a big piece, i wonder how the process went - did she know what the picture was before she started or did she just stitch and let it develop as she went along?

i think i'll have to wander down for a visit and take a photo of this in its entirety. either that or just get on with some stitching already.