Author: Katy

Half-term Hijinks

16 October, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

We’re off on our half-term adventures, but I didn’t want to leave you with nothing to do.

Here are two rather charming games for you:

The premise is rather simple; can you tell the difference between the names of fonts and cheeses? (Make sure you have a supply of crackers to hand, I tend to get a little nibbly after the first few rounds.)

The second game is called Kern Type, and lets you adjust words so that the letters are just right.

Enjoy! (All suggestions of font-based games are much appreciated!)

Leaving Go

9 October, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

This week has mainly been about leaving.

For the first time I left the house with two children and returned with none.

It was a very exposed, almost naked feeling (a little less so when I remembered to retrieve my house keys from the pocket of the baby carrier).

Even more emotional than leaving my children, I’m about to drop my sewing shears off to be sharpened, with the prospect of being separated from them for upwards of three weeks.

I have no idea why it feel so wrenching, perhaps because almost everything else I use is one of many (needles, threads, hoops), whereas the scissors are unique.

I’ve also had them much longer than even the Lovely Young Man (and we met 17 years ago on Wednesday) – my fabric scissors since I was a teenager, and my pinking shears were my granny’s.

But in the spirit of the week, I’ll stick emphatic name labels on them, take a deep breath and go.

The Ladybird Vanishes

2 October, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

Who doesn’t love a Ladybird book?

The text has the reassuring condescension of a public information film combined with illustrations full of a matter-of-fact surrealism which can only really work in books for children.

I have a whole shelf of them at my mum’s, which I should start ferrying over sometime.

One of my favourites was the Ballet book, and when I found it in a charity shop, I snapped it up (along with a few others).

I still have very vivid memories of the illustrations (their influence on my make-up style can’t be overstated) and the thrill of finally fulfilling my ambition of seeing Checkmate on stage slightly overshadowed all memories of the production itself.

I’m not the only one to have imbibed the Ladybird zeitgeist, artist Miriam Elia has created We go to the gallery, published by Dung Beetle books which aims to guide children through the world of contemporary art where, ‘with Mummy’s help, they will discover that real meaning does not exist and that death is final.’

We go to the gallery by Miriam Elia and Dung Beetle Books

How thrilling.

Playing Away

25 September, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

I have a confession to make, I’ve been flirting with another media recently.

(No, I haven’t started vlogging.)

I keep finding myself craving paint, pencils, and brushes. This has only been amplified by a ‘thank you’ voucher for Greyfriars Art Shop which is gently smouldering a hole in my pocket.

I’ve been working on Little Lion’s baby book (and catching up with Dragon’s book) and I’m really enjoying it. Sometimes I can even release my grip enough to let Dragon* help.

As my maternity leave comes to a close, I’m pondering the next steps for Misericordia. Since I’m running a part-part (part?) time operation, the evolution of my work can feel very slow sometimes. My mind certainly works a lot faster than my fingers!

I definitely want to work a little more drawing into my embroidery, but what that looks like remains to be seen.

While I’m pondering, what are your favourite art supplies? This voucher needs spending!

*Check out the finished birthday turtle costume finished well over a week before his birthday!

The World According to Pinterest

18 September, 2015 / Katy / 2 Comments

Like about 97.3% of the people I know, I spend a lot of time on Pinterest.

It ranges from a useful source of ideas to a weirdly fascinating glimpse into other people’s interests and obsessions (from fingernails to family preparedness plans).

When we were planning our bathroom I found a lot of good ideas, but it rapidly became apparent that a lot of people were operating on a completely different plain than we were.

For instance, our classic Edinburgh bathroom is, in its entirety, the size of a small American walk-in shower. Even British bathroom fixtures have to be carefully selected to ensure there’s room for the bather to open the door without having to climb on the toilet seat.

I noticed that a fellow Edinburgh crafter was pinning some remarkably familiar images to her own bathroom board and thought I’d offer to help. She suggested I take a photo of (oh horrors) my bathroom to share and I’ve decided to be brave and do it.

In keeping with the latest gentrification chic aesthetic, I’ve left everything pretty much as it would be should you pop in for a cuppa (with the exception of a few toothpaste splatters on the mirror).

While I had the tripod out and levelled, I thought I would also show you what happens when someone vacillates between wanting to live in a Pinterest-worthy house and being unable to file their post or compost dead flowers. For the purposes of research, you understand.

New Season Projects

11 September, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

I am deep in the midst of an autumnal project-starting binge.

In addition to the next Ark Project piece, a commission and a first attempt at drafting a flattering trouser block suitable for wearing while teaching Pilates, it’s time to start Dragon’s Birthday Costume.

He has decided on a sea turtle, and I thought I’d try to be brave and make it up as I go along.

It was going very well until I realised that, for the second year in a row, I’d bought the wrong kind of zip.

Of course, as a result of all the half-started bits and pieces, the house is in a bit of a state.

But I have the perfect solution. We’ll just invite some friends over, concocting a menu is just like starting a project, except this one comes with a built in tidying up step!

A Little Sketchy

4 September, 2015 / Katy / 4 Comments

I’m feeling a little becalmed this week.

I’m at the sketching phase with the next part of the Ark Project and I’ve been trying to use more 3D ways of working through ideas and potential problems before jumping in and cutting things.

I’m playing with some new things to start post-maternity leave, but they’re still very preliminary, so I don’t have anything to sink my teeth into.

But a little quality time with a sketchbook is good for the soul, right?

Returns, Reviews and Restitutions

28 August, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

This has been an ‘..already?’ week.

Between the first proper week of school, the start of after-school classes, a mountain of life administration and trying to new homes for all the stuff that has crept into the house while my back was turned, I don’t have much finished work to show.

But I’m trying to ride the crest of the end of summer wave and get myself back into the swing of coherent existence. I’ve had a nice few months letting things slide, but now I think I want to live in a house where there are flat surfaces with nothing on them and corners which only collect cat fur.

I’ve girded my loins for another attempt to finish the Lovely Young Man’s Christmas jumper (which I started a fortnight before Christmas two years ago), and I have moderately high hopes for this attempt.

How are things shaping up around you? Have you turned up to anything a week before it was meant to start? Have you put something down only for it to vanish into a realm from which nothing can return? Do you have any good ways to store Lego and dinosaurs, safe from the curious fingers of a soon-to-be-mobile Little Lion?

Joining the Club

21 August, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

I’ve noticed that there are some interests, hobbies and products that draw people together.

My dad has a vintage Alfa Romeo, and when we went for drives, owners of similarly beautiful-but-impractical cars would nod or lift an index finger off their steering wheels in a subtle salute.

This has followed me into adulthood, although our nodding fraternity choices are a Brompton bicycle and an Ergo carrier. But as I spied a knitting needle case on the table at a recent play date, I realised that there is a similar clanship among people who make.

About 75% of my friends are makers of some sort. A reasonable percentage of those have made things since childhood, before the recent crafting boom. Interestingly, LYM’s friends from school are consistently excellent makers and top quality pals.

For that reason, we asked Liz to be Little Lion’s godmother. Not only can I rest safe in the knowledge that Lion will have a better understanding of cricket than I, she will be sure to know how to dance with decorum (even if she chooses not to) and will always, always submit her taxes well before the deadline.

In addition to these skills, Liz turns her hand to quite an enviable array of making genres from knitting to tailoring.

So when she presented Little Lion with this beautiful rabbit, we were thrilled for all sorts of reasons. It’s a gorgeous bunny, beautifully made, with a properly serious grown up expression – just a hint of Waldorf doll about it (we take our teddies very seriously in this house). But best of all it’s an entirely unique and handmade thing, which she will learn to treasure (as soon as I decide to let the bunny down off the mantelpiece, which may take a few years)!

You can read all about the bunny’s creation on Liz’s blog here!

Preparatory Position

14 August, 2015 / Katy / 0 Comments

Have you ever watched a row of people stand at a bank counter?

The high, old fashioned kind with a screen, not the new ones that look like space pods. Almost everyone will put their weight on one foot and bend their other knee to rest their toe on the floor.

There’s a similar preparatory position in ballet (but a little more turned out), you usually use it before you set off on an exercise that travels across the floor, or in the wings when you’re about to run, leap etc onto stage.

In this position there’s a little rock onto the back foot that you take before you set off. It’s a fairly small movement, but the idea is to take it a breath before the start of the music so you can start in an active state, rather than trying to catch up. Being off balance keeps you alert.

I feel like I’m waiting for the breath before the music that will set me off balance. I know the outline of our new routine, but it’s not in my body yet, it doesn’t feel natural and automatic.

So merde to everyone starting new things next week, we’ll be thinking of you.