ATDML retreat day 1 - Friday

Friday was the start of yet another ATDML retreat and for me - 4 classes...
First of all was Ann's CD box calendar class using Echo Park papers...

Next was Mel's Simple Stories 'Generations' interactive LO...

Next it was Suzanne's turn to teach - and this time we did 3 LOs using MME Lush papers...

The last class of the day was Mel's Glitz 'Vintage Blue' class and I decided to stay true to the name and create a book of 'vintage blue' photos...

~Three more classes tomorrow plus teaching my Graphic 45 class!

A real trip down memory lane

This coming weekend is the 'A Trip Down Memory Lane' retreat and as usual I'll be going. This time instead of just flying or driving down to the retreat we decided to have our own little trip down memory lane and have spent the journey visiting friends and family and going to old haunts.
We left home last Saturday and our first stop was to see Lou and Steph in the village of Quorn in Leicestershire. It was lovely to see them with the added bonus of meeting their newly acquired Guide dog puppy 'Hope' who they will have for a year. She was very lively and 'nibbly' but also totally adorable.

The next stop was over to Worcester to see Jonathan's Dad and Ann, and Ann treated us to a very lovely dinner at the King's head. Then over to Peterborough ~ In fact we stayed in Fotheringhay at the Castle Farm B & B which was right by the mound which is all that remains of the old castle of Fotheringhay where Mary Queen of Scots was executed.

And just along the road from Fotheringhay church...

We had a lovely dinner at the Oundle Mill with Andrew (a friend of Jonathan's) then, after a day of wandering round Peterborough, the next night we met up with Christine and Peter at The Cherry House in Werrington.
We left Peterborough and headed over to Norwich and to the Park Farm hotel in Hethersett (where we have a gorgeous boutique room). We went to Hethersett church first and put flowers on Jonathan's mum's grave.

We had no dinner plans so decided instead to have lunch out at Zaks where we often used to go when we lived in Norwich. It hadn't changed much - they still do a great burger. The place is filled with American memorabilia...

We then headed out of Norwich and along the Acle straight to Great Yarmouth where several pennies were spent in the tacky arcades (when in Rome...) - actually it was great fun!

Today has been spent shopping in Norwich and tonight we're looking forward to meeting old friends Jimmy and Julie at Nick's Diner (another old haunt) before we head down to Essex tomorrow for the retreat.

More Life drawing

Last time I was at my art course in London, Rachel mentioned that I should try and get some practice, so I Googled 'Life Drawing Fife' and found a 5 week course at The Steeple in Newburgh led by Bruce Shaw. Although the drive there every Wednesday has been a trek, I've really enjoyed spending time doing more life drawing and Bruce has challenged me to try new techniques and develop my drawing style further.

Every week we start with some very quick 1,3 and 5 minute sketches to warm up then we do a longer drawing. This was week 1 (unfortunately I did this in charcoal and didn't fix it so it got very smudged in my portfolio, but I've tried to clean it up a bit)...

At week 2's class Bruce encouraged us to try a different medium 'Conti' - this drawing uses brown and white conti. We were also asked to focus on light and dark areas...

At week 3's class I was faced with my first male nude and Bruce showed us how to use hatching to shade. We worked in pencil using a bamboo skewer as a measuring stick to get proportions more accurately. Here's my effort...

Week 4 was another male model, but this time clothed. I went back to using charcoal and spent a lot of time trying to get the details of the folds in the clothing...

Finally, last night was the last lesson for this block. Bruce talked about composition of a picture and the golden section. Our model was female this time and we had a reclined pose...

I've really enjoyed Bruce's classes and am looking forward to the next block starting  in November.

The 'C' word...

...I know, it's only mid-October, and I'm posting 'Christmas' things - but if I manage to get a table at the Christmas Fayre, I'll need to be ready. So today I decided to decorate 9 little mini Christmas gift cakes!

I have another 9 to decorate - but these took a couple of hours so I'll get to the others another day!

G is for Graphic 45

One of my favourite manufacturers at the moment is Graphic 45, here are a few of the projects I have done  with  G45 papers...
Altered IKEA mirror using 'Once Upon A Springtime'

Preserving Passion LO using 'Domestic Goddess'

Buckingham Palace book using a range of different G45 papers including 'Le Romantique'

ATDML planner using 'Once Upon A Springtime'

Recipe box using 'Domestic Goddess'

Gothic Arch using 'Steampunk Debutante'

mini cake box using 'Halloween in Wonderland'

Musical model circus using 'Le Cirque'

Rosslyn Chapel exploding tag book using 'Renaissance Faire'

Bilberry Pie LO using 'Domestic Goddess'

Our Favourite Christmas Ornament using Christmas papers

Advent calendar using Christmas papers

Christmas Card

 

Thirsty Thursdays over at ATDML

The start of term has been pretty hectic and I can't believe that we're almost at the October break already. I don't feel I've been pulling my weight over at the ATDML blog so I wanted to make an effort to get involved with the 'Thirsty Thursdays' feature that Ann has started. So last week Ann  posted 'F' and I thought I'd better get caught up...

A is for apples and for my Authentique class coming soon at ATDML...

B is for the Beach and also for Basic Grey (in this case, Max and Whiskers)

C is for cats and, of course, Claudia...

D is for Domestic Goddess...

E is for embellishments...

F is for 'Fearless' and 'flowers' - I love them on my LOs and cards...

Which brings us up to date with G

For me G has to be for Graphic 45, but you'll have to wait until my next post - a G45 special.

An artful weekend...

In August  I spent another fantastic day with Rachel Clark at her studio, we had a great model (Lesley) and as usual the atmosphere was calm and relaxed and very conducive to productive drawing.
As before we started with some 5 minute and 1 minute drawings which I found difficult to begin with but Rachel is so patient and such a good teacher and helped me through the tough times! We worked alot on visualising the body as boxes and using the charcoal stick to align features horizontally and vertically to enable us to get the body in proportion. Here are a few of my early attempts...

After break we did two half hour drawings, using the same techniques but just refining our pictures a little - the first was ok but I was happier with my second half hour picture.

Finally, after lunch we spent the whole afternoon drawing one particular pose trying to get better at all the things we had been taught. I'm reasonably happy with this though I didn't get the face quite right. I'm glad I managed to get some of the pattern in the fabric she was sitting on
Here's my final piece...

On Sunday I decided I should try and practise my skills and I headed to the British Museum to find a statue to draw, I found 'Hermes' and it was quite entertaining to sit and draw while tourists milled around me. The closer I was to finishing the more interest they took in my picture and one or two actually photographed it!!LOL - Sadly I haven't photographed it yet - if I get a chance to photograph it this weekend then I'll blog it.

After the British Museum I decided I had done enough drawing for one day and so I headed over to Buckingham Palace and did the tour around, which, at the time included the Wedding Dress, shoes, cake etc. It was lovely to see the dress close up and to find out about how they stitched cutouts from 6 different pieces of lace onto it. Buckingham Palace state rooms were beautiful and I loved all of the works of art (some very historic important pictures and sculptures).
Following the weekend I used an old book and lots of Graphic 45 papers to make a whole altered book to remember my visit to Buckingham Palace, it featured in the ATDML September Design Team Gallery...

Here are some of the inside pages...