Oh also done this in the last couple of months

Remember the fabric I bought with all the beautiful goldwork, after dying the fabric I tried printing it but some of the effects were pretty miserable, which had a negative efefct on my way of thinking for a while especially as I had planned to use the fabric as scarves for female friends  and family. Thought this would be one way to life me out of my financial catastrophe, home made presents that look a bit less home made. But alas things went wrong. Stupidly I got into my head I should cut my 4 metre length of fabric horizontally which would give me more scarves, wrong move, all the fabric became slightly warped. I must make sure I stick to my original plans esp-ecially when it comes to cutting fabric the wrong way. Well at least I have learned something very important always cut along the vertical not the horizontal. What I am annoyed about is I knew this already. Guess i will put it down to tiredness and trying to cost cut.

Well three of my family received a scarf only because I wanted to give them to somebody and to be truly honest they will probably never wear them outside. And to make matters worse I havent taken photos of the finished pieces, good job they went to family at least I can ask for photos of them now.

just realised how busy I have been also done these

this was a cushion cover for my niece, aagin fabric found in my cupboard

this was going to be an apron but made it into a cushion cover for my eldest dauther instead.You might rememeber the design from one of my Paris blogs earlier in the year.  I saw the image on a wall in Paris which I then redrew and used as a print

I had made some 50s style aprons last year for a photoshoot for a client last year. I re-found these in one of my fabric boxes and thought great I know who loves cooking, once again a cheap alternatice to chrissy presents. Well out of the five I had left two made it into aprons. I used acid dye to print with but unlike the wool which loved the dye cotton did not. So after experimenting on the other aprons I decided on pigment. One went to my 12 year old daughter, the other to my niece. I think they look ok, lthought he red print could have been printed further down the apron, it looks abit misplaced. I was just impresed with how clean my print was.

Hope this explains where I have been for the last few months

Ok so I havent been blogging for a while but this has been down to working in school five days per week then making christmas presents. My 39-45 project has been put on hold although I have used the designs for christmas presents. I am coming around to the fact that this project is definitely going to be a life long one rather than a short term mess about. As for Hand and Lock im feeling back on track but dont want to say too much as will leave that for another post. 
I have printed on wool, never used this fabric before but truly love it. Check me out,  printed with acid dyes not and I repeat not pigment so this in itself is a breakthrough in confidence for me. Lets face it with pigment you know what your getting but printing with acid dyes is a whole new ball game. Im only a novice enjoying her thing rather than preaching to the queens of the screen such as Joy and Ingrid.But  after printing I started to get back into hand embroidery which I havent wanted to do since finishing my degree. I guess this is why I feel ready to restart Hand and lock. Let me know what you think
Each heart contains inside a hand stitched muslin heart filled with lavander fresh form my Dad's garden, surrounded by soft toy filling. Im pretty pleased with them.

hand and lock competition

All I can say is Im on a roll. I guess going back to being a secondary school employer has achieved what I had hoped for, a bit of time for me to get my head together. Im glad I didnt return as  a teacher, at least as a teaching assistant I have time on an evening and weekend to enjoy some creative experimentation. Getting back to my title, I am thinking of entering the 2013 Hand and Lock competition. I dodnt expect to get into the second round, but third time lucky or if its 'all things come in 3s' at least I will have a body of work behind me. It could  come in useful if I can afford to do an MA.
If I do enter H and L the section I will be choosing is to combine Tudor England and 1970s rock concert.
I got hold of some original vinyl Ziggy, Roxy music and Marc Bolan LPs,  but no  records unfortunately. Theres something to say about album covers and inner sleeves, nostalgic overload for someone who would have been 3-4yrs at that time. Anyway got a few sketches, took some photos and a bit of research done, in between removing  goldwork  from my fabric.


Im thinking Bowies 'spiders from Mars' merged with the web of deceit  amongst Elizabeth 1st royal court.



Also though web would be a good starting point as they look  like crystal lace work. This image however also has a feel of a cobweb on a ships mast which is another idea I am thinking of going down.



this cobweb could be inspiration for embroidered wings but Bowie style. 





I dont even mind the terrible quality of the phots, I think it adds  inspiration. I might print of this photo and embroider a drawing to see if  things develop further.



have I used the fabric?

The answer is of course yes. However I did have a few problems trying to dye it becasue although the fabric was silk Im not sure if it is a silk mix because there has been some interesting results when removed from the dye bath. Procions didnt work well at all, colour didnt take at all, acids did take but not in the way I had expected, But on a positive note the colours are just what I was wanting for my 39-45 project, which I havent forgotten, but am now back on track with due to mesing around as if I am a student again.


original colour before experimenting with dyes. 




the dye is very subtle




a few samples, subtle but elegant I think and to think I only used four dye baths for the whole collection.




the beautiful red and dark grey were put into the same dye baths as my 2nd hand fabric but the difference in colour take is amazing. This is the best prt of dying fabric. 





I think this has got a Japenese military feel about it, which did help to re-inspire me with my life long project



But thats not all! theres goldwork and beads too.







Found this fabric in a second hand shop, thought even if I dont use the fabric I could use all the gold work and beads, that was a border around the fabric, so since September I have painstakingly sat most evenings and removed each bead and strand of goldwork, and this is why I guess I am able to send a blog. I feel I have completed something and now I ready for my other ventures, but let me show you some of the fabric close up before you see what I have done with it.

my apologies for the terrible photos you know they are not my strong pioint, just wanted to show you the ammount of work that was involved in removing this embellishment. By the way the fabric was 3-4 meters long. The box of goldwork and  tin of glass beads are what I emoved. What a treasure eh.



where have I been/ what have I been up to ?



its amazing what you can do when you play around with ideas.



I know I have been away for a long, long time but things have been pretty hectic. But at last I have finally put together a few print designs. These were taken from my markmaking drawings, some of which I posted on my blog in the Summer. I played around with ideas, mixing things up a bit and hey this is where I am at the minute.



This is my first print of the design. Not bad since I have not done any print since may time. Looking forward to adding some of my embroidery and embellishment magic. Will post result as Im going along.



keeping on the right track

As you know I wanted to keep my 39-45 project focused on positive aspects of ths period, as these years were for me. So I started to research films, dances dancers, and mucis of that time. Talk about an abundace of material and ideas, I think this project will be a continuing life long one rather than something I will finish in the near future. Check out this you tube its amazing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0BHxhUnokU

My ideas are spirilling out of control. Not sure where the ideas are ggoing to go but if I can capture someof this energy I will be happy. Other influences and inspiration will come from films like gone with the wind, pinocchio, judy Garland, 1939 worlds fair at New York, and this is just 39 - 40.

more mark making



Im thinking tie? collar? cuffs?



Small but still relevant

As promised I did some embroidery. I know its only small but once I have phoocopied it, cut it out and then placed into onto fabric it will be something else. But this will take a while.

Im on the ARTS Thread blog !

First of all I'm so surprised they put me on there after I scared the journalist half to death. I was so emotionally overcome when I heard someone with a camera at ND ask for me, I jumped into the air and asked if I could hug the girl standing infront of me . The look on her  face quietly screamed 'mad woman' but  I am emotional and it had been a long, long, long week, with little - no interest in my work. ( I need to just reign myself a little, not everyone can handle me, I am overpowering at times). If your not interested in embroidery you too would walk right past it. It looks nothing from a distance, its all in the close up. I guess this is a major learning curve for me. My work needs to attract atention from a distance, it needs to draw the viewer in otherwise it will be overlooked.
Anyway here's a link to my blog interview. http://blog.artsthread.com/?s=Pauline+Easby
Excuse the photo, Im not a pretty sight in reality but photographs make me look even worse.

never got through to Hand and Lock

OH disappointment. Its just not my year. Anyway will try again this year as soon as the brief comes out. At least I can structure my work around the brief rather than trying to structure their brief around mine. God what did I expect, really?

Im not emotionally overwhelmed Im passionate about life

Yesterday after walking home from the shop I began a little rant in my head regarding  where I want to be in life and how much it had changed since I began my six year degreeathon. I had forgotten all about how initially I had only wanted to learn how to relax, no expectation of changing careers etc, but I got so involved in the creative process I just fell in love with each module, continually pushing my ideas and creativity mentally and physically. Then I got an internship in Copenhagen which resulted in freelance work, (which I have now returned to after the hectic final year) and thought this was as good as it gets for me. Then my minor project, Indigo and interest from an exclusive boutique began to raise my hopes. I began to think on a completely different level, maybe I could make it as a top designer, and get paid for the time I actually put into my designs. But alas this fell through and lets just say rocked my confidence, and made me devalue my First class honours, making me question where I wanted to be and what I wanted from life. After talking to Ingrid I began to realise where I want to be, I want to be with a company that likes me for who I am, someone who accepts my emotional overwhelmingness. Hey I'm passionate about life and everything in it . So this is a big shout out for  family, friends, lecturers and Fusion for believing in me. I'm finally coming to terms with the fact that just because you want something for a year doesnt mean you deserve it. I guess you have to want it from being a babes in arms.

I'M BACk

Ok, finally got my fears of my chest now its time to work. So as promised I began a few sketches, not yet with a needle but as Im not working at the minute I will try to get on with these. (health reasons and  the freelance work I had expected to be carrying out fell through, unfortunately). But I will be back on track soon, I dont stay down too long. Anyway started with a few blind mark makings, looking at my photos of Paris rather than looking at what I was drawing. I think some of them have potential .


inspiration for a brooch perhaps ?




I like this as it reminds me of twisted barbed wire and railway lines, which  worries me as this is not the route |I want to go down for moral and humanity  reasons.  



Im liking this if photocopied and mirror images etc it could lead to something beautiful

and this I love the thick / thin lines and dots, all created using my new pens from CASS Art in Islington.