Thanks for the positive feedback on my Green Architecture post. I was a bit worried people may think I was straying from the whole craft and design thing but it seems you like it. I appreciate the links you've sent as well. I usually talk about all this stuff over on green building forums like this and I don't know why I didn't think till today to make it part of my blog.
I've spent so long being 'the weirdo that wants to live in a mud hut' i.e. a partially earth sheltered home overlooking the sea, that I forget it is much more understood and even embraced now, I'm so pleased about that! Having said that, I still got a lot of strange looks from most people when I said I was staying in a B&B in Findhorn last year, like somehow it meant I would grow dreadlocks and start tie dying all my clothes. Well, the tie dying at least fits with my textile side but I kind of went through that phase years ago. Not that'd I rule it out as a technique, just as a personal fashion statement. I'm more of a neutral linen kind of a gal.
For those of you who are interested in green clothing, foods and items for the home (UK based) there is a new free fortnightly Ezine called Pecha Kucha that you might want to have a look at here.
I thoroughly enjoyed my day off blogging but it was tough to resist. It's nice to be back.
One of the things I was doing was trying to get some advice about my house. I don't know if I've posted much about my commitment to green issues and in particular to green building design, a subject close to my heart as I try to rebuild my mobile home in a more eco friendly and sustainable way. This will be a new addition to the things I'm posting. It's not felt and paper but to me it is craft and design so it's relevant to my blog in that respect.
I also got my copy of Living Etc today and though it had lots of white to make me happy I was really dissappointed to see yet another article about being 'green' which was really pretty crap. Sorry for the language but that's me being tame about it. There is so much fantastic green design out there and they just showed the same telephone wire bowls and birkenstocks that they always show when they do a tiny conssession piece. So I'll perhaps start posting on these things too. But for now it's buildings.
I've got pretty wide ranging tastes in houses, as in everything, with a passion from things ranging from beach houses and cabins, to pod living, underground houses and even things that look a bit space age (2001 A Space Odyssey was a huge interiors influence in my childhood). I love a cosy thick walled Scottish croft but equally I loved the bright open plan homes in LA with light flooding through and sleek exteriors. At home I love to combine beach finds, skip hauls, retro furniture, cutting edge design (not that I actually have any of that, but I still yearn for an Ice chair from John Lewis).
So here is the beginning of my posts on green architecture that inspires me. I hope it will inspire some of you as well and that maybe I can even enlighten you about the options that are out there.
How's this for an organic form with passive solar heating through the glazing, and so gorgeous at night...
The Free University Library in Berlin by Foster and Partners.
When I lived in LA my friend Cynthia lived in an airstream, at least I think it was, it was huge and silver and curvy but I'd never heard of Airstream before so I couldn't say for sure that it was one. Anyway I loved that thing and it started a long term desire to have one. Now guess what, you can get a miniture one.
A mini airstream from International CCD...
Blimey I'll have to stop there, and I didn't even have any wooden buildings on yet, but I forgot I have to go to work in 45mins so I can get Friday off and be reasonably rested for Anna's visit.
Look what came in the mail today!...
A person can get quite giddy receiving a blue tissue package tied with red and white candy stripes with a POSIE sticker on it! I very very carefully unwrapped it, (it was wrapped with the niftyest folds in the tissue) and inside was a much admired from afar and now UP CLOSE canvas 'thank you' collage from the heavenly angel herself, Alicia. Oh Thank you thank you Alicia. You know you were not supposed to send me anything in return but I am loving it and appreciating it hugely all the little details and beautiful fabrics and papers. The cat liked it too, I think he could smell Portland felines.
Here is a snippet of my gift on a mirror doubling as my Self Portrait Tuesday picture, it seems appropriate as it has the letter 'C' on it and many things that represent me quite well though it doesn't fit with the April Fool theme for this month...
You can see the full piece here. See, I am finally using my Flickr page to hold pictures. I decided rather than show the whole thing I'd encourage you over there and that would give me an incentive to use it more often.
I've got a million things to do tomorrow so I'll be having a computer free day, or at least trying to. One of the things I'll be doing is finding out what new arty/crafty shops and exhibitions have come to Edinburgh since my last proper trip to town because I am having my first blog meet on Saturday, would you believe Anna of twelve22 is flying up from London for the day, how fancy is that! See here she has made more chirpy birds that you can buy here to encourage spring to arrive...
Of course I realise it's partly the only way she can stop herself from baking things, ha ha. When the rest of the world is trying to cut back on cigarettes, TV and sugar Anna has a baking addiction to deal with. I'm so much looking forward to meeting her in person, though I think I may feel OLD.
I forgot to give you my Flickr address: http://www.flickr.com/photos/callycreates/
It's early days, not much on there yet because I always end up looking at everyone else's things instead of uploading my own.
I think I've mentioned before how 3 is my lucky number. Well it's been happy 3's for me in the last 24 hours. I got a bit overwhelmed by emails and blog comments at the weekend, and so I missed out on my blog reading in order to respond and also visit the blogs of people who had commented, which is something I always like to do.
Anyway, I think I replied to everyone and so the last 24hrs was time to settle down and read my 3 favourite blogs after a very difficult weekend of work (new shifts so I can be free in the week to fix my house etc).
My top 3 blogs are Camilla, Karin and Alicia, all of whom were also my first discoveries in blogland so they really hold a very special place in my heart. Imagine, I could have stumbled on some off-putting ones and never returned. A terrible thought. But I didn't, I stumbled on these and I was hooked.
So with this in mind you can imagine how amazed and thrilled I am that I have been mentioned in ALL THREE !!! Each one was a complete surprise to me, especially Camilla's as it was in a post that I had already looked at, but had gone on a happy linking trail before reaching that part.
Thank you ladies, your good opinion means so much and now I know why I had a surge of traffic on my site. I feel like someone opening the fridge and finding a family size tiramisu and then, as you guiltily start to eat in front of the TV there is a documentary about the newly discovered incredible health benefits of eating a family size tiramisu in one serving! A very good feeling.
Work below by (in order of discovery) Karin, Camilla and Alicia...
I love it when I stumble across gomeone because I clicked the wrong link. Such surprises to be had like the beautiful illustrations of Caroline Chaves Urruzmendi. This one is from a series entitled 'from the ancient language of trees'.
It's a HAPPY BLOGGIVERSARY for another of my favourites this week.
I discovered port2port through Karin's Style Blog and fell immediately in love with her January card which I think is just the most beautiful thing ever, I LOVE white. Unfortunately I didn't realise they were limited edition and by the time I returned from my holiday in Sweden I was too late.
So take my advice, when she makes something you adore grab it immediately. I'm trying to get myself more in a position to do a swap with her but with Spring coming so late this year the house renovation is way behind schedule so I can't get my things out without trashing the place.
Just in case there is anyone reading this who hasn't checked Whip Up recently go and have a look. It just gets better and better.
Lisa of Bird In The Hand fame has done a piece on pricing your work which is something I've always had trouble with.
Alicia Paulson of Posie Gets Cozy is doing posts about selling your work , again, essential reading for me.
And Style guru and ceramacist Karin Eriksson has also just joined and is posting on ceramics and one of the items in her first post was this brilliant eye patch (I had a patch as a kid) by Damien O'Sullivan (i couldn't get his site to work though).
Three of my favourites over there giving (more of) their time and sharing their knowledge and finds with us. And if you are new to Whip Up I can highly recommend going through the archives, so much material in there for crafty people to enjoy.
I had a mammoth post prepared with lots of luscious links and images of other peoples work and good thing after my catch up session today. I was just about to post it just now when Firefox quit on me! I lost it all.
I can't bear to do that post again so instead I have taken some digital photos of actual photo's of old work (on account of I can't get to my backup CD's for a few months). Excuse the low quality on many of them. I've gone with a 'Sea' theme for this particular blast from the past.
I kick off with a really old piece of mine from the mid 80's when I was a teenager and thought by the time I was 35 I'd would live in a big (bricks and mortar) house with a lovely husband, 2 kids, several cats, dogs, rabbits and be poor but happy and making things (kind of have that last bit).
I've always loved pattern and colour and collage and FISH. Though I must confess, I cringe to look at this now, the colours were 'of the time' as it was for my mum, not really very me, especially the shape of the fish. I favour a longer thinner fish these days like the one on my blue etching underneath.
Collage mid 80's
Blue fish etching 1990
Collage detail 1991
Paper experiments with ink and batik 1991
Textile repeat from beach plastic mid 90's
Graphic design with seaweed mid 90's
DetailLater I'll add photo's of my work based on seeds, pods, whales, animals, insects etc. And speaking of insects Swissmiss (found thru Paola) posted a great insect close-up buy Igor Siwanowicz and he has a site with lots of them on it, they are really good close-ups of interesting and exotic bugs, the detail is amazing.
I'd just like to say a quick thank you to everyone who has posted comments and sent emails in the last day 24hrs (and poss the next 24).
I've never had so many in one go and after 5 hours of non stop typing I have still not managed to reply to them all, but I will. For those who I can't link to or those with comments who's reply would interest others please check back in my comments section where I will leave a response. Oh yes, I also finally started adding things to my Cally Creates Flikr account, including some of my desk space where I sit on one side of the wall in the bedroom and my computer i on the otherside on the kitchen table!
I'm glad I prepared a few posts last night or I wouldn't have posted anything today at all, and now I really need to get ready for work so I'll need to finish my replies tomorrow. Hope you are all having a good weekend.
Nope, I can't help myself, I've got to post something...
I was downloading Russian Doll images on Thursday (one of the things I work with, but in paper, both 3D and as paper cut illustrations) and then I saw Paola had some on Friday and Omondieu had these lovely ones (below) when I was replying to her today...
As well as the usual visual treats she also had a link to a furniture website which I've not had time to look at but judging by this picture she posted it will be a site I could spend a lot of time at.
