New Project

I have a new project for 2014. 

It about focusing my coffee doodle time. 

It's about practising something I LOVE to do and collecting.

Hand lettering.

Favourite song lyrics.

Sketchbooks doodles.

This is what I do over coffee.

I LOVE EELS. 

I love this song.

They are gonna show up a lot.

These will be available to buy at some point. 

I'll keep you posted. 

Enjoy.

New blog page!

Hello folks, I've added a new page to the blog. This is where you'll find all the FREE printable stuff!

Check it out. I'll be adding more soon.

You can print off a cute Nativity scene and a Take What You Need poster.

Finding my center once again

I have stacks of notenooks.
Loads.         Too many?
                                            I don't think so.
I scribble and write in them all the time.
         Random stuff,  ideas, plans, observations,  thoughts.

Whichever one is to hand or fits in my pocket.
                   For certain important projects I do have specific notebooks.

If I empty my head often there's room for new ideas to fly around.

          And then every now and then I'll find book I haven't seen in a while. More often than not there's a messsge I wrote to my future self, unknowingly at the time, of course.

                             Today I found this. I wrote it about a year ago.
                                                            Just what I need.
                Time to regain focus.
                                            I've wandered aimlessly for long enough.

Listening to the whispers.

I get distracted too easily.
I say yes too quickly.
I give too much.
I get excited by possibility.
I battle between heart and head.

2014 feels full of possibility and adventure.
I am stood at the crossroads.
Whichever path I choose, it will be great.
It will challenge and excite.
I must only choose one.
I am listening to the inner whispers.
It's difficult.
I need to decide.

My heart is calling me in two directions.
I feel torn.

Which way do I leap?

Pockets of joy

Today I drank good coffee made by someone with a passion. It was good. It always is.

I made porridge.  I borrowed Kinfolk.

I wore red tights to brighten up the day.

I stitched some Flo feet and faces. I drew a bearded man with the machine.

I dropped a postcard to a friend.

The little moments in between all the hard work and necessaryness of life are where the joy is found. Acknowledge them. Savour them.

Where have I been?

                  Busy
                      Buried in real life
                     Grieving
              My mum
                  My father -in-law
              My cat Jude
               All gone within two months.
       
          It left me empty, lost,
                 Emotionally raw

            I left work alone
                I needed space......to do stuff.......to do nothing
             To breathe, to re-evaluate
                     To cry and laugh
                To hug and be hugged.

                    I gave myself permission
                 To take time
                     All the time I needed.....still need
                 To heal, to remember, to just be.

               It's been a time to rest
                          Restore
                 Re-evaluate
                    To surrender and unfold.
          
                          I am returning
                  To new beginnings
                         To once again live a life
                       Of positivity and possibility.
         

What's keeping me busy.

I  decided to steal myself away from the sewing machine for a while to prevent curvature of the spine setting in! I thought it would be good to escape for a giant latte and a little blogging time.

Lately I have been doing a fair amount of quilt planning. A lot of cutting up children's clothes into neat little squares. Turning children's drawings into quilt blocks and some new character sketches that I am desperately trying to find time to make real.
I have also squeezed in a little painting time and I must say I'm really enjoying this. I need to carve out more time to paint.

Well my giant latte needs drinking and it has arrived accompanied by the most delicious blackberry tart,  which I hadn't ordered but have been treated to..... diet can start tomorrow! I shall now give it the attention it deserves.

Bye for now folks.

Susan
P.s. if the pics don't show up I will edit later.  X

Art residency Cubist portrait

Today I had the privilege of working with four  year 6 students to make a piece of literacy inspired art.

The subject was a book that was studied as a class earlier in the year. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne is centered around two main characters, Bruno and Schmuel. Set against the backdrop of a concentration camp their is a certain bleakness. I felt it would be a good contrast to use Picassos cubist portrait as the inspiration for the portrait.
Wow, what a great choice! We started off,  after looking at Picassos work, by waking up the right side of our brains with some sketching of cubist body parts. We then cut out elements they everyone liked and started to place them onto the board. This is where the portrait started to come alive. As they began to add colour it was a joy to hear the children discussing how they were using colour - the emotions associated with certain colours- and how they could explore using colour freely once they realised that hair didn't have to be brown.
Here is their wonderful cubist portrait of Bruno and Schmuel.

January Blues

Bless me followers, it has been 6 weeks since my last blog post. But you see there was this whole Christmas thing going on that makes people rush around like fools. At the peak of that busyness I typed MADNESS into my laptop when prompted for my password! A sign of what was to come....actually, all that came was a sack full of horrid cold germs on Christmas morning :-( Me and the kids had bad colds, hubby had flu...of course.
But now it is a fresh shiny New Year. I tend to hibernate in January and February. It help me get through this these cold grey months without being completely miserable and horrid to live with. But this year is different. I eased back into to work slowly with a spot of self indulgent painting. Very therapeutic creative play.

I have already had two birthday parties in the studio (one was my daughters). How can you have the January blues when surrounded by a group of giggling girls all excited about using a singer sewing machine. It is the gateway drug into a lifelong addiction to sewing.....;-)

The lovely dolls they made.  (zombie style for some reason)

Her is my baby showing them how it's done.

I made some heart bunting....just because.

Every Thursday I get to work with some wonderful kids on my Art Residency. There enthusiasm is infectious. Here are the quilt blocks they have been working on.

This is how it started way back in September with year 1 and 2.

A term later and Year 6 are adding their layer.

I will take some more photos this week and write a more detailed post on  the process. It is almost ready to put together and hang.

Next week I start a 6 week course with a few students as part of the schools Children's University. We are making work inspired by the Austrian artist, ecologist, architect and visionary Hundertwasser.

I think it is fair to say that I am more excited about this than the kids at the moment!!!!! 

With so many fabulous creative things to do, the January Blues have been kicked out the window and my rose tinted specs put back on. My sunny disposition has returned much earlier than usual.

Get creative people and beat those blues over the head with a big fat paint brush or point them in the eye with a pointy knitting needle. Surround yourself with positive people....kids are good for that... preferably not your own ;-) Stop thinking and start doing.........with no game plan or envisaged end result. Just enjoy the process. It might just help a little.

Happy New Year lovely people.

xxxxxxx

Nativity Printable

Okay, here we go. I have been trying to figure out how to add a free printable to the blog....some people make this interweb look so easy! After much googling and some failed attempts I am trying this way.

Below may be a link to my Free Printable colour and cut out Nativity scene or it may be a whole load of indecipherable HTML gobbledygook. I will take some photos of said Nativity when I can get organised enough to have the camera in the right place.

Nativity Cut out scene

Happy Christmas crafting folks. 

More festive fun from Fat Hen And Flo

Special edition festive Stan

Make your own Gnometastic bunting

I don't get it

I am not one for watching numbers. I don't feverishly watch my Facebook page likes (although I did notice today that it is a nice round number - you can win your very own Stan if you comment here). I don't like all those 'Hike Your Likes' type pages. I want people to find  my page and genuinely want to see me in their newsfeed. Most hated comment.....'new like from blah blah, return the like'.....errr NO!!! I won't 'like' a page unless I actually want to see more from that page. I will take the time to visit your page, leave comments and interact with you. If I like your page it means I actually do...well okay there are a couple of exceptions where I ;

A: feel obliged to like you for some reason

B: need to for 'networking' purposes...boring but necessary

C: need to keep tabs on people...... 

Don't act so surprised, everyone has a fb 'friend' that fits in to these boxes. 

Anyway, I've gone off on a tangent. Numbers is where I was. Occasionally I have a look to see how many people read my blog posts. What is more popular? What do you guys want to read about? For example, more of you wanted to read about Vintage Books than Meet Betty.

That's good, I can work with that. BUT when it comes to good ol' Facebook...well......what can I say....

An average post reaches maybe a third, sometimes more, of my fans/likes. A post like this for example-

or even this - two thirds saw this.

 But nearly FOUR times as many people viewed this!!! That's way more than my total fans/likes!!

CAT FOOD

REALLY? Is this what you guys want to see?

Might need to rethink my creative business.

Good night folks

*all my hard work and they love adult chunks in jelly*

So what do you do all day in the studio?

Some people might wonder what us creative folk get up to in our studios every day. Other creative folk wonder if everyone else is more being organised/productive/successful than they are. I thought I'd share with you the beginning of a typical day.

So what does Susan do in the studio?

First the kettle goes on to make that very important cup of tea.

I then fling open the window and put some music on.

If I have the laptop with me I switch it on to quickly say Hi to the world. A picture would be nice, I think to myself, of this beautiful sunny morning. People like pictures. So I find my camera and take a picture, or 3 or 4, of the sun pouring into the studio.

I then notice the sun catching all the lovely colours of my crayons and remembering a conversation yesterday with the lovely Caro from Predominantly Print I decide to take a close up for her.

Whilst taking that picture I notice a name on the crayon that I've not noticed before!! Macaroni and cheese!! How cool - although my macaroni and cheese doesn't look that colour!

It looks like this.

Anyway, I start to wonder what other interesting names the crayola crayons have that I haven't noticed. Best have a quick look through all 72 of them. The folks out there in the virtual world might be interested in this too, I'd better take a picture of my favourite ones. I can then blog about it because that'll be fascinating.......

....here they are, my favourite names.

What are your favourite crayon names?

And suddenly it's 10 o'clock..... I then have a very slight panic remembering my loooong to do list. Best put the kettle on before I tackle that. 

Welcome to the world of the easily distracted.

This social media/networking/marketing malarky is an essential and tedious part of the business.

.....and I haven't even checked emails yet!

I hope you enjoyed this little insight.

Susan

x

Art residency, skipping and the joy of school stationery.

What a beautiful day it was today! The kids returned to school, the sun was shining and the windows were flung wide open at the studio. It was back to work and full steam ahead!!!
Next week I start my year as Artist in Residence at a local primary school. I'm super excited about working with the children - they are little sponges just waiting to take everything in. I popped in today for my induction and had a peek in the room I'll be using. I've got two walls to fill with whatever I want as well as an area in reception. Well I practically skipped to the studio once I was finished.......  so full of ideas in need of writing down!!

This what I was doing in my head. Thankfully I kept it there!

So this is how I spent my day. 

Messy table but GOOD messy.

Start of a sign. I love playing with maps and old annuals.

 Canvases a bit later in the day.

And then I got to look through a catalogue and order my supplies....... I was restrained (I have most of what I need from trawling skips, bootfairs and my recycling bin over the summer). But I know that some of you will appreciate the simple joy of a catalogue like this, I tried not to dribble on the pages as it has to be returned to the school.....don't want them thinking I'm weird or anything!!!! There is something seriously stroke-able about a new big class box of pencils........ go on, roll your fingers along the top and hear that sound...... 

............it's not weird!! I love school stationery. I must confess that I pick up all the yellow and black Steadtler HB pencils that kids drop on their way to school or in the playground. How can you not??!! My name is Susan and I am a pencil hoarder. Just need to get one of those school wind up pencil sharpeners.....oohhhh. Still not weird!! 

That's all for now folks, Ben & Jerry are calling and I'm starting to ramble.

Be back soon.

x

We're nearing the end

The holidays are so nearly over. We've had fun. Whilst many are dreading the thought of going back to work I CAN'T WAIT!!! I love the hols and have great fun with the kids.....the lie-ins and routine free days are good too. But my studio time, and therefore my work, all but grinds to a halt despite my best intentions.

I am now raring to go....I have bootfair and skip treasure to play with.

I have a nice little stash of vintage aprons that I have a plan for. There is tidying and sorting to do.

And very soon I start my art residency at a local school so there is planning for that (I've already planned the fun stuff!) Very excited to be working with the children on some great projects.

I'm looking forward to drinking some of these :-) 

And btw, here is my quilt at The Festival of Quilts. A bit crumpled....

Summer has been fun now bring on the work!!!

That Summer Holiday Magic Moment

I know I should probably be blogging about the amazing show that I have just participated in with some incredible artists. But I'll save that for another day. Click on the image below to see more pictures.

Or I know you want to hear about my bootfair bargains and skip raiding haul but you'll have to wait for that too.

Because today I need to tell you about that summer holiday magic moment. Those of you with kids will know that these moments are rare and MUST  be acknowledged. Well, we had ours this morning (in fact it continues as I type). 

What is a SHMM you ask? It is that moment when everything in the universe is aligned and you are granted a small parcel of time when everyone is happy and content. Treasure these moments, you will get only a few over the six weeks of hols.

This is how mine unfolded today.

Child 1 has been doing a bit of under the bed clearing out -without being asked to!!!- whilst the cat plays with his toes. Child 2 has been busy building Tatooine out of Lego.

  

Child 3 is tidying her bedroom pit which I know in reality means clearing a small space to sit then becoming engrossed in her Bratz and Barbies whilst listening to her favourite 'Disco' cd.
I meanwhile have done two loads of laundry, the hoovering and the washing up so am happy  that the chore quota has been adequately filled for today so brunched on eggs on toast. I am undisturbed by arguing siblings! Nobody is bored or been thumped by another! They are positively delightful. Bliss.....if this happens to you -STOP-enjoy the moment, cherish it and hold on that vision of the wonderful summer holidays for the days when everyone is arguing and moaning and bored and you just want to disappear off somewhere and make something or read your book or do anything undisturbed!!

I know this will soon come to an end. Child 1 has joined child 2 at the Lego. A stop animation film is being made. Raised voices are drifting through in the battle for control. The word idiot is being brandished. Issues on how to write 'The End'....out of Lego or on paper.... It is sure to end in tears and probably with smashed Lego.

Never mind, I have savoured my Summer Holiday Magic Moment. I am restored, recharged and ready to face whatever is thrown at me. Make sure you savour yours too. 

Enjoy.

x

Update. Result of child 1 and 2 Lego collaboration. 

Downloading stop animation software has made me the best Mum ever and bought some studio time this afternoon. YAY!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLu6dZCs8Tg&feature=share

Meet Betty.

I've had my eye on Betty for a while. She has stood abandoned and forlorn in the corner on the studio kitchen since I arrived. Today, her previous owner had finally shed all responsibility for her. I seized my opportunity and rescued her!!

She was in a worse state than I'd imagined...... not just superficial fabric loss but internal falling apart!!!

I rose to the challenge and gathered my tools..... super sticky sticks anything glue and picture hanging wire (!) she was going to need some Heath Robinson mending. Her bust was repaired with said picture wire. 

Some glue has done the trick with the fabric, I'll tidy up all the edges once it's dry.

She still seemed a bit glum so I gave her a jubilee coloured corsage....and named her Betty as everything is all Jubilicious at the moment.

I like to say that I adjusted her dials to my size and those are my exact curves............ alas there is no dial that says 'adjust tummy to allow for having had 3 kids and eaten too much cake'. Maybe Betty will inspire me. She is a little rough around the edges but I'm sure Betty will be very happy in my studio. I might even finish the summer dress I started last year.

x

Open Studio

I’m opening my studio so that you can all come and have a peek....YAY!! From the 1^st to the 17^th June it is South East Open Studios and although I didn’t have my studio when it was sign up time, Anne in the studio downstairs is taking part and has very kindly let me jump on her bandwagon. So now you get to visit two very different studios in one building.

Let me tell you a little about Anne Wimsett. 

  She is an incredibly prolific artist working with paint, ceramics and textiles. Her work is full of texture, character, heart and soul. Anne is not a crowd pleaser and cannot be faulted for her unapologetic approach to her art. She creates art that is true to who she is and this is evident when you see a large body of her work, which you will when you visit her studio. Do take the time to visit her Aladdin’s cave of a studio; there are some gems in there. Take the time to have a good look.

These two paintings are also the views from my studio windows.

After visiting Anne pop upstairs and say Hi to me. J There isn’t quite as much to see but you will get a peek at where I hide out every day.

 You might also get a sneak peek at some of the big projects I’m working on at the moment. You can also find out about the workshops I am running from the studio. I will have a batch of ready made colour yourself soft dolls available to buy, perfect for keeping the kids occupied during half term. They can even use my fabric pens to create their little piece of art whilst you look around the studio.

I do hope you can pop along. Check my Facebook page nearer the time to see when I will be there. I will try to open most days at some point in between juggling kids, home etc.

Right better start tidying the studio.........................


Fat Hen And Flo Studio 3
11/15 The Old High Street,
Folkestone
Opposite Georges House Gallery