The Juried Exhibition

This year I set myself an intention to act upon my creative ideas and connect with other creatives. To that end I promised myself to submit an entry into a juried exhibition for artist books run by From Out of the Blue Studio Gallery, Opunake, New Zealand and to be juried by Toni Hartill, a New Zealand book artist I admire. It is not that I believed my project would be up to the standard of the international book artists that would submit art for the exhibition but rather that I wanted to do it for myself - to commit, to create, to achieve. Closing date was 30 April 2026. I had made my entry, written my artist statement, taken the required photos and was ready to submit the entry as soon as I got home from work on 30 April. I checked and I could not see a cut-off time. 

Sadly, lesson learned. Do not rely on viewing important information on your mobile phone. On logging in on my laptop to submit the entry just before 5.00pm on 30 April I could clearly read the cut-off time as being 2.00pm that day. Unfortunately this detail had not shown clearly on my phone. I had missed the submission deadline.

I guess I still largely achieved what I set out to do... I planned, created and completed a project. 

Initially I was accepting of it, then I beat myself up a bit for having left it to the last day, and then started to creatively think about what to do with a project that really was created for this exhibition. I have given this some thought and will make another post shortly with some slight 'tweaks' to the project.

In the meantime I want to share the project as it would have been submitted... a bit of a story about my creative journey and process.

The Juried Exhibition 2026 Front View

The quote reads:

To achieve great things two things are needed, a plan and not quite enough time. Leonard Bernstein.

The Juried Exhibition 2026 Back View

On the back I weaved a blue thread representing a river though the orange running stitches I had stitched from the front with the quote:

I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding - John O'Donohue.

The book is contained in an old X-Acto Knife box I have had in my possession for decades that has housed many craft supplies over the years depending on my current interests. The lid of the box houses an accordian book. The other side houses a miniature scene.

The 150 word blurb I had written to submit with the entry reads:

'Call for Entries’. Excitement.

Ideas started to flow. Idea 1, Idea 2…

Excitement turned into thinking… thinking…

Self doubt nibbled at the edges of my creative flow. I started thinking about my creative journey.

This year I set an intention to act on my ideas and to follow my heart and explore the world of book arts.

For many years I hadn't let myself go down that path. Why? Maybe my involvement with other crafts, expectations of others, money I had invested in other materials. Or was it an irrational fear or an overwhelm of not knowing where to start.

Creativity and the power of the mind fascinate me… and slowly this artist book ‘The Juried Exhibition’ evolved.

On reflection I realise a little self doubt can actually be motivating if you look at it with the right attitude.

I hope this resonates with others.

Do it for you.

The Juried Exhibition is now submitted, albeit just on my blog.

Gift for a Friend

I went to visit a friend the other day and wanted to make her a quick gift. This little pillow is the result based on a design by Ellen Chester of With My Needle from page 7 November 2007 The Gift of Stitching Magazine with some changes and using own choice of threads.

                                    

The backing fabric

It is March 2021

It is March 2021. Where has the time gone. We are in our second year of living with Covid. Life has changed but our need and desire to do what we love and to make what we love is ever present, maybe even more so.

I have found myself unexpectedly unemployed at the present time and I am taking a few weeks’ break before I start looking for employment, which at 57 and living in a small rural town will not be easy to find. I finished work at the end of January so one month has already vanished. 

My 18 year old daughter has also left school having completed Year 13 and has also finished as a dance student which has also freed up time, so I suddenly find myself in a position where I have some spare time to be creative.

I have sorted out my craft room and have taken stock of what I have – so many UFOs (unfinished objects) and a huge wish list of things I would like to do.

My dolls house miniatures are still packed in boxes out in the shed (we moved to our current address in May last year) and I have yet to decide how much they will play a part in my creative future, although I anticipate wanting to do dolls house miniatures in the form of quilting, embroidery etc so my Myrtle Manor blog will hopefully still get some love at times. I also love hunting out vintage dolls house items.

So what am I ‘making’ in 2021. Last year I made the mistake of trying a little cross stitch project and discovered Flosstube (part of YouTube dedicated to cross stitch). I have fallen hard. I now have quite a collection of WIPs (works in progress). I did try a little bit of cross stitch in my late teens but it wasn’t my thing at the time. I can’t believe how far it has come in the last few decades and just what is available now as far as designs, fabric and floss and the great on-line cross stitch community.

Some cross stitch projects I have completed:

Bahhh Humbug

Designer: Calico Confectionery

Winter Cardinal Etching

Designer: Heart in Hand Needleart

The Rabbit is based on a free chart from 

The Little Stitcher with slight changes to his shape

I am also keen to get back into bookmaking, specifically to create a journal to put small cross stitch items into like a scrapbook. The cardinal etching above will go into that.

I also do a bit of quilting/sewing. My interest is mostly in art quilting and I look forward to experimenting with some different techniques including paint, dyeing, stitch, beading etc. I also enjoy English paper piecing and want to have a go at making some bags.

A small (almost finished) art quilt ‘Tribute to Clarice Cliff’:

I saw someone using a large cotton reel recently as a scissor holder on a flosstube video so I had to copy. Isn’t this the cutest thing:

I am also quite keen to look at using recycling items to make things, especially denim jeans and old doilies etc. I am currently working on a snippet roll which I will fill with stitching, embroidery and different embellishments over time. The base is made from denim jeans and small bits of hand dyed lace findings.

 

I will introduce other works in progress as we go along. So watch this space, let’s see where this bit of free time and my creative experimentations will take me.

Scarf UFO is now a FO

Yay. I have finished one of my UFOs (unfinished objects).

This is a scarf I started when I decided I wanted to learn to knit recently. The only other knitting I had ever done was a cabled baby jumper I knitted for my daughter Jamie when I was expecting her and she nearly 16 so I can safely class myself as a beginner. As I was nearing the end of knitting the scarf I decided I had enough wool that I could also make a hat so wanted to knit the hat before I used the rest of the wool to finish the scarf.

I am so pleased it is finished as I promised myself I would not start another knitting project until I had finished it.

My daughter Jamie has once again kindly modeled the items. I am not that happy with the hat but it will do to keep the ears warm when winter comes. It is super hot here at the moment so it won't get any wear for quite some time yet.

Craftsy

Happy New Year friends.

I have bought myself a Christmas/New Year gift I am pretty excited about. A year's subscription to Craftsy Unlimited. I love doing craftsy classes and I know I will get a lot of value from this subscription.

I have already used it to make my first piece of lacy knitting by making one of the items in the Knit Lab class by Stefanie Japel. Here is my little neck scarf I finished yesterday.

(Thanks to my daughter Jamie for modeling the scarf for me in sweltering hot weather)

Starting Over ... Again

Welcome to 12Create, my blog where I will be exploring creativity in general, exploring my creativity, drawling over other people's creativity and hopefully being very creative.

I used to blog a lot and loved it but eventually the blogging took over and the creativity (other than my blog) effectively ceased to the point where it just became too much.

This time I hope to get a good balance and my blog will be more pictures and less words.

I have dabbled in many crafts in the past... porcelain and fabric doll making, bear making, bookbinding and book arts, photography, dolls house miniatures, quilting and embroidery to mention a few and there are many crafts I want to explore. In particular on my to-do list at the moment is to develop my knitting skills and learn to crochet and further explore quilting and textile art. So who knows where 2018 will take me creatively... possibly in a direction I can't even imagine at the moment.

I have decided to listen to my 'inner creative' and will spent 2018 just being creative doing whatever it is that inspires me at any one time - no limits, no 'have to do' lists. I give myself the freedom to ignore unfinished objects if that is not what is inspiring me creatively and start something totally different.

One thing I do wish to complete is this quilt. I meet with a lovely group of ladies on a Monday night where we sit and stitch and chat. This year our challenge was a strip pieced quilt and this is my quilt so far. The jelly roll was an unexpected gift from my husband for our 17th wedding anniversary.

As part of my Christmas present this year my husband Pete and daughter Jamie selected 20 fabrics which they thought I would like (William Morris type fabrics) and had them cut into 2 1/2 inch strips. Such a special gift. I am looking forward to creating something with them - possibly a bag or a table centre.

Well it is time to be creative now. I will be back in the New Year hopefully with some show and tell.

If you want to have a look at my dolls house miniatures blog Myrtle Manor Miniatures (not currently active) you can follow this link:

http://myrtlemanorminiatures.blogspot.co.nz/

Cameleon

No, the heading is not a spelling mistake.

This is Cameleon the Camel. 

He was a UFO (unfinished object) I decided to complete last year. He had been waiting for about 11 years for me to finish him. Trouble is he largely looked finished. Nobody really noticed that his ears, tail and neck and nose bands were just pinned on or that his felt sack didn't have a fastener. 

Sadly it really didn't take me that long to finish him once I made the decision to do so. I'm so sorry Cameleon for making you wait so long.

When I told my husband I had finally finished the camel he said it was a wonder it hadn't collapsed with shock.

I made the camel at a workshop with a lady called Felicity Willis all those years ago. I used a scrap of upholstory fabric to make him. After the workshop I then promptly made his cover and felted his side sack and added a little pot and urn I found at an op shop. The beading under his chin is from a keyring I found... and there he sat for approximately 11 years unfinished.

Love him.