Quinn Knits a Twisted Yarn

Free Brooch Give away

This is a rather late May give away, I plan to do this once a month so check back now and again for new offers.

 

This is Miko & Molly, they are little clowns at the Moonglow Circus, they are also talented acrobats and like nothing more than to travel and make people smile. So it is time for a new home, these two are tired of hiding their talents in my studio ( I'm a one woman audience which is ok but these two are hopping, twirling and somersaulting for a larger audience. So leave a message on this post and Miko, Molly & myself will announce the winner next week, Friday 3rd June. The last two images are of other brooches available in my Etsy shop. Thank you for stopping by.

 

 

 

 

 

It's Cool to be Square

 

I had a slightly slow start today, a trip to the studio to collect some felting tools and paints, then my mum and little nephew came around to help get Sadies vegetables planted, she's growing potatoes, beans, salad, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, strawberries, and squash with the help of her Grandma. This is what sadie wanted for her 10th birthday.

I'm also moving around a bit slowely as a mystery injury to my right leg is causing a lot of pain.

But I got stuck into work around lunch time and made good progress with the squares. Legs, arms, bow ties ect. decided on but not yet sewn in place.

 

 

I also got a lot of work done on my little felt fox, I've added arms tonight and a patchwork quilt for him to sit on so more pics tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

The King & Queen of Bling

 

So I've worked all morning to complete these two, they keep evolving, well asking for more & more accessories, so I've said enough, you look great as you are. But Ive started calling them the King & Queen of Bling rather than the birds because well these two are just a little OTT. From their super shiny pants to their pop art bags and heavy gold jewelry these two are all about making a statement where ever they may go.

 

 

I'm pleased with their little bags, they kind of clash with all the gold which is what the birds wanted. The Queen has very long arms, her influence is far reaching (that's bad I know but it's been a long & lonely morning)

 

 

 

 

The Queen also believes in being first at everything, She can be hard work at times but generous and always always giving the best she can to every queenly duty asked of her.

 

 

 

And the gold cross? well the birds don't really follow any kind of religion, their mantra is fly high, travel far, follow the sun. But with a large contingent of magpies in their ancestry, all gold shiny things are good. 

New Danish Bureau

I had my new (vintage) danish bureau/dresser delivered on the weekend. It was an Ebay purchase some time ago and has taken a while to get to Bristol. I am very pleased, it does exactly what i hoped it would in providing a small home work station for evenings and days I can't get to the studio. I can tidy all my stuff away when not working and it even has a light for those late night sessions.

I spent the weekend tidying and rearranging furniture to accommodate the new bureau. Then this morning my friend Charlotte came around to photograph some of my work, she will be writing up her findings here later in the week, so be sure to have a look.

I spent the rest of the day working and testing out my new compact work space. I've been adding some bling to the King & Queen of birds, they are nearly finished. I need to get several other projects finished then sit down and blitz pricing, packaging, labeling, all the extra bits that actually take quite some time. Then listing on Etsy which again requires many hours.

I haven't really mastered the new camera yet, still using automatic mode (so images below a little rushed and basic), but thought I'd just add a couple of shots anyway, of the Royal Birds in progress.

New Look, Old Look

Well it's a new look for my blog today (hope you like), I still have some more tidying to do to make sure all links are up to date. I'm going out with friends tonight, first time in so long I've been out with adults. Whilst I've been furiously house cleaning this afternoon (kids with dad so perfect opportunity) I found this picture of me, very young probably about 16 or 17, 1980's big hair and 50's style prom dress. So this is me before a night out with my girlfriends all those years ago (we would spend hours getting ready), tonight a bath and some clean jeans if I'm lucky.

Apologies for messy blog today

Hi, I'm in the process of updating my blog! I'm struggling a little to get it sorted, hopefully by the end of today. Thanks for visiting and do pop back when I've tidied up, Jess x

Poetry & Painting

My Daughter Sadie, age 10 wrote this poem in school this week. I think it's lovely (not at all bias!) their brief was an imaginary fantasy ship and to not rhyme.

I like to think that maybe the patchwork people where inspired by my work, not in any way to take credit for her wonderful imagination but just nice to know you may be imparting some experiences/ memories of value or interest to your children.

Below is another water colour inspired by some old black & white photographs of Victorian/ Edwardian women.

And that's all for today. Have a lovely weekend.

 

Spoonflower fabrics

 

Well it's a rather lengthy and expensive process but my sample designs have finally arrived and I'm pleased with the results. These designs were made using my existing drawings, I have a couple more ideas that are adapting some drawings to a fabric repeat. I'm just a little worried about the time it takes to produce and the added costs from customs. I need to sit down and do some sums I guess.

It's lovely to see your designs printed up. I'm not completely decided on how I will be using these, small bags, cushions, dolls bodies, also the large yellow girl print could make up as simple stuffed dolls. For myself I would love to make a dress or skirt, but I may not be able to justify the cost of that at the moment.

I also hope to have some of these available to buy on spoonflower and eventually in my Etsy shop.

 

I have put these in the spoonflower shop, so whilst I decide what to do with them they are available to buy for those who may already have ideas for these designs.

Urban Art, Montpelier, Bristol

Our neighbourhood is vibrant with graffiti art and all kinds of other creative finds. Yes it is inner city and dirty and smelly at times, there are strange people shouting on street corners and much evidence of poverty. But there is also colour and community, expression and diversity. I have grown to love this area much more than the affluent Georgian terraced streets that we moved from.

I hope to explore more thoroughly soon but for now I have a handful of shots from our regular walks to school, park etc. Above is a beautifuly knitted lamp post on the corner of stokes Croft and Ninetree Hill. A quiet observer of the recent riots. I love the bright colours popping off the grey background. This lampost has also been captured by my good friend Charlotte on her lovely blog. Below is a second lamp post that Charlotte pointed out this morning after walking our dogs, a dangling heart and sequins, I wonder if it's the same artist.

The next image is something we see every morning on the way to school, a storm trooper is hiding in the bushes!

Above is our local playground, not always the nicest place to hang out but empty on a sunny day it has some appeal. Ooops, got to collect the children now.

A New Camera, a phone and some water colours

So Today I took the plunge and upgraded my gadgets. I was due an upgrade with my mobile and although I'll admit to be a little lacking on the technical side of things I really struggled with my old phone, it was awkward to use and never notified me about messages, so now I have an all singing all dancing phone that if I can wrestle it off my son seems very easy and responsive to use.

But the big decision made today was to invest in a new camera. I have worried over this for a few weeks with finances so tight it seems an odd time to spend big bucks. My main incentive was that my photos are just not good enough, my little canon is fine (but I feel a lot of the images are washed out,  just not crisp enough)so when it comes to documenting work and especially selling on line I think your photo's have to be the best they can.

Whilst worrying about the spend involved I did extensive research and came up with a good short list and finally opted for the Olympus E PL1, there was a good offer on this camera at my local camera shop as it is a 2010 model and it's had lots of good reviews. Well I think I really love this camera already, it looks great, feels lovely to hold and makes a proper clunky click when you take a picture, I know, my camera review is so up there with useful information!! but I only had about half an hour to play around with the camera, I took it with me to collect the girls from school, the following images were taken on this short journey, it was a grey grey day today and I just used the basic automatic setting with a couple of fun shots using the art options.

 

 

 

 

 

 

All the above images were fast snapshots on automatic and I'm really pleased with the colour and detail on such an overcast day. Below is a shot of the rose using the art button, I think this function is called 'pop' and it heightens colour.

Then two shots using sepia.

Rosie above was climbing, and Sadie below was singing.

More camera shots taken with my little canon

 

 

 

And for fun here's my new phone showing mostly cloudy in bristol. And lastly, because I have been working as well, a couple of small water colours.

Some time ago I did a series of sketches from early black & white photos. This drawing was inspired by those images and below is a nurse character who has appeared a couple of times before, I like that she's a little odd even menacing.

I'll sign off now, it's way past my bed time, good night. Well am unable to publish, this has happened a few times now!! will have to try again in the morning. Oops there we go it's done, good night again.