A textile free zone ... almost

Most people who know me know that I don't really like Christmas for a myriad of reasons, however, this year when I thought it was going to be actually more angst ridden than even normal I think I have found the secret- Just don't think too much or if you do end every sad or sorry thought with a but...

I haven't managed to do anything 'christmassy' to get me in the mood this year for a variety of health and work reasons but I have taken to making sure that when I am out walking I enjoy all the little light displays that people put in their garden and there are some lovely ones out there.

Its been left entirely up to me to do nearly all the Christmas shopping - pressies and food - because everyone else has been too busy at work and as I don't drive this has been no mean feet. Even the wheelie basket gets heavy dragging it up the hill to my house for the umpteenth time. But I now have splendid biceps and I haven't had the other half (the accountant) staring over my shoulder saying things like 'couldn't you get the cheaper one?' (no because that tastes disgusting, will end up getting thrown away not eaten because even the dogs won't eat it and that's saying something as I don't do fussy pets and mine eat anything! and I'd rather eat less and enjoy it)

I'm no domestic goddess . I can pluck and draw a turkey, make all sorts of cakes and puddings and make any preserve you like but I don't enjoy it and the family (all 3 0f them) never notice and I'd rather be sewing. But they will all have all the trimmings (they all want different things including different types of pudding) and its actually cost me less than making it from scratch. More importantly as its all up to me I won't end wanting to stuff an onion up one of them rather than the turkey and even more importantly in today's climate we are lucky enough to have a Christmas dinner.

Although I was feeling a bit down because the daughter will be spending a large part of Christmas with her boyfriend and his family leaving me with the husband and the father-in-law who will probably be asleep by 5pm on Christmas Day , I realised I am lucky to have her with us for Christmas lunch and I shall spend the evening with something good on the telly and at last have time to pick up my much neglected stitching again.

Finally in just over a week it will be January- I love January, a new year, new challenges, time to get off and running again. So to everyone in Blogland have a Happy Christmas whatever you are doing, wherever you are and a joyful new year.

Minatures, Miracles and Matrices

Friday saw me meeting up with a couple of my closest arty friends to visit a plethora of exhibitions in London before they closed.

In reverse order we went to catch the 'Bite Size' exhibition before it finished this week and I am so glad we did. One of my friends had already seen it with a trip with her MA course and had recommended it and it was a joy , so calm, so peaceful, so clean.

For lunch we popped into the Wellcome Foundation but as they queue was so long we thought we'd have a quick whisk around one of the exhibitions before we ate and I am so glad we did.

The 'Charmed Life' exhibition was a real treat. Tiny little amulets and charms and how they were used juxtaposed with Felicity Powell's wonderful tiny wax pieces was a joy and extremely interesting. I would have spent ages in there if the hungry monster hadn't been calling.

In the morning we had visited one of our old degree tutor's show in the Crypt gallery at St. Pancras. Catherine Dormor had on display some of her work for her Phd. I had seen some pieces before and I do tend to find her work isn't quite me but they certainly looked stunning in this wonderful space and I particularly liked her silk organza pieces with seemed to warm against the brick walls and also her boxes which seemed to penetrate the walls and push you into another dimension.

The Crypt is an exciting space and it has certainly made me excited this week. My covert activity can now be revealed. I have had a proposal accepted for the gallery and myself and a group of fellow artists will be exhibiting there in May 2013! This is such an exciting prospect to be exhibiting in a London gallery with such a good reputation for unusual work and to be exhibiting besides artists of various disciplines will at last take textiles into the mainstream I hope, not keep it in isolation -something I have been working to do for so long. What a christmas present!

Textile Elfing

Recognising the fact that this year isn't going to be an easy Christmas for most people I decided that I would like to give the few friends and family I possess something special this year but like ,most people, this year is a little tight moneywise therefore we we have a conundrum .I put my tired little brain into gear and realised that I have a wealth of samples and ideas that could be developed into gifts from my degree work so for the last month or so I've been busy as a Christmas elf looking at these and working the appropriate ones up into pressies. If you are a regular blog reader you'll probably recognise some of these - they are not the same pieces as I did for my degree but they are developed from them. They are all made with love and esp. for the folks they are going to and I can post a picture of a few as I know they don't do blog reading so the recipients won't have seen them. Prettily wrapped and accompanied by some Crimble choccies I hope they will be pleased with them. Its not a diamond or a 3d telly but they are given with love. Who said all that degree work was a waste !