the patchwork dress

22, 23 + 24: christmas eve

Woah! - it's Christmas Eve! what happened there? I seem to have got swept up in some sort of last minute christmas snow ball effect, which meant I missed these last days of advent..

...doing this

... a commission for the brother of a colleague - I was set a challenging brief with a list of places he had lived around the world, starting with Glasgow.  I had an image of a globe, divided up with some sort of geometry - so the next stage was finding the appropriate maps.

I got my hands on the UK maps pretty quickly, and even one of Australia, but was flumoxed by the more obscure ones such as japan, singapore etc.  I had looked through every single map in the second hand bookshop where I usually get them.. when there, right at the bottom, was a folded piece of paper just poking out.  So I pulled on it, and it turned out to be a National Geographic map of the pacific ocean, dated 1936.  It almost seemed a shame to cut it up as it was beautiful, and provides that lovely deep blue and rich tones around the edges.

The next amazing thing was trying to cut the pieces so that the right bits of the map and the names fitted in the shapes - I got to the bottom there, and thought maybe that piece with Indian Ocean would work, as that is the ocean the recipient lives beside - and I thought, we all identify with the nearest pieces of water to our home - right?  And as I went to cut it, it was miraculously on the same curve as the globe I'd created! Serendipity.

The background is part of a map which says 'Firth of Clyde' up the side - I must admit I hadn't even noticed I was so in love with the numbers and the scale up the side!

It was hard to take photos as the light wasn't so great that day.

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now, as promised..

gluten free all purpose sponge cake recipe

I used this recipe today to make a small madeira style loaf, which will cut up and form the base of our Christmas trifle.  

The basic recipe is below - this time I threw in a chopped up pear which baked inside the cake... The beauty of this recipe is you can just chuck it all in one bowl and mix.. again it can be used with normal or 'free from' ingredients and it always works out.

Another adaptation for the same recipe is to make madelaines - using a madelaine baking tray, or equivalent - add the juice of a lemon at the end of the mix - you can also add handfuls of raisins, cranberries or almonds - they only take 20mins to bake.

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4oz (125g) soft magarine (for dairy free use PURE)

3oz of caster sugar

5oz of plain gluten free flour (DOVES) plus 1.5 teaspoons of g/f baking powder

2 eggs

1. Grease/line a tin - this quantity will make a small loaf, a tray of madelaines, or half a layer for a sandwich cake (ie double the quantity for 2!)

2. Put everything in one bowl and beat until the mix goes slightly lighter and creamier in texture.

3. Add to tin and bake 160C/325F/Gas 3 for 35-45 mins. (time may need extended if you have added fresh fruit such as pear or apple).  Madelaines will take around 20mins, individual sponge layers maybe around 25-35mins.

I hope this cake will prove as useful and adaptable for you as it has for me.

(This recipe was adapted to gluten/dairy free from the original by Evelyn Rose, P417, The New Complete International Jewish Cookbook - an absolute bible for any kitchen! and nearly all of the recipes work for normal wheat/dairy or replacing with alternatives.)

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Now all that is left is to wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year in 2011.

I am going to be taking a break, so see you in the new year!

a commission

A colleague asked me to do a commission for his partner's birthday which is coming up.  He gave me some dates and named a couple of places where he'd lived..  It is the first time I've done the map collage as a circle - but divided it into the 27 years, and wherever a significant move or area came, I put that map into that segment..

I actually like the way it frames the map of central glasgow - somehow it gives more focus to names and the shape and layout of the city, with it's arterial motorway (beloved M8 :) ) and river Clyde.  You feel quite drawn to looking inside the loop.

I also like the way certain sizes of scraps highlight place names, like small found poems.

One of the older maps showed a dotted line for the proposed M90 - heading north to Perth.

Hope to be back in this space more often, another contract coming to an end.

Went to visit Debs last weekend, she had a pumpkin on her dining table.  She said when she had returned from a trip the pumpkin was at the end of a worn out plant, exhausted from putting all it's energy into the pumpkin.  Rather how I feel at the end of a creative contract!

60, 70, 1000

In the last week I have also completed 2 map patchworks - one (above) was a commission for a 60th birthday, hence the 6 sided star and hexagons.

 

It was made from a mix of 3 maps - one of where the recipient was born, one of a favourite holiday location and the other her current home.

 

The second was actually for my own father, who, I hope wouldn't mind you knowing is 70 today.  Hence the heptagon/septagon 7 sided shape.  The interior star came from looking at an old diagram of how the week is divided as geometry.

 

I had planned to do this across a few maps as usual, but when I opened this map of the Firth of Forth, it seemed perfect to keep it all to one map, and really pick out individual spots that mean something.    I think the map was made circa 1959/1960 as the road bridge is marked 'under construction' - it wasn't built yet.  All of these places have memories as daytrips, walks, or places that can be viewed or pointed out on the horizon such as the Bass Rock.

 

As usual, by the time I have finished them, I'm in such a hurry to frame them, that I forget to take photos - and they are quite hard to photo well - apologies!

 

...and 1000?  Well, I have received the 1000th comment, and it belongs to Gill Turley who commented retrospectively on this post about her quilts.  It was really nice to exchange an email or 2 with her, and something will go off in the post.

 

I am going to have a bit of a session at the post office tomorrow, as lots of giveaways, orders etc to send all at once.  Thank you all for taking part, and if you look in again soon I will be showing Diana's 'pay it forward' and asking if anyone wants to take part.

a spring wedding

In december I finished off these wedding invites for a local bride who contacted me through Jane as I mentioned yesterday.

She was looking for a natural, not overly styled theme for her wedding this April, and liked the idea and ethos of the recycled cards I'd been making. I began collecting together images that would suit the feel of the mood board she showed me.

...some cards

...and corresponding envelopes

...more cards

...and their envelopes

...my favourite here was the card with the doocot.

I also supplied some kraft brown recycled envelopes in case she chose not to write the addresses on the envelopes, and made the heart envelope seals using the offcuts backed onto adhesive sticker labels and punched with a decorative paperpunch.

I think they are pretty and just a bit alternative to conventional announcements - and each one is unique and different! I really enjoyed doing these and would be open to more design commissions for clients who want something unique and one-off to suit their occasion or business. I like the idea of combining and alternating graphics with a handmade style.

a winter birth

Another form of announcement! I did this little birth announcement flyer for a friend who wanted something quick, simple and on a reasonable budget to post out with her Christmas cards.

We chose a square format and I printed them out on Ilford photo paper, delivered swiftly and without much fuss - a bit like Sam!

and a new home card!

...a new home announcement/seasonal card, made using one of my photographs with Adobe Illustrator graphics.