Hi everyone. I appreciate you coming back to my blog. Apparently keeping this habit current is not a strong suit for me. I would rather stitch! I do want to let you know what I have been up to though.
Fancy Nancy found a new home at Christmas with a young lady who is an FN fan. Very satisfying for me.
Sylvie, the eccentric auntie, was created and moved to join a lovely family in Rossland. She helped me develop some new dollmaking skills and was a step up in refinement of details. Thank you to the doll group for those wonderful finger-turning tools.

 
The June market was successful for me thanks to my faithful friends who bought cards! The weather and location for the market were not great but we were encouraged enough to plan something again for this coming June. TBA The quality and variety of work was excellent and those who attended the dollmaking workshop had a good time.

I made a collage in honour of the Mingei Museum that is closed this year for renovation (about 15 in. square). I made images of items that have inspired me in exhibits there. There is a little nod to the magnificent Chihuly chandelier that I hope returns in the new space. This piece is available at the Visions Museum in San Diego.

Once my cherry blossom project was done I worked on a doll for the Coast Character doll display at Parkgate Library in North Vancouver in May. We each chose a character from a children's book to create. I chose Fancy Nancy. It was fun to try some new techniques and as expected there is more to learn! After Nancy was done I began making Art cards for the VGFA "Made by Hand" market on June 30th, our first ever. At the same time I was creating a submission for the "Lace" members' challenge at Visions Art Museum in San Diego.  The market will be a new venture for me. I designed the poster and learned a lot doing that too! Big lesson was find out what the printer wants for specifications if you are having someone else print it! I will now post a bunch of pictures Fancy Nancy and a couple of my cards.the cards are all hand dyed and hand stitched by me.

I am exhibiting again this year in the "Cherry Blossom: A Textile Translation" show at the Silk Purse Gallery in West Vancouver, BC;  March 27 to April 15th. I have posted photos on my Gallery 2018 page.

I have been so focussed on Instagram that my website has been neglected.  Find me at  @tempestm2017. The summer and fall were busy with textile related activities.  My Canada 150 is finished and on my wall. It ended up being a triptych. Maiwa Symposium came and went, wonderful as usual. The workshop I took on thickening natural dyes was so inspiring and practical. I finished a project using one of my samples  created there. I am currently doing another using thickened dyes. I entered the  fall challenge at Visions Museum in San Diego and my entry "Mingei" sold! Selling will never cease to be a thrill.   See Canada 150 and Mingei in my gallery. See the project from my sample using the thickened dyes below. I was amazed at the rich colors produced. My idea came from a vase of tulips. Of course I had to hand and machine embroider.

The members of my fibre arts group are creating projects that represent what Canada means to each of us. The main criteria was to not buy anything new, to just use what we had in our stash. No problem. I have a ton of stuff! We will bring our finished creations to our September meeting.
The landscape of Canada is the first image that came to mind; its vastness and diverse geography. I see Canada as the West, the middle, and the East so my project became a triptych. I had a box full of batiks in every colour I needed so that became the basis for the landscape. Here are some of the parts in progress. I will post the finished project as soon as I get the sections mounted on the canvases. (note to self: make your projects a standard size so you don't have to get canvases made!)

I took advantage of all the sunny days in July to experiment with sun printing and Setacolor paints. Years ago I tried this but had forgotten the details of how. I experimented with buttons, leaves, cardboard cutouts and bits of vintage doilies. I tried linen, cotton and silk.
Lessons were learned: Press leaves first, cardboard curls up so try something else firmer, don't use a frame-tape fabric directly to the plastic surface. Mix colors before putting on fabric and do a test swatch (colors looked very different on the fabric than in the container! This is a fun and really easy way to create a new fabric. I will post the items I am making with the fabric later.

The doll group I joined had planned an exhibit for the Parkgate Library in North Vancouver. It was an underwater theme and they already had enough mermaids so I volunteered to make a fish. Robin Reid had taught us to paint faces at one of our meetings so I decided this was the time to practice. I loved creating a personality and she became Glory, a very girly fish, who loves bling! My stash had plenty of bling that complimented the fabric that spoke to me. A Purple and blue batik was the start. I sculpted her body from foam, covered it with a thin fibre batting, then shaped the fabric to fit. It  was a design that evolved as I went along. Such fun. She is currently on display with the other sea creatures at the library till May 29th.   

 My latest adventure has been into the world of dolls. I was invited to join a subgroup of the VGFA, The Coast Character Doll group. They were offering a workshop with Nell Burns on Free Motion embroidery and one spot was left. I attended and had a great day honing my skills and learning new things. I decided to formally join the doll makers. Never having made a doll I thought I had better make one so I felt like I belonged! The internet is a bottomless pit of ideas, patterns and advice so I found a pattern and was on my way. The group members steered me to some very informative resources online. My doll became a textile artist, apparently looking like me.  I have since learned that this often happens. My stash had lots of appropriate bits so I didn't buy anything. I crocheted her top, stitched her vest and skirt, made her jewelry, booties and stockings and even made her underwear. I had so much fun!