Step Fifty Two: A not so 'grand' finale!

Dearest Sylwi


What can I say, except, "Oh. Dear!" ha ha ha ha ha ha! :-)

I guess I should have known that today would turn out like this. Not only have I not had time to plan what I was going to do for the "grand finale", neither did I have time to shop for materials. So, when I sat down this morning to create my last post, I drew a complete blank. I had nothing! Panic!

An hour later and I still had no idea, but really liked the look of this adorable tutorial, by Lynn Roberts. She made the cutest little birdie, complete with a tiny heart, peeping out from his front pocket. 

I really, really wanted to make one for you, as a little present to say thank you for being you and for sharing so much on this blog for the past year.

There is no way, back at the beginning, that I could have realised how much of an impact this blog would have on me, or how much I would enjoy meeting here every week. I feel so privileged to have been able to share this space with you and been given an insight into your art and mind through it.

As an added bonus, I feel like creativity has become a part of my everyday life. I'm constantly dreaming of new projects and stockpiling ideas... and for once, the ideas happen and 'things' get created, rather than drifting around in my head, or being entirely forgotten.

So, thank you, thank you!

Back to my last disaster Step.

:-)

You would have thought I would have learned by now, that I should make sure I have all of the materials before I begin a project.

Uh. Not so.

I DES-perately wanted some cute material to work with, but I had nothing. Not even any cute dresses I could cut up! heee! I really was getting that desperate! :-) I was cursing the decision I made at the end of last year, when I visited Liberty's in London and decided not to buy a bunch of beautiful fabric scraps to use for craft projects. I KNEW I would be able to use them somehow, but had just gone through a big decluttering phase and was trying to keep the amount of "stuff" I had to a minimum. So, I didn't buy them.

Dumbest. Decision. Ever. :-)

So today, I ended up using fabric scraps and a beautiful, cashmere sweater that was given to me that I've never worn. And, well, the project slowly went from horrible to worse! I'm not even going to get into the nightmare I discovered when trying to sew the knitted jersey - it just took on a life of its own... or how I messed up the heart to the point where I had to blanket stitch around the edge to hide the holes... ha ha! 

So, I have decided dearest Sylwi, that I am using today as a "test run" and that I shall buy some fabric especially for this project and make you a sweet and beautiful bird; a gift that I can be proud of giving and one that you won't feel like you have to hide in your bottom drawer (or conveniently lose in the trash can!) :-))))

Let's call it "abstract, modern art" and leave it at that! ;-)

And, in the pocket next to the heart, there's a little note! I wanted to use the letters S.Y.L.W.I. somehow, but sewing them seemed a little advanced in light of my other sewing disasters today... so, I began thinking of adjectives that describe you beginning with those letters ... but I couldn't think for the life of me of anything beginning with 'Y'... yellow... yearbook... yodel... yak... ! Eek! :-) "Youthful" will have to do! ha ha! 


soulful, senTimental, wonderful, sensual, warm, serene, sincere, wondrous, sacred, youtHful, strong, soft, legendary, sweet, intuitive, loveAble, sexy, special, integrity (what on earth is the adjective for integrity?!), lumiNous, lustrous, sparKling, wise, legacy-leaver, womanlY, saintly, inspiratiOnal, innovative, independent, indUstrious, spiritual, intellectual and a true superwoman!

Lots and lots of love to you,
Fi
xx

Step Forty: A step back in time!

Dearest Sylwi,

Inspiration for today's Step came in the form of a 'sort of' anniversary! :-) My husband proposed to me in Paris, nine years ago today... I know it's not an 'official' anniversary, but I still like to remember the day and call it an anniversary. It drives my husband mad sometimes. He finds it hard enough to remember all of the other birthdays and anniversaries, without me adding to the list with made up ones! heh heh!

Anyway, the day was very romantic and funny and we have such great memories of it. Nine years ago, right now, we were standing on a bridge in the middle of Paris, the sun going down behind the Eiffel Tower, me a bit drunk (I knew something was up, so had insisted on a mini bar crawl on the walk down to the bridge to give me some Dutch courage!)

I was in such a fluster as he proposed that I couldn't stop talking and changing the subject, until he eventually told me, quite rudely, to "just shut up!" :-) He proposed with two rings - one was a cheap, 'back-up plan' ring, in case the real engagement ring wasn't delivered to him on time.

So, jokingly, declaring that 2 rings was fairly unnecessary, I pretended to throw the real ring over my shoulder into the Seine... and being a bit drunk and flustered, I really almost did! I managed to fumble it back into the safety of my arms though and to this day, we still laugh about his face when he thought I'd thrown it off the bridge! Yipee for happy memories!

Although, on reflection... and I do mention this to him often ;-) ... in all of the excitement of almost throwing away my engagement ring, I don't believe I actually said, "Yes!" to getting married. Hmmm... maybe there is still time to get out of it?! ;-)))

Browsing Flickr for images of the Eiffel Tower, I came across the gorgeous Photostream of pilllpat (agence eureka).

Full of beautiful French inspiration, it was there that I found a paper template of the Eiffel Tower. 

I had meant to make a 3D version, by cutting 4 sides and gluing them all together, but doing one side took longer than I expected, as I got a bit taken up with adding thread and pinholes and playing with the beautiful shadows...

I poked the pinholes on the wrong side, by mistake, so they look a bit messy here! *sigh* :-)

With time running out, I then somehow got side-tracked and made a pop-up card, instead! ha ha! :-) (Welcome to the random workings of my mind!)

It all went rather horribly wrong and didn't turn out at all as I envisaged, but in the true spirit of 52 Steps, I'm saying, "Who cares?!" Vive l'imperfection! heh heh! :-)

It was such a lovely surprise to see that you beat me to posting today. You did an amazing job of catching up. I can't believe we're at Step Forty, either! :-)

Gosh, I feel happy, sad and panicky about it, all at once! Happy that it will soon be over and I won't have to stress every week about what to do. Sad that I feel I've come so far and learned so much and that it will soon all be over. Panicky because I don't know what I'm going to do for the remaining 12 steps, but I feel like I should make them count somehow! ha ha! :-)))

Lots of love, hugs and kisses to you,

Fi
xx

Step Thirty Eight: A 'Fairytail' Ending :-)

Dearest Sylwi,

Where are yooooooooooou??! :-) Please come back! I miss you.

This week's step was a strange one for me. The influence came from a trip I made at the weekend to see my Grannie, who has Alzheimer's.

The other day, I read someone describe an Alzheimer sufferer as "the opposite of a ghost". Their body remains, but their spirit has long gone. I'm not sure I truly believe that, as I could strongly feel my Grannie's spirit, even though it could easily be described as "not being there".

Or, maybe it was just the comfortable familiarity of being surrounded by her things - her furniture, the vases and photographs on the shelves, the way her room smells of warm sunshine, coffee, soap, geraniums and biscuits, with a base note of hospital detergent... I found it difficult to determine the difference between spirit and memories. It's certainly not something to dwell on in the moment, or you would be overcome with feeling sorry for yourself, which is surely the most unhelpful emotion in these situations.

Anyway, it was a strange couple of days and when I returned I began sewing this illustration, free-hand. Almost as if it was a page from a storybook... I don't really know why I chose any of the individual elements, or if it particularly makes any sense, it was just what came pouring out of my head! :-)

It felt like a comforting story - where the spirit goes on ahead, like my dogs do on our walks... I lose sight of them for a while, but they're always standing there, waiting for me when I round the corner.

Lots of love,

Fi

xx