Drawing Lessons

As I mentioned in the previous posts, I have been taking a few botanical drawing lessons. So far, we have been focusing on outlines. I'm really enjoying the classes, and looking forward to the next four weeks, which will focus on shading and adding depth to the pictures. I thought I'd post my picture of the orchids I drew. I chose to draw this plant because it was beautiful and the lines/shapes of the flowers/leaves etc were clear to see. And.....I had only bought it a couple of weeks ago, and I have never had any luck with orchids in the past, so I wanted to try and draw it before it went to plant heaven! I have also taken a couple of photo's, so that if I reach the stage where I get to add colour, I will have a reference. The flowers are a beautiful shade of orange. The drawing is very light, as it's only an outline, but here it is:

Pretty in Pink

So this is the JD that I mentioned in the previous post. JD stands for Jyouge Douji, and translates to 'concurrent north-south' stitching. It is also know as the"merry go round" stitch, as the stitches zig zag up and down from half of the ball to the other. It is also one of my favourite types of temari to make.


I used the pink coloured Nordic Gold thread from Rainbow Gallery for the marking, and DMC perle #5's for the colours. It was fun and relaxing to stitch these colours.



Also, I just finished wrapping my ball for the Flower Ball Challenge over on the Temari Challenge Yahoo Group. The aim of the challenge is to create a ball stitched with flowers. I have decided to attempt to mark a C10 - it will be my first ever. Hopefully, with time and patience, it will be a successful endeavour. I have prepped a 43.5cm ball on a 5" styro base in nice dark green thread, but I still need to decide on what marking thread to use.


I'm also working on a list of possible flowers. My original idea was to do all Australian native flowers, but I think I will do a combination of my favourites, native and not. There are a few 'must-haves' on my list - Flannel Flowers and Fringed Violets, Serruria and the Giant Waterlily. The Fringed Violets should be interesting - I'll have to use a heavily textured thread to create the fringe. It should be quite effective if I can get it right. I'll try to post regularly about it, so you can see the progress too.

Every cloud has a silver lining...

This last week was a very busy one. I had a botanical drawing class on Saturday, worked the following 6 days, had another botanical drawing class on the next Saturday, and then drove to my old workplace and particpated in a silversmithing workshop. I made the bangle pictured below.

Somehow I also managed to finish off two temari, and nearly finished a third. I completed the temari for the Lunar New Year GITS, but I cant show you a picture of this one yet!

I also decided to do another version of the squares pattern. This time I decided to differentiate the colours by putting stripes of dark purple in between the blue and yellow. I learnt that this makes any slight differences in stitching stand out, but overall it's pretty good.

I'm working on a JD with kiku's on the poles, it's going ok and I'll post a pic of that one in the next couple of days!

K is for.....Kokeshi

Over the weekend, I was lucky enough to receive these lovely Japanese kokeshi dolls as a birthday gift from my sister. They are the contemporary variety, done in brighter colours and a more 'modern' look, as opposed to the traditional style. I was randomly googling temari one days and the doll in the centre of the photo popped up. I was amazed, and instantly fascinated.....she's holding a temari! From then, all I wished for my birthday was this kokeshi, and my lovely sister was thoughtful enough to order her for me (thanks H!). So now she lives here, with four of her friends, overseeing the craft/creation/cats room!

Two new additions

It's taken a little bit of time to get these balls done and this blog entry posted as we've had some minor water damage to our carpets and the house is in disarray. I'm not so happy with how these worked up - both seem to be lacking in something, or I havent got the colours quite right. The squares pattern has a few errors on it - which I'm not too worried about as it's the first time I have done the pattern, but the colours are not quite right. It's actually a more purple colour in 'real life', but it still doesnt quite work for me. It still need some metallic embellishment on it. Maybe that will give it a bit of zest.

The second ball is a pattern from Debi A. Debi has some fantastic patterns on her website - Temari Math -go and have a look. I've used these colours on a ball before and they worked really well, however this time they left me feeling a little less impressed. Maybe it was because they were a slightly darker shade.

Not to worry. There are plenty more temari to make, in plenty more colour and pattern combinations. Part of the reason I think I love making temari so much is that there are an infinite numbers of ways to combine colours and patterns, and each one gives a different effect.

My next challenge is to create a ball for my GITS partner for the lunar new year GITS. It will certainly challenge me - the colours I need to use are red, green, white and gold, or somehow incorporate a rabbit into the design, as 2011 is the year of the rabbit. I'll post a pic once my partner has received it. I'm thinking ahead to next year - the year of the Dragon - and an idea is already forming for a pattern....!!!

Kyo Kiku

I thought I'd pop up a pic of my latest ball too. This one is an S12 kiku, and is done in shaded pink Kyo Rayon threads. I'm just starting to work with these threads, and I noted a couple of things about them: They are difficult for me to get a decent photo of due to their incredible shine/lustre. They are also different to handle as they seem to be quite fluid in how they move. And thirdly, they are absolutely beautiful. This picture doesn't do the threads any justice.

Starting off the year.....

I realise this post is a little late in coming, considering it's about the New Years GITS that I just participated in. In this swap, each participant had to send a temari to their swap partner, and it had to arrive by New Years Eve, so it could be opened in the New Year. I was partnered with Sue in New York, and my parcel arrived with plenty of time to spare. At 11:59 on Dec 31, I was waiting with scissors in hand to cut the tape on the box. I was amazed at the temari that emerged. It's a beautiful C10 in blue/green and lilac. I spent quite some time turning the ball over and over and looking at the stitching. I haven't progressed to the C10 division yet, and am so excited to see one 'in person'. Here it is:

And here is the ball I sent Sue in the same swap:

They say you should start the new year off as you intend to continue. I think having a temari in my hands was a great way to start, and it's how I hope to continue. My creative new years goals are to improve my temari by studying and practicing more, to try my hand at yubinuki (thimble rings) and complete an 8-week introductory Botanical Art course that I have been looking at for a while - which is yet another endeavour, but I don't think it stands a chance at replacing my temari obsession!!!

I hope you all had a fantastic new years and wish you all the best for 2011.