printed material

In the past few days I have sent and received e mails or left and reeceived blog post comments and the overriding sentiment is the one wishing us all a creative 2012. I have a few ideas I've started working on but just in case anyone needs a kick start......

29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE from TO-FU on Vimeo.

I was born in 1953. It was also the year of the Queen's coronation and many people went out and bought TV sets for the special occasion. Even so, Britain still only had just over 2 million licensed sets, a fraction of the number today. When you realise how things have changed so radically - and within your own lifetime - it's quite a surprise. On Christmas Day in 1953 viewers were treated to seven hours of television from the single channel output of the BBC. With so many channels to choose from around the clock these days it sounds positively frugal.

The Queen's Christmas message was still broadcast on the radio only and came from New Zealand that year. On the tv people were watching the Beverley Sisters, Norman Wisdom and Max Bygraves. As I grew up some of my key memories of Christmas revolve around watching Christmas tv. Every Christmas morning, Leslie Crowther of 'Crackerjack' fame, toured a children's ward of a hospital. It was guaranteed to tug at your heart strings and it was followed by Top of the Pops, the Queen's Speech and then a big blockbuster film before ending with a Morecambe and Wise Special in the evening. By that time I'd usually finished my selection box chocolate bars and was considering eating those satsumas or that beautifully wrapped orange that had come in my stocking. They were such a rarity in my childhood, packaged in beautiful tissue paper. Back in those days food was most definitely seasonal!!

In times when there is so much to watch I have gone the other way and watch less and less tv. Just because there is more of it, it does not necessarily mean it is all good stuff but there is one 'must watch' thing for me this year. I cannot wait to see the way the BBC treat Great Expectations. In the year that we are going to be inundated with celebrations of Dickens they've chosen to kick off with one of my favourite books of all time. Even though the novel is not set around Christmas they are teasing us with previews and clips all of which are adorned with the seasonal music of The Carol of the Bells. It is beautiful music and sets the scene for what I hope will be sublime television and one of my tv highlights of the holiday.

Back in the summer I was lucky enough to be part of a group of 12 bloggers who got together for Postmans Knock. Quite out of season, but absolutely typical of her sense of the ridiculous, Cathy sent me this wonderful reindeer postcard with a link to this quirky little video. Watching it in the midst of glorious summer sunshine was surreal.....

My alarm goes off at 5.15am and I rise at 5.30am each weekday. This morning the BBC 5.30 news began with the announcement that it was the exact time of the start of the Winter Solstice. It's all downhill from here until Spring and I always see it as a turning point in the year. People observe this time of year in many different ways. I tend to reflect on the year that has passed and the season to come. This poem seems to encapsulate for me what is happening during this time. The poet is Welshman, Vernon Watkins, a one-time friend of Dylan Thomas, and a man who was being considered as Poet Laureate at the time of his death in the 1960's. Not widely read these days so I'd like to change that, if only for today. The poem is called 'Great Night's Returning':

Last week I took delivery of Gina's recent dvd. Now, machine embroidery is something I've tried before but I've never felt quite at ease with. Mainly that's because I find it difficult to actually see what I'm stitching through the darning foot but I really want to crack that because I have been inspired by so many textile artists who used the technique with paper instead of fabric and have made the medium their own. It started years ago when I read an article about Louise Baldwin and how she often combines paper with stitch and it all came rushing back to me last week when I found the work of Helen Hallows.

Have a look at these fabulous, intricate, amazing paper sculptures by Patty Grazini. If the film intrigues you, visit here, to see a slideshow of these characters based on criminals all reported in the New York Times 1885 -1915 and re-created in bird or animal form. How I'd love to see these up close!

I finally made some Christmas cards this week. Using some cardboard alphabets on sale in my local 'bargain box' shop I made a printing plate which I sealed and then used to run my cards through the press to emboss them. The addition of the bows was a last minute thought, not part of my original plan but those letters suddenly looked like little wreaths.....

Hudson - Against The Grain from Dropbear on Vimeo.

After my friend Joan challenged us to use up by January some of the fibre and fabrics we've been hoarding I made a valiant start and then got waylaid by making the lace book. Then last week my friend Chris asked me if I would be prepared to make some bags etc that she could raffle this Christmas for the charity close to her heart - Combat Stress. In a year when too many young men have lost their lives in Afghanistan it is a salient reminder that not all those who return in one piece physically are un-scarred by the trauma mentally, so I am making something every other day for a raffle in two weeks time. I finally used up these tea towels I bought in Ikea. I always knew they would look great as a shopping bag. After all, who doesn't love cake?

I am trying to get 'festive' and think about ideas for the season. I wondered if I could make some mini reindeer decorations from weaving the willow we have growing in the field next door. My husband planted hundreds of whips there a few years ago and they are a good height to start cutting from so I went up to have a gander yesterday and noticed again how this autumn/winter has had a strange effect on the plants. Despite flocks of redwings and fieldfares a few weeks back all of our hollies have been left with their berries on; great if I wanted to make a wreath or garland. Most years it's a non-starter because the birds have had them all.