Tuesday 31 March 2015

Instagram V Blogging

About a week ago I decided to sign up to Instagram and I have finally figured it out!  I have some followers already and I have started following some in return.  One of them is Instagram itself and there are lots of lovely images, but there are also some quite wired/odd/not sure what is going on,  images as well.  But that is social media for you I suppose.
I would love to find some of my blog friends too if you have an Instagram account so please let me know and I shall switch on my phone.
Just type in 
@indigo_blue_designs.
Or click on the icon at the top of this blog.
Did not want the odd dashes as they are in fact spaces but it came up as this, typical.  I have kept the blue flower logo which is easier to find!

I do like how easy it is to load up pictures and be able to comment and Like what people have added.  At the moment I fail to see how it has possibly taken users away from blogging.  It is ideal for on the go with photographs etc but so far I do not feel the same inclusion that I get with my blog.  One follower has pleaded that I do not stop blogging now that I have joined Instagram.....no chance of that even though my hits and comments have rather dropped through the floor over recent months but that might be linked to my post content as it has shifted slightly with my interest in Art Journaling and I do not post everyday. There is a good reason for this and maybe this holiday I shall reveal that reason.
I like blogging even on the days when I can not really think of anything worth while and perhaps skip a few days until I do, or several days in some cases.    Bloogging without obligation was a badge that went round blogland a few years ago.  It is in my side bar if you would like to pop it on yours.  Sorry but I can not remember where is got ir originally.
I like being able to look back on posts to recall certain memories, such as the fact it will be Toffy's 5th Birthday next month, we have it recorded the day we brought him home for the first time.
Our trips away, family issues, crafting successes........... and failures!
I love the  comments left, the blog friends that I have made and yet to make.  Even if I find Instagram fun I do not feel that I can walk away from a blog that helped me to become involved with swaps, competitions, learn new skills, find out about new crafts and helped me to get involved with social media and has taken 8 years to build up.  Well my 8th blog birthday is in September so perhaps 7.5 years be fore accurate.

Much of the above can also happen with Instagram as well, there are swaps and competitions, but Indigo Blue started here and will continue, it has just diversified a little..................
I have also found a handy little Instagram app called InstaFrame which enables you to load up a multi framed  or collage version of the photograph.  I have a Samsung Galaxy S4 mini but I am sure it works on other phones as well.  Quite good fun to use.  I have also been playing around with a 15 second video facility which is not easy as 15 seconds goes nowhere but I have added my Art Journal as a 2 part flip.  I have several pages to go but I have very nearly finished my first Midori Sketchbook.

For now I am enjoying the challenge of using a new platform and at the same time using my camera phone a lot more.
So if you wish to follow me and see what I am doing then I would be delighted to see you.
Take care and have a good week.
xx

Sunday 29 March 2015

Easter WIP's


The Easter holidays have begun and boy am I glad that it has arrived.  My poor old hip is really complaining and as soon as my group has done their GCSE exam I am booking myself in for another cortisone injection!
Anyway, apart from a boot full of work,which is probably bulky more than quantity,  I also intend on completing a few projects which are on my To Do list.
First up are some family Easter Cards.  The one above is for Sophie and hubby and I will put some money inside.  Her Godmother has already given us an Easter Egg to pass on to her  and I do not like her being given too many and at 12 years old having a bit of extra pocket money will be appreciated, some of her felt tip pens have run out recently.  Sophie likes to decorate the house and she has already asked us about what Easter means and how it relates to the Bible and the story behind it, and I think hubby and I did quite well in answering her questions.  Sophie also likes to spend time at home and has turned down offers to go out too much.  A bit of a home bird at the moment and I am glad that she likes to spend time at home and with her Mum and Dad, we must be doing something right.
Next up is a card for my Mum which needs to go in the post tomorrow, and this has lots of flowers and colour on a square background.  Hope she likes it.
Today I made my holiday trip to the range and I am in the process of creating my March Monthly Challenge entry and I am determined to complete it in the right month this time!  I just needed some Acrylic paint in a colour which I had run out of.  I have signed up for the Hobbycraft Club, after three attempts at being told I could do it online, I was finally agreed with that you need to sign up in the SHOP to actually get your card!  Nearly a year I have been trying, anyway do it now.
Next in line is my Wizard of Oz scarf, some more crochet squares and finalising my first online pattern.  But what format should I have it in?  Paper or digital format?

It has been awful weather in Cornwall this weekend and seeing as Hubby is working in Plymouth tomorrow, Sophie and i are having a nail painting and card making session.  The last time we made cards during the Easter Holidays, hubby was working away and our crafting lasted 3 days!!  Sophie had cards for her friends for the next 12 months.
I hope whatever you plan to do tomorrow pans out well.  
Take care
xx

Wednesday 25 March 2015

Creative Monthly Challenge - What does your Heart Look Like?

Better late than never, but this is my entry for the Creative Monthly Challenge with Jenniebellie and the theme was "What does your Heart Look Like?"
I was not entirely sure what to do and then things cropped up at work so it was put off until half term but then that past.
I found this lovely sun catcher on Suzysitcom.com which I thought was lovely and there is a post on her website which you should go and read.
I felt that the use of wire would represent the combining of lots of different aspects of my life and how my love of making has gone from a hobby to a job and with off shoots such as my Art Journaling and website.
I bought some wire from Hobbycraft and created a heart shape and then criss crossed thinner wire in the centre.
Taking my blog name which has featured in my life for the past 7.5 years I found a range of blue fabrics and woven then through the thinner wire.
I teach textiles, so a few buttons were added.  I am trying to teach myself crochet hence the little flowers.  i also teach Art but struggled to add anything that would actually stay on so painted glass beads took its place.  I have made intricate beaded wedding bags so I felt it worked!
Many things make up my heart, including my hubby and daughter and all three of use have creative hobbies.
I also added lots of little silver beads around the edge using the thinner wire and tied on lots of organza strips.
It looks even better than the photograph suggests and I have it hanging up by my chair in the living room  Eventually I shall take it upstairs and have it by my sewing machine.  I really enjoyed making this once I got going, it is just a pity it took so long to get there!
xx

Sunday 22 March 2015

English Heritage - Pendennis Castle

Today we decided to take advantage of the great weather and visit Pendennis  Castle which is part of English Heritage.  This was also partly so that Sophie could complete a History project homework that she had been working on.
So I charged my camera and phone.  Made sure that Sophie had done the same and I quickly grabbed my Samsung as I was going out the door.  I drove today and I have to say it was pretty warm driving in the sun.  So hopefully a lovely Easter will soon be upon us.
So, found a lovely angle to take my first photo and guess what?  A flat phone and I left the camera on the kitchen table!  Thank goodness my Samsung tablet was okay.  Really hard to see anything in such bright sunlight.  Some turned out well though considering.
Anyway.
Got that disappointment over with so we set off for homework worthy information! 
For me I wanted to have a go at a few Landscape style photographs because after Easter I will be starting a Photographic Landscape Project with a Year 9 Art and Design group.
I will probably need to go again with my digital and SLR camera to get better pictures but considering I could not see anything on the screen but my own face these turned out to be lucky shots.  Just look at the colour of that water. 
Sophie got what she needed and after a lovely dinner at The Harbour View in Falmouth we set off home again.  Hubby drove back, so I was able to check my pictures and soak up the gorgeous weather. 
Need to think of somewhere to visit next weekend. 
We are seasoned National Trust visitors but new to English Heritage so does anyone have a recommendation for our next visit?
Have a good week, I am off to soak up some more of the Cornish  coastline on Poldark. 
Have a good week everyone.
xx
PS another Samsung post,  I tell you what..........I really like this litte gadget more than I thought I would!
x


Thursday 19 March 2015

Handmade Costumes - Wizard of Oz

At the end of the school year we are putting on a production of the Wizard of Oz and I am in charge of making the costumes by hand.  We are hiring and buying a few bits here and there and I shall feature here some of the items that are made.
First up, and this is not my idea, is a multi-coloured green scarf for the Wizard.
I have decided to keep it simple as we are after a bit of a Dr Who look here by knitting  stocking stitch blocks of colour in shades of green to link with the Emerald City etc.

I have cast on 35 stitches on size 6 needles and double knot wool, and I shall just keep going.  Not sure if I have enough wool and I have put out an email at work for any unwanted wool but green is a bit of an odd colour to have left overs I supppose.  I did not have any and had to buy some to get going then one of our trainees came up trumps and brought a little bit in to help out.
I shall post a finished picture of the whole outfit when it is done.
Really fun way to spend the evening, quite relaxing and I even found a few minutes to knit a bit at work.  Well it is for the production!
xx

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Easter Is Nearly Here!

I have been adding some more items to my Web shop here
I have also started to link some of the FREE templates and ideas to the section featured at the top of this blog.  
I am also in the process of converting the numerous projects and ideas that I have built up over the past two decades in to PDF templates or much bigger patterms which will also be on my website.
However, the new EU Vat laws will mean that I will need to email the pattern to you rather than having an instant download.
A). I can no longer do that without having to register as VAT.
B) this will add to the cost of selling the PDF which is not want I want to do at all.
C) to avoid getting in to bother I will manually email the PDF to the email that you send me.  Seeing as I do not go to bed much before midnight I think that I can cater for most time zones.!

I have also added a link to my new Instagram site which I have now fathomed out how to use.
Some great images on there.  

Anyway, do pop over to my web shop and take a quick look and see if their is anything suitable for a friend or close relative.
Have a good week.
xx

Monday 16 March 2015

A Lovely Mothers Day

I am not sure where yesterday went it flew by so fast!
Love this card that Sophie gave me and in fact I am going to put it in my planner to remind me on the days when I could with splitting myself into three that I do try and I wish I really did have super powers!
You are never too old for a balloon!  These can last for up to 4 weeks.
Awwwh isn't this cute.  We are heading towards the teenage years in this house, so I intend on having this hung up on the kitchen notice board for those times of teen strife in the future.  Might get a smile when the hormones kick in and Mum is not considered quite the best .
Lovely flowers that I am sitting next to as I type this post.
Then, a little out of left field, a sewing themed puzzle.  Goodness knows when I will get a chance to actually start this as we are about to commence the exam season but hopefully I will at some point.
Way more here than was expected in the end and the puzzle was certainly a surprise.
So thank you Sophie (and Dad for paying)
Hope you all had a good weekend/ Mothers Day and a good week ahead.

I am off to my Print evening class to carry on carving out the rest of my Japanese woodcut block which is about A4 and last week my hands realliy ached and drivng home was a little painful!
xx

Saturday 14 March 2015

Handmade Cards - Mothers Day

I have been busy putting together some Mothers Day cards as well as sending one to my own Mum.
I made and sold quite a few Valentines cards last month so decided to make a few for this occasion as well.
I only make one of each kind so they really are unique.  The materials that I use vary a lot depending on what i have or buy to make them.
This one is made in felt and I embossed the card itself using a plate and my Bigshot.  There is also some hand stitching on it as well.

Sunflowers are always a nice choice if Daffodils are not your thing and I liked this velum, which came as part of a mini book.  Putting it on the white background makes it really show up.
Layering images such as this one if fun to make but you just need to make sure that you  are not going to fall foul of having it put through the dreaded plastic size gauge at the post office, because if it does not fit through you will end up paying more for postage!  This is why I do not go in for all these over the top cards.
Perhaps roses?  Again, a layered design.
Some Lillies added to this version.
This is Sophie's favourite card.  I hand punched out all of the flowers and added the stems etc.
I developed the above idea to create this version next.
Finally, another rose offering.
I really enjoyed making these and several are now on their way to new owners.  Looking in the shops today at the cost of the cards and the sorts of images on the front, I much prefer mine and I hope that my Mum does too.  Can you  guess which one I sent her?  It was a joint decision by us all.
Next year I think I shall list some on my website, to include the postage, and I still reckon they will be better than supermarket versions.   
Have a lovely day tomorrow, both Mums and families and I hope the weather is as good as it has been today.  Spring is in the air and it did not get dark until about 6.30pm today.
The clocks turn soon!
Take care and have a good weekend.
All designs are protected by

Tuesday 10 March 2015

Create a little Patterning

There is a blog post by the lovely Jennibellie whereby she used recycled wall paper designs to create a gorgeous art journal page.
This has been on the back burner for me for ages as I have tried to find some papers that I could really be inspired with.
Eventually I found this Decoupage tissue paper in an art shop that my daughter asked to visit.
Armed with my favourite set of stackable water colours I set to work.
I cut out some of the shapes from the tissue paper and glued them on to the journal pages in different positions.  Then using a pencil I extended the design and shapes to fill the pages.
At this stage I have started to added colour to the background in light blue and then to the drawn shapes.  I thought that I would use other media but to be honest I just enjoyed selecting the different colours in paint and  the whole idea of this Art Journal is to relax, switch off and bit and have just enjoy making the pages.

I love this set of little paints, the colours suit the tissue paper designs perfectly.
This is at about the half way stage  and I wanted to try and include a few other colours such as orange into the patterns.
Some red crept in there as well along with some white using a paint pen as my white acrylic has dried up!
I had a lot of fun creating this page and I thank Jennibellie for giving me the inspiration to come  up with these pages.
Give it a try, see what patterned paper you might have and see where it takes you.
xxx

Sunday 8 March 2015

Instagram Newbie

I have decided to join Instagram  and last weekend I added the link in my side bar. I added a picture then managed to accidently add another but since then I had not been able to add any more!
so please bear with me as I figure this out as I shall be adding to my account. 
The link should at least be working.
Have a good week.
xx

My latest Read.

It does seem to take me ages to read a book at the moment but yesterday i finally finished "A week in Winter" by Maeve Binchy.
I like these books as they are easy to put down and pick up and you still remember where you got to and what has happened so far.  They feature what I call real situations and people that could easily be living next door to you.  There is some humour, tragedy and surprises in each book. 
This book has a more complicated start to it that sets it up for the latter stages of the book but centres around a woman who sets up a holiday house and looks at the very first week of opening and the guests that book.  The life and background of each visitor and how they came to book their week away is studied as the book moves on.  it is very cleverly done and all makes complete sense.
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend picking it up at the library or a local book stall which is where I bought this copy.

Right at the very end there is a series of black and white photographs which link to some of the scenery described within the book which is a nice touch.
I really good read in the evening after a long day.
So what is next?
Well my SIL partner has just passed on a copy of 
WolfHall which is where the recent series is based upon.  it is about 2 inches thick and I dread to think how long it will take me to read but I shall be starting it this afternoon after I have completed some work for the day job.
Have a lovely Sunday!
xx

Friday 6 March 2015

A new Arrival

A colleague at work has recently become a Dad for the third time and I was generous to tell the rest of us that baby was to be a girl.
So I have been thinking for the past couple of weeks what my card could look like and I wanted it to feature some stitch.
I used my Brother E0touch mini embroidery machine to create the centre of this card and then mounted it on to pink hand made paper.
I decided to add the cute little bear and a girly ribbon.
The embroidery already announced the arrival of a girl so i added the Best Wishes sentiment and we all do wish the family all the best.

Love making these cards and it will not the last as there are two more babies on the way!
I am also putting together some Mother's Day Cards to take into work next week.  I do not make as many as I used to so it is fun to pick up a craft that has been a bit on the back burner recently.
Have a good weekend.
xx
PS That is odd because on my PC the right picture is present but on my ipad this post has a picture of the Seven Sisters.  I will never understand computers.

Thursday 5 March 2015

Patchwork Blue Cushion Cover -OPAM March

It was my friends birthday this week and I wanted to actually give a hand made gift for a change.  So I decided to finish a cushion cover panel that I made about three years ago and had stored away. 
This was at a time when I was going through a blue phase.  I had completed my blue quilt and had quite a bit of fabric left.  It is made for a 14inch cushion pad which in true style I could not get hold of in time.  So I ended up just giving her the cushion cover instead.  At the weekend I am going to track one down even if I have to cross county borders to do it!!
One of my favourite designs is the traditional log cabin and is an ideal stash buster way of using fabric.  Also after a day at work it is nice to only worry about which strip to add next, not whether is it cut out really straight or not!
So this is my first finish for March and guess what?..............I have another one to make up as well.  No more birthdays coming up though so not sure what to do with it.
Any ideas?
Just a short post as I need to get ready for a school trip to the Eden Project tomorrow.
Take care everyone.
xx
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