Dublin Statues (I get older, they stay the same age)

At the beginning stages of new photography project so I thought I’d share my idea. The plan is to photograph lots of the statues around Dublin. I’m finding them particularly facinating at the moment! I’d also been spending lots of time walking round Stephen’s Green. Now, stautues I had never paid attention to or seen before are popping up everywhere! I’d like to photograph them as if they are living portraits. I’ll try not to show their plinths. On the list is a stunning life size horse by the canal, a singer in the Iveagh gardens and James Joyce’s head.
So far, I’ve made one of Robert Emmet having a stroll through the trees. And another head shot of a strong featured man. I will see how it goes and post the results.<

Cushions for Clara and Emma

I made some cushions recently; for Clara and Emma.

This was a commission; I was told that daddy was a big Superman fan, so if I fancied incorporating this in some way…  I didn’t want to go all-out Superman, so instead I just went superhero.  The buttons were an ebay purchase; I love them!  I didn’t even use them all…

Pow!

All the fabrics are mostly basic cottons I had in my collection; the Space Police fabric is from a pair of charity shop curtains I bought years ago.  The Care Bears fabric came from a Walmart in Arizona somewhere (or maybe Texas?), and the Dr. Seuss was a present from New Zealand.

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Emma’s cushion is a house-warming present- she recently took the plunge and became a home-owner.

 

 

 

 

While I like the design, this cushion didn’t turn out as well as I’d hoped.  The design on the front is situated too close to the edges, so when the pad is inserted, you don’t see all the detail.  Oh well, live’n'learn.  Love the colours though.

Again, most of the fabrics are basic cottons from my collection. The two on the back are vintage; one is from an old skirt I blogged about before, and the other is from a stash of new polyester and nylon (yum!) sheets and pillowcases I got in Wexford at the sale of the contents of an old drapery.

(I also got some classy thermals; 85% chlorofibre minimum I’ll have you know- only for best for me;-). Sunny wanted in on the photo action; she knows where it’s at).

 

 

MMMMmmacarons

Apparently macarons – yes, they’re macarons if we’re going for Frenchly-named-fancies and not-a-coconutty-mess-macaroons – are PRETty tricky to make and thats why they cost about two quid each.  Hmmmmm.  Having mastered bechamel sauce and become a veritable yoghurt factory of late,  my kitchen was in need of a new challenge, and luckily I had two foody friends well up for giving them a go.

One lo-o-o-ng Thursday afternoon, copious amounts of tea, one Swede dancing round this kitchen singing ‘it looks like poop!’ and three bouts of uncontrollable giggles later we managed to produce these bad boys:

Petra and I each had macarons for breakfast. One of THE best perks of being a grown-up.

A Wedding Present

Was looking through some photos from last year recently and realised that I had forgotten to post pictures of this!

Friends got married in July last (July! talk about tardy on my part); I made them a portrait in case they weren’t willing to use a photographer to record their special day.

The happy couple are both from places they didn’t grow up in, and live together in a country that is home to neither; the background to this piece names a few places on their personal journeys before and after they met.

Now, Lisa made her dress- I didn’t quite capture how beautiful that was; and Mo, apologies for the skin tone- dunno if you’d believe me if I told you how I chose the fabric (we are sososososososo limited in fabric choice in this country).

You guys are awesome- I know you’ve years of happiness together:-)

And now, because how else does one get their jollies on a art/craft blog, a gratuitous  shot of Lisa’s boobies.

Sketchbook Project 2013 – Wexford Main Street

The deadline for the most recent Sketchbook Project was last Tuesday 13th January.  I made it, just in time.  I really liked doing this one too- wish I had more time to draw.  And sew.  And knit.  Andandand.  Practice makes perfect after all!

This time I did a very long drawing of a section of North Main Street in Wexford;  (Last time I wrote a wee story).  I’ve planned on drawing both Abbey Street and Capel Street in Dublin for a while; I’ve a crazy-assed plan for the drawings (if they ever materialise), and came up with the idea that this could be done as my sketchbook.  I decided to take some photos and spend the few days I’d off over Christmas drawing.  But, the day I went to take the photos of Capel Street was miserable- proper Irish yuck.  So miserable that I decided that Wexford Main Street would do.  Consequently, on Christmas Day I told Sam that he had no choice but to accompany me down town with Sunny for her walk.  While I took photos on my phone, Sam made small-talk with a crazy dude who didn’t bat an eyelid at what I was doing but told Sam all about his finding a wallet with €500 “just there” and how he didn’t bring it to the Gardai “thieving civil servants, the lot”.  Thanks Sam!

I stuck a Sam and Sunny in for good measure- the only bit of colour in the otherwise basic line drawings.

I scanned the entire thing in high res; someday I’ll sit down and piece it together.  Someday.  Ya know, that day in the future.

…. and some more cake !!

These are a couple more samples of cakes I have made for family and friends. Yep, I love the challenge of planning the cake and get just a bit excited when it turns out the way I hoped

More cake!

This cake was an american velvet type that I made for my mothers birthday. The filling was mascarpone cheese and cream so it was very moist. I have to say it tasted pretty amazing. Most cakes I make for special occasions are madeira or sponge so really enjoyed baking something different. Although the red colouring throws you off, the flavour is vanilla with a hint of chocolate..yum!