Twenty Four Years Ago

I thought it was about time that I made another spongy sponge...

and what better excuse than a birthday.

Twenty four years ago I was in Watford General hospital, having given birth to son no. three.

 

 

The last time Joe was home (in this country) for his birthday was when he was twenty... except he wasn't really home today either. He got up after I'd gone out (after I'd made his cake) and then he went out... and it's unlikely that he'll be home this evening so we've had a slice of cake without him. It was a very good spongy sponge!

 

And if he's not here he can't complain that I'm posting embarassing photos of him again.

Happy Birthday Joe!

Seven Prints

Well eight prints really but I'll come to that in a minute... The seven of us involved in the print exchange organised by Lesley have now all finished and posted our prints and I can share with you the complete set.

 

 

John's print (John doesn't have a blog) is "Anoher Place" based on the Anthony Gormley sculptures on Crosby Beach. I'm not sure how he has achieved it but I know I like it very much!

 

Anna made a beautiful delicate screen print called "Cow Parsley"

 

Fiona's striking graphic print is called "Imagine Peace". It is a lino print that Fiona has handcoloured with watercolour and ink.

 

Jane made a wonderful digital print from vintage postcards called "Eight Views of Pisa". It was the first to arrive and immediately transported me to Italy!

 

Jac's print is an etching of copper sulphate on aluminium using a mixture of traditional and mixed media resists. I don't even begin to understand what that means or how it is achieved but I love the results.

 

Lesley sent this beautiful collagraph print overlaid with a thermofax screen with the addition of a hand cut bee. I know she had one or two problems with her original idea but I think it is charming.

 

And true to her ever generous spirit Lesley made me this special extra print when I was in the midst of my bake off... which is why I have ended up with eight prints. I think it is brilliant and this one will be framed for my kitchen wall.

 

And of course finally is my own collagraph. This swap has been a joy - it was a pleasure to make and send the prints and also such a pleasure to receive them all, each one so unique and special in its own way. I think I will bind my set of seven prints together into a book so that I can keep them all together to remind me of this delightful exchange. Thank you Lesley for organising it.

 

And before I go I should mention the winner of one of my spare prints... I got my random number generator (i.e. Stewart) to pick a number, which happened to be seven and then counted down the comments to the seventh one... which happened to be Heather. Your print is on it's way Heather and I hope it feels like a suitable thank you as you have long been a follower of my blog.

Tear Lay Cut

I've just had a wonderful, inspiring yet exhausting in-service weekend with The Textile Study Group. It hasn't been the best weekend to be away... tough family times again... and I almost didn't go, but I'm glad I did. It was a "Working Together" weekend called "Tear Cut Lay"with Ruth Issett and Bobby Britnell.

 

 

We were split into two groups and I started the weekend with Ruth, painting papers. We were limited to two colours and despite what it looks like in the photo abaove I was working with magenta and turquoise.

 

We then monoprinted more paper and working within a scale of four inch squares we tore, cut and layered the papers.

 

All the time limiting ourselves to horizontal and vertical lines.

Some pieces evolved into three dimensions.

 

Then after tea on Saturday the two groups swapped tutors and I spent the rest of the weekend with Bobby. We went from working with colour to drawing and mark making in black and white.

 

Before combining all the techniques and arranging the resulting squares in different ways to tell different stories.

 

Finally we put together a resolved piece and I combined a selection of my squares onto a background drawing... unfortnately the photo is somewhat wonky and out of focus... but it is too late in the day to take another. I'm hoping now I'll be able to take this forward into textiles.

 

Tonight is the last chance to win a copy of my limited edition print... Just leave a comment on this post... and next time I'm here I'll announce a winner.

I've Got My Eye On You.

You may remember this piece of work that was passed on to me from Gill at our last Spectrum meeting. One of our "round robin" pieces.

 

 

I thought about adding eyelashes... or lips... but in the end I made a box... one of those "middle of the night" flashes of inspiration. Although I'm not so sure that Jenny, who has to work on it next would descibe it as inspired!

 

Each of us started a small piece of work on the theme of back and white, using any method we liked. These have now been passed on to two other people, each having a month to add their contribution. When we met up yesterday, it was amazing to see how different they all look and we decided that this would be the final month. As well as adding (or taking away/cutting up etc) the final recipient this month would have to finish the piece ready for display.

 

I wish I had photographed them all at each stage... but I didn't! I'll be sure to photograph all the finished results next month though.

 

Catriona had done wonderful things with these leaves.

 

This shirt started as a tiny piece of printed fabric, which Angela changed into a pieced patchwork and then Ann cut it up and appliqued it to a shirt.

 

I started this piece which was a long strip of felted fabric. Jenny altered the shape, adding surface decoration and then Thelma added embroidered seed heads on net.

 

This piece has been worked on by Gill, me and Jenny...

 

And this piece was started by Ann, has been worked on by Margaret and Gill... and I now have to finish it. Watch this space!

 

The other exciting thing at yesterday's meeting were these wonderful Macarons that Jenny brought for us all to sample. I tried the salted caramel... and the lemon which were both equally wonderful!

 

Jenny's daughter has just started a new business making these macarons which are sure to be a huge success!

A Spongy Sponge

I have failed to get through to the semi finals of the Cambridge Bake Off.

 

 

If I had lost marks because the judges had deemed my cake a gloopy mess I might have taken it on the chin... but no... only 4 out of 10 for texture because my sponge cake was too spongy! My dreams of an alternative career have been dashed.

 

But at least I got a cookbook for my efforts.

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post if you would like to win a print

Print Exchange

I have recently been involved in a fun exchange organised by Lesley... of limited edition prints.

Now I am not a printmaker by any stretch of the imagination so this was quite a challenge, but after going through a lot of ideas that were then rejected mostly on the basis of I didn't have a clue how to do them I decided on a collagraph. A couple of years ago I did quite a bit of work on daisies resulting in a some embroideries and so I took this monoprint from my sketchbook at the time as a source of inspiration.

 

 

With the collagraph plate prepared, a couple of Saturdays ago I set aside a day for printing. Frustration struck almost immediately as I tried to get something with a little more colour than this. After several unsuccessful attempts I was getting to the stage where I was starting to think I needed to buy more paper, but then I decided to change from the ink I was using to oil paints.

 

This was better although now the prints were coming out too dark...

 

Eventually I managed to print an edition of nine prints of which I was moderately happy and six of them are now safely arrived with the other members of the print swap .

 

I've only ever attempted collagraphs once before but as then, I almost prefer the plate after printing to the actual prints.

 

As there were a total of seven of us taking part in the exchange that means I have a couple of spare prints left from the edition so I thought I might give one away on here as a thank you to everyone who continues to read and follow my blog... there wouldn't be much point without you! So leave me a comment by Sunday 9th June to let me know if you would like to win a print and I'll pick out a winner.

 

Not all of the other prints have arrived yet as some participants have been away but when I've got the full set I'll show you them all. It's been a lovely exchange (if a little nerve wracking) so thank you Lesley. I've really enjoyed it.

Decisions

1. Butter or margarine? Not really a decision for me as unsalted butter is all I ever use to bake as I don't think you can beat the flavour, although Mary Berry might disagree

 

 

2. Golden or white caster sugar? After some research I've found that white seems to dissolve into the fat better whereas the golden leaves small crystals that appear on the surface of the cake.

 

3. Plain Flour with added baking powder or self raising? I use self raising because the baking powder is evenly distributed throughout the flour... although I added an extra half teaspoon of baking powder just for good measure!

 

4. To add vanilla or not? I do because I like the flavour.

 

5. Weigh the eggs and add equal amounts of the other ingredients or go for standard weights? I tried both ways and found 4 large eggs with 225g of flour, butter and sugar seem to work best and give a softer mix and less dry cake.

 

However, all these decisions fade into insignificance when faced with the prospect of making the perfect Victoria Sponge, in an unfamiliar kitchen, start to finish in just one hour.  That's right... tins prepared, ingredients weighed, everything mixed (by hand, no electric gadgets allowed), cakes baked, cooled, filled and assembled with both jam and whipped cream in sixty minutes flat.

 

I've had a few trial runs just making the cake and have got the mixing and baking down to 40 - 45 minutes but there is no way the cake will ever be cool enough to fill. I had a proper timed go this morning and as I predicted the filling melted into a gloopy mess.

 

It tasted okay (even though I am not a fan of cream in cakes)...  but this doesn't exactly look like a prize winning cake now does it?

 

I've decided I shall bung my cooling cakes in the fridge and if that's not allowed I will refuse to add the cream!

 

Wish me luck for Saturday!