Wooohooo! I finally started the 12th century printed silk tunic project for my sweetheart!
And you find me quite excited as I was preparing for this very special project for some time now.
You might have already been wondering about all the new 12th/13th century inspired block printing stamps which I created during the last months. After finishing the last stamp we were finally able to put the new block printing stamps to good use.
After taking a look at the beautiful yellow and blue raw silk fabric which I wanted to use for my next block printing project, I realized that the pre-washed fabric wasn’t as smooth as I liked it to be.
Well, after all this years of minimal use of the ironing board and the iron, I had to admit to myself that this lovely time had to come to an end. I had to iron my fabric for my project and I definitely didn’t enjoy the thought of it.
You might think that after carving three medieval inspired block printing stamps rather recently, which were all based on extant printed fabrics from the 12th to 13th century, that I might have done enough stamp cutting for a while. But no, I have by far not have had enough from cutting block printing stamps yet.
And it definitely didn’t help that my dear sweetheart ordered a nice set of good cutting tools as Christmas present for me. Yeah, he is indeed a terrible enabler when it comes to my projects and, as you can imagine, I definitely do not object to that… 😉
Yes, you see right, I’ve done some nailbinding again… 🙂
It is really nice to finally find a moment of peace which allows me to catch my breath. I feel like I just got off a roller coaster. The last year finished with quite a surprise and it was unfortunatelly not the kind one would normally appreciate.
After some initial struggles to find a doctor who would see me on short notice around christmas, I finally received the information that I had to undergo a small surgery. And though the thought scared me quite a bit, I was at the same time also very thankful that my doctor could fit me into his quite busy schedule just two days later… Continue reading
…and so it finally begins – a new stamp for my next medieval inspired block printing project is cut and mounted! Romanesque teardrop stamp for the win!
And I already can’t wait to cut the next stamp as the 12th/13th century pattern which I want to reproduce and play with is calling for a set of at least two stamps. And not only that, I also have my eye already set on a third pattern which is quite similar in its outer appearance. I bet that this third medieval pattern would look lovely when added to this growing repertoire of what I started to call “romanesque teardrop stamps”. Yes, one can definitely say for sure that I’ve fallen in love with block printing. And this craft is so amazing and inspiring – I already found several inspiring medieval print patterns with which I would love to play. Yes, the possibilities of this craft appear to be endless. 🙂
I haven’t made anything for myself for over one year, as my dear sweetheart pointed out to me recently. And the good husband that he is, he made me swear that I would start working on a project for myself and my own amusement next. …or as I did put it: as soon as possible. 😉
However much fun it is to make things for other people, one has always to be careful not to work oneself to the brink of creative exhaustion. Therefore I find it really important to do a fun project from time to time in order to recharge the internal batteries. It feels to me like a creative recharge every now and then gets me beyond the point of “just making a thing”. It enables me to go one step further – to open my mind for inspiration, to allow myself to get creative and to execute techniques and patterns I haven’t tried yet. Yes, in my opinion inspiration is a very important part of every creative process and project but it is also a very fragile flower which needs some occasional pampering. And to work oneself into a burn out doesn’t really help anyone as the recovery process can take quite some time. I am glad that my sweetheart takes such a good care of me and reminds me to take a break once in a while. Continue reading
Their Royal Highnesses Timothy & Ysmay at the Crown Tournament
As some of you might have already realized, I didn’t post as often as I normally do during the past couple months. As sad this fact made me, I have a really good reason for it. I was working like crazy at a 12th century coronation dress as well as a 12th century coronation underdress for our future Queen, our beloved princess Ysmay.
But first things first. I was quite surprised but at the same time also tremendously happy when I got to know that our future King and Queen wanted to have a 12 th century themed coronation…
Yes, I know, I was quite silent recently. But I had a very good reason for my break as I’ve been working like crazy on a fitted 12th century silk bliaut (dress) for the future Queen of the Kingdom of Meridies.
…and like always – when it comes to special projects like these – the time frame for completion is very limited. The bliaut has to be finished before the upcoming coronation event – preferably sooner than later. However, you find me relatively relaxed as I already made some great progress. Her silk underdress is already finished as well as a good part of the bliaut. I am quite optimistic that I can get nearly everything finished for her second and last fitting at MGT – the Meridian Grand Tournament. Where I hopefully only have to adjust the bottom line of the skirt part. And this is only possible thanks to a dear friend of mine – Mistress Catelin The Wanderer. Catelin was so kind to embroider the embellishment parts of the dress.
Now you might wonder why I am using the embroidery of someone else and don’t do it myself. Well, I am quite fast when it comes to sewing or embroidery. However, a rather complex project like this – a closely fitted 12th century silk bliaut & underdress and elaborate embroidery is just more than one person on their own can handle in such a short time frame.
Apropos embroidery – I still owe you the last pictures of my medieval islamic inspired embroidery project. We will take a look at them today… – enjoy! 😀 Continue reading
And today I am going to show you more pictures of my medieval islamic inspired embroidery for Gloria’s OvO pouch.
Due to the time restraints of this project I didn’t get to take many pictures. However, I did my best to capture some of the more interesting parts for you. Therefore I hope that you’ll enjoy my progress pictures as much as I enjoyed working on this project.
And once again a posting about my most recent embroidery project – my medieval islamic inspired embroidery project for my dear mother-in-law, Gloria.
I can’t tell you how great it feels to find some time and peace to post about this project again. It is a very special project which is very close to my heart.
I intended to write my next posting about it earlier but then life happened. Yeah, the last two weeks were quite rough on me. I twisted my ankle quite badly and if that wasn’t already enough, I also got a really bad stomach bug. However, there is no cause for concern – my ankle as well as my digestive system are fortunately healing steady. I should be soon my bouncy, normal self again. *giggle*
…and now back to my never ending attempt to catch up with posting about all of my projects. Well, I know, that’s wishful thinking but at least I don’t give up on trying… 😉