DIY - Hanging a massive print

I am in the middle of a massive post about my quilt project but in the interim I thought I'd mention this DIY I did this bank holiday weekend.

We bought this great old Dutch (?) map when we were living in Crystal Palace last year. As far I can tell it's a map of textile and petro-chemical industry over Europe - just what every home needs! Anyway, it's great and we love it but its about 1m x 1.5m and quite heavy paper and displaying it is a bit of a challenge.

We moved house about a year ago and I'm ashamed to say that this has just been rolled up in the spare room while I figured out how to hang it. I'd ruled out conventional framing as it would cost a fortune and make it difficult to transport. I had seen the hanging systems of basically a rod at the top and bottom to weigh it/stretch it out and wanted to have a go at doing something similar myself. 

So to do this I needed the following:

- 2 lengths of wood measuring 110cm each (I wanted a small amount of overhang as the map is 103cm)

- matt varnish and brush) 

- small hooks

- 4 bulldog clips

- picture wire

(side note: buying the wood was a full on nightmare here in London. I have no idea why. Numerous DIY shops either didn't have wooden dowels or lengths of wood over a metre. I finally bought 2 mop handles and a saw to saw them down to size!)

1. So the first thing I did was saw my bits of wood to size and sand down any ragged edges. If you are luckier than me in terms of suppliers of bits of wood in your local area maybe you can skip this bit. (On the up-side I now have a saw which makes me feel very capable.)

2. Next, varnish the wood. I just used a matt varnish so the wood didn't look so raw. But you could use a stain if you wanted the wood a specific colour or finish. Make sure you wait for it to dry. 

3. Figure out where you want the bulldog clips - I wanted them right on the edge of the map to minimise the corner curls. Once the clips are in position line up the holes with where the hooks will need to be on the wood and make a little mark. Do this for both the top and bottom pole.

4. Screw in the hooks. I used a hammer and a small nail to start off the hole and make sure that the hook would screw in straight. 

5. I screwed 2 eyelets onto the opposite side of the pole to the hooks to attach the picture wire to the top pole. I kept the wire fairly tight as the poster is so big but it can be made more slack to adjust the distance from the nail/hook.

6. Finally, hook the hooks through the holes in the bulldog clips. The good thing about this is if your hooks aren't perfectly placed you can shift the clips up and down to adjust them. I hung the top pole with the map attached and finally hung the bottom pole off the bottom clips. 

Done!

I'm really pleased with how this turned out. And best of all once I had got all the stuff together it only took a couple of hours to finish. 

I'd recommend this as an easy, cheap way to display a large piece like this. Just bear in mind the weight of the paper - this is very heavy duty. I'd worry about a thin piece possibly perishing under the weight of the bottom pole. 

I'm happy that this map is finally out of its packaging and on display.

Now back to the quilt....more on that soon. 

Guacamole and a new project

We have been having a fairly great summer here in London and I have been spending a lot of time reading in the sun rather than doing as much art and crafting that I need/should be doing. 

I have also been eating a lot of guacamole. I have been making this for years and think I have pretty much got it nailed with info gleaned from years of helping out at 4th of July BBQs. 

I guess most people know how to make guac - but this is mine:

• 4 avocados
• A handful of cherry tomatoes (maybe 10? I personally wouldn't substitute regular tomatoes here as cherry are just way better tasting - but if you have great tasting regular tomatoes then go for that)
• 1/2 a red onion
• A handful of cilantro/coriander/dunia
• Lots of limes (I used 3)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Hot sauce

Cut all finely and smoosh/stir together. Eat all weekend in lieu of actual meals.

I am working on a new project, a quilt! It's going to be a challenge as the last one I did was about 6 years ago and I uselessly documented nothing so I have already made a bunch of stupid mistakes that could have been avoided but oh well. 

I do plan to blog about this so at least if I decide to do this again in another 6 years I'll hopefully have some idea of what not to do...again..

These are the fabrics in play - maybe too many patterns? I'll be sharing the idea in the next few days, once I have organised my thoughts!

The owls are not what they seem - Twin Peaks papercut

I think owls were one of the very first papercuts I did way back in 2007 (?) - and I seem to come back to them every couple of years. 

This latest one I started months ago...and sort of lost the thread and put it aside for a bit, which then turned into a bit more than a bit. While I was doing a big paper tidy up and inventory today it turned up in a pad of paper and I was finally inspired to finish it up (also, it was super rainy so the garden was in no way tempting..).

So I had started the pair of owls, a big and little, framed with a circular branch in turquoise but I wasn't really sure what to do next...although I liked the dark blue background as it was a nice contrast to the owls and looked night-time-ish.

Technical side note for anyone who cares: Gluing down all this sort of piece, especially when it's origami paper rather than artist paper (which is thicker) is always the most tricky bit of the process. I have tried a bunch of different approaches - glue sticks, glue pens, and starch paste...I use all of these at some point but my preferred method is good old pva glue, a toothpick and a load of patience...

Anyway, back to the owls...the night-timishness of the dark blue (and my recent sorting and discovery of lots of grey paper) made me consider the addition of the moon which sort of left a gap in composition. I have been meaning, and avoiding, attempting lettering in papercut but this seemed like a good opportunity to try. 

Twin Peaks has been a long standing fixture in my life since uni...I've lost count of how many times I've watched it and quoted it and it was a definite plus (on both sides) when James and I were in the early stages of dating and realised the other was a fan.

So going down the 'owls are not what they seem' route was a bit of a no brainer. 

The lettering was not a walk in the park but I like the way it turned out so I am up for the challenge of having another go. 

In the meantime, this piece is now available for sale in my shop - don't miss a chance to have a bit of original Twin Peaks art! 

Busy, but not blogging

Oops. It's been a few months since my last post. I blame the halfway decent weather we have been having here in London - it's rare enough that staying in with a scalpel (or a computer) seems a massive shame. 

My sunglasses, kindle and garden have been getting good use though!

I haven't been totally idle... I have had a few map commissions which have been really great fun to do.

The first was of an engagement location - at the end of a pier in Singapore (aw). It was great to have the tension between the density of the city and the wide open ocean:

The next (finished today - phew!) was for a friend - a present for her sister, of the location of her up-coming wedding:

It's currently in the very technical 'squashing/flattening' phase. 

So, I've still been dabbling - in fact the piece above dusted off some cobwebs and I finally finished a long overdue work in progress...more on that next!

Peacock papercut - prints and cards now in shop...

This post has been a long time coming... and another thing that was on my fast-depleting list of things to do for the bank holiday...

A while ago I posted here and here about a papercut I was doing featuring a white peacock. 





I loved how this turned out, especially as it's a departure from the traditional black-on-white approach. 

I decided to have the image reproduced on greeting cards and art prints and I think they turned out great!





The cards are A6 and come with a brown craft envelope and cellophane sleeve:

They are blank on the inside and have a nice weight to them and matte finish which works really well with the design. 

I've already sent a few to friends and family and had a great response so I'm really happy with these.



Next up were the art prints. I had these done as giclee prints on hahnemuhle photo rag paper, which I have used for printing my art before. I think the quality of the print and paper are just lovely. 

I had these done in A5 and A4 and although I love both, the A4 is really striking and looks amazing with the fine detail of the image. 

I'm glad to finally get these out and into the shop.  

Link to the cards is here and the prints, A5 is here and A4, here. 

Thanks for looking!

Apron with pockets

This weekend I set myself a pretty long 'to-do' list. Typically, I left it all until today. First on my list was to finish an apron I started earlier in the week (part of the A Beautiful Mess Sew with Us course). 

It was pretty great to use up some of the fabric I have collected over the years and never seem to put into action. 

I like how it turned out in general. The original pattern was for a half apron but as I am often a bit of a mess in the kitchen so I wanted to add a top half. I added a bit that was wider at the waist and narrower at the neck - it turned out ok but sort of a little baggy under the chest.....I think I maybe should have done a square? or maybe narrower at the waist (which is what my Mum suggested, I have no idea WHY I didn't listen) Oh well, live and learn. 

Here's the finished piece: 

 



















I put it into action today as another item on my list was to make chocolate chip cookies - I used this recipe and they turned out really well - I always seem to struggle with getting the cookies the right amount of chewy in the middle. I followed the recipe to the tee and it delivered!

Anyway, back to the apron. I'm happy with it, it works (?) and it's nice to have made something cheery and functional. 

Capture Real Life in 52 Weeks - catch up

It's been a while since my last post..... I haven't been immersed in papercutting, but I have been busy with the 'Capture Real Life in 52 weeks' course from A Beautiful Mess.

This course has been so fun. The weekly prompts make me think about different aspects of my daily life and take pictures of things that I wouldn't ordinarily. 

The first week was 'good morning, goodnight' and I posted about it here.

Here's a summary of the past few weeks: 

Week 2: Guilty pleasures - This was hard as I turns out that I don't actually feel that guilty about stuff like music, I love Bon Jovi but I am out and proud about that. But thinking of it, James and I go out for dinner, a lot. I feel guilty about it, and it's (usually) a pleasure! Also, I'm a sucker for a pub...especially this one, a boat with a view of Westminster!

Week 3: Nature - This was not hard at all. And awesomely coincided with James and I doing  a few walks... in particular an 8 mile walk from Richmond to Wimbledon, walking through Richmond Park which is one of the largest parks in London. 

It was pretty great how this theme coincided with the start of spring here. I moan about the weather in the UK pretty much all the time but there the spring flowers here are really the most beautiful thing.

Top left, daffs were at the Horniman Gardens, top right was the Pen Ponds at Richmond Park and left, I'm not quite sure...but these magnolias are all over the place. 










Week 4: Outtakes - Trying to catch the 'inbetween' moments. Fun as not something I haven't tried before. 
















This is by the garages behind our flat (where the foxes live). There is this old guy who goes out every morning at half seven to feed the seagulls. I think he thought I was a bit mad but I really love the way these pictures turned out. 

Week 5: Mini album - So each month there is a challenge to make an album with a different technique, the first one was stamps. I used this as a prompt to start scrapbooking some old stuff, starting with James and I's first holiday in Seville. After my first rocky start with scrapbooking I actually really enjoyed this and the stamps were really fun to use.

 I really liked the stamping made to look like the Seville oranges...














Four weeks done! It's been really fun. I have just finished week 6 so I'll post about that soon.

Worth noting that the course is still available and self-paced so you can still sign up for it...