Follow the Herring coming to Hull

Check out www.customshouse.co.uk/followtheherring and www.artlink.uk.net (arts development/current projects) It has all sorts of interesting links AND the knitting pattern for the herrings.....
Its a project that takes in 13 venues along the original route of the herring lassies who followed the fishing fleet gutting and packing herrings, salting them in barrels....At each venue the local community is called upon to craft items for the event, a choir to sing in the "choral narrative" theatrical performance and make props for the stage. It's tells of the 1881 Eyemouth  fishing disaster when 189 men were lost. It also celebrates the lives of the lassies and the fishing community as a whole....Hull of course is a port and was a great fishing port at one time and the herring girls would have come here.
In crafting the items it bring people from all walks of life in the local community together creating a new bonds as did the fisher lassies who came from far and wide every year to follow the " little silver darlings" as they called the herrings. Knitting because they knitted in their spare time and when they were not following the shoal of herrings....the men needed their ganseys...(see the post on them)
On  Friday and Saturday workshops were held in a local shopping precinct and at Artlink....a purpose built gallery, workshop rooms and theatre space.

the herring to be knittings

items for the "sea installation"

a man with a fishing background made this net

the herrings can be knitted (to a set pattern) or made in fabrics and stuffed or flat one sided collaged fish..as there are several venues for them to be exhibited. There are workshops for adults and for children.

Seaweed...from plastic garden waste bags....on the left knitted.....6 stitches...plain knit..increase one stitch at beginning of the row and decrease 1 stitch at the end of the row. R1 ( m1,k4,k2tog) R2 k6) this gives a twist
to the knitting...the bag handles were cut up to make the fronds that were knotted on. The next two were made from a different bag, the darker plastic is lighter on the inside giving a two tone effect. The flash has bleached them out a bit.
1,000 knitted herrings are needed ! clam shells,seahorses, starfish, to be knitted, the sea needs knitting, pebbles and rocks to knitted, felted or out of papier mache.....there's a big list...A replica fishing cobble has been made to tour and it is also covered in knitting....a coat for a boat....!!! the inspiration of of Ingrid Wager..check her out...and...please check out the websites on this project and read about the lives of the fisher lasses.....could you gut 40 herrings in a minute? Would you carry your man out to his fishing boat so he didn't get wet? They did....

paper making....and denims

Whilst sorting out my stash of all things crafty...I came across my paper making stuff....I wanted to play with it as I heard it mentioned several times over recent months that its messy....IT"S NOT...or rather it doesn't have to be...like anything...you have to be organised. YouTube has all sorts of ideas for paper making...each to their own ...this how I do it.
I collect scrap paper...tear it into postage stamp size pieces and soak. To test if ready by ripping in half all the different papers in the mix...if it tears easily its ready.

The TV guide will come out dark grey...grey print envelopes pale grey and blue envelopes yep...pale blue and computer paper with print...a slightly darker grey than the envelopes...depending on the amount of print. inkjet bleeds and colours more.
Now you need to whizz it up in a blender, liquidiser or similar....one large handful at a time and at least half fill the goblet with water and whizz in short bursts...this helps to make sure all the pieces of paper get blitzed. I then pour it into a colander lined with net curtain with small holes or a J cloth ...don't want paper down the sink to block it....I process all the paper into pulp and strain through the net. This is the messy bit...but a quick wipe with a cloth as you go along sorts that. (At this point it can be dried and kept for when you want it. To use...soak and do the liquidiser bit again..It won't take as long...sometimes the paper is better for this.)
Why do I strain it?... So I can add handfuls at a time to the water vat and get the ratio of pulp and water right. The vat is where we dip and swish the deckle and mould...which simply is a picture frame with a mesh  to trap the pulp. Whats right?...when you dip the deckle and mould in the pulp mixture you should be able to manipulate a thin layer over the mesh....if you get a really thick heavy layer...add more water a little at a time until you feel it is right. Shop bought kit will have a mesh covered frame and a deckle..a frame with no mesh which sits on top of the mesh covered frame forming the shape of the finished paper.

To use it, put handfuls into a container and add water..it wants to be a fairly thick mixture... the container needs to be at least big enough for the frame and both your hands...so a kitty litter tray will do an A4 size frame (and smaller :) lol ) a smaller container like a plastic biscuit tub could be used for the 6x4 frame.

Here we have a wonderful sieve from the Pound shop and its net curtain...bag of pulp previously made and dried..These sponges wipes £1 for 6 from the Pound shop are fabulous for 6x4" frames...when exposed to air or dried when used they go all stiff and yucky looking...but slurp up the water when reused. Also in this picture is an Ikea 6x4" picture frame with a plastic cross stitch mesh cut to fit...(get 5 to a sheet)... no need for a deckle as the recessed frame provides provides that effect. This size is great for embellishments for card making and by laying them together, bigger sheets...can also use a cookie cutter as a deckle on the mesh and spoon the pulp into it or use a turkey baster... for shapes to decorate... These smaller sheets can be moulded like the bowl below.

I like to use a piece of net curtain around the plastic mesh...long enough to hold at each side while you do the dipping and swishing in the vat of paper pulp. Hold the frame with mesh and net/wipe and dip the bottom edge in the vat, pulling it through the pulp until it can be levelled out, horizontal with the top of the water, swish to make sure the mesh is covered with pulp, raise the frame. Pop one of these sponges on top of the paper and flip the whole thing over so you can remove the wooden frame. Then, with your hands, squeeze the plastic mesh and sponge together with the paper pulp layer in the middle....its amazing the amount of water that comes out.....peel off the mesh and lay the netting on the work surface...gently pull back the sponge in a rolling pull back motion, encouraging the pulp to stay in place on the net...place the net on a folded newspaper and repeat...stacking up the nets. They will dry stacked up in a warm place, they can be pegged onto a washing line...or ironed between two sheets of paper, greaseproof etc. Keep a cloth handy to wipe work surface. Bottom right is a washed facial wet wipe...the paper will bond with this and when dry makes it easier to sew....for paper quilts etc. Bottom left is the stack of mesh, paper,sponge which is how it looks when popped out of the frame and squeezed dry. with or without net or wipe works fine.

Top sheet of paper is couched (laid to dry) on a washed facial wipe...they don't bond....sheet on the left IS bonded as it was folded around the mesh and used to make the paper on in the dip and swish process...both have short bits of denim thread in the pulp.... the other three have threads and denim inserts which were laid on the top of the pulp before squeezing the water out with the sponge.

I think this looks like feathers or fossils....

Paper string, knitted and dipped...a bonded piece with stitched denim edges...to be finished with shells etc
These small pieces of paper can be overlapped into a bigger sheet...of many colours......
The 1980s cream brown orange coloured liquidisers have great motors for serious paper making....if you can get one. A one off use of the one in the cupboard well washed afterwards is probably fine....

mixed media bird cage

started to play with some garden wire, serviettes, sheet music and a Sizzix bird die.....not sure where its leading but its a start...I covered the wire with old book paper the easy way....double sided sticky tape...I'll have a go at padding the bird out with crumpled paper and if I don't like that.... I'll stitch a fabric one......

old dolls

Lyn posted  a picture of these dolls that I put on the stage display when Paula gave us her talk at EYES about the dolls she makes.

They were made by "Freddie" a talented elderly lady who came to the Dolls House club I started nearly 20yrs ago. She was a Designer in her working life although I never knew what she designed or who she worked for. Time came for her to move to a Residential Home and her home was disposed of and these were offered to me. It is not known when she made them, but they were displayed  in  a Hospice charity window roughly 20yrs ago. Judging by the materials used, they could have been post WW2.....and the way the faces were made was developed in war time....starch and muslin pressed over a dolls face to make a stiff cloth mask....like the shop bought ones. They used to be made of cloth and now can still be bought ...made of a thin plastic. I have heard stories of dolls being borrowed to make faces off during wartime.

Note the face mask on the doll on the right and the way the hair is done and the face hand painted. 

Each of the dresses of the triplets have a different embroidered motif. A thimble has been utilised as a bucket. The one on the left has "bent legs" as though originally she was sat on something and in the first picture the one with the orange dress has its legs stitched for kneeling. I gave some of the dolls to an aunt who has a huge collection of expensive dolls....she was over the moon with them...  

When these were displayed on the stage at EYES they were admired by many and brought back nostalgic memories for some. 

The mixed media doll I put on the stage for fun...we use allsorts to make thing at EYES its not all needle and threads ! See her on my post Divas 25.9.2010 and others on the wall posts. 

When I find the early dolls masks I have I'll post a picture.....

photocopies

After many years of storage in my wardrobe...my daughters college and degree coursework got sorted while she was down for a few days for Christmas... It's whittled down considerably leaving a big pile for burning and tipping. I resisted sorting through it with the idea of chopping and collaging photos, sketches and handwriting and did as she asked...tipped it. Amongst the unwanted bits were some photocopies...not sure if they are ink jet or toner printed. I had unused paper from the back of unwanted sketchbooks...so I wet the pictures and placed them between two pages and left to dry out a bit and repeated until photocopy fell to pieces. I thought the ink would make interesting, indistinct marks on the paper and so would be useful as a background for drawing over or collaging or layering up with acetate masks...next year! (they were ink-jet prints, forgot toner prints need spirits)

wallpaper samples and an empty bedroom

The local Scrap Store got these wallpaper samples....the old brain started ticking......there was something I had always wanted to do........and if I didn't like it....it would have cost me virtually nothing and I could strip it off and and do it in the normal boring way.....lol

As I had started a dolls house club some years ago I had collected wallpaper with a small enough design to be used in 1/12 scale.....I  used some of that as well.... I can now part with  the rest off it and clear a space in my house full of crafty stuff.
It was these frames that set me off....

Not one of the sheets had a complete one......

cut out and reassembled

pasted on the wall

This is a wall in the bedroom I am decorating for occasional guests to use...and for me to use as a winter sitting room. Any season it is the warmest room in the house....in summer it is sweltering!

I have always wanted to do this.....I was going to put magazine adverts on as well......Another wall is done differently......but again with wallpaper samples....the other two wall are painted with paint from Scrap Store. I am grinning from ear to ear....waiting for someone to come down to give their verdict......lol

not got a Gelli pad/plate

I wonder what people wished they HAD bought when they get home from a show....
I wish I'd bought a Gelli pad thingy at the Knitting and Stitching at Harrogate at the weekend.......
So while the plasterer was here making a ceiling look new.....I emptied a few boxes of "stuff"with a view to throw away half of the contents...( I can hear you laughing Lyn...) I found a tube of black paint, a plastic ring binder file holder, a reel of 2" sticky tape......and a wooden coffee stirrer.... so I had a play.....I spread the paint with the stirrer onto the plastic file and pulled a few mono prints and then thought I'd leave the paint on the plastic to dry to use in layering up on the scanner......While I drank my coffee...I spotted the tape.....and waited  impatiently for the paint to dry........and then pulled these with the tape.....what fun !! The plastic was almost clean, the tape had lifted most of the dried paint off !