I got myself in a right jam

So, I tend to flit between crafts and since it is foraging season I have been making items ready for my Christmas gift hampers.

I have already started some Elderberry Brandy (it should be ready in about a month) but below is my first (and only as it takes a long time to make) batch of Blackberry jam.

It doesn't look much but it always catches me off guard as to how long it takes to make this!

  From picking bags of blackberries, de-labelling the jars and sterilising through to making the jam-it takes an entire afternoon for 6 jars!  To make sure there was enough pectin in the jam I added some foraged apples, cooking them down to a pulp with the blackberries.

All cooled and ready to add to the hampers come Christmas time!

Kyla

WOYWW

On my desk this week is my 365 Journal as I desperately try to get ahead and make my October pages ready for the start of the month (rather than a week or so late which is when I tend to finish them and then struggle trying to remember what I did to add to each day)! 

Now, my "Man Bites Dog" cards this week WERE randomly drawn!! What can I say!!!

Happy crafting

kyla

Shaving foam card

I finally managed to get another few minutes after work to finish the card I started by adding a couple of flowers and attaching them with brads.

It is only a simple card but I do enjoy using up scraps and love playing with shaving foam and inks to create different one-off backgrounds.

One card down-an entire room of stash to use up!!

Kyla

WOYWW

Finally I had some spare time to do some crafting, it was only 30 mins but it was great to finally get back into the craft room.

I have been spending time trying to use up old stash (I have bought very little new stash in the past couple of years) and this card is using up some offcut papers I printed with inks and shaving foam (the cheaper the shaving foam the better).  

I then matted the paper and added an embellishment in the centre.  Next time I get a spare 30 mins I plan on adding some of the flowers from my stash tin.

My "Man Bites Dog" cards this week are 'Heiress Wife Runs off with Actor'-ooh!

As fellow WOYWWers are all across the globe I hope this week finds you all ok considering the various countries that are experiencing some awful weather at the moment.

Kyla

Nomadic Community Gardens

 London, especially Shoreditch is well known for its street art.

However, if you go off the beaten track and walk behind the railway line you find some great art and a fantastic project.  In 2015 a local group approached a developer who bought some land with an idea for a community project.  It encompassed temporary structures, raised beds growing food for the locals as well as a safe place for artists to practise and develop.  The developer agreed and Nomadic Community Gardens was created.

There is so much to see in the area, this is quite a photo heavy blog post but no-where near the total amount of photos I took on the day!

This will just give you a taster, if you are down in London why not pop along and support them (there is even a little mobile coffee cart you can purchase a drink whilst you wander round taking in all the art).

 The piece at the top is by Jimzina  on the womans sawdust 'toilet' and shares door space with a piece by ripartist.

 street art jostles for space alongside some large sculptures

 

and some pieces by famous street artists such as John D'oh and Losthills

 

 There are small pieces like on this barrel

to large pieces over the side of this building (too big to even fit on the screen in one shot!)

 

 all of this whilst the trains run past above the gardens

 whilst we were there they were painting over pieces to form blank canvasses so artists could practise and paint over them to create new art.

 the surrounding park and train tunnels have even more art

 this monkey was painted by fanakapan and 

 this amazing bird by envol.ldn

 It is a great space for the community to use

 and I cannot wait to go back and see how it develops and what new art emerges 

All this is hidden behind the popular shoreditch street markets where there is even more street art but these little known areas offer some fantastic art.

Kyla

 

Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition

 For the past few years my husband and I have travelled to London every year to see the Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition.  It is an amazing exhibition that runs every summer.  Anyone can submit a piece to be considered, from a grandmother in wales, a student in Birmingham, a celebrity musician through to a member of the RA-anyone (BBC iplayer usually has a great programme where they follow some of the people through the submission process.  If you ever get a chance to watch them I recommend it).

 There are SO many different mediums from fabric, sculpture, glass, paint, digital etc with styles from classical to modern.  The picture above is a fabric and stitched piece.

  

This one of skaters was one of our favourite in the exhibition.

This Amy Winehouse figure was made from beads and findings.

 

 Some of the artists are instantly recognisable such as this Gilbert and George piece

 Whilst other pieces took you by surprise

 I particularly liked this piece

 This large piece of lace was a great piece to see hanging on the wall

 There was SO many different styles.

 These pieces had money stuffed into their mouths!

 In the architectural section this digital 'blueprint' was stitched onto fabric

 Whilst in another gallery this chair was made from spent ammunition cases

Once again my eyes were drawn to pieces such as this on old book pages.

Inspiration at every turn-a great day out

Kyla

 

WOYWW a different take

Not desk from me this week as I have been away, but hopefully Julia won't mind that I have linked up to my latest post about the Grayson Perry exhibition as it covers weaving, appliqué and many other mediums.

Whilst we were in London recently we went to the Serpentine Gallery for the free Grayson Perry exhibition titled "The most Popular Art Exhibition Ever".

There was a collection ceramics, digital tapestry, mixed media and much more.

As I live in Bristol I particularly like this little "Banksy" rat hidden at the base of one of his large ceramic pots.

The exhibition was very political and fitting considering everything that is going on at the moment in our politics in the UK and USA.

 

 His ceramic pots are quite large and have so much imagery on them that we were all slowly walking round them so we could see each and every piece.

His digital tapestry's were very cutting edge and each had a statement

from the decline of the working class

 to a modern take on the battle of Britain.

 Some pieces (this was called "Our Mother") stopped you in your tracks as you took in everything and stood in silence as you considered the message

Other pieces took a while to read through each of the statement.  My favourite was this red tapestry mapping out everything that is wrong with the modern cities and the segregation of society and class between the 'have' and 'have not'.

He also had some appliqué pieces

As well as his bicycle (and motorbike, not pictured as I had seen it at a previous exhibition)

 

 as well as several assemblage pieces 

and even a skateboard deck!

A great exhibition and a nice companion piece to the Chris Ofili hand woven tapestry exhibition we also visited during our stay (on my previous blog post).

Kyla