More Doilies

Two hours, one rubber stamp, and a pile of paper doilies ... advertising for the book launch.

I went to every bookshop in town and the nearer suburbs that I could think of today to drop these off. My feet are aching, but - I saw my book on the shelves!

Another book launch

This is one I'm really looking forward to: Friday evening in Observatory, Cape Town. I've snuck a peek at the book, and it's really mouthwatering. The original paintings, some of which will be for sale at the launch, are so detailed, clear, and tactile - get an idea of what will be on show here. See more artwork by Louis Barnard here.

Doilies

I finished an order of doily brooches for a shop this weekend; I haven't made these for ages, but I enjoyed it so much I've started making a few extra, for my Etsy shop.

Market

Saturday's Neighbourgoods Market was pretty quiet and very hot, but still fun. See Heather trying not to wilt in the heat*. I must've been a bit dizzy, because none of my shots properly included the bunting strung above the stall. We survived thanks to large glasses of icy tomato juice, amaretti ice-cream, and iced coffee, imbibed at decent intervals.

My dolls seemed to be having a good time, reclining on the cushions I made for them (see this post for a better shot of the cushions), and guarding that market breakfast staple, a pastel de nata.

*my turn to be in the pictures next time.

New Shop

I'm very excited to announce that my new Etsy shop, jezzeprints, is now open! Thanks to everyone's helpful advice, I've managed to find a printer to reproduce my drawings. Only two prints in the shop right now, but I'll be adding more soon. These first two are printed on slightly textured paper for blockmounting, but I'll be experimenting with different papers and finishes with other prints.

I'll still be stocking my other shop with fabric prints and knitting, but I needed somewhere different for work on paper. I'm looking forward to doing some lino prints on rice paper as well, so it won't all be digital prints.

Heather and I will be at the Neighbourgoods Market this Saturday; I have a whole new crop of knitted toys, fluffier than ever before!

So will you play with me now?

Someone's been waiting very patiently for this day....

And here's a slightly better photo for those of us who are actually interested in books - only slightly better, mind. It's a bad headache day today, and much as I tried to capture the sweetness of the spot varnish on the cover, I had to settle for this as the best shot.

It's all just a little bit unreal; I keep looking at the book, hoping it will sink in.

Peace...

To you, this probably just looks like a white door in a white wall. To me, it means a little sigh of happiness every time I walk past it! It's taken nearly 2 years to get from a green door in a blue wall to this. (I'm not even going to think about how many other green doors we still have in the house...)

Needed a little bit of calm yesterday after trudging through town trying to find a printer (person, not machine) to print pages for my book launch/show. Am I the only one who finds it alarming that so few printers know what acid-free paper is? Is it an unusual term? Should I be asked "Acid... what?" Or told, with the kind of smile generally reserved for women in hardware stores, "No, dearie... our paper is very nice, I've never heard of paper going yellow." Or even: " Is it a new thing?"

So, anyone have any ideas? Digital prints, A4 size, on acid-free, aka archival quality, paper. Preferably somewhere in Cape Town. I was hoping for a printer within walking distance, but I'll settle for anyone, anywhere.

Apples

Another excerpt from my book is up at Book SA on the Oshun blog.

I drew this comic just over a year ago. I was walking home from the shop when I noticed a tiny fruit on one of the trees in our street. It took me a little while to realise it was an apple, and then I raced home to share the news! Not just the novelty of fruit growing on trees, but the coincidence - the comic was already half-drawn before I saw the apple. I hadn't even known it was an apple tree.

I live for moments like this!

Trims

A much-needed shop update is underway. I've added these trims already, and a small coin purse. I'll be adding more as the week goes on.

It's a Party!

While I've been neglecting my little patch of the internet, other people have been really busy getting things ready for the launch of The Comic! Click on the pic to see a bigger version and get all the details.

Then head on over to Book SA and the Oshun blog for the first of a series of excerpts from the book.

I have to confess that it wasn't all work that kept me away from my blog for so long. If you like unraveling balls of string (and who doesn't?) this game will keep you happy for hours. It's great for taking breaks from impending deadlines, and makes you feel really clever up to, ooh, about level 12....

Buses

That's how much knitting I can do on a 4-hour bus ride, without moving my elbows! It was a 'no frills' (tiny seats) kinda bus. Pattern is Anna Bell's Elphine socks, to be found here - scroll down a bit, it's the green picture.

Next to the sock, a jar of aloe and lemon marmelade. I don't know if you can get it anywhere except in Albertinia, which is so off the beaten track I'm not even going to attempt to explain where it is, but if you ever get the chance you really should try some. I loathe ordinary marmelade, but this stuff is amazing. Look how waxy!


The promised shop update will happen sometime this week; I've got bags and purses and printed tape, but I also have an illustration deadline.... It's quite a manageable deadline, if you consider 9 or 10 hours a day hunched over a tiny painting a normal day (I think I do), but doesn't leave much time for other things. Please bear with me, it's nearly over!

Knitterly

In Knit Knit, Teva Durham says that she looks for knitters who knit in a way she describes as 'knitterly'.

"The primary thing about my approach to knitting is the process, the actual making, the energy of the hands," she explains. "My knits should be knitterly in the way a painting can be painterly.... This is the magic. Tight, mechanical-looking stitches are a no-go with me. Give me expressive texture. I create designs to bring out this expressive quality, but in reproducing them, not every knitter has the touch. There are two levels," she continues, "the design and the implementation or interpretation - like a Chopin nocturne needs a feeling pianist."

In response I hauled out some of my more touchy-feely yarns. I know what she means; sometimes, when I'm trying to crank out enough dolls to fill a market table, it's all about colours and speed, not about texture and that elusive knitterliness that makes the yarn live. I'm slowing down (a bit) and enjoying the feeling of the knitting in my hands.

I'm also going away for the weekend, because I haven't had a holiday yet! There'll be nothing but reading and knitting till I get back on Tuesday, hopefully with a new stash of dolls and a shop update too.

Starting as I mean to go on....

...sailing into the new year on the back of a big deadline. I'm starting to realise that I do love my job after all; it's just that the relationship is a lot more complicated than I ever imagined it could be.

Only one New Year's Resolution: I'm going to try to remember people's birthdays this year. And hope to make up for all the ones I forgot last year.