New Projects

I have been quite busy recently with different little projects-the shrine and the travelling doll project, and also a couple of new things I have been trying out. The first is this resin box. I have never used resin before, though always remember a resin box of little heads that Andy's sister made, which I love, and also my friend Clare has recently been making resin things. I bought some resin ages ago but have been too wary to use it as it is all a bit chemically scary! Clare said it was fairly easy, and after seeing Helen's resin box again the other day, I finally tried it out. I had a small wooden box that I gessoed, then did a drawing in (the fairy feller doll again!) then stuck some natural bits and pieces in (the other inspiration I have just remembered was my Nature Journals book by L.K.Ludwig.) You have to mix in some catalyst with the resin in a prescribed ratio. This is easier said than done, especially as the resin is incredibly sticky (wear gloves!) I was a bit cautious with the catalyst in the first layer and it took ages to harden, so I added a bit more in the following layers. I know my measurements were not accurate, but it seemed to work. The last layer seemed to be set but I managed to make a big thumb print in it as I was taking photos. I added another thin layer to cover it up though. The other difficulty with it is where to let it dry, as it is really smelly. Luckily it is still summer like here, so I have used the outdoor table, with a tin over the box to stop dust and flies going in it. I really like the way it has turned out, but it was hard to get a picture to show it well. It is quite heavy, and looks like a scene underwater. I used mica flakes and these seemed to give a silvery sheen to the bottom and sides-and a mirror like effect under the piece of china. There seem to be some air bubbles too, but I don't mind those. I spread the resin in thin layers on the edge of the box and that worked well-so I could imagine using it on paper or card maybe.
In the box are, a piece of honesty from my garden, some alder cones from Forest School, a piece of china from the Thames, a seed head of crambe maritima (sea kale) from Dungeness. One of Derek Jarman's favourite plants and one he talks about a lot in his book about his garden. There is also a bead (from a job lot from TK Maxx so not many memories there!) and a couple of artificial flowers.

My other new project was these legwarmers. I love legwarmers and nice ones are not easy to come by. I based the pattern on some I bought in Holland, and, after a bit of trial and error, I found the right number of stitches. They went a bit wrong in small ways such as they have a few holes (dropped stitches I think) and when I was casting off the first one, the yarn broke, so the last row has come undone a couple of times. I have stitched it though. I am now on a second pair in a different colour, having worked out my mistakes on the first.

I hope you don't mind a shot of my feet, I quite like my feet actually-they are one of my more favourite bits!

My next doll is here-Apeironia is her name and she is in desperate need of a dress. I am going to base her dress on a red felt one by Yohji Yamamoto that I saw in the holidays at the V and A. (In the picture it is the one to the right.) It was lovely! I have made some red felt today. I couldn't start until Miss Felicity Haversham arrived in Hungary-which has taken three weeks! I was so worried. Here is her blog on the travelling dolls site.