dear diary, part 15 : in secure

[Not all features of this blogpost will work when viewed as an email, to view it on my website click on the title above]

28/04/20
Been a while, not much to report, not been out much.
I took part in an interesting swap, I received an envelope of art supplies and I had to make something from them and send it back to the person who sent them to me. Here’s what I received..

Here’s what I sent back : I made a collage with some of the pieces , painted and stencilled it , then cut the hearts out and glued them together. I stitched the hearts into a vertical strip on my sewing machine and left a thread to hang them by. The recipient said ” Your beautiful envelope arrived Tuesday. I love the heart Garland. I hung it off of a shelf. It slowly spins with air movement. “.

I sent this Artist’s Trading Card a while ago, but it got returned to me from America saying it was undelivereable as addressed. I tried again, and this time it was succesful. I made it by painting on some tissue paper from an old sewing pattern and then stencilling it.

Before the Lockdown kicked in a new craft club started in my village. I was looking for ideas to take to it when I saw someone in a Faceebook group selling some plastic weaving looms. On a whim I bought them, having never done any weaving ever, but I thought I could learn online. Cut to a few days ago, in the middle of the unseasonable hot weather we have been enjoying in Scotland. I was looking for an excuse to sit outside in the sun and I grabbed a loom, some thread and yarn and out I went. If I had taken the time to watch a You Tube video first I might have done a bit better, I imagine. First off all I think I threaded it wrong, I haven’t actually found out the correct way yet, but I suspect that I should have hooked the thread over the pointed bits rather than wrapping it round the back like I did. Anyway I enjoyed my first hour of weaving, and I’ll get back to it once I’ve done a bit of swotting.

01/05/20
I had another go with the weaving, this time I just wound the warp over the pointy bits, rather than wrap it round both sides. It was going swimmingly until I took I unhooked it all went wobbly.

I joined a Facebook group for weaving and found out that the equipment I have are called “card looms” and that they can be used to weave a pouch.
I shall be attempting one soon. I’m thinking I can hide the loose ends inside, so that’s a bonus.

I took part in another collaborative postcard, I received it like this

I added these bits..

and the final person did this..

02/05/20
A wee while ago I took part in a couple of swaps which involved using the insides of security envelopes which have patterns designed to stop nosey people reading the private contents. I included them in this postcard..

and this one …

And here’s one I received..

I hadn’t been aware of the inside of security envelopes until then, but I am now, and have started to save them. Someone in a Facebook group shared a photo of a collage she had made with them, I showed her mine, and she asked if I wanted her to send me some of her extensive collection. They arrived yesterday along with this card she had made..