Be Creative

Hello all! 

It's been a busy a summer here in the Marmaladerose household... a very good thing indeed. It means over the cold dark winter, I can dip back in and out of my summer photos and re-live those long warm, flower-scented days...and I do hope you'll pop by now and again to join me.

Firstly though... I'd like to share my excitement with you at being a cover girl! (Well it's the closest I'll ever get, lol!)

There's definitely a woolly feel to the cover of the current issue of Be Creative with Workbox Magazine... 

My felted wool artwork is splashed all over the cover of the current issue!

And...

I have a lovely feature inside! Whoop! Whoop!

And...

My five creative crushes are on page 14.

What a lucky girl I am and very honoured. I never dreamt that my work would feature on the cover.

I believe 'His Lordship', has double page spread.

 And there is a snapshots of this little fella too.

Although he isn't all that little in reality.

So... as Autumn makes it's mark and I prepare for my next event at the end of this month...

I shall leave you with a little sunshine from the Yorkshire Dales.

Till next time

love Fi x 

Celebrating Spring!

Oh the excitement! 

Lighter nights! Bank holidays! The occasional patch of blue sky! 

I'm totally looking forward to summertime...My focus at the moment seems to be flowers! This is one of my latest felted wool pictures...I'm really enjoying creating the flowers. 

Yes it's all about the blooms at the moment.

Quite stylised. 

Blousy petals. Bobbly stamens. Bobbing heads. 
Hmmm...I can almost smell the sweet new grass and floral scents. 
...and back in reality...I'm wearing two pairs of socks, leg warmers...a huge cardi and looking out of the window at the snow on the hilltops! 

Till next time
Love Fi x

Spring at Last!

I'm finally coming out of hibernation.

I think Spring is at last here in the North of England.

I know this because I've sat outside in the garden with a cup of tea...twice...YEAY! 

Yes... I did have my furry boots on and a woolly scarf but it wasn't wet and it wasn't windy...RESULT!

Yes... I can still see snow on the hill tops but if I squint it disappears.

I'm soooo ready for some blue skies, sunshine, green shoots and flowers. 

Definitely flowers! 

I'm craving flowers. 

The only flowers I can see are woolly and made by me... but needs must.

Till next time

Fi x

Let's talk cushions.

 Such a lot has happened since last we met, so much in fact that I'm not sure what you've seen and what you haven't, so today I think we'll just talk....

CUSHIONS! 

Not just any old cushions...MarmaladerRose cushions.

Yes, cushions will ease me into blog posting very nicely.

There are rather a lot of them now... these are my answer to a print problem I've got. You see so far I've not been able to successfully recreate my original felt pictures as paper prints. I get asked quite a lot if I do limited edition prints...or ...any prints at all in fact.

 It seems I'm able to have my work reproduced on fabric very well but when it comes to art paper, they just appear flat and dead. Not at all the quality that I expect. It's very strange.

 But the cushions... soft suedey cushions...

 Washable suedey cushions...

They look really rather wonderful...

Not to mention feeling rather soft and scrummy too!

They have on more than one occasion been mistaken for felted wool. Many a hand has stroked and caressed expecting to feel wool and stitches but instead has glided over their velvety finish.

So maybe we'll just stick to cushions, oh! And the odd greeting card or two. 

Till next time (and hopefully it will be sooner rather than later)

love Fi x

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/MarmaladeRose

Exhibition Update.

Well my lovelies, I'm sitting here in bed trying to organise my thoughts so as to make a sensible, flowing blog post for you but there is so much I want to share with you all and I'm so far behind this year that I shall just dive in and splash some photos and words about.

Our exhibition at The Station in Richmond has been and gone. Here I am with Sue trying not to look too sweaty and dishevelled after spending an afternoon up and down step ladders hanging our work on the platform gallery. 

Sue has exhibited her work here before but this was a first for me, hanging my work from proper gallery fittings and locking my greetings cards in a glass display cabinet. Ooo! it felt very grown up! A nice change from trying to make a sheep pen look like an art gallery! (Not long to Art in the Pen and Yarndale ;)

The Station is a lovely venue... an old railway station that has had a new lease of life as a cinema, art gallery and retail outlet with a restaurant, vintage shop, artisan bakery, chocolatier, ice-cream parlour, cheese maker and micro brewery. Something for everyone eh! 

Sue and I shared the space, mixing her work and mine on some walls

and keeping them separate on others.

'Heather Rest'

On the middle Saturday of our two week exhibition Sue and I had a 'meet the artist day'. Sue took her pastels and paper while I demonstrated with water and wool. We had a lovely time chatting about our work and sharing some of the creative magic. 

I can't help but delight at the sight of peoples faces when they first view my work thinking they are pastels or painting and then I point out that they are all made from wool. It's one of the best things ever, teehee!

'Robin with Berries'

Now I don't want you to think I'm greedy but this wasn't the only exhibition of my work. No, the day after we set up at Richmond, Wonderful Man and I dropped of some more of my work at the Royal Horticultural Society Gardens, Harlow Carr in Harrogate.

This is the Bath House in the RHS gardens where my work will be part of the 'Just Makers' summer art exhibition. I was a very good girl and took some photos of the current work on display to give you an idea of the crafts for sale. 

Let's take a closer look.

Full of lots of quality craft items and artwork, beautifully displayed. 

After a spot of lunch at the 'Betty's' outdoor tea room we took a little stroll around the gardens.

Hmmm...boxing hares, where have I seen those before!

 The flowers were glorious.

A true inspiration.

Flower brooch anyone?

Till next time.

Love Fi x

PS. A small selection of felted flower brooches are available from my Etsy shop.

Exhibition Time!

Gosh! It's only one more sleep until my exhibition!

I say 'my' exhibition but it's not really. The lovely and very talented artist Sue Godden asked me if I'd like to share her exhibition as we both create animal pictures which would compliment each other nicely. Mine as you know are made from wet felted wool and Sue's are pastel drawings.

Beautiful, isn't he?

The exhibition is called Natural Magic and it's on at the Station, Richmond, North Yorkshire for a couple of weeks.

So today has been a day of glass polishing, labelling and wrapping. I know this sounds silly but I forget quite how big my work is. It's only when I'm fighting with huge sheets of bubble wrap and heavy pictures that I think maybe I should try and work on a bit smaller scale.

This is 'Fox'. 

I think he's rather a handsome chap. Let's hope somebody else does and whisks him away to new home. 

If they don't I shall send him to Harrogate as I'm also taking part in an exhibition there for most of June into July. A handful of my works will be at the Bath House at the RHS Harlow Carr Gardens in their Summer Art Exhibition run by Just Makers. 

This one is that big that I can't even see over the top of it! 

More glass polishing!

There has been a bit of card packing too. 

Well I better say good night as I've got a lot of lifting and hanging to do tomorrow. Oh! I nearly forgot... We'll be doing a 'meet the artist day' on Saturday 6th June at Richmond Station so if you're popping to the cinema or catching a bite to eat don't forget to look for us and say hello.

So till next time

love Fi x

A Mouse for Mum.

At long last I've finally made a felt picture for my Mum. It's not that I haven't wanted to or that she hasn't wanted one but demands elsewhere got in the way last year. So this year I was determined that for her birthday I would make her a felt picture of her own. 

It had to be a little animal as she loves nature especially the wildlife that visits her garden. It's always full of birds and she and my Dad have a couple of squirrels that visit. Last year there was also a cute little field mouse that would visit looking for bird food that had fallen to the floor, so there was no doubt which little animal I should choose. 

This one tested my patience though. It nearly ended up in the bin on a couple of occasions but I don't like to be beaten and once you've invested hours of work in a piece it seems silly to abandon it, much better to persevere and strive to make it right...and I'm so glad I did. It wasn't until the very end, after the felt had dried and I was adding the whiskers that I was happy with it.

Till next time

love Fi x