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| I enjoyed making this card |
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| My favourite handmade card |
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| A square one |
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| The gold doesn't show up so well on this one. Every year I make cards for friends and family. I also used to sell them in the Handmade Happiness shop. This year I wanted to use my many sheets of painted paper and to practice writing with gold ink and a dip pen. I am quite pleased with the result, learning as I go what works best colour wise and design wise. Will you be making your own Christmas cards this year? |
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| My first handmade angel of 2021 |
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| I love red! |
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| Going for a more vintage look! |
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| I added a bit of hand embroidery to this one, |
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| Remembering the colours from my trip to India |
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| Thinking about a simple card |
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| Drawing my favourite mugs and cups |
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| More favourite cups and mugs. From 100 Days of Drawing by Jennifer Orkin Lewis. Most of the illustrations are copies of items I own but top right above and top left in the photo above are my own design. I love bright colours and was particularly pleased with the saris in the memory of India illustration. If you are on Instagram there are more photos on @jenny_handmade_happiness |
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| Matilda Tristram's new, inspiring book |
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| Favourite clothes |
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| Household chores... |
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| and more household chores It's helpful to have a prompt to get drawings started. |
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| I'm enjoying this book |
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| Day 1: Drawing a garland with a face in the middle |
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| Drawing things that make me happy |
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| Things I see when out walking I bought two books recently and this is one of them. I find having a prompt helps me get on with drawing and painting. I'll talk about the other book in another post. For more daily paintings you can see jenny_handmade_happiness on Instagram. In fact since I started posting on Instagram I've neglected to write on this blog. That's a shame because at one time I wrote on this blog every day. That was years ago. I started this blog when I was very busy making things to sell for a show called the Country Living magazine's Show in London. I used to write about hoping and dreaming to have a shop of my own one day instead of selling to other shops and direct to the public. But shop rents where I lived were so expensive I couldn't imagine being able to turn a profit. It wasn't until I moved to Petersfield many years later that I eventually came across a shop that seemed viable. My shop called Handmade Happiness in Dragon Street opened and 8 years later was still going. I closed down for good at the start of Covid. I couldn't imagine it continuing. But all through the shop's existence I wrote this blog. This blog is now 13 years old. Is this a record? It's 13th birthday was on September 22nd. |
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| Gouache and ink. |
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| Knitted some beads |
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| Flowers in acrylics |
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| Watercolour and pastel I love trying out different art materials. One thing leads to another and it's fun to play. I am still not sure what I'm most comfortable with - watercolour, acrylics, ink? I've just found a book on Modern Calligraphy in a charity shop. So at the moment the answer would be inks. I am trying to write letters in a swirly way using a dip pen and ink. I always admire signs I see using a flowing script. The Country Brocante fairs in Midhurst have signs using modern calligraphy and they look great. For anyone that lives locally to me you might be interested to know that these Country Brocante fairs in the square are once a month between now and Christmas. The next ones are October 1st and November 12th. |
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| Knitted this little cardigan for mouse |
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| Playing with colour |
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| Love hydrangeas Aside from the usual restrictions have you personally been affected by Covid? This week my daughter got it. Although she has had the two jabs she felt quite ill. Having been to a wedding she had to isolate because one of the guests tested positive. Then after 6 days of isolating she tested positive. So more days of not being allowed out. All this will change after Monday when people will not have to isolate after they've been pinged as I understand it. We will then be heading for herd immunity. Which was one of the options the government considered then rejected in the first place 18 months ago! On a happier note it is good to see art and craft shows happening again. I particularly enjoyed visiting Pallant House's exhibition of Ben Nicholson's paintings. Well worth a visit. The exhibition included dolls house displays of miniature well known paintings by famous artists. Today is the last day to see Excellence by members of the Society of Designers and Craftsmen at the Oxmarket Gallery in Chichester. I loved this exhibition. Such a high standard of work by 30 professional craftspeople from all over the country. More on Instagram @jenny_handmade_happiness |
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| I tried to paint sweetpeas in vases. Watercolour by Jenny Stacy |
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| Last card showing a sweetpea I drew. Jenny Stacy card. I've been making lots of cards lately but yesterday I decided to finish off a painting I started a few days before. I enjoyed drawing and painting sweetpeas. They look difficult to draw but I think they are at least recognisable as sweetpeas. My favourite flower. I wish they lasted longer in water. On the other hand we have had a heat wave this week which probably made them die sooner than they would in lower temperatures. The cooler weather is welcome today. In normal times I would be starting to make for Christmas about now. But these times are not normal. Maybe this year I should set up an etsy page as a selling platform. I have been thinking today about making large tree top fairies. I enjoyed making those when I had the shop and they sold well.... |
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| Using paint and painted papers |
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| Not sure whether added handwriting is a good idea or not |
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| Moody colours in this one More cards. After what I said about the time it takes to make one individual card I decided to simplify the process and these are relatively quick to make. I actually like them better that the ones shown in the previous post. What do you think? Making cards is a great way of using the hundreds of bits of painted paper I've collected. Just tearing a piece across makes a statement and a space for the stem of the flower. Then I use a 'sticky fixer' for the flower head and glue everything else down. Contrasting the colours of flower and background adds drama and makes the card more noticeable. In the last post I said I'd share needlework ... maybe in the next post. My brain is taken up with what is happening in the world. So much to worry about, so much that needs to change. If you notice any happy news let me know! |
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| Collage card designed and made by Jenny Stacy. I like this one |
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| Handmade card designed by Jenny Stacy |
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| Too complex?Collage card by Jenny Stacy |
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| A peach of a card. Designed and made by Jenny Stacy |
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| I want to do more like this. Watercolour. |
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| Peonies in someone's garden, Photo taken by my daughter Amy |
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| Messy flowers. Watercolour. I wasn't happy with this one. |
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| Thinking about texture. I've used acrylics for this |
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| An abandoned duck egg by the path |
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| Had a play with felt tips yesterday ! |
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| Two beautiful pieces of cloth from a local charity shop. £2 each I'm thinking about what we, as individuals, can do to help save the planet. I expect you already do all the things I'm about to list, but I'll list the small things I do which would have some impact if everyone did them too! I don't buy new clothes apart from underwear. I buy everything from charity shops. Once items have been washed they are as good as, if not better than new. I prefer natural fabrics (cotton, silk, wool) not the synthetic stuff that many shops offer today. If I see something I think would look great on one of my daughters I buy things for them there too. I've just been visiting family near Berkhamstead. That town has GREAT charity shops and is a lot cheaper than Petersfield. Eat local and eat in season. It annoys me that fruit and veg in supermarkets are often grown far, far away from here. I wish supermarkets would source food locally eg. apples. I try to buy food in season. We don't need strawberries in winter. So many nice things to eat can be grown in our gardens or window boxes. Local food saves polluting air miles and is tastier and can be cheaper. Cook from scratch if you can. Ditch the car I've had to do this recently as my old car needed too much money spent on it. I haven't missed having a car yet - I am sure I will do soon but my immediate plan is to buy a bike instead. Use public transport - it's not pleasant to always be wearing a mask, especially on long journeys but again if everyone uses trains and buses in preference to cars it will have a good effect on the enviroment. Yesterday I had to go on the tube for the first time in ages - not recommended but do-able! Switch to green electricity Be as healthy as you can be, smile a lot at others and see friends. Walk, talk and be creative. It would be great if we could have a positive effect on everyone we see, just by smiling at them. We are all going through hard times which are set to continue and there are many people having a horrendous time at the moment. The rules on what we can and cannot do keep changing and many of us are confused. Plus there is no definite end date in sight... What makes me happy is first and foremost talking and listening to others - strangers and friends, and secondly drawing/ painting/ experimenting on paper with what I have. I wonder what keeps you happy in these strange times? |
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| The joy of sunny weather and flowers blooming everywhere! |
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| Finished this Klimt inspired painting |
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| My neighbour got these fantastic giant peonies for her birthday |
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| Quick flower painting. (Nice as a tea towel!) Life is busy with four extra people in the house but I have decided to paint anyway and from now on I will be more productive on the art front. It is so important to do what we love, especially when there is a lot to worry about. Immersing ourselves in drawing or painting gives us valuable stillness which is so good for our mental health... I hope you are managing to find the time to be creative... whether it's cooking, arranging flowers, making jewellery or painting a picture - whatever floats your boat... to be creative every day is so so good for us. |
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| A bit of embroidery decoration on daughter's t-shirt |
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| Klimt inspired drawing unfinished. |
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| Just doodling |
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| Chagall inspired flying woman Recent stuff I've been doing as art therapy during lockdown. |
