Phew!

This little item has been more problematic than any of the past knitted animals and furniture items for the animated film.  It's a tiny chandelier, a mere 4 inches square, with real light up bulbs.

It's been constructed from florists wire, blutac, florists tape, crochet yarn, buttons, beads and a great deal of blood, sweat and tears!

The little bulbs are LEDs that are supposed to be inserted in balloons and are for one use only - therefore the little crochet holders are made for easy bulb change.

This made the cuckoo clock's construction seem like a walk in the park!

Still painting every spare minute of the day - one down and two to go with 10 days left ticking on the clock.........

Happy Valentine's Day...

You won't find any hearts and flowers here - it's a very subdued Valentine's Day when your loved one is in another country, although I did get a couple of dozen roses a few days early.  Instead, what better way to cheer yourself up than to wear a sweater with a moose on it!  I finished this last night, washed and blocked it overnight all ready to wear today - I absolutely love it!  It's difficult to take a photo of your own chest, but you get the idea - thank you Knitty.com for such a brilliant pattern.

I've been struggling for days now with making a miniature chandelier.  This is to go with all the other knitted furniture for the animated film, but of course to knit a chandelier this small would be impossible.  What I have had to do is fashion it out of wire, find a way to join 5 very unwilling pieces together (bluetac and florists tape) then wrap the lot with gold crochet yarn.  The wrapping alone took me an hour as I had to do it in one long continuous length to prevent any lumps and bumps.  The bases for the bulbs (there will be real bulbs...) are buttons painted gold - try finding flat gold buttons with holes in the centre when you want them, it's not going to happen.  Next is crocheting the bulb holders and adding the crystal drops...or beads as we like to call them in the trade.  All those fiddly mini knitted animals, fish, chairs and the cuckoo clock seem so easy by comparison to this.

As well as the above, I am spending every spare minute painting......deadline too close for comfort!

Get On This Train......

Now that life has settled down a bit, it's time to get on with all those outstanding commissions.  This is an unusual (for me) little piece - I was asked if I could produce some travel drawings in the style of etchings.  I'm not sure if it has been achieved here or not - still awaiting approval from the client, but it was fun just using a pencil with a sharp point and nothing else.  This is quite small - A4 - but still took quite a few hours.

Now it's time to start those Inktense jungle creatures....

Smudge!

This only took a further half hour to complete.  Now Smudge is waiting to go to her new home with the real Smudge.

Just got the details of my 3 painting commission for Derwent - a tree frog, a spider monkey and a leopard....all to be done by the end of the month. Gulp.......

It Never Rains But It Snows.........

This is what I woke up to today.....not alot of snow, but enough to get me a snow day off work - hooray!  It couldn't have come at a better time, as with two sick family members at home and a pile of art work to get on with, I am exhausted!

I have had time in the evenings to complete this though - it's the same crochet pattern as the small teal scarf I made a few weeks ago but this time in Rowan Kidsilk Haze, which means it has turned out considerably bigger...and fluffier!

I'm also working on this, which will be a chunky tank top with a moose head on it!  Saw the pattern on this months Knitty edition and just couldn't resist - who wouldn't want a moose head emblazoned on their bosom?  Luckily, as it is in aran yarn, it's a fairly quick knit but very heavy compared to what I have been working on over the past months.

Smudge here is just about completed - I have to work on the front part of the legs and tidy up the background a bit, but that's all.  I have enjoyed this portrait immeasurably - I think it has kept me sane over the past fortnight.

As from today it is half term week here in the UK, which means no school, no day job for me - hooray!  It comes just at the right time as I have been offered a 3 painting commission by Derwent Pencils with a VERY tight deadline!

Nearly There....

I'm surprised that I have been able to do so much to this painting with all that is going on at my house lately (now my daughter has bronchitis - this has not been a good start to the year, 2012!)  In some ways, escaping into a quiet world of painting a sandy dog has been very therapeutic and none of my anxieties have manifested themselves in the picture.  Quite the reverse, I feel it is turning out to be quite a good one. 

Still left to do - the front legs and the detailing of the chest hair, and something has to be done about that shadow on the left of the dog's flank - it's there in the reference photos but looks hard and heavy in the painting.  But considering an acrylic of this size (A3) and detail used to take me months to complete, a few more afternoons to finish it aren't a problem.

Not All Doom & Gloom.......

Despite all the goings on at Chez Bletsis this week, there have been some pretty good things happening too.  For one thing, I have a big vase of blooming daffodils scenting the house while outside the temperature is -9... minus NINE!  I know this is small potatoes to anyone in Canada and Northern Europe, but for Hampshire in the UK, that's a bit chilly.

Last weekend, my son had an illustration in the Financial Times - considering he's only been freelance for a couple of months, this is quite a feather in his cap.  See it here.  A proud moment for all of us!

Throughout my worry over my partner, I knitted this cute lacy cowl.  It's a Louisa Harding pattern and I used some King Cole yarn which is an acrylic/wool mix with little sequins every few inches.  I don't think this one is of a quality to sell, but I will be making more in a heavier yarn later on - this one will do for keeping out the cold round my own neck.  By the way, knitting is a great soother in times of stress!

I've been looking at this coat on the La Redoute website for months.  It started off at £99....then before Christmas it was reduced to £69, still a bit excessive for my wallet.  I'm a great believer in waiting for what you want and nine times out of ten it works - bought it this week in their sale for £29.  Now that's a price I can't complain about!  Showed it to my partner who chuckled a bit and told me that when he was in the Foreign Legion (yes, indeed he was, all very Beau Geste...) he had a coat just like it... 

And to cap it all, the art & craft work is coming in at a steady pace - brilliant!  Although I feel that any spare cash will be going on the heating bill this month.....