Helicopter leaves

You know those leaves that twirl around like a helicopter? I used to love them as a kid - well, actually, I still do! :)
I don't even know if they are called helicopter leaves really.
When I was making moulds the other day, I pressed some of those leaves in the mould. That way, the back side of the mould is not going to waste. I found these leaves in a park in Portugal when I was visiting Kerrin from Sigmosaics last year so I thought it was cool to see them in pressed in porcelain.
I made a little hole on top of the leaf and hope that Anna from LilaRubyKing will find a way to turn these into a neat jewellery design sometime...

My creative space

Here's a peek into my kiln that I'm unloading today. It was a porcelain firing which means lots of small items - most of it for Anna aka LilaRubyKing.
I also fired all the porcelain hands that did not come out of the moulds OK. I used to throw them out but I plan to put them in a frame on a pile with one perfect hand on top of that. I think it would make a great companion for this artwork.
Unloading the kiln usually means sandwork ahead of me... bweurk! ;)

Want to show your creative space? Hop over to Kootoyoo's to play! It's fun!

Flickr Favorites

1. everything, 2. Ceramics, 3. Babette-ish Cushion no. 2, 4. A rainbow of colours

Last week I used a picture for my mosaic that was inspired by the work of Keri Smith's photostream. I didn't know but Clair told me in the comments. I love her stream so make sure to check it out.
So today is going to be a good day and I'm excited about everything. At least, I hope that I can say that when the day is over... :)

My favorite mosaic from last week is all about being new...

If you like to play this week, make your mosaic and add a link to your blogpost (NOT your blog please) or Flickr in Mister Linky (click on the button below and fill in your name with the link to your blogpost or Flickr picture).

De Canvas Collectie

Last fall I saw a call for artists to submit their work to de Canvas Collectie.
Canvas is a public tv station that broadcasts mainly more in depth programs and shares their net with a fun children's broadcast called 'Ketnet' and a sports broadcast called ' Sporza'.
No less then 7900 people submitted their work with in total more then 24000 pieces of art, as you can participate with 3 works maximum.
There are preselections all over the country and they already started in February. I subscribed for the preselections in my province which will be held on the weekend of 17 and 18th of April.There are 600 artists that will present their work in my province and only 123 will be selected by a commission. Then a National jury will select out of those 123 pieces, 23 pieces for the final exhibition of the Canvas Collection in the Fine Arts Museum in Brussels. You can browse the selected works so far here.
This is the second time that they organise this national art contest. I doubted until the last day to submit my work but I decided I have nothing to loose. I find it all rather exciting as it's always great to hear feedback on your work and I've never participated in a contest like this. It will be a wonderful experience whichever way it turns out.

So today I cleaned my studio and placed my work on my table so that I can see how it looks . I'll place them in 11 rows of 9 feelings on the floor as I only have about 10 minutes to show off my work. So no complicated constructions and tables to place it on. Pure and minimal, a perfect way to show off this '99 feelings'-project I think. Wish me luck! :)

Happy Easter

Picture via Norwegian Wood on Flickr

And we have a winner for the little felt birds I made in my tutorial last week.

Congratulations, Katharine! :) The birds will fly off soon!
She was picked by IraGrant via Twitter this morning! :)

Ripple dreams... part 8

So, I thought it was best to show you some proof why the Ripple blanket is not getting done at all... Whenever I duck underneath it to finish up some more stitches, it is so nice and toasty that I usually fall asleep. I already love it as that is what good blankets do really...
Of course, that way it will be a very slow process and I won't be able to do my weekly crochet post, which stimulates me to finish my projects.
That's why weekly 'Happy Stats' will replace my crochet posts for a while. After all, spring and summer are not really ideal for crocheting warm, wooly blankets. I might pick up some cotton though...

My creative space

I'm working on new stuff today. It's a bit messy as you can see.
Paper porcelain clay is not my favorite but it's so nice and white when fired.
I'll also dig into the ceramic clay today 'cause I plan to do lots of stuff with texture, clay slib and oxides. I'm having fun already but won't show too much yet as I don't want to spill the beans.
It will take a while before I can show you the end result though as there are a few firings involved. Patience is a virtue, did you know? :)

Want to show off your creative space? Hop over to Kootoyoo's! It's fun! :)