A cover for my Kindle

It finally happened. After all my protestations of how it wasn't for me, of how I was happy in my old fashioned ways, I finally succumbed to the lure of the Kindle.

It arrived on Friday and so far I've read one whole book on it. I'm quite pleased that I weakened and bought one. It's so light! It enables me to sprawl in all kinds of new ways whilst reading. Also, I'm impressed with how little packaging it arrived in.

When I bought the Kindle I didn't like the look of the covers that were available for it on Amazon. I googled for covers and also didn't like any of the alternatives that I found. So my only option was to make my own cover. Huzah! I dragged out my scrap box and made this:

It's padded on the inside with fleece to keep the Kindle snug and safe. I also lined it with cardboard to help keep the cover stiff and secure against knocks.

Aw - look how happy the Kindle is in its little cover.

This cover is my second attempt as the first one turned out too small.

Today I'm going to have a sit and make more covers for my up-and-coming Etsy shop. That's right The String Empire will soon be on Etsy! Watch this space.

xxx

A misadventure with Dylon dyes

A week or two ago I decided to dye our sofa throw a new colour. We'd just had our washing machine replaced because as well as eventually refusing to even turn on it had for several weeks been coating our washing in some kind of brown sludge. So the sofa throw, which was white, wasn't looking so hot any more.

Note: The throw in this photo is concealing all kinds of junk I couldn't be bothered to move off the sofa for this photo.

What better way to celebrate a new washing machine than throwing in a whole heap of machine dye? I decided on Dylon machine dye because it seemed easier and the least likely to stain my body in the process. 

I chose the Tulip Red  dye because we have various red things like a rug and a bin so I thought it would match nicely. Once dyed I was then planning on embroidering the throw in some beauteous manner. 

In went the dye, the salt and the throw.

I was mildly concerned that my washing machine suddenly looked like it belonged in a Japanese horror film. I hoped really hard that this wasn't a permanent condition. To be sure I ran the throw through several wash cycles.

Then I took it out and this....THIS.... was the result.....

Is that red? Is it?? Noooooo. Very likely I should have used more than one packet of dye. This photo doesn't quite do justice to what a BRIGHT shade of pink the sofa throw now is.

Oh the horror!!

Do Ho Suh in the Tate Modern

Staircase - III, Do Ho Suh

This installation in the Tate Modern by Do Ho Suh is made of polyester and stainless steel and is a replica of the artist's apartment in New York. It is suspended high in the ceiling of a large room in the Tate. It is amazingly detailed - even having a power socket on the wall of the stairway.

When I saw it there were several children dancing underneath and attempting to jump up onto the stairs. They were a long way off of course but I thought that was lovely.

Laura Ashley prints at Uniqlo

Image from Laura Ashley blog

Uniqlo has launched a spring collection in collaboration with Laura Ashley. They’ve used a number of Laura Ashley’s archived prints from the 1950s until the present day. They’re very pretty and make me think of spring just to look at them.

I learnt of this collaboration by accidently strolling past the launch party on Oxford Street and was excited because it combined two of my favourite clothes ‘designers’/retailers.  I went in on a different day to get my mother a present and ended up leaving (like I always do in Uniqlo) with a bag stuffed full of goodies.

Image from Laura Ashley blog

The collection includes scarves, t-shirts and tunics. I think these will sell out fast so I recommend hop-skipping over to Uniqlo and picking up some pretty Laura Ashley prints at a reasonable price.

Happy Mother's Day!

This is a portrait I made of my mother last week. I'm giving it to her this year for Mother's Day. The green coat is iconic.

Venus of the Rags

Venus of the Rags, Michelangelo Pistoletto

This is kind of what my flat looks like at the end of a work week. There are less naked marble statues though. This piece is currently installed in the Tate Modern and is one of my favourite art works there.

I Spy: Embroidered Stains

By Elvis Robertson

Whilst wandering the interwebs I came across this amazing project. That isn't an incredibly dirty table cloth in the above photo. Those are embroidered stains. I know. Amazing right?

Here's a close up of a different but similar piece of work:

This is all the work of Elvis Robertson. I found his/her (?) work on the blog lovely textiles. Sadly it seems this is no longer an active site as it hasn't been updated since last year. This may be due in a large part to the fact that the artist has a new commercial website here. Wonderful work though. I'm going to have to read through the blog's whole archive I think. It looks well worth a flick.