please start following the new blog here:

http://thiscreativebliss.blogspot.com/

and happy St Andrews day.

Let’s celebrate all things Scottish and the lovely town of St Andrews today.

Here is a painting I painted a few years ago when I lived in St Andrews.

You can find a print of this painting here:

This Creative Bliss Shop:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/86015397/art-print-st-andrews-east-sands-print-of?ref=tre-1306482100-1

I have to admit, I miss Scotland, it is a beautiful country and definitely worth a visit.

And to reminisce a bit I also created an Etsy treasury with some items that celebrate Scotland.

not only from Scottish and UK shops but also American sellers (it won’t get on the Front Page if it only contains items from British shops).

I hope you like it.

Happy St Andrews Day, go have some Haggis and a good Scotch Whiskey if you can.

Nadine xx

We are so lucky to live in a vibrant city with so many like-minded people who are interested in arts and crafts, who organize get-togethers, workshops and exhibitions. No I am not talking about London, or Edinburgh. Our own York seems to be a hub for all sorts of creative people, who work in different arts and crafts and design, digital and traditional. I feel lucky to live here.

… and now  even luckier. With the opening of Bar Lane Studios York’s creative people get a new outlet and space for exchanging ideas and sharing their work, a space which is not led by commercial interests but instead is publicly funded and as a social enterprise it has the public’s interests at heart.

How exciting to be a part of that. (and may I just add that there are 2 of my own paintings that can be seen in these pictures taken in the café) – no I am not bragging, am just so excited to see them in the gallery next to so many extraordinary pieces of art. Yes, I am a big fan of group shows, more so than solo shows. The more variety the better, if you ask me.

So pack your loved ones and go have a coffee in the café, or take a look at the exhibitions that are hosted in the main gallery, or even better, sign up for a workshop or an art course. There is lots on offer (jewellery making, painting, drawing and even digital art).

And if you really want to be creative, you could rent one of the artist studios or workspaces.

So if there is something you always wanted to explore or you had this interest in art but you never quite knew what to do with it, this is the chance to try it out.

Might see you all there.

Love, Nadine

my new business cards have arrived and I am so chuffed I want to share them with everyone. That’s the idea, isn’t it? So be warned, if I see you in person you’ll get one if you want it or not.

I had both regular and mini cards made at moo.com and can really recommend their service.

The front refers to the paintings and the art blog and the back is about the quilting.

I am very happy with how they turned out.

and the mini cards including mini card holder

Once again the doodleup produced the most intriguing images. This time some of them with a clear fairy tale theme .

The one I started (I love this one thanks to everyone’s creative genius it turned out really well)

doodling on hold while the doodler gets another beer

a proper fairy tale

am very proud of my little castle

and some more doodles

and at the end of the fairy tale … it’s the snake pit for Adam and Eve.

Doodleville

details

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and the Balloon People

Today I am only posting some images from last night’s doodlemanifesto, other people’s images, not mine, as I really didn’t stay long and didn’t doodle much at all. Will try to be more creative next time, promise.

… the almost finished Viking Duck-Ship

I followed two doodles from start to finish:

The Tentacled Aliens

and The Doodling Hillside

and a selection of the rest:

Hello everyone,

sorry for neglecting you for you long but I’ve been busy sorting the blog situation and organising my images.

I now have three blogs:

Quilted Bliss (exclusively for the quilts and things made from fabric)

Creations of a Cluttered Mind (for exactly that, all sorts of crafty arty things and more)

Brighter Smudges (for all the paintings and artwork)

I have also worked on my Flickr account and added some images. The next step is to organize those and give them descriptions, which will probably take me ages.

I hope you like what I’ve done with the blogs.

Lots of Love

Nadine

I used a lot of Kaffe Fassett fabric again and tried to make sure the front and back are not too different.

One reason to follow the design used on the quilt top is to make sure the quilting (handquilting that is) does not ruin the back and is fairly consistent with the lines on the back.

I haven’t decided on the quilting yet, I don’t want to make it too obvious so the fabrics still look vibrant and clear.

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details

…. a tease. …… Today I will only show you one half of a fully reversible quilt.

I’ll show you the top of the quilt and will post about the other side in the next blogpost.

This quilt was a test actually. I wanted to see how quickly I can make a two-sided quilt and it only took me about 6 weeks to make (a few hours every day). By hand of course. Still don’t have a functioning sewing machine. It is not quilted yet though, which will probably take another few weeks of a few hours a day.

I love doing everything by hand and since I do this for fun it shouldn’t matter how long it takes to make a quilt, but I do get impatient with it and at some point I just want to finish them and move on to the next project.

Maybe I should get myself a sewing machine after all? Or fix the old machine I have been given as a present, though that alone will cost me a lot of money and there is no guarantee that it will last much longer. I have a really hard time deciding whether I want to give in to the dark side and start making quilts with the machine, turning them out a lot faster and then not knowing what to do with them. At the same time I am not sure whether I can really handle a machine.

I had a small £20 machine that was given to me once and used it until it broke, but I found myself getting every impatient with it and fiddling around with the threading (a nightmare) all the time or having to fix it because the thread was too tight or not tight enough annoyed me big time. I am not sure I want to actually invest money into a machine when I will probably end up going back to sewing by hand just because the fiddling around takes just as much time as sewing by hand would.

Any quilters out there have some advice? Let me know.

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Most of the fabric in this quilt is from Kaffe Fassett, one of my favorite designers. His fabrics are so vibrant and quirky, they brighten up every room.

details

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close-ups

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… and watch out for the next post where I will show you the other side of the quilt.