Bourjois and an Evening In Paris.

Funny how one thing leads to another.
A little while ago I wrote a post about Stratton compacts and I was reminiscing about how my mother always used Bourjois rouge.
Because I've just started a drawing course I went searching for charcoal. I thought I might have some in this box below.
I didn't find charcoal, but I found a pot of Bourjois rouge.

I'd forgotten, that in my box of art stuff, there was some old make-up and a little box of Bourjois rouge that used to belong to my mother-in-law.  I'm not one for wearing make-up every day.  In fact, I think that some of the make-up attempts I'm seeing on girls nowadays is plain weird!
But what I do like is the make-up packaging, and the names.
There's Cover Girl and Miners and Outdoor Girl.
Turquoise, Sky, Lavender Mist, Pastoral.

Yardley lipstick, Gay Crimson. Not PC these days, I'm guessing.

   Bourjois 'Evening in Paris'.  I love the thought of that.  So romantic!

   Unfortunately the box has been dropped and the casing is broken.

I like the little Bourjois puff and the powder underneath.

What a lovely name, Rosette Brune.

I got so carried away looking at my old make-up collection, I completely forgot about the charcoal!

Thinking hat.

Someone else can do the thinking now. 

 The 30th birthday was looming and time was running out with my hat making project.  

The button looked bare on the top of the hat. 

I made a sort of rosette with the braid and tucked it around the button. Then I unravelled and knotted the ends of the braid. It looked ok but I could have finished it better and I would have preferred a proper tassel. 

It's the first hat I've made so it was all trial and error. My husband is SO jealous of this hat I've been commissioned to make him one now. I gave my son the hat along with the little 'Studs' box I found in an antiques shop when I was over in England recently. I hope he liked his presents.

Then my daughter-in-law outdid my creative efforts with this Showstopper 'Tour de France'  Birthday cake worthy of the GBBO!

Now I've finished with thinking and moved on to something else ending in 'ing'.

I've signed up for a draw..ing course.

More thinking.

 So, in my previous post I'd cut out the tweed band and crown for the thinking cap.

Should be plain sailing now! I took these photos at night and the colour isn't right.

I stitched a 1/4' side seam on the tweed band and fitted the crown to the band.

It looked ok after a press and I was pleased that the lining seemed to fit well. Not sure about the finished width of the band yet and I'm playing around with it to see what looks right.

I took this photo below in daylight and it shows the true colour much better.
The braid is vintage, I'm just using up whatever I have in my fabric stash. I put my son's initials in.

 

This button is really old and it's going on the top. And I'm starting to think about making a tassel with the braid.

There's still a bit more thinking to do!

Thinking.

I had to put on my thinking cap this week .... just to make a thinking cap.
My son has a birthday coming up and he's just the sort to wear one, I thought.
I texted his wife and asked her to measure his head. A reply came back straightaway, she was curious!
59. 5 cm. I trawled the internet looking for ideas.
I didn't have a pattern so had to make it up out of my head. There was going to be a lot of guesswork!
It's a straightforward shape, but I'm not too confident when it comes to pattern making.  I cut a piece of card for the band, adding an extra 1cm, I thought I'd need to allow for his hair. Then I stuck it together to make the circle.

I had some pure silk samples, given to me from a soft furnishings shop. I cut the band for the lining on the bias, I don't know why but I thought if it turned out to be too tight it would give a bit of stretch. I also thought it would be better to make the lining first and get that measurement right.

I used some natural cotton wadding and quilted the lining.  Then I fitted it it round my card circle and pinned it before stitching the seam.

My next task was to make the pattern for the crown. I just used my card circle as a template, placing it on to another piece of card and drawing round.  Then I used the compass to make sure it was an accurate circle. Complicated, this hat making business!

I quilted the crown and hoped it would all fit together, then I stitched a 1/4" seam.

 Yay! It worked. Lining done.

Now, for the outside of the hat, I'm cutting a piece of tweed. 

I made the  pattern for the crown 1/4" larger to allow for the lining.

I'm worn out thinking!

A reminder of Morocco.

After looking back at my design book on Hawaii, I had a reminder this week of another book I made. My book was all about Moroccan cuisine and, when I saw this M&S ad in the paper, I thought some of the pages of my book were similar to this design, below, made with spices.

As well as the ad in the paper M&S are also running a mouth watering TV ad to promote their Moroccan tagine. Yum!

The circle in the middle of my front cover was made with spices dropped on to PVA glue. It's got a rough feel to it.

And the inspiration for my book came from one of my favourite television chefs, Rick Stein.

I'm very happy that he's back on TV at the moment on a new gastronomic road trip from Venice to Istanbul.

When you open my book you can smell the spices. 

This page was all about the saffron that grows in Morocco.

 I saw star anise in the M&S newspaper ad. I also used a star anise for some artwork on a page of my book and made a little printing block. The chillies were made by a cool iron melting a plastic ribbon, the sort that florists tie round a bouquet. It bubbles up nicely.

Drinking mint tea is a favourite pastime.

This was my favourite page, orange flower and rosewater.

Pomegranates.

Lemons.

Tagines.

Dates.

Aubergines.

Freshly baked bread every day. I did some rust dyeing on muslin.

Fish, of course.

Goats that climb trees.

Cafe tiles.

I had enrollled for my C&G course and was undecided on a country for my main research and design when Rick Stein's programme came on the TV -  'Mediterranean Escapes'.  It must have been 2008, I think, and once I saw him smelling the spices and wandering the souks of Morocco, well I was entranced. My choice of country was decided.

Think I'll  have to go off and buy that M&S Spiced Lamb and Apricot Tagine now!

Say Aloha!

The beginnings of the Stratton compact collection got me thinking about other collections I have.
Like this one...

Who needs expensive diamond rings?  I really treasure this collection of seashells.
The tiny, tiny ones on the left of the photo below come from Hawaii.

My son brought me the shells.  When he was at university he spent a summer on a work placement in Canada, and after all that hard work he met up with friends for a holiday in Hawaii, as you do!

One of the ladies in my old craft group showed me how to make the paper box that I keep them in. 

And I treasure this shiny blue piece of abalone that a college friend gave me.

Having a fresh look at the seashells got me thinking about Hawaii as I chose it as one of my countries for Research & Design when I was doing my City and Guilds diploma.

 I've got a collection of design books too!

I wasn't very confident with the art side of things - much preferring the stitching - but it was a required element of the course.  Now, when I look back, I can remember working on this book mostly at night, as I was looking after my granddaughter part time, and worrying about finishing the course within the two years.

Well, that's enough of that. I'd like to be catching a wave but instead of that I'm catching a plane.