X-stitch: John Clayton collection

http://www.hcrafts.com/johnclaytoncircles.html

Breathtaking designs.

Note: my Summer Meadow project is still on-going, 4 years and counting :)

His other works (for Heritage Crafts) is here.

Check out the panoramas and a piece titled Harbour Reflections.

who's your favourite painter?

I like Vincent Van Gogh's paintings, although not all of them.

Why?

Because his brushstroke is unique. I'm no art buff, but I know what I like when I'm looking at it.

My favourite of his all must be 'Irises'. There's a mystery to the single white one, amongst the other 'normals'. The overall colour blend is nice - blue/indigo and green, the accompaniment of oranges on the top left corner, dashes of yellow, and earth on the bottom left corner.

On the subject of art, my kind of art is more towards geometric and definite. No wonder why among my past ambitions was to be an architect. Well, I guess a mechanical engineer suits me too. Once in a while I get to draw, those geometric and definite lines with Autocad. If I really have the time, I'd go old school: pen, paper, ruler, stencils and geometric stationeries.

I remember during art classes through my school years , I'm more keen towards letterings/typesets, logos, posters and such. I guess that's why I'm into XS - because of the definiteness, while offering a work of art when it's finished.

Some time ago I attempted to convert Irises into XS sheet so that I can make it a major project. However, it turned out to be quite massive and requires many, many different colours. Well, having the painting as my office PC desktop wallpaper is okay too.

summer meadow update

Last Sunday Naza requested for me not to go offroad, and have a recreational activity with the family instead. I obliged, and as usual they enjoyed the extension of last night's sleep. Meanwhile, after Subuh I picked up my XS project and continued on.

This morning I took a photo of the project so far, and it is showing very much progress since my last entry about this. The white daisies are starting to show up between the spots of green & khakis.

It would finish very much soon, if I'm willing to trade it with my offroad rides. Well... the project can always wait.

:)

And yes, we went to Hutan Bandar for the family activity - after the brunch.

Summer Meadow Revisited

I went to Senawang over the recent Chinese New Year holidays to spend some time with my parents, and celebrate Ayah's birthday too. Ayah proudly showed me his completed Masjidil Haram cross-stitch work. and, he asked me about the progress of my xs piece.

It has been a very, very long time since I started my ambitious xs mega project - Summer Meadow. It was supposed to be finished by the time we move to Seri Alam, and hung on one of
the walls as a memento.

Since June 2007, now it is already more than one and a half year! Still a work-in-progress.
Been busying myself with my other hobby-turned-obsession, and this one hobby been neglected to a lower tier. Albeit, recently I did spend a little time on weekends over in Senawang. Make that 4 hours over the last 2 months
:D

No latest photo of my progress, but here's one.

Photo taken on 3rd October 2007.
Hahahaa... a major neglect.

I can pretty much say that it is quite close to what it is right now (read: little progress).

As for the memento, well, there'll always be other occasions in the future that can suit the finish date of this project. Hopefully not for my retirement.
:)

xs mini project - finished!

here's the finished project.
total 17 days. not too bad.

xs mini project - nearly finished

retracing the past

Through my yahoogroup, i received the article below.
On a personal level, i find it very true.
My posts starting around 12 months ago are about recollecting my past hobbies.
To name a few: cross-stitching, cycling and lego.
All those are hands-on hobbies - making something tangible out of my time.
And no, they do not give me stress - just simple pleasures. What hobbies are meant to be, in the first place.

As for this blog, I send posts for my kids and myself. I'm sure there'll be some use later in life.
__________________
It's knitting needles you want, not iPhones
As adults discover Facebook and Second Life, the cool kids are realizing that one reality is enough for anyone
By Rupert Steiner
Published: 18 November 2007
Britons might be the "social networking" champions of Europe but new research being used by some of the world's largest firms shows a backlash against Facebook and mobile phones in favour of what's being called "analogue living".

Young people, under pressure to communicate through so many media channels, still crave their gadgets, but also want some low-tech time out and one-dimensional products.

Pub chains have started re-installing black and white televisions; mobile telephone manufacturers are making handsets that just make phone calls; stressed-out executives are heading to craft fairs, and adult spelling-bee events have become big business in America.

Firms such as Procter & Gamble, Virgin, Nike and Diageo are being told the future is in back-to-basics designs, simplified packaging and linking up with events that used to be totally "uncool".

The findings come in D-Code, an annual study produced by Henley Centre Headlight Vision (HCHV), a strategic consultancy owned by the advertising giant WPP, which tracks youth culture. Due out at the end of November, the study is considered the manual for future trends. It forms the basis for brand campaigns and new product launches at leading multinationals.

HCHV's chairman, Crawford Hollingworth, says this year's findings were unexpected: "Young people's circuits are overloaded. They can't keep on top of their email, surf their Facebook, handle their Second Life avatar and upload their Flickr. They find all this technology that is designed to connect them is in fact disconnecting them. They are actually in multimedia meltdown."

The result is a knee-jerk reaction towards the less sophisticated, as young people seek temporary salvation from the cutting edge. They are being driven to activities reminiscent of their childhood and more familiar with their parents' generation. Out goes MySpace, PS2s and iPhones, and in comes knitting clubs, craft fairs and cloud appreciation societies.

London's Notting Hill Arts Club hosts a weekly craft night where young people congregate to drink tea, listen to music and knit together. They find creating something tangible and the sense of nostalgia relaxing.

Others are shunning eBay for some low-tech trading in second-hand garments, swapping unwanted clothes on the dance floor of a London nightclub. At the sound of a klaxon, party-goers at the monthly Swap-A-Rama Razzmatazz night at Favela Chic in London's Shoreditch place something they are wearing on a washing line strung across the dance floor.

They then put on an item left by someone else, and end the evening leaving in an entirely different outfit. The trick is not to start the night wearing your finest from Prada.

"This is a backlash to auction sites on the web," explains Liz Chernett, co-editor of D-Code. "It is a playful way to get rid of unwanted clothes – everyone has clothes in perfect condition they never wear. People live in such fast-paced, stressed lifestyles, with fixed definitions of success and an expectation to succeed.

"There is this need to have a counterbalance to stress and anxiety, and this is an antidote to new tech and new media. Young people are looking at the pastimes from their youth when they didn't live with the same pressures and responsibility."

And they are not the only ones benefiting from the trend – big business is cashing in with analogue products and campaigns aimed at connecting with the back-to-basics consumer.

Absolut Vodka recently launched a television commercial featuring hundreds of protesters in a stand-off with heavily armoured police. When one of the rioters hurled a cushion over the police line, the crowd erupted into a pillow fight on a scale of children's dreams all to promote the drinks company's "In an Absolut World" campaign.

There has also been a rash of print advertisements that involve Blue Peter-style do-it-yourself activities. Sports giant Puma promoted its new Train Away clothing and trainers kit with an advertisement comprising perforations that when separated made hundreds of tiny numbered cards. Put together in order, these formed a flip book that gave the illusion of a runner in Puma gear. This marketing approach was aimed at engaging with the consumer.

But it is not just commercials – the theme has even migrated to do-it-yourself products. Trendy footwear maker F-Troupe created a limited-edition assemble-your-own moccasin.

"Some of the world's biggest brands are tapping into this," says Ms Chernett. "Others are bringing out products with retro design and packaging with a low-tech look. But this is not a fight against technology – youths want to be at the leading edge, but they also need a time for back to basics, where analogue living provides some respite."

The trend is not limited to Britain. Americans have taken the shift to another extreme. In New York there is a cloud appreciation society where groups of adults get together and lie in a park looking at clouds and discussing the different shapes.

In Canada, the Retro Brewing Company has differentiated itself by adopting 1950s styling. Beer is delivered in an old school milk truck and the in-house bar is fitted with a black and white television.

In previous D-Codes, companies were told to associate their products with crime or criminals. This was because public attitudes towards immoral behaviour had softened so much that poster campaigns based around figures such as the Krays gave a product "criminal kudos".

This year's report is more about times gone past, and the only criminality firms will need to embrace is to steal some ideas from yesteryear.

xs mini project - sequence

cross-stitch mini project

Masitah's wedding is approaching - well, in a few weeks' time, that is.

I have always had this 'i-don't-know-what-to-get-for-a-wedding-present' situation - and I hate it very much.
Well, I gather that she loves cross-stitch. And I have always wanted to do a project on an evenweave cloth.

And so, I started re-doing my finished project - one of the four cottages for Naza. I figure that it would be perfect: a 'home' theme for a wedding gift, in cross-stitch, on evenweave.

The size is just perfect for the Ikea glass & clip frame that I still have, stashed in a bag gathering dust on top of the bedroom cupboard.

Thus, the stitching began...

summer meadow

i'm starting a new cross-stitch project this morning.
it's a beautiful design by John Clayton.

Here's the description (copied from the web):
Poppies and daisies, wild flowers in the sunshine.
This landscape from the Circles collection produced from the watercolour paintings of John Clayton by Heritage Stitchcraft makes a very attractive picture.

x-stitch: materials galore

i went to Ampang Park during lunch yesterday for banking purposes.
took a short stroll, window shopping.
and i saw a shop on the 2nd floor having lots of DMC materials.
i was so happy, i went nuts! but of course, i didn't show it.
they cater all kinds of strands with full range of colours. normal cotton
strands, linen, rayon, multi-colored.
you name it, they'll most likely to have it.
and there are DMC & Zweigart Aida cloth, and linen evenweave. there's also
waste linen available.
many types, many colours.
there are also coloured charts by DMC as well as other individual
designers.
these are much better compared to the black ink charts copied on red papers
commonly found in neighborhood craft store.
on displays are completed projects on 14 HPI Aidas, 25 HPI evenweave. looks
realistic and pleasing.
(if you're wondering, HPI is holes per inch. 14 HPI cloth has 14 holes in a
length of one inch).

here's the address (yes, free advertisement):
Haby & Wools
Lot 316 & 317, 2nd Floor
Ampang Park Shopping Complex
Jalan Ampang
50450 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 2161 5346
Fax: 03 2715 7217
email: habylee@pd.jaring.my

a hobby long-forgotten

while waiting for the bus to JB last friday, i browsed thru a magazine
store in Bukit Bintang Plaza.
in the past-issues section, i saw a very interesting needlework magazine.

cross stitching.

it has been years since i last did any.
the particular magazine (british publication) is quite good, in many
aspects - contents, x-stitch designs, and useful information - especially
for beginners.
it was a pity i couldn't locate any craft shop that night. for surely i'll
be having my supply of threads, needles and the cloth to start work upon
during the weekend.

my parents taught me how to x-stitch when i was a teenager. in fact, i did
sign up for x-stitching class in mrsm for my elective course credit hours.
and being the only guy in class. asked the Pn. Toriah if i can be excused
from attending the classes, with the condition that i would submit my work
(quite big, compared to others) completed in time.
nowadays ayah spends his time at home doing x-stitch in his room in
senawang.

i asked my brother Amri where in KL i could find x-stitching materials. so
yesterday i went to Macy in KL - petaling street-kotaraya-puduraya area -
in front of former Rex cinema. they've got all i need, except for 4 threads
of different colours that i need. anyway, with 20+ threads (8m each), it
would take some time before i even need those 4 to work with.

the price of those threads has gone up now though - RM1.20 per skein. so,
if you do get a present in the form of a x-stitch work, do appreciate it.
the workpiece consists not only the expensive materials (count the colours,
multiply RM1.20), but also time, dedication and meticulous attention to
perfection by the person doing it.

i like x-stitching because it challenges my patience - something i'm short
of. it requires attention to detail, and dedication to perfection - traits
needed by my day job. end of the project, there's an eternity of reward to
have the finished hard work mounted on the wall.

i guess from now on, there's only one place to find me during lunch hours
in KL - sitting in my room, stitching for the full hour.

xxxxx
akmal hizam
xxxxx