Sisabeille's plumpie ideas

a new adventure

2011-10-05T14:49:00.000-07:00

là... cliquer, après c'est tout simple...
ah, j'oubliais, leur blog: ici...
thème: Nothing new...
j

altered book, yahoo : challenge

2011-08-27T14:45:00.000-07:00

all the bits and pieces left on your working table

silent but hard worker !!!!

2011-08-25T14:43:00.000-07:00

would like to be Norman Rockwell

2011-08-20T14:40:00.000-07:00

60 /37 cm...

inspiration: Teesha Moore

2011-08-20T14:38:00.000-07:00

such fun !!! quite liberating !

the princess and the pea, altered book

2011-07-07T14:24:00.000-07:00

read the story HERE

art journaling

2011-06-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

should be light, airy, more lively...

june: flag book

2011-06-20T14:19:00.000-07:00

Altered-books yahoo group... haïkus!!!

feeling better

2011-06-16T14:11:00.000-07:00

Healing..;
the new fish

love knitting

small sqares

-English TV , cool evening, Channel 4, More 4....

-tea, doggie dog, quiet evening..

Bon anniversaire à nos jardinières !!! Happy birthday...

2011-06-15T01:57:00.000-07:00

et merci pour tout....

Christmas haïkus

2010-12-06T07:17:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make small presents for my brother and sisters...so here they are...I loke haïkus and calendars are very useful...so twenty four pages each...one for the month, one for the poem...
to make the cover: cardboard (never forget to keep your old packets of cereals....) and nice paper...
I glued everything and made a small slot for the pencil...to make the paper stronger under the slot I sticked some very strong tape...
I made a hole in the pages and tied them with the small stem you use to make rings...

Autumn

2010-11-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

when I carved the cover I kept the small piece of cardboard and made the booklet out of it...

a photo glued on it...a chain...small bits and pieces...and the text printed on small pieces of grey paper (2.5 cm square)

when you make rings you have small pieces of metal with a kind of pearl you screw on it, I used it to tie the small pages...

Autumn

2010-11-06T10:25:00.000-07:00

black and white gessos...and dried leaves...

Autumn

2010-11-06T10:18:00.000-07:00

once more I use a photo of an old creation...

I loved making Wylde woman...the photo of an old woman from Tibet is glued on a cardboard...then I took a very old floor cloth falling into pieces ...dyed it with a mixture made of coffee, chocolate and sugar...when very dry and stiff I sticked it and decorated with bits and pieces, dried seeds, weeds, pieces of paper...pearls...

grand-mothers used to stiffen their lace napkins with sugar in the pld days...

Autumn

2010-11-06T10:16:00.000-07:00

the photo of a spider's web ...printed on a transparency and glued on the page...difficult to take the photo...

Autumn

2010-11-06T10:13:00.000-07:00

collage of dried leaves and petals, foam stamps, prints with black gesso...

Autumn

2010-11-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

Use all your bits and pieces...the page on the left is a photo made out of an old creation, I made it long ago and it's a bit spoiled...so I use the photos and work on them...I draw the tree, use a foam stamp for the silhouette...paper for the moons...small pimientos , dried seeds...were sticked on the first page...the fabric was dyed with spices : turmeric and paprika...
on the right I scanned an old page from a book, on which I just put dried leaves...changed the colours with the scan and add a little bit of the previous background...

Autumn with Altered-books Yahoo group

2010-11-05T07:37:00.000-07:00

"Altered Book Challenge for November, 2010:

Take a nice Autumn stroll and see if you can find some natural element to add to your Altered Book Spread. Use the lovely colours of Fall to create AB art celebrating nature in some way.

The real challenge, as always, is to make YOUR art YOUR way." that was Lizbeth's message...

I found it a bit difficult...Autumn this year was a bit dull and dark to my eyes, but I stood up and went to the woods...the morning was cold and misty...but I was to meet somebody I knew...

to follow...

Eugène's story, part one...

2010-10-15T01:42:00.001-07:00

It had to be different from what I usually make...This altered-book is supposed to be made by Eugène when he was all alone in his office, with nothing else to do...

Eugene's story...Part 1...a strange altered-book...

2010-10-15T01:29:00.000-07:00

a strange book that is...very strict and severe...full of ancient laws...some from the 17th century...I found it in a second-hand bookshop...it was published in 1909...

Here is what I found...this book's owner was called Eugène...He worked as a solicitot's clerk and as a farmer...He was very proud of his two jobs and put them on his own stamp...

That was just great !!! who was Eugene ? I had to give him a second life...

Brown paper again

2010-10-14T04:55:00.001-07:00

really love brown paper...

life puzzle: white page

2010-10-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

I always keep the white silky paper wrapping things when you buy them, shoes, flowers...
In that case I wanted to tell a difficult part of my life...the day I woke up in a psychiatric hospital after 8 days artificial sleep...That white, the white walls, the white sheets, the nurses uniforms...was so suffocating...as I was in a deep fog, a damp and cold mist...
I needed sheets and sheets of white...the page was first covered with gesso...the white paper torn in long pieces and crumpled roughly...and fixed with staples...
in the center there is a tiny doll, wrapped in the tissue you use to make hems ...I used my heating gun and she got glued inside...
the text was printed in a transparency...

Autumn leaves/ October challenge

2010-10-09T07:00:00.001-07:00

Last Autumn I collected nice leaves, ironed them and kept them between the pages of an old dictionnary...
I put them on the screen of my scanner...trying to make a nice arrangment and scan the picture...I put some colour (browny one) to fill the blanks betwen the leaves and printed the page on a special paper for transfers on fabrics...I transfered the picture on a silky fabric with a flowery pattern of the same colour on it...the I glued it on the brown paper...
the small collage was also glued on the fabric...and the text printed on a transparency, fixed with a little glue as well...

October Challenge: Lunch with Toshiko

2010-10-04T13:16:00.000-07:00

2010-10-04T03:54:00.001-07:00

had to start again, move my fingers, find ideas...
it was extremely difficult until I discovered this group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alteredbooks/
where I found Tite belle soeur ! great !!!

I then realized altered books where my favorite...so here we are : I'm working for the October Challenge
here's Lisbeth's message:
"October 2010 Altered Book Challenge
Theme: Lunch, to include brown bag paper.
Brown bag it!
Cut or tear a brown lunch bag and use some in your next AB spread. Grocery
sacks are usually too thick, but lunch bags are perfect. Scrunch it up, if you
like, and then smooth out and rub with an ink pad. Stamp, chalk, paint, gesso,
layer--so many great uses. Experiment!
What is your usual lunch? What would your perfect lunch be like? Who would be
at a fantasy lunch with you? Where would you have lunch--Paris, the park, in a
fantasy castle?
I'm getting hungry already! Hungry to see what you do with this Challenge.
As always, upload your Challenge art to the folder in the Photos section and
include your name.
Have fun!
Lizbeth "
here are my first tries...not finished yet...but so happy to work again...

a strange fishing party

2010-10-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

TRANSLATION TO COME, DON'T WORRY GIRLS !!!!

Je ne vis pas que de rèves...je mange aussi des pommes de terre...mais c'est plus fort que moi, même les patates excitent mon imagination...ce sac par exemple...la nuit dernière il est sorti de sa poubelle pour me raconter une étrange histoire...

Cette nuit-là Bonhomme était en mer et jetait patiemment son filet, mais il ne prenait guère de poisson...

Quand soudain...

Il vit une lueur argentée sur l'eau...

il tira son filet, celui-ci était lourd et quelque chose s'agitait au fond...Un étrange poisson...
L'enfant coquillage, lui, se demandait ce qui allait arriver ensuite...

Bonhomme rentra chez lui. Il trouva derrière sa cabane un aquarium de bonne taille et y installa l'Enfant coquillage...

Tous les jours il lui apportait des poissons, des étoiles de mer, des morceaux de nacre ou d'algues...Mais le visage d'Enfant -coquillage pâlissait chaque jour davantage...Aucun sourire...Les histoires que lui contaient Bonhomme le laissaient indifférent...Bientôt il cessa aussi de se nourrir...

Une nuit d'hiver, où même les étoiles étaient grises, Enfant-coquillage mourût...Bonhomme pleura longtemps , longtemps...Puis il se leva ,porta le bocal sur le rivage et le posa sur l'eau...

Il resta des jours à le regarder s'éloigner...

Des nuits plus tard, l'étoile grise reparût...Bonhomme tressaillit...

La lune rouge se leva et une étrange lueur apparût à l'horizon...

Sur le rivage les gens criaient: "un phare, un nouveau phare, regardez comme il est beau!!!"...

Mais Bonhomme ne sourit pas, il ne pouvait soutenir le regard d'Enfant-Coquillage...

et sa vie changea...

Enfant-coquillage prévenait chaque poisson de son arrivée sur le rivage...sans relâche il veillait...

A dater de ce jour Bonhomme rammena chaque soir un filet vide...

~~*~~*~~

Les enfants aujourd'hui aiment jouer sur les rochers , surtout le gris là-bas qui ressemble à un bonhomme...et il se trouve toujours une vieille femme pour leur raconter l'histoire...alors les petits prennent leurs seaux et vont remettre à la mer les poissons , les crabes ou les crevettes qu'ils ont capturés...

à chaque fois la vieille regarde au loin d'un air malin et adresse discrètement un clin d'oeil au phare...

si un petit lui demande "dis, grand-mère, comment s'appelle le phare là-bas ? " elle répond "mais voyons , le phare de l'Enfant coquillage"...

altered-books, tutorial

2010-10-01T05:58:00.000-07:00

Choose a book you like...an old one of course, not a precious, expensive one...I get mine in a second-hand bookshop...When books are very old , torn, burnt, if pages are missing, the books are distroyed, so I buy them and give them a second life...

Take your time...look carefully, smell the pages...that's a very sensual job...you'll undress the book...

the side of the pages is sometimes beautiful, so be careful not to spoil it when using them

some pictures may inspired you as well, keep them carefully, you may use them in this book or in another one...

now carefully begin the undressin, keep all little pieces in a box, and take time to admire, to take photos...as a souvenir...and to get further inspiration...

fascinating, isn't it...

time to start dreaming...don't hurry...let the story come in your heart and fingers...

altered-books, tutorial

2010-10-01T05:56:00.000-07:00

after you have taken the book cover, you find a block of pages...

in some books, they are sewn, so you just have to cut the thread...and work on a double page...

sometimes they are glued so you work on a single page...to get a strong one you may glue several together...or use some gesso to get a good base...

if you have double pages, let them dry a long time, then glue them together and glue the block of pages on the cover...let it open some days to get it perfectly dry...

if you work on single pages you may make holes in them with a hole-maker and then put a ribbon in the holes and tied it on the back cover...

you may also make holes on all the pages , including the cover and tied them together...not to tight, you must be abble to turn the pages..

you may use ribbons, threads, or metal links...etc...

altered-book : first steps

2010-10-01T05:50:00.000-07:00

you must first find a theme...then an old book, whose cover gives you inspiration...
I like to open windows in the cover...I use a small sharp pencil-cutter (not sure of the word!!!)

mind your fingers...

altered-book, round -robin, 2009

2010-10-01T05:33:00.000-07:00

when friends decide to launch a round robin, it's quite a great adventure...

here's the cover I made, he's happy to say good bye...he knows they'll come back this time...

Theme: Suppose you were living in Plumpiemousie, where would you settle down ?

Betty, Nanou, Bab, Chris, Cléa, Oclara, Cici, made these extraordinary pages...I'm so happy, so proud of my friends...

and here are mine..

that really was a great adventure...longing to do it again...

first round-robin...

2010-10-01T04:33:00.000-07:00

Oh dear ! He got lost !!! anyway, I'll start again...

I loved doing it, that's the main thing...

my be somebody found it and loved it !!!

flag book;;;;working for yahoo group altered books

2010-06-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

le challenge de Juin sur Altered-books yahoo group...le flag -book...j'ai retrouvé mes haïkus!!!

2008-05-16T03:38:00.000-07:00

2008-05-15T09:43:00.000-07:00

my over-all

2008-04-06T10:50:00.001-07:00

a company selling buttons is organizing a competition: you have to customize something or create something using buttons...so I made this large tunic, I will enjoy wearing soon...let you know if I win something...I used fourty one buttons, pearls, little things, and material...loved doing it...

the front
the back

2008-04-06T10:47:00.000-07:00

animals pocket, hen, rabbits, some painted, lady-bird, bears...
tea-time pocket, cup, tea-pot, biscuits, ribbons
love-letters pocket with hearts and messages on buttons...

buttons competition

2008-04-06T10:42:00.001-07:00

flower et the back...two buttons in the midddle...
button on the front ...
mixed-media pocket...
glasses and handkerchief pearls, smalls things: scissors, sewing-machine, grapes, feather...

last mail-art

2008-04-06T10:39:00.001-07:00

rats from the earth, rats from the moon...Chinese new-year...

last art-square

2008-04-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

oriental...

first art-squares

2008-04-06T10:29:00.000-07:00

dolphins for Stephanie
ethnics
vintage

2007-12-15T12:46:00.000-08:00

My very dear Cecily,

If you tidy the workshop tonight, will you please avoid touching the small table. I prepared all the samples for Miss Potter's room...Don't forget to put the kettle on, I'll arrive about 9 pm, and we'll have tea...I think I'll work all night...

see you tonight.

Peaceful

shapes...parallels...horizontal...

2007-11-28T12:04:00.000-08:00

lines and washing...

hanging down the washing...

drying the washing outside...

it gets so nice, so fresh, so crisps...

funny enough, in Portugal some people say you must not hang your washing during full moon nights...otherwise, the people wearing the clothes get mad...

it was raining that night...see the rain drops ?

shapes: squares

2007-11-24T13:38:00.000-08:00

squares: I love these tiny pasta you eat in the Alps, made of buckweat flour, they are about 0.5 cm square and the taste so good...with a little cream and nice Beaufort cheese they are delicious...
then I went to the kitchen and realized how many square and rectangular boxes i had...easy to put in the cupboard...men makes rectangulars and squares...you hardly find them in nature American scientists tried to make some squared tomatoes in the 80's but didn't succeed...good job they didn't...

shapes: rounds...

2007-11-24T13:32:00.000-08:00

for the round shapes it was very difficult to choose...round is really a nice shape...positive...comfortable...like a woman's womb expecting a baby, a pot of warm and comforting tea, a fruit...the symbol of life...

shapes : triangles

2007-11-24T13:20:00.000-08:00

the last shape we worked on was: Triangle...

I thought the blades of scissors and knife were a powerful picture...a hard one but an important one...the blade that cut the ombilic at birth, giving life to the baby, seperating him from his mum, giving him real life HIS life...

The blade of the doctor the surgeon, the blade of our memories, searching our souvenirs, cutting out the bad ones ...sorting out...to cut and to recover...to recover because something was cut...

First challenge: vintage photo...

2007-11-24T13:17:00.000-08:00

On the challenge which was given to us this month was this one : we were given a vintage photo of a young girl and we had to build something around it...that was cool...I made this, to illustrate the first words in" Alice in wonderland".

Working late ...

2007-07-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

All the team at work, late at night...

Mousie, Cortobeille, Mereabeille, Oldwoman, Pixabeille

and on the table Miss Mousie...

Bear, not a bear...Kiss and Congratulations...

2007-07-22T03:10:00.000-07:00

I did it...I did it...
Oh, my heart is beating so much...
I'm so happy, so happy...
and look love, I have something to tell you

2007-07-22T01:41:00.000-07:00

We were tagged...Taexalia said we're Rockin'girls...whaou..................what a great honour...

So now I must chose a Rockin'girl blogger, but my heart decided to chose a Rockin'bear Blogger... and today...Sunday July the 22nd...a great day...

I, Miss Mousie decided to honour my great friend BOB T'BEAR,
and to give him the name of:

UNIQUE ROCKIN'BEAR BLOGGER
of the XXI° century...

"Nikara's friends"' adventures

2007-07-19T07:11:00.000-07:00

Nikara sent us some friends yesterday...

by the way visit her blog, it's quite nice...

They came from her mother's garden and wanted to visit Plumpiemousie...

First we welcomed them at the airport,

and this morning I let them use the computer to write home...
~~*~~*~~*~~~~

Hello Nikara, how are you...It's great here...yesterday when we arrived, Mousie took us to tea in the garden...that was delicious, cakes, cream, strawberries...so yummy...

Then we went to Sisabeille's home and had a bath...Yes, we aren't naked on the photo, but we didn't want anybody to take the photo after we undressed...don't worry, we had a good wash...

Afterwards, straight to Mousie's bed, it's large and comfortable...she read us stories...She slept in Cortobeille's room...His bed would have been to small for the two of us...

Now, we had a good night sleep, and a lovely breakfast...Cortobeille just arrived...He's going to take us somewhere...Mousie said it's a surprise! so see you soon...we'll write tomorrow...love to you and your mum...

See you....

New collection

2007-07-14T03:03:00.000-07:00

Today at dawn, my friend the heron visited me...
He is such a nice friend, and a clever fashion-designer...
He brought me clothes from his last collection...
The theme was: "Herbarium 1850"
a nice year for dried flowers...
the skirt: dog roses
the bustier: buttercup leaf
the hat: buttercup
the shoes: sweet violets
I'll look very pretty tonight...

Litha or Summer Solstice

2007-06-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

It's so wet, snails are running
everywhere...
One climbed the window and
he ate my magazine !
You sure it's Summer today!?!

Anyway, have
a happy Solstice day all of you...

2007-06-21T07:11:00.000-07:00

Found the guilty one...
Isn't he cute ? Sure I will forgive him...

Couleurs...

2007-06-17T08:54:00.000-07:00

I just received that great post-card...made me think...
people always say, this bird is nice, look at his feathers...but as soon as you dress like the bird they say you look ridiculous...

I'm getting old, I'm plumpie, but I think life is too short to always wear black or brown...I want colours !!! I wear colours...

Bob's backgrounds...

2007-06-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

I received a very important message from Bob T Bear...Here it is...
Thank you my friend, don't forget I do love you ...

B.T.Bear (esq.) has left a new comment on your post "Backgrounds for blogs...": Hullo Sisabeille!I did a little lesson on my blog a while ago about changing the background. I wondered if it would be useful to your readers cos it's a step-by-step Bear guide. I tried to make it easy, with photo's and stuff.I like your new one! WOW!Bob :@}Here is the link:Changing Your Blog's Background, a small Bear's guide

It really makes me happy to exchange ideas...Blogging is really great...

Backgrounds for blogs...

2007-06-14T05:11:00.000-07:00

I was given an address some time ago:
http://www.grsites.com/
there're a lot of backgrounds on that site but I couldn't manage to do it...may be you could...

but some days ago I found a really great site, many many advices, easy to understand...and I did it and am ever so happy with the results...
I succeeded in making my own backgrounds... unique ones... so go to this place, it's great:
http://betabloggerfordummies.blogspot.com
The pictures used to make the backgrounds are collages, photos....They are on a page measuring about 27 on 19 cm. I scan them to reduce to 15 on 10 cm...
When you work on the HTML of the template you get something like this:
background-position:120% 10%;
I had to reduce it to 0.9% 0.5%
to get the image I wanted...that's the longest part of the work...find the exact proportions...
Be patient!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

nice needle-work for mousies...

2007-06-13T13:19:00.000-07:00

From an old French magazine: Marie-Claire Idées...

Françoise's birthday card...

2007-04-18T02:15:00.000-07:00

My sister's birthday...she's fifty five today...
she really deserved a card...but a special one... here it is... the first page and the back one are ordinary collages...but the inside is quite a surprise...It took me hours and hours to make it... I had to undo a vintage postcard to get to understand how it was made...actually it's really maths...some parts are cut, some are folded one side or the other...it's necessary to make a drawing before you cut and stick the little things to decorate...

2007-04-18T02:13:00.000-07:00

When you open the card...

Surprise...

some more cards...

2007-04-13T02:39:00.000-07:00

My brother told me last Sunday "I can't take photos of the fairies like you do, they don't stay long enough in my garden..."

What a pity, look what he missed...that was just to wish him a very happy birthday...

2007-04-13T02:34:00.000-07:00

In my sister's garden, when day comes you may see strange things...

"Come on children , time to go home..."

last postcard...

2007-04-07T10:44:00.000-07:00

Midday...Midnight...

Postcards from Plumpiemousie

2007-04-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

I made some more postcards these last few days...they measure 15cm on 21 cm...I manage to have some stamps made with the picture of my blog and I'm so happy with them...

Some cards are a bit serious, some are more poetic...I try to find different ways of expressing things...

2007-04-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

Strange conversations...

2007-04-06T13:25:00.000-07:00

The cardboard is navy blue not black...inside you see a small poem by Ronsard: "let's go and see the rose..."

2007-04-06T13:22:00.000-07:00

Chinese say drift wood and stones are the souls of long gone animals...

2007-04-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

Tiananmen ...a forgotten poem...

see the tiny student facing the soldiers...

2007-04-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

"I'm thirsty", the butterfly says...

"Come and have a drink", the flower answers...

2007-04-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

"Why do you dance Butterfly?

I want my Lady to forget her jail..."

2007-04-06T13:05:00.000-07:00

"Françoise's garden at midday and when the fairies come out..."

Red, autumn and Chinese painting

2007-04-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

I tried to translate François Cheng's words...May he forgive me ! My words are so little compared to his...

*******

painting by Qi Baishi (1863-1957)

Last song of the cicada

Inks and colours on paper. Pekin. Rongbao Studio.

*******

Throughout Summer the tree sheltered the little singer...willing or not...one never knows...but he enjoyed her song...Then the painter came with all sorts of red, the reds of Autumn, the reds of death...and we heard that last song:

-"You're going to die little singer and my leaves will turn into a crimson shroud...

-I'll soon get silent dear old tree and once your leaves have fallen you'll miss my irritating little song..."

Chinese painting isn't real painting , she cheats...but live in it and she'll help you to live...

That's very little...That's so much...

The Path, Le Sentier

2007-04-01T02:30:00.000-07:00

"The Path" of Paris is a place of market devoted to the textile and the loan to be carried which is addressed as well to the manufacturer, to the wholesaler, or to the retailer. Find the fashion of Paris, the tendencies of clothing and clothing man child wife, make good bargains between professionals. That's what the official website says...

Nadine Vasseur wrote a very interesting book about this area of Paris...She knows it very well as her father was a tailor working there...

It's all about the history and the life now...The Path has been devoted to textile since the Middle-ages...Thousands of immigrants settled there, Jewish, Chinese, Armenian, Turkish, Pakistani...Their work was difficult, low-paid but they were so poor, they had nothing to loose and they could manage to send money to their families abroad...The book is full of portaits, stories funny , sad or crual...
I remember walking in this area early in the morning , when I used to go and buy fabrics with some friends who had a shop...the men carrying heavy loads of fabrics, the hundreds of clothes ready to go to the shops...there were small Chinese restaurant with such nice jasmine tea and yummy rice with shrimps...I don't know how long it will stay that way...

my Plumpie Ideas...

2007-03-31T12:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday after watching Miss Potter i went to the second -hand book-shop and got five magazines...The title is "Lisette"...

They were published on December the 1st, the 8th, the 15th, the 22nd and the 29th...
In what year? 1946 of course...I was born on December the 5th ,1946!
It's so funny to read...And would you fancy knitting a pull-over? up to the last fashion...!

going to the cinema...

2007-03-31T12:18:00.000-07:00

I love it for many reasons...The last films I saw were very interesting for the stories of course but also for the pictures and the colours...Nice to watch Beatrix Potter's water-colours , the beautiful views of The lake district and the Isle of Man...
Gorgeous to see the characters in "The golden door"...
The colours were great in both films, deep ones , silhouettes against the white of chimneys in the boat, the white of the paper in the drawings...
People dreaming their lives...
And the clothes...the lights...
THINGS to do after a good film, go to the library, find good books to match your researches and then go and have a cup of tea in a nice coffee shop...don't forget pen and notebook...write as much as you can while your memory is still vivid...
If it's not too late go the shop and buy some ribbons, threads or lovely buttons...
These little things you may do from time to time are nice, not expensive and so great to give ideas...That's what I call my Plumpie Ideas...

the last films I saw...

2007-03-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

Miss Potter
Miss Potter is a 2006 Chris Noonan film. It is a biopic of children's author and illustrator Beatrix Potter, and combines stories from her own life with animated sequences featuring characters from her stories, such as Peter Rabbit. Scripted by Richard Maltby, Jr., the director of the Tony-winning Broadway revue, Fosse, the film stars Renée Zellweger in the title role; Ewan McGregor as her publisher and fiancé, Norman Warne; and Lloyd Owen as her husband William Heelis. Emily Watson also stars as Warne's sister, Millie.

Nuovomondo (2006)

directed by Emmanuel Crialese

The story is set at the beginning of XX century in Sicily. Salvatore, a very poor farmer, widower, decides to emigrate to US with all his family, including his old mother. Before to embark, they meet Lucy.

walking with Annie Dillard...

2007-03-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Chapter One
When you write, you lay out a line of wards. The line of words is a miner's pick, a woodcarver's gouge, a surgeon's probe. You wield it, and it, digs a path you, follow. Soon you find yourself deep in new territory: Is it a dead end, or have you located the real subject? You will know tomorrow, or this time next year.
Excerpt from "The writing life"

Some people criticized the book, saying it was not a "Guide-book" and it was of no practical use for writers, but that was not the purpose of it...it's a short collection of Dillard's observations on writing and some other stuff...and anyway where could we find recipes to become an artist of any kind? a good job there aren't any...I'm not very sure about writing schools...you learn how to write but not really how to become a good writer...
Let's face the truth, to become an artist you need a gift...if you aren't particularly clever you may though make many interesting things and quite enjoy yourself ...for instance, start a blog and call it...er...Plumpiemousie...!!!you won't become an artist but you'll be ever so happy, that's the main piont isn't it?!...

a new workshop...

2007-03-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody, a new workshop is born...I started working with Julia Cameron's book Finding water a few weeks ago, but I gave up for many reasons. The main one was the so many references to God...Though I believe in a spiritual life I just couldn't stand it...I gave up...

The idea is excellent but the approach is not mine. May be I 'm just too independant, so much in love with my new freedom...I reread "The art of simplicity" by Dominique Loreau and "The writing life" by Annie Dillard and found something closer to my own approach...so I'll work with those two and let you know about my progresses...if I progress!!!! (lol)

the postcards...

2007-02-27T09:14:00.000-08:00

Pixabeille is very shy, I made a curtain you can unroll when there're too many people around...otherwise she might fly away...

The snail has a poem folded on one side, by Jacques Prévert...The story of a snail going to the funeral of a dead leaf...He was so slow than when he arrived the Spring was there and the leaves quite green...

postcards from Plumpiemousie

2007-02-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

preparing patchwork...with Maria Peagler

2007-02-21T11:56:00.000-08:00

still following Maria Peagler's lessons, ever so interesting...I want to make a table cloth...so I found a picture showing colours I like, and colours matching my kitchen's walls...

Then I sorted out my pieces of fabrics and found the colours I wanted...

work to come: find the pattern I want...

2007-02-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

nice little things I bought in my favorite shop: "Le temps retrouvé"

message for Muddy red shoes...

2007-02-14T01:54:00.000-08:00

That's the book, the one I love, read and read and read...the painting is called"Macfarlane 1982"...thanks for telling me more about Andrew Wyeth...for all readers interested, visit Muddy red shoes , she's also a very nice painter...

Two painters I like...

2007-02-11T12:11:00.000-08:00

One lived from 1853 to 1919. He was Swedish...

The other lived from 1894 to 1978. He was American...

They painted similar scenes...

2007-02-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Life at home...Portrayals of American or Swedish everyday lives...

Both were criticized...They were called secondary painters...

Carl Larsson meets Norman Rockwell

2007-02-11T11:45:00.000-08:00

But I do like them both, their paintings speak to me, i know well Scandinavia...I visited Carl Larsson 's house in Sundborn and loved it...I wish I could do the same for Norman Rockwell...

I find something similar between some paintings by both artists...Life is there, so vivid...the colours like photography...

2007-02-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

a more precise photo of my coat...

crazy patchwork

2007-01-21T12:12:00.000-08:00

I found that old photo from the back of my coat...and a wonderful website on quilting...have to find my old book:"how to make an American quilt"...lent it to somebody but who???the photo is a bit too dark...I've just finished tidying my pieces of materials...ready to work again...

.....

Tuesday evening, while searching blogs by women, I met Maria Peagler, a beautiful and very useful place, to get to know colours, quilts...visit it...

Lady butterfly knitting, sewing and saving...

2007-01-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

The piece of material was bought to make a dress...
Of course I made a bed-cover out of it...
One day I was knitting myself a pull-over...
Suddenly the bed -cover knocked my eye!!!
Aïe!!!
I just couldn't resit...took my scissors, and stole a little butterfly...
And saw it on my pull-over...
Thomas (who was four) arrived and said, Mummy the butterfly flew away, he's on your pull-over!!!
There was a hole...and another one...and...
The old bed -cover went on top of the cupboard...
Then the day before yesterday, I did tidy my room...
And found the old bed-cover, cut out the good pieces, put flowers, and more colours...
And I can lie on my bed, on the butterflies, wearing my woollen dress made with the old-pullover and an old jumper...decorated with the two butterflies....
Did you understand???
No???
So I bought .....

2007-01-03T10:53:00.000-08:00

A new bed-cover, made with old wee bits and pieces, my basket from the library, what a nice evening to come...

Making new with old...(doesn't work with people !...lol...)

2006-12-24T06:16:00.000-08:00

Suppose you have an old black cardigan and you are a bit fed up with it...
You just have to embroider it with vivid colours, and add nice little buttons...
The piece of threads you see in the middle are just to show me where to embroider
my eyes are getting a bit old and it's difficult to saw in the dark...

Decorate with small tassels, matching the colours...

You may see a bit more on the photo underneath...

2006-12-24T02:54:00.000-08:00

I'll show you when it's finished, I know the photo isn't very good...

But I'm quite happy with the cardigan and it's the main thing, isn't it ?

Midnight blog secret

2006-11-21T08:05:00.000-08:00

How to get this black picture in a black blog...

Answer:

Reverse colours...

In midnight blog we want the illusion to be perfect, the figures must not look drawn on black paper, but as they lived in the dark...We had to find a way ...Mousie helped Sisabeille to get a rather good result...

The explanation is there: next post...

2006-11-21T07:57:00.000-08:00

The secret of Midnight blog is here...If you work on black paper , scan your drawing and post it on your blog, you never get a perfect result...you see the outlines of the picture...if you want the figures to bring out of the black background, you must work on white paper and then reverse the colours...

that's not really easy, so you better start by making your own colour palette, real and reverse...

Sunny days

2006-10-12T12:18:00.000-07:00

The afternoons are so gorgeous this week, I couldn't resist getting that chair...

a scarf for Bob T Bear

2006-10-01T09:06:00.000-07:00

Mousie came a few minutes ago, she met a young bear Bob, poor little one , he wanted a scarf.
I didn't have time to knit so I asked one of my friend, he can let Bob have the brown one...And I 'll have to tell you once how I dressed my dolls with old socks and shirt sleeves...

Are you happy with it Bob?

deck-chairs

2006-09-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

two deck-chairs !!! aren't we lucky !!!

Prunelle ! which one do you prefer ?

We already found one for Old woman and one for Alexiabeille

Merabeille you're next...

2006-09-17T03:32:00.000-07:00

back to sewing...I spent so much time organizing my blogs...now the village is living his own life and I have plenty free time...I found an old white shelf and want to make a curtain in front of it...I also have these pieces of fabrics so let's see what I can do...don't worry, I let you know!

Gudrunsjoden

2006-09-06T09:30:00.000-07:00

I said no ad at all in this blog, but I couldn't resist giving you this address.
The link is in the title, I ordered the catalogue. It's just gorgeous, so full of colours...I really must go back to sewing...The above photo was taken on a magazine, it's part of the collection"Frida", inspired by Frida Kahlo.I'll tell you more when I receive the catalogue, but go and visit the site.

Christmas

2006-09-06T07:22:00.000-07:00

I'll have to start thinking about Christmas presents...First work, sort out the bits and pieces I have in my old suitcase...Make a list and imagine...
I forgot ...three birthdays until December...
One of my sister would like a cover for her telephone directory, must be very elegant, the walls are a soft yellow and she doesn't like fuss and frills...

Sisabeille's secrets: n°4

2006-09-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

how does Sisabeille make such pictures....two examples...
of course it's easier to read n°1 first...