Last week when I was up in London I popped into a large well known art shop with the intention of buying a few bits and pieces as a treat for Terry and I to use in the Studio. There was so much choice and I felt overwhelmed; In the end I left empty handed.

​With so much choice these days it's good to sometimes go back to basics and keep it simple and this week in the Studio we did just that!

As you can see - I gave the Inspiration to Stitch students a selection of mark making tools - all three of them: half a wooden tongue depressor, half a lolly stich and half a cosmetic bud plus 3 inks - Quink writing ink, a drawing ink and Indian Ink; in any colour they wanted - as long as it was black.

At first the mark making was safe

I’ve been on Auntie duty this week and my three nieces are all dedicated creative play girls – paper and pencils, cutting and crafting and glitter - lots of it, everywhere. And now, care of the 12 year old, this summer will feature slime production on an epic scale– don’t ask, just Google it!

But have you ever watched young children when given a selection of paper and coloured pencils/ empty boxes and glue/ scissors and a bag of fabric scraps - there’s no hanging back! They’re straight in and off into their own creative world, making up drawn stories, building the next generation of intergalactic space craft or crafting clothes for teddy. To them they are just having fun, seeing what they can do, enjoying themselves: there’s no ‘I can’t draw’, ‘I’m no good at…’ or ‘I don’t do art’.

Why should the little people have all the fun? Our mission is to create courses for people who love stitched textiles, design and sketchbooks: we want to inspire you to a more creative life! However we know that not everyone can come on one of our year long courses and we also know sometimes it can be difficult to get started – you know the story: everyone wants a piece of your time, there’s nowhere to call your own creative space, you can’t summon up the energy.

So, how can we help? Well, we thought we’d share some of our simple creative warm-ups with you: see if we can tickle those creative juices, point you in the right direction or at least delay the ironing mountain for 10 more minutes. Go on, join in – you never know where it might take you!

Drawing without looking

We both love this warm-up and use it frequently with our students. It’s a great way to improve your observation skills.

For this you will need a large sheet of paper – about A3 size, a couple of pens, one thin-nibbed and one thick (we like Sharpie markers, but remember they can go through the paper!), a few things to draw – keep them simple everyday items eg, banana, mug, pen, your hand etc.

Without looking at your pen or your paper, use your eyes to “trace” the edges of the object, while, at the same time, using your pen to draw the outline in a steady, continuous line.

Don't look at your paper, and don't lift your pen!

Go slowly...

Your drawing probably won’t look anything like the object. That’s okay! However you’ll find that if you repeat the exercise several times (no need for a new piece of paper, turn your page around, over or upside down!) you’ll find your accuracy improves – you may even recognise the object you’ve drawn!

If you give it a go do write us a comment and let us know how you got on!

Hazel & Terry