'Branza' and my birthday!

'She stitched us up a tender dream

and her heaven baby 

burst through me. 

I have wolf love, 

I have wolf teeth.'

Hi there! It's been a while, I'm terribly sorry. I've been stitching like a bitch ;) A few weeks ago I started an embroidery called 'Captive Butterfly' but I fudged it up, so I've put the idea to one side and created something a bit basic but special nonetheless. And so 'Branza' burst forth. A character from one of my most beloved stories, Tender Morsels, I will tell you briefly about Branza. Taken rudely from her mother's fantasy world by her younger sister Urdda, she is forced to live in the real world without her wolf whom she adored. Unable to understand the cruel ways in which people can treat each other in this reality, she is cornered by a crowd of nasty youths and taunted until she snaps. Below is a passage detailing this incident, describing the love and violence felt by Branza that inspired my embroidery...

'She stopped, and closed her eyes. Maybe she was still asleep, still adream on the cottage doorstep. Maybe she'd only to pass through this nightmare and there she would be, with the garden-rows spreading out at her feet, with Wolf trotting up the path to say his good-mornings.

'She breathed the boys' smell. Their noises swarmed in her head: bumpings of bodies and cooing voices and slapping feet. If only Wolf were beside her now! His growl bubbled in her throat.

...

'She barked sudden and deep. She bit at the air, right close to the ones in front of her.

...

'One of them crouched up the hill, in her path. "Come, doggy-doggy-dog!" he crooned.

'She walked to him. She was full of wolf-teeth, wolf-love of herself, wolf-rage on her behalf. She took the boy's head in her two hands and bent to him among the others' hoots and whistles, and she bit his cheek hard - which was salt, which gave, meat under her teeth, the scratch of his reddish beard on her lower lip.'

It was my birthday yesterday, and on Saturday Daniel, Katie and my friend Clair came with me to Hobbycraft to get some supplies. With a gift voucher from Clair I bought the ever-useful 'How To Sell Your Crafts Online', and Dan bought me a rotary cuttery and self-healing mat for some patchwork projects I want to tackle soon. With birthday spending money I also bought some beautiful shades of embroidery thread, black lace, buttons and scrap-booking paper. 

And whilst I was traipsing the store, in my element, Dan and Katie joined forces to put together a Hornby 1000 piece jigsaw on display.

We then went for a pint to The White Hart pub nearby where there was a charity book sale, and I found a copy of 'Through a Glass, Darkly' by Jostein Gaarder, which I can't wait to read.

Sadly, when I got home I realised I'd forgotten to buy pinking shears. Still, I'm on holiday for a week so shall invest in some soon.

These are a few images of an embroidered canvas I'm working on at the moment. It's causing me a lot of stress as the ghost-writing is tricky (as I like to call it) but I think the worst is over, and the rest should be fun and buttons! 

The rest of the week will be spent finishing this piece, as well as organising my fabric and thread, so I'll let you know how I get on at the end of my holiday. I won't be wishing it away!

I'll leave you with a picture of me on my birthday, in my usual rosy attire, that my dear friend Katie Callaghan took...

Nina x