Shoshiplatypus

New drawings

Recently I found some YouTube videos with lots of inspiration, so I played them, stopping often and copying down various motifs and ideas for use in my own projects. One video was of a riot of different flowers connected by different border strips and background fills – plenty of material here to adapt! I came up with this page in my large Rhodia notebook, which also included some bits and pieces from other videos.

Another video, this time of  stunning Zentangle design worked with black ink on a beige background (a great combination), yielded some great tangle patterns most beautifully combined. I’ve got most of these designs in my Zentangle album (each pattern on a separate ATC-sized card with the step-out instructions on the back). In my sample I jammed the patterns together into a tighter space, just for reference, but the design on the video was much better proportioned. I’ve saved it in my favourites so I can watch it again.

The day before, I had started on another doodle in my new Rhodia book, and had done the upper portion. I couldn’t decide what to do in the lower portion until I’d seen that video, and used roughly the same combination of Zentangle patterns with some variations. Adding stippling to the middle section, I managed to unify the two halves of the design.

Today I was looking at various things on Ebay and came across this absolutely beautiful embroidered table runner which I was sorely tempted to buy – but I don’t really need it and managed to resist the temptation! It is cut work and the centre panel is damask.

As soon as I saw it, I knew it was just crying out to be made into a drawing.

I was tempted to add some touches of pink to the flowers, which don’t stand out very well in the drawing, and I may yet do this. I’ll have to sleep on it… My original intention was to keep this new Rhodia book entirely monochrome, to match the sophisticated plain black cover and the gorgeous ivory pages but today I’ve been thinking that perhaps a few of the drawings could have touches of colour.

I sketched the pattern for the damask lightly with a pencil, and then stippled in the design with my finest pen. I think it works OK; I didn’t want this part to compete with the border.

All this drawing and my pens will be running out! I have a few spares, but yesterday I put in an order online for some replacements, and one or two other bits and pieces. One idea I came across on YouTube yesterday really caught my eye – what looks like a brilliant method of adding highlights. White pens are notoriously ineffective for this and are usually plagued with problems but this new idea is radically different and I was really keen to try it, so I ordered a few supplies, which will be arriving in a day or two. Watch this space.

Three cheers for Vitamix!

For some time the container of my Vitamix high speed blender has been leaking intermittently from the bottom. My hubby said he might be able to tighten it up but I was reluctant to interfere with it because of risking invalidating the warranty (these machines are guaranteed for ten years!). I struggled on with it and cleared up the small amount that leaked out at times, but I was getting a bit worried that it might drip down into the motor, and the problem does seem to be getting worse. The reason I put off doing anything about it was that I was very reluctant to be without it if the container had to be sent back, but eventually I thought this was getting ridiculous and I’d better get on with it.

I found the repairs and servicing section on the Vitamix UK website and contacted them by email, attaching a copy of my original receipt. The next day I had an email asking for further details and asking me to examine the bottom of the container and also the projection on top of the base that engages with it, to check that the gears on neither part were worn or damaged, and that there was no cracking in the recess in the top of the motor. I reported back that all was well on that score, and again, the very next day (today), I heard back from them, saying that a new container was on order for me and would be with me in about ten days’ time! No fussing about photographing it, or having to send it back, just a straightforward replacement of the part under the guarantee. I was amazed – in this day and age nobody believes what anybody says and there is always the assumption that you might be lying in order to pull a fast one and get a new, free replacement. Trust seems to e a thing of the past, so I was very pleasantly surprised indeed.

What a difference between this, and the ridiculous performance I went through over the problems with my old high-speed blender. They did everything in their power to wriggle out of replacing the faulty part and even wanted to charge me an exhorbitant price to buy a special tool to disassemble it myself. What was even worse was that on examining the picture of it, it was clear that it was for a different model and would not even have fitted my machine. In the end I got totally fed up with them and threatened them with reporting them to Trading Standards, and they finally did the decent thing and sent me another jug. I told them I thought their customer relations needed work, and that I would never buy anything from them again or recommend them to anyone else! I closed the book on that fiasco, dusted myself down, and bought a Vitamix. Yes, it was a lot more expensive than my old blender but it has proved to be a first-class investment, and even though it did develop a leak, which is probably unusual in such a great machine (it has to be good or they wouldn’t guarantee it for as long as ten years), this problem has been dealt with swiftly, efficiently, and with friendliness and decency, and no suggestion that they didn’t trust me to be telling the truth!

I wish I’d got on with this weeks ago now.

I will still have the old container. It only leaks with liquid stuff, and usually with soups and sauces etc. It has never presented any problems when grinding seeds. Sometimes, if I have just used it for liquids and realise I want to do something dry, I have to wait for ages to make sure it is absolutely dry after washing it – it’s hard to dry under the blade and it requires air drying. Now, with the old jug as a spare, I shall be able to use it for dry things if I am in this position again. In the meantime it can be stored in the cupboard along with my old blender which I have kept as a spare for use in emergencies should the Vitamix have to be returned for any reason.

I would recommend Vitamix to anyone. Yes, it’s a big outlay but you get what you pay for in this life, and this machine is top quality. My Vitamix is in daily use, often several times a day, and it’s one of the best things I have ever bought, along with my fabulous set of Robert Welch kitchen knives.