Friday 29 June 2012

Bunnykins


I made this rabbit out of the leftover scraps from the cushions I recently made. She was a pattern from a magazine, cute eh? She is a little different to the original pattern, for instance the skirt should be made of all the same fabric, but I didn't have a big enough scrap. Likewise the body, and the headband is a little different too.
My son's dog was trying to get hold of her, I don't think she would last long if she did, my hand sewing is not the greatest.
I'm not sure about the whiskers though, what do you think?






Thursday 28 June 2012

TAST 26

The stitch this week is palestrina stitch. In my stitch book it is called double knot stitch and  believe it is known by other names too.
The blue fabric is painted fabric, a monoprint I did using the gel printing plate. It is stitched to another painted fabric, I used a rolling stamp for decoration. I've used the palestrina stitch for the sea plants as well as some of the fish. Other embroidered stitches include French Knots, running stitch, back stitch. This is another page for my fabric journal and I've used blanket stitch around the edges to join it together with another page on the other side.



Wednesday 27 June 2012

Pages from Sketchbook 16

pen, paint and butterfly stickers

pen & paint

pen, paint & collage

pen and paint

found images on watercolours

the petals are bits of recycled envelopes

Tuesday 26 June 2012

Frames

These three collages are from sketchbook 16, I chose these pages to enter this weeks Three Muses challenge - Frames.
The backgrounds are textured with magazine/newspaper and painted with watercolours. The images were found in magazines and additional decorating with pens.




Monday 25 June 2012

Insects and Altered Photographs

Something strange has happened to the photos I took on my recent mini break.
This bee has gained an extra head. The background is a Norfolk Broad and the head is part of the Westminster Abbey building. Click on the images to enlarge.
The geese below have crowns.

And the skeletons have risen and are having a cuppa.

OK, I admit I have been messing about. My husband bought me a wacom pen for my birthday and with it came a copy of Photoshop Elements, so I have been trying them out.
The extras are from The Graphics Fairy as is the lady below. I gave her a bee necklace to join in the challenge at Take a Word - this week the word is insects.


Saturday 23 June 2012

TAST 24 & 25

Two more pages for my fabric journal.
Week 24 - Take a stitch Tuesday - Buttonhole Wheel Stitch
The blue fabric is a mono print, I used a gel printing plate for this and some bubble wrap. The top fabric is a piece of devore I did several years ago. Devore is where the top layer of fabric has been burnt away with fibre etch and just leaves the see thru part, on my sample it is where the blue fabric shows through. I have also put on a couple of bits of lace and some running stitches.



Week 25 - Cable Chain Stitch
On this fabric page I have used a bit of digitally printed fabric on a sheer material, some painted and cut fabric, beads, lace, and running stitch. I've not done the cable chain before but I kept doing a twisted chain by mistake so I had to undo it quite often.


Friday 22 June 2012

Ladybird Cushion, London and Norfolk



I've not been around for the last week, hence no new posts. I've been to London to visit my daughter and husband and I took this cushion for them. The ladybird and flower was a screen print which I had done some time ago, but my daughter said she liked it so I thought I would 'do' something with it. I made a stencil out of an A4 plastic pocket and used a hand made screen to make the print. The screen was made from a wooden frame and some old plain net curtain. I beaded the spots and eye and then quilted it with wadding and backing fabric. Then I used wonder under to attach it to some vintage fabric and finished with hand embroidery [knotted cretan] around the edges to make sure it will stay on. And then made it into a cushion.
While we were in London we went to the Natural History Museum - I love looking at the building, both in and out as much as the things in it. The decorative ceiling for instance, click for a better view [although the photo is not the best you will get a good idea of how intricate it is].
This rabbit was part of the staircase.

We also walked around the Westminster area, I couldn't resist a photo taken through the railings of the Houses of Parliament.
I have and will be putting more photos on flickr


We had a couple of rain-free beautiful sunny warm days! in Norfolk after visiting London, this scene was at Happisburgh.
Back home and its raining again........



Thursday 14 June 2012

Sketchbook 12, the last pages

The last pages from sketchbook 12.
All the backgrounds are watercolour, the top two have a wax resist too, probably made with a candle. I have used found images to collage.


this one has woven newspaper on the background




doodles drawn with black and white pens

wax crayon tree

the cat[s] tail hangs over the page edge. This one looks very crumpled, not glued very well at all.

Monday 11 June 2012

TAW - Floral


It is a while since I joined in the Take a Word challenge, this week the challenge is Floral and I am hoping the summery flowers will make this miserable dull cold day a bit better. [what happened to flaming June?] 
I was rummaging through my picture folders the other day and came across these two creations which I had forgotten about which I did a while ago. [Jan 2011]
The backgrounds were originally pages from one of my sketchbooks which I had altered digitally and my flower photos which I also altered a bit.