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Friday 30 May 2008

Great excitement



Just look at the gorgeous parcel that Liz Plummer from Dreaming spirals sent me, she makes beautiful pieces and sells them on Etsy at http://www.lizplummer.etsy.com/ take a look. The parcel included hand dyed calico, ric rac, beads.dyed wools and threads.and a great badge that says I love dust, my sentiments exactly thankyou so much Liz I will use it well

Monday 26 May 2008

Toadstools

Well thanks to all that rain the 2 golf competions were called off, so it was back to crafting 2 toadstools for a lady in Oz. organised by Lucykatecrafts, which is a great idea you can follow the tutorial on her blog.The largest one was made as per instructions the smaller one I used a wine cork ( plenty of those in this household) unfortunately for an Aussie I think it was a Chateau Neuf du pape one, to stiffen the stem . and I machine the top edge and turned it before buttonhole edging it.We are supposed to make the toodstool in the colours and fabrics that are partner likes, I have asked for mauve, well what other colour is there?

Wednesday 21 May 2008

arrived in the post

This lovely card is the one Susan Lenz sent for the cyberfyber swap I am very pleased with it and it arrived very quickly,I am also doing a mushroom swap with a crafter in Australia, so thank goodness it is bank holiday so I can get on with it all.Plus the beans have to go in the garden hoed,and on and on. Maggie Gray has a great piece on her website about displacement maps which is so easy to follow I even managed it with lovely results


All the lovely goodies I bought at Malvern, the spray bottles are great they have a pump to give a good steady spray,spray glue, inkAid,coloured inks and threads for beading,stamps and dyes.In the packet is grilon thread which is used in the bobbin and shrinks on application of heat I have been wanting to play with this for a long time.

Sunday 18 May 2008

Crafty weekend

On Saturday,I had to work in the morning as I have had a lot of time off this week, but in the afternoon I went to my last talk to do with the Stroudwater festival.The talk was by one of the costumiers from the RSC a young girl who was an extremely good speaker and told us with great enthusiasm how the costumes were made and fitted.She brought along various costumes including one worn by Dame Judy Dench as Queen Elizabeth. The outfits shown below were in the foyer and were made by studio 7 as part of last years festival


On Sunday a friend & I trekked off to Malvern for the quilt festival, lovely quilts and Artvango were there so the plastic was flashing and I have some lovely mediums to play with.
Here are some of the quilts that I liked the boat was superb and deservedly won a prize the triptych was unusual and the "fronds" were frayed organza very eye catching.The 2 photos 2nd from last are details of the same quilt worked in cream silks and beautifully embroidered.













This quilt was the overall winner

Friday 16 May 2008

devore workshop

As part of Stroudwater textile week,Liz Lipiatt and Petey Alisson held a 2 day workshop on screenprinted and devore scarves.Liz is a well known for her textiles screenprinted and devored, she designs and makes textile for many famous couturiers .Here are some of the finished devore scarves, they were lovely, below left Liz is lurking behind the scarf.


the scarf below has been ironed to set the devore paste it goes brown, it will then be washed off before dyeing.

the daisy shapes scarf has been printed and has paper shapes ironed onto it to as a resist to the devore.


Work in progress on the scarves, the screen is being used by the lady in blue



In this photo the paper masking the devore layer is being removed.





These shots show how long the print table is, each scarf was 2yds long 5 people down each side it was huge.












Wednesday 14 May 2008

Good news,cyberfyber`s back

I am trading this card which is a handsewn and quilted on calico which had been coloured with chromacol, with Susan Lenz of Art in Stitches blog, she is organising the cyberfyber swap, so if you are interested go to http://cyberfyberexhibitjournal.blogspot.com look at all her cards and ATC`s and do a swap.
Yet more fairy shoes as yet unnamed but they have a mannish look to them so how about the moth fairy.

Monday 12 May 2008

ATC`s and paintshop pro

This is the ATC I made for Kate the first one I have made it is scrim ,lace and calico with hand embroidery I hope she likes it This great ATC arrived this morning from Kate North it is lovely an angel with beautiful copper wings thanks Kate.

We went to Marlborough E.G for a talk on using paintshop pro by Maggie Grey she was great, and by using the digital projector she took us through some of the processes she uses, such as Displacement maps and layers, seeing someone do it makes it more understandable, and she is a very informative and amusing speaker.Shirley Anne has also given me some tips so I am now off to tackle PSP.

Sunday 11 May 2008

Stroudwater textiles

These photos are from the "make do and mend" site which is a display by 7 local artists on the theme of how we used to repair and reuse items of clothing, some of the displays were visually pleasing but it left me wondering what was the point of it all


At the Space they were showing the work of Clare Lane. it was stunning I stood in front of these two with my mouth open. Photos do not unfortunately do them justice, she takes photo of scenes and digitally alters them, changes the perspective and maybe the colour, they are then printed onto canvas and densely machine stitched in certain areas, the effect is fantastic.The seagulls are a small canvas about 12" x 12" for £200.00 the other canvas was big and about 2000.I am very tempted with the seagulls and I am going back next week to see. Clare`s web site is www.urban-fabric.co.uk







Friday 9 May 2008

Well it is ---------

Well you were both right its the inside of a piece of tree bark I think the white is fungi spores and it is a great texture,So I will send the card to Shirley Anne, and if you would like one Sue let me know I have your address.

Thursday 8 May 2008

What is it?

A challenge to sharpen your wits! the first person to guess what this is ,will receive an embroidered postcard made by me, not a great prize i will admit but then you have to start somewhere!

Tuesday 6 May 2008

Dyeing again

Hurrah for Bank holidays, more time to play,dearly beloved was working ,poor soul, so apart from a golf competion , cooking a roast for one offspring & child I had time to play. This dyeing is done by using Joyce Vance`s crackle dying which is done in 3 stages therefore over 3 days the instructions are at www.pburch.net/dyeing/Guest/crackle_dye.shtml it is a great way to get a variation of colours and clear instructions, I just wish I could get away from purples but I do love them.I scanned these pictures in reality the colours are much stronger







Friday 2 May 2008

Pauline Burbidge

Went to a talk today by Pauline Burbidge she is regarded as the UK`s premier artist on large scale quilted wall hangings.Her work is superb but no photos so if you would like a look visit her website, www.paulineburidge-quilts.com its well worth a visit.The quilts look much better in real life in some the fabric is pleated before being applied to the surface or they have tiny pintucks the tops of which are picked out with paint. A lot of her work is painted after quilting I have been meaning to try this ever since reading the Kempshall`s book, the painted quilt.Pauline is part of Strouds textile festival which runs until the 21 May if you are near enough well worth a visit, website www.stroudwatertextiles.org.uk.Stroud used to be full of woolmills,making green baize red wool for the military and cloth, today we just make the covering for tennis balls