Tree Decorations

I did some little paintings with baubles in mind

I recycled a wooden curtain ring for the bauble. I applied a circle of card [for stability] either side of the curtain ring then painted the edges with a metallic paint. I printed my little pictures, cut out and applied either side of the ring on top of the card. I used string just because it was handy. I quite like the brown one above but not so much the one below but I do think the baubles are a little bit too small.

Toad in the Grass Applique and Bugs

Painted fabrics, stamped and painted toad, own stamp. Cut and applied pieces of fabric for grass. 

I've not been blogging last week because I had my mum, sister and her grandson staying. On one of the rainy days we made bugs from egg boxes.

Knitted Doll

Doll and dress made from upcycled jumpers, felt hair. Hand stitched.

Coasters

I was having a bit of a sort out the other day and came across these which I made in 2012. They are coasters, an experiment. I collaged papers to a spare bit of vinyl flooring I had and topped with acrylic wax. I put them away because cups were sticking to them so when you picked a cup up the coaster came too. Well I've tried them again and they don't seem so bad after all this time.

I used an old map for this one, I used to live in Durham.

I coloured the edge with a stamp pad.

Some of the vinyl flooring had a pattern with squares of the right size. I didn't go right to the edge with the decoupage for these six coasters, I used the flooring pattern as edging.

Tast 126, 127 and Handmade Stamps

Take a stitch Tuesday 

Tast 126 - Alternating up and down buttonhole stitch

Tast 127 - Beaded alternating up and down buttonhole stitch

Stitched on handmade paper which is orange do you believe? I took the photo in a different room to the one I normally use but it is the same paper as I used for the last Tast stitches I've shown.

Handmade stamps from junk.

I used a used nail buffer like the one on the left and some corrugated card as shown to make a stamp. I just used double sided sticky tape to cover all the sides with the card, then painted them with acrylic paint which was quite messy as I painted all the sides while the paint was still wet.

The grooves face a different way on each side.

It looks a lot better once I painted over it with inks.

For the second stamp I used an old key which I glued to an old thread reel.

Button Book - part 3

I used a mix of papers for this, one inkjet [my design], one artwork and the spotty was a found paper. I confess that the buttons aren't really buttons, they are faux buttons made from some recycled round foam [packaging?] and covered with my art work. I did a row of embroidery near the middle and used embroidery to hold two pages together.

On the other side is also a mix of papers, my art work to the left and some found papers to the right. The butterflies and flower paper was from a magazine and the spotty was wrapping paper. I painted a heart doily to go on top. The buttons were created from art work and clear buttons.

On this page is my artwork [stamped paper, I used a handmade rolling stamp], recycled gold Christmas hat, gold textured card, dyed lace and recycled buttons.

Once again stitched around the edges.

I'll start by saying that the colours do not look quite as they do in real life. I have used some painted and textured paper for the background. The lump in the middle is made from plastic and layered then painted [browns and various metallics on top], machine stitched and hand stitched. The buttons are bog standard recycled shirt buttons sewn on with metallic thread. I've couched some braid to the edges of the plastic.

Gifts to Friends

You saw the gifts I received from my arty friends yesterday, today you see what I made them.

A chicken doorstop - Gill keeps chickens so this is one she doesn't have to feed. I hand painted and stamped the fabric. I used real feathers for the tail.

A handmade book for Marian to keep notes for inspiration perhaps. I hand painted some fabric [the coloured strips] which were layered with other fabric, distressed and embellished with hand embroidery. There was also layers of vintage lace, which was also distressed and some vintage buttons.

I used free hand machine embroidery on the back instead of hand embroidery.

inside I printed her name

there are a few pockets to keep bits in

and an attached book mark

For the dog lover Helen, a dog doorstop.

I used a knitted cardigan for the main body and head and felt and faux leather for the eyes, ears and nose.

And for Vicky, a needle book. You may remember seeing this fabric before as it was a sample page for my TAST stitches. I was going to use it for a book but when Vicky said it was her favourite page I thought I would put it aside for a Christmas gift and decided on a needle book eventually.

inside are felt pages for needles and pins etc.

hand painted fabric, devore, hand embroidery, layered.

Who's Crackers?

I made some fabric crackers for when my arty friends came for lunch, I thought they would be good to use as tree decorations. I say crackers but they won't actually crack. I hand painted and stamped the fabric and stitched on some trim at either end. I used a card roll from wrapping paper to wrap/stick the fabric on and then decorated with ribbons, mini fir cones etc. But that is not all - I put small treats inside too as the crackers can be opened up one end, treats removed and refastened.

Sorry about the bad photos, it was fairly dark and I took them in my messy studio.

Inside there was a peg snowman. I painted an old fashioned dolly peg with white paint, made a hat from some packing [foamy] material, used pens to add features and a scrap of fabric for a scarf.

Also a small roll of hand painted washi paper, I used a recycled mini thread reel to wrap it on. A hand made glittery card button, stamp and circle shaped cut outs [from old Christmas cards], stars on a rope [from a string Christmas decoration], a sweet, Christmas themed gold shapes and a reindeer stick on.