People Book [p10,11]

Altered book for people drawing practice

Screenprinted Sheep & Chicken

Some older stuff today - screenprinted fabrics, cut up, applique, hand & machine embroidery, the sheep has dangly legs

People Book [p8&9]

An altered book to practice my people drawing

Basil Sketch

Another pen sketch from a magazine photograph - a small basil plant in a pot

Toucan

I think it is a toucan, pen sketch, copied from a photo in a magazine

Proverb - Illustration Friday challenge

Illustration Friday challenge - Proverb

"Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die".

Ink drawing on paper, coloured on computer.

TAST - weeks 28&29

Take a Stitch Tuesday - the stitches for weeks 28 and 29 are variations of Raised Chain Stitch. I first came across this stitch when I was doing my City & Guilds embroidery and it was one of my favourites. I used it as a single band as shown above left rather than rows of stitches as on the right. A sample of my City & Guilds embroidery is at the bottom of this post, I don't like the sample but I like the stitch.

The next sample is more like a chain stitch, I did my first row wrong so that makes another variation.

below - City & Guilds sample, I used white thread for the foundation stitches as well as the top.

All Hearts - brooches and hangings

Above are heart brooches with machine stitching, beads etc  and below are hearts for hanging. These were made for favors at the recent wedding

Birds

Screen printed & painted papers, collaged, stitched. The lovely ATC's below were sent to me by Annie in Australia. The background is felt and the birds, eggs and hearts are made from lovely patterned fabrics. They have been hand stitched with metal threads and are decorated with sequins and beads.  If you like birds Annie puts lots of great photos on her blog, unusual ones that we don't always see here in the UK.

People Book [5,6,7]

Altered Book & drawing people practice

People Book [3&4]

A couple more pages of the People Book

People Book

Earlier this year I started a new altered book, this one has lots of pictures of people in it and as I wanted to practice my drawing of people I decided to put them in this book.

Take a Stitch Tuesday - week 27

This weeks stitch with Take a Stitch Tuesday is Woven Trellis Stitch. My first attempt was a bit uneven as I had not marked the fabric [& it was 2.30 in the morning - couldn't sleep] so some of the petals were larger than others & I kept catching the net with my needle. I did a more even trellis [below] on aida fabric. I went back to the original and added beads and some stitching in thin green thread which I think improved it a lot.

Dunstanburgh Castle, Mushroom Fairy

We went to Dunstanburgh Castle, Northumberland on Tuesday

And I spotted this fairy on the mushroom in my garden yesterday

The Sketchbook Project

My first picture for The Sketchbook Project [see link on right], my theme is 'Below the Surface'.

The paper is a bit thin so I don't think I will be painting on the other sides, I will probably paint on something else and attach it some way. I didn't start at the very front of the book either, just in case I made a total mess of it!

Limpets & Seaweed

I took pictures of these limpets and seaweed in July on the Northumberland coastline.

Chalk or Make Up

I don't wear make up very often but because of the wedding I decided to buy some new items. I decided to throw my old stuff out as I'd had some of it for years. But then I thought - the eye shadow could be similar to the chalks you can buy [ie pebbles chalks] so I experimented and the result is the sample above. I used a paintbrush and water, then covered it with a thin layer of napkin/pva, then painted over with the chalks again. I finished with a coat of pva so it wouldn't rub off. I added the photograph of the swan [below] on the computer.

Mushrooms

I often find mushrooms growing in my garden, but I have never seen any like this before. They shot up in a matter of days and today the largest one measured 17cm across. There were 4, now down to 2 as something is finding them tasty. There are chunks bitten out of the remaining two. Does anyone know what they are called? I wondered if they were boletus impolitus.

There are more photos of them on flickr

Take a Stitch Tuesday - Week 26

This weeks stitch [Take a Stitch Tuesday] is Chained Cross Stitch. I think it is a much more interesting stitch than the normal cross stitch. It would make a good filling stitch too. I have done two versions, one making the stitch a lot bigger [below], I've also stitched on a few beads.

Flowers and Cakes

The flowers included herbs, like rosemary.

The wedding cakes were 2 large hearts, named and edged with cupcakes. Between these was a cheese cake, or rather a cheese tower. I didn't make the cakes this time.

I did start a new project yesterday but it didn't go to plan, hopefully I'll have a better creative day tomorrow.