TAST 16 and Orange Bird

Take a Stitch Tuesday - the stitch this week is French Knots. I like this stitch and I use it a lot in my embroidery. On my fabric journal page I also have running stitch, feather stitch and blanket stitch. The base is a patterned upholstery fabric and on this is transfer printed lace [2 pieces], a small square of digitally printed fabric [my design] and a flower which was machine stitched and adorned with beads and French Knots. If you would like to see more of my embroidery look here

I made this little felt bird last week, both sides are embroidered but differently.

Bear Collages

No one was hurt in the making of this collage.

Watercolour and pen background, found [altered] images,

Like his new gnashers?

Watercolour and wax crayon background, found [altered] images

Watercolour and tippex background, found images

Watercolour, wax crayon, pen background, found [altered] images, pen

Doreen's Gift and Handmade Books

I received a gift of recycled envelopes from Doreen of Creative Meanderings all the way from Australia. The insides of the envelopes from down under seem much more decorative than in the UK, just look at some of these lovely patterns - Thanks Doreen, they are much appreciated. I will be using them for collage and book making - I have plans to make a book similar to one below.

Today I attended a workshop of book making given by Vicki. Thanks Vicki for an enjoyable day.

First we made a flag book which has an accordion spine, the flag pages are stuck to the folds.

Then we made another type of book [I cannot remember what this one is called]. All the pages are put inside one another then they are stitched together. The pages are art work, envelopes, printed work and plain sheets, the cover was made from art work.

The third book we made. For this one, the pages are grouped in three's and stitched together. I used plain papers for this, white and cream. The cover was made from art work - a rolling stamp design.

Cushion and TAST 15

I've been making a cushion this week for my new conservatory. I didn't want to buy any new fabrics so I used fabrics from my stash. The background fabric is quite old but the patterned fabrics I bought a couple of months ago from Fat Quarters,  a dream shop for quilters [hard to resist buying something even though I'm not a quilter]. They were just a small pack of coordinating fabrics and they go really well together. I appliqued the fabrics together using 'heat and bond' and then stitched around the shapes using the machine. Hand embroidery and beads came next before making up.

click on the images to enlarge

The stitch for the Take a Stitch Tuesday challenge is stem stitch. This is another of the stitches that I'm not really keen on and I don't much like the sample that I have done either. On the sample there is ribbon, transfer printed ribbon [the patterned one under the felt], needle felting, a slice of organza bag and a slice of painted/stamped paper. There is also decorative machine stitching, running stitch and the stem stitch and it will be another page for my fabric journal.

One of the first embroidered pictures I did, many years ago, had a lot of stem stitch on it and it took me years to complete. Maybe that is why I'm not keen on the stitch?

It was a kit from a magazine. Sorry about the poor quality of the photo, it has been a dark day. The bright circle of light is the flash from the camera.

TAST 14 and Whitework Tablecloth

Take a Stitch Tuesday - the stitch for week 14 is Satin Stitch. This is not one of my favorite stitches, I find it hard to make it look neat. I've used it on the sample above in various places and also for couching. This will be another page for the fabric journal. As well as satin stitch there is running stitch, dyed lace, transfer printed ribbon and lace, decorated paper tag, plastic ruler, ribbon, applique. The background fabric was a sample of patterned upholstery fabric. Click on the images to enlarge.

The small whitework tablecloth below was made years ago for a City and Guilds project which included lots of satin stitch. It can look fairly neat on an evenweave fabric like this.

Rabbit Collages and Cakes

Two bunny collages - watercolour and wax crayon backgrounds, found images of rabbits. The insect on the above was a later digital addition [from the Graphics Fairy]

Some of my arty friends came around today and Helen brought me and another friend a surprise gift each of a card and a dish of cakes she had made. Helen does not like cakes with sponge in them to eat herself, but she enjoys baking them, so aren't we the lucky ones. Don't they look lovely?

Animal Collages and Rolling Stamps 76-82

Three collages above - watercolour backgrounds and wax crayon, found images, some altered.

It has been a while since I posted any rolling stamp ideas, but now Cloth, Paper Scissors have released a free eBook download

called "The Workshop: Roll Out the Backgrounds" and you get four articles about art stamps and stamp carving which includes my article on the rolling stamps.

Some ideas for you to try

wallpaper

wallpaper

sheet of textured rubber

wallpaper

wallpaper

wallpaper

this one is made up of scraps of discarded fun foam from other cutouts

The Giant Egg [TAW] and Dog Collages

I did this digital collage with Easter in mind, but I've just seen the challenge on Take a Word which is 'eggs', so my giant egg picture will suit that too.

The images of the egg, rabbits, birds, butterfly, insect and nest were all from The Graphics Fairy. [the rabbit family is so cute]. The background is one of my photos taken in a local wood, there is a big hole under the tree amongst the roots.

Click on pictures to enlarge.

Below - collages - the backgrounds are painted with watercolours, the images were found.