Exciting Times

It has been a good while since my last post but I think I have the perfect excuse.

No, I've not been lazing around doing nothing, far from it!! There is a great buzz of excitement along with a good jangling on nerves in our household at the moment.  I am, for the first time this year taking part in the 'Open Studios' scheme for our area.  So I have been working my little socks off getting all my pieces finished and everything in place.

Time is running out fast with just one month to go before I open my doors to the public for the very first time!
Nearer the time I shall post some pics of all my makes just to whet the appetite!!!

Cowparsley

I was fortunate enough to go on a weekend workshop in July with Stephanie Redfern. It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Stephanie proved to be a truly inspirational tutor who gave freely of her time and knowledge. I came away buzzing with ideas and my head hasn't stopped whirling since.

I made a small wall hanging of a Cowparsley stem using some of Stephanie's techniques, painting fabric with acrylic paint and stamping amongst other things. I'm chuffed to bits with the finished piece, so much so that I have decided to do a 'series' using Cowparsley as my inspiration.......

Rock Pools

Way back in September last year you had a little sneaky peek at something I was working on. I had intended for it to be a project for myself to work on as and when I felt like it. It has since evolved into my final assessment piece. These are my Rock Pools. As a child I loved nothing more than clambering barefoot over the rocks, shrimp net in hand, lifting up the stones in the pools to see what weird and wonderful creatures resided there. Sometimes finding a whole plethora of sea life and at others not a single thing. I still haul myself over the rocks, though at a more sedate pace and wearing walking boots to see what can be found! I guess there is still a bit of that 'fascinated little girl' in me from long ago!!

More on the Postcard Front

Just another couple of postcards that I've made recently. The one below was made out of a left over piece of fabric I had made out of lots of different pieces of fabric, cottons, sheers, lace etc. The whole piece was then covered with a sheer fabric and free machine quilted all over using a smocking thread in the bobbin. Once heated the smocking thread shrinks and warps giving the whole thing lots of interesting textures. Works best with very lightweight fabrics. It was originally made for an A4 sized piece. Once cut into postcard size pieces I needed something as a focus on the front........so delving into my stash of bits and bobs I found some burnt paper leaves I had made a little while ago. Perfect I think!!

This postcard was made for a swap....the theme being 'Fire & Ice'. The 'Ice' background fabric was created by layering up lots of different fabrics, silks, cottons, sheers, lace and moon & star sprinkles. This was then covered with white netting and free machine stitched all over.
The 'Fire' is made up of wool tops felted together on the embellishing machine before being cut out and appliqued to the Ice background. A little bit of glitter paint was added along with some red beads to finish it off.

Latest Postcard

The latest theme in our group swap is 'Black & White'..........so naturally I did flowers!

Postcard Swaps

Here are a couple of postcards made for swapping with fellow members of an online group.

The theme for this one was 'Home & Family'.......................March 2010

The theme for this one was 'Windows & Doors'.........................April 2010
I chose to do an eye as it is the window to the soul.

Another Silver Clay workshop

Once again my sister and I enrolled on a Silver Clay workshop. This time both of us wanted to learn how to set stones using bezels. This method means that the piece is fired and the stone fitted afterward.

Here is my latest piece, inspired by the moss agate stone I used and tree bark.