William Morris commission

I was asked to make a 60th Birthday Card for someone who liked William Morris, here is the outcome.

I have used Art Nouveau paper for the background. I decided to use natural Honesty seed cases as I felt this fitted in with Morris' use of natural objects.  I coated dried Honesty seed cases with several layers of acrylic wax to enable me to free machine stitch a design on them. These were stitched onto a lace ribbon backed with thin card.
I'm now making a range of these cards in various colours for family and friends..............and a few to sell.

Sewarty - Warwickshire Open Studios

As part of Warwickshire Open Studios I'll be at Sewarty in Kenilworth with a selection of some of my work. So if you're free come along and see me and have a chat, I'll also have items available for you to purchase. If there is something you see on my blog and are interested in seeing then best to email me so I can make sure I bring it along to Sewarty.
My work will be there for you to see on the following dates:
 Sunday 28th June 2-4pm, Tuesday 30th June 2- 5pm, Friday 3rd July 2-4pm and Sunday 5th July 2-4pm.
Otherwise come and see me in the shop on the days I work there - Mondays and alternate Saturdays. If you don't know Sewarty  you can find us at 67 Station Road, Kenilworth. CV8 1JD. Opposite Wilko's.

Crochet Christmas tree decorations

Have been crocheting Christmas tree motifs for my Christmas Cards, have been experimenting with different colours and yarns, but like using a 4ply thickness variegated yarn (have previously used this to crochet Christmas bells - see gallery pages for pictures) that has a metallic thread in it to give it a Christmassy theme. Have added pearl beads to the edges and still trying to decide what to put at the top of the tree, have crocheted a small star for some,stitched on a pink star buttons for the pinky ones  but still searching for other ideas! 



For my cards I've attached a brad to the card to hang the decoration on, after Christmas it can be removed from the card and hung on the tree next year.

 

I've now decided to make some Christmas bunting using the tree motif, I'm using a green crochet cotton and a 2mm crochet hook to give a delicate tree motif. Using a smallish crochet hook gives the motif a firmer finish so it will hang better

Get the Sewing Bug NOW!

Had a bit of fun making a new range of Needlecases for those of you with the Sewing BUG.

Using needlecord material with a colourful lady bird design I've hand embroidered the words ' I'm a Sewing Bug' onto the front of the needlecase and embellished the spots on the ladybird/bug with blanket stitch.

The needlecase cover is stiffened with interfacing and has been lined in a co-ordinating siky type fabric. It contains three pieces of cream flannelette fabric giving six 'pages' to hold needles or pins.

And if you're not into sewing perhaps you know someone who is that would like one of these.............I'll have them to sell at the craft fairs I'm attending else you can email me.

Christmas Craft Fairs I will be at in 2013

Saturday 30th Dec, 10 - 5pm. St Philomena's Craft Fayre, Philomena's High School for Girls, Shorts Roads, Carshalton. SM5 3PS

Sunday 1st Dec, 11 - 4pm Denbies ShopFest, Denbies Wine Estate, London Roads, Dorking. RH5 6AA

Sunday 8th Dec, 11 - 5pm Sutton Women's Creativity Weekend, St Nicholas Shopping Centre, 1st floor - by Elegant Nails & Super Cuts, St Nicholas Way, Sutton. SM1 1AY

Lavender Bags Galore

During August I've been busy making various lavender bags to complement my embroidered ones. I remembered making Lavender Handbagsas a child and thought these would be quick and fun to make! Well, I had fun making them as they're made in pretty coloured print fabrics (which made a change from the usual lavender colours!)but they took me as long to make as my embroidered ones. I've also made some heart shaped ones in organza/voile fabrics as I know everyone loves hearts! You can see some of my embroidered lavender bags in my gallery page


Lavender Handbags




Handbags were made from a circle of fabric, cut in half and lace stitched to the straight edges. I've used a mix of modern nylon lace and some cotton vintage lace I had.




Beads in co-ordinating colours were threaded to made the strap for the handbags. A gathering stitch was made below the lace and pulled tight after being filled with English lavender. I had a good supply of lavender in my garden this year but unfortunately I was too late and it had started to flower before I had realised so I had to purchase some lavender for my bags! Next year I won't make this mistake, but at least the bees enjoyed the lavender in my garden!




I decided to use several layers of organza/voiles to give varying colours for these heart lavender bags, and again I thought it was nice to have a range of colours and not just 'lavender' so people could pick a colour to match their decor and taste. I created the heart shape using one of my metal baking shapes (not used for baking!) and my soldering iron, so the edges are sealed. They were finished with handstitching, a button or other detail and a co-ordinating hanging ribbon.



St Raphael's Hospice Spring Craft Fair

I will be having a stall once again at the St Raphael's Hospice Spring Craft Fair on Saturday 25th May 2013, between 11am and 3pm. Please come along and support this worthy cause.
I'll have a selection of my items for sale, all handmade and designed by me.

It's held in the St Bede's Centre, St Anthony's Hospital, London Road, North Cheam, Surrey. SM3 9DX

 http://www.straphaels.org.uk/News_and_Events/forthcoming_events.asp