Thursday, June 28, 2007

Lovely padfolio

Look at the lovely padfolio I received from Elizabet. This was a part of a swap in my group Textile Challenges. I chose Red and black for my colours and Elizabet has hit this on the nose. She has used embossing powder on the stamps and this gives a lovely sheen that the camera doesn't pick up. I love this padfolio and i am so grateful, this is the first one I have received rather than made. Thanks very much Elizabet.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Thinking style - If I think at all these days!

Your Dominant Thinking Style: Visioning

You are very insightful and tend to make decisions based on your insights.
You focus on how things should be - even if you haven't worked out the details.

An idealist, thinking of the future helps you guide your path.
You tend to give others long-term direction and momentum.
What's Your Thinking Style?

Saw this on Sue(?) blog Random Blethers
and being a teacher had to have a go for myself. Ironic last line for a teacher no!

Friday, June 22, 2007

New name

Hia all, I just wanted to check in and say thank you for all the lovely things you have said about my work from recent posts. I also decided that it was time to change the name for my blog. When I first started I hid behind the postcards I made at the time. I make these less and less these days and so I decided my blog should have my name and that's what I have done! Hope this explains the change to all. Thanks for your ongoing support that has given me the confidence to do this!

Thursday, June 21, 2007

It's finally done!

Well it is finally done. I don't know if these are going to be the best photo's as it is late and the flash is wiping the colour a bit. For those of you who have been worrying about me I have just been busy with this project! A few people have worried that as i haven't been blogging so much that there was something up - well there was and it was this!
Here are all the doors in all their glory - a concertina book.Dowel rod covered in scrim and emulsion is used to hinge each page. Now what's inside???

Sloth - an hour glass made from stencil film and glitter, the background is a photocopy on a very dark setting, transfered with an iron onto satin and washed with acrylic.
Anger - Fre machining on dissolvable and sheers over an acrylic scraped background.


Gluttony - Screen printed fabric with an overlay of silver mesh screen printed and pulled thread work.
Vanity - Collaged silver foil and magazine collage with needle woven mirror shards
Greed - Collaged credit card adverts with cable stitch and shisha pennies.
Envy - block printed jar dyed fabric and free machined on dissolvable eyes.
Lust - Free machined felt - melted/tortured over a mono print from a discharged screen print stencil.
Well I hope it was worth the wait - it is just how I saw it in my head so for me that's a triumph! I will try to take some better pictures, in the natural light.

Monday, June 18, 2007

Padfolio for Jo, Textile challenges swap

I have been making a padfolio for Jo, for a swap on textiles challenges. She chose purples and copper. So I took a piece of the jar dyed fabric I did in a previous post and Then I stencilled it. I did this with the left over bit from a set of stickers for the keyboard (Craig has special black letters on yellow to help him with his visual impairment). I stencilled in a metallic purple. Then I over printed with a check block I made from foam and card. I then over printed with a block I made based on a pattern on my t-shirt and the fact that I knew Jo liked Gothic shapes. I decided to make the edge of the padfolio be shaped as the stamp, I hadn't seen anyone of the many people who have used Sue Bleiweiss' pattern do this so I thought it would make it a bit fresh for me, as I have made quite a few now.
This is the photo with the flash on, I don't know if the colour is more accurate or not! I sewed sequins (square ones) on to catch the light and did some hand running stitch on the check and some machine stitching around the Dark purple block.
I am really pleased with how this has turned out, including finding a nice old coppery button to finish it off. I wanted it to look like a piece of Gothic tile, or mosaic lifted off, and I think I did that quite well. Thanks Sue for such an inspirational pattern. Jo you nearly didn't get this one, I so badly wanted to keep it myself! I guess I will have to make another!

Friday, June 15, 2007

Remember this???

Months ago now textile challenges, my group, had a challenge based on an article in QA where two people worked the same topic. So we voted and chose windows and doors. I had already started some work for C+G on the deadly sins and thought this would fit in very well. I decided to make gothic doors, influenced by "The Gates of hell" by Rodin. So far I have finished 3 of the 7doors and have two more semi-done! I have worked on the insides of the doors depicting the sins and am really pleased with them, but I will leave that as a surprise for when they are totally finished. Well off to work on the semi-finished ones!

Friday, June 08, 2007

More printing.


I have been trying really hard to finish my doors project and so I have used a piece of my jar dyed fabric to print over for my jelousy door. I have lso free machined some eyes and have hand stitched then in silver thread, as I read the punishment in hell was to sew the eyes shut with silver wire. I have so much course work to do i don't quite know where to start!

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Banner and sketchbook for deadly sins

I thought I would share with you some of the things I have been working on this week. I have been very behind with my work for C+G this year, it is much more demanding than I anticipated on part 1. I have a banner to do for the resolved piece for design. I wanted to use the same principle as the devil's in the detail JQ that I did for QA and FAT's challenge. But this time it can't be stitched so I am trying to use the techniques that i have been reading up from collage unleashed and Beryl Taylors books. I paint scraped the back ground using an acrylic paint scrapping technique.Then I collages the mouth for Gluttony with found papers, mouths from makeup adds and food, berries etc. I then coloured over with markers and wrote the word gluttony. I have lots left to do with this now, I am going to have the sins hiding inside the flames of hell.

The rest here are pages from my sketchbook that goes with this work and my stitch work. i am nearly there with the stitch work and will show it when I am done. It has dragged on a bit!

Hope you like a little look in my sketchbook.

Friday, June 01, 2007

Block printing play



Further to my dyeing experiments I have been playing with some more block printing. I have been wanting to produce an over printed piece for a while now having seen a great article in QA about making really complex overlayed patterns and after reading Collage Unleashed too. So on the last up date this fabric was dyed using the jugged method and then I stencilled with peobo metallic paint the purple blocks. This afternoon I made a block from foam I get from a great play resource centre here in Swansea, they get all sorts of industrial waste and they get this sticky back foam I think from the 3 m's factory near my house. I cut then into little squares and stuck them on to some mount board. I also made the lozenge shape stamp from the same foam. I wanted a curvy shape to contrast the blocks. I got the inspiration for the design from a black and white top I recently bought, but thought it looked suitably Gothic, which I know Jo likes. I stamped the squares in copper metallic and the lozenge with acrylic. I have to cut it up and start the stitch now!