New and improved phone case

I worked on my design for the case for my phone. I used denim again, as I really liked the chenilling I did. I cleaned up the sewing keeping it to a zig zag. I used the seam again too. This time I took Jackie's advice and tried stiffening it, I used pelmet vilene.

I used the bleach out on the back.

Much more happy with the zig zagging this time and the whole thing is a major improvement. I am hoping to make a few more of these now as I have masses of small off cuts of denim from school :)

Iphone disaster

I had a major Iphone disaster last week, having dropped my phone and smashed the screen. Costing me £50 in excess, but thank goodness I had insurance. So I saw Jackie's lovely Iphone covers and thought I'd have a go. Here is one I did AKA Jackie...

Recycling some denim from my FAT clothes :) But I don't love it - it is Jackie, not me. But I did enjoy playing with her technique, maybe when pennies are less tight I will invest as hers are sooooo neat and so lush.

So I went back to the drawing board and thought about what I wanted. I wanted more me, so I remembered a chenilling technique I had played with on city and guilds and set to cutting bias strips and stitching them. I played with the zig zag width to get the pattern nd then scuffed the edges with a suede brush. I wanted to highlight the double stitching and used Velcro for ease o opening. Lessons learnt - much more me BUT not happy with the finish, not loving the zig zagging, everyone else's seem so neat and mine never do, any suggestions?

As promised

I stuck a little more to the brief that Michelle set this time. This was the stuff I found with fresh eyes in my magazine. I am rather pleased with it.

Grid Lock

So I LOVE Michele Ward's blog, it is so colourful and inspiring, and while lurking in the mist as I have been for a while now I have started reading blogs again. I saw Michelle's post on a new challenge here, and thought it might be a spur as was so easy and inviting - just the confidence boost I needed. So Michelle suggested that you find things from your stash, and I have been working on some wedding invites for the SIL and this red was the basis along with the flower cut out from vintage dictionary. But then I was found wanting - little stash to hand being that I am in the mist, so grabbed a magazine and found a few bits.

So this is what I did. I thought I didn't have much in the magazine, but with fresh eyes I found more this evening.

Detail

Detail

I also found a whole new set of things in my fav turquoise and so am setting to a collage as per Michelle's instructions too. All this is to dip my toe in as I have signed up for this :

http://www.arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject

Judy Scott - such a good friend, backed up Deb's fab advice to go to the sketchbook - sounds like that Mafia quote - "Go to the mattresses" and so I have with a big brave step :)

Hello neglected blog

Hia all, and my sadly neglected blog. I have been very remiss in not posting of late. Hubby has a new job starting tomorrow and I hope he does really well, and am sure he will.

I am in the middle of a huge slump. I don't know how to get back into making, making anything. I can doodle, and am fiddling with wedding invites for my sister inlaw but am at a real solid impass for my own work. I don't know how to begin, so am going to ask, what do you do??? How do you get over things? Any help appreciated.

good and bad

nothing much to show you at the mo. Good things and bad things in life. I have just 4 LB to go till I have lost 5 stone. So am smiley, and have committed to doing the race for life if you feel like giving there is a link in my side bar and every penny will help fight cancer.

The bad news, hubby is up for redundancy - again :( am calmer and more collected this time, seems like we need to envoke the disability discrimination act again, but the new boss is not as daft as the last one and will surely have it al sewn up.

Never mind we'll live and in the mean time a new doodle, above.

new piece

I went on a workshop with Melissa Warren yesterday. She is a lovely lady and a very generous tutor and lives and works where I am from in the Rhondda. We were making textile jewellery. I was determined to make a bib style necklace to wear out last night as I went out with hubby for dinner and drinks (had far too many of the later :) I had a new red clutch bag and no red jewellery. So I worked like the clapper and made this :) so pleased with it. Is rolled roses, organza manipulation and beading. There is also a piece of pleated chiffon in there. I made a couple of other pieces I will show you when I get 5. Bye all

Dydd Santes Dwynwen Hapus pawb

Happy St. Dwynwen's day all.

(Wales patron saint of lovers)

help needed - I'm a bit stuck

I have been thinking about this piece for the longest time. I started it the summer before last when we went to Zante. I dyed the fabric and painted on the gantry shapes. I then block printed on a grid. I then bunched the whole up and painted it with copper too look like rust. I have running stitch quilted the grid and done a back stitch round the gantry pieces.

I have seeded in the gaps and will continue this as and when...

My question is this piece is totally without focal point in my opinion and I don't know where to go next. I was thinking of this for Dijanne Cheval's 2 colour quilt challenge. There has been a lot of talk about slow cloth for a while and I have to admit apart from the fact it evolves slowly I don't know if there are any other rules, this has been a truely slow cloth for me :) I thought about adding pieces of scrim or muslin - hand dyed or painted to the grid? Or maybe it needs something else? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - cause I am totally stuck? Thanks all

January workshop - book making

Chris and I shared the teaching of a book workshop in January for our little group. I was showing one book technique and Chris showed about 3 :) she sure works fast :) This was my class sample - you know the one I prepared earlier.

This is the surface I created as a demo on the day - haven't got round to finishing it yet. Is mistyfuse and transfoil with a layer of nappy liner that I used to mop up with and clean brushes on the day. A layer of turquoise net was put over and the whole lot zapped carefully after I sewed using the fancy-dan machine. It was a great recycling workshop cause we used every scrap of paper, mop up paper and even the nappy liners or babywipes we used to clean up.

Chris taught how to make a gorgeous and clever star book - for which I used my acrylic scraped pages.

and this amazing coffee filter book, again I used acrylic scraped papers. I used the off cuts to make paper beads.

The coffee filters have papers glued to them and each makes a really nice pocket.

It was a lovely day and the group are so much fun they make teaching easy :)

can anyone remind me of the blog that put out the challenge to make a quilt (I think) in 2 colours??? I am having a brain blockage and after searching everywhere still can't find it?

Thanks Susan I found it :) Dejanne's blog :)

I made this style book a little while ago for 2 ladies in our group who had a "significant" birthday. They all liked them so much I am teaching it for tomorrow's workshop along with Chris who is going to teach 2 other books which should be fun :)

This is my class sample and I am well pleased with it :) Am going for a colour change tomorrow for my demo piece, I have found a delish peace of bright pink silk to line so that will be my inspiration :)

52 Q's - something just for me :)

I saw this project that happened last year through on Emily's blog ( check out 52Q in the sidebar) through Dale. This was a project that happened last year, but I love it so much and need something manageable and sufficiently challenging to get me back on track with my art work, and hopefuly encourage me to finish an online workshop I have had on hold for a while, while I sorted my head out.

So how it works :- Emily set up 52 questions last year (which I have duely written up in my art note book :)) and you compete one small "journal" ish response per week. She had used Tags, Dale had decided to use some children's flash cards. I remembered a box o unused tags in school, been there the full 10 years I have and have never been used so bingo off I go :) So I have started the first question but it isn't finished yet, but did a "cover" first. I used a mop up paper from a spot of acrylic scraping I did this week and some card numbers and even the dried bit from the copper paint tube as it looked so industrial yet rusted - my kind of theme. My fave copper and turquoise - start somewhere safe I thought :)

The question mark is done with a real easy technique I plan to feature in the online workshop if I ever get it finished :) I decided on the back to record why I decided to do this.

Now, off to find my stash of mop up painted baby wipes, I have a real nasty feeling I threw them out in my big purge last week, but I was sure I had saved them as I am giving a workshop on sat and I totally need them, grrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Book, thanks to Gina

Gina was showing a clever little book on her blog the other day and as I had lots of wrapping paper left over I thought I would give it a go. The folding was a bit of a mare, due to my incompetence not Gina's instructions which are brill.

It holds postcards and so I will be using mine for holding some of the gorgeous postcards I have received over the years. The link on Gina's name will take you too her lovely tutorial. Thanks Gina.

Album

Well I started reading blogs again and that can only be a good thing. I thought I would show you this album I made for someone recently for a wedding anniversary. Anyway just popped by to say Happy New Year all, and I hope for this year in which I wil have been married 10 years will be a wonderful one.

Bit scared

Hia all, To be honest I am a bit scared to write , I haven't for ages and have been hiding from the world. I haven't had a lot to say and have not been very creative. I have been battling with some life struggles and there just hasn't been room for anything else.

Anyway an update, I have been carrying on with the gym and have now lost 3 stone 9lb, and feel the fittest and healthiest I have felt for a hundred years :) This is how I look now

Lot better ha! I went to a military ball recently and got all glammed up in the corset I made, felt fantastic, although I now have to make another as the boning in this one is now too long as I have shrunk by 5 inches all over :)

Anyway I have done a little something creative lately, made these

e buntings for Christmas, one in Welsh and one in English for the bi-lingual household.

We went on the Santa train with snow falling and everything :) Had to show you this cute pic of my pair :)

and the 3 of us :)

and lastly I went on an amazing Christmas workshop in December - called "white until the night" with my old tutor Enid Davies. We started off by doing a drawing of Christmas things and then scanned it and printed the image off to use as a template for cutting and applique in shades of white, in a variety of textures.

We then scanned in the applique and manipulated the image with photo shop, this was just one of mine.

Then we printed the best one off on to sticky back paper and used a section of it to make a Christmas card - do you love it ???? I do ! Was an amazing course, I really enjoyed it.

Hope you can all forgive my long absence and I hope to get back to something like more regular blogging, I am still taking a day at a time, so we shall see :)