Gifts and new spread

Here is my lovely bracelet made by my little sis, Sian. It is a crochet beaded rope and hamock bracelet.
I have been working on the last spread in my soul journal. I am determined to finish it before we go back to school on tuesday. Sarah helped me out as I had one page left in my book and gave me the prompt of doors. I decided to do 2 sets. I am having trouble with the first set, i was going to base these on the present but I am a bit stuck, something wil come.
U sed some photcopies from the journal and a scrapbookng paper to decorate the doors, and added button handles. inside is.......
A Tyvek heart and words that have come to mind about how I feel about this project.

I love how this has turned out, I have to think on about the other set. I am sure something wil come! By the way have all you soul journallers found the Yahoo group yet???????

Wordle of my blog

Saw this on someones blog and had to try, I love that it chose brown!!!!! (Arlee's laughing now!) and the words it chose are great!

And the winner is......

PAULA!!!!!!


How did I arrive at this, well dull but I added my age together, so 3+3= 6

6= Paula

So Paula if you could let me know your addy, I will pop it in te post!

and can I say thanks to Anna for the lovely bookmark and card she sent me for my birthday.
To Gill and Jan for the lovely cards. I am spolit!
Also to my little sis Sianni who made me THE most lovely crochet'd beaded rope bracelet, I LOVE IT!
Have a great weekend all.

Soul journal self portrait

Oh my word before I start I just realised that I have to go back and work on this spread, you'll never guess what i left out????? anyway....
Sarah's final prompt was to do a self portrait using your fingers only. This was HARD. Here's me, for those of you who don't know me!
and here's my drawing. Now before you say, Ha! You've cheated! I used my nai to outline the features, it was hard but my nails are longer and stronger than they have been for a while, funny how that happens on holiday. I finger painted the background too.
Here's a close up.
and what's missing I hear you ask.......... Glasses!!!!!! See how much I take them for granted. I will have to add them, they are so part of me! Don't forget to sign up a few posts back for my bookmark give away, my birthday is tomorrow and I will be drawing the winner then. Love Carol t

Misfit - madness!

I was astonished at what I came up with in Sarah's next prompt. She had us doodle a shape and then squint at it until we saw a character appear. I was astonished to see a yoga lady in mine. She needed a belly button, and some toes, and another curlfor her hair, but other than that she was a doodle, honestly! She then asked us to write about a time when we felt like a misfit, and then the super powers we would like to over come these feelings. Now the yoga lady made me think of how I feel about when I went to pilates and how I feel about myself and excersise. I have found writing real easy with Sarah's prompts, Thank you Sarah.

I have my self portrait using my fingers only to paint, left to do and I am hoping my appeal to Sarah for a closing prompt will finish the last spread, and then I have the cover left to do.

I wanted to put an appeal here, I have been asked to teach a days workshop in mixed media, now the organiser likes a finished ish piece at the end of these days. I have some techniques I want to do with them but I have no idea what to make. It is in december and so they want a christmas based thing / a gift maybe?, anyone got any ideas??? If so I would love some help. Thanks.

Now don't forget to leave a comment on my last post to be in with a chance of winning my bookmark for my blogiversary. Thanks to everyone for my lovely comments and birthday wishes, I am a ridiculous 33 this year, oh I wish i was 17 again!

Soul Journal update and bloggiversary!

HIa all, a quick update with my Soul Journal, While I was away Sarah issued 4 (Ithink) more instructions. The first of which was to photocopy 3 of my favourite pages and then collage them onto a new spread. This is how mine worked out.
I love the way new things have come to the fore, and how I have ine.cluded all my best bits into one.
I also love how I could play around with the orientation of things, that turned out nicely!
I went back to the page that Sarah asked us to use to record all our thoughts and what we have learnt from the sould journal and the people who have accompanied us on this journey. I have to say I have met some amazing new friends and have been suprised to meet new people after all this time blogging and running and being in yahoo groups. I have met some truely fab people, so giving, so creative. I wasn't happy with this page it was too stark in comparison to the other parts of my book so I went back with metallic colouring pencils and added some design elements without obscuring the writing.
I have signed up with sarah to be involved with the bookmark swap and so I was busily making them yesterday. I have just te charms to add now. The middle one is the only one not going to Sarah. Since the edges of my page have been so much a part of the journal I have cut the edges of my book marks too.
Now It is my 2 year blogiversary today, and so to celebrate I thought I would give the middle book mark away. I have yet to add charms to it, but that will be done before I send it out. If you would like it then leave me a comment and I will draw the winner on friday, It is my birthday on friday so much to celebrate this week! Best of luck!

Arch for Pam and work on the quilt.

I promised to help out Gillian as part of my list mom dutoes with catching up with her arches. She was owing Pam, who i actually know and as well as being a TC member is part of my C+G class and Fibrepaperarts group. I decided to take Pam's arch on holiday with me. I had coloured up some fabric ages ago and was itching to use it up. It was a wadding type thing, but I dyed it using the jar method, using two colours. I had also some fabric left from Sun printing with ferns and I thought they tied together nicely. So I hand seeded and cross stitched the sun prints in place and then did some fern stitch on the back. I used a bit of jar dyed cotton for the edging too.
Back.
This was all I managed on my quilt, just the outlining of the rivetted strips and some seeding. Much left to do now! I am fast running out of time, and don't seem to have any motivation. I will have to get my finger out!!!

Home at last!

I am back at last! I have had a lovely restful time. No computer, no telly, just sun and water! I thought I would show you a few pics before I show you the little work I did while away.
Me and Ellie!
A better one, plus How many chins!!!!!
The church of St Dennis, Zackynthos town.
I spent a good bit of time photographing wrought iron!
and finally the obligitory boat shot!!!!!!!!! We had a lovely time and did nothing really, which is I guess the point. I will take some pics of the arch and the start of my quilting that I did while away and show you over the weekend! Love carol T

Sarah's home work

Sarah's been on a break for her anniversary so she left us some home work. 1 was to write about our SJ experience, which I did, and is useful but not pretty so I am not going to bother posting it here. The other was to revisit the tape page. I decided the only medis I would like on here was balck biro, so that is what I did I just drew! Starting with the shape I had cut on the edge of the page.

I have a thing for diamonds, so I played with that.

I like how it is now, I just have to re paint over the gesso that I had spilt over the edge when I painted the next page.

WEll thi si smy last post before I go on hols tonight. I'll be here if anyone needs me!!!!!!

Two arches and some holiday stitching.

I have been a busy bee this week, as well as packing for the off early hours on thursday, I have made 2 arches. Both are for ladies who like a bit of vintage. The first goes to Kate who is my partner this month, this is the year ong arch swap on textile challenges, my group.
The next is me doing a bit of list mom duty and helping out my good friend Gillian who has really not been well. She owes an arch to Patsy and so I have made this arch for her. Both were made in the same way. I found some lovely vintage brides from a bridal magazine and glued this onto cotton with PVA, I made sure to coat the picture also to make it more robust. I then made some silk paper with silk tops. I put the dried picture of the bride under a clear recycling binliner and layed up the paper so I left a gap to see the pic, it worked a treat. I layed some tea dyed lace into the paper while I was at it. I was a little heavy handed with the textile medium, but it has given it all a nice sheen.I then FME'd and hand stitched, added a binding and beads to the edge! Done, as Ramsay woud say!
I wil leave you with my stitching project for holiday. I have dyed, done a kinda tie dye but with paint and then stencilled and block printed this piece, and intend to hand quilt it while I am away, we shall see, it may get done, it may not. I want to make a Kemshalls types bag. Still on the metal theme.
See you in 2 weeks!

Arch from Arlee

I thought I would show you the lovely arch that Arlee sent me, it is such a pleasure to see Arlee's work up close, to assess the different layers of work. I love the bubbled cello plastic that she has trapped inside the arch and the hard wear on the front. I would love to know where you get things ike this from Arlee, if your reading this!
and the back is a beautiful as the front. Thanks Arlee. It's a beaute!

Ellie's collage project and Soul journal pages.

I have had a fun couple of days with my journal and with Ellie may, We decided to make a collages girl for her bedroom wall. We started with Ellie laying on a roll of wallpaper lining paper. I drew around her and then gave her 2 magazines. She spent about 2 hours, maybe more cutting and sticking all sorts of things, including eyes, nose, mouth, a plat, jewellery and flowers for her dress.
Here is the close up of her face, miss matched eyes are a bit weird but love the bling!
Look how much bling on the wrist and fingers.
That was yesterday, today we used the roller and acrylic paint to put colour down. Ellie did all this herself. She then used a damp kitchen roll sheet to show the flowers and things, wiped them back, and a wash of pink for the skin. It needs to be cut out now and pinned in her room. Love the corsage!
Now onto my journal. Sarah has gone off for a little break and so we are now working on our own. This was the last 2 spreads we did before she went. I have been a little slow as I was waiting for paint to dry and to sew a few things. I started by squirting some acrylic and shutting the book, squidge! Lovely! Then I filled one page with numbers.
I then added a was, and painted with a fork. Here is the full spread.

After the wash and the fork painting, I drew round my hand 5 times, moving them slightly every time. I drew with a tippex pen, and I picked out important numbers like 21 (Ellie's birthday) 29 ( my birthday - August by the way!) and 24 (Craig's birthday).

Sarah then asked us to add some meaningful words. I chose a quote by William Ralph Inge, it reads " The soul is dyed by the colour of it's leisure hours". I thought this summed this journal up really. I stitched this to a fabric tag which came on a new top I bought the other day, it is a diamond ( my favourite) pattern in copper (my favourite) on black cotton and has a copper eyelet. I punched 2 holes in the page to attatch it to the page with a bow. I have to say I bloddy love this spread.

On the opposing page I used black and white crayon to draw 3 hearts. I filled the centre with white crayon to resist and keep the text from the letter underneath the gesso showing. I used the tippex pen to draw the dandelions and the zig zag.

The next sprad started with a wash, but the rose pink colour was too wet so i blotted it with kitchen paper and I got this amazing pattern.

Check that out, lucky or what!
I set about printing first of all and printed with one o Ellie's building blocks (Duplo I think), both ends to get the black squares and circles. I then used a little pot lid from when Ellie had puree food to print, what is now a pear, at this point I didn't think anything of it. Then with a white pen I wrote the list of things I had done today, this ranges from painting with Ellie to pickin up Craig Shopping and at the bottom, Ate a pear, BINGO! a light went on, I decided to use the same mint green to mono print a pear onto the left hand page. I wrote the alphabet as instructed, quick and angry, and then also as instructed gesso'd out an area, I chose the pear shaped lid print and turned this into a pear properly, I kept my marks really textural. I also gesso'd around the 6. I dry brushed aroud the gesso with black and lastly attatched a piece of copper hole punched with big cross stitches.
Close up!
Finally while routing around for my something metal I found some pink shell charms from and old bracelt and thought these might be nice and continue the hole punching. Now I would love to say I meant to get all those holes, and that I was going for the peppered with bullet holes, but really i can't hole unch to save my life!
Here is the close up of the charms.
Well I hope you haven't been bored wittless, I know I have rambled! I am excited as I love this work so far, I hope you are enjoying seeing it!

Soul journal - 1 st in a set of spreads

Sarah started us off by showing us a good way of working with figures, we cur out a stencil from a magazine of a person in a good silouette. I only had bridal magazines in the house and found a great couture one with a fishtail and another leaning back. So I dry brushed the one on the left and sponged the one on he right. Then Sarah gave us a series of tasks, they were to:
Write a page of of descriptive adjuctives
Write a listusing your left ( in my case) hand.
Use a magazine stencil
Use tape
A wash of a colour you haven't used.
use a pencil
quick, fast marks without thinking.
Drip splatter paint in another colour not used before
Dry brush.

I just realised that I haven't done the drippng, so that I will have to add in the morning.
This had to be done not in the order, so this is stencils, writing, pencil, tape and marks.

Then this is with the wash.
and a bit more pen.
Pencil to enhance the page numbers.

I will add the drips of paint tomorrow! (PS did you see my let handed list! How bad is my writing+ backwards s!!!)