a little bit of colour...

... and some close ups! The usual, embellisher, free machining and hand stitching!

Random areas of a little panel.

I like machining with variegated thread although it's sometimes a bit of a hit or a miss getting the right colour in the right place but that's what I like about it, the unpredictability.

Maybe should have turned this photo!

It was nice to work with a bigger range of colours this time.

That's it for now.

Byee! :o)

I wish you could get the wee smiley face the right way round! I like this one with the big nose!! :o)

maximum on flickr...

... can't remember if I said before but I've run into a flickr maximum of 200 images. I managed to ditch some images that hadn't been viewed the last time but when it said it was a free account I hadn't realised that there was in fact a limit to it. Maybe that was because I failed to read the small print!... Such a shame I was really getting into it. I suppose that I'll have to upgrade to a pro account as I'm running out of images to ditch! Anyway enough mumping and moaning and on to the images. Here are a few I took of the latest flower brooches/pins to go into Funky Scottish...

...I really enjoy making them. They're a bit of fun...

I like to mix the sizes and colours of the beads for the centres.

I found that I had loads of seed beads but not quite enough of the larger ones. I can't quite beleive that I actually had to go and buy some more!! ....... honest they were really needed!

Well that's it for this little batch of close up photos.

Bye for now.

some promised close up photos...

...some slightly clearer than others! I thought that I needed some more heart cards for the shop. These are a few of the results.

I liked the colours on the one above...even if it's a bit blurry!

....obviously forgot to turn the photo! oops!

...and another one!

Pretty basic, nothing too fancy...

They all have transfer painted velvet hearts with some cable free machining and a few hand stitched kisses!!

That's it for now,

Byee! :o)

From this...

beginning to an unexpected end result!I followed instructions from a Quilting Arts or a Cloth Paper Scissors magazine, sorry can't remember which one it was.

I embellished muslin onto a velvet base, then felt circles, then some bondaweb...

Holes cut out, somehow didn't really get that part! Then some hot foiling, think I had gone a bit off track by this time! Look you can even see the iron mark. Tsk, tsk a bit careless I think.

I really didn't like the end result. I'm sure that I could have added lots more to it, hand or machine stitching, more embellishing or even some more iron shaped foiling!! However I took the easy option and cut it up, with a purpose of course. I needed some more brooches for the shop and I thought that fish were the answer! I hated the red circles so I managed to cut out a whole heap of fish shapes narrowly avoiding the nasty red! Here are a couple of snippets...

...yes, I know you're supposed to photograph the things before they go into the cellophane packet!!! (think I may have done that before!!)

I've decided that it was meant as the cellophane looks like water..... a bit!

Oops! Just realised that I'd added a little bit of blue wool tops to the finished piece of fabric before I cut it up. You can see a little of it on the fish. (I really must keep a note of what I do to these pieces, it's amazing how quickly I forget). I added some free machining with variegated thread and free machined satin stitch edge. The tail was made from organza and finally a little sequin and seed bead for its eye.

That's it for now, last post for April. I've decided on a theme for next month. It's going to be "close ups"!

Byee!

busy, busy, busy...again!

...thought that I'd just manage to get a little play in amongst all this busy, busy, busy!!

I've had a little play around with these photos. Can't even remember if I posted this one last time or not. The photo above is the original one.

Anyway, here are the results of some altered photos...

...easy embossing (just press the button!)

...some seriously yummy colours...

...yes there's more!...

...mmm...

Couldn't resist all of these, just had to share. Must have a go with some of my other sploshes and dribbled artwork pieces!

Well that's it for now, maybe some stitching next time...Byeee!

Oops!, just checked and I had posted the original photo in my previous post, sorry!

A busy weekend...

...I was at a course run by Group XII Textile Artists. Our tutor for the two days was Mary Sleigh. We all had a great time. There's nothing better than slapping a bit of paint around for a whole weekend!! Here are a few photos of some of the work I managed to get through...

... this seemed to crackle because it was quite a wet area and I dried it off with the hairdrier.

...some dribbling and spattering!

..I loved the grids I managed to get. It was amazing how each person achieved a different result.

...some text with acrylic paint dragged over it. Think I'll try more of this as I liked the effect.

I really liked doing this as well, writing into thick paint.

That's it for now.

Byee!

A fishy tail...

... Hi! Here we are in a new month already! Can hardly believe it. Anyway I promised a reveal on some of the photos from last month. Here are a few from the black and white ones......you can guess what it is now I'm sure!

... three little fishes!...

Here they are, a bundle of black and white fish cushions destined for the shop, in fact they are there already!

Kept it really simple on the back, one piece of fabric and my name label.

Think this design if my favourite. I'm hoping to do more cushions. I think some tartan fish would go really well in Funky Scottish!

That's it for now, oh almost forgot to say I've got some cushions in the current edition of Classic Stitches magazine (ISSUE 86). There are lots of lovely things in this issue including an article on my City & Guilds tutor and her friend who is also an embroidery tutor!

I'll dig out some photos and add them to my next post.

Bye for now.