Another week!

Another week and this week I feel I have done a bit more and been more productive, Even with some saddening family news this week.  I am glad I have been keeping busy, because I think it does help when life happens - having things to do.  Stops you reveling in your own sadness.
But anyhow,  Let's look at what I have gotten done this week.

This is my first bit of embroidery on my Sue Spargo sampler with craftsy.  It has taken me a while to get started, but hopefully I will get some done on Tuesdays at Quilt group which begins again this week.

This is a Thread painted moth I finished during the week.  Not sure what I am going to do with it yet, perhaps it will become a fabric page.

I finished unpicking this piece of printing on chiffon, which had some free motion I didn't like

Another of the fabric and paper collages I am making for Fabric books.

Getting along with my crochet!

Some thread lace leaves.

A teeny tiny embellishment - again for fabric pages.

A page in my doodle book I am working on.  The red leaves are a deli paper page that has been cut - over the top of the green and purple page.

This is a page from week two of Lisa Congdon's Sketchbook Explorations on creativebug.

If you have known me for a while, you might recognise this pile of fabric pages ready to embellish.  I have used my collage background challenges from last year.

And here is one of the pages, with a free motion sketch which has been painted.  Quite happy with this page, but still needs a little more work.

Another fabric page in process.

And finally another fabric page, a two page spread ready to free motion stitch.  It might seem that I am a bit obsessed with fabric books at present and I probably am.  I have been interested for a few years and never yet completed one!  So this year is the year.
My pinterest page has lots of inspiration if you want to look, but the main artists who are inspiring me are Frances Pickering, Ro Bruhn, Jill Taylor, and Annette Bolton and of course Cas Holmes. As usual quite a few UK artist in that group!

Happy Creating!

A catch up

A week has gone by since I posted and the last thing I posted was the sketchbooks I put together and these two pages are ones I finished during the week.

The one on the left was a ghost print from some monoprinting which I have added to and made more interesting.  The one on the right was a sunflower print (background) and on top, I  used a silhouette stencil I cut from a fashion magazine.  Then I added a bit of shading and detail with black ink.  This was for Natalie Kalbach's lesson from creative Jumpstart which I am enjoying a lot.

This page used a gorgeous stencil.  An old Amy Butler one and a quote which I altered a little, adding "She"  instead of "He".  This one is the story of my life!

Under my magnifying daylight lamp here, is a piece of printed chiffon, which I did some free motion of, but didn't like.  The reason for the magnifying glass is that I am unpicking it!

This is my Feather collection.  It is very varied,although many are white cockatoo or black and white magpie feathers, but I also have some blue and black rosella feathers and in the centre is a speckled feather which I think may belong to an owl or night jar.  I pick these up when I am walking each evening, and it is always a great walk when I find one.

These are a couple of quick warm-up collages, a task that I have been neglecting this month!

This is my first page for DLP (Documented Life Project) which is  a site my friend Lisa put me on to.

And lastly this is a page from my doodling journal.  It has lots of prints and painted pages in it and all I do is doodle and use pens and markers in it.

Doesn't seem much for a week, does it?  Well, there are lots of other things, that are in process and a couple of things that are for swaps and such, which I can't show until the appropriate time.  So we will see those the next time or the time after that, or....

Happy Creating!

A favourite fabric and doodling

Today's atc is made from a scrap of fabric I have hoarded because I only had a tiny bit and I loved it.

Because I love it, I didn't cover it up with anything, just free machined around a heart shape in gold thread.  I loved how the heart puffed up.  Edged with glue and gold leaf.

You might remember this piece, which I was working on here.   I was based on a page in one of my artbooks.

 Well, I have finally finished the doodling!

I tried to used a different pattern in every section, and there is a lot of thread build up in areas, but since it was just playing, I'm not fussed, in fact I'm quite happy with it.  I still have to stitch the sky, but it will just be wery subtle so as not to detract from the bird.
This idea could work with just about any shape that can be broken up into sections, even a rectangle, as I often fill a whole page in the space of a half a dozen phone calls, lol and this is basically doodling except it is a little hard to fill in solid areas when free machining.  Of course it can be done, but it is not really something I would call playing, it's more of a chore.

So you see, imagination needs moodling - long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering. 

Brenda Ueland

 

And don't forget to check out the twelve by twelve groups's reveal of metamorphosis!

(it was yesterday, but the quilts are absolutely stunning)

another metal ATC and my doodled bird in progress

Today's ATC is another embossed foil one, a leaf, which I have painted with nail polish.  It is sewn onto some more of my collage background with chain stitch and french knots and bound with organza ribbon.

some of you probably remember this bird from one of my artbooks.

I actually have a small quilt in process using this design.

here it is with the outline quilting done

and a close up
I have now started the doodling in the feathers

I am really enjoying doing this ddodling and have been practising lots of doodles in my quilting scrapbook

Here's a close up.  I think I need to go over the stitching more than once as it is such a thin thread and I'm sure there will be some scope for beading when it is done.



Happy stitching, don't forget to check out Lisa's ATC and the TAST page