butterfly

Today's ATC is a quick one.

Red fabric paper with foil papers, painted nappy liner.  Metal butterfly charm.  (I got these at a cheap shop for $2 in a pack of six - bargain!)

Even when things are trying, being a little creative each day can make an huge positive difference - so just do it!

some charms and fantastic plastic

This atc has a felt bacground, some textured organza ribbon, heart charms and free motion stitching.  The edges are glued and gold leafed and it is backed with a playing card.

This afternoon, I had a play with embossing powder and plastics.  I have seen a video where plastic was embossed with an embosser like a cuttle bug here .  This doesn't require heat. and although I will try it, it wasn't what I wanted.

I tried quite a few different types of plastics.  (This table here is an overwiew of recyclable plastics.)  The first plastic I tried was a number 5 or poly propylene (PP) .  It is not completely clear and is more soft rather than brittle.  Generally it is from take away or thin microwaveable plastic containers - like the ones you can get in packs of six at the supermarket.

the plastic puckered a tiny bit, but it can be flattened while still warm after using the heat gun.  i found it best to hold the gun high up, at least 8 inches and wait a bit longer as there was less puckering this way.
Buoyed on by this success, I tried a few more types of plastic.

Acetate, or transparency did not work as it buckled up straight away and never got anywhere near melting the embossing powder.

This one is PET or number 1 plastic.  This is generally what soda/fizzy drink bottles are made of or frozen meals, but I got it from a non-food packaging.  It didn't work either, buckling under the least heat.

This one didn't have a label, but was from a chinese take away type container and it felt the same as the PP (5) above.  It worked the same as the poly propylene.
The last two plastics I tried  are a bit different.  They both came out of an LCD computer screen when hubby pulled it apart.  The first one is slightly frosted and looks just like quilting stencil plastic.

I have put it on a coloured surface so you could see what I mean.  It worked really well.  I also tried a piece of stencil plastic, to put my mind at rest (not shown) and it worked as well.

This last one is the one I liked the best of all.  It is a reflective clear plastic that I have been collecting from computer sreen demolitions, because it is lovely and shiny like a pearl or a mirror.  It worked very well.

Here is a shot of this reflective plastic so you can sort of see what I mean.  When the light shines through it, it makes rainbows, I must be a bit of a Pollyanna, I suppose.
The reason this one appealed to me so much is that a friend is going to run a dream catcher workshop at our community house, and I thought that if these were suspended at the bottom, they would just top it off.
I am sure you will be seeing this technique in my ATCs (when I get all the hearts out of my system, lol)


Make sure you play every day.

Stitched house and a butterfly

"Once upon a time there was a Little House way out in the country.
She was a pretty Little House and she was strong and well built."
So begins Virginia Lee Burton's classic The Little House, winner of the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1943.

 This ATC was stitched with wool on water soluble stabiliser and then needlefelted, this was from an article by Jan beaney and Jean Littlejohn, the stitching queens in " fabric from cloth" Quilting arts 48 and also here.
I used my prompt cards for this one and they were
Use heavy stitching
Add a charm
I had recently read the article in QA and decided this was a great way to use heavy stitching.  I selected a little charm of a house, which inspired the design ( but forgot to add it in the photo.

Here it is with the charm added with a brad.

Remember this digital projection of a piece I started using prompts?
Well I have done a little bit of work on it after a lot of thinking.  My work often takes a lot of that before I find what I want to do with it.

Here is where I am at the moment.  I was inspired by Melanie Testa  "Inspired to quilt" and using sheers, to add a sheer layer and as I was about to stitch it, I thought of using some black sheer and reverse applique to outline the butterfly.   I like the effect, however I couldn't solder the edges of the black because I already had a sheer beneath it, so I have a few problems with the black sheer fraying as a result.  I have stabilised it, but it looks terrible close up, so I am bow going to do double sided blanket stitch around it to make it look better, I will do some free motion embroidery over the sheer, then I will create sheer flower silhouettes with the soldering iron and sew them down.

Let life inspire you.

Leafy fabric book - progress

As you  know if you have been checking in, I am working on a little fabric book based on a leaf theme  (which is my current work theme).
As it has been a while, I thought I would give you an update on where the pages are at.

I have shown this one before, it just needs a little adjustment.

This one is basically finished, now, except, I think I may go over the word "fern"  in a contrasting colour.

This one is a bit further along.  I have defined the blue tree with some free motion, and now I think I see some yellow grassor bushes under it.  I also found these fish bone leaf danglies which I will embellish with some blue and gold thread.

My wrapped leaves have found a new backing, which suits them better, but I am still dithering over my next steps here.

So, instead of dithering, I just went on to some new pages until the muse strikes.  This one was inspired by the circle, which I have blanket stitched on.  The sequins are a bit lost, although I think their shape and arrangement are good.  I did try stitching on them with green (top left), but it just wasn't enough contrast.  I think I will paint them with pale green gesso. Although I do like the pearly sheen, it doesn't work here.

This page uses some pressed fern leaves my mother gave me.  I liked the three sizes.  They are glued beneath a piece of tulle, which is attached with gold brads.  I will be stitching the leaves down and trimming the tulle with wave blade scissors or pinking shears.

This is a very simple page with lovely fabric and a little gold embellishment.

This one uses a bit of nylon lace curtain in a whorl.

This last one uses some little leaf charms I found with fabric shadows.  Not sure where this one will go.

So there is a peek at where I am at, but of course, if you know me, a peek is not much help, because it is just the tip of the iceberg, since I am into anything and everything vaguely to do with fibres and textiles.  My hubby says he has no idea what I am upto from one minute to the next, but he is exactly the same with his craft.  Two peas in a pod.