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Thursday, 31 January 2019

Bowls and Bags

31st January 2019

I cannot believe it is the last day of January!

I have made another papier mache bowl......

.....this is a product I bought on a course last year....


.....the fibrous strands are soaked in water then they can be pulled apart and shaped, enjoyed playing and making these tree shapes.....


....painted my bowl with black acrylic and coated the 'trees' with PVA glue and placed around thee bowl, secured with these fabric sewing clamps until dry...


....love the result!


Do you??



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Also been using oddments from my stash to put pockets on canvas shoppers....

.....using small pieces of indigo dyed samples, joined with satin stitch and decorated with kanthan....


.....this was a hand dyed sample decorated with free machining...



....rust dyed fabrics woven and hand stitched....



...hope to sell these unique bags!

Lastly this was taken on the station at Turnham Green last night, thought we were in for a snow fall but it didn't happen although extremely cold!


Trying out some new card designs this week so watch this space!





Saturday, 26 January 2019

Winter Lights at Canary Wharf

26th January 2019

Last week I visited the Winter Lights free show at Canary Wharf with a small group of people from our 'Out and About' group. We caught the train to Waterloo then Jubilee Tube to Canary Wharf.

On arrival a steward gave us all a map with 21 sites showing the exhibition which was only on for two weeks.

We followed the trail and it was really quite magical, here is a flavour....







Many people were having their photo taken here, especially the children...


....this installation was amazing, the lights kept changing colour...




....these neon benches next to the ice rink also changed colours....




....water fountains in various colours played in time to music, could have sat and watched this for ages but much too cold!!


It was a great evening and am looking forward to my next trip out with the group.





Tuesday, 22 January 2019

Decorating Papier Mache Bowls...

January 22nd 2019

My creative friend wanted to try 'papier mache' bowls so last Thursday morning, our creative time in my craft room, we played with strips of newspaper and produced a bowl each, I have since finished one more and have another drying out!

I placed sticky tabs on the jar as the bowl kept falling off, this bowl was a charity shop find costing 20p! Strips have been layered and it took a couple of days to dry....


....used PVA to attach cotton string, also silk scrim fabric which I frayed at the top...


...painted white using acrylic paint, pleased I can still see the texture of the fabric.....


....the finished bowl, inside is white and soft brush marks using black acrylic, must admit I rather like this!


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While my bowls were drying I dyed some white tissue paper, recycled from packaging, with tea....


....and coffee for a darker shade....


...an A4 sheet of Khadi paper with pencil marks for the holes, I actually cut out the holes and 'roughed up' the edges with the scissor blade as it took far too long to burn out with my soldering iron!


Notice the 'mistake' in the bottom left, I wanted a burnt effect so tried a candle, big mistake as the paper caught and burnt out more than I wanted rather than just singeing the edges!!


The tissue was easy to cut with the soldering iron and left a lovely textured edge...


....I covered an A4 piece of mount card and used the coffee dyed paper as a base with torn edges, next came the Khadi paper then the tea stained tissue and finally added the cut out pieces of papers to add more texture.


It is now in my hallway and compliments the white walls and wooden floors.

I have also applied for a craft stall to sell my cards, indigo items and mixed media pictures so fingers crossed I will be successful!









Thursday, 17 January 2019

Shibori Turmeric Dyeing, Papier Mache Bowl and a Fabric Picture Sample.....

17th January 2019

I had some turmeric solution left and decided to try Shibori techniques on strips of recycled sari silk and recycled cotton strips, the fold back clips produced a good design on the folded strips and the flower shape was produced by wrapping with string. Very easy to do and I didn't boil these samples in  vinegar and water, just wet with warm water and boiled in the solution for 20 minutes, then rinsed until water was clear.


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All ready for a 'papier mache' session, paper strips, paste, cling film and bowls.....


...chose the bowl on the left, bought in Vietnam, made from a coconut shell. The bowl was covered in cling film and strips of pasted paper, I made a base of rolled paper and inserted silver lace/ribbon along the edge....


....took 2 days to dry then painted with white acrylic to cover the newspaper....


.....outside painted this shade which I made using blue/red/white acrylic paint, I want to paint the inside silver but didn't have the paint so will finish next week!


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The next page in my sketchbook, sorry it is upside down!!!

An idea from Pinterest....



Cotton fabric base with 'stitch and tear' paper behind for stability, machined lines then organza shapes backed with Bondaweb ironed on....


...edges frayed and hand stitched, quite pleased with the result, think I will make a larger version for my bedroom.



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My gorgeous granddaughter came for a sleepover on Monday and we went to Kew for a picnic!


Alba gave her crumbs to the birds.


Love these 'Christmas Roses'...


...winter trees are so beautiful...


....snow drops, one of my favourites...


....lastly I have started to make a small throw using this beautiful 4ply Drops yarn from my stash, it is the 'corner to corner' pattern, very easy and lovely design. Think it might take a while!! 










Sunday, 13 January 2019

Experimenting with Paper

13th January 2019

A creative friend and I got together for a papier- mache session using strips of newspaper and this glue/paste which I bought on a course last summer, quite versatile...


....all prepared, the bowl on the left was one I brought back from my Vietnam trip and is made from a coconut shell, this was covered in cling film than strips of pasted paper were added...


.....very relaxing! I added some silver lace/ribbon to the rim of mine, looks a little like a Tiffany Lamp at the moment, it is still drying out, not sure what colour to paint it yet.


My next play session involved my soldering iron and hand made papers including some tea dyed tissue paper....


....I cut holes with my soldering iron....


.....offset this over another piece and traced round the holes to cut out....



...repeated with another piece....


...decided to just use 2 pieces on 'something I had in my stash'!!!


Repeated the same procedure using the tea stained tissue which was much easier to cut/burn and all the small circles were then stuck down overlapping holes. I hadn't planned this, just played but am very pleased with the result.


These two samples are now in my sketchbook but I intend to make another larger version for my wall using hand dyed Abaca Tissue.....

I have so many ideas buzzing around in my head, just need the time to sit and play!!!