A Bracing Promenade Walk....

28th November 2017

Woke up to a blue sky and sunshine, wonderful after the last very grey wet days!!

Decided to walk along the promenade into Blackpool....

.....my eyes were watering and my face was numb as I walked north into the icy wind, but it was great!!!

 My legs are quite short in reality...

.....so quiet, only a few dog walkers on the beach....

...love the patterns the sea and wind have made in the sand.

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A strip of crochet for tree wrapping for the park yarnbombing event in January..

....squares for my blanket with a border ready for stitching together...

....piles of squares waiting for a border!!

I LOVE knitting aran patterns...

..also been doing more sorting , found these sketch/notebooks....

....lined note book cover in my own dyed fabric and stitching...

.....original print on hand dyed background...

....hand made fabric using recycled sari silk, ribbons and threads....

...album/sketch book covered in my indigo dyed fabric and old lace

.....have also been preparing some more cards, hope to finish tomorrow....

More cards and experiment results....

21st November 2017

Another grey, drizzly day here in Blackpool so have continued my 'playing'.....

.....eucalyptus leaves collected from Kew Gardens.....

.....bundled and steamed...

....the result, I was hoping for orange leaves but still quite pleased with the result.

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Small scraps of painted Bondaweb ironed onto cotton wadding....

....stitched and made into a small square cards...

...more A6 cards..

and 4" x 4" square.

I have also prepared some funky robin cards but will finish them another day!

Must tidy up my mess now and make my meal.

A Creative Play Weekend....

20th November 2017

I have been using 'various bits' from my stash and just playing while listening to the radio....

4"x 4" Christmas cards..

....I used a piece of 'sari silk' handmade fabric and hessian, as you know by now I love textures...

....the red fabric was some I made about 4 years ago and is made from layered ribbons covered in organza...

....beautiful embroidered ribbon scraps on hessian....

...APOLOGIES for photos, no real natural light!!

These are my own dyed fabrics backed with Shrink Polyester...

....free machined...

....ironed using baking parchment, lovely textures....

...programmed zig zag stitch...

....rather pleased with this pattern...

....this is cotton fabric used as a 'cleaning cloth' after dyeing...

....wavy straight stitch...

.....this reminds me of a bathing costume I had as a child...

.....not sure what I will do with these pieces, maybe free machine seed heads on them and make into cards.

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An experiment using fabric I was given, think it is wool but not sure! I washed, rinsed and soaked in distilled vinegar water before placing these eucalyptus leaves, collected from Kew, on the top....

...rolled, tied and steamed for 4hours....

....I am waiting before I open the bundle, I was hoping for a lovely orange leaf print but think I am going to be disappointed, but we shall see!!

Come back tomorrow to see the result....

The last couple of weeks....

30th October 2017

The last couple of weeks have been rather strange for me!!

I am in Blackpool at the moment for a visit and the weather has been cold but dry, not had time to walk to the sea yet, tomorrow probably.....

I have had a parcel of goodies ....

....fabulous threads and embroidered recycled sari silk, will take another photo when I have ironed them....

.....made this jumper for Alba, reversed stocking stitch, really like the border and so easy! Can't say the same for the heart motif, had to undo the top of it 3 times!!!

I will definitely use the pattern again but in stocking stitch next time.

Also made this aran bobble hat, another easy pattern, will be making a little jacket to go with it as the colour really suits her....

.....made these for my blanket, slow but sure, but love making them and very portable, even made a few on the train up to Blackpool!!!

Handmade at Kew....

17th October 2017

Sunday afternoon was spent at Kew, one of my favourite places, with family members to see some beautiful work from very gifted artists......

.....walking towards the display tent I saw more sculptures that I missed on my last two visits...

....so many beautiful seed heads in the boardwalk borders..

....there were so many beautiful items in the show, jewellery, handcrafted wood, knitted, mono prints and ceramics...

....just a few of my favourites...

...painted wall hangings on paper and silk...

....I LOVED THIS ROCKING CHAIR...

.....exquisite....

....all these items were crafted from recycled paper...

.....afterwards we visited The Hive and did the Treetop Walk then made our way  back to exit, saw this willow structure on the way....

.....my finds, eucalyptus leaves and bark, think these leaves might produce the beautiful orange colour  when eco dyed, they were lying under the tree...

....a brilliant way to spend the afternoon and the weather was gorgeous!