Another Mermaid

Ok now I am probably starting to bore you with all this beading..... but I shall forge on regardless. As I am behind with everything at the moment I had a total of three lovely mermaids staying with me. Sirena from yesterday is now on the next leg of her journey so it was time to tackle the next beauty belonging to Noel today.
Ok I am going to shock you all now by saying that the orange beading is not mine! This is how she came to me. I just love the way the other ladies have beaded her front so I decided again to tackle something on the back. Before starting on the back though I added a silver bead to each strand of her hair, I think you can just about pick this up in the pictures. My contribution this time was again on the doll's tail. Granted my colour choices this time are not so zingy as for Sirena but I tried to concentrate more on texture than colour this time.
Here is a closeup. I really had trouble picking out my colours so I decided to divide the area up into three and tried to progress the colours across the tail, pink moving into purple then blue. I can't really think how to explain what I mean but I got the effect I wanted anyway, maybe the blues could have done with being a bit darker but she is done now. I used lots of different sizes and shapes of beads, stacked some up and stitched some down tightly to create bunching etc to try and add some texture. I don't think the picture really shows the effect too well.

I have one more doll to work on and then I will have fulfilled all my commitment in both of the beaded doll RR's that I signed up for. The last one is going to be the hardest because the beading that has been done so far is quite scattered so I have no defined area to work but I'm hoping to get her done in the next couple of days. As these robins are drawing to a close I'm getting excited to see what my dolls will look like when they get home!

Sirena

As promised here are a few pictures of the little mermaid doll that I have been working on as part of the beaded doll round robin I signed up for.

This lovely doll form was made by Sharon and she called her Sirena. Here is the work that has been done on her front so far. There are still two more rounds to this robin before the doll will be complete. I decided to leave her front as is and add some detail to the back.

I bet you can't guess which bit I added, lol!

Ok so here is a close up of all the lovely orangeness that I added. I started with some sequins to echo the sequin work that another participant had already added to her front. I than added a mixture of seed and bugle beads to complete her tail. The final touch was to add a couple of fishy friends. I hope Sharon likes my contribution. I think she is going to have a beautiful doll once the final two rounds are complete.

Beading

I am still plodding along trying to catch up with everything that I got behind with while Dad was ill. It seems it only takes a few weeks to get behind but five times as long to try and get back on course and catch up, sigh! I will get there and I can only say a continued thanks for the patience that everyone is showing while I make such slow progress on catching up.

I have been beading like mad these last couple of days trying to get back straight with my doll round robins. I just finished work on Edna's doll which is the last in the spirit doll round robin that I have been in. Edna's theme was earth.
Here is the finished doll. I had three sections on the front to fill to complete the doll. Mine are the bottom two, once section completed with wooden beads and the other stone chip beads which I hope add some earthy textures. The other section I did was the one above the stone chips which I filled with a mixture of seed and glass beads. The doll is now on it's way back to Edna. I hope she likes it and I am looking forward to the safe return of my doll in this RR soon.

I am part way through beading one of the little mermaids that I have with me for the other RR, so hopefully I will have some pictures of that one to share in the next couple of days too.

Folk Festival revisited

The weather was slightly better than yesterday with a few scattered showers rather than a full on downpour all day. So we spent plenty of time hanging out at the folk festival. Here are a few of the pictures I took today.

A colourfully costumed dancer taking a few moments to warm up with come coffee.

Some wonderful waistcoats that reminded me of patchwork.

Some dancers in action.

Mondays is always street fair day. There is a craft tent and a music tent set up all weekend, but each Monday more vendors arrive for a street fair. There was a wonderful array of clothing, food, jewellery and accessories on display. Felted items seemed to be really popular this year. I managed to resist most of the temptations but I did treat myself to a new coin purse made from waste silk with a lovely orange felt flower. The colours are much more vibrant than shows here.

Fun with Inchies

Well as today was a bit of a wash out I have been having fun making inchies for a swap I'm in. I had four sets of nine to take. Here are my effortsAqua

Blue

BurgundyOrange and pink

The colours aren't showing up too great as it's been such an overcast day it was difficult to find decent light to take the pictures in, but you get the idea.

Sex, Lies and Embroidery

Today I had hoped to spend mostly hanging out soaking up the atmosphere of the folk festival but sadly the weather had other ideas. It's been raining all day. We did take a walk into town and there were still a few hardy dancers battling the rain but it just wasn't the same as yesterday.

Instead we spent some time wandering round the shops. I'm not usually an impulse buyer but we were in the book store and for the first time ever I bought a book on a total whim. I didn't even read the blurb on the back to find out what it was all about!

The tag line at the top reads 'A Powerful tale of sex, lies and embroidery' Who could resist, lol! It turns out to be an historical novel about the bishop who commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry. Anyone read it? I guess only time will tell whether it's as exciting as the tag leads you to believe.

New Zine

I just heard that some of my talented artistic cyber-friends are just about to publish a new quarterly on-line zine. Check it out here.

Sue, Terri, Mags , Carol and Lynda create so many fantastic things that I've no doubt this zine will be great so what are you waiting for go subscribe to Fibre and Stitch now!

Chippenham Folk Festival

Spring bank holiday means its time for the folk festival in my home town of Chippenham. There is always plenty going on and a lovely atmosphere in the town. The weather forecast for the weekend isn't great but this morning was bright so we went and sat in the park and watched some of the folk dancers and morris men in action.
The colours and costumes are just great and it's wonderful to hear all of the folk music being played. There are plenty of displays to see from dancing to story telling. I'm really hoping that the weathermen have it wrong and it stays dry for the celebrations. I have more time tomorrow so would really love to go hang out for the whole day taking it all in but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Faces

I can't believe it's been a week since I posted, how time is flying these days! Mark and I had a fabulous weekend camping in sunny Swanage and I'm ready to get sewing again.


Following on from my 'use only scraps' self challenge here is a postcard I made for a faces themed challenge. I was still in orange and blue mode when I made this at the end of last week. I'm ashamed to admit that the challenge was back in January but we had one last minute swapper who I agree to exchange with. I received her beautiful card and when I checked back through my records I came to realise that I hadn't made one in return. Here is my effort, better late than never I hope!
Hope to have a lot more to share later in the week I seem to have a tonne of things half finished at the moment!

Self challenge and Orange and Blue

Well as I've already mentioned, just a few time, I'm way behind with my swap commitments at the moment and have a tonne of postcards to make. I was sitting looking at the long list with despair the other day wondering just where I'm going to find the energy to catch up again. I seem to have been doing nothing else but catching up this last couple of years and no sooner do I get back on track than something else cropped up.

Anyhow I decided I needed to set myself a little challenge to get through all this postcard making. Since starting with postcards and ATC's I've been saving every tiny little off cut of fabric going, and have now amassed quite a collection so I'm challenging myself to use only these scraps for the next few weeks while I work doggedly on catching up. We'll see how well I get on :)

Ok so the first set I've been working on are for a Blue and Orange themed swap. Using only some scraps from my box here's what I came up with.

Study in Orange and Blue #1

Study in Orange and Blue #2

Orange and Blue Abstract

It certainly was fun piecing together all these little strips and squares. I'm looking forward to seeing how my self challenge progresses with the next few swaps. I think it will be interesting to see if I can make the sets different enough or if I will always end up using similar basic principles for putting the cards together due to the nature of the pieces of fabric that I am restricting myself to.

Frustration

I have a day off work today and thought it would be the perfect opportunity to take some pics of the beadwork that I have been doing this last week. But arrrgghhh my camera is out of charge and I can't find the plug to charge it. I've looked everywhere I just don't understand, it's only ever in one place and now it seems to have disappeared, it will drive me nuts until I find it.

Instead I will share a picture of a little cross stitch I did a few years back as this I can fit under the scanner :) I have been having a really good sort out trying to turn our spare bedroom into my craft haven and have been coming across many forgotten treasures. I'm thinking about adding a funky fabric border to this little guy to make a mini wall hanging for the new room.
I'm so excited that DH has agreed to let me take over the room, but I have had to make a few compromises, I wanted to paint the room white, but it's not long been decorated so DH doesn't see the point in doing it again. I also wanted to get some extra plug sockets in the room but I think this will be a long time coming so I'll have to make do with some extension plugs for now. I don't think the room is going to be done anytime soon as I have so much stuff to sort out but it will be great to have my own space when I eventually get finished.

Beading

Yesterday I got busy beading. As you know all of my family drama has meant that I have slipped behind with my swap commitments. I am now seriously holding up the beaded doll RRs that I'm in so I thought it was about time I did something about it.

I sat and beaded my part of two dolls yesterday, yes it was a mamouth effort and I have a stiff back today to prove how long I sat in the same position, lol! Sadly I didn't manage to get any pictures of the work I've done before we lost the light and images with the flash just don't work on these dolls as there are too many sparkly bits.

As I don't like to post too often without pictures I thought I'd share some closeups of the faces of the dolls that I have with me at the moment. I took these pics before I started working on the dolls myself.
As you can see I've a lovely variety of dolls vacationing with me at the moment. I have really enjoyed being part of these round robins but I think it will be a while before I join another. My beading skills are just poor compared to the other ladies who have been working in these robins so it's just highlighted that I need a lot more practised at this before I dare to do anything like it again.

Circles

Something finished at last. I don't know if it's just me but since I got back my creative streak this last week it seems to be taking me twice as long to finish anything than it did before. Maybe it's just my imagination, maybe I'm just putting extra pressure on myself because I have a long list of postcard swaps to catch up on, or maybe I've just been picking designs that take longer to stitch out who knows. Anyway I'm sure I'll get there in the end.

Sticking with the bright colour theme that I've had this week here is one of the cards I made for the circles swap over on BQLPC.
I had 7 of these to make. It took a while to cut out all the circles but what a great way to use some of those tiny scraps that I've been saving. I used to be a fabric hoarder before keeping off cuts 4 inches or bigger, what I used to think was the smallest useable size, lol! Since I found postcards even the tiniest quarter inch offcut gets saved!

Beautiful things in the mail

I have been busy working on a few different things over the last couple of days but nothing I have is finished and ready to share yet. Instead I thought I'd share some beautiful items that I have received in the mail over the last couple of weeks.First up I bought this beautiful bunny from my cyberfriend Vi. Sadly Vi decided to close her etsy shop but she has found another place to sell and all the details can be found over on her blog.
I also treated myself to this beautiful art doll, called Madonna. Another etsy purchase from Anna's shop. I've had my eye on her for a while and finally just had to give into temptation. I couldn't resist showing a close up on her face she is just so serene.

And last but certainly not least this beautiful padfolio arrived from Carol. It's just so orange and so me! I LOVE IT! Now all I have to do is get finishing the return padfolio that I am making for Carol and hope that she likes it just as much!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Mum!

My world isn't the same without you. XXXXX

Fantasy Fish

The last few evenings I have been working on a set of cards I owe on the BQLPC yahoo list. The theme of the swap Fantasy Fish. Here is one of my cards.

I had to make 6 altogether and they are all very similar it's really just the heads that are slightly different. I cut a basic fish shape from some yummy orange fabric and borrowed some heads from a wonderful piece of Laurel Birch fabric. Stitched some sequin scales and voila done! The picture isn't great as I had run out of daylight by the time I'd finished putting them together this evening and the flash just kept catching on the sequins but you get the idea.

So what do you think of my catfish, lol!