Catching up

I'm now playing catch up as I am behind on a few postcard swaps. I've been able to work on bits and pieces through last week but nothing like the amount of sewing I usually do. This morning I have managed to finish up a couple of sets of cards though.

Here is one of a set of cards that I have made for a self portrai swap. Ok so I don't really have pink hair but I've always fancied trying it just never been brave enough. I made 8 cards for the swap the faces are all the same it's just the fibers that make up the pink hair that vary slightly.

This second set of cards were made for a swap called kites and air balloons. I painted the kites and the K and added some stitched highlights and then used my new machine to add some text to the top of the cards.

Busy week

Had a fun week with my sister and nephew staying last week so I haven't had time to post for a while. Here are some pictures taken when we went to Bristol zoo for the day.

Dinner Time?

Mark and I went walking today near the Cotswold water park, South Cerney. We were wandering along a track next to a disused canal when Mark spotted this scene in a field and managed to snap a picture. I bet we'll never see anything like it again. I think the fox was giving us the evil eye for interupting the build up to his dinner!


It was a really lovely walk taking in some parts of a disused canal and disused railway as well as some of the lakes that make up the waterpark.

Wish You Were Here

Well the challenge is done and the voting is over. Here is the card I made for the FGM Wish you Were Here challenge. I didn't win but my card did get a few votes and I had great fun maing it.

I called it Wish you were here under the sea, dancing with the fishes and me. I used some images that I had on novelty fabrics for the mermaid cat and the fish, some yarn for seaweed, a starfish bead and a few sequins for bubbles. It's now on it's way to a new home as a RAOK (Random Act of Kindness) hopefully it should be there soon.

Postcards

I made a few more postcards yesterday. First off these balloons for a birthday group I belong to. I used the same design as before but put the balloons onto a dark background instead of light. I think I like the light background better as you can see the happy birthday text better.

The second lot of cards I made was for a cat themed swap. I just used a simple design cutting some inages from a novelty print that I had and adding some fibers round the cut images and a nice bright background of paw prints and mice. I think they look pretty cute but then again I like all things cat!

Cherhill

Yesterday Mark took the afternoon off work and we went for a picnic to Cherhill a village a few miles away from here. There is an old hill fort here on the ridge, a monument and a horse cut into the chalk on the hillside.
Here are pictures of the horse and the monument from the bottom of the hill we ate lunch at the top sat at the bottom of the monument. As you can see the skies were blue but it was windy, fortuantely it wasn't a cold wind so we sat around for a while enjoying the sun.



This is the view from the top the tiny white speck in the middle is a large house and our car is parked somewhere near it you can't even make it out in the picture. It's a hard climb to the top but the views are worth it and we had a great picnic.

Lottery Blocks

Today I have been trying to catch up with the mailblocks lottery blocks that I owe. Fortunately I knew that I would be busy so I only owed one block of the chevron pattern this will go in the post this afternoon to the lucky winner this month.

While I was at it I thought I'd try and get ahead and make this month's blocks in plenty of time. They were really good fun to make and I used up lots of scraps I think this will make a great quilt for the winner. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that I will be lucky!

Mum

Today is a difficult day for me as it is Mum's birthday. So I'm dealing with it by trying to keep busy.

Last summer Mum, Dad, Tyler and I went to Clacton for a day by the sea. This is really the last time that I saw Mum up and about as she gradually lost strength with her chemo treatments. Here they all are ready to take a train ride down the sea front. I didn't go as Mum had a wheelchair which wouldn't fit on the train. We all had such a fun day, it hardly seems real that she is gone.

My Mum's name was Susan Hart she lost her battle with cancer on 27th December 2005 she was only 51 years old. She is sorely missed by everyone who knew and loved her.

Furbabies

I decided that as I haven't posted any pictures of the cats for a while I'd take a few of them enjoying the sunshine in the garden yesterday. The only one missing is Hugo. Both of my white babies are very skittish and the slightest noise can send them running so he tends to only pop in and out of the garden as there are too many strange noises. Here is Pip who has grown so fast, he tends to try and eat all of the food which is supposed to be for all 4 cats which is why he has such a gigantic bum!


And here are Oscar and Hector enjoying a rare moment of peace together. Oscar spends most of his time outside, so is the total opposite to Hector and they still tend to be a bit wary of each other sometimes but it looks like they have buried their differences for a while in order to share a nice spot in the sun!

Oriental

I've been working on several postcards but most of them are for challenges or upcoming swaps which haven't been announced yet so I don't want to spoil any surprises, but here is one I can show you. The swap theme was simply 'Oriental' so I decided to get some of my rubber stamps out and stamped an image of a Chinese Dragon onto fabric and then made his scales sparkle with some glitter. I then added a simple border of some oriental print fabric.

Great Bedwyn and Milton

Well here we are and I have managed to go a few days without posting so I'm on catch up. On Monday we went walking around a couple of villages called Great Bedwyn and Wilton. It was a lovely walk down by a canal and through some woods. Here is a picture of a lock and some boats on the canal.


Near the village of Wilton is Wiltshires only working windmill. As it was a bank holiday the mill was open to the public but there were so many people around that we decided just to admire it from afar.

Shoes, Hat and things

The second lot of postcards that I have been working on this weekend are for a swap called Shoes, hats and things.

I didn't have any hat fabric in my stash but plenty of shoes and bags so I decided to just use what I had. I found some cute bag and shoe mini embroidery patches at Hobbycraft yesterday which I decided would be perfect for finishing these cards off.

I have also been busy cutting the pieces for several other postcard swaps and trying to piece the back for a quilt that I am making for my bed so hopefully there will be more pictures to post in the next few days. I finished up a card for a challenge on the FGM group called Wish you Were Here but as there will be a vote for this I will not put up a picture until the voting is over.

Flower Postcards

I have been working on a couple of postcard swaps these last few days. Here is the first for the Quilt Europe group. The swap theme is flowers.


All of the cards are slightly different but I used the same method to construct them all, based on an idea I saw in a magazine. I have to confess that I can't remember where I saw this so I can't give credit for the technique it's just something that stuck in my mind.


Basically I bought some artifical flowers and ripped them apart so I was left with the flat shapes. I attached these to the background using some sequins and beads and then added some glitter detail just to jazz it up abit. When putting them together I added a layer of dress net on the top to stop the petals getting mangled when they go through the mail (at least I hope this is what will happen!)

Fairy seed packets

Finally the remaining three seed packets for the FGM swap have emerged too. I had so much fun coming up with the ideas for these. I took them to my quilt class last night and everyone thought I was quite mad.


First off here are some Prince Charming seeds. Everything I used to make this card came to me as gifts from other members of the FGM group! The idea is to plant these seeds and grow your own prince charming. However there is a disclaimer on the back of the packet as not all seeds will produce a prince charming you must nuture them well or you will end up having to kiss a lot of toads!



The next packet is for growing your own shooting stars. I used a pretty cat image from a Laurel Burch print. The idea behind this is that shooting stars are infact not stars at all but actually fairy cats frolicking in the heavens.



The final packet is for Bubble seeds. I used a painted image for this one, and the idea is that bubbles are the favourite mode of transport for baby fairies so you should plant these if you want to bring some fairy magic back to your garden!

Geisha

The third postcard swap that I finished up was called Oriental Images. It turned out to be only a small group swapping so I decided to paint some geisha faces and add them to a red background.

I love this background fabric it is red, gold and black with large butterfly motifs. I had lots of fun painting the faces too. I am not very good at drawing so I use a lot of royalty free images from the internet and design books but I am really enjoying experimenting with paint at the moment

Egypt

I also finished up some cards for a swap which has Egypt as its theme. I love ancient history so I knew I had to get involved in this one.

In the end I kept the cards quite simple. I used a hieroglyph print for the background and attached different images to the top. Although I have to admit that they didn't take long to make I am still pleased with the way they turned out as I think the fabrics are gorgeous I just love the colours.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how everyone else in this swap has interpreted the theme.

Celestial

I haven't posted for a few days which I know is unusual for me but that doesn't mean to say that I haven't been busy so today I have a lot of catching up to do.

First off I've made some postcards for a Celestial theme swap. Here are a couple of examples, I forgot to take a picture of the rest before they went in the post but nevermind. I used the same design for all of them it was just a different combination of motifs.

On the top card I tried out some satin stitch on my new machine for the first time. I think it looks pretty good but I didn't send this card out as I need some more practice to get the corners looking right. The cards that went in the post I used a zigzag stitch and they ended up looking like the card at the bottom.

My Alter Ego

Here are the pins I made for an trade on the FiberArtTraders group. The theme of the trade was to create your alter ego.

So here is mine, meet Princess Kitty. I added some beads to her necklace and a Jewel in her crown. I've also added some glitter but it doesn't really show well in the picture. Finally some eyelash yarn to decorate the edge of the pin. I am going to make an extra one for me and pin it to my bag :)

Nudes

This is my second foray into the world of mixed media postcards, well I guess strictly speaking this is my third swap with the mixed media group but for the first one I stuck to what I knew and made a fabric card. What I'm trying to say is this my second attempt at a postcard made from media other than fabric.

The theme is nudes and such a shame only myself and two others were game enough to sign up. For this card I used water colour paper onto which I brushed normal stamping ink in 2 different blues, lilac and pink. I used a damp cloth to merge all of the colours together. I then stamped my nude images using a couple of stamps that I bought on Ebay from Australia. Then I added various words to the background and again wiped a damp cloth over the whole thing to blur the edges a bit.

I think it came out ok in the end but I still think that maybe there is something missing. I did try adding a few embellishments to my sample card but nothing looked right so I just decided to leave it plain. They are in the post so I guess I'll just have to wait and see what reaction I get when they arrive at their destination.

Birthday balloons

I have to admit to being slightly behind with my commitment of birthday card postcard swaps which should have all been in the mail by the 15th. Yesterday and this morning I made sure that I caught up by making these birthday balloons.

I thought I needed 5 but it turns out that I only needed 4 which is great news as that means I'm already ahead for May :) They are a pretty simple design but I'm really pleased with the way they turned out. So now it's off to the postbox to get these babies sent!

Preening Peacock

Today I have finished working on a set of 14 cards for any anything goes swap for the canceled art group. This was actually one of the first swaps I signed up for but it had a long lead time. I've since realised that I prefer to swap in groups of 5 - 10 as sometimes it can get a bit boring making so many of the same design but here are the cards I made.

The picture hasn't come out all that clearly but I think the image is a bit clearer if you click on it and go to the slightly larger picture. I dyed some fabric in the microwave a turquoise colour and then stamped a picture of a peacock using fabric ink. To this fabric I sewed a peacock feather print fabric and decorated the join using some metallic ribbon. Finally I added some seed beads to the eyes of the feathers on the stamped image.

It took quite sometime to add beads as I did these by hand but I think the end result is quite nice so I'm glad I put in that extra effort, now I just have to keep fingers crossed that the beads make it too their destinations in tact and that everyone in the swap likes the card!

Inspired by Poetry

Today I have been working on a set of postcards for the BQLPC group. The theme is inspied by poetry. Here is the poem :

SILVER
Slowly ,silently now the moon
Walks the night in her silver shoon;
This way, and that, she peers, and sees
Silver fruit upon silver trees;
One by one the casements catch
Her beams beneath the silvery thatch;
Couched in his kennel like a log.
With paws of silver sleeps the dog;
From their shadowy core the white breasts peep
Of doves in a silver feathered sleep;
A harvest mouse goes scampering by,
With silver claws, and silver eye;
And moveless fish in the water gleam,
By silver reeds in a silver stream. Walter de la Mere

And here is the card that I cam up with, I'm pretty please with the way the design has turned out.

Fairy Fig Leaf seed packet

I was supposed to be away visiting my Dad this weekend but the car decided that it didn't want to go and won't start. As it's a holiday weekend we can't get anyone out to look at it.

Still it's not all bad it means I've had time to work on my second seed packet for the FGM swap. So here it is my Fairy fig leaf card. Fairy fig leaf plants are designed to grow in your garden to help those naughty garden imps hide their modesty as they frolic around the garden :)

Fairy seed packet

The FGM group are running a fun swap at the moment called Fairy Seed packets. The idea is to make a 4" x 6" packet showing some fantasy seeds.

Here is the first packet I've made called 'Fairy dust flowers'. The idea is that these seeds would help you attract fairies to your garden. You plant them, wait for them to grow and watch the fairies as they come to collect the fairy dust pollen that the flowers produce.

As I'm not great at drawing I found a royalty free image of a fairy on the internet. Traced it onto fabric and then used acrylic paints to colour the image. I chose acrylics rather than fabric paints really just as a matter of convienience as I have more colours in acrylics. I actually found that the acrylics seem to dry a lot quicker than fabric paints and there is less bleeding so you can get on and paint a lot faster.

Having said that it took me a lot longer than I thought to paint the image given that it is only about 4" x 4" close to an hour all told. I am pleased with the way that its turned out though. I attached a flower bead to the fairy's hair and stitched her down to the background fabric with silver thread to give her a bit of sparkle, and also added so gold glitter to the centre of the flowers to represent the fairy dust. I need to make at least 5 seed packets for the swap (more if I want to make copies for myself too). I had hoped to use 5 different designs, but if the other designs I'm thinking on don't work then I will just make another few of these as I think this one turned out pretty good.

Things with wings postcard

I recently joined a group called mixed media postcards. The home page says that cards can be made from anything that will go through the post. I signed up for a swap called Things with wings and in the end only one other person joined with me.

I decided to do something different and made a postcard without using fabric. I took some butterfly tissue paper ripped it up and stuck it randomly onto a card backing, creasing it up a bit as I went. I found some dragonfly brads in my papercrafting stash so added them. Finally I found some butterfly eyelets and used these to attach a piece of funky sparkling fibre. I made the card back from another piece of card and glued it to the front. I'm not sure whether I'm too keen on the fibre but apart from that I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out

Arkansas Cross Roads

I haven't felt much like creating the last couple of days but I'm making up for it today with a creative frenzy. First off I am behind with a lottery block that I pledged for the March lottery on the Mailblocks group.

I'd not made an Arkansas Cross Roads block before but it was really easy to make and I think a whole bunch when put together will make a really pretty quilt.

Speaking of lottery quilts I have also started work on the quilt top that I'm making for the quilt made from the blocks that I won. I've cut the borders and am hand appliquing some hearts onto these. I'm hoping that after the weekend I'll be able to post a picture of the complete top so watch this space.

Cinco de Mayo

The final thing I have been working on this weekend is yet another postcard swap (you'd think I'd be fed up with them by now!).

This is for the FAT group and the swap is called Cinco de Mayo. Now not really knowing much about this celebration I wasn't sure whether to enter the swap, but Nj who runs the group has come up with some fantastic cards in the shapes of peppers and tacos and I'm really hoping to get one of those so I just had to have a go.

I really like ancient history and cultures so I went ahead and found a royalty free clip art image which I thought could be mayan inspired and decided to turn it into a festival mask. In the end the design has turned out to be quite a simple one but each card takes a while to make. I have handpainted the mask with yellow and green fabric paint, which I then have to wait to dry before ironing the design onto bondaweb. Then I have attached a couple of eyelets for the eyes which I usually use in card making. It then takes a while to cut the mask out because of all the tendrils coming off. Obviously then I've ironed it to the backing fabric and stitched it down but running straight stitch up and down the tendrils. Finally Ii finished it off with a decorative stitch down the sides and attached all the layers using a zigzag stitch around the edge.

An orange explosion!

I decided to try something a bit more abstract for an 'Orange' postcard swap that I have coming up, and here is the result.

Ok so it's not really ever so abstract but it isn't really a picture either. Mark says that it reminds him of the planet Jupiter. You can't really tell from this picture but I tried out a couple more of the decorative stitches on my new machine. I've also added a strip of rubbon on one side with a couple of beads. You can see this detail a lot better in person for some reason the camera hasn't really picked it up. By the time I took this picture yesterday evening the light had gone so I was using flash maybe that is the reason.

Inspired by the stars

For some reason I couldn't get blogger to upload any more of my pictures yesterday, but here is a set of postcards I made.

I was really inspired by all of the wonderful fabrics that I received in my secret sister parcel from Maureen, so had a look through the list of upcoming swaps that I'm signed up for and found one that fit the bill.

So here is the card that I made for the FAPC swap 'The stars shine big and bright at night'. I trapped some tiny star confetti between a layer of midnight blue felt and some of the gorgeous star printed net that Maureen sent for a shaker card with a difference. The couple of shaker cards that I've done before I've just used plastic but I love that the net allows the trapped stars to move around a lot more easily. I guess the only danger is if the net get ripped in the mail then all the stars will come tumbling out. Well I guess we will just have to see how they fair. One of these has to make it all the way to New Zealand which will be the first time I've swapped with someone there!

Come Fly with me to the Stars

The FGM group are currently holding a secret sister challenge entitled 'Come fly with me'. I was the lucky recipient of a package from Maureen Johnstone today 'Come fly with me to the stars'

Wow look at all these goodies, I was so amazed when I opened the package this morning to find it stuffed full of the most wonderful star themed fabric, sequins, beads and ribbon. I feel so lucky to have received this. Thank you to Maureen for brightening my day with all this wonderful starlight!

If fishes were wishes

Meet the fish of happiness. I designed him for a challenge on the BlueRose Fiber Arts yahoo group. He is made of felt and stuffed with polyester wadding (the only thing I had to hand). I added a wiggly eye and lots of sparkly round sequins to represent his scales. He is the fish of happiness as he is designed to bring a smile to my face on even the darkest day.

Goddess Dolls

Well I had my first attempt at making cloth dolls today. These are for a FAT goddess doll trade.

I had so much fun making them and finding the right embellishments in my craft stash.

The green one is a goddess of the forest and the blue is goddess of the seashore her body is made from sand and her hair is of the sea. I'm pretty pleased with the way they turned out especially as this was a first attempt!

Kitty in the Moonlight

Today I made my first set of postcards using my new machine. These are for a FAPC swap called Moonlit night. As you can see I used my favourite theme again, cats :)

It doesn't show very well in the photo but I used a pretty decorative star stitch round the edge which I thought went well with the overall theme.

Another set of postcards made

I started on another lot of postcards this afternoon (before my new machine arrived). This is a swap for the FiberArt Postcard group. The theme is blue-green and gold with at least one circle.

I found the perfect fabric in my stash and added a gold circle and used some 3D fabric paint to add a few extra details. All the cards will be slightly different as the background print will vary and I've added paint according to where the shapes in the background drew me. I'm hoping to get the rest of the set finished tonight and ready for mailing in the morning :)

It's arrived

My new machine arrived today a Janome 4800QC. I haven't had much time to play with it yet but what I have done so far has been good.

It will take me a while to get used to the top loading bobbin and to figure out all the information on the LCD but I'm sure that it will make a world of difference to the things that I will be able to create. I am looking forward to getting time to have a proper play :)

Wild and Zany Polka Dots

I had a great weekend away in Birmingham shopping, going to the movies and visiting the 'Sewing for Pleasure' show at the NEC. I had hoped to get a new sewing machine there but I found a great deal on the internet and couldn't match it at the show so have ordered online instead. In fact I have just heard that it has been delivered to Mark's work so I just have to wait for him to get home so I can have a play.

Anyhow as I was away at the weekend it feels like it's been a long time since I created something, although in reality of course it's only been a couple of days. I recently joined a yahoo group called MixedMedia Postcards and the first swap that I've signed up for is called Wild and Zany polka dots and here are the cards I made all ready for mailing :)