Tuesday 25 September 2012

Tear, Sew, Paint

Recently a colleague of mine retired and I wanted to make him a keepsake that could hold photos and messages that he could remember people by. An altered book seemed an ideal choice so after much tearing (I hate that bit!) I made 'pages' by sewing about 5 book pages together. This makes them sturdy enough to take paint although it's still best not to make them too wet.
Here is my page, a tentative start, ideas seemed to develop more as I went on. I tried to build up layers with masks and stamps with of course a bit of doodling.
...an emergency elastic band. He's very keen on flicking elastic bands, you have to keep your wits about you. Between us all we managed to include many shared jokes and humorous moments.
I was lucky enough to find an old postcard of a local building which was part of a project he worked on. I was also lucky to find a treasure of a book page in a Plundered Pages pack that I had from Julie used for another keepsake. It referred to the exact area and raised a few smiles.

To finish I stitched a fabric cover. It featured a photo that I had printed onto photo canvas which I was able to then stitch into the design with a button closure to keep everything safe.

All in all I think everyone who contributed enjoyed adding their comments and I think my colleague was touched to receive it and I know he loved it which makes it all worthwhile.

 




Sunday 16 September 2012

Rewarding and Simple to Knit

....that's how the dachshund is described in the knitting book Best In Show.
And he was.

Have you seen the book? It's not new but I found it at a bargain price so snapped it up.
He is supposed to have a knitted collar but I couldn't resist giving him a neckerchief made from a scrap of liberty fabric.
You may notice that the book he is standing on isn't knit your own dog but knit your own cat. That was a bargain price too and I don't think my own cat is impressed that I decided to knit a dog before a cat. Perhaps I should knit a cat next it will sure be less trouble than the real life version and a whole lot quieter.

I'm nominating this little chap as my September Monthly Make.

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Inspired by my home town...

Recently I was asked to make some brooches with a 'Margate' theme. It sparked a whole host of ideas all based around my home town, hence my lack of blogging over the last few weeks as I've been busy creating.
A cushion with a bit of machine and hand quilting and I was able to use some jelly roll strips I'd been saving for the right project. The centre 'Margate' panel was hand stamped just like the Love Is The Drug block I made. This is it before quilting, a simple construction around the centre panel.

I used the same alpha stamps to make some hand painted and stamped cards.
And finally a small selection of the fabric and felt brooches.
......you've got to have ice cream at the seaside - right?