What a difference a stitch makes.......

Further to my last post..... I've stitched a couple of pieces onto some wadding and added some bits of embellishments.
I always find it pleasing when I see how different one piece looks from another just by choosing a different thread for the satin stitch edge.

Look - no stitching!

I've been experimenting over Christmas (between cooking and eating!) with old dressmaking pattern tissue paper and paint. This is the result so far! I started by pasting some dressmaking tissue paper onto some cheesecloth type fabric (which was on a piece of plastic which was on newspaper) with very watered down pva glue. When dry, I painted it with crimson ink (posh word for left-over Procion dye I keep in jam jars) The yellow of the paper and the crimson ink made a lovely orange colour - which was my first surprise. I then added some pearly pink watered down paint which gave it a nice sheen when dry. Then came some old torn bits of lace curtain stuck down with more pva glue, then painted with some Yellow and Burnt Sienna acrylic paints. Finally I painted all over with watered down Copper Glitter paint.

I finished up with four postcards, an ATC and umpteen inchies and small tags. I am now awaiting inspiration to finish them off. I have actually started stitching the postcards onto wadding, which appears to be working well.

SEASONS GREETINGS

I received this lovely Christmas Postcard from my friend Doreen in Australia and I thought I would share it with you, and use this opportunity of thanking all the lovely people who visit me here, and in particular those who leave me such lovely comments. I wish each and every one of you a very Happy Christmas and also a most pleasurable and creative New Year. Many thanks, especially to Doreen. By the way, she says she used some soft tyvek, organza and felt, with gold thread stitching.
Unfortunately she didn't say what she did to achieve such a lovely effect - various green paints and a heat gun, by the look of it! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

PS. Further to the above, today I received these Postcards from two friends of mine, both of whom stitch, but neither of whom have made postcards before, but have each made me a postcard for Christmas. Isn't that just the best?

Surprises in the Post

The Postman dropped two packages through my letterbox yesterday, one all the way from Sweden, and inside was this delightful Christmas Card from my friend Jeanette. The heart is formed from wire and is also beaded, and is just gorgeous. With the card were these wonderful Wristwarmers. The ribbons that form the flowers are so pretty and such lovely colours - all stitched onto fleece. Jeanette wishes me a wonderful white Christmas so I can wear them! I reckon I'll wear them all year round, Summer too, just to show them off. Do visit her Blog - she is so creative.

In the other package was this beautiful Postcard from Debbi in Australia. My scan of it really does not do it justice - it is so pretty. The writing on the background is a favourite stamp of Debbi's, and it has just a hint of angelina then the hand painted lace and the 'oh so gentle' picture, all beautifully finished.
Debbi also sent me this fantastic selection of paper napkins, with lots of writing on them! She uses a lot of napkins in her artwork and offered to share some with me, as I showed considerable interest in what she was doing (pestering with lots of questions - like you do!) There was more than a dozen in the package, all different. What a start to my collection.
While looking through all those beautiful napkins, and drooling somewhat, I remembered this Sampler Book I made, about three years ago. I attended a Workshop with a very talented lady called Josephine Edge for one day a week over a period of four weeks. The base of the Cover is maroon velvet, with napkin liners and Markal and chiffon and all sorts of other stuff ironed onto/into it, together with a PAPER NAPKIN, as you can see. I only used half the Napkin (the other quarter is on the back cover) and we first stitched a grid all over it, then we wet it! (the grid stops is falling apart) We then pulled it apart in places (hence the holes) and roughed up the edges (picked at them so they were no longer straight) When it was dry we stitched it onto the background, then, using all sorts of different threads, stitched into it until we were exhausted! Everybody made a different Book Cover as we all used different coloured velvet and of course different paper napkins.

Looking back, I can see now that this Workshop was my first introduction to mixed media (fabric and paper) and how excited I felt.

I am hoping to get to know Debbi well during the coming year, as we are both Calendar Girls and will be doing quite a bit of experimenting and swapping between all of us.

Cards plus a little Book

Further to the last posting, I took Susan D's advice and photographed the pieces on a black background - crushed velvet - with a much better result, as you can see.

I managed two Christmas Card, a Postcard and yet another little Book. This one has six paper signatures/pages, the edges of which are painted silver, and measures about 2" by two and a half inches.