More Embellisher playtime ...

I've had a great time over the last couple of days ....... I embellished a few bits of lace onto a piece of white felt, and then zapped it with the heat gun, front and back ..... when I do it again I shall leave more space between the laces so the felt can disintegrate easier!
I then painted it with BLACK fountain pen ink, which dried blue. I did think it would dry a grey colour, maybe. Perhaps I should have watered the ink a bit ....
I then painted a yellow on it, and got this suggestion of green. Quite nice - make a pretty book cover maybe?
This is a piece of hand dyed silk I embellished onto felt in a random manor, leaving odd spaces. It is amazing how this texture reminds me of my swimsuit, when I was little!!
This is silk, wool and nylon tops pulled out into wisps and embellished on dark green polyester velvet. I am enjoying this ..... looking forward to Tuesday!

Babylock Embellisher play time .....

My friend Janet offered to lend me her Babylock Embellisher to have a play (can you believe that!!) so I signed on for Dale Rollerson's 6 week On-line Workshop beginning 12th August. (Janet doesn't yet have a Blog - but I'm working on her!) I picked up the machine a couple of days ago and this is my first piece, using red polyester velvet and wool and nylon tops/rovings (not sure of the jargon yet!) The reverse side looks interesting too - as do those holes I carefully embellished around (only kidding!!)
It is time again for a postcard for the Calendar Girl swap, and my partner this month is Doreen in Australia (who actually introduced me to Dale's Workshop) so I thought it apt to use a bit of my first piece in her postcard .....
The background is dressmaking pattern tissue pva'd to fabric then overlaid with cotton curtaining and painted to death! The leaves are fabric paper (a la Beryl Taylor) and the tulip shapes are the holes from the above embellished fabric. Click on the Calendar Girl Logo on the right of my Blog - you can then see all the beautiful cards the other ladies have made so far this year.
Can't wait for Dale's Workshop to begin - will keep you posted!

A couple more experiments ....

I've had a lot of fun this week trying out texture on kitchen foil, the idea for which I saw on Carol McFee's Blog. I made quite a large piece, using 50/50 pva glue and water, sticking the foil to a piece of cotton fabric, then covering the foil with crumpled tissue paper. I then painted Golden fluid acrylic yellow all over, then burnt orange, a blue, and finished with a green interference. Above is the result.
I then rubbed a third of the piece with copper Markal using a stencil brush, and the above is the result...
Then I painted a third of the original with purple Procion dye, and the above is the result. I still have a third of the original. It is quite stiff because of the tin foil and the pva glue, but the piece will make super backgrounds for postcards etc. and even motifs for other things. Thanks Carol.
And yet more Bark ...

This technique I found on Lynda's Blog again. Crumpled brown paper on fusible web on cotton backing. I painted it black then grated metallic wax crayons and sprinkled over and ironed using baking parchment to protect the iron. I then painted it lots more times (with brown, blue, green and finally yellow!) till I now think it's done! It is amazing how supple this is, and should be very easy to stitch on.

A bit more tree bark .......

I'm experimenting more with the surface of bark, and recently saw some fantastic textures on Lynda's blog (Purplemissus) that she was generously sharing. I used slightly different stuff (but not that different!) Using fusible web I bonded an old piece of sheeting, a brightly coloured piece of cotton, a piece of cream coloured polyester crushed velvet, and then topped it with a piece of web painted with black acrylic. Using the soldering iron I then made deep wiggly lines, cutting into the velvet down to the cotton. It is amazing, but the soldering iron doesn't cut through the cotton. I then painted all over it with a watered copper and gold acrylic, and this is what I finished up with ....... and no stitching! I must admit I was well chuffed....... below are a couple of closeups.

Here is the most recent spread of my Garden Altered Book. I've mounted the rest of the wild flowers I pressed, and on the background have used some bits from a couple of paper napkins, to add some interest. The four leaf clover on the bottom right is one my daughter found some forty odd years ago!
I really must start thinking about some leaves - bit early for an Autumn spread though ........

Altered Garden Book Update

I've completed these two double spreads since I last posted pix of them. Unless, of course, I find some further quotations to write on any empty spaces!
I've also made the Book Cover/Wrap, and thought I would share the process.
I prepared the layers, as before and as Annette's recipe, except I used another piece of rusted fabric (previously rusted and posted a few months back) with more pattern, as shown on the left hand side. I laid all the torn pieces of oiled paper down, plus TWO layers of chiffon - one emerald green colour with a gold thread in it and then the black on top. I pinned and stitched all the pieces down through all the layers, then went back and free stitched the spaces in betweeen. Click on the pic above to get a closeup look - you can see the stitching on the right hand side.
I then gave the piece a blast with the heatgun and magic happened - all that lovely texture! You can clearly see the 'rusted' fabric showing through.
I decided to use the last of the rusted fabric to line the Book Wrap. I was delighted with the texture so far, and as it will be handled quite a bit I decided not to add any extra texture this time - nor did I paint it at all. The book itself is about 10" x 6" and the cover protrudes about an inch, top and bottom. To stop the book sliding out, I have wrapped the fabric around the front of the book and stitched it top and bottom, to form a pocket for the front cover to go into - then the rest of the cover wraps around to the front, and is fastened by a loop going over the beads.

As I fill the book (I have five more double spreads to play with during the coming months) the fastener will expand to the next bead - well that is the theory anyway!
This just shows the book open, exposing the rusted lining. What about that fabric stitched label then, with the word 'authentic' on it, together with a ribbon. I pinched it from a new pair of trousers my daughter bought from Marks & Spencer! Perfect colouring, I couldn't resist it.......

Make my day ........!

Last Friday, Annette made my day by nominating me for this Award, and it has taken me since then to find out how to put the Logo on my blog!! However, all is now well, as you can see. Thankyou Annette.

The rules are as follows
Put the Logo on your blog.
Add a link to the person who nominated you.
Nominate up to 7 other blogs.
Add a link to those blogs on your blog.
Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

There are so many wonderful blogs out there, I would need to be able to nominate at least 70 not 7, so I've decided to accept the Award gratefully, but not pass it on. Hope you don't feel I am a party-pooper, but at least there are no 'hurt' feelings. A heartfelt THANKYOU to all of you who visit my blog and feel inspired by what I do.

I haven't blogged my Calendar Girls Postcards for the month of June - so will do just that, right now.....

Here is the inspiration from the actual calendar, and this is the lovely Card I received from Jenny in North Wales. She says the background is a computer printout on silk chiffon, and coloured in, with an added ribbon. The sunflower is made of woven petals and has a beaded centre. Thankyou Jenny - I love it.

This is the card I made for Joanna, which has a fabric paper background, with a twisted red textured 'ribbon' held down with beads on a piece of organza. The sunflower is a cutout piece of lace that is dyed, painted and stitched.

You can see all the other beautiful cards made for the month of June by the other Calendar Girls by just clicking on the Calendar Girls Logo on the right hand side of my Blog.
P.S. I started this post on the 12th July - and completed it today the 15th. I haven't worked out how to change the date when I put it in as a Draft!..........

Attempting a Book Cover/Wrap

I thought, as I want a cover for my Altered Garden Book, a piece of fabric tree bark would be just the job! I followed Annette Emms tutorial for a Book Wrap on her blog that she has done recently, using strips of brown paper etc. rubbed with almond oil. When done, I added some texture paint to represent lichen, and when dry, washed it over with walnut ink. I wrapped my book in the piece and it looked brilliant - thanks Annette. The only thing is I think it is a bit big(!) and I like the raw edge look, so I'll make another piece, specially for the book.
I added some green and yellowish acrylic paint to some of the lichen - I think it looks a bit more interesting...
I've also been layering some dyed bits and other stuff under a piece of brown lace, topped off with some chiffon. I free stitched it all around the lace shapes, then blasted it with a heat gun, and finally washed it over with a watery acrylic gold paint. I am quite pleased with the result. It is nice a soft and will be easy to stitch, but I think I'll still make another piece of 'bark' for my Garden book cover.