Monday 30 September 2013

WIP Green Strips Embroidery

Friend Helen gave me a pack containing the background fabric, the fabric strips and beads, so I have been using it to embroider some of the TAST stitches on.
The TAST stitches include woven cross stitch, Vandyke stitch, raised chain band, woven zig zag chain stitch. Other stitches are running stitch, French knots and beading. So far. My stitching seems to get more untidy the older I get...
Click on the link to join in the challenge Take a stitch Tuesday

Sunday 29 September 2013

Dragon Blood Tree

These are most unusual trees, they are called Dragon Blood Trees and are native to the Socotra archipelago off the horn of Africa. Look them up on the web to see how they really look, I find them fascinating. I have recently come back from a holiday in Madeira and the posts you have been seeing were prepared and put in draft before I went away including this one. While I was in Madeira I saw lots of nice trees including another variety of Dragon tree [Dracaena draco/ Dragoeiro], so I thought I would hang into this post until I got home so that I could include some photos of the real trees. 





Woman with the Crowning Glory [Hair]

Created on a Samsung Galaxy Note with Photoshop Touch/Sketchbook Pro

Thursday 26 September 2013

Tuesday 24 September 2013

Woven Tapes


Woven hand made washi tapes [that is artwork etc with double sided sticky tape cut into strips]
Brusho, hand made stamps for pattern, posca pens


Sunday 22 September 2013

Saturday 21 September 2013

Sunday 15 September 2013

Napkin Collage and Beamish

Collage in a sketchbook. I had some really pretty napkins I just had to use in a collage. Also vintage book pages and brusho inks.

We have been dog minding this week and yesterday we found ourselves at Beamish and there happened to be an agricultural festival going on. We saw some big dicky birds...wow

some alpacas
and lots of scarecrows

Molly seemed ok with most of the animals but she did take a dislike to one particular horse.
Photos taken with my husbands phone as I didn't take my camera.




Saturday 14 September 2013

Friday 13 September 2013

Pastel Book Pages [part 2]

Fancy hem stitch, variations of running stitch and French knots.
The flowery fabric is vintage fabric, the other fabric was created with transfer paints.

Right - Cloud filling stitch used as couching to hold fabric and lace in place.
Left - Raised Cross Stitch Flower, painted lace, sequins, painted fabric.


Right - crested chain stitch, vintage gingham and dyed laces, vintage suspender, scrap of yellow vintage fabric, lace, French knots, running stitch.
Left - Portuguese stem stitch, running stitch and French knots, gingham, dyed net curtain.

Right - hand painted fabric, dyed laces, running stitches, French knots, art buttons.
Left - wrapped coral stitch, French knots, vintage fabrics, lace


Right - painted tyvek with up and down feathered buttonhole stitch on the green spiral, fly stitch on the blue and feather stitch on the purple spiral, beads, sequins, hand painted fabric
Left - Dyed laces, embroidery, hand painted fabric, beads, sequins





Left - up and down feathered buttonhole stitch, lazy daisy stitches, beads, painted lace
Right - inside back cover


Thursday 12 September 2013

Pastel Book Pages [part 1]

If you have been following my blog you will have seen most of the pages before. 
These are the fabrics I used while I taking part in the Take a stitch Tuesday challenge.
Right – breton stitch, braid, lace, beads, hand painted fabric

Left - embroidery stitches on top of a painted flower, painted lace, hand painted fabric.
Right - woven detached chain stitch, back stitch, beads, hand painted fabric.



Left - diamond stitch, dyed laces, beads, sequins, hand painted fabric
Right - embroidery, beads, hand painted fabric 



Right - fly stitch, beads on transfer printed fabric
Left - Dyed lace, tyvek, embroidery and beads on a transfer printed background. Bits of lace were cut out and stitched to the background.


Left - Slipped detached chain stitch, French knots, whipped running stitch, and running stitch.
The pink fabric is a vintage scrap and I used a painting technique on the white fabric.
Right - coral stitch, this I have stitched in green thread  [the stems], buttonhole bar [pink thread], French knots, woven spiders wheel, fly stitch and beads.
The background is a hand painted and stamped fabric.