Making Books

I have been having fun learning how to make books and tuning into Diana Trout's Longstitch online course.  Above you can see one of the books I made using some fabric paper which I made too and then below is a close up.  I made the fabric paper using calico cotton, diluted PVA then a napkin, more PVA and then a vintage dress pattern and a final layer of PVA.  It's addictive, that's for sure, this making fabric paper!!

I am also addicted to using gold metallic thread at the moment so I added some wonderful fabric autumn leaves and sewed over them in the gold thread.

Here is the gorgeous long stitch binding - I used hemp yarn which I waxed myself using beeswax

Here's the back side above.

And here is the woven long stitch bound book, again made with fabric paper, this time torn in strips and  woven together.  The other side is below.

I'm just loving this technique.  Fabric paper can be made with anything, napkins, old wrapping paper, sweetie papers etc.  I have some drying in the dining room at the moment which is made with old maps.  This is destined for a journal for my son-in-law who is a geography teacher!

Creative every day!

Where did December go?  I hardly managed to post anything here but maybe that's because I was busy, busy, being creative for the season?  The truth is I was in part but also busy with the day job and preparing the house for guests to stay.  We had all four daughters home for Christmas which was great and also my mother-in-law and her friend so we were 9 for most of the time!!  Here is a look at some little creative things I made for others.  First up were some Multigrain no knead bread mixes from one of my favourite cooking sites Our Best Bites

Here they are all ready to go to good homes with the recipe tucked into a nice envelope, decorated appropriately!

Then for my CPS UK (Cloth, Paper, Scissors) group I made a crocheted snowflake and wrapped it in white tissue and added a red crochet flower to the outside.

Next up were some felted pictures from scratch, which incidentally didn't stay in these frames!

And finally, some Duct Tape Journals for another group of ladies I meet with every month!

I hope that wherever you are, you have had a peaceful Christmas and that 2012 will be a special year for you.  I certainly am hoping to be more regular on this blog in 2012!!

Crafting

Recently I was asked to lead the prayers for a very special friend and former colleague who was leaving the place we both worked together at.  She is actually going into the ministry and has begun her ordination training this month.  It was a joy and a privilege to be at her 'leaving lunch' and as I thought and prepared what I might say, I remembered how helpful I found it to have all the names of those I have said I will pray for regularly easily to hand - I have a basked of stones with names on and from time to time I will take a name out (if someone is going through a turbulent time or if they have asked for special prayer) and it will sit on my desk as a reminder to 'pray often' for that person.

So I decided to make some little cards that people could take away with them to remind them to pray for my dear friend and this is what I came up with.  A crocheted flower (like that of Jenny Doh), some Tim Holtz music Washi tape and then a pink 'A' and pink dyed edge all the way round.  They were fun to do.

A Fabulous Day

Today I was invited to a gelatin printing and monoprinting workshop hosted by the folk who have set up the Cloth Paper Scissors UK network (CPSUK) which I have joined!  What a wonderful day it was.

 Everything was so well prepared and set out - and the sun was shining!

 Our host had prepared the gelatin prints already for us to use - 56 sachets of gelatin for 6 printing plates!!!  She had been very busy indeed!

 Not only that but she had prepared a fantastically yummy lunch

 with cute items for the table

 down to personalised names on stones (my name is actually spelt Sheila but it often gets spelt this way and who worries about such things on such a lovely day!!)

and one of the other attendees brought some amazing cupcakes

And look what I came home with....

You might need to zoom in on some of these to see the detail - I love the one in the top right which I did using leaves and a heart Indian wooden block - these were all with the gelatin printing plate.

these were the mono prints using oil based paint - a different technique and one that needs a little more experimentation I think but I like the results so far

 My little contribution to the day were some homemade junk journals

popped into some lovely wax bags with fabric and paper labels.  Oh, and I also made some lavender cookies which I failed to take a photo of but which I will make again and post the recipe.

I came home having made lovely new friends, eaten beautiful food, with lots of paper and fabric prints to use in future artwork projects - what more can a girl want????

The Dabbler

Once upon a time there was a dabbler who liked to dabble in all sorts of crafty techniques and artistic endeavours.  One day, amidst many of her daily emails, there was something which caught her eye! It combined lots of things that she truly loved just at that moment - paper, canvas, paint, text, fun embellishments and a new thing - beeswax!  So she just had to give it a try - just have a little dabble in it to see how it felt and what she might come up with.  So some lovely people received these as gifts at Christmas

And one lovely lady had this for her birthday recently

Then a little dabbling with wrapping paper and ribbon sent the packages on their way

There'll be more dabbling for sure and maybe more dabbling with wax and canvas too!  

Best Shot Monday - everything x four!

When you have four children, or in my case, four daughters, you soon learn the importance of fairness in the family so rather than buying one of anything you end up buying four, ideally four slightly different things so there is a measure of individuality.  So it is with making things for the girls and this Christmas I decided it was time to make the recipe files I had been talking about for the last few years and they had been asking for for the last few years!!  It wasn't just one recipe file though it had to be four and they had to be different (but in some ways the same!!).  And so the above were created just before Christmas using ordinary black binders with two binder rings inside and fabric and batting to make it tactile and cosy to the touch with a few little embellishments and the trademark different names they tend to call me.  All in all, I was pleased with them and the beauty of ring binders is they can be added to (the recipes are all in punched pockets) when new family recipes are created.  Of course if you are in Dubai or Paris then you probably don't want them much at the moment but they will always be here for when you do!!  I miss you all, you wonderful young women!

Checking in....

Just popping in to say hello and to update on other crafty endeavours of late.  Yes, I have been travelling to different places with my work/voluntary activities and busy on the home front as daughter no. 2 is still recovering and will, in fact, have to have more surgery so we learnt yesterday!

But I do enjoy having the chance to sit in a chair or sofa and crochet or knit or sew or embroider.  Of late it has just been crochet as I have been finishing off another prayer shawl, this one is for my 84 year old mother in law.  The yarn is again James C Brett chunky yarn which I bought from PurpleLindaCrafts and comes up sooooooo soft.  In fact you might even think it was something more expensive!  I used a large hook for this one - size 8 and it came up quite quickly.  Here is a close up photo:

And here you can see three rows of edging done in a different stitch.  I really love doing these and thinking about the one I am going to give to while I am quietly crocheting.

Then there was the one which I finished just a few weeks ago now for a friend who has cancer:

This one was knitted (in the same type of yarn) in her favourite colour.  She has lost a lot of weight recently and has been feeling chilly in this rather unseasonal weather we have had so hopefully it will come in useful.  That's it for now but hopefully some more tomorrow!

Decorating......

bags  - plain brown bags and making them special for a special person

an idea from here and scroll down to the Jan 5th entry.  I love Jenny's blog and her new ideas.  Jenny was Editor in Chief for Stampington until recently when she left to creat her own company - Cresendoh and there are lots of exciting things going to happen over there very soon.  She is one very talented and creative lady with lots of very special connections.  This week she has been at the CHA craft show in the  US where she lives and has given a daily report on who she has met with links to their websites or blogs.  I feel as if I have been on tour with her and have made some new acquaintances!

 Stampington has to be one of my very favourite magazine publishers and craft suppliers.  It seems to me that they produce everything to such a high standard.  Although they are rather hard to find here in the UK, I have found a localish supplier (not good for the bank balance as they are rather expensive).  I particularly love the title "Where women create" which features the studios and creative areas of lovely women who craft in all sorts of mediums.  I also love Artful Blogging, Art Journalling and Somerset Studio and Somerset Life - in fact, let's face it, I love all of the titles!!

Inside these wonderful titles are pages like these

I confess to getting very excited by looking at these wonderful creations and they never fail to inspire me to give things a try. Thank you Jenny and your team at Stampington and I look forward to all you will share with us through Cresendoh.