Craftster Swap

I use a crafting forum called Craftster on a regular basis, I mainly like looking at all the things everyone has been making but it also hosts a huge amount of tutorials and nifty 'how to's'.

One of the girls I chat to about screen printing and embroidery asked if I would be interested in making some work to swap. What a fun idea huh! So I can finally share what we've both done as everyone has received their surprise packages!

This is the package I sent to sheepBlue; two screenprinted and embroidered hooplas a screen printed handmade tote bag and some mesh for making your own silkscreens.

I made a tote bag with some polka dot handles using fabric I printed with a lion repeat. Its an old drawing but I like the effect of the repeat.

 

 

The space hoopla is very similar to the last one I did, although I used a purple print on the line work instead of navy, there had also been a second layer of colour print in my original one as I'd mixed in some halftone texture that we had on another screen in a light blue. I wanted to try and give it a more 1970's feel with psychedelic rainbow colours =) 

Mr Zebra hoopla was just a bit of fun really. It's only a 3 or 4" hoop, so really small, I had a few scraps of the zebra repeat after making a knitting tidy for my mum ages ago. (I posted about it on Craftster). So I decided just to do some fun fill stitches into the zebra and a bit of scallopping too.

It was my first attempt at putting a felt backing on the hoops. It's not quite perfect for my liking but not the worst thing either.

sheepBlue loved her package, I'm super happy as mine was pretty awesome too! You should definitely look at her blog and Esty shop. I bought cat cards from her in the past that are a beautiful print.

Here are my beautiful gifts! A stunning printed embroidered flamingo print hoopla and some brillliant jaw bone printed pillowcases. You can read more about how she made the pillows here. She's a nutter and did each print indvidually, but she's working from home rather than having a studio so big ups to home diy crafts!

 

 

 

So I will end this post with something special as it's a long one and I'm impressed you're still reading =) Thanks to Lulu from A Vintage Daydream for this one! I can't wait to see my gift!!

What's going down:

The first three people to comment on this post will receive a little gift - something personal from me to you.

Within 2 months I'll create something unique to share with the first three people to comment on this post.

But in order to receive your present you have to play along.

Spread the love on your own blog promising to send a little special something to the first three people who comment on your post. You get 72 hours to re-post, or I'll have to move on to the next person. Please only comment if you're willing to pay it forward. If you want to receive something unique from me in the mail and if you are willing to do the same for others, leave a comment below!

Please leave your email address so that I can contact you directly! And blog URL so that I and others can visit your blog! Again, I want to emphasize that please only comment if you're willing to pay it forward. Nobody likes a taker.

Who's down for paying it forward craft style?

Did you know I like Batman?

I don't want to get into the habbit of posting things that I haven't made or that aren't handmade but this is just tooooo cool so I had to share. The Batmobile telephone!

I do love eBay! It came with the original box and a 1989 guarentee! Oh and the head lights flash when it rings.

I also bought a beautiful mini rose plant for the bedroom this morning. The decorating's nearly done so I can get on with some proper work this week! What I call work anyways :)

 

Re- vampery

So yesterday, in the wake of me realising I have to make a whole heap of stuff to sell on this market stall I'm going to be doing, I went on a revamping spree. I've been collecting old clothes from friends for a little while now; most people if they're having a clear out will give me a little nod to a bag in the corner to look through before they take it to the charity shop! It makes me very happy giving clothing a new lease of life, so I had a fun day. Here's a few snap shots of what I got up to, mostly adding lace to things it seems!

 

 

Smoking Caterpillar

I just wanted to quickly share another piece I've done to go with the other Alice in Wonderland themed embroidery. I've taken the character of the caterpillar (of course one of my favourites from the story) and have appliqued him onto a old rose printed pillow case that seemed to fit the theme. You can read some more about the other pieces I've completed so far in an older post.

I started by using some Bondaweb to secure him down and then back stitched around his outline in a matching orange. I added texture to his hair with split stitches and his big moustache with long filling stitches. I thought it would be fun to add some free hand smoke in some funky colours. It was a chance to try some different stitches! What do you think??

OOh and some exciting news! - I'm going to be selling my treasures down on St Mary's Street in Cardiff on a market stall every other Saturday on the run up to Christmas starting on the 22nd September. Come and say hello if you're in town =)

Elbow Patches, Cushions and more!

I thought I'd share some photos from the past week or two so you can see all the different things I've been doing!

Elbow patches and vintage dress repairs for Broken Girls Club

A huge pile of screen printed plushy cushions for Who? clothing

Some more for Droneboy Laundry too

Another of my Dahlias that I've grown from a bulb finally showed its beautiful colours this week. The sunshine's been all over the place so we have a few late bloomers! I spent Friday sat in the garden working on some embroidery and soaking in the atmosphere. The garden is full of spiders and I even had a visit from a dragonfly!

We had a big gathering at Porthkerry Park in Barry after Lucy's funeral on Thursday, a few of us helped set up the gazebos in the morning and I made a pile of tissue paper flowers, bunting and bows to decorate the place. It felt like a mini festival as friends played music too.

 

 

 

 

Love to you all everywhere, enjoy your crafting!!

Ironing Time!

Sorry I haven't blogged for ages but my clumsy side took over last week and I managed to drop my laptop =(  lame! I snapped the pin that the charger goes into so had to take it to the computer man to fix!

I have been crafting silently in the background though. Its been therapeutic making lots of things ready for our friend Lucy's send off which was yesterday. I will blog again later and show off all the things we made for that; this post in the mean time is dedicated to ironing and how the only things that get ironed in our house are the things I'm making!

I managed to put a hole through the board cover with my sharp fabric scissors a while ago and it's just got progressively worst over the past month or so. So I finally gave in and took some time to make a fresh one. It took no time at all in fact.

I was given tonnes of this great children's bedding fabric a few weeks ago and have been eyeing it up in my box of fabric ever since. The style of the print seemed to lend itself well to a cheeky board cover. I started off by taking the old one off the board and using it as a template for the new one.

I was a tad naughty and just cut straight around it rather than drawing it first. Cocky pattern cutting some might say but in reality I always cut corners when I'm making something for myself. It's different when I'm doing a job for someone else, I guess I know what little mistakes I can live with whereas I have more pride I guess in making things for others.

The next step was to cut some padding to go under the fabric, you need a well cushioned board haha! I had a pile of curtain interlining that was perfect and overlocked the two together. I was good this time and did pin it so it wouldn't move!

I stitched elastic all the way around, apart from the top straight edge to hold it down to the board. I think I might add some ribbon ties at a later date but it seems to be staying in place for now!