Theres an Elf in the Window...

Fa la la la la la la la la

As it's the Christmas season it was time for some festive cards! I didn't want to design anything too predictable, so whats better at Xmas than a family of elves. Each one has their own little slogan: "elf, kisses and wishes", "twinkle toes" and "fa la la la la la la la la", finished off with some glitter and sparkle on their hat, along with a punched silver snowflake on the envelope.
To go with my cards I also made my boy elf into a real life sized plushie who is now sitting happily in LoveOne spreading some holiday cheer! ♥

Button Balloons

My new little book is complete! Its A5 and hardbound, filled with marbled end pages and all sorts of aged papers such as maps. It also has a ribbon bookmark and a handy pocket in the back. On the front I embroidered the quote "Dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you", so I thought some dreamy clouds and button balloons would be rather fitting! ♥

LoveOne

A little delayed in posting, but my Alice in Wonderland cards have recently been selling in a little local shop in Ipswich called Love One. It's really exciting to see my first bit of work sitting in a shop! As well as my cards I also made a display piece for the store which I made from an upcycled frame decorated in Fimo bits and pieces.
...Oh and my flamingo made it into the window alongside lots of other flamingo friends! ♥

Felted Creatures

I recently did some felting, which I discovered was a pretty long arm-aching process!! Rather than let my felt go to waste I had a little experiment with needle felting which turned itself into this blue bug called Norman.

I loved the process of needle felting more than felting itself so I thought I'd have another go. As i have a slight love affair with walrus' at the minute they were the perfect chubby critters to make. Meet Manny and his pup Lyal who hasn't quite grown into his furry moustache yet! ♥

Marbling

I'd never tried marbling before and it was a bit hit and miss to start with. I eventually seemed to get the hang of it and was getting good, consistent images...but it took an awful lot of perseverance and trying! It seems like other people have had similar struggles with it too though which is reassuring!
You can't see from the images but the second row were done with metallic inks and dry with a sparkly sheen which give a really nice effect. All in all i ended up with lots of beautiful samples which I'll be using in a couple of books I'm currently making, so they'll be put to good use! ♥

Book Worm

I've done lots of little projects lately and recently I did a bit of of bookbinding. These were only testers as it was my first real time doing it but I've now got a final version in the works. I'd briefly started learning book binding when I was at school but never got a chance to finish it, so i'm glad I finally did!
The above pictures are the traditional hard-backed method but I also tried my hand at Chinese bookbinding. ♥

Dragonflies and Flowers

As I was transitioning between projects I needed a quick little activity, so this little pattern was perfect! The first is a card wallet and the second a drivers license holder. ♥

Chase the Rabbit into Wonderland...

 

The little couched rabbit I mentioned previously has emerged!!
It probably looked like nothing, but that vague blob has become the white rabbit and four friends in a set of greeting cards. Each character was handmade, predominately using couching/embroidery then scanned in and photoshopped with the original drawings as a backdrop.On every card there's also a 3D element, all made out of crafty pieces, from pom-poms to modelling clay.
Really happy as I've just had my first shop want to sell my goodies and I also plan to start selling online soon, so lots of exciting things hopefully to come. ♥

Couching

I've been playing around with some couching recently as i always find new techniques tend to spark some ideas. It was super simple and found instead of just using one strand of wool it came out really pretty when plaited.
Until now I was at a bit of a standstill as to what direction to go in next and by complete accident the little guy on the left turned out to be rather rabbit like, which gave me a whole new concept...so there'll be more from him to come! ♥

End of Year Exhibition

The collage I'm studying with put on a final end of year celebration in which all the students could show off their work and have a peek at what everyone else had been up too. It was really lovely to see all the other students and their projects as there was such a diverse range! I hadn't been with them for the full first year but managed to submit 2 A2 mood/inspiration boards, 9 A3 prints (photos/sketches), my silk sheep pillow and bag with matching makeup case.
Photos were kindly taken for me, note to self - next time don't forget my camera! ♥

The Birds and the Bees Continued.

To go with my tote bag (see below post), I decided to knock out a matching makeup case too. Its basically just an extension of my main bag but with a few added extras like my zip pull and fimo wish charm.
Overall I think the two pieces came together well so I'm pretty pleased with how this one has turned out! ♥

The Birds and the Bees

My next little venture was originally a simple canvas tote, but I got a little carried away in the design process!
I've always loved lots of detailed surface design with applique and embellishment so i wanted to include a lot of that. I embroidered around the leaves on the background and layered transfers, netting, and lots of beading and diamantes. The transfers were a completely new technique but something I'd definitely use again in the future.
The inside is lined with a polka dot fabric with multiple compartments for all your bits and bobs and all was lovingly handmade from scratch, even down to the buttons! ♥

Evie

My first project was making a pillow, so naturally the first thing that sprung to mind was to make a sheep. Its been a good few years since I'd made or done anything creative so it was good to get going again!

She's a silk sheep named Evie complete with hand embroidery and a colourful patchwork back, and as every sheep needs a friend I also made a little silk worm called Sidney. ♥

Hello There...

First ever post..
short and sweet :)


♥