A scissor-keeper and some little books.....

I've given myself a bit of "playtime"...

...and made a scissor-keeper (that doubles as a small pin-cushion)...

....plus a couple of small books made with my "leather paper" trimmings.

The scissor-keeper is on black felt with embroidery around a small piece of printed fabric. I used the same felt on the back and lightly stuffed it so it can double as a pin-cushion.

The two small books are made out of off-cuts of "leather paper" distressed with walnut stain. Just a simple three-hole bind with waxed linen makes them perfect to pop in my travel bag ready to be filled with......who-knows-what!!

I did the "leather paper" in the laundry machine with a very light dose of brown dye and when it had dried I sprayed it with some bistre powder that I had found in France.
I think the distressed edges set it off.

Have a great weekend peeps......

x C

New batch of "Leather Paper"

The laundry machine got good use yesterday...

...producing these beauties!!

They are actually slightly different colours...

...these are more brown/terracotta...

...while these are brown/greeny-yellow...

I don't think they show up too well on screen...

...but they do in front of my eyes!! :-)

I shall have a few pieces for sale on my stand at the NEC this time...

...but not a huge number, so get in early!!

x C

"Near & Far" working notebook

I've made a "Near & Far" working notebook...

...using Eileen Hull's journal die...

...texture paste...

...Distress Oxide Ink Pads...

...and some Inkylicious and Lavinia Stamps.

I used a spatula to put texture paste through one of my own cut stencils...

...then used the Distress Oxides to add some colour before stamping some Inkylicious Pampas Grasses...

...and some lovely Lavinia leaves.

I've used some of my "leather paper" as covers for the signatures inside.

Now ....

...to fill it with wonderfulness!!  :-)

x C

More work on my project book...

So...

...the first stage of the "rusty look" was done in my last post....

...and the next stages have now been finished.

I sponged some orange-coloured "Rust It" on top of the brown...

...then got to work with the verdigris and bronze metallics that came in the set...

Put on firstly with my finger...

...then raised elements were touched-up with a brush...

The front cover...

...weird sun-wheel...

...rock ship with sun and stars...

...distressed diamonds...

...and Latin lettering.

I've dug out my Ogham writing sticks...

...and made some "old parchment" for my maps...

Stories are forming...

x C

Cardiff Quilters Exhibition. - going into production...

I'm struggling to find things to show on here right now...

...as most of what is going on in the background is to do with a couple of books that will be published either at the end of 2017 or into 2018.

However....

...my quilting group Cardiff Quilters is celebrating it's 25th birthday this year...

...and we are holding an exhibition at Ararat Baptist Church on the 29th July.

Here's the Quilters' Guild notice if anyone is interested.

There's going to be a Tombola, Raffle and a Sales Table along with some traders.....

...so I'm in production with some handmade notebooks/sketchbooks for the event.

Each one will have a machine-stitched Sashiko square on the front cover...

...which will be made of some of my special "leather paper" dyed specially in a shade of pale blue.

I'll make the pages out of fairly heavy paper so that they'll stand up to collage etc.

I'm hoping to get quite a few done...

...plus a few other bits and pieces too.

Once these are all finished I'll get onto some Tombola gifts...

Try to call by if you can...

...it'll be a great day. :-)

x C

Monday Morning Printing Happiness...

This is batch #1...

...of goodness knows how many!

Lovely Medieval floor tile printing blocks (Colouricious of course)...

...printed onto my own "leather paper"...

...that I will be using on my stand at the NEC next month.

Ahhhhh...

...how I LOVE Monday mornings!! :-)

x C

Semamori stitching...

A little while ago I came across this posting on the Sri Threads blog...

....about a little book of stitched amulets....

...called SEMAMORI....

...usually found just under the collar on the back of kimono/jackets...

...for the protection of the wearer.

I immediately became very interested and began to search around for more information.

I found a few references and photos...

...but, not being a Japanese reader, I couldn't get an awful lot.

Then I came across an advert for a little book (in Japanese of course)...

...that had loads and loads of diagrams!! Yey!!

Luckily, I have a lovely friend...

...who has a lovely son who is married to a lovely Japanese lady...

...and they live in Japan...

...where they have access to Amazon.jp...

...and the Japanese postal system!

Within a week, said little book was on my desk...

...and I was able to get on and DO. :-)

First of all I did a small "sample" book along the lines of the one in the Sri Threads posting...

...bound with a piece of my "leather paper" and lovely red thread...

A different amulet on each page...

Then...

...I made a start another one of my tri-fold creations...

An amulet stitched onto another piece of specially dyed "leather paper" with sashiko patterns down either side....

(The cloth used to strengthen the folds of the book are strips of old kimono fabric. Isn't ebay wonderful!!)

Here's the little "insert" book to be stitched in...

(Same prepared "leather paper" cover)

...and different amulets on each page...

I still have a little way to go with this one...

...but I'd like to share an absolute joy with you...

I had a good session on ebay looking for Japanese fabrics and clothing...

...and sent for a number of Haori jackets.

The first one came and was beautiful...

...but the second one...

...a plain black one...

...had THIS stitched on the back!!

was I delighted or what!!? :-)))

x C

In between times ....again!

Well....

...since I got back from Festival of Quilts I've hardly stopped to take a breath...

...what with bits and bobs to finish off...

......three magazine articles to write and post....

...and stuff to ready for packing in the van for workshops in Aberystwyth and Wirral in September!

I don't feel that I've settled back into domestic life before I have to become a gypsy again :-o

Ne'er mind...

....articles are away...

...spare room is full of stuff to go away...

...and I can now begin to think about prepping some samples for my "Medieval Tile" Workshop days at Arts Alive on 1st & 2nd November....

...and my "Winter Solstice" workshop days on 5th & 6th December :-)

I've already begun with the tile theme and have been experimenting with some new stencil film.

(I've cut these with a hot iron and fine tip.)

The first one is stenciled onto Brusho-prepared tissue with Markal Paintstiks (from Colourcraft)

The bottom four are done onto Empress Egyptian cotton that's been dyed with Procion dyes then sprayed with Brusho Acrylic Mist Sprays (Colourcraft again!)

I've prepped more tissue and "leather paper" ....

...but have a few more stencils to cut.

Hey Ho! What fun is life!!

x C

Printing and Paper-play...

I take full advantage when the sky is not dropping moisture....

.....and get myself outside to make some experimental print blocks...

...for a special purpose.

I find sheets of this thermoplastic foam at a recycle centre and, after marking out the designs that I want (with a Sharpie marker)...

...I use a small soldering iron to "carve" the surface of the block.

(The Man tells me to be VERY VERY careful as the gases given off can be really bad. So I'm always watchful of wind direction and wear a suitable facemask too.)

I printed onto double sheets of my "Landscape Tissue", then went over the designs with an "18kt Gold" marker pen.

The stuff underneath is what I refer to as my "Leather Paper"...

....dyed in the washing machine on Sunday and Monday.

The purpose, I'm afraid, must remain a secret at this point...

...but there again...

...a little mystery adds some interest doesn't it?!

(Needless to say though....there WILL be stitch!!)

x C