Teeny Tiny coins...

...have been stitched into the corners of each of the completed Hmong panels.

I got them as charms, so they came with little hanging loops...

...that I really didn't like, so I cut them off and sanded down the raw metal bits that were left!

I've sprayed the book and box papers with Brusho Sprays...

Now all I have to do is decorate around the pages...

...and make up the box :-)

(It'll have to wait a few days as I'm preparing for my Sashiko Workshop with Cardiff Quilters on Saturday!)

x C

E.S.P - aka Earth Spirit Projects

I've had to leave a few other projects as UFOs for a little while...

...and get down to finishing off these pieces for an up-coming workshop.

It's been good to get back to my "Earth Spirit" theme....

...and I've had a lovely time playing with Colourcraft Brusho Sprays and  Markal Paintstiks on Egyptian cotton and calico dyed with Procion dyes. (From Empress Mills.)

Fabric was first dyed in plastic bags or beer glasses....

...then sprayed with Brusho Sprays - Dark Brown; Shimmering Charcoal & Shimmering Copper.

I drew my designs and scanned them into my Brother Scan'n'Cut to make the stencils...

...that were then done using Markal Paintstiks.

Finally I stitched around the designs on the sewing machine with some variegated threads...

...again,  from Empress Mills.

Now, because I am who I am...

...seed stitching is covering the background!

Why?...do I do this to myself?

Then I made a start on another Earth Spirit Figure...

...again on calico sprayed with Brusho.

This time the design was drawn on before stitching....

...then painted in with Inktense blocks.

Oh....the fun I do have!!

I'll be off up the M50 with this lot next week :-)


x C

Dentelles

Finis!

I just love those pieces of lace!!

(...and if they aren't quite the right colour....then I spray them with Brusho!!)

x C

Playing with Brusho

Many thanks to everyone who left such nice comments on my previous post. They really are much appreciated!

I'm very pleased to be able to tell you that I have ANOTHER project in the next issue of STITCH too :-)

...although it will be the last one for a while...

...as I have other things to do right now.

Including having lots and lots of PLAYTIME!!!

I got a project off to Empress Mills yesterday...

...so keep your eyes peeled for a freebie project/tuto in Charles' Newsletter sometime :-)

It's the first of a little series of three - with a Japanese theme.

To have free access, all you have to do is sign-up HERE ...... and it'll pop into your inbox.

Those of you that already have signed-up will know that I did an article on using BRUSHO on fabric a little while back.

...and you can still access that HERE....

But today, I'm using Brusho Acrylic Shimmer Sprays on high gloss card as I need some die cuts for one of my "Lavender & Lace" projects.

This card behaves differently from standard copy paper...

...the background colour soaks in and colours the card...

...while the mica pigments form a globule/watery pattern on the surface.

I love the effect of Shimmering Purple!

I then used some matt card...

...and a few different sprays...

See the difference?

They all have a place in my workroom, but the stash is getting taller and taller!!

Now, I don't go in for "dissing"...

...and I certainly won't name names....

...but I also used another brand of spray on the gloss card.

It looked lovely just lying there...

...but when I stroked it...

...YES!!! I admit to a little bit of stroking of materials now and again!....

...the mica particles came off on my fingers - you can see the results in the piccie.

By the time I had put it through the Big Shot and poked out all the little bits...

...my hands were covered in mica dust.....and the card was simply....pink.

I'll still use the die-cut....but won't use that particular spray again on gloss card. :-o


(If you're wondering WHY? the difference.....it's because the Brusho brand is an ACRYLIC based product and the acrylic helps to keep the mica on the surface. This is why you can use it on fabric and it's a little more "fast" than simply Brusho powders.)

Here are some of my die-cuts from this morning...

I'm off to have some more fun...

Have some yourselves too!!

x C

It's nearly time to go ......again!

It's been a very busy few weeks since we came back from the last cruise...

...and now it's almost time to leave for the next one!!

Final docs came this morning...

...coach ticket booking made yesterday...

...and sample Travel Journal for Atlantic Showcase is done! YEY!!

I've used loads of Brusho Sprays...

...some stencils...

...and printed pages with blocks from Colouricious.

All the packs that I've put together for the two cruise legs have been folded and block-printed too...

...so they have a head start as soon as they join the sessions! :-)

I've also put together my own sketchbook...

...and have decided to focus on colour and pattern this time.

I treated myself to a new set of Schmincke watercolours, and filled-up the extra spaces with some Sennelier half-pans.....so no excuses...painting SHALL be done!!

(Yes...I know I haven't shown you any pages from the last trip's sketchbook yet...but all will be revealed at some point...promise! :-)

The next couple of weeks will be taken up with writing the final chapters of the book on Colourcraft Liquid Batik Dyes...

...and stitching final samples to be photographed.

My work table is completely covered in pots and trays of beads for stitching onto a piece of dyed silk that will (hopefully) be pictured on the front cover.

Oh Boy!

...do I need a 72 hour day right now!!

x C

Trying not to go into panic mode.

Too many things to do...

...in such a short time.

I'm desperately trying not to panic because if I do...

...then everything grinds to a crunching halt...

...and the sh*t will hit the fan!

Deep breath....Deep breath...

Begin with getting packs and sample done for October workshop...

...using gorgeous Colouricious Hmong print blocks.

First pages...

Packs include prepared watercolour paper backgrounds - using Colourcraft Brusho sprays

and fabrics (from Empress Mills) and papers printed with Hmong blocks.

They're all packed into paper bags ready to go with me...

...now all I have to do is finish the sample!


ps...

Opened up my September issue of Workshop on the Web today and found that a piccie out of my project is being used as the advert for the next (dec) issue! :-)  Yey!!!

Printing and stitching.

I took some of my print blocks and paints down to my quilt group meeting last Saturday...

...and we all had a few hours of "kindergarten" fun!

I had a plan in mind...

...as I'm doing a printed and stitched book workshop with Lingen Stitchers in May...

...and need to get a nice sample done before I go.

So...

I printed a number of panels...

...including this here little heffelump.

The next stage was some machine stitching....

...then the whole piece was sprayed with metallic Brusho Sprays before painting in some areas with Inktense sticks.

I will begin the hand embellishment this evening as I enjoy the Treasures of Ancient Greece on BBC4 .

Have a good evening....

x C

New Year......New Challenges!!

Well.....Happy New Year everyone!!

I hope that you have recovered sufficiently after your Festive Celebrations.....

...and are raring to go to meet 2015 head on!

OK...

...just take things easy then :-)

I'm really hoping to do a bit more blogging than I did last year...

...which was so hectic/busy that I don't quite know where it went!

Mind you, it looks like 2015 is going to be even busier...

...with some VERY EXCITING things going on. (Sorry....can't let any cats out of bags at the minute)

I can say for certain though, it's going to be a year for writing....

...and that means experimenting too...

...making all the samples and finished pieces to be photographed.

I also have a few workshops and a Summer School to prepare for...

...and three cruise stints over the next 15 months.

The miles will certainly be clocked up over this coming period!!

Our Christmas plans went badly awry though.

We had booked the ferry etc with the intention of sailing across to France on the 19th December....

...staying in Alsace over Christmas....

...and sailing back on New Year's Day.

However health issues dictated otherwise, although we were able to shift the ferry crossing for another date so didn't lose £200 :-)

Hey nonny no!!

The stay at home did work out quite well though...

...when I managed to get a couple of substantial pieces of writing done, so they're off the list for January at least...

...and I've made a start playing with some Colourcraft Liquid Batik Dyes for which I have been asked to write a small book for publication later in the year!

Here are a few piccies of my first attempts at batik wax...

Now...

...all I have to do is iron out the wax.....

......apply some fabric medium....

...spray with Brusho.....

...and finish with black detail!

Woo Hoo!!

x C

Medieval and recycling playtime!!

I'm having SO much fun playing around with the Medieval theme for my Arts Alive workshop 1st and 2nd November!!

After assembling stacks of prepared papers...

...I have been trying out different effects with Brusho Sprays....

....and gilding foils.

Now...

"Yes" ...I am using Brusho sprayed papers for some things.....

...but yesterday....

....I pulled out my large sheets of "rubbish" paper that is used underneath sheets when I'm using sprays.

They are all metallic on the front - after using a lot of metallic Brusho....

...and have the most interesting splodges on the back where colour has bled through!

This is just grey-brown sugar paper type stuff - sold for going underneath cord carpet or something. I got the roll in B&Q years ago for a few pounds and am still using it because the more overspray you get on it....the better it looks!!

I also fished out the Big Shot and some Spellbinders dies....

...and cut out LOADS of these little pieces.

First of all I threw these in the bin...

...but then changed my mind and fished them out again.

And, after a bit of thinking...

...I used a deckle-edge scissors...

...and stuck them onto my foiled paper.

They look like Medieval floor tiles! Wehey!!

The little pieces were then stuck to the back cover of the tri-fold book I'm working on...

Really pleased with my efforts!!

Have a good weekend...

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

...little hat....book progress....

I've had a good weekend stitching.

This makes a bit of a change...

.... as I actually haven't done an AWFUL lot of needlework in recent times :-o

But this little hat, with it's jubilation of embellishment....

...called for a bit more.

The front panel is a couched square....

...picking up on the colours I can see in the hat itself....

...PLUS......a load of blue beads!!

One of the inside panels is also being stitched....

....this time though, I'm using needlepoint canvas....

...with long stitches to emulate the couching on the hat.

I've used some of my hand-dyed threads...

...which have then been sprayed with Shimmering Charcoal Brusho afterwards.

(This makes it look less new and perfect)

I'd also sprayed the canvas with Brusho beforehand to blend in the background....

Once the Brusho had dried I began picking up the edge stitches with some machine metallic thread....

...the original has had this done around the edges of the motifs too.

There are a couple of pieces of prepared/sprayed/crumpled tissue sitting around....

...that I'm thinking of using as a base/ground.....

...thinking....thinking.....thinking......


x C