Corona Creative #1

This is the first of my "Corona Creative" Blog posts...

...just itty bitty bits...

...to keep you entertained...

...maybe inspired....

...and today, to provide a delicious dose of colour!

I've dug out my stepped coronne stick...

...found a ball of Katia Polaris...

...and started making loads and loads of buttonhole rings (for a specific purpose btw).

I have also been attacking some Empress Mills Egyptian Cotton...

...turning it from brilliant white...

...to THIS!!!

Such fun is waiting in the wings...

Keep safe.

x C

Experimenting...

It's high time that I got myself into the "expo" groove...

...so...

...I've been folding pieces of fabric...

...stitching to hold...

...and then pouring on dyes.

I am using Empress Mills' Egyptian Cotton for these...

...I just love the brilliant white and smoothness of the fabric.

It has sooooo many uses!!


I will let things sit overnight...

...and see what delights await me in the morning :-D

x C

Gelli Plate samples for Busy Bees

It was a "play day" around here yesterday...

...messing about with Gel Plates....ink pads....brayers....and polymer stamps...

...making some samples for my workshop at Busy Bees on the 9th of Feb :-) (Sorry it's full!)

I had already done some 6 inch round pieces...but wanted to do some a bit smaller...

...so these are 4 inches (10.12cms) and have turned out rather well methinks.

I brayered the background on the plate...

...transferred this to some Empress Mills Egyptian Cotton... (which is soooo fine that you can hardly see the grain!)

...then used some of my delightful Lavinia Stamps to put on top.

After everything had dried...

...I put some stabiliser and a backing fabric in place...

...and did my stitching using a hoop - yes.....a hoop (not normal for Chrissie but necessary for such tiny stitches).

This is just Number 1

...so keep tuned for the rest...

x C

Playing with print on fabrics...

Yes. I know that I do this anyway...

...but this time it's a bit different!

At the show I treated myself to a new 6" gel plate...

...some inkpads...

...and some lovely Lavinia Stamps and also some from Card-io :-)

Last weekend, along with working on my Venice sketchbook...

...I began playing with the gel plate onto some Empress Mills Egyptian Cotton.

I deliberately chose this fabric because it's brilliantly white...

...and a very close, smooth weave so the surface is almost like paper to print onto.

I found it better to iron it onto some freezer paper first as I knew that I wanted to use polymer stamps later.

I did the backgrounds with inks on the plate...

...then stamped afterwards.

I didn't photograph all the stages this time...

...I was just playing after all...

...but here are the results of my first attempts...

I want to do some stitching...

...but, given the fine surface I'll probably use machine thread - by hand....

Updates will follow...

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

Lots and lots of goodies to play with...

I've been going through boxes and drawers...

...picking out all sorts of bits n bobs...

...to use in my "Lavender & Lace" pieces.

Gorgeous old French linens picked up on holiday...

...some dyed....some not...

A bird's nest of sari silks in glorious colours...

Empress Mills' Egyptian Cotton dyed with Colourcraft "Lavender" Procion Dye...

and my wonderful spray-booth paper covered in all sorts of Brusho colours!

(This is the paper that is underneath everything that I spray. Colours get built up one on top of another...and I end up with the most beautiful papers to play with!! :-)

Hi di Hi!!

x C

Doing what I love every day.....

It still feels a bit like the end of Summer outside...

...I'm having to turn off the central heating during the day...

...it's far too warm with it on...

...and my "personal summer moments" aren't helping matters!!

Things are progressing in leaps and bounds...

...the book for Colourcraft is in the very last stages and should be in print next month. :-)

This is the last stitched sample on the machine this morning...

...a piece of Empress Mills Egyptian Cotton dyed with "Dytek Liquid Dyes" ...

...then stencilled with Markal Paintstiks and finally stitched with Empress Mills lovely (non-snapping!!!) metallic threads. 

This is the sign on my workroom door...

...new for 2016...

I DO!!! :-)

...hope you do too...

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

..a little "hussif" on the way...

Seeing as I am going to be away from home a lot more in the future...

...I've decided to make myself a little "Hussif" to keep all my stitching bits and bobs together and safe.

So...

...the first step was to print a cover.

I pulled out a few pieces of dyed Egyptian Cotton, and used a beautiful block from Colouricious with fabric paints from Colourcraft.

Some of the edges came out a bit on the blobby side....but I thought "A bit of machine magic will soon take care of that!"

This was the one I chose to stitch first...

...using these lovely rayons given to me by Andrew of Wonderfil. :-))

Machine threaded and ready to go...

..I used a tiny straight stitch to go around all of the printed design.

...and then, after putting on the backing, spent this morning hand-stitching beads all around the edges...

That's the cover completed, but there's no more stitching today...

..I'm off for falalas in Brecon...

Insides will be tackled on the morrow.

x C

...time for some serious textile fun!!

The final magazine article for 2013 went off in the post Monday...

...and... after another delightful falala Tuesday choir session....

....this Wednesday morning finds me in a state of eager anticipation...

...and enthusiasm for things-to-come!!

I can now get stuck in to my "Magic" work, and I'm REALLY excited about it all.

Quite a few pieces have been thoroughly worked out on the page (a couple more will be shown on Saturday)...

...and the embellisher has been pressed into action already.

One of the first set of three is ready for hand-stitching to begin (so that's me sorted for the rest of the day then :-)...

...and pieces of felt have been dyed and prepared for the other two.

There is a real buzz in the air around here!!

(...and it's NOT that GIANT bee that was trying to head-butt it's way in through my patio doors yesterday either :-)))

Postie brought some more exciting deliciousness the other day too...

...in the form of a big parcel from Colourcraft.

Lots and lots of goodies to play with!

Lovely metallic acrylics...

several tubs of a new material (being affectionately referred to as "jollop" between Laura and myself) that's being launched sometime soon...

A thick, heavy paste medium that you can mold and build-up into whatever you can think of....

Some watercolour crayons..

...some soft wax crayons....

..and a selection of Procion MX dyes to use with this lot...

...of silky smooth Egyptian Cotton from Empress Mills.

Oooooooooooooo...

...what a LUCKY girl am I!!