Thanks to the snow!

Thanks to the snow I've had more time at home to create!

I've finished a set of fabric postcards for a swap I'm taking part in on Fun Friendly. Encouraged by my results with the foils, I decided to try some more. The theme of the swap is "January is ...." and as my main thoughts in January is to get rid of the left over Christmas food, my thoughts turned to that subject. Due to serious dieting I was even more keen to get the food out of the house as soon as possible!

With food, in particular chocolate, in mind, I incorporated some foil wrapping from various chocolates that had been consumed over Christmas as well as some that just had to be eaten to get rid of them.

The background fabric this time was some cotton I dyed last summer, plus layers of foil, sweety wrappers, fabrics and organza. I think I was a bit too heavy handed while iron the fabric to the vilene and backing as I think just a bit too much of the organza has been "zapped". The bead stew was fun creating from various pots of beads and sequins but a more more tedious when it can to stitching them all on.

All I need now is for the snow to go so I can get to the Post Office!

Time to catch up

I can't believe how long it is since my last blog. That's what happens when a working girl goes back to work!

I have had some creative moments in between time, mainly taking part in postcard swaps.

The first was "Primary Colours". I've always enjoyed working in primary colours. When I look back over the years, when I'm stuck for ideas I resort to wokring in these three colours. I added in the black to give some good contrast. They'll be in the post tomorrow so I hope they are enjoyed by their recipients.

The second group of postcards was for a swap entitled "Old Victorian Style". As I had some Victorian photos of some family members, I decided to include them in the designs, printing the photos on to fabric and incorporating ribbon, buttons and lace.

The final group was a swap called "Opposites Attract". I have to admit I was a bit stumped for ideas when I first saw the title but then there was mentioned black/white so I went with this theme. I had some fabric which I bought some time ago as I was attracted to a black/white theme and as some of the fabric had circles and some had lines, I thought this was another 'opposite' too. I resisted the urge to add some colour!

More Postcard Swaps

My latest swaps for the Fun Friendly group I belong to was entitled "Leaves are FALLing" I just love the Autumn (Fall), probably because I was born bang slap in the middle of the season. I have created many pieces in the past based on Autumn colours so I jumped at the chance for this swap.

Yet again I started with Needle Felting, this time on to a batik from my stash with a leaf design in autumn colours. I felted fibres, felt, and fabric plus a bit of Angelina which didn't really turn out as I had wanted. I then made some leaves by sandwiching Angelina between two layers of organza, machining the leaf shape and then cutting it out. I then machined them over the felted background. Just had to add a few buttons - my work isn't complete without a button or a bead.