A great find....

I love drawing and painting but sitting for to long can be hard on the hip joints, not to mention my  back.  After a couple of hours doing uni homework I decided to go for a little walk.  With no particular place in mind I soon found myself at the local car boot sale. It was late and people where already packing up but as I entered this book was the only thing on the table of the first car. It was only 30p, what a bargain. It is beautifully illustrated and ties in perfectly with the brief I am currently working on as the theme I have chosen is plants.  I am sure it would also make a great altered book and if I am lucky enough to do a work shop with Laura Kemshall next year this is the book I will use.

A lovely gift....

A few days ago I got a lovely gift from my gorgeous daughter Michaela, specifically for my sewing room. It is the little string of bunting ( sew susan). I think it is adorable and it fitted perfectly on one of my shelves. It is always nice to receive gifts but when that gift ticks all the boxes for you it makes it extra special. On a different note I almost managed to finish Luna's coat before returning to Uni. She is missing her buttons and button holes. I have not done many button holes and seeing as these are going to be tiny I think I need to practise before putting them on the coat. However, this will have to go way down the to do list as I am now back at Uni and have my first three briefs of the year. Tonight I will be on the lap top researching festivals as well as sending emails to possible work placements. Well that's the plan but you know what the say about best laid plans?

Lapsed daily sketch.

At the beginning of September Laura Kemshall started a "Daily Sketch Challenge" and I thought oooo that's a really good idea I should have a go. I started my daily sketch challenge a week into September because I kept forgetting to start and the days rolled by.  When I final did start, I managed six consecutive days then lapsed for four, got back on the challenge and lapsed for two.  I have come to the conclusion I am not very good at managing my time and I spend far to much time thinking about all the things I want or need to do but don't actual do anything.  Is this because I have become so lost in the summer break that I put everything off till tomorrow?  Well this week I return to Uni and even though it will be a shock to my system, it should also be the perfect opportunity to commit to the daily sketch challenge whilst travelling on the trains.  

Meet Jan and Luna

This is the sewing machine I got when I won the Theme catergory at Harrogate, it is a Janome DKS30.  Today I finally got it out the box and had a play. I know it's not original but Ive named her Jan and I have to say I think Jan is fab.  It is a lovely sewing machine and I made Luna's summer dress using Jan. I still love Bernie she has always been my work horse but I am so thrilled that I have a great fall back in Jan. I am such a lucky girl X:)

Quotes....

I love turning journal pages into fabric postcards. I really enjoy thinking of ways to substitute paper for fabric. The other challenge is finding quotes. The quote on the journal page is from the Theme song off the film "Lost Boys". The image I found on the Internet and I knew straight away they would work well together to create a journal page.   For the House fabric card I had several quotes in mind (home is where the heart is, home sweet home, an Englishman's home is his castle) but in the end I chose "it takes hands to build a house but a heart to make a home. However, sometimes I struggle with originality and I wonder if I'm looking for them in the wrong place? I google quotes, I look on pintrest and I find quotes from seeing other peoples journal pages. My favourite one this evening I found on the journal soup fb page "You are about to exceed the limits of my medication" it has tickled me and I can feel a new fabric card slowly evolving in my mind. So I'm off to grab the sketch book to get my idea down on paper.

Journal soup 2 and daily drawings.

Journal soup 2 online workshop with Kate Crane.

Daily drawing day two.

Daily drawing day four.

I bought Journal soup 2 a online workshop with the very talented Kate Crane a couple of days ago. Great value for money. Yesterday I settled down with a cuppa tea and watched the first four videos.  I was hooked and couldn'y wait to have a go. I had just recieved a set of rubber stamps through the post and they arrived in a stiff cardboard envelope so I decided to recylcle and use the card for my journal soup page. The card was grey and I was to kean to get started and I did not gesso the card. I think this has made a bit of a difference to the finished colours but I am still really pleased with the end result. I can see this becoming a fabric post card but I have other things on the to do list before I can play with Journal soup 2 in my textiles. I am enjoying daily drawing but you will notice day three is missing this is because I tried to sketch Poppy but she moved to many times and my pencil marks where so light they are not showing on the camera. I am off to pick up my gorgeouse little man from school and seeing as its another lovely day I will try to do my daily drawing outside.

Two new friends and a daily challenge.

Luna and Alfie.

Meet Luna and Alfie. The rabbits are from a kit I bought at the festival of quilts from a company called Cool Craft. These delightful Bunny's are mainly sewn by hand so I have enjoyed several night of watching the goggle box whilst sewing them together.  Next to be sewn is their lovely little outfits. However, last night I decided to swap the needle for a pencil and attempt some sketching. I have been following Laura Kemshalls blog, http://laurakemshall.blogspot.co.uk/ who recently started a daily drawing challenge. I think this is a fab idea as I to have quite a few empty sketch books sitting on my shelf. Last night I randomly grabbed one of these sketchbooks, a pencil and decided to join the daily drawing challenge. Seeing as I'd just finished sewing the second rabbit they where close to hand I decided to sketch them. It was only a quick sketch before bed, it reminded me just how much I love to draw. I must have been tired as notice I have done the date back to front! Sept 07 instead of 07 Sept :) I might do my daily drawing challenge a little earlier today.

Lovely Mail.

Postcard from Janet.

Postcard from Cate.

Postcard from Lin.

I received these lovely three fabric Postcards in the post this week.  I love swapping fabric postcards but I love receiving them even more. If anyone would like to swap a fabric postcard please feel free to email me. X:)

Vintage Charm

I would just like to thank everyone for all the wonderful congratulations I have received since winning the Theme catagory at Harrogate last weekend. X:)

And the winner is .........

ME!!!!! OMG, pick me up off the floor, I only won the theme category in the Great Northern Quilt show in Harrogate. I received a phone call on Thursday evening from a lovely lady informing me that I had won and the only thing I could say to her, repeatedly, was OMG! She went on to tell me that not only had I won the theme, I had also won over all runner up. WOW! Honestly I was totally stunned.  I visited the show on Saturday with my fab friends Janet, Sue and Liz and discovered that I had also been awarded a judges choice from the very talented Maggie Davies. My friend Janet also picked up several awards if you would like to check out her amazing entries please visit her blog at Lemon Tree Quilts. Today I travelled back to Harrogate with DH and my sister-in law Karen to collect my prizes. I won a Janone Sewing machine and a fab goody bag. I have had a fantastic weekend thanks to my family and friends who as always have been amazingly suportive, I love each and everyone of you. X:)