A chook and a snowman.

I finished Uni a week ago for the Christmas holidays and I am loving every minute of the break. I have even managed to do some sewing just for me which has been simply bliss. Last year one of the Southport ladies introduced me to the Missouri Star quilt tutorials and I occasionally watch them on you tube. A few days ago I watched her make a Chicken pin cushion and decided I too needed a chicken pin cushion. The lady recommends lizard litter as part of the stuffing because it is made from crushed walnuts and apparently these stop the needles from blunting. I tried to buy lizard litter but the two girls in Pets at Home looked at me blankly and said, they had never herd of Lizard litter. I asked what did they sell for lizards to do the business on and they said "sand"! So I went to Asda and bought a packet of dried chic peas. I loved making my chook, he is sitting on my desk and he makes me smile every time I look at him.  The beautiful snowman was a gift from my very talented friend Sue, isn't he adorable? Sadly, I do not have my Christmas tree up this year because of a certain little lady named Poppy.

Lovely mail.

Postcard swap with Iraelia.

My first Christmas card all the way from Bermuda from Tanya

Oh how nice to get beautiful mail through the letterbox. Last month a joined a fabric postcard swap via Shelia's blog my swap partner was Iraelia from Puerto Rico, sadly I did not take a photo of the card I sent her. :( Never mind I did get a lovely email from Iraelia saying thank you and she liked the card. The second bit of post today was all the way from Bermuda from Tanya. A while ago I came across Tanya on you tube "Cardinal Crafts" she was appealing for people to send her postcards from where they lived. I sent one from Liverpool and I also sent her a fabric card which she loved. She even showed it and thanked me on her you tube channel. I didn't hear from her again so her Christmas card (which is so cute) was a total surprise. Its amazing that such a small gesture of sending someone a card, be it bought or handmade can lift a persons spirits. If you read my blog thank you both from the bottom of my heart your cards have made my day. :)

Busy, Busy, Busy......

Pencil drawing of a Honey Suckle

Rough Sketch of a bird  in flight over a messy background.

Pen drawing of a sunflower head onto hand dyed cotton fabric .

Daisy under the sunflower head on the same piece of fabric.

Water colour painting of Crab Apples

Poppy not letting me finish the water colour of the crab Apples.

I realised I have not blogged in a while but the truth is I have not really had the time. As per the norm my days are taken up with Uni, trying to fit a bit of housework in and a bit of family time. Yesterday I had a real treat and went to a area day at Thornton Hough with my delightful friend Judith. The speaker was Dorothy Russel and her work was amazing and I had a lovely morning. I had decided not to stay for the work shop in the afternoon so I could get back handy to do homework, unfortunately I don't know what they made.  Seeing as I don't have any show and tell from the area day I thought I'd share some of the drawings and paintings I've been doing over the last couple of days. These are for the new brief we have been given. I have to say its the first time in months I have really enjoyed doing homework. As you can see Poppy however, had other ideas, so I am now going to have a cup of tea and watch an episode of the secret life of drawing. If you are interested in drawing and have not seen these programmes I highly recommend them. You can watch them on you tube. Hope you have all had a great weekend. :)

Southport to Westkirby

Demo by Lisa Winnard in Southport Craft Shop.

Christmas wreath

My lovely friend Hilary's sew a row quilt.

The Forgotten Seamstress Quilt

Well! what a very busy day I have had and I've enjoyed every minute. Its been a very stressful week and I was so glad to see the back of it so today I decided to have a day off from Uni work and go out and about. My first port of call was to Southport to the Craft Centre, a lovely shop owned by Angela Pluck. There was a free demonstration on how to use gold flakes in card making demonstrated by Lisa Winnard who made the most beautiful greetings cards. Then I was off to Westkirby to see the Wirral quilters quilt exhibition.  It was a lovely show with plenty of quilts to see and scrummy homemade cakes. I met a lady named Pat who told me she had made the quilt from the book called the Forgotten Seamstress by Liz Trenow, I was thrilled as I've recently read the book. What a beautiful quilt it was to. Then it was back on the train and home.

Birthday, Bonfire, cupcakes.

At the beginning of the week it was Natalie's birthday and tonight she is having a little firework display and has invited us all round. I have been in my sewing room most of the day doing Uni work but by lunch time I needed a break. I decided to surprise Natalie with a batch of cup cakes and some of her favourite chocolates. The butter cream is meant to look like fire with the hundreds and thousands representing the fireworks but I think they look like beautiful roses. I don't think the family will care what they look like as long as they taste good. 

Cuff sketchbook.

Cuff before ebelishments.

                                  

Front of Cuff Sketchbook

Back of cuff sketchbook.

Various weights of paper.

Remember I said in my last post that I took a black cuff with me to the area day last Saturday and it did not quite go with the vintage theme. Well I was determined not to let it go to waste as it was such a beautiful cuff. Using Nichola's techniques on how she made her vintage needle case cuff I decided to put my own spin on the black cuff. I started off by stamping various images onto calico, egyptian cotton and brown paper. I lightly coloured some of the images using my Derwent Inktense pencils to give them a little lift. Next I added some lace, beads, feathers and a few decorative stitches. I covered the back of the cuff with the fabric from the same shirt before adding various different weights of paper. Here is my black cuff transformed into a mini Sketchbook. I have to say I am rather pleased with this little creation and seeing as I have another cuff exactly the same I will be making another cuff sketchbook. :)

Simply Vintage

At the risk of repeating myself I am truly blessed. Yesterday, I had a fabulous day with members of region 13 at our area day in Crosby. The speaker was a very talented lady called Nichola Hulmston "Ninneynoo". She told us about her journey so far in the world of stitch and mixed media which was really interesting. She has recently started selling pieces of her work in her Etsy shop. Nichola's pieces where full of vintage charm as well as childhood memories and where a joy to see. The afternoon work shop was great, we turned an old shirt cuff into a vintaged collage needle case. I turned up with a black shirt cuff and though it is a gorgeous, it did not quite go with the vintage theme.  However, my lovely friend Gwen kindly gave me her two cuffs as she was not able to stay for the afternoon. I decided to make Gwen's needle case first. I sat with my fab LB friends and our lovely region coordinator Val. We all had a great time lots of chatter and laughter oh yes and lots of coughing from me (sorry girls). When I got home I finished Gwen's and I then had to make one for myself. Here are the two vintage collage needle cases. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that Gwen will like hers. Now sadly, its back to uni work :(