Ana from Granada in Spain recently ordered one of my machine embroidered cup of tea tea-towels from my Etsy shop. I found out yesterday it is going to be a prize for a recipe competition on her blog Cazarecetas. You can read the English translation here. It’s not a brilliant translation but gives you a rough idea.
I love pumpkin so I hope someone enters a yummy recipe and is happy with their prize!…
I decided to make an egg cosy for a little girl’s birthday present this week. Okay so it’s not the latest expensive girly toy but it’s hand-made, personalised and I had fun making it while the boys played with their friends… It’s good practice for next week too, when I’m planning on machine embroidering my pictures onto the pile of tea-towels I have. Not sure they’ll be so easy but just as much fun.
Just a short post today, only one computer in the house and a school project to work on…
Sometimes, when I look at all the amazing creative work people post on the Internet I feel a bit overwhelmed, but other times I am incredibly inspired. Okay, so this is just a tea-towel idea but any inspiration is good I think. This time I was inspired by Charlotte Macey and her lovely machine embroidered textiles. I already have a load of tea-towels I was supposed to screen-print (it didn’t work, bit of a sore point) so I decided to have a go at stitching one of my pictures on one (my retro teapot and cup). It was a bit nerve-wracking as I haven’t done a lot of machine embroidery but great to dust off the sewing machine and have a go. I have to say, the end result was better than I expected. It’s a good job no-one was watching me though, I’m sure my head follows the needle as I sew, does anyone else do that I wonder?! Oh yes, and joined-up writing was a bit tricky, but don’t tell anyone…
I know I said I’d written my last blog post for 2011 but when you feel like being creative it can’t be helped and this is just a really quick one! Besides, all the Christmas shopping is done, presents wrapped, cards posted, just some mince pies to make (and mulled wine to drink!)
I’ve been wanting to do some drawing for a while but the Christmas orders meant I had to wait. This is just the first attempt; a pen and ink drawing of a Scandinavian style armchair and lampshade. The cushion and lampshade are machine embroidered which was a bit tricky as you can’t sew too much in case the picture falls apart! Just about did it but more practice definitely needed.
I’m going to do some more traditional ones too as I enjoyed it so much. This one will look nice in our living room, just the right colours…
I’m not a natural runner, but I used to run every week, without fail, round the streets where I live. And I have to say I didn’t enjoy it much. The only things that kept me going were 1. knowing I would feel good about it afterwards and 2. Looking at all the houses as I ran past (I’d always make sure my route was down the streets with the nice houses!) Well, now I’ve given up running, (I decided life’s too short to do something you don’t enjoy and I get to walk to and from school twice a day now). But I still get to look at lovely houses, and in even more detail as I draw personalised house pictures for people. Not only that, I love doing it, I really do.
Here are some of my latest ones. Firstly, a gorgeous house with lots of windows, with my embroidered sky (including a pretty pink butterfly), in a white frame. This was for a lady who wanted to give it to a friend as a thank you gift.
And secondly, another of my favourites, a Victorian semi for a friend who lives down our old road, with my original blue collage sky, in a white frame. I’ve got some ideas for developing these more in the New Year, but first I have beanbags to make. At least my orders for Christmas are nearly done now and I can relax a bit, but I’ll miss looking at houses for a couple of weeks… Maybe I should go back to running? Or maybe not!…
I had a go at embroidering the sky for one of my house pictures today as a bit of an experiment. Choosing the fabrics was fun and sewing them on wasn’t too bad, once I got the hang of it. I need to put it in a frame to get a better idea before I can say I’m entirely happy with it though. I must admit, sewing the clouds and sun onto the sky background was a bit strange as the needle had a mind of it’s own and straight lines are very difficult, but then clouds aren’t supposed to be nice and neat, so that’s okay (am I rambling?) What I’m trying to say is it was quite hard for a perfectionist, but I think the experience (!) was good for me too.
I had a lovely time at the school fair on Saturday by the way. Much more relaxed than last time and nice to just chat to people about what I’ve been up to. I’m looking forward to the Christmas Artisan Fair at Norden Farm (Altwood Road, Maidenhead) next Saturday, 3rd December (11 – 4pm). You might see this house picture on my stall if I can find the right size frame! It’ll be nice to meet more craft people in the area that’s for sure. On Saturday I found out an old friend from junior school makes adorable sock monkeys and peg bags – check out Rachael’s work on Monkey and Squidge. I definitely left the fair with even more ideas buzzing round my head, more about those another day…
It’s funny what makes me happy these days, you wouldn’t believe… Last Sunday was my birthday and I opened a small package from my husband containing an embroidery foot for my sewing machine, then proceeded to cry with joy. Mad I know, but that’s how much I love what I’m doing right now and want to learn more. I was so excited I ordered a book by Poppy Treffry straight away and thanks to good old Amazon it arrived today, yippee! I’m hoping to develop my personalised house portraits by designing a machine embroidered sky for the background. Hopefully I’ll be able to get one done before my stall at Norden Farm on Saturday 3rd December, no pressure then!
I must say too that I was inspired last weekend when we visited a craft fair at South Hill Park in Bracknell where I met a young artist called Lucy Anne Harding. She works with her Dad on his milk round and sketches him and the doors they see on their way. Then she puts her drawings onto ceramics and machine embroiders them onto fabric to make the most gorgeous pictures. I love her style and the colours she uses; there’s a lot of talented people out there… better start reading that book!
