Family/City

For Textile Tuesday.
I missed last weeks challenge so combined it with this weeks. I know it is cheating but, the themes seemed to go together for me.
This represents that the family is the oasis in the bustle of city life.

Painted fabric and bags.

OK did you wonder what happened to the painted fabric? Well maybe you didn't but I will show you anyway.

It became a couple of bags.

I really enjoyed playing with the fabric. I quilted and embroidered it before making the bags up.

I have made embellishments from shrink plastic and used fibres and of course beads to finish them off.

You can see more pics in my Etsy Shop.

Altered Books

Worked on a couple of AB's yesterday. They are for Maz - The Artful Zebra.

I love music and have lyrics stored in my head that are perfect for any occasion.

These lyrics are from a group called Seasons End.
The are friends of the family, getting famous and are oh so good.
I thought they went perfectly with this image.





The second is Vintage People and is filled the the most wonderful ATC's.

I had this image of the gorgeous geisha's and the rest just followed.
Oh the bamboo bookmark is a charity shop find ;0)

Fractals!

Well I was up very early today - 5.30am!
So I went for a troll around some of my favourite blogs.

I called in at Creaworx and saw that Karin had been playing with fractals.
These have interested me for ages but never thought I would be able to create one of my own.

Karin directs her readers to Fractal Explorer. Off I went and downloaded the programme. Then I found some great instructions by James Richard Skemp and "voila" here is my first fractal.

Yippee! What fun. Will I be playing again - you bet.

Arty Day

Well after having several down days and hardly creating anything at all, today it all just came together. I have had a lovely play day. Messing around with ink, paint and images and generally catching up with projects.


The first was an altered book for a Quotes RR. The book is for Linda.
Whilst not really a quote, I always loved this line from Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Quote says "He felt his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it."
There are days when I know just how Arthur Dent felt - how about you?

Next is Elizabeth's Everyday Book.
The Theme is Sun Bleached Colours and Seaside.
I love playing with drift wood and shells and these came from the beach across the road.
I enjoyed the forage too.















Last but not least was this little board. All my loves together here. Paint, ink, stamps, fabric (especially sari fabric) and vintage nudes.

She is part of an ongoing series of nudes - each one different.
I started the series last year and sold quite a few - nice to know that other people like nudes too.

This is Serene Beauty and she is in my Esty Shop.
She will be joined shortly by her sisters.

Posts

It seems that some of you are having trouble posting here - thanks to Laura for letting me know - don't worry, I am having trouble posting on other blogs. It is all to do with the new Beta programme.
Hopefully things will be sorted soon. Thanks for wanting to leave comments though, I love this interaction. ;0)

Happy, happy, happy!

I'm bragging here, but I just sold my first piece on my Etsy shop! Thank you Shelley.
I have sold before but there is nothing like the first sale at a new venue.
Off to continue my happy dance now. ;0)

Paints and fabrics

I have some cream curtain lining. It is lovely fabric but a little boring, so what to do with it.

I don't have dyes apart from a few Dye-Na-Flow colours but I do have some acrylic paints and my friend has a mass of them.
I didn't want the fabric to feel painted and stiff so I watered the paint down and added some textile medium. I fastened the fabric to a frame and painted away. When dry I heat set the fabric and it looked and felt dyed not painted. Yippee!

Since then I have stamped on the pieces using chalk inks and paints and over painted some areas.


At the moment the fabrics are hanging on the wall awaiting further inspiration. I'll let you know when I decide what to do with them.

New things.

I have been going through my pieces of silk fusion and hand painted fabrics that I made on Sue Bleiweiss' courses. I have quite a collection now and while I love to just look at them and feel pleased with myself, I thought it would be good to do something practical with them.

So now I have quite a few lovely little textile pieces. I got out my stash of beads too and had a wonderful time sewing them on.


I am going to use some as panels in larger pieces, maybe on bags - one can never have too many handbags, some will be swapped and some I am keeping ;0)
But something new I am trying is my new Etsy Shop.





I have had success on eBay in the past but Etsy is fairly new and deserves a look. Apart from some of the supplies, all the things on the site are handmade. It definitely has the feel of a big craft fair at the moment. Hopefully they will continue that feel.
Go check it out.

Arlington again.

We love Arlington Court. I think I may have mentioned it.

Well we decided to join the National Trust - Roger has just got a little bonus so this was our treat - so we can now go to Arlington as often as we wish.
I promise to bore you with pictures each time we go -LOL

Anyhow on Bank Holiday Sunday we trolled over there for a cuppa in the cafe with some freinds then off to sit in the walled garden for a while. We found this shady spot, cool and quiet. The garden wasn't as deserted as it appears but we didn't have to wait too long for this shot without people.
That's what we like about the place. There is always a quiet corner to be found however busy it is there.

This lovely bush was at the side of us. My favourite colours of course, but I just love the way they blend together so beautifully.
Hmm, I feel a creative moment coming on!!