Christmas, Cake & a Tag

I have been struck down with so many ailments in the past week

 I cant be bothered to list them all, suffice to say that 

with a full house again, all bugs and germs have invaded my home from nursery, high school

 and 3 different places of work.....and I got them all at once! 

I have been tanked up with decongestants, paracetamol and antibiotics, 

needless to say they bring their little side helpings of other things too!

anyway any energy I have had each day was put to good use and we managed to cook a really lovely Christmas dinner with 4 of us each doing a course, I cooked the meat, slow cooked ham and a leg of lamb, both declared delicious... so I did ok  :)

I didn't get any pictures on the day this year it took me all my energy just to be.

I did take a picture today of Charlotte with the cake that she and I decorated the day before Christmas Eve 

isn't it lovely :) she had so much fun making her snowman and trees.

this is a little Christmas tree kit her dad bought her that we had fun with too.

This weeks Tag Tuesday

no need to guess the theme

Christmas

' a king is born in Bethlehem'

more recycling of Christmas cards.

I'm still 2 short and wont be happy until I have completed the years themes in full but it will have to wait until I am feeling a bit more energised.

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday x

Fabric collage workshop

I recently attended a Richard Box fabric collage workshop with the Guild 

I didn't get any photos on the day, I was enjoying the process to much stop and get out my camera :)

The purpose of the workshop was to try the techniques that Richard uses to make his own beautiful collage pictures. Some of the group had taken a workshop with Richard before and they worked on the 'Primrose' but most of us worked on the 'Poppies' kit 

supplied and put together with instructions, and after a very clear demonstration from Richard we were soon all working on our own little creations.

Beginning with fabric snipping and glueing then free machine stitching. I did my hand stitching at home in the the evening ready to take back the next day for the final machine embroidery on top.

I was delighted with my little 'Poppies'

The rest of day 2 we worked on our own piece,
 most of them were larger, chosen from a photo, magazine cut out or painting.
 I chose this one 

 originally a greeting card which I kept as I liked the colours and composition 

I didn't get a lot of it done on the day as you can see and I had to put it aside thinking its going to take a bit longer to do and with all the preparations for Christmas taking over this past week. However with the technique still clear in my head and that need to work on it I decided to do another little one for a gift for my Mother, she has decided to add a touch of pink to her accessories in her living room and I found the perfect picture for her

this was taken by Kevin in Crete in 2005

and this is the piece I did

 sorry this is a bit blurry but you get the idea

 I added some seed beads to the centre

now framed and wrapped up

I hope she likes it!
Merry Christmas everyone wherever you are in the world,
& however you celebrate it x

Filography & Fancy Baubles

Filography

This is a little card I stitched at the last Embroiders Guild meeting on Tuesday 4th with Carol

each of us choose a design from the little kits that Carol had put together

I chose a Christmas tree

and with her guidance to got busy stitching and chatting, We also exchanged our secret santa gifts and opened them too! I got some delicious dusted champagne truffles, 

needless to say I don't think anyone finished their card on the night but I couldn't wait to get back to it, its so addictive! I finished it at the following weekend.

the following Tuesday & Wednesday some of us attended a machine embroidery workshop.

more about that later......

This weeks Tag Tuesday theme is

'Decorate a Tree bauble'

I cut two baubles from one Christmas tree card 

and added more bling!

Jars of note & Pomanders

I made these for an arts and craft evening I did reciently

Jar's of Note

made from recycled Christmas cards

I have also been making traditional Pomanders with oranges and lemons
with scents of cinnamon & lemon oil 

 they  add a lovely aroma around the room 
and make great Christmas stocking fillers

This is one I made about 25 years ago, 
 it has shrunk to half the size, and its so lightweight now
 the fruit has completely dried out.


I've been so busy I have forgot to post pictures here of my  Tag Tuesday tags
three of them!
 Winter Landscape week 49

old Christmas card pieces combined with stitch,

watercolour moon, sequins and beads.

Deck the Halls week 50

stitched Christmas card pieces

mini tinsel garland and paper chains

Two Bauble tags week 51
decorate a bauble

I manage to cut two bauble shapes from this Christmas tree card

to which I added more bling!
Feeling a bit more organized now I have the decorations and tree up!
Tomorrow our little Charlotte plays a star in the nursery nativity play :)
Looking forward to that :)
thanks for stopping by!
Yx

Stocking, Bunting and Peek n Seek's

Its been such a busy time with preparations for Christmas,
 there has been little time for blog posts!
more sewing

another 'Jack' stocking

Bunting for Halle

two peek and Seek Bags

and still more to do!

All ready with the red

So I had more fun with the red stash from the Embroiders Guild colour raffle 

here are all the things I made to take to the group tonight

Red inchies,

 a star garland,

 large vintage style heart,

 small furry heart with a stitched snowflake,

 a small wreath

 a small fabric bowl 

which I made from the waste piece from cutting out the stars.

tonight the auction colour is white so I've gathered a little bag of goodies to take along with some threads and a sewing kit, we are going to be stitching Christmas cards and we are also having a secret santa. 

Christmas Stockings

been busy with these Christmas stocking orders

Jessica

 A snow lady with a vintage touch!

 Jack

 a frosty snowman

Olivia

petite pink Christmas Fairy

made to order, each one unique,
 just drop me an email for pricing

Winter Warmer

Keeping Warm

it this weeks Tag Tuesday theme

my tag is a quick one, with so much on the go!

 This was made from a Christmas card from last year,
I cut and rearranged the elements

and just added some snowflake sequins and fluffy snowy yarn.

It's all red

At the monthly Embroiders Guild meeting in Dunfermline there is a colour raffle, everyone brings something in the theme colour, fabric buttons thread beads etc. and raffle tickets are sold to raise funds for the group.

If you win the raffle you get the colour bundle, the catch is you have to make something from the colour bundle for the next months meeting.

 November's colour was 'Red

My sister Theresa and I both bought tickets and agreed to half the bundle should either of us win.

Theresa won and was delighted as she was making items for a Christmas craft fair.

However we both agreed to make something for the December meet.

I had lots of fun with the selection of fabrics, ribbons, thread and other bits and bobs in my half of the bundle.

HEART

Red is not a colour I usually choose to work in 

INCHIES

 it turned out to be an inspiring, productive and fun process.

STARS
these aren't finished yet I will probably stitch them onto some cord to hang together, or perhaps a wreath, not sure, any ideas? 

I could have gone on with the red things....and will probably make more.

It also reminded me of a little story about when I was at high school, and studying for my Higher art. I had been drawing, sketching and painting peppers (capsicums) in shades of green for a few weeks in preparation for the big exam. On the day of the exam I left a little early to drop off at the fruit and veg shop to buy a green pepper for my exam. I would cut it fresh that day for the exam, ready to explore the greens with my watercolours and pens.

 It so happens that they didn't have any green ones, only red, I had no time to shop elsewhere, so I bought a red one. It was the best thing that could have happened, the  fresh new colour & fragrance were so inspiring and took my experimental mojo to new heights :) and thoroughly enjoyed the day !

My teacher was so impressed with my work he requested special permission for me to take 10 mins from the exam room to show it to my other art teacher who was less confident of my abilities to do well in the exam. He too was impressed and had to eat humble pie and apologise to me personally for marking me as a probable fail. (they had obviously disagreed on this) I was not immediately aware of the consequence of this pre-marking system, it meant that no matter how good my submission was on the day of the exam,I could not attain a grade A, hence the apology.  

I learned a lot that day but what I chose to take with me was positive.  

Try a different colour now and again it opens up new dimensions and offers a fresh approach, 

Not everyone will 'get it' but that doesn't mean it wasn't worth it for me :)

Art is a way of life, a therapeutic journey.

Music and stitches

for this weeks Tag Tuesday theme

'Music'

 I have kept it simple

again just using what I have

This week I have been a little busy stitching again, this time on paper and card and recycling last years Christmas cards ...... to late to take pictures tonight ......