Valentine Hearts

So I have been working on some more hearts to add to my Etsy shop

and to stock up for craft fairs.

some bright vibrant pinks,

 purples and reds, 

and some more subtle lavender and mauve 

Swarovski Crystals, Freshwater Cultured Pearls and Silk

all now available @ Boxoftrix 

Christmas Hearts

New Christmas Hearts 

In reds and greens

Silk layers with pearls and crystals

Pendants

and

 brooch Pins

Now available @ Boxoftrix 

Pendants < click here

Brooch Pins < click here

Let it Snow!

Let it Snow!

let it Snow.....

Little Snowman Pins

Who could resist these cute little guys......

Made of  white wool blanket and white embroidered cotton fabric

 Hand stitched and embellished with little buttons, crystals
and tiny stitches.

Each one Unique and individual.

Waiting to brighten up and add a little winter sparkle to your day!

or perhaps someones stocking ;)

available now 

@ Boxoftrix

Sunny side up

This light and magnifier that clips onto my floor stand broke a few months ago,

 bought about 4 years ago on eBay along with the stand so, not sure how old it is. I'm hoping I might be able to pick up a new clip for it but I have forgotten the name and make of the lamp. Its a good lamp and the magnifier is very powerful......I found that out when this happened!

 to my chair in the studio at the window and the sun came through it.........after that I made sure it was kept covered in its little pocket for safety.

If I manage to get a new clip I will keep it at my sewing machine table but I have decided I needed something a little less weighty and more portable for use on my stand and my hoops.

My mum gave me some money for Christmas and I knew just what I wanted to buy!

After a little bit of research I bought this great little clip on sewing light / magnifier

It's called a Mighty Bright Vusion Craft Light

as soon as it arrived I couldn't wait to try it out , it's so lightweight and easy to use on the hoop and it clips on to its own weighted magnetic base for sitting on a table.

I have been using to sit in the evenings and do a little more on the 28 squares.

Feeling quite pleased today even though its raining and very cold outside, booked a couple of sites for trips away in the caravan .....looking forward to those sunny days!

Not waiting for change

I don't normally talk about my health here, I have always intended it to be about creating, sharing ideas and enjoying art and textiles, but if I think back, the reason I started my blog a little over four years ago was to give me a focus while going through treatment for and coming to terms with a Molar pregnancy.

 It helped a lot, I did not write about it but rather everything that I enjoyed and it helped so I just kept going.
 The treatment (Methotrexate injections) affected my concentration and my eyes so badly that I was unable to spend the many enjoyable hours that I used to on my miniature embroidered pictures.

I forgot that I did this one, I enjoyed working in these colours.

I miss working on the miniature pictures and always hoped to go back to them, after the treatment I had my eyes tested and needed glasses, the optician told me it was just my age and nothing to do with the treatment but how can a person go from working in miniature close up, (6 inches from my eyes) to being unable to see one of her works in her own hands without a magnifying glass within 4 months...is that possible?...perhaps it is I don't know if there are any readers out there who can enlighten me I would love to hear from you, if you had the treatment or if you know about the side effects of the treatment.

 I'm waiting to go for tests on my arms. For some time now more than a couple of years I have had pain in my arms, elbows fingers and sometimes my wrists. Some days are more painful than others I wake up feeling as if someone has been jumping on top of my arms all night and that's when it gets me down, I'm not out of bed and already they hurt!

 In my head I want to create but at the moment my body is letting me down, and on those days,I find it frustrating, and difficult to accept. I have made several appts. at the doctors and been given various pills, sent for x-rays but the main problem has never been dealt with nor found...that is until now, I waited another year putting up with pain in the hope that it might go away.....silly of me really to think that. We had a new doctor join the practise, she sent me to the hospital consultant, both think it might be Ulnar nerve damage and to determine how bad it is, I need to go for tests, to see how bad the suspected nerve damage is.  Apparently my arms will be hooked up to a machine and currents sent to the nerves to assess the damage, I'm not looking forward to it but at the same time I don't want to waste any more time getting to the route of the problem but now, whats worse is the hospital has called to cancel and re-arrange the appointment 3 times since November! I'm now beginning to think that this is how they deal with the statistics of waiting for treatment and actually getting it on the NHS and wondering how long it will be till I get the tests, will this always be something I have to live with. I hope not.

This time I refuse to stop doing the things I want to do, I'm still clearing out my studio of excess clutter and various household unwanteds which always seem to find their way in there,  making changes, to make things easier with better use of wall space, drawers and cupboards.

I will take some pictures when its all done.

 Things will be a lot easier to find than in the past and I'm hoping to finish all those little projects that have been shuffling their way to the bottom of my basket drawers like this little piece that I worked on at the beginning of the summer.......

A piece of dyed calico from my college samples provided a lovely background for this hand embroidered flower stem which I did quite a few years ago on a plain white cotton handkerchief, I blended both together with tiny straight stitch lines in varigated thread then outlined in my favourite french knots. 

Looking at it from a different angle sitting in the work basket I decided this view was better

and perhaps a little heart shaped...now what to do with it......?

Baby Bunting for 3

More Baby Bunting

for

Tanar

Erin

&

Emily

3 more new babies

each one different and unique :)

Baby Bunting can now be ordered from my Etsy shop here : Boxoftrix

We have been having lots of rain :(

so earlier this week Charlotte and I made pancakes

Here she is watching out for the bubbles.......

....... and today fairy cakes

but she prefers to eat chocolate toast with a little ketchup on the side.....

Blogger is at it again! for some reason I am unable to leave comments on some of the blogs I have visited tonight, its very annoying. I type in a comment, click the send and it deletes the comment!

A little gift

It's my birthday today,

 I used to always have a gift to buy and give on my birthday too as I was born on my Dad's birthday.

He is resting in peace now, we said goodbye to him in Oct 2004, but he is never forgotten.

My birthday is always a reminder.

So in the true birthday spirit of giving ......I have made a little thing to share with you.

Embroidered Jar Lid Cover

I liked this jar, tall and slim, I thought it would be useful for storage in my studio but the black lid was a bit boring, my initial thought was to glue a paper cover on it, then I thought a fabric instead. Then I decided it would be a perfect little project for some hand embroidery.

My inspiration for the flower design came from the lovely book

The new crewel by Katherine Shaughnessy.

Although I did not use crewel wool or linen twill fabric as described in the book,

I liked the patern and the way the flower petals overlapped on some.

I used a piece of white cotton curtain lining and some DMC embroidery threads in 3 different shades of blues and a little bit of red rayon floss.

3 cotton wool pads

thin double sided tape

ribbon to edge.

embroidery hoop, needle, scissors

and a clean jar with lid (preferably one with a deep sided lid)

I haven't gave any measurements as jar sizes vary, and each one you do will be unique.

Keep your design simple and have fun.

1. Put you fabric into the hoop and lay face down on the table using a light pencil draw round the lid to leave a circle on the back side of your fabric.

2. Draw you flower outlines within the circle.

3. Embroider the flowers, I used 3 strands for flowers in satin stitch 1 strand red for french knots.

4. Chain stitch round the flowers using the circle on the back as your guide.

5. Stick a layer of double sided tape around the top edge of the lid.

6. Take the 3 cotton pads and gently tease them apart to fit the top of the lid.

7. Remove embroidery from hoop and trim off excess fabric leaving enough to cover the deep edge of the jar and a little over.

8. Place embroidery right side face down on the table with the cotton and lid centred on top, peel away backing tape.

9. Bring the fabric up matching the chain stitch edge with the lid top rim and press against the tape

10. Repeat on the opposite side to keep fabric centred

11. Repeat on the other two opposite sides.

12. The tape should allow some repositioning of your fabric until you are happy that the chain stitch edge is lining up to the lid edge.

13. It should look something like this.

14. Add another thin layer of double sided tape to the lower edge of the lid and peel backing tape away and press the lower fabric edge against it.

15. Trim away excess to lid edge.

16. Add another layer of double sided tape over the fabric this time around the bottom edge of the lid and cover with ribbon strip.

17. Secure edge with another little snippet of tape.

And there you have it......finished!

Of course the idea could be used to make a lid cover for any size lid, 

 it would be nice to see yours if you make one :)