Embroidery and Brooches.

Hi, Christmas is approaching fast and I have lots to finish. I am currently stitching cards for my mum and dad and for my mother in law. Very pretty cross stitch designs of children playing in the snow. I attended the Hylands Christmas fair last weekend which was really great. I had a stand in the new Grand Pavillion which has only just been completed and looks very impressive. The show was packed with shoppers and we spoke to many people. Next year they may run the event over two days which would be great. I have completed more of my emboidered jewellery brooches (which are for sale through my online shops - links above) and hope to run a class next year at my local adult community college on embroidering a brooch. Could be great fun. Back to the cross stitch cards.

Embroidery

 Hi, I have'nt written for a couple of weeks but here are a few of the jewellery broches and pendants I have embroidered. I found these very enjoyable to stitch. I used DMC and Anchor stranded cotton to stitch the designs.

Felt Reindeer and Christmas Pudding.

Hi, Today I have been making my Christmas pudding and mincemeat. Good old Delia Smith, I love her recipes. They work so well and taste fantastic. I started making my mincemeat yesterday and left the mixture over night for the flavours to develop and will put it into kilner jars later today. The Christmas pudding has been made and now I will leave over night and steam tomorrow. My kitchen smells gorgeous and will smell even better tomorrow when the pudding is steamed. My other little project, since the last time I wrote, is now finished. I have made a herd of felt reindeer. I subscribe to the craft seller magazine and one of these little fella's came as a free gift to make and sell. I made him and thought he was so cute, I made a herd. The photo shows just four of them, I have more downstairs! I added the sleigh bells so that they make a lovely christmassy sound as well. That's all for now, back to bottling my mincemeat.

Christmas fair and handbag mirrors.

Hi, We had a lovely week in the Lake District over the half term break. The weather was mixed but the scenery was fantastic. Back home last friday to load up the car ready for the Brentwood Christmas craft and gift fair. The show was great and got me felling christmassy. I did'nt have enough room or the means to display my paintings effectively. I had a lot stashed behind the stall. I embroidered a couple of handbag mirrors just before the show and I have more to make together with jewellery to embroider (brooches and a few necklaces), but at the moment its all go teaching my painting classes and making felt reindeer. Great fun!

Christmas craft and gift fair.

Hi,
I have'nt written for sometime. It has been an incrediably busy time making items for the Brentwood Christmas craft and gift fair (2nd and 3rd November). Only just over a week to go. I have made Advent calendars and gingerbread men galore.I have also embroidered the tops, for compact style mirrors, with butterfly designs and am very pleased with the results. Now its all steam ahead for the packing and labelling.

Christmas Decorations in cross stitch.

Hi, Just a very quick update this week as I am very busy with paperwork for my new classes together with making more Advent Calendars. I have completed the last two Christmas tree decorations in cross stitch. I designed a little dog and a snowman. The dog is very cute and stitched very well. Very pleased with the results.

Advent Calendar

Hi, I have finished the advent calendar I was making. I am pleased with the results and particularly like this one. All that needs to be done is to cut the hanging pole to size and drill the holes for the ribbon. More advent calendars to make so its back to sewing for me.

Cross Stitch Christmas Tree Decorations.

Hi, It has been a very busy week so far. I am back at work teaching watercolour painting with lots of new students eager to learn. We have been working from photographs for the, monday, Houses and Gardens in watercolour course and painting sloes' and honeysuckle for the tuesday and wednesday Floral and Botanical classes. The sloes' are lovely this year with lots of bloom on the berries. Its good to be back and great to be really busy. I have finished two further cross stitch Christmas tree decorations. This time a gingerbread girl and a gingerbread man both stitched on 18 count aida. Two more to finish so back to work.

Cross Stitch Christmas Tree Decorations.

Hi, I managed to finish two more of the Christmas tree cross stitch decorations. I love stitching these decorations. I designed two Christmas cottages and used 14 count pale blue aida. I think these look like gingerbread houses. My next two designs will be a gingerbread man and a gingerbread girl.

Cross stitch Christmas tree decorations.

Hi, To continue with my makes for Christmas I have taken a break from the Advent calendars and decided to do a little cross stitch. I have designed and stitched two tiny Christmas decorations to hang on a tree. Both are stitched on 18 count white Aida with stranded cotton. These were great fun to do. I have another six designs drawn up ranging from a gingerbread man to snow covered houses, so more on the way. I start work again next week after the long summer break and the funny thing is I seem to get much more made when my spare time is less. I teach watercolour painting so my posts will in future probably include some of my painting exploits. I am looking at all the lovely berries around this year and they will make lovely subject matter for my students to paint.

Advent Calendar 2

Hi, I know it is really early to be planning for Christmas, but if you have a lot to make then it starts now and in fact I am a bit late beginning. I have finished making the penguin calendar (photo below) and have now begun the pretty snow scene calendar. The calendars will be hung from a ribbon attached to a wooden pole. The snow scene design is really pretty and I am enjoying making it. I am rather glad the weather has cooled a little. My son will be going back to university soon (couple of weeks remaining) and it will be Christmas time before he comes home which feels very strange. Back to work now.

Advent calendar

Hi, Looks like it will be another warm day today. There is a lovely soft mist hanging over the trees, autumns on its way. I started making an advent calendar yesterday and I must admit it did feel strange with the weather so warm. This calendar has a penguin design and looks really cute. I have decided to add a star border to compliment the number stars on the design which I think will look great when I have added the wadding and backing. Hope to finish today and then its back to working on my City & Guilds course to finish the module that should have been completed weeks ago. Time does fly.

Doll clothes for Barbie, Silkstone Barbie and Fashion Royalty.

Hi, I have been busy this weekend making a dress to fit Barbie or Silkstone Barbie. This dress will fit the newer smaller busted dolls because I have used velcro but the dress does look better on the more 1950's looking dolls. I thought I would try making a dress with an asymmetrical hem and I love it. I also had great fun making the little clutch bag with a butterfly motif.

Doll clothes for Blythe dolls.

Hi, I have been very busy this week making more doll clothes and visiting friends. I had a lovely afternoon chatting to friends and drinking tea yesterday. Its back to making doll clothes today. I have made some pretty Blythe skirts and tops. The effects look good and I am very pleased with them.

More barbie clothes on the way.

Doll clothes.

Hi, I have had one of my doll clothes advertised in a magazine. I am really happy, it looks great. The magazine is Handmade Halloween and was published on Thursday. The dress is a lovely purple straight satin finish dress with a purple overskirt. The overskirt has a black witch pattern. Great fun.

I have also made a long length version of the dress with comes with a feather boa.

Doll clothes.

Hi, I have had a very nice day visiting a friend and taking a walk. The season is moving on and the fields are being harvested. This year is flying by. Yesterday I made a couple of dresses to fit the  Barbie type dolls using my basic pattern. The print of the fabric was lovely for the doll dresses and just about the correct size. I use velcro to fasten the dresses so that they fit all types of these fashion dolls (Barbie). I have lots of items to make for Christmas and am a little bit late starting. I will be at two Christmas fairs this year and need to build up my stock. The advent calendars will need to be made first as I shall need them for the first fair at the beginning of November. I know it seems a long time away but it will be here before we know it. At the moment, I am having fun making the summer dresses for Barbie.

Embroidery panel.

Hi, I have finished the embroidery panel I have been stitching. This is part of the City and Guilds course I am studying. The embroidery panel was based on the designs I created in the first module of the course, taken from the layers of an onion. The onion layers were enlarged to create a pattern. I thought the layers looked like a landscape, hence the design of the panel. Very pleased that the panel is finished. I will be working with transparent fabrics to complete the current module. I also have to design a 3D item based on the texture module completed previously. I will have to give this a lot of thought.

Hi Back from holiday this week. We had a fantastic time in Cornwall. I managed to do a little it of painting and sketching and saw some great work in local galleries. I was particularly impressed with the acrylic paintings at the Old Forge Gallery in Boscastle. Helen Setterington, the artistic, captures the coastal scenery brilliantly. However, with the holiday over its time for me to get back to the chores (piles of washing and ironing). I am breaking myself in gently this week and putting in some work on my City & Guilds course, completing the embroidery panel. So far so good. It should be finished by Sunday.

Painting for a friend final update.

The weather is fantastic if a little hot for painting. I have finished painting the Ragged Robin flower as the final stage for my friends painting. Overall I am pleased with the finished results. I spent the last few days painting in the shade at the end of the garden which was very pleasant. I have used Sennelier paints for this project. They are lovely and creamy paints and glide onto the paper. Now I need to select what I will paint next. I feel I would like to paint some more loose and free style paintings to have a break from the controlled work of the botanical painting. On to the next project.

Painting for a friend update.

The weather is fantastic and it is lovely sitting in the garden having my lunch. Yesterday was a very nice day. I gave a summer school class with nine of my students. We were painting Fuchsias and Pelargoniums and had a lovely enjoyable day. The weather is a little bit hot for painting and I can only paint for the morning in my conservatory but the ragged robin is coming along nicely. I should be able to finish the painting this week. Here are a couple of photos of the painting so far.

Doll clothes to fit Barbie size dolls.

Hi,
I have been painting today, working on my friends watercolour. Making slow progress. The paint is drying very quickly today so I have now finished. I spent yesterday afternoon making some doll clothes to fit Barbie size dolls. I found this lovely pink patterned fabric in my local fabric shop and could'nt resist. The dresses look lovely and ready for summer. I think the royal blue ribbon adds a nice contrast to the soft pink of the dresses.

Watercolour for a friend update.

Hi, it has been a busy time this week. My son has returned from Scotland where he has been doing his mapping project for his university Geology course. It is lovely to have him home. I am working hard on my painting and have now completed the Geum rivale leaves. Overall I am pleased with the results. There are always areas I would like to change but that is usual for me and it is the way, I hope, I improve. Now for the sepals and stems.

Watercolour painting for a friend update.

I have been working hard on the watercolour painting for a friend. I have now drawn in the ragged robin and begun the painting of the Geum Rivale. This is very slow work and I don't want to rush it. The leaves on my plant are changing colour to beautiful shades of gold and red. I am trying to incorporate these colours in some of the leaves but not all. So far so good.