HAPPY CHRISTMAS CARDS

 

Well, it's nearly Christmas and I've been so organised this year that all my cards have been sent and hopefully received by now. I decided to make use of the lovely stash of yarns I was given last year to make something a bit different.

 

I attended a basket weaving class run by my friend Soizic and as it was the season for it she showed us how to make these stars using willow and natural fibres like raffia and fresh grasses.

I drew a diagram that I could refer back to for the process, as you can see it's a thread wrapped around a star base and if you follow the lines it's quite straight forward.  I attached the end on the back using sellotape to stop it slipping and soon got into a rhythm of winding.

 

Here you can see the templates I used to cut out my stars in different coloured card and also some stiff clear plastic sheets made by passing empty laminating sheets through the laminating machine. I also cut out a few stars with pinking shears to stop the yarns sliding on the sides of the stars.

 

I used nearly every yarn in the collection, especially the fluffy white ones which were perfect for the moment on a blue background.

I had ordered a set of pre-folded plain cards and envelopes and I printed the Christmas message inside before I hand stitched each star with a different scrap of texture fabric or organza as a background.

 

I invited some friends round and we spent a lovely afternoon making these and chatting about our Christmases past and present.

 

The girls all went home with lots of star bases and balls of yarn to share with their grandchildren.

 

I hope you've enjoyed this little tutorial and will try this for yourselves.

Finally I wish a Merry Christmas to all my readers and a happy and creative New Year!

YARNIES FOR JAMES

 

Have you heard of Unravel?  It's a computer game with two delightful characters called Yarnies who travel around their world helping each other to get about.

 

My grandson James and his dad were playing it while I was in England recently and I was really impressed at the pleasure this gave them and me.

 

There is no shooting or killing or loud noises, just a gentle tune playing in the background.

 

James asked me if I could make him some Yarnies and of course I said "yes!"

 

I researched on the internet and discovered that the game originated in Sweden, where I was born so I searched out my sketchbook full of drawings done when I was there in 2012.

 

I used some red and blue electrical wire as the basis of the figures and searched out some red and blue yarns from my stash to wind around .

 

I made their lifelines on the sewing machine by zigzagging 2 threads together to make them strong and doubled back over the ends to reinforce and prevent unravelling.

 

Once they were finished I had a lot of fun photographing them in different poses in my studio.

 

The Yarnies explored the bookcase,

 

 

and climbed over my lamps.

 

They played with my pens but finally I had to say good bye and designed a card to post them in.

 

 

I found various scraps to make a Christmas tree scene with hand embroidery and lots of glitter.

The support inside is pelmet interfacing which just happened to have the points already cut out.

 

The outside is a spotty satin and I used a piece of red ribbon to make the tie wrap.

 

 

I posted a picture every day on Facebook after I sent the Yarnies off this week, James was thrilled with his gift and sent me a picture back to say thank you.

This has been a different making experience for me and I can honestly say I had a lot of fun with it and especially imagining James's face when he opened the envelope.

 

 

PORTRAIT OF ESTHER

 

 

At last I have completed the stitched picture of my niece Esther.  She is an enigmatic soul with a big heart and I wanted to capture that spirit in this portrait.

 

 

I clipped this picture from a recent photo to use as the basis.

 

 

The first step is to print out the photo to the required size which I then tape to my led light box.

 

I lay a piece of cotton organdie on top and draw the outline in erasable gel pen that disappears when I iron the finished piece.

The next step is to choose the background fabric and the colours I want to use for the stitching.

I found this lovely colourful batik in my collection and some pieces of bronze and blue organza to use to give depth to her hair.

 

Here is the portrait after the initial stitching has been completed. I've used running stitch for the hair in different shades of brown, backstitch for the outline and satin stitch for her lips. 

The next step is to interface the face area with some iron on interfacing, I use a very fine woven cotton one as it works well with the cotton organdie.

 

I use the light box again to trace Esther's name and birthday along the sides and mark where the boundary of the portrait will be.

Now the fun starts, I pin and tack the portrait to the background and start the decoration by stitching through both layers following the patterns on the background. Then I made a line of running stitch on the boundary which I whipped with a contrasting thread.

 

Finally I carefully trimmed away the excess organdie and then I decided to re-stitch the script in a stronger colour as the pale colour didn't stand out enough.

I've used this method on several of my family portraits now and soon they will all be assembled into a wall hanging to celebrate the centenary of my mother's birth next year.

SKETCHBOOK CATCH UP

 

Mushrooms are appearing in my garden and along with the red spotty ones a few golden brown oddities that I've drawn life size here.

 

The pine tree in my garden is very stocky with a wonderfully cracked bark.  I sat on the bank one warm afternoon to draw what I could see and maybe one day make a textile art piece from the image.

 

A piece of bark drawn from both sides, still a work in progress.

 

In England visiting the family we went for a lovely walk on Sunday morning and James and I collected pockets full of chestnuts and leaves to draw and we even ate some of the nuts!

 

While I was at Justine's we walked at Winkworth arboretum which is famous for the collection of Acers.  What pleasure to collect all the lovely red leaves and spend the time to draw them;

 

Another Sunday and a walk near the river at Guildford where we found a hop plant covered in fruit.

 

James is becoming a good artist and he borrowed my triplus watersoluble pens to do his own drawings.

 

I sent him a set and a waterbrush of his own before I left to go home.

A FEW MORE PORTAITS

 

I'm working away in the background making the portraits for my Mum's memorial quilt and here are the latest few I've completed.

This handsome young man is my nephew Sebastian, son of my younger sister Juliet.

 

The second portrait of Stephanie my middle granddaughter is much prettier from the first one I made.

 

Here is Juliet, hand stitched on linen to co-ordinate with the other pictures of the same generation like Christopher and the others I want to do of Rosi and myself.

 

Sarah's machine stitched portraits have been turned into gifts for her birthday, this one is now on the cover of an A4 sketchbook I've made for her.

I machine embroidered a message on the inside of her card and decorated it with appliquéd butterflies, then made a drawstring bag with the same fabric to use as wrapping for the card and sketchbook.

 

The last machine stitched portrait is now on the front of Sarah's card which I stiffened with some pelmet interlining which is stiff enough to keep the card standing.

I hope you've enjoyed this look at my latest work and I'll be back soon with some more in a few weeks after my autumn visit to see the family in England.

HOME FROM HOLIDAYS 2

                                       

 

We arrived at Benodet and found our campsite only a short distance from the shore with a fabulous promenade all around the headland and back along the river bank to the town itself.  This is a stitched picture of the sketch  below, using linen as a background with assorted organzas and yarns and a bit of inktense coloured fabric for the tree trunk.

 

I sat on a bench one afternoon to draw this in my new long sketchbook which is quite a challenge to use as I have to think carefully about how I'm going to fit in the image I want to depict. I used water soluble triplus pens on this trip as they are so quick and easy to add a bit of colour.

 

 

This another view from the promenade  around the headland looking out to sea and the yachts coming home after a day's sailing.  The cormorant posed on his rock just long enough for me to capture him and his strange movements as he tried to swallow a large fish!



                                         

 

We walked into town one day and found a very busy port with boats taking people out for trips up the river as well as to the nearby islands. There were coaches full of visitors and many bars and restaurants to choose from selling the local seafood as well as crepes.  We chose a bar with comfortable sofas facing the harbour wall to take a couple of beers to refresh us ready for the long walk back to camp.

 

 

 

The campsite was very well laid out with lots of attractive trees between the plots and this is the view through our front window.  I've left out the caravan that was actually where I've done the writing and used my Museum water soluble pencils to add the colour.

 

 

 

I picked a few of the red sycamore leaves from the tree on the left of the sketch to play with using the crimson water soluble pen from the triplus set.  I had wanted to pick one of the chestnuts from the tree in the distance but there was another camper on the plot and I didn't want him to think I was a total nutcase!

 

 

From Benodet we moved on to Arradon on the gulf of Morbihan and another campsite only a short walk from the sea.  We had arranged our annual get together with some camping friends and we spent three lovely days together, walking, talking, eating and drinking so I only have one sketch to show for it.  Carolyn and I took their dog Florie for a walk and sat in the sun to draw this while our menfolk went shopping for wine.

Now we're back home and I'm catching up on my family portrait project which I'll share with you next time.  A bientot!

HOME FROM THE HOLIDAYS

 

Back home now after a couple of weeks touring Brittany. 

We started at L'Aberwrach on the 1st of September where we celebrated our wedding anniversary with a delicious meal at le Vioben, an excellent restaurant renowned for it's seafood.

This is a sketch drawn while we were walking along the footpath by the edge of the river, I haven't added the blue of the water or the pale green hills in the distance as I wanted to concentrate on those wonderful tangled pine trees.

 

The path was lined with all sorts of plants like brambles and bracken but my eye was taken by the velvety looking sloes and the nibbled greeny grey leaves.  I used to gather these inedible berries to make sloe gin but as we haven't finished drinking the last batch from 2 years ago I thought I would leave them for someone else;  I also believe in only taking what you need from nature, not over collecting just for the sake of it!

 

From L'Aberwrach we drove on to Locronan, designated 'une petite cite de charactère' by the French tourist board.  The campsite was on the edge of town up a winding hill road and we were allocated a plot with a fabulous view through the front window which I couldn't resist drawing as I sat at the table in the morning.  I could see across the valley to the hills opposite with their éoliennes (wind turbines) turning slowly in the distance.

 

As always I took some sewing supplies with me and stitched this picture postcard view over the next 3 days. The background is a printed patchwork fabric perfect for this kind of work and then I layered up organza and other scraps as well as some of the confetti patchwork I prepared before we left home. I used a mixture of threads and yarns to depict the trees and leaves and chain stitch around the edge for a border.

 

In the mornings we visited the town to see what all the tourists came for and to have a refreshing beer before climbing back up the hill to camp.  The walk was very pleasant through the woods with glimpses of the view through the trees and then the roof tops and the old church spire came into sight.

Coach loads of people come here to see where many films have been made and spend money in the gift shops.  I felt there wasn't a lot of character though, just a lot of well preserved grey buildings and hundreds of people pointing their cameras in all directions.  We even overheard an American trying to persuade his wife to pose in front of the bank pretending to take out some cash!

We moved on to Benodet next but I'll have to save that till next time.

A bientot!