thistles and other things

Hello again, and apologies for being so quiet again for a while. I did say in my last post that I was hoping to get back to regular blogging after the Christmas rush, well....things haven't gone quite to plan. I was ill with a horrible chest infection over Christmas and since then I have been enjoying tackling some really interesting commissions. The first was from a lady who asked me to make her a felted centre piece for her table, she told me the colours she wanted me to use but other than that left the design up to me. I felt quite daunted at the prospect to start with but once I got going I really enjoyed the challenge.

I laid out the fibres incorporating pieces of silk and cotton fabric and this was the finished piece....

I then had another commission to make 18 thistle brooches for a Burns Summer Ball, lots of looking at images of thistles followed. Eventually I came up with a couple of designs, the first was a 3D design made of a number of elements, the thistle head was made by felting a ball and then stitching yarn onto it...

then I made the spikey leaves from felt....

and a lovely bit of woolliness at the base just finished it off nicely. 

This was the second design, completely different as you can see and involving stitching, beads and buttons...

The first design was chosen and here they all are....

As well as this I have had LOADS of orders for knitted infinity scarves and I'm still knitting them....and it's March !!! .....I'm not complaining though, it's great to be kept busy like this, there is an up side to this freezing weather after all !!!

I hope everyone is managing to keep warm and I hope to be back soon with a post about the new products I have been making for the galleries and gift shops I supply. Bye for now.

bad blogger and pesky reindeer

Well, it's a disgrace I know, I haven't blogged since August, I have been a VERY BAD BLOGGER and am feeling disgusted with myself, especially since I have recently had a little flurry of new followers, welcome lovely new people!!! My last post saw me at my sons wedding which seems like such a long time ago now. Since then I have had a week away with my grandson in beautiful Fife, this was in early September. We were staying right next to a beach so Joshua had loads of fun playing here....

While in Fife the lovely Aileen Clarke contacted me and invited me for tea and scones to her beautiful rural cottage from which she runs her very successful business Aileen Clarke Crafts. It was amazing to meet such a talented felt artist and I came away feeling very inspired.........and got straight to work to prepare for the mighty 4 day event that is Living North. Week after week spent felting, sewing, knitting and allowing myself very little time off. Anyway, it was worth it as Living North was very successful for me....

....best sellers were recycled reindeer and owls

......that was the beginning of November, since then I have exhibited at a Ladies Shopping Evening and added  to my list of stockists as my work can now be found for sale at a lovely cafe with craft gallery called 'MADE' in my home town of Whitley Bay...

Right now I'm preparing for next weekends Winter Fair @ St Mary's Heritage Centre in Gateshead, Woodhorn Museum Christmas Fair and The Dome Christmas Fair in Whitley Bay at the beginning of December and a stint at my local market in Tynemouth. So ....the making continues....more reindeer, more owls, more felting and sewing....phew...I'm really looking forward to getting my feet up after Christmas when I will hopefully get back to regular blogging
Bye for now

gill

driftwood and flowers

Well, it's stupid o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep !! It's the heat and things whirring round in my head. So it's as good a time as any to write a blog post I think !!

A couple of weeks ago my son got married, we all had such a lovely day, everything looked so beautiful; the bride (of course), the bridesmaids (my daughter was one of them), the table decorations, the cake, the food.....but it was the flowers that I particularly loved, so bright and cheerful and colourful

this was my daughter's beautiful bridesmaid posy

and I was thrilled to receive a beautiful bouquet of flowers, presented to me by my gorgeous grandson.

Just the weekend before the wedding, I was really lucky to find lots and lots of driftwood on the beach near to my home, this was unusual as this beach is not known for driftwood, I think it must have been a particularly stormy night. I made a couple of trips and filled many bags, not really knowing what I was going to do with it. I have had an idea for a while that I would like to combine my felt with driftwood so one day last week I spent the whole day 'faffing' with it all and came up with this......

I quite like this just as a hanging decoration....

.......and plan to make more smaller ones

Well, time to go and put the kettle on, there's going to be lots of coffee drunk today I think, I need to finish making a collection of necklaces for the Gift Gallery in York and get them in the post and then prepare for a market on Sunday. Hope everyone has a lovely weekend......

now selling in Seahouses....

a couple of weeks ago I had a trip to Seahouses to take some of my work to a gorgeous gift gallery called Drift. The shelves here are positively groaning with irresistible gifts and local craft work. 

textile and art work.......

ceramics.....

wood turning...

lovely seaside gifts.....

and craft supplies; buttons, felt, ribbon, brooch making kits and loads more. I love the colours Julie has put together in this jar of buttons and one of my favourite pieces was this simple pussy willow heart....

                                                                             

I am so excited to be selling my work here.....and.....speaking of work, here are some pieces I have made recently.....

vase of flowers hanging....

framed flower pictures

embellished textile heart brooches and wool and felt flower brooches...

                                                      

                             

  and some nuno felted scarves

bits and pieces....

I have so many baskets of felt; pieces left over from larger projects, they twinkle at me from the corners of my work room, the combinations of colour and texture just call out to me until I can resist no longer and I have to go through those baskets, pick out some jewels and make them into something new.  

This week I have spent quite some time examining these little gems; some have silk, yarn or fabric embedded into them, and separating them into piles of complimentary colours. After cutting out some flower and leaf shapes.....

.....I came up with a new necklace design and embellished it with stitch.

 I was so pleased with this first one that I made a few more. I have named them my Posie Necklaces. Some are pale and delicate while others are bright and vibrant.

 Two of these are for sale on my Etsy store.

 I don't know if this has anything to do with the weather but I have also been drawn to making 'watery' items this week. Fish and mermaids. I particularly like Aqua Marina, below....

......she's quite slim and elegant isn't she....??.....I'm so jealous!!....

.......and to brighten up the dull days I made some sparkly hearts !!

I hope you have all found ways to bring some cheer into these miserable 'summer' days too!!

the joy of stitch....

I just love stitching. It is probably one of the most relaxing things I do, apart from sleep (which I also love!!). Just sitting and sewing really makes me feel at one with myself. I've recently started to embellish my felt with surface stitch, nothing fancy, just simple back stitch in swirls, lines and circles. I've made a few felt hangings this week, the perfect excuse to indulge myself in lots of sitting and sewing.

I cut up an old and worn out Indian cushion cover and 

incorporated scraps of this in the laying out of this hanging, along with small pieces of pre felt 

after wet felting I needle felted some dots....

...and then embellished with a bit of surface stitching.

 More scraps of old cushion cover and hearts cut from silk scarves salvaged from charity shops were used in the felting of this Indian inspired heart hanging. 

I embellished this one with mother of pearl buttons and....you guessed it....more swirly stitching

 

......yet more swirly stitching on this vase of flowers hanging. 

I've also been having fun playing with PicMonkey Photo Editing, it's free and you can do amazing things with your photos!! (www.picmonkey.com)

Just one more thing before I go.....I've been singing again, this time at a local summer fair, we all got drenched.........

Hope everyone enjoys the week ahead, whatever the weather!!

two weekends and all kinds of weather.....

Last weekend was really exciting for me, the choir I am in performed for the first time in my local shopping centre. It was a boiling hot day and thoroughly enjoyable. We only got together in March but I think we sound okay. Have a listen....

I was as high as a kite for the rest of the week but had to knuckle down to work as I needed to prepare to sell at Newcastle Community Green Festival on Jubilee weekend. So I spent the week making; Monday in gorgeous sunshine in Jaynes garden, lots of woolly heart hanging decorations...

......but the lovely weather didn't last for long and I spent the two days of the Green Festival in the bitter cold, I could hardly move I was wearing so many layers of clothing, but lots of hot tea kept me going and luckily the event was well supported..... 

Typically, yesterday, the day after the festival the weather was beautiful again and I had a lovely day in Seahouses, walking and browsing in the shops. 

I found a lovely little shop called Drift, selling lovely craft, beads and buttons... ooohhhh!!!

I bought a few lovely things including this crocheted coaster, I just love the colours.....

Well, it's raining again today....oh dear!!!!