Something Fishy.....

I knitted Peachy a fish yesterday and filled it with polyester wadding and catnip. He's crazy for the stuff. He was so keen to play with it he was trying to grab it out of my hand whilst I was stitching the eyes and mouth on. I found the free pattern on Ravelry (brilliant website).
It kept him quiet for ages......

 

......until it was time for a wash. It takes a lot of effort to keep that fur sparkling white :-)

I've been adding transfer foil to the pieces I made with Maggi last week; she kindly gave me some to take home (now I need to find a supplier :-) I've never used this before and was amazed to find you can apply it with Bondaweb, Misty Fuse, FuseFX or glue. All give different effects.... I love it!

 Yet more on the theme of Autumn - this is a piece I did for Kim Klassen's Test Kitchen. Kim gave us the original photo and a tutorial on how to alter it. I did a number of versions and for this particular one I also used a mask/texture free from Jerry  (Shadowhouse Creations).

  "Autumn burned brightly, a running flame through the mountains,

                                                   a torch flung to the trees".

                                                          Faith Baldwin

Autumnal Art...... and A Day With Maggi

In my quest to 'embrace Autumn' I've been taking lots of photos......the digital pieces above are of a leaf from my garden. Textures and mask are from DJ Pettitt.

The photograph below is of a hydrangea growing against our garden wall. I think it's more interesting this time of year than in summer.

For my first digital version I used various textures from Kim Klassen plus a Katie Pertiet mask from Designer Digitals....

...and here's another version; textures this time from Shadowhouse Creations.

Last Friday I had a wonderful day with Maggi (To Dream to Stitch) at her house. She showed me a paper lamination technique using torn papers, matte medium, stencils and organza (which Maggi had beautifully dyed). Here's my piece before I soaked it to remove the papers....

 I cut it into three and kept one section with the papers still attached as I rather liked the effect.  For the other two pieces I did the technique properly and soaked the papers off the back, leaving behind the parts where matte medium had been applied through a stencil.

I've already begun stitching on one of these....more photos another day :-)

After a delicious lunch (eaten whilst whilst watching the amazing collection of wild birds in the garden) I got the chance to use Maggi's embellishing machine. Oooh it's like watching magic happen......I couldn't believe how all the fabrics and fibres bonded together. I used wool fibres, chiffon, scrim, rayon threads and a thin strip of green velvet (dyed by Maggi).
Here's my attempt....unfinished of course. I will continue with my trusty hand felting needle and add some more wool fibres and sari silks. Then possibly some machine and hand stitching.
A work in progress!

I've also been doing a bit of hand-stitching over the past couple of weeks......its not brilliant, but I enjoyed doing it....

And finally, an update on Peachy. He now lives with us!!!! I think he feels at home here.....he loves my art room :-)
We've been to the vets a few times over the past couple of weeks.....ear drops for mites, two sets of vaccinations, a microchip and castration. DH cringed when the vet called out 'Peachy Vincent' when it was our turn to go in. He laughed at our expressions and said don't worry, we've heard worse .........  :-)

Accept.....

I'm struggling a bit with the prospect of Autumn and Winter this year. I've never been a fan, but for some reason I'm dreading the next few months even more than usual. I'm trying to be positive though, hence the digital piece above is for me.

The next three are my tributes to Autumn.......I do love the colours of the leaves and berries; I'm just not so keen on the dark evenings, rain and howling wind.

 

Images are my own, textures are from Kim Klassen and Shadowhouse Creations. 

Masks and brushes are from Designer Digitals. 

Here are my originals.......apart from the rose which is a free photo from WikiCommons.

Last week we went for a walk around Elvaston Castle Country Park, just a 10 minute drive away from us. I thought I'd take some photos of the Autumn colours, but what I found was some rather gorgeous purple.



The berries are from a bush called Callicarpa americana .....more commonly known as 'Beauty Berries'. I've never seen them before and couldn't quite believe the amazing vivid colour.

Finally.......I've been having a play with Kim Klassen's PSE mosaic tutorial ('The Test Kitchen' - see side bar). I love the colours, but I still think I could do better....... (well its fun trying :-)