Memories

I made a little memory box yesterday......for two reasons. Alysn at The Beetroot Tree asked me to make one for a forthcoming exhibition at her gallery on the theme of Memory.

"Memory | Sat 30 July 2011 - Sun 11 September 2011
In support of the Alzheimer's Society we will be inviting you to purchase a memory box pack online to create you own work for display alongside the exhibition."
I decided to make it for my Dad, who died last year after suffering from dementia for approx 3 years. Inside the box are a selection of small photos plus a copy of my 'letter to Dad' which I read out at his funeral. 

As its Fathers Day on Sunday it felt especially appropriate that I should make this in memory of him :-) 
If you'd like to join in, you can read more about the challenge here and also on Alysn's blog here. There's a £3 charge to help raise funds for the Alzheimers Society.


I made quite a few things yesterday.....

 ...bread (in my brilliant Panasonic bread-maker)

 ......fairy cakes

 ....and my special Lavender and Peppermint cream. I need to work on some more attractive labels I think :-)

Peachy kept his eye on me for most of the morning.....

....until he fell asleep :-)

Another Felting Class...and More Flowers!

Yesterday I taught another felting class at The Beetroot Tree Gallery
....... this time we made felt beads and bracelets. We rolled the wool fibres with warm water and soap to make balls, let them dry, stitched beads onto them, then strung them onto shirring elastic with glass and silver beads in between.

I also paid homage to Jean (you can see her felt and silk flower tutorial here) and we made flowers to add to the beacelets. Instead of using coloured silk flowers though, I bought some very cheap white blossoms on a stem (from Wilko) and took them to pieces.....
......sprayed them with inks.......

..........and then felted them together and stitched beads in the centres.

The ladies were all delighted with their results........

Needle-Felting Workshop

Before I start I just want to say a huge 'thank you' to everyone who responded to my last post. I appreciate all your very interesting comments and I will let you know the results of my research into printing on fabric very soon.
Today I have been teaching a needle-felting class at The Beetroot Tree and I want to thank all of the 14 lovely ladies who came along. They showed such great enthusiasm and produced fabulous results! Above you can see the pre-felted pieces I made for them to work on (we cut them up into pieces) - we also used other starting points such as plain bought felt and wool top just on its own.



Not many of them had tried needle-felting before and they all produced beautiful pieces......either a brooch or a picture for a small frame or greetings card.

The Beetroot Tree has a fabulous shop and it didn't take me long to spend my wages.......

These are my latest attempts at making brooches ........ 'etsy maybes'.

Hand Needle-Felting

Just over a week ago I attended a Living Threads workshop run by Alysn Midgelow-Marsden. We learnt how to needle felt by hand using a single needle - its like magic! This is one of the pieces I made (I think its a seed-head). You can use an assortment of fibres; I used wool top, silk, linen, angelina and bamboo fibres.

First we laid a piece of velvet on a dense sponge (you can use felt instead of velvet)

then spread fibres on top.

The needles are not smooth, they have tiny ridges cut into them - this is what matts the fibres.

Just stab the fibres repeatedly (through into the sponge) until they bond with the velvet and each other. Keep adding fibres until you're happy with the effect. Like magic - they all become as one!!

Finally I couched thin strips of angelina film and added seed beads, accent beads and a few french knots.
If you click on the link to Alysn it will take you to her gallery/workshop/art shop/coffee shop/ gift shop (where everything is handmade)...... and I have just got a job there! I'll only be doing Sundays plus occasional weekdays - which is just enough for me. Can't wait - I'll just have to try not to spend all my wages on art materials ;-)

PS If anyone wants to have a go and can't get hold of a needle...email me.

Metallic Paint Effects

I spent a happy couple of hours at a local gallery this morning where they do 'taster classes' (so you can try out some of the wide variety of products they sell).

Today they were letting us experiment with metallic paints and ageing solutions. First I covered a cardboard mount with scrunched up tissue paper and paper string (which I undid in parts). Next I applied 2 coats of bronze metallic paint. The first coat had to dry, but whilst the second coat was wet I dabbed on verdigris ageing solution. As this dried I could see the blue verdigris effect gradually develop. Finally I rubbed the top bits with treasure gold wax. (This doesn't show up so well on the photo).

The gallery is called The Beetroot Tree near Derby; it sells beautiful hand made gifts and jewellery, has a wide range of Art Van Go artist materials, a coffee shop, craft studios and a pretty garden. The class only cost me £5....a bargain I think!

Now I need to make something to go inside......