Shalotte

A very Steampunk snowman

2012-02-06T06:06:00.000-08:00

Well I thought I'd have a go before the snow vanishes.

This is one of my snowman as a scary monster oooooh!

This is our front garden, complete with black and tan cocker spaniel

My snowman has borrowed my sari scarf and my top hat and become a Steampunk Snowman lol

Cinderella - Art Cowl - She's off to a new home

2012-02-05T03:30:00.001-08:00

My beautiful Cinderella art cowl is off to a brand new home, more specificly to Nemi in London. She was posted yesterday and should arrive at her new home on Monday. I hope her buyer has as much enjoyment wearing her as I did making her and I'm sure she will be surrounded by compliments.

A few more roses

2012-01-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

This time in cream satin with pink pearls, mother of pearl button and white tulle net

Romantic Roses

2012-01-05T12:01:00.000-08:00

Its amazing how some plants and trees have the abilty to keep going in all sorts of conditions. We have a rose tree a few doors down that has been blooming since early spring and is only now on its last fading blossom.
The houses have been abandoned for many years but this beautiful old tea rose is nearly as high as the house and seems to be getting more and more beautiful every season.
Of course roses are the most romantic flower in the whole garden although the colour of the bloom is a very important choice to get across the right message. The roses I see everyday are a beautiful bright pink and to thank them for their graceful beauty all last year and to put my mind in the spirit for valentines day, the next festival of the year I have started work on a selection of rolled rose fascinators and other fabric pieces to brighten up my studio and to remind me that the worst of winter is soon to pass.

A selection of pink shot satin rolled roses with tulle veils

Pnk shot satin rolled rose with lampwork ladybird and gold net veil

Sepia toned roses with beads, buttons and salvaged embelishments

Treasury - I need to be shipwrecked

2012-01-04T04:29:00.000-08:00

January and the promise of spring

2012-01-02T04:26:00.000-08:00

In my soul I love january but I must confess that like most people I loath the weather.
I am more at home in a soft warm day walking barefoot in green grass with a light breeze around me then I am in the midst of winter with the rain, the mud, the icy air and the cold dark nights. It may be jumping the gun a bit but january always seems to breathe a promise of spring, of snowdrops, green grass and the possibility of actually being able to take off your socks and wiggle your toes.

When I thinkof spring I always think off ballet, The tradition is to have ballet in the winter with Cinderella, The Nutcracker, all the festive favourites but my love is the floaty, springlike effect created by the traditional romantic tutu. When you think of ballet you simply have to think Dega, his beautiful, soulful dancers in shades of blue and cream, yellow and grey, the traditional hues of spring. I'm currently examining the possibility of making myself a full length romantic style tutu to celebrate to birth of the new year and I know for a fact I have a huge amount of both white and black tulle, the white being a lot softer fabric then the black so I may have a go with tea dying it as I'm not a fan of white and black seems to put a damper on the romantic notion.

I have found a couple of tutorials online from various sources, there is a nice on on ehow and another from balletshoesonmyfeet but I want to steer clear of too much poofyness as it really isn't my style.

I cant do a post on ballet without images of dancers and here are some of my favourite Dega paintings.

The Indian Bride - - Victorian Empire Bridal Neck Ruff

2011-12-11T04:19:00.000-08:00

Victorian Empire Bridal Neck Ruff

So far in my bridal ruffs I have concentrated on traditional english bridal themes but with this piece I have gone for an Angle Indian Victorian Empire Tribal theme in bold oranges and browns.

I have had this piece in mind for a while now and the cotton yarn was in my workroom but as soon as I saw this delicate fabric I knew I had found the right binding material to bring this idea to fruition.

The base piece is a bright and beautiful orange eco friendly cotton with a single base layer and crochet ruffles at the top and bottom.
The second layer is a big beautiful flouncy ruffled layer of delicious burnt orange spicy raw edged organza with a hand stitched looped length of sequinned thread in metallic dark brown. The third element is strips of a beautiful ethnic indian cotton print in cream with a bold orange batik print and raw enged muslin ties with larks head knots to various crochet loops at the bottom of the piece.

This collar is finished off with a beautiful handmade copper clasp with glass sees beads and has a secret golden bell on one of the fabric strips that will jingle out whenever you walk.

This piece is perfect for anything from your indian ethnic wedding to bellydancing, festivals and if ypur brave enough, everyday wear.

Teaser - New hat designs for 2012

2011-12-01T09:58:00.000-08:00

I do have a small range of mini crochet hats in the fascinator style but in the new year I'll be introducing a collection of victorian/romantic style hats in full size in a range of colours and themes.

Cherry fascinator

Winter Wedding Ruffs

2011-11-13T09:03:00.000-08:00

Brides are always tempted by summer sun but a winter wedding can be just as romantic. Think pure shot silk jackets, heavy vintage lace, faux fur muffs, victorian style little leather boots, handmade gloves, silk stockings, chunky ice crystal jewellery, snowflake confetti, the list is seemingly endlesss.

To this inspiration I owe my new collection of Winter Wedding Ruffs. These ruffs all have a solid base of crochet with shell style loop ruffles and are lavishly decorated with pure white cotton, raw edged muslin, delicate ruffled fabric, organza, ribbon, tea dyed muslin, vintage lace, beaded faux pearl and chain strings,handmade copper and bead T bar clasps and all manner of beautiful things.

Introducing

Rapunzel

Grey and white crochet with white cotton, tea dyed muslin, gold organza, vintage lace and faux pearl chain.

The Snow Jester

Grey and white crochet with white cotton ruffle, blue and lilac organza and muslin free form roses and broad white ribbon bow tie

Snowflake Columbine

Grey and white crochet with delicate blue fabric, muslin, faux pearl effect beaded trim in cream and pink

These ruffs are now available on Etsy except Rapunzel which will be available from14/11/2011

Shalotte at the Queen Park Arts Centre

2011-11-08T01:36:00.000-08:00

Shalotte is running a selling exhibition at the Queen Park Arts Centre in Aylesbury, Bucks from the 8th of Nov to the 18th. Our cabinet is in the cafe so anyone who is down that way why not pop in and see what we have to offer. We are exhibiting a selection of glass and semi precious jewellery, crochet neck ruffs, hats, scarves, art dolls and English Prim Owls.

Oxford Russian Bazaar

2011-11-06T03:39:00.000-08:00

Oxford's Russian Bazaar in St Michaels church was the event on yesterday morning

We got in early before it filled up.

The book stall was a mix of russian and english books and I was sorely tempted by a beautiful illustrated dictionary saints and several stunning russian language art books

Food stall with delicious take away cakes and pastries. I rather liked the thought of pumpkin and butterscotch muffins

Stall selling a mix of ethnic crafts, cards and other items

The icon stall was beautiful. We were really spoilt for choice

Mmm the hot food stand. Everything smelled utterly delicious and the ladies were lovely and chatty

We indulged in a slice of a russian honey cake called Medovie and nearly died of delight. It was about 15 layers of a light honey sponge with a cream filling, topped with a drizzle of chocolate and strawberries

These were the two lovely ladies behind the sweet and savoury stalls who served us. We also took home some fabulous dark bread that tasted of aniseed and some cheese and herb aubergine roulades

I got this lovely little blue glass crucifix pendant

A handmade wooden spoon for dry serving as a present for my mother

and a little painted leather icon for my father

Mermaid Art Doll project #6 -face update

2011-11-01T03:46:00.000-07:00

The transfer for her face appears to have been a success. The first time it didn't work because I took the instructions too literally ' cover the image in a thick layer' I ended up with a huge blob of gunk on the fabric that peeled off. The second time I used less fluid and whilst the fabric is still slightly stiff I have managed to clear off all the paper. I now need to wait for it to dry and make her head.

Mermaid Art Doll project #6 - Possible breakthrough for her face

2011-10-31T04:48:00.000-07:00

Now I haven't forgotten my mermaid doll but I have been struggling to get her face right. I have tried a load of the types of faces suggested by doll sites but I just can't seem to get the knack right. I am hoping that the next attempt will prove sucessful enough for me to finish her.

I have purchased a tube of Dylon image maker with the hope of sucessfully transfering a face design to fabric. I have used thE image on the right as I want to do her hair myself and last night I printed it out, lathered it in transfer fluid, placed it on the fabric and left it till this morning and am praying that it works.

I have nothad much sucess with this product before and if it doesn't work then I may have to go back to the freezer paper method.

Salamander on stone - Free machine embroidery

2011-10-26T04:37:00.000-07:00

Having cracked the free machine stitch on my machine I have embroidered a beautiful, colourful salamander on the natural stained fabric collage.

This is my lizard simply drawn on the fabric

I started off with a dark olive green in a natural patern, covoured the rest of the fabric in grey and red but making sure I left enoughspace to show the natural colour of the tumeric dye.

Mark Making Experiments - results and follow on- Salamander on stone

2011-10-20T03:39:00.000-07:00

These are the results of the natural mark making that I was working on over the weekend

From the left #1 apple #2 tea #3 spices

I have cut out rough circles on the apple dyed fabric around the marks made by the fruit

I have layered the apple fabric onto the tea fabric so that the darker fabric so that the darker dye shows thru and contrasts with the lighter dye. The spice fabric has been cut into a pattern matching the marks of the dye and layered on top with a single opening to show the other layers.

I have now joined the pieces with hand stitching in red,yellow,grey and orange abnd it reminde me of some kind of fire creature, a salamander or fire lizard.

One of my birthday presents was a roll of fine copper sheeting suitable for machine and hand stitching so I will either cut out a lizard in the copper or machine stitch the creature on the fabric with black and red cotton and use the copper as flames.

Faces in Free Motion

2011-10-17T05:42:00.001-07:00

I have managed to crack Free Motion embroidery on the sewing machine. I was playing about last night with faces and whilst they do look rather gargoyle like I think they show promise.

Sweet Rustic Cinderella Patchwork Hessian Aprons

2011-10-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

Sweetly Rustic Waist length aprons made with beautiful hessian fabric and embellished with red and yellow hessian patchwork pieces.
These aprons are both hardworking and practical but also make a stunning country style statement for all seasons.Perfect for apple picking, pumpkin carving, gingerbread baking, thanksgiving dinner or anything else you get up to in this beautiful autumn season.

Waist band and ties are made from mid brown linen tape and tie at the back

Full length and child aprons are also available although patchwork colours may vary.

Available on Etsy

Mark Making Experiments

2011-10-15T14:19:00.000-07:00

I have been indulging with a good book this afternoon. More specificly The Found Object in Textile Art and have been rather inspired by the mark making in the book to have a go with my own ideas over the w/e.

Rather traditional teabag printing/staining. I washed the fabric in water and white wine vinegar to help fix any patterns and kept it damp during the day.

This is apples pieces and green tomatoes. The fabric was treated in the same way. I expect a subtle yellow patterning on this fabric. Nothing strong but something beautiful and delicate.

From this I expect fiery colours and speckled designs. This is tumeric and chili powder from Morocco sprinkled onto damp fabric that is already settling into the cloth.

I shall be keeping the fabrics damp during the w/e and then leave to dry on Monday.

summerfaire: Snow White Apple Bag

2011-10-15T04:59:00.000-07:00

summerfaire: Snow White Apple Bag: Okay, so that project I was telling you about? This is what it started out as: Just a few weird shapes drawn on cotton that somehow make...

I love this. Someone else using fairytales as inspiration for textiles

Seasonal Stockings and Jewellery for Things British

2011-10-14T15:27:00.001-07:00

I am not going to say the dreaded C work just yet. I'm still now finished with Autumn but Things British need items to go in their holiday gift guide so I have spent the day making up samples of hangingstockings and my sister making some jewellery to send for consideration.

These are a few of the items

Willliam Morris Lilly Pattern Stocking with pink hand dyed lace top

Angel Chorus 100% cotton stocking.

Copper Stars and Glass chunky bracelet

Copper Holly and Green Marble Bracelet

Fingerless Gloves - In Progress Pics

2011-10-11T05:34:00.000-07:00

Thes are my fingerless gloves part one

Knitted in stocking stitch with a 2x2 rib at both ends most of these will be decorated and embellished for my chosen themes

Untitled

Organic Turquoise cotton with lace thumbs and faceted black buttons

Lichen and Roses

Pale blue and white pure wool with hand stitched floral lace and vintage buttons

The Blackberry Thief

pink and black pure wool with hand pleated tea dyed lace strips,

upcycled flowers and brass effect flower beads

Goblin Girl is still in progress but she will be dark green and black with hand stamped copper, red rose braid and........

Etsy Treasuries

2011-10-10T05:17:00.000-07:00

My entries for the Etsy Treasury Hunter Team Challenges

This Halloween I'm causing a Sensation!

The Harlequeen

Treasury featuring my Pale Knight Top

Etsy Treasury Hunter: Treasury Challenge Winner ~LayOffTheBooks~ Week 18...

2011-10-08T14:50:00.000-07:00

Etsy Treasury Hunter: Treasury Challenge Winner ~LayOffTheBooks~ Week 18...: Congrats LayOffTheBooks! Contest winners receive 1 week of free DELUXE advertising on ETH. Please remember to visit LayOffTheBooks' sho...

My treasury entry After the Ugly Bug Ball was given a honorable mention which I am delighted about. Thank You

Altered Eras: New Venture - THINGS BRITISH - Exciting New Shop i...

2011-10-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Altered Eras: New Venture - THINGS BRITISH - Exciting New Shop i...: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Altered Eras can now be found in a London s...

You can see my owls in the window at 0.24 and our shelf at 2.28

thank you Paula for posting this

Fingerless Gloves

2011-10-07T01:38:00.000-07:00

Brrr its getting chilly right about now so I'm working on some plans for fingerless gloves.

The three I'm working on at the moment are titled

Blackberry Thief - pink and black with white roses and tea dyed muslin

Goblin Girl - green and black wih hand stamped metal, red rose ribbon, twigs and beads

Lichen and Roses - the old abandoned castle - blue and white with fawn floral lace, buttons, keys? embroidered lichen

Thats my day for today. I'll be adding pics to this post as the day goes on

Treasury Features - Thank You!

2011-10-06T08:54:00.000-07:00

A big thank you to everyone who has featured us in their treasuries this week

My Treasury on Etsy Treasury Hunter

2011-10-05T01:25:00.000-07:00

My treasury has been selected for Etsy Treasury Hunter

Fairytale Cowls - Cinderella in progress pics and inspiration

2011-10-03T04:15:00.000-07:00

These pictures were my main inspiration for Cinderella, a dreamy creation in filet crochet with silk and lace, rags and tatters

How To - Make an Art Quilt Style Mixed Media Canvas - Autumn Owl part three

2011-10-01T09:54:00.000-07:00

This is the last part of my Autumn Owl Canvas.

I left you last time with simply the owl to make to finish it off

Here is what you will need for part three

1 Brown Fabric - felt or cotton are two good choices for your owl

2:Embroidery Cotton

3: Brown Felt

4: two small buttons for eyes

5:your template

6: a small amount of stuffing. I used pure wool but you could use anything that is soft.

Step one is to design your owl. I did a load of quick sketches but settled on this one

Step two is print out your template. You can use this one or design your own. The owl is approx 2" and a bit high.

Cut out your fabric

Pin to your canvas just above the branch

Using your embroidery thread stitch around 3/4 of the owl leaving a space at the bottom

Gently stuff your owl. I used the end of a paintbrush to stuff the ears

Stitch him all the way up

The next task is to embroider two small circles for his eyes

Add your button eyes and a small triangle for his beak. You can also add eyebrows and feather ears

Now for his tummy.

Embroider a zig zag stitch across the top of his tummy, just below his beak.

Now stitch at an angle from left to right using the zig zag dashes as a guide

Now stitch right to left to create across hatch diamond pattern

Now for his wings.

Cut the wings out of the same fabric (or different to create a unique breed )

Stitch them with an x stitch just at the sides

Now for his feet

Start by stitching a couple of stitches from the bottom of his body to the top of the branch

Now stitch three stitches each claw from the top of the branch into the cotton that is wrapped around the branch and into the canvas

Finished Claws

This is my finished Owl

One Finished Canvas

He is now ready to adorn your wall or wrap up and give as a present

The Madness of Growing Things Cuff Bracelet

2011-10-01T02:45:00.000-07:00

The Madness of Growing Things Cuff Bracelet. Made from soft butter suede,lace, green and white leaf print fabric with hand stitched vine, beads, mother of pearl buttons leaves and organza roses.

Focal point is the patch of printed poetry on linen and machine stitched with gold thread

BES-BEN EMBROIDERED OWL HAT

2011-09-26T02:14:00.000-07:00

I think I may be in love with this hat. It was sold at Susanin's couture, vintage textiles auction in 2007
It is circa 1962 and is made from green velvet with a six lobed shaped edge shape with green beads. On each lobe sits a pair of embroidered owls one large one small with rhinestone eyes. A whimsicle touch is a single gold metal handwith rhinestone bracelet spaced amongst the owls. Item has a green veil

Rosy ~ Posy: Stumpwork

2011-09-26T01:34:00.000-07:00

Rosy ~ Posy: Stumpwork: Part of my holiday potholder swap requirement is to send along an ornament and in one of my old Inspirations magazines is a beautiful stu...

How To - Make an Art Quilt Style Mixed Media Canvas - Autumn Owl part 2

2011-09-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Part Two of my Autumn Owl tutorial.

Last time I had finished appliqueing the trees and had done some decoration/embelishment on the branches give a helping hand when starting to decorate it.
This time I'll be filling out the background of the trees and doing some more embelishment on the branches

Things you will need for part 2

1: PVA or craft glue

2: paintbush

3: an old book or decorative paper

4: embroidery threads

5: leaf ribbon, fabric leaves, more twigs and small metal flower spacer beads

This is where I left the canvas last time

Step one is concerned with using your paper to create a background.

I'm using an old penguin book with beautiful yellowing pages that was falling to bits with a broken spine. You can use any type of paper you want from newspaper, handmade paper to tissue paper and coloured paper but I am using book print as our subject is an Owl and they are the creatures of wisdom and learning so a written background is very fitting

You will need to tear your paper into small pieces the sme size as your fabric scraps and gently paint them to the white canvas with your glue and leave to dry for about an hour and a half

For the next step you will need fabric leaves and ribbon. I simply cut my leaves from a leaf print fabric. You could do the same with a floral fabric if you don't fancy leaves or simply cut out leaf shapes from any fabric you have in your stash

Cut out your leaves and cut the ribbon into 3 - 4" lengths and stitch into your branches wherever looks right. Remember to leave space for your owl!

Now stitch on your flower beads. You can also add red or purple beads in clusters for autumn berries

The last thing in part two in to make a perch for your Owl

You will need a preferably bent twig or piece or chair cane approx 3" long. You need to wrap it in either cotton, thread or a light fabric and stitch it onto the canvas in the botton quarter of the piece.

This is what you should have after this session. With your own twist of course

Next time I will be making my Owl and giving options for other techniques for your feature creature

Treasury Features

2011-09-25T06:40:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who has featured out items in treasuries over the past month

How To - Make an Art Quilt Style Mixed Media Canvas - Autumn Owl part one

2011-09-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is my first ever How To for my blog and its series on how to make a decorative canvas for your wall.

For this you will need

for part one

1: a canvas

2:embroidery thread and thin yarn in natural shades such as green, brown, purple,yellow and orange

3: sewing needles

4: scaps of fabric. You will only need small pieces as no branch piece needs to be bigger then one inch

5:twigs, fabric leaves, flowers,acorn caps, nature ephemera

6: anything else that is small, decorative and takes your fancy.

Step one is to unwrap your canvas. I'm using an 18 by 24cm one.

Step 2 is to tea stain your canvas. I dislike white surfaces and its always nice to start with something that gives you the feel of your surface. Leave it to dry and you can now think about your design.

I started by drawing a simple tree branch design in paint on my computer and transfered it to my canvas. You can either draw in from the screen or print it out and use tracing paper to copy your design.

Once you have your image on your canvas you can then start embroidering your outlines. For this I used embroidery threads in yellow and green, some dark purply/grey handpainted silk yarn and brown knitting yarn. A mix of textures as in nature.

When you have finished your outlines this is what you should have

Now is the exciting bit.

The next step is filling out your tree branches. You will need you fabric scraps and more embroidery cotton

You need to cut each piece of fabric roughly to the size you need as you stitch it. For the multi coloured branch each piece is around half the width of the space and I have used large raw stitches to add to the organic nature of the piece

This branch is a mixture of suede,silk,cotton,curtain fabric and acid etched damask.

Once you have finished you branch I suggest you add a couple of small twigs by oversewing them onto the already stitched canvas to give you a feel of how you are progressing

The second and third branches I have used the same technique but have used a single fabric one a pale fawn/grey linen and the other a green gold loose woven heavier fabric

The wonderfull thing about this is that you don't need to finish one layer before starting on another. I have already suggested the adding of small twigs and now on the other branches I have added french knots and small circles of yellow and green fabric to represent lichen on the plainer branches along with some fabric ivy leaves

You will need to fill in the other branches in the same manner using whatever fabric you wish but not making any single piece bigger then one inch.

Remember to leave to botton horizontal branch free of embelishment as that is where you will put the owl.

Next post will be filling in the background

A Walk in the Woods- sketches,photographs and inspiration for mixed media art quilt canvas

2011-09-23T10:00:00.000-07:00

This morning I took a walk in the woods to gain inspiration for my latest project. I am making 2 mixed media art quilts on canvas to go on the living room wall.

This post is very image heavy

This is the entrance to Shotover woods

The first thing you see when you step off the track are millions of acorns, some up to 2" long

I couldn't resist these blackberries

A fly on a leaf is slightly strange but I managed to get close enough to reflect his lovely green tones

The white dot on this acorn looked simply stunning on the nut brown

Deep into the interior

A fallen acorn branch amongst the green

I love bracken, esp when its in mid turn from green to gold

The play of light and dark

Blackberry Flowers

Red berries with purple leaves (not shown up as purple as they did in real life)

Bright green leaves

A fallen acorn leaf branch on the woodland floor

Mushroom/Fungi

Monster fallen branches

Some pages from my sketchbook

grave rubbing art quilts

2011-09-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

I've just come across this technique whilst browsing the cloth paper scissors website.

It involves laying a cloth over a gravestone and gently rubbing a crayon over the words and designs like you would do with church brasses and bark.

Make sure you use fabric crayons you can iron to fix and then applique the designs to clothes and accessories.

All images copyright Susan Lenz

Info list

http://graverubbingquilts.blogspot.com/

http://www.susanlenz.com/Gallery/GraveRubbing.shtml

http://www.shadowmanor.com/blog/?p=12271

http://www.gravestonestudies.org/faq.htm

Pieces of Eight Bracelet - Personal 5 min challenge

2011-09-22T05:22:00.000-07:00

I challenged myself to make something out of what I could find in less then five minutes and this is what I came up with.

Pieces of Eight Pirate Bracelet

Pieces of eight pirate bracelet made from found and salvaged materials such as old wooden cotton reels, rabbit bones, buttons, glass beads, wooden toggles, seashells, wooden disks and metal charms.

Fairytale Cowls - Cinderella in progress

2011-09-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Some images of 'Cinderella' in progress

Fairytale Cowls - #1 - Snow White

2011-09-16T10:07:00.001-07:00

#1 of my Fairytale Cowls series is now available on Etsy

Snow White

Buy it Now

More Owls and a baby owl necklace

2011-09-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

I've reached my goal of 10 owls by the weekend and have also made myself a teeny baby owl necklace from leftover fabric.

This is Figwit

Louie

Pepper

Damosel

Marie

and my baby owl necklace

Oxford Moroccan Handicraft Market

2011-09-15T05:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the last day of the Oxford Moroccan Handicraft Market. I didn't even know it was on and would have missed it entirely if Abbie hadn't gone into town for something else and gone out the wrong door in Boswells.

Trust Abbie to go straight to the bead and jewellery stall

Tagines, Mirrors, hanging metal incense holders and furniture

Shoes,Bags and Jewellery

Textiles and Metal Beating

These were a gorgeous mix of cave painting and traditional moroccan style.

I learnt something new as well. Olives come in pink and red. I was going to get some but I got distracted by the perfume stall.

Isn't this painting fantastic. You can almost hear the music coming from the canvas and the way the artist has painted the skin tones in black and purple was breathtaking. He took it out in the sunlight so we could see it better.

Lots of leather bags

Cedarwood carver and lathe worker

I'm in love with these sofas, it was kind of hard sitting on them but put some more cushions on it and you'd be as snug as a bug

Stall selling Juniper wood bowls and woodwork

Things British - New Shop in London

2011-09-12T04:55:00.000-07:00

Things British is a fantastic new shop opening in Carnaby St in London selling things that are 100% British made by individual designer/makers. We are lucky enough to have shelf space starting from the 23rd of September to the 23rd of December.

For more information please visit the website http://www.thingsbritish.co.uk/

Twitter https://twitter.com/#/thingsbritish

Facebook http://www.facebook.com/ThingsBritish

I'll be posting more information soon including a selection of things we will be selling via them.

Art Owls - Meet the rest of the gang

2011-09-09T16:08:00.000-07:00

You met Mabel earlier so now its time to meet the rest of the parliament.

These two are entirely made from recycled fabric

Mabel is a wool mix fabric and Chloe is made from 100% linen

All are stuffed with pure wool

Meet Mabel - Plush Art Owl

2011-09-08T09:29:00.001-07:00

Meet Mabel, She is the first of a collection of Plush Art Owls that I am working on for the Lambert Arms fair next month.

Made from 100% recycled fabrics, vintage buttons and lots of Art Stitching

Bilbert's Adventures part the Fourth part 5 - exploring the Pit Rivers and Natural History

2011-09-03T02:43:00.000-07:00

Adventures at the Natural History

Look at these Dino prints!

..............and I never even saw him coming!

Beautiful Butterflies and Birds
]

Help!!! I'm being eaten by a T-Rex

This is the Oxford Dodo

Pitt Rivers

Lots of theatre masks and Human Figure puppets

This is my last day of Adventure in Oxford as next week I go to visit Anne in Northhampton

She is Woman wearing The Amazon Cowl

2011-08-31T05:09:00.000-07:00

This one I am keeping for myself

Bilbert's Adventures part the Fourth part 4 - Exploring the City

2011-08-31T04:22:00.000-07:00

This is the Ashmolean Museum

First thing you see when you go into the museum is this chappy on a plinth. He looks kinda chilly standing there to me.

This is the human figure gallery on the ground floor

English Stumpwork in the Textile Gallery and a Norse Runestone dedicated to Father,Mother and Sister

These are some early examples of money. I don't fancy carrything this around in my pocket

This is the museum's Japanese teahouse and a Georgian dessert table

Now this fella has the right idea

This one's a bit moody

*phew* its a long walk to the Pre Raphaelite gallery but its worth it to see this stunning painted cabinat and Persephone

Etsy Treasury Listings

2011-08-31T02:04:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone for featuring our items

Featuring our Autum Leaf Felt Wrap - by Jamina Rose

Knit1Treble2 Treasury Comp entries

Bilbert's Adventures part the Fourth part 3 - Exploring the Science History Museum and I got to make a fancy hat!

2011-08-30T12:26:00.001-07:00

We went to the Eccentricity Exhibition at the Museum of the History of Science

Lots of Steampunk goodies

We did the activity page, match the bio to the person and invented a clockwork pony groomnig system

This is the activity table. I made a fab hat and the lady running it took two photographs. One for themselves and one for me!

Off to the Ashmolean, Pitt Rivers and Natural History Museums now. What larks!

Bilbert's Adventures part the Fourth part 2 - Exploring the Castle

2011-08-30T12:14:00.001-07:00

Exploring the Castle Complex

This is Oxford's Mal Maison Hotel and Complex. Its build around the old castle and if you want you can spend a night in the dungeon room

They are currently hosting a display of photographs from around Britain. This is a huge map you can walk on

Some of the Photographs on display, including the White Horse

I even got to ride a painted Rhino!

Goodness, I'd better keep to my good behaviour of I might end up here

Oh dear! look what a mess I've got myself into

Its alright. Naomi let me out :)

Bilbert's Adventures part the Fourth part 1 - Exploring the City

2011-08-30T09:51:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

Today was sightseeing day in Oxford

This is Bonne Square which has a war memorial and some beautiful bronze book statues

I found this shop selling lots of Britishing themed goodies and a stunning floral display

Oxford is full of little alleyways full of interesting sounding places

and beautiful houses

not to mention architecture. I think the sandy stone goes very well with my colouring

This is the Martyr's Memorial in St Giles. One of them is Bishop Hugh Latimer, Naomi's ancester

Mood Boards for Fairytale Cowls

2011-08-29T09:38:00.001-07:00

Red Riding Hood

Cinderella

Treasury Features

2011-08-28T15:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who has featured us in their treasuries over the past couple of weeks

Pied Piper

2011-08-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

The Pied Piper is one fairytale that Disney left well alone. At first it seems an innocent enough tale, the piper saves the town from a plague of rats but its later on in the story that it takes a darker turn. When the townspeople foolishly refuse to pay the piper he plays a second tune which, like the rats, the children must follow. He takes them into a cave under the mountain and shuts the entrance up behind them.

For this cowl I am taking my inspiration from the Medieval roots of the tale. I will be using Sari Silk yarn as a base in rich vibrant colours of the Piper's clothing and mixing it in with lace, bone, coins and velvet, all the trappings associated with the money that the villagers refused to pay. I may line the cowl with red, maroon or black velvet to add warmth and richness to the piece but I will have to finish the crochet before I decide.

Knit1Treble2: Winning Treasury #8

2011-08-28T01:09:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Esra/Knitella for choosing my Carnival Town treasury as her favourite. We'll be choosing our inspiration item this afternoon.

Naomi
x

Knit1Treble2: Winning Treasury #8: This latest challenge has been so much fun and there were many beautiful and creative entries submitted. Esra at Knitella certainly had h...

Fairytale Cowls

2011-08-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

Seeing as I am enjoying creating my latest cowl so much I have decided to do a series of cowls inspired by the fairytales I enjoyed as a child.

I have some inspiration boards for some of the pieces but these are the basic building blocks of each design

Snow White will be red, black, and snowflake white yarn with ties ending in red apple charms.

Pied Piper will be in sari silk yarn both spun and ladder with black lace, red velvet, wooden buttons and a leather cord pull tie with drilled penny ends.

Red Riding Hood will be red ( of course) either rags to riches yarn or felted red wool with a faux fur collar and wolf teeth pull ties ends.

Cinderella will be gold and cream with tea dyed muslin, old gold lace, pearls and tulle

I'm also thinking of Mother Goose in grey and Sleeping Beauty in silk and stainless steel

Bilbert's Adventures part the Third - Exploring the wood and play red indians

2011-08-25T07:18:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent the day exploring local wood

Goodness there is so much to see

Playing hide and seek. I bet you can't find me....

Over here!

no
.

.

over here!

I found this beautiful feather and we made a headdress so I can blend into the woodland even better

well, sort of

The Princess And The Toad Cowl - WIP Pics

2011-08-23T06:53:00.000-07:00

This is the first work in progress pic of the decoration of the piece. I have ruffled some light green lace to the bottom of the cowl and layered it with some ruffled old gold tulle. I was going to use two foam balls wrapped in gold cloth hanging on the ends of the pull but I can't find any fabric that looks the way I want it. I could wrap them in tulle but its not going to cover the white of the balls enough

I have found a fabulous tutorial for making organza water lilies but I won't be putting them on the piece I shall be making them large and scattering them all around the ground when I photograph the piece. I'm also a collector of frog prince sculptures so I'm going to have either my favourite wirework frog or my little green prince balancing on the hand of my model.

Now to stitch the ruffles to the cowl.

Now the cowl is felted

2011-08-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

Some photographs of my cowl now its felted and dried

Emily Loizeau- Pays Sauvage - Inspirational Images

2011-08-22T09:53:00.000-07:00

As promised here as some images from the album Pays Sauvage that is inspiring my Princess And The Toad Cowl

A quick update from Bilbert

2011-08-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

Hello,Just letting you know I've not dropped off the edge the weekend. I went into town with Naomi and Abigail to do some sightseeing but the weather turned against us so we decided to leave it till tuesday and popped into Pret for some lunch.

Yum yum, Moroccan chicken soup, hope they got 3 spoons as it looks deeelish

Felted Cowl - the princess and the toad

2011-08-22T03:41:00.001-07:00

You know what, I've just taken the cowl out of the machine and it looks good but I have decided not to go with the mermaid theme but to go with something completely different.

I'm currently listening to Emily Loizeau's cd Pays Savauge (I recommend it simply for the photographs, you get a wonderful french boho collection with a bearded lady,dandies, silk and furs, long skirts and tousled curls, top hats and horns) and I fell in love with the mix of languages and troubadourish style that echos through the entire album.

She has a wonderful song on there called "The Princess And The Toad" and it made me totally change my plans for this cowl. I'll still be decorating it with muslin but this will be tea stained and ruffled with gold tulle, old lace, pearls and water lillies and the loop pull will have two gold balls on the end to represent the ball that the princess lost in the palace pond which lead to the story itself.

I'll post some images from the album so you can see what has inspired me so much

Today I felt

2011-08-22T00:56:00.000-07:00

Today I felt. I'm putting this cowl in to felt this morning. I'm a bit nervous as I know that the dark green main colour yarn felts like a dream, really tight and solid but the rest of it is made up of baby wool, plain wool and mohair mix so I'm not certain how they will react to the process.
Its crochet in filet stitch so its quite light but the felting should give it some body and shape

If its successful then I am planning to add ruffles of muslin, to the bottom and seed pearls dotted around the darker sections to give it an underwater mermaid/shipwreck look.

Its in the machine now so I wil check itevery 20 mins to make sure its going alright

Talk of mermaids my doll wings are finished and I now need to decide it I wil make her some arms or not as she looks slightly off balance just with the wings at the back

Bilbert's Adventures part the second

2011-08-17T10:20:00.000-07:00

Morning All!

Lets see what I've done today

First of all I met the chickens.

This is Alphonse

and these are Jack and Maggie

This is Willow,she's 3 yrs old and is a black and tan cocker spaniel. She wanted to play with me but Naomi said I was a little too small for her rough and tumble games. She's a poppet tho and I got to scratch her tummy

This is Gemini, she's a miniture shetland who I'm going to have a ride on over the w/e

and this is Tess, she's 20 and is recovering from a nasty foot infection, poor baby.

Now I'm exploring the orchard. My thats a lot of apples

Peekaboo!

That was a fun morning. I could do with a rest

Mmm, this is nice, now all I need is someone to swing me

1000 things alpaca challenge #19 entry - And they crowned her The Queen of the Wood

2011-08-17T05:11:00.001-07:00

Treasury Feature- The Traveller shawl

2011-08-17T04:09:00.000-07:00

by Upcountry 2011
Zing! (EJART TREASURY PROMO GROUP)

1000 things alpaca challenge #19 entry - Amber Wine

2011-08-17T03:45:00.000-07:00

My entry for the 100things alpaca challenge#19
Amber Wine

all working again

2011-08-16T14:37:00.001-07:00

website and everything is up and running again

website trouble

2011-08-16T06:54:00.001-07:00

There seems to be something up with my website server. I can't contact them as their own site is playing up as well so I can only hope they sort it out quickly

Bilbert's Adventures part the first

2011-08-16T03:00:00.000-07:00

Morning All

I arrrived in Oxfordshire is first class style (thank you claire and postie) and the first thing to do was meet the rest of the gang. From the left there was Jarath, Jack Sparrow *WOW a real pirate! The Librarian, Ben the biker who I though was scary looking at first but he's a real teddy bear once you get to know him and Lady Loveday, a beautiful steampunk lady who has promised me a ride on her Zepplin tomorrow, I wonder if Naomi will lend me some goggles

Next person I met was Naomi's latest project, a beautiful winged mermaid.

Icould really go for this wing lark, save a load of postage if I could just fly everywhere

Not too sure about this fella tho, says he's called Fred but apart from that he didn't talk much

Bilbert the plushie has arrived!!

2011-08-16T02:44:00.001-07:00

Bilbert, the beautiful plushie from doodledollies arrived yesterday and is making himself at home.

Knit1Treble2: Team Challenge #8

2011-08-15T09:15:00.000-07:00

Knit1Treble2: Team Challenge #8: "A creative challenge hosted by the knit1treble2 team which is open to all members of Etsy. You may enter as many times as you like! To ..."

knitt1treble2 team challenge#8
Carnival Town - Hot Pink and Lime
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTAyMTU4NDh8NTc5NjM5MDc3/carnival-town

Knit1Treble2: We have a winner ...

2011-08-15T05:36:00.000-07:00

Knit1Treble2: We have a winner ...: "The winning treasury for challenge #7 is Floral Festivity by Knitella20011 . Thank you to previous winner TheFluffyDuck who says 'Knite..."

Featuring my Bumblebee Textile Cuff - Things that happen on a Midsummer Night - No 3 Mixed Media Experimental Feminine Layered Lace Art Textile Cuff

Treasury Features and New Treasuries from us

2011-08-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Pookledo for featuring my Pleasure Garden pendant in her Treasury

My Garden is my Favourite Teacher

My Belov'd Brought Back Ginger

Paint The Sky With Stars

Mermaid Art Doll project #5 - Wings - a mad burst of creativity

2011-08-13T01:48:00.000-07:00

A mad burst of creativity yesterday has resulted in my mermaid's wings cut out, stitched up and half decorated in the space of about an hour. Thankfully I had my wits about me enough to actually take some photographs whilst I was doing it.

I had been looking at a wonderful book called 'The Birth of Dragons' and it had such wonderful illustrations that it kicked off my muse.

I started out with a simple hand drawn paper template that I cut out in two layers, one of strong whtite cotton and one of muslin.

I then stitched around the outside to secure and form my tattered couture edge

these are my two wings all cut out, edge stitched and ready to work on

I did a mix of zig zag stitch in dark tan and straight stitch in greens, yellow and cream around the outside and stitched my leaf shapes in green and tan to form the pattern for my reverse applique ( I've not made reverse applique since college so was a bit nervous of going through the whole lot)

I then did a load of free form motion embroidery to give it a padded, layered look and to create the shapes of wings sections

These are my wings not yet RA'd but all stitched up. I'm really pleased with the effect

Treasuries

2011-08-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

Thank you to Voila for adding my Troubadour Jumper to her treasury list

Thank you to Vollage for adding our Bluebell Woods Cufflinks to her treasury

Thank you to Voila for adding our 'Things That Happern on a Midsummer Night' cuff to her treasury

Mermaid Art Doll#4 and some research on mermaids with wings

2011-08-12T07:11:00.000-07:00

The muse has not been forthcomig of late for my doll but I hope over the w/e I can really work on her

So far I've added sequins to her tail and embroidered the ends of the tail in green thread.

My next task is her wings.

Mu inspiration for giving her wings as an image from Das Buch der Nature in which there are all manner of fantastic creature one of whome is a winged mermaid. This was popular in the Middle Ages and was thought to represent the bird sirens of classical myth guiding the spirits to the afterlife.

this is the image I've been talking about

A search for mermaids with wings comes up with a few references to medieval carvings ,a strange tattoo that seems ot be part mermaid, part lionface, a truly gorgeous Raku pottery water angel that I recommend anyone looks at (here) from an artist called Nadine Unsworth and in images you get children's costumes, folk art and the odd altered barbie but not much else.

My idea is to have three layers, One of the same heavy dutty cotton as her body is made of, one of muslin and one of either green organza or light green cotton.

Step two will be to cut them out in the wing shape and machine stitch around the edges to give an organic look to them. I will then be doing some more stitching and reverse appliquing the layers so you can see all three fabrics and hand decorating with seed beads and metallic paint. I did do some sketches of what I wanted to creae but my track record of keeping with design plans is pretty loose so I'm going to 'wing it' no pun intended

A Whole Bunch of Treasuries

2011-08-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

Two Treasuries for the 1000 things alpaca treasury comp

The Inventor's Daughter Gets Married - A Steampunk Treasury

Whispers of Summer Fading into Fall

Our Jacob Fleece has been featured in this beautiful treasury

The Falling Leaves Drift By My Window

Ode to a Pale Songbird

New Treasury and Treasury Feature

2011-08-10T09:12:00.000-07:00

New Treasury listing.

Persephone Drops necklace

and a new treasury from Gilded Rose Designs

New Treasury - every little thing's gonna be alright

2011-08-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

Treasury Feature - Natural Love

2011-08-08T03:15:00.001-07:00

Thank you to RealFeary for featuring my Wild Wood Cuff in her beautiful treasury

Natural Love

Up the Airy Mountain, Through the Rushy Glen..... Etsy Treasury

2011-08-07T09:43:00.000-07:00

British Sellers on Etsy BNR

2011-08-06T02:51:00.000-07:00

The British Sellers on Etsy BNR is on until Sunday. Why not drop in and say hello
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/MTI0MTg1OTN8NTM4NzUxMTI2/open-british-sellers-on-etsy-all-welcome?page=4#comments

Treasury Listing - Shades of Fall/Autumn

2011-08-05T14:52:00.000-07:00

Thank you to ButterflySue for adding our 'Now the Fall Is Here' necklace to her lovely treasury

Muchas Mucha

2011-08-05T08:07:00.000-07:00

My new yarn arrived today. Its a beautiful mix of orange, purple and brown and is very, very Mucha

Nicky Epstein's Knitting in Bloom design contest

2011-08-05T03:39:00.000-07:00

This little bit of floral goodness popped into my inbox this morning. I don't know about anyone else but I never use other folks patterns, I find it easier to work on my own mental image of what I want to create so I'll definatly be entering this competition.

Beauty and The Beast - Jewellery and Objets dArt by Anna Tham - and the importance of Information in exhibits

2011-08-04T05:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to a beautiful jewellery exhibition/display by Anna Tham in Oxford, she makes Jewellery and Objets d'Art from thing she finds and vintage jewellery.

The piece themselves are stunning, really medieval and chunky and it was a joy to wonder around and examine the pieces.

The only thing I found dissatisfying was the complete lack of information. I only found out about the exhibit when I was looking on a local whats on page it was in The Vaults Cafe in town and when we got there there was no poster, no notices, no nothing to tell that there was something on. We spent 10 minutes wandering around the complex trying to find it untill we went into the cafe to ask and saw the display cases on the wall.

I wanted to know more about the artist, where she came from, her ideas, what she had done before but apart from a couple of postcards firmly stuck to the wall there was nothing, no cards, leaflets, bio or even names to the pieces. I know bios and things are a pain to write out, I've done enough to know that but some information is important, you can't just pop things in a case and leave them to do all the work.

Anyway enough with the rant, I'll move on to the pieces.

I'd love to know where she finds 6 matching pieces out of the blue like that as well.

Gold bull's head with rhinestones

Panthers painted black with gold and gem collars

White and gold Bumblebee necklace/choker. I adore bumblebees.

Gold bumblebee necklace

Blue and gold lion's head choker. Blue and Gold is my favourite colour mix

Stunning elephant piece in blue and gold with gems. I've got such a soft spot for this piece.

Child's toy dinosours with painted gold accents

Child's toy snake with a gold collar. I simply love this, I'm going to make one next time I go to a car boot

It was stunning but deserved more advertising, more information.

Her website is http://www.annatham.com/ and is coming soon.

Here are some more links to information on the web

Previous Exhibitions

Daily Info

This Is Bath

Knit2Treble2 team treasury challenge#7

2011-08-01T05:24:00.000-07:00

This is my treasury list for the knit1treble2 teasury challenge. The inspiration piece is a beautiful irish rose cream crochet cushion by The FluffyDuck so I've gone for a deamy, creamy, tea rose theme.

Thame and Oxford County Show

2011-07-31T02:23:00.000-07:00

Lots of photographs from Thame and Oxford County Show

A pair of shetlands preparing for the scurry racing

We met a lovely chap called Richard who is tailor from the cotswolds and this was on fo the coats that he made. The photograph simply does not do it justice, it was such a lovely subtle colour, the sleeves were lined in blue and white striped fabric and the coat body in red. The company is Tailored-Suits.co.uk and the clothes are simply gorgeous.

The impressive motercycle display and stunt team, the youngest member is 5

The most beautiful bull I've seen in years

After we looked in the cattle tent I found a lovely stall selling alpaca wool, fleece and knitted products with a bunch of beautiful animals. The folks were from Great House Alpacas

Lovely knitted rugs

The alpacas themselves

Baby boots, hats and gloves -------------- wool and fleece

Another animal shot

My sister with her new pink and purple streaked hair----- Myself by the alpacas

One cheeky donkey

Our Willow having a 5 minute cuddle and the beautiful Jasper

Birds of pray

The floral display tent, I think it was mostly WI

This was the Wool and Wood competition
This one won first prize

This was my favourite piece from the competition Country Persuits

After about 6 hours we eventually found the Jazz Band. Four lovely men playing outside the bar so we had a lovely 15 min break with a glass of cider listening to beautiful music.

Willow by this time was soo tired she collapsed in the shade with her water and fell asleep

Mermaid Art Doll project part 3

2011-07-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

Today I've been working on my mermaid's tail.

I started off by adding some small flower beads to her belt.

I then began to wrap some gold net around the top of her tail and wrap stitched some gold bead ribbon in an organic style over it

I suddenly realised that what I had had in mind all the time was Klimt, not that it was a direct inspiration but an idea nagging at the back of my mind. She's not going to be a Klimt Art Doll but its certainly one of my inspirations. I think she might turn out to be more 1920's/30's with a showtime twist.

I then added a button that was in the bottom of my lace box and a small organza rose.

I then spent half an hour looking at her wondering where to go next. I still don't know so I'm taking a break from her till sunday as its Thame County Show tomorrow so that should be lots of fun

The Last Pleasure Garden - Etsy Treasury by Gilded Rose Design

2011-07-29T00:45:00.000-07:00

First treasury by Gilded Rose Designs
The Last Pleasure Garden

Thursday evening fun

2011-07-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love a nice bonfire or two.
smoke shot and abbie and I

Me looking a tad like the wild woman of the woods (its the wellies)

some scenic smoke shots

My sister doing a pagan priestess impression

Mermaid Doll project #2

2011-07-28T05:24:00.000-07:00

Second part of my Mermaid Art DolL pROJECT

This her body all stuffed and stitched up, she measures 16" from her tail to her neck and her head is 3" long

This is the basic embroidery of her face, I did try painting it with pens and fabric paint but the less said about the better.

I then made a light green paint for her tail and a pale moonlight skin tone fot the rest of her.

After her paint had dried I started to male her a beaded belt for her waistmade from brass beads, pearls and a small glass stud bar.

1,000 things alpaca treasury challenge#16 - my entry - Drowning for Pearls

2011-07-28T03:21:00.000-07:00

This is my entry for the 1,000 things alpaca treasury challenge#16

The inspiration piece is this beautiful print by Falling Ladies, its called green lady but I thought of seaweed/underwater/mermaids/ as if she was falling into water having reached too far into the sea to pluck some glistening pearls from their watery bed.

This is my treasury

I dream of Camelot... Treasury Listing

2011-07-28T01:34:00.000-07:00

Thank you to sweetsoapsandsoandso for adding my Pale Knight top to her beautiful treasury

New Treasury - Ladies of the Wild Hunt

2011-07-27T11:46:00.001-07:00

New Project - Mermaid Art Doll

2011-07-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

This makes the third project I've made a start on this week. I recentl got a copy of Creative Cloth Doll Collection and have been inspired to make the mermaid doll I've been thinking about for years.

The basic torso is the first doll pattern but the tail is my own sketch design

I may end up doing her tail straight as that will be easier to stitch and stuff but her tail is going to be light green and decorated with beads, shells and organza.

I have been looking at the arm patterns in the book and I find them bit bulky so I may go all medieval and give her wings

India Flint Dyeing result - 2

2011-07-27T11:36:00.001-07:00

This is my fabric dry and lightly ironed. I will be adding flowers pound designs and embroidery to make a finished piece, maybe turning it into a summer scarf

This is a beautiful bit.

India Flint Dyeing result - 1

2011-07-27T11:30:00.000-07:00

I unwrapped my dye project today to find that it had produced some beautiful, subtle shades of greys and blues. You can make out the pattern of the butterfly bush and some of the sweet pea flowers.

Thisi s it straight from the dyepot, still wet and hanging to dry