Update.

I have been busy getting ready for Christmas like everyone else.  Now it is Boxing Day, I have got time to update my blog and let you know what I have been up to.  I have done lots of cooking:- 

 Mince pies with frangipagne topping ala Gina.

 Cupcakes in various flavours to put into boxes to give as presents.  These were vanilla flavour with fondant topping.

Chocolate cupcakes with Dooleys and whiskey.

Vanilla cupcakes with vanilla butter icing. (below)

A birthday cake for my friend who loves marzipan, so I used a Simnell cake recipe.

A knitted shrug for a friends Christmas present.

A Christmas ring for my lounge.

Then I made one for my daughter.

I offered to help my daughter make the hamper for the local playgroups Christmas fair.  I did not want to decorate the  cardboardbox with wrapping paper, so sprayed it before embellishing it.  Great fun, the house was smothered in glitter.

I had intended making Christmas cards for some of my friends but just ran out of time.  I did make this one inspired by a tree decoration I saw on a blog, sorry, I don't know where I saw it. 

I had to make a card for each of my grandsons.  Kezzy think they look like alien snowmen.

And last but not least, I finished the quilt for my friend to keep her warm, in time to give it to her before Christmas, just!!!I am knitting again, another shrug but I can't say who it's for just yet!

Happy Christmas everybody!!!!!

It's been very quiet here

......................the reason being is that I have been busy working on this quilt for my friend.  I have only one and a half squares left to bead and then I will be able to deliver it to it's new home.  It has taken longer than I had hoped as I had a problem getting the right bugle beads and the few square's that I had beaded when I made this quilt years ago had tarnished badly, so had to re-bead them.  Well worth it , couldn't stand the look of the distressed beads against the very shiny new beads.  Photo of the finished quilt very soon.

Final one of the year!

By the time I got home from work and shopping yesterday, it was too dark to take  photo of my journal pages.  I would have had to use artificial light, which creates too much glare on the glitter.

December, started off being coloured with distress inks and then a colour spray on top.  I wasn't happy with it, so I just covered over with an acrylic gold paint, letting the green show through.  Painted the letters in red then glued and added crushed velvet flock.  Stockings cut out on my Big Shot.  Christmas tree, stamped and coloured before adding loadsa bling!!
Go to Kate's blog, to see more journals.

I went to help at my Grandsons 4th birthday party this afternoon.  It was a paint a plate party at
 Paint & Play.  What I didn't know, was that they also sold beads.  I just couldn't resist these ones!  the large one in the bottom right corner was only £1.20, Kezzy has her eye on that one, especially as it has a 'k' on it!  I shall be going back for another shopping trip soon, as they are so reasonably priced.

Jae Maries.

We have 75 members now at our Branch and I think they must have all turned up tonight to hear Jae Maries, the room was buzzing!!

 Jae showed us samples of her work and then a slide show of work by many varied artists showing how stitch had been used in their work.  Jae will be back in Chelmsford on Saturday, as she is doing a workshop for our Branch.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get a place and was on the reserve list.   Tonight a place  became available but I have now made other arrangements to go out for the day  :0(  I shall have to see what everyone has created at our next meeting.

First of all, there was sock monkey, now, glove dog.  My' Blue Peter one I made earlier' for the January meeting of YE.  It cost 50p for the pair of gloves, thank you Primark, and everything else, I already had in my playroom.

Chelmsford Embroiderers Guild

Just to let anyone know who is within travelling distance of Chelmsford, our speaker tomorrow night is Jae Maries.  We meet at Christchurch, New London Road.  7.30 for 8

Magazines.

 I went to Craft Arena today to collect Sew Somerset and Art Quilting Studio that Denise had put aside for me and saw the new Pages magazine.  It's all about journalling and bookmaking, just flicking through it, had to say it looked very inspiring, hence leaving the shop, clutching it in my hands.

In half term I went to Sugar and Spice with Diane and got talking to Marion about the new magazine that was coming out in November  Scrap 365.  I asked her to reserve 2 copies ( Diane and of course, mine)  Lucky I did, they sold out of this magazine in half an hour!!! 
Just need to find time to sit and read!!

 A very foggy drive up to Cambridge yesterday for my FET meeting.  Lovely to see all the girls and catch up on news, as I have missed the last couple of meetings.  Morning started off with everyone showing what they are planning/working on.  This was followed by Pauline showing us how to create an interesting background and embellishment.

Then as it was the last meeting this side of Christmas, we had our party.  Everyone bought a plate of food to share, mmmmmmm!!!!!
A sunny drive home listening to my music.

Re-housed!!

This  UFO has been sitting over the door to my play room for a few years, well actually, when I started to think about it, it was pre C&G days which I think makes it approximately 8 years.  I was using this quilt to teach myself foundation piecing and practice maching quilting.  Well, to cut a story short, I have found someone who would like it.

I need to finish stitching the binding down and loose ends in.  The snowflakes are part embellished, but as there is a young child that visits the house,  I amwaiting to hear whether I am to finish the beading the remaining snowflakes.  Bugle beads can wear through thread with time, I don't want the beads being eaten by a hungry toddler.I must admit I do like the beads on it, just finishes it off I think.

ALQS6 has arrived

A lovely surprise was waiting on my doorstep yesterday when I got home from work, a package from Singapore, my quilt from ALQS6.  The vibrant colours certainly cheered up a grey damp November day, thank you Vreni

Her is a small detail of all the hand stitching, I have not yet decided where I shall hang it, most probably on my stairwell.

Vreni also included 2 fat quarters for me to play with.  I haven't heard that my quilt has arrived yet but it did have a very long way to go.
This is the third swap I have taken part in that Kate has organized and have really enjoyed the making and swapping, thank you Kate! 

******************************************** BLogger

I am still having problems leaving comments on some blogs.  It is the ones where you have to select a profile.  It is sooo frustrating!!!  

Spring clean in November.

Been a busy bee!!  Having lost my favourite pair of scissors in my playroom for a week, called for drastic action.  I have tidied up!! I can see all my work surfaces (well for the moment anyway) and I found the missing scissors, fallen into a bag of goodies I had bought from Craft Arena last week!.

10 down, 2 to go!!!!

My October pages completed, so many birthday's in this month, that in the end I stopped writing them in, it would almost have been a page of cakes!!lol!

The Halloween embellishments were made with paper clay and hand painted.

 Well, this month had to have fireworks  as my theme.  2 attempts to get the background right.  I started off with Brusho, but I didn't get the depth of colour that I wanted, so back to acrylic paint, with colour sprays on top when dry.

The exploding firework shapes I cut out on my cricut, embellished with glitter glue and then sprinkled lots more glitter in various colours.
Hop along to Kates blog to see the work of others taking part in this year long challenge.
P.S   OOOOOOOPPPPPPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I posted this a day too early

Having fun.

I have been continuing with trying to draw items from my collection of natural items that I have been collecting.  This is  flower, Rudbeckia  I bought home from Mums garden.  Love those rich colours!

 With the conker, I had it to the right of the paper and when I moved it to take the photo, the reflections changed.

Another Rudbeckia, well all that's left of it.  All coloured with Inktense pencils.  I hen stopped drawing, because when I got my cauldron ( my witches handbag) down from the loft ready for the Halloween party I was going to on Saturday, it looked tired and in need of a face lift.

Unfortunately, I didn't do a before photo.  But here it is finished all apart from a sprinkling of ants that were added at the last moment.  I had great fun creating it from mount board, Tyvek, paints, bubble wrap, beads, pot scourer  and of course various toy bugs and creatures.  I lined the inside as well,l with wadding and felt to protect my mobile phone and camera.

As I had a 'new' handbag, I decided to go mad and decorate a pair of shoes that were about to be thrown away.  Permanent ink pen to draw the webs freehand, with a few spiders attached with a hot glue gun.

And another!

Last weekend walking round the field at the bottom of the road, I decide that a there seemed to be an abundance of sloes this year, that I would go back with a bag and pick some to make sloe gin.  Too late!!!! This afternoon when I went back the farmer had beaten me to it and cut all the hedges back.  I managed to find some but not enough to make the gin.  Can't drink them-draw them instead!

I have been trying to improve my drawing skills, trying to do  something nearly everyday. 

With all the signs of Autumn, it is not hard to be stuck for items to draw. 

 Horse chestnut shells were coloured with Inktense pencils.

                                                                                                                                                                                           I liked how the Inktenese colours blended when water was applied

 so used it also for the acorn and the Spanish Oak leaf.

W.I.P.

Finished leaf.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                    With the snowberries, I decided to use Graphitint for a change.  Not happy with the colouring as they do not have a yellow in the range to get the right shade of green that I needed.  I will use these pencils for drawing landscapes, as the colours will be more suited I think.  Back to using my Inktense pencils.

ALQS6

 I should hear  very soon where I have got to send my little quilt I have made for the ALQS6, hosted by Kate.  What a job she has trying to send everyone a quilt that they like, reckon it would be a headache, a bit like trying to write a school timetable.

My quilt was inspired by Hundertwasser ' Yellow Ships-Sea of Tunis and Taormina'  Looked at his picture and did my own version of the painting.  Hand dyed background  and foreground fabric.  Fabric paper mountain. Highlights were applied over the piece with Markal  paintstiks.

Amy Winehouse

Completed a project at last, the first one since July.  It's surprising how things on your mind stop you being creative.  I've called it 'Yesterday's news' and it is for a young  friend who is a big fan of Amy.
Machine stitched figure, applied with hand stitching to a canvas thas has an article on Amy's life.  This has been distressed with tea and ink.  Her arm has been lightly stuffed to create depth.

4 sleeps.....

To Ally Pally.  Saturday I should be at FET, but I have to go in to work.  I could really do with being there as I am not having any creative textile ideas at the moment.

AAAAAGGGHHHH!!!

Trying to leave comments on some blog  and it wont let me, sorry to all those taking part in Kate Cranes journal challenge that  I have not been able to leave a comment on. 

September and October.

 This month seems to have flown by!  Here is the photo of my finished pages, I dont think I would use black again for my journalling, as it was hard finding a medium to colour in any drawings Iwould otherwisw have drawn.  The white writing on the black certainly made it look like the blackboards of my schooldays!.

 For October, I used Halloween as my theme.  Fisrt gesso ans when dry, black acrylic paint.  Then I decided to draw spiders webs all over- a very daunting thing for me to do, no planning, just went for it.

 As I couldn't find any embellishments, I decided to make my own from paper-clay.

 Had graet fun painting them once they were dry.  All the paints and tools I used are in the above picture.

 Voila!the finished embellishments.

And here is my completed pages.  Colours not a true reflection in the photo, as I took it this morning in very bright daylight.  Colurs are pumpkin orange, Frankenstein green and purple.

A few details.

Click here to go to Kate's blog to see other blogger's taking part in this challenge.