Colouring lace

I was undecided about the lace square on the CQ heart, and I have now coloured a piece of lace to compare the two. The colours are a little more saturated in real life, as the harsh light of the scanner does it no favours. For anyone interested in how I do this, I use fabric felt tips and a child's blitzer, a simple squeezy bulb device that forces a stream of air past the tip of the pen and deposits a spray of colour on the surface beneath. By wetting the lace first, you force the colours to blend as they spread out. The results are fairly random, as it is difficult to control the amount of ink that is sprayed, or where it falls. I only have a few colours, so it is guesswork at this stage. You will see the odd spot of yellow at the end of the petals where I have attempted to make a different shade of green.
Here it is in place on the heart. I still haven't made my mind up, so I shall leave it hanging where I see it every time I come to the computer, and after a while I hope it will speak to me.

Just us chickens...

Following on from my doodlebirds made with a paper cut-out and a doodled outline, and the doodle flowers with the stamped watercolour effect, I tried to combine the two. On the left, taped to a wooden block, is an approximation of a chicken shape cut out of funky foam. I coloured areas with felt tip, sprayed lightly with water, then stamped onto the scraps of card left over from the daisies. I then used permanent pen to scribble more detail. I discovered that I need more practice drawing chicken legs, and that sitting them on a nest is the easy option.If you look closely, you will see that not only can I not draw chicken legs, but I can't draw chickens either. A little research in Google images gave me a better insight into the proportions of the head to the body, and how the red bits fit together, and as you can see below, I improved on the sketching, and now have a less comical hen shape to work with. The first impression from the yellow funky foam can be seen on the green post-it note. Notice also how carefully I have hidden the legs...

Next on the list might be a big gobby rooster; think of the fun I could have with the colours!

RAK from Roz

Showing what her new super-dooper cutting machine is capable of. Thanks Roz!

Cut out cards

I have a bad habit of realising I need a card for some event or other, hoping I have something suitable already made, then discovering I haven't. So then I sit down to make something, and because my brain works better when it is under pressure, I usually come up with something I'm more or less happy with. I then sign it, put it in the envelope, rush out to post it, and then only as it leaves my hand do I remember I haven't scanned it so I can use the idea again.

These two cards were sealed up in their envelopes and I was on my way out of the door when I remembered to scan them...that's my excuse for a skewiff double scan instead of a more carefully composed offering.

I had been looking at some screen prints out in Blogland, and not having the wherewithall for screen printing, decided to have a go with paper cutting. Usually with paper piecing, the individual shapes are cut out and stuck down, but I have taken A5 sheets in each of the colours and folded them into a signature, then cut shapes out of each layer to show the colour beneath. Some of the shapes in the flower are cut through two layers of the sheet in order to make use of the second set of colours.

I'll explain the process of making the leaf card. The outside of the card is plain white card with the aperture cut in the front. A5 sheets of turquoise, green, yellow and white are laid on top of each other and folded in half with the white in the centre. I tied cotton around the signature formed to hold it temporarily together, but next time I think I shall sew the whole thing together. Put the signature inside the card and draw the outline of the leaf lightly in pencil onto the turquoise so that it fits inside the aperture. Cut out the leaf shape. Next pencil the vein markings on to the green layer and cut out to show the yellow layer, and cut out a little of the yellow to show the white. I shall explore this idea further when I have some suitable paper in other colours. This paper was from a pack of computer paper that I have had hanging around for a long time and hadn't really used because of its acidic colour, but the contrast worked for these cards, I think.

Colouring In

A fabric postcard made to swap on the ArtWeMail Group. I used the same bird outline that I have used in the past for paper piecing, only this time I cut a stencil, outlined the shape with permanent marker onto the cotton (salvaged from the sides of a worn out bed sheet) and then used a stencil brush and oil pastels to colour. I was happy with how the blending worked out. It is much easier to control than using watercolour pencils, and there is no chance of bleeding because the pastel is dry. The legs and the little flower in the beak were drawn free-hand. The flowers and ferns were made using the same stencilling method. I used punches to make the stencils in card and then added details with the permanent pen after colouring. The background was coloured with pastel over torn paper stencils, and the lines added to finish it of. As the card has flown away, I can't tell you if the wiggly line in the top left corner is a stray hair that found its way into the scanner, or a stray thread that found its way between the cotton and the backing. All I can say is that I didn't see it at the time, but then the scanner has better eyesight than I do.

Work in Progress

A CQ heart, not yet stuffed because I'm not sure if I want it rounded or just padded a little. The lace square over the ribbon loop is not yet stitched down because it will help to cover the central seam I left open on the back. Neither am I sure if I want to leave it that colour or paint it. Any and all suggestions will be welcome as I am a complete beginner at this CQ malarky...

One month later...

...and I seem to have a back-log of pictures although I haven't really settled to doing anything. I shall just post these at intervals using the schedule post facility; with or without comment as the mood takes me

A birthday card for a friend; hand drawn (can't you tell!) outline over a foam flower shape coloured with felt tips and sprayed with water before stamping on to card.

ATCs into postcards...

Having folded in the sides and stitched them in to place, then made a two layer backing and fixed that into place, I wasn't altogether happy with the result of the canvas and needlepoint ATCs. They were very bulky around the edges, and the corners were not neat. Next time I will try folding in the edges and making the outer stitches through the double layer, as one does when making a rug. With these two ATCs, I have left a canvas border,basted them onto a cotton backing, and then hand stitched fabric around, log cabin style. Why is it that I don't see the glaring imperfections until confronted with them on my computer screen? Maybe so that I can't ignore it...

I shall learn from the mistakes, and hope to do better next time. I think there will definitely be a next time.

Completed Swap Anything Goes #10

On the ArtWeMail Group. They have been hanging on the wall by the door to my room, and I realised today that I hadn't shown them here. I am sure there is probably a whole bunch of stuff waiting to be shown, once I get my act together....
From KR
From Marguerite
From Sheri
and from Vix.

Summer Break

I've been very Spanish this year and taken a month off from Blogging. The weather has been very hot and humid, and not conducive to sitting at a desk with a computer fan blowing warm air around the legs. I haven't done a lot of craft work, but have spent my time exercising my brain rather than my fingers; puzzling over crosswords and Sudoku, improving my vocabulary playing Scrabble and Wordjong, reading, and over the last week or so, watching far more sport than is my wont. When I have felt the need to do something with my hands, it has been to make small things, such as these needlepoint ATCs, seen here fresh from the frame and before backing. The top two are now on their way to Australia as a thank you, the centre two have been turned into postcards, and the bottom two are pending...

I seem to be surrounded by unfinished projects at the moment, so as the temperature drops, I hope to get some of them finished, before I start on anything new.