12 days of Christmas Swap 2011

 

We did this swap again this year, and there were some beautiful things made. This was my effort:

 

First off I made 12 sheets of silk paper using Cocoon Strippings. You lay these out on a piece of baking parchment, spray with water cover with another sheet of baking paper and iron until dry. Once they were dry I painted them with a thinned down acrylic pearl paint and again allowed to dry. I stamped using a foam stamp and metallic acrylics, and then, using a different stamp, stamped a smaller design using Stazon. When this was dry , the whole sheet was painted again, using a watered down silk paint, in  similar colours to the paints already used.

 

                        

 

I then free machine embroidered around the larger stamp designs, and did a little hand stitching on some of the sheets.

 

                         

 

The sheets were then cut to size and lined using some of my hand coloured fabrics attached using bond-a-web.

Once that was done I satin stitched around the edges. I now had my covers ready. Next step was cutting and folding the pages from hand made papers. I attached the pages with a wide zig-zag stitch and ribbon.

                         

 

I then used double sided tape to attach plastic ATC holders to each page, and cut some metallic paper to pop into them.

 

The finishing touches were to add the fastenings, and I used Polymer clay pieces and ribbons, which I  attached with Golden Gel Medium.

 

                   

 

                            

             

Technorati Tags: silk paper,cocoon strippings,acrylic paints,silk paints,free machining,handmade papers,polymer clay embellishments,Golden Gel Medium,Stazon

    I also made an ATC, to go along with this:

 

                           

 

              Here they are, all wrapped and ready to go:

 

                       

Tags

 

Jan Hoefler and I arranged a tag swap just for the 2 of us. It was great fun and here are the tags I made.

 

 

                         

                      

                   

ATCs

 

More alphabet ATCs

Q , a mini quilt ATC. Various toned fabrics cut into squares, joined and  free machine embroidered.

 

R for Romance, silk paper background, lace and a romantic image.

 

S for silk paper, stitch and sequins.

 

T – it takes two to Tango, embellished background, image printed onto silk and funky foam letters, painted with Viva Ferro.

Technorati Tags: Silk paper,Viva Ferra,stitch,foam letters,sequins

Autumnal Colours Fabric Postcard

  Made this today for a swap.

                                  

The background was made using silk tops and  non-fusible Angelina Fibres covered with  organza and felted using the embellisher machine. The photograph is one of my own which I played about with in Photoshop Elements , and then adding the quote. I printed it out onto some plain white fabric (poly cotton maybe). The flower was made from various pieces of fabric die cut using a Tim Holtz Die and then stamped with Olive Green and Pumpkin Stazon Inks. This was attached securely and then a wooden button was stitched into place. A couple of beads were then added and the button coloured with Treasure Gold (Spanish Topaz). I used Pelmet Vilene for the backing and machine stitched around using a zig-zag stitch.

 

Technorati Tags: silk tops,non fusible Angelina Fibres,Tim Holtz tattered flower die,Photoshop Elements,Stazon inks,beads.,button,Treasure Gold

3 more ATCs from the same piece of fabric.

 

                                

                              

 

                                  

Playing with fabrics

Last week I decided to have a play with fabrics and my embellisher. I dragged out lots of fabric bits in blues and greens and then got out the embellisher. Oops, I had a problem, my foot control was not working, and there was an ominous rattle when I shook it. So no embellisher, I decided that I would have to sew instead.

This is what I did :I randomly stitched bits of fabric together, using different stitches and either green or blue thread. I stitched on some thick threads too.

I then decided to add some coloured copper curls and to cover the whole piece with some blue organza, which  was attached using the darning foot and free stitching.

 

                                  

 

Here is what I did with some of the piece:

 

                        

 

Beaded inches , using jewels and a couple of circular paper clips, which I hand stitched around. I hand stitched leaves and stems for the flower jewels. I attached them to pelmet Vilene, which on reflection was a little to thick, as I couldn’t stich around the edges. To neaten them I added some cord, which I attached with white glue.

I also made these:

3 ATCs using beads, sequins pieces od silk carrier rods and  threads.

I hope those who receive these in a swap will like them.

 

Technorati Tags: fabric bits,enamelled copper curls,sequins,beads.,hand stitching,silk carrier rods,pelmet vilene.

Alphabet ATCs–O and P

 

Latest alphabet swap ATCs.

 

O is for Opals embossing powders. These are nice thick crystals, which are not brittle when used to make tiles. I used black for the first two layers, and then sprinkled different colours for the last layer. Whilst it was still hot, I stamped into it with a Tim Holtz stamp. I  then added the sunflower to finish it off.

                        

 

P is for Pear. I stamped the pear onto a piece of dyed cotton and attached it to the same dyed cotton as a background. The word pear I hand stitched (!) using a simple chain stich. The rest of the stitching was done by machine, with the thick thread in the bobbin (ie stitched from the back). I mounted the whole lot onto a piece of pelmet vilene and zig –zag stitch around it. To finish of  I painted on a little Jo Sonja’s Gold dust for subtle highlights.

 

                       

Technorati Tags: Opals embossing powder,Tim Holtz stamp. Jo Sonja's Gold Dust,hand embroidery,chain stitch.

Conjoined ATCs

For this swap we had to make 3 ATCs that were joined together in some way. This is what I did.

                       

Proverb ATCs

Three ATCs I made for a swap.

 

Odd Sized Art

 

Not really an odd size, but Pauline very kindly sent me some plastic holders that were sized approx. 6.5 cms x 13.5 cms, so I arranged a swap to utilise these. Each participant would receive a holder back, along with her ‘odd sized’ art.

Here are the pieces that I made for this swap. I think we will be doing it again in the new year, as we did not do backs.

 

 

These were really great fun to do.

Silk Tie Phone Case

 

                             

 

 

This was made from a silk tie I picked up in a charity shop. I took it apart and there is a LOT more fabric in a tie than I realised!

I cut out a pattern , backed the silk with a medium vilene , and did some random stitching with a Maderia metallic thread.  I then used bondaweb to attach a silk lining. I cut around the whole thing to get the correct size, folded it , and then stitched around the sides and edges of the flap.  The closure gave me some problems, but eventually I settled on a pop –fastener.

Luckily it fitted the phone it was intended for

 

Technorati Tags: Silk Ties,medium weight vilene,Maderia metallic thread,Bondaweb,pop-fastener

ATCs with Moveable Parts–Part 3

 

 

                     

These were made using a stencilled moulding paste background. The stamp is one I have had for ages, not sure where it came from though.

ATCs with Moveable Parts–Part 2

 

                      

I had the background for these ATCs in my stash. They’d been made for a different swap, but I changed my mind(not unusual!) They were stamped, and embossed using Distress embossing powders.

The gears are diecuts, which I coloured using Viva Ferro Paint (Iron). They were then attached with brads and the words printed on my Dymo machine.

 

Technorati Tags: Distress embossing powder,diecuts,brads,Viva Ferro paint,Dymo machine