I spy with my little eye, something beginning with.... S

Signs.. 

Sea Shells...

Silvery Seas..

Sun Sparkley Seas...

 

                                                                                                               

Small, Secret windows..

Still pools...

Small pool with Silvery fish hiding in the Sea weed..

Shipwrecks...

Rust can be so pretty!

Stripey rocks..

Smiley family :)

Sleepy dog..

Sneaky dog...

And of course..

 Sand.

Then NOT beginning with S, but shared 'cos I like them :)

My lovely Jesse

So pretty!
This might be translated into felt one day

A few photos from our recent camping trip to Cornwall.

We have had very odd weather here in the UK this summer.. I think there have only been about 3 weeks of summery weather all year.  We have recently returned from a camping holiday in Cornwall, where it was (thank goodness) very warm, so even when it was raining we were happily playing in the sea.  Didn't get quite as much walking done as usual (slippery mud and high winds were taken into account there) but we got LOTS of time in the sea!  When it was calm, and all the surfers were getting fed up with the lack of waves, WE were having a whale of a time on our kayak.  When the waves picked up too much for safe family kayaking we wave jumped and body surfed (Note to self: next time remember the body-boards!)  And the weather just did its thing.. Some days were lovely and sunny.. some not, we had a lovely time anyway :)

The main impact that the weather had on us over the last few days was turning the campsite into MUD!  Not good!!   I have never a) spent so much time in mud.. and b) seen so many people camping in wellington boots (I had never suffered from welly envy before either :)   I am not complaining - at least our tent didn't flood!  

And now we are home.. the kit is cleaned, dried and packed away... laundry has been caught up.. and there is just a week of the children's summer holidays left.  Time does fly!

Hope you are all having a lovely summer..

xoxo

When making one pair of slippers just wouldn't go right..

I've made quite a lot of pairs of slippers over the past few weeks..  

I've made boot slippers..

 

Low backed summery coloured slippers..

His n Hers slippers..

And THEN the troublesome slippers :)

UK size 2 
So tiny they looked like they should be for a child.

I'd had a request for a pair of UK size 5s.. I ordered in a new batch of luuuurvly coloured Icelandic wool and set to making them - using the same resist, fibre layout and system of working the felt as I ALWAYS do.  I could not believe it when I couldn't shrink the darned things any smaller than a UK 7!  I even gave them a quick go in the washing machine to try and bring them down a bit - no dice.  They were stubbornly staying 7s.  So I finished them up and listed them as 7s.

Process of elimination.  I'd either layed the fibre thicker than usual (didn't think so though) or the shrinkage rate was different from all the other Icelandic I have used.  Next step was to make a pair using the same resists, but laying the fibre down very thinly.  I ended up with a lovely lightweight pair of size 5s from this..  not what the customer had ordered - but just what I needed for a gift for my mom!  

Next I did the thing that I absolutely hate and detest doing..  I sat down and did maths YUCK!!  And then I gave my lovely hubby the task of doing it too just to check I'd worked everything out right :)  see how generous I am to my man?! ;D

My Icelandic had always shrunk by around 35%.. but the new fibre was only going about 23%.  SO I worked out my new resists, laid out the fibre to the normal thickness on the next pair and voilà they came up just right.. phew!  

Mind you I'd been working to make size 5s all this time and then the lady they were for decided she wanted them for a different person who needed a UK size 2.. so the next challenge was to make the tiniest pair of slippers I've ever made!  

The purple & green boots at the top of the post were felted from fibre that was in the same batch as the colour which gave me trouble.. and they shrunk to the usual rate!  I'm thinking that is must be something odd and specific to that particular batch of fibre.  

I so enjoyed felting the boots.. its been a while since I made any.  These are new colours and I used some gorgeous hand dyed Teeswater curly locks that I brought from Sara.. I love these colours :)  You can't really see the locks on the main photo, so heres a close up..

Tourmaline Teeswater Locks
from Saras Texture Crafts

Right I'm off to feed the fish

xoxo

Where to begin...?

My goodness its been a long while since I blogged!  I got took to task over my lack of posts by my lovely aunty last week lol (in a nice way) - sorry Aunty M :)

SO.. what have I been upto?  Lots of felting..  I have been making cobweb & featherweight wraps:

Looks solid on the model.. but against the light you can see its  quite fine

I've felted a nice bright mat.. could be either a table runner or hearth rug really.  This was meant as a sample piece - trying out fibres for a rug.  The planned rug was to be so HUGE and thick though it would take me forever and a day just to prepare the fibre.. let alone lay it out and felt it!  I'm very happy with the little mat though :)

I'm not going to do a great big monster post as my first one back, so I shall show you some other makes next time.

This week I have been experimenting with an eco dye project.. in between watching the Olympics on TV (did anyone else find the beginning of the opening ceremony weird?!)  and COOKING!  I recently added 3 new cookbooks to my bookshelf; Soups, a Mediterranean cookbook and Rivercottage Veg Everyday.. so many mouthwatering recipes to try out!  This evening we shall be having vegetable tagine with summer couscous :)  Followed by banana and blueberry (from the garden) muffins baked this morning.  An odd mixture maybe - but I think we shall enjoy it :)

We have also FINALLY got some summer weather - which is so lovely it's not been as nice this week as it was over the last couple weeks though.. hope that's not all we are getting!  I had a few lovely days gardening in the lovely sunshine.. mind you the blisteringly hot day that I decided to set up an irrigation system for my fruit and veg pots ended up being hard work!  And I still haven't got the whole lot dripping nicely! :( oh well.. it'll be better than nothing when we go away.

Anyway.. promise to be back soon

xx

Birdies and books

As promised :)

This is the teacosy I made which was inspired by one of my new felting books..

Blue bird in a blossom tree

3 layers of English wool & 3 layers of coloured merino..  The tree was drawn with thin strips of wetted tussah silk.. the blossoms are small chunks of chopped mulberry silk fibre scattered on.  The birdie is merino laid on top of silk chiffon & outlined in merino.  After felting I hand embroidered his beak, eye, wing and feet.

and the back..

Quite simple, but I do love the bright summery colours.  The lovely thing about using silk to 'draw' the tree is the crispness of the finished lines.. you dont get the same 'bleed' or fuzziness that you get with wool fibres migrating outward from the line (wool fibre movement is all one way - IN to the silk).

Latest bookshelf treasures

I recently brought 2 new felting books.. they are both fairly newly published, and both focus on felt as ART.  They are written by 2 amazing felt artists, and I thoroughly enjoyed them both... I keep dipping into them just browsing through the loveliness..  My little birdie project was made after being particulary inspired after first leafing through Moy Mackays book, the section on birds was the first that I actually read in this book.  My little birdie picture is made rather differently (but I hate following instructions anyway - things have to be done MY way :)  but it was definitely the inspiration.

So, here are my little reviews.. :)

Moy Mackay - Felt and Stitch

ISBN: 978-84448-563-5

Soft cover - 128 pages.  

There are a LOT of wonderful colour photos in this book.. finished pieces to inspire experienced felters or beginners.  The first 36 pages cover the basics; materials, equipment,colour, texture, blending, and basic felting.  I'm going to be honest here - I havent read these properly.. just skimmed them, but they look like they are thorough enough for someone to pick this book up and get felting without any trouble.  The 'how to make felt' section is actually the first decorative project - a little landscape with sheep on it and includes using silks and angelina, so much more interesting than many 'how to's'.  She then moves on to a step-by-step guide to adding freemotion machine embroidery and hand embroidery to finish.  

The following sections cover: landscapes, flowers, birds and still life.  Each section has an overview, lots of amazing photos of Moys work, then finished with a step by step photo filled project.

I think most felters will LOVE this book.. its a visual treat!  Also Moy suggests inclusions I would never of thought of using (like tiny flakes of real gold leaf).  If you fancy felting pictures.. or using machine embroidery to define your work this is well worth it.  I think it would be a lovely gift to a new feltmaker too.. 

Andrea Hunter - Creating Felt Pictures

ISBN: 978-1-84797-317-7

Soft cover - 89 pages

I had hoped to go to one of Andreas workshops this year, but by the time I spotted them they were full up.  I was over the moon when I saw that she had a newly published book and brought it immediately.  I was not disappointed! 

Again LOTS of lovely photos here!  And drawings, sharing the early planning stages.  Andreas work gives a sense of wild beauty and freedom which she manages to convey SO well.  I found this book immensely helpful learning about drawing with wool and silk fibres.. and the Inspiration section served as a refresher art lesson covering perspective.. reminding me of things I learned in Art classes 25 years ago.  Things that I mostly do now without thinking.. but sitting down and reading, and thinking it out has I think really helped.  Its made me more mindful of what I am doing.

There are no step by step projects in this book, and would possibly not be the book to buy for a new felter. But newISH; already knowing the basics, feeling confident and enthusiastic to learn how to 'draw' pictures in felt..  yes I think this felter would learn a lot.  As an experienced felter I can say it is a pleasure to see Andreas art and to get an insight into how she goes about her creative process, and I certainly learned a lot from it too!  I would say this is book would be good for all felters with an interest in art felt / pictorial felt.  

...........

The majority of my work is intended for USE.  Either household or to be worn.. as such it has to be felted an awful lot more than a purely decorative piece, and I was unsure how much of the knowledge gained from either of these books would actually benefit my own work.  Certainly there are some things that  I have to do differently, but I think we all do that anyway... find our own way of working that gives us the results we want. Both of these books got my creative juices flowing, the cogs in my brain whirring and inspiration firing!  I highly recommend them both!

Penguin teacosies

I had a request for a penguin themed teacosy, from someone who liked my owls.. but wanted a penguin cosy.  I wracked my brains over this for a week or 2.  I think the main feature with my owls is the bright un-owlish colours and use of patterned fabrics.. but I couldn't see this working for a PENGUIN!  

I got to work on it this week.. coming up with a couple of designs to try; first of all I made a baby penguin:

I like him.. but I REALLY liked the idea of the other design I came up with, so next day I made this one:

2 penguins on each side.. and each penguin is a little different from the others :)

The white in between the penguins has white silk caps stretched over.. the sheen represents sun on ice and snow.  The yellow/orange of the throats is tussah silk.

3 layers of white English wool inside, followed by 3 layers of merino then the design...
 this is lovely and thick, it should keep a teapot very cosy

As I usually do with pictures I started the final layer by laying down silk chiffon, then worked the design on top of the chiffon.  The chiffon seems to reduce the amount of blurring caused by fibres from the back migrating through, and allows me to really work the felt without losing all the detail.

I 'drew' the design on with thin strips of black merino dipped in soapy water

Then filled in the colours

I must admit it took a long time to lay out!  Longer than I expected considering how few colours are there.. but I had to be very careful to keep the black and white areas as clean edged as possible.  

Blanket stitching round the bottom with back embroidery silk finished it off a treat :)

Next time:  A pictorial teacosy inspired by new felting book.. and mini review of said book :)

Jubilee Weekend

This weekend is an extra long Bank Holiday weekend here in the UK to celebrate the Queens diamond jubilee..

Treated myself to this lovely hand hooked heart from WoollyLakes
made with all upcycled materials

There are Union Jack flags, bunting and red, white and blue everywhere.. its quite lovely actually.  LOTS of people arranged street parties and garden parties - and in light of our recent change in the weather (it had been BEAutiful for the past two week) it looked like it would be fine for them.. in true British weather style though it turned!  We have had rain and winds for the last couple of days.. 'sods law'!  

This is my 3rd jubilee.. I remember the silver jubilee when I was 3 years old.. wearing a red, white and blue dress and waving my little flag as the Queen passed by in her golden carriage, I thought she was just like a queen in a fairy tale :) I can remember being very excited.  For the golden jubilee we went to a BBQ at a friends house.. but what to do this time?  

We planned a modest celebration.. and indoors luckily!  Yesterday my lovely nan came for dinner; free range beef & Yorkshire pudding.. very traditional fare.  Followed by jubilee cake :)  So the day of preparation and cooking was pleasantly passed in between watching the pageantry on TV, the Queen and a flotilla of more than 1000 boats travelling down the Thames in procession. Followed by an absolutely lovely evening :)  Nan says she remembers the weather on coronation day being much the same.

She'll tell me off for posting a photo with a napkin tucked in her top :)

Today is a chill out day.. and tomorrow we have Gary's family coming for an Italian meal (with a choice of either tiramisu or Eaton Mess for pudding - got to have something Brit in a jubilee celebration!)

Orange drizzle cake with fresh cream, strawberries and blueberries

I got this recipe from Tesco's free magazine..

Ingredients:

Cake

175g baking fat

175g self raising flour

175g caster sugar

3 medium eggs (I think you could poss. get away with 2 eggs)

1 level tsp baking powder

2tbsp milk

zest of 2 citrus fruits (I just used 1 big orange)

Drizzle

115g caster sugar

Juice of citrus fruit you used

Topping

300ml double or whipping cream

fresh berries

prep time 30 min

cooking time 45 min

1. Mix together; cooking fat, flour, eggs, sugar, milk, zest and baking powder.

2. Grease and line a 20cm square baking tin - pour in mixture.

3. Bake in preheated oven at 180'C / gas mark 4 for 45 minutes until cooked.

4. For the syrup.  Dissolve sugar in juice over a low heat.

5. While cake is still warm, drizzle over the top.

6. When cooled, halve the cake and sandwich together with half the cream.

7. Decorate with remaining cream and fresh berries.

This was a not-too-sweet cake with a subtle orangey flavour (poss 'cos I only used one orange?!)  

For anybody here in the UK still to have a street party - hope it stays dry for you!

xoxo

Monochromatic Memories ..

Well, its been a couple of weeks since I got time to post (did someone speed the clocks up?!) but I've got a nice looong post here to make up for it :)  its not that long really, but lots of pictures make it like you're scrolling for ages lol.

A few months ago I felted this wall hanging..

not a good photo really..

Black Shetland with Black Wensleydale fringing, the 'drawing' is a nice alpaca/wool boucle yarn.

Rachael & me
With freemotion machine embroidered detail

This was my impression of so many wonderful family days spent jumping waves when the kids were younger..  the colours changed with the weather, but some elements didn't change; US, the sea, wind and racing skies - always wind, blowing skirts and hair around :)

For a while I thought I may let this go as I couldn't find a spot to hang it, so I put it up in my Etsy shop.  Just as I was planning to take it back down 'cos I really didn't want to sell it, a lovely lady from Texas contacted me asking whether I could felt a larger hanging showing her family as my picture really reminded her of a family holiday when her children were younger.  I was very happy and quite honoured to felt a second monochromatic memory.

This was to be a family of 9 so I had to get my thinking cap on and picture what the children, at their given ages, may be doing..

I started out by sketching..

Spent a very therapeutic couple of hours drawing this :)

My lady liked what I had planned.. so next felting day I set too with fibres and had some fun!

I wanted a nice thick, sturdy felt.. this was going to be about 3 times the size of my original.. I still used black Shetland, but added some dyed black merino blended in for the central layers (5 layers total)

Black Wensleydale sandwiched in between the layers to make the fringe

After wetting out I drew the picture using my alpaca/wool blend
 boucle yarn in 2 light natural shades

Thinking what the sea might be doing in relation to the people..
where the sea foam should be

Part way through felting..  I worked this pretty hard, I wanted it to be a substantial felt
and I find that Shetland likes to stay light (another reason for adding a little merino)

Finishing touches.. giving it a darned good rolling with my
piece of ridged dowel

Brought this dowel from B&Q  years ago.. now I just have this length left over and it's great for hardening felt.  Nicola Brown at Clasheen has a veeery nice looking set of rollers for sale.. I may well indulge myself one of these days, I think the handles would be easier on the hands.

Anyway..  once the felting was finished I freemotion machine embroidered the details.  Several hundred meters of thread and quite a few hours later, I stitched a cotton tube to run the hanging rod through and hand stitched it on the back of the hanging.  

Felted and embroidered.. sitting on my work bench

Oh yes.. I freemotion embroidered the title onto the cotton tube :)

Mom and the girls hair flying like a banner in the wind..

xx