New stash with a local vibe

 Hi, just a quick update of 3 lovely craft items I picked up locally.

The fancy fibres was from http://www.thread58.com/ and I thought the green and heather colours would be perfect for a moorland scene. They are currently based in Old Market but is due to move to Fishponds where she will be able to hold courses too. They have lovely fabric and some amazing African fabric and vintage lace.

The stencil (A4 size) has a lovely typeface and at £2.99 I really could not resist! This is from http://craftandmore.flavors.me/#facebook which is a 3 storey (yep, you read that right) craft shop in the centre of Bristol!  Not much in the way of stamping but some great paints for street art, mixed media, jewellery, general art stash, floristry and wedding favours.

 Finally in the middle is a roll of washi tape. Which I bought in a pop up shop in the Harbour that was advertising our European Green City 2015 status.

This one is Bristol based and features the clifton suspension bridge and of course hot air balloons, two items synonymous with Bristol.

I wasn't expecting to buy anything as I have my eye on some paints but these 3 things were screaming my name so loudly people were starting to stare (and they were all from local shops so it would be rude not to).

Happy crafting

Kyla

A colourful trip

Since I have been inspired by colour and fabric recently my mum and I had a trip out to the American Museum in Bath for the Kaffe Fassett exhibition.  It is amazing but I lived in Bath for 15 years and married a Bathonian and have never been to this particular Museum!!

 Even the entrance to the exhibition was glorious technicolour (and there was yarn bombing in the trees outside too!).

 There were several LARGE tapestry's

 and the colourful quilts were exquisite

 and I found it really inspiring

all in all a great trip out and very inspiring.

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

How to deal with a difficult day

  Hello peeps, this is quite photo heavy so why not grab a coffee and settle back whilst catching up with my latest exploits (or click away and come back tomorrow for the WOYWW post which is MUCH shorter!!)-the choice is yours my lovelies.

Sunday was my Dad's birthday.  He would have been 71 but sadly died earlier this year.  Before he died he helped me and my mum choose some fancy yarns for me to make my mum some scarfs with. I have already made the other scarfs but I hadn't gotten round to making the final autumnal colour one.  I thought Dad's birthday would be a nice day to present mum with it-she was delighted.

 The scarf is actually doubled over as its nice and wide so it can also be used as a wrap around the shoulders.

 The photos don't really do the colours justice, they are so rich and deep.

We knew the day would be difficult so we bought tickets to see the Tashi Lhunpo Buddhist Monks on their Power of Compassion European tour.  Their spiritual leader of their monastery and his family were taken from their home in 1995, one of the worlds youngest political prisoners, and to this day their whereabouts remain unknown.

 The monks played ancient instruments made from human leg bones and skulls drums.  As well as ancient instruments and dances.

Their costumes were fabulous.

It offered an opportunity to experience a mysterious and endangered ancient culture.

They ended the exhibition with a dance by the snow lion, the symbol of tibet.  We were right in the centre front row so had a fabulous view of the entire show.

It was a lovely way to spend what was a difficult day and if you are at all interested in foreign cultures and get an opportunity to see the monks I recommend it (I have been lucky enough to see Chinese dragon dances and Japanese tea ceremonies in the past couple of years).

Right, off to catch up on Ripper Street on the TV (I love the series!!).

Happy crafting

Kyla

 

 

Hurrah, a day off...at last

Work owes me 2 days time in lieu so I decided to take Thursday and Friday off with the sole intention of crafting (as the weekends have been busy and I am getting SEVERE withdrawal symptoms)...didn't quite work out as planned as I ended up working yesterday, but today (apart from a couple hours working ) I did manage to have some ME time!!

So, what did I do....certainly no lie in as I was up by 07:10 (on my day off!!)-pottering in the garden for a bit I couldn't resist taking a photo of one of our chilli plants-I have no idea what type they are (the seedlings were bought in a tray of 6 and there are about 3 different sorts of chilli plants growing!!).  These chilli are turning a very dark purple/black I hope they are hot as we both love chilli's (especially the pickled ones I made a few years ago-perfect with cheese.....mmmmmm.......!)

Whilst out in the garden I spotted this, not sure if its a moth (I know you can get certain moths in the daytime) or a butterfly, eitherway this little beauty decided to pose for me on my crocosmia Lucifer whilst I took a photo!  Isn't it  pretty?!

Now, for the past few months I have been lusting over other blogs, especially journalling ones and I decided to take the plunge.  This is my first ever page, I painted the pages with acrylic, inked through sequin waste adding some gesso and wiping it over with a baby wipe to expose some of the page below.

 I added some text over white acrylic, stamped some titles and added a little red glitter (well a girl needs a little bling). Not perfectly happy with the end result, but as its a new process it's all about the learning experience!.

Talking of learning experience I decided to use up some of my fabric and thread stash and decided to have a go at making a cuff.  I used green felt as a base and added another piece inside to cover up the stitching.  I added some mini sequins and used velcro as the closure.

Here is my chubby wrist displaying my new make.  Its got lots of dyed wool slub etc included and is every colour under the sun so should go with most of my wardrobe-and if it doesn't?  Well, I'll make another one, it's not like I don't have any stash!!!!

Off to clear up the dining room of sewing machine, threads and a LOT of spilt sequins before hubby comes home!!

Happy crafting

Li'l pidge xx

I know, I have been rubbish

What can I say? I could say I've been ultra busy at work, working ridiculous hours. I could say I have not been feeling too great. I could say I have not had much time to craft let alone blog. I could even say I have been curled up on the sofa whilst the snow falls....wondering why the hell the boiler decided to play silly beggars on Boxing Day and stop giving us hot water.

I could say all of these....and they would all be right, basically life has been taking over, as it often does when its Christmas, you try to make your cards and presents and then the sky decides to deposit a ton of snow which lasts for a couple of weeks!! But that is no excuse for not updating my blog and taking part in the challenges I started to really enjoy back in the Autumn (which seems SO long ago now).

So, my new years resolution is to blog more.....(I'm hoping its easier than giving up alcohol!)

Starting as I mean to go on....

I didn't have as much time as I would have liked to make everyone a handcrafted gift, so to make up I tarted up shop bought goodies with homemade tags.


I spritzed and stamped some background papers, using stamps and sequin waste and then added a seasonal ribbon across the length. Next I added gold mesh material and pink organza and heated these briefly with a heat gun to shrink and distress it.

Next I ironed a sheet of multiple coloured Angelina fibres which I then tore into pieces, gluing to the tag, along with some punched green foliage and a tag backed with card coloured with alcohol inks. I finally threaded through some frilly fibres and added a button. The whole lot was secured with a hot glue gun (I get through so many glue sticks I think the local hardware shop may be thinking I have a problem!).

Hopefully the recipients liked them. I certainly did.

Happy crafting
Li'l Pidge x

Happy Easter everyone

Happy Easter-its cold and grey, so must be a bank holiday!

My lovely hubby bought me my favourite chocolate (made in Dorset and utterly devine) and now there is barely room in my belly for a end of holiday glass of red wine-oooh, there.....there in the corner, just enough space...yes!


Some of you may have noticed that my blogging is not as sporadic as usual, this is because I bought a netbook and we got wi-fi, so I dont need to share the PC or sit downstairs to type, I can now craft and upload the photos all in one room-so much easier.

So, what have I been up to?

Well I have bought some wonderful products from torbay textiles and hand made myself a scarft, and made one for my mum for an easter surprise.


You start with what looks like black knitted netting....


You then weave through some wonderful dyed fibres, cloth, whatever you feel works really.

Then you use a sewing machine and sew up, down and along at various points to secure the thread, then you end up with a wonderful, individual scarf


I love it! Depending on the fibres you use and the order you use them in, I imagine the effect will be different every time.



I have also been making some cards with a beach penguin theme! I made one for a good friends birthday, loved it so much I decided to use up all the paper making a batch of them!

I also managed to send another cheque to charity this week, this time £50 to SENSE who work with the deafblind, a worthy cause.

Anyhoo-need to crack on with making a birthday present, so happy crafting

Li'l Pidge x