Seasons Fleetings

card marquettes

At the moment we are trying to get sorted for Christmas . . . I know! It is a little scary to think that it is just around the corner. In preparation for the festive season, I have been creating some plans for cross-stitched Christmas cards.

a delightful accident

Basically I have been coming up with the templates and testing them using white silk embroidery thread. White on white is a fabulous way to test out something that has sculptural or textural elements as it shows the form more clearly. I had popped up one on the window sill to see what it looked like from a distance and was thrilled with the effect of light coming through the needle holes.

my working space is not normally this tidy!

As well as festive colours, I think I will have to continue to produce some in white too. I will have a collection ready for both Crafternoon Tea on the 15th October and The Devonport Craft Market on the 16th October.

Spring is in the Air

Nice! Our wee dear made it into a spring selection on Felt Spring is in the Air. Do check out the other lovely treasures that people are listing :)

Greeting Cards

Greetings!

Ooooo it has been a wee while since I posted on here, I must get better at maintaining this blog. I just completed some more hand-made artCards today so I thought I would share some of my favourites. 

This one was meant to be more gender neutral, but according to my flatmate (who ought to know) if it has embroidery on it, it is girly.

OK more embroidery here too . . .

This one is too sweet, I love the contrast of the colours within the embroidered speech bubble. This one was meant to be more feminine.

Lots of lovely different papers have been reused within this tui card. Some vintage wallpaper and handmade paper I bought back from India a few years ago.

I love the idea of being able to have a character say what you want it too. Who knows what this rabbit will eventually end up saying.

They are available for purchase on Felt 

Latest Pieces

Well we have been head down tail up getting new work together for the Parnell Mother's Day Market on Sat 7th May.

Oops, taking over the flat . . .

Over the years I have collected a huge range of old fabrics, table linen, inherited sewing trimmings and other pretty stuff I have just hoarded. We thought we could up-cycle these gorgeous snippets of fabric and create a range of works that are more affordable that the original paintings that Ella produces.

This bear was sourced from a vintage etching.

 Lovely old drawn thread-work provides an effective base for this elegant horse.

  

This wee bear has green ideas.

Also we included some images from a book I discovered in my mum's things. 'Alice though the Looking Glass' . It features the original illustrations by Sir John Tenniel. I love the inscription on the inside of it

Here is one of the works that got created in response to the delightful drawings.

If you are at a loose end on Saturday, come and check out the ellaQuaint stall. We will have cards, printed and original one-offs, illustrated prints, unique up-cycled canvas works (like above) and last but definately not least, some of Ella's fabulous manu paintings. Follow the link for more details

Mother's Day Market

Blue Birds' Moon

Well I have completed a wee series of collages in photoshop based on blue, birds and moons. I think that they are tomtits, not bluebirds and they are not nocturnal . . . but hey.

There are so many amazing resources online that you can add to your own. I had just as much fun creating these images as I do with more lo-tech collage techniques, normally I dislike using the computer too much.

Vintage patterns have been brought into all of them, in some cases ever so subtly, which work wonderfully with the retro imagery. I think these will become a card pack as they lend themselves nicely to that format and are cute and chirpy.

artCards

Finally I got it together to put up some of the artCards that I have made for sale on Felt. They are time-consuming to make, but so much fun. Being a chronic hoarder, you know the ol' 'it can be re-used' adage, these little art works are a fitting end for some of the treasures that I have collected over the years.

daisy rabbit

Old magazines, vintage lace fragments, recycled calendars, handmade paper, inherited silk embroidery thread are just some of the ingredients that go into this range. They are all original designs and lovingly hand-made.

butterfly kisses

The silhouettes of the animals are hand-cut too, using stencils that I have made myself. The way that the light casts shadows upon the ground of the beasties is very effective.

golden birds

The cards will be available shortly for purchase via ellaQuaint on Felt