Challenge.

Thought I'd better have a papercrafts fix so did the Art Creations Friday Challenge, the picture of the little boy was provided and you worked around him ,so I used distress inks on the background, stamped the chair,added the boy and collaged some birds , he is 'Amongst Friends'

First block finished

This is my first completed 'encrusted crazy patchwork block'( 6"x 6" and I'm pleased with the result. I really think that the hardest part is making the decisions of which beads and buttons to add, that can take more time than the actual stitching, altho' deciding what stitches to put on seams can take time - oh decisions decisions!! but it's fun.

Altered Fork

This is the 'dug up/found object'fork altered for the ABBA challenge, I alcohol inked it with a mix of pink and lilac, the wings are alcohol inked grunge board and the face is a piece that I have recycled from a taken apart art doll that I really didn't like anymore, it is a tin lid with a stamped face put in and glossy accents spread over it. The tines wouldn't bend easily , probably because it is nickel plated and very hard. I finished off with beaded wire and a charm - 'Who is she? - just Imagine'!

Cutlery

The challenge on ABBA this week is Altered Cutlery,I am waiting for OH to get home to tell me where he has put the 'found object' that he dug up in the garden a couple of weeks ago - it was a battered fork - just the thing altho' I do have a stash of spoons i could use, last year I altered some spoons for Jan's birthday gift, they were inspired by an article in Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. - pictured here - but will have another go this week.

Clearing!

This week I've been sorting thro' ' things' for a table top sale at the local church on saturday, hopefully the garage will look less congested by saturday night and we can then start on the loft, why do we hoard everything? I am working on my crazy patchwork and todays lesson will take us into the world of bead and button embellishments and towards finishing the blocks. I have made this atc this morning using silk and lace scraps rather than throw them out.

Birdhouse

The theme for this weeks ABBA challenge is Birdhouses so I have altered an atc added a matchbox base and decorated it with twigs,feather,collage bird and egg, the roof is made from an old tomato puree tube put thro' the cuttlebug in an embossing file.

A blue week

Here are 4 ATCs for a mixed media group 'blue fabric swap' , thanks again Viv for adding to my low stock of blue fabric.

Crazy Card

I have used some of the squares of fabric that Viv gave me last to make a 'crazy' postcard, and have embellished it with silk ribbon embroidery and beads and sequins etc.On to alter more scrabble tiles today I think and make atcs for a blue fabric swap.

Something new.

Over on the MAMMA altered art site the next project is altered scrabble tiles, something I haven't tried before so I had a practice this afternoon, the two smaller ones are scrabble tiles and the larger one is another game tile. On each one I have put a small printed picture then edged it with a Krylon pen and coated it with Glossy Accents, I have drilled the small ones for a jump ring and the larger one have put a magnet on the back ,they are really fiddly to handle but the results are good.

Newsprint

The ABBAthis week is to use newsprint so I made a gothic arch using a piece of the fabric Viv gave me on thursday, added some newsprint , a picture of Albert Einstein and a piece of coloured newspaper stamped with one of Einstein's quotes plus an extra quote at the side.

Piece for checking.

Am putting this piece onto my blog as it won't upload into the course forum and I need Sharon to check it for me,(the block is slightly larger than it looks as I reduced it to try to get it uploaded on the forum) perhaps the SRE is too heavy, perhaps I got carried away with enjoying the stitches, perhaps I'm going to have to unpick it all!. As Doreen say's ' things can only get better' and looks like we may be on track as here I am at 9am and the PC came straight on - but will it last?.

Words only

No connection on the 'big PC today, more words with the really pleasant young men who deal with all my servers complaints and would you believe that after leaving the pc on all day every day for a week, they chose yesterday to check the line, I'd left it off yesterday as we were out for the day - what I coincidence!! Any way yesterday was spent at the NEC in Birmingham, spending money at the hobbycrafts and sewing for pleasure fair, with Viv who had come down from Liverpool, we had a really lovely day and got some goodies between us. This morning after my tense phone call with the server person I decided to make a Mother's day card for my Mother in law, I was pleased with the result but when I went to open it, it was back to front, so I cut the front off and put it onto a coloured card, great but when I went to open it, it was upside down so I cut the front off and put it onto a white card, doubly checking it was ok, i put the insert in- back to front - do you think I might be stressed??? or just having a bad day! finally the card is finished , I'd show it to you but my big pc wont work and I really don't feel like sorting out how this goes on the scanner etc - not with my luck today.

frustration!! etc.

I have only just managed to get connected to the web tonight altho' I first started trying at 8am this morning, I'm getting madder by the day!! Have put up a photo of some crinkly pansies that are out in one of our hanging baskets, they are so pretty and also an atc that I found tucked away unfinished, it's a machine embellished background with some heat zapped Tyvek and then finished off with hand stitching. The lovely little Westie, patiently waiting for her biscuit , is Minnie , a rescue dog that my friend has just 'adopted'.

Another Bookmark etc.

One more bookmark for the ABBA challenge, and my crazy patchwork block that now has had the seams stitched.

Bookmarks

This weeks challenge for ABBA is Bookmarks, so being in fabric mode I did two - the blue one is layered stitched and cut away fabrics and the cream one is using my favourite copyright free image and mixing it with fabric,lace and paper, these really made a change to do.

PC Problems

I am making the most of getting an internet connection this morning as I doubt if i'll get one later today, the phone lines between our house and the server must have been smoking over the last week as I have made so many calls to them, they 'solve' the problem and I get a good connection for two days then off again - do they know it's the 21st century, this shouldn't happen or am I too optimistic there?. The two atcs pictured are from a swap where I was sent some fabric, all shades of lilac, and I make it up and send back an atc or two, I added the paper pictures.

Birds of a feather

I have 6 birds to make for a group swap, they are to be put together in a little book when they are all collected, so far I have made two, they are double sided but I'll only show one side here.

Crazy!

Having signed up for the 'Encrusted Crazy Patchwork' course I have had to make some blocks ready to 'encrust', see Sharon B's - In a minute ago site , I have made a few blocks so that I have a stash for when I go on holiday etc, I'm really looking forward to starting work on the seams adding stitching and embellishments.

Big Challenge

Last year after the Embellisher course, Dale from the Thread Studio, issued a world wide challenge to produce a piece of work made on the embellisher with the theme of 'Connections', prizes were to be awarded and it would also go on show at Quilt and stitching fairs all over Australia and finish up in England at Ally Pally in October. My piece was based on the connection of a healthy sea / healthy coral and I've posted it here.You can also see the exhibit in miniatue here The piece is approx 8x8 inches and made using a mixture of fibres and fabrics on foiled felt, texture was added by melting with a heat gun, the friendly fish are felt and hand stitching ,shell and beads finished it off.
Thank you Ali for the award, i'll put it on my blog then try to sort the rest when I've finished this weeks crazy patchwork 'homework'.