Well apologies for being AWOL last week but I did have a good excuse - I spent every evening last week making a quilt !
It was a completely spur of the moment thing, I went to the local quilt shop (lucky for us we have one in the next village) to buy some fabric for a quilt I am puttering about making - this quirky cute cat fabric caught my eye ... so the original project stayed in the cupboard & the cats took over !!!
So one wet Sunday and 4 evenings later it was pieced, bordered, layered up, pinned, quilted -just simply stitched in the ditch - but I thought better simple and finished than fancy and a UFO (unfinished object) !
Then the bindings added and hand-stitched - I love this bit - very therapeutic !
Now it has been added to my bed as a summer topper !
Very simplistic as I say but keeping it simple let the fabric - which attracted me to it in the first place - be the star !
Lots of other crafty things have been crowding my to do list.
When my Mum visited last month she mentioned wanting a long thin picture of poppies for her bedroom.
So despite the fact I have NEVER attempted anything on a canvass bigger that a foot square I got the notion into my head to paint something for her !!!
The result of this taking leave of my senses is here ... all four feet of it !!
Using large scale stamps & stencils I have made this .... no masterpiece but I expect she'll be too polite to mention that - me being her first born & all that !
Next on the list was on a slightly smaller scale - cards for my Auntie & Mother In Law for birthday's this weekend - these papers & toppers were free with the last 2 Do-crafts magazines - and they seemed fun to use and suitably glamorous for the 2 ladies in question !
I also altered a little box for my MIL who mentioned she was looking for something this size as a travel case for necklaces .. a bit of embossing & faux metal look transformed a plain watch box ...
Last Saturday I headed to Dyffryn Gardens near Cardiff where I had signed up for a day course in Botanical Art.
The teacher was Debbie Devauden.
Here's us at the end of the class - me clutching my efforts !
I really enjoyed the day - never having done anything like this before apart from drawing a few flowers in the garden - and despite not having any sort of pretensions as an artist !
I will certainly be doing more of this - still need loads of practice as you can see from my efforts but at least they look vaguely like flowers !
I enjoyed using the watercolours too - tricky to take a selfie whilst painting !
Some of the girls on the course were producing lovely pictures - and 2 youngsters who were studying A Level art were SO talented - each different in their styles but obviously both great at drawing.
Wish I had taken art lessons 35 years ago but maybe it takes this long to pluck up the courage just to have a bash at it !
So on my work-desk this week I find some big brush markers in a metal bucket, the box for my MIL and a lovely watercolour card of a hydrangea that I spotted a couple of weeks ago but which now inspires me even more after my course !!
A half finished altered red box, my watercolour set and some brushes that the teacher recommended as essential for Botanical Art - and tucked under the paints is a new "Feathered Friends" stamp sheet from this months Creative Stamping magazine .. you can also just see - lurking on the floor down on the RHS - a journaling book I have had lying empty in a drawer for years which is now my Botanical Art inspiration & sketch book ... just need to find time to sketch !!
Well sorry for the long post & back log of projects but thanks for visiting !!
Have a great crafty week Ali xx
Well not much to report this week as the weekend involved a six hour trip to South East London for my Auntie's 80th Birthday Tea Party !
I was awake early on Sunday so left the hotel at half 5 and made it home in less than 4 hours - back into the rain of course !
So on my desk tonight I have the Quilt In A Box, a box I am altering and the tags for this month's challenge - part made.
