Angels and Saints

I'm busy getting ready for our Creative Co-op Christmas Craft Fair.

I've made fleecy tree ornaments and this angel - but I'm not sure about her - she doesn't really match the one in my head!


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Here's a side view:


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and a close up of the embellishment:


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She's based on this Santa, but I'm not sure I've got it right yet:


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And this Santa was based on the wizard that I made for halloween. I am pleased with the Santa!

Meet the Wizard and his Wife

I enjoyed making the pretty ghoul, a nice change from the usual smiley faces. I thought she needed some companions, so I made these:


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I was trying out some different shapes. I drew sketches of a wizard and a witch, then simplified the outlines.

These were wool tops (roving) needlepunched onto a piece of black muslin (scrim). I really had fun with the faces and the beard was a sudden inspiration.

I found some rather superior sequins in our local discount warehouse (holographic and not too shiny) - I think they are meant for card makers - so this was the perfect opportunity to try them out!

Who's a pretty ghoul then?

Just having a bit of fun in anticipation of Halloween!

The season is changing. The leaves are beginning to turn, berries are ripening in the hedgerows, it's cooler and it's getting dark earlier. Thoughts turn to the autumn and winter festivals that cheer us up in those darker months. Well, mine do anyway, and I made this:


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She's a variation on my little spirit dolls. Made of a variety of needle felted scraps embellished with hand stitching, beads and sequins.

Here's a close up of her face:


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and here's a close up of the embellishment:


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Creepy or cute?

My daughter says my spirit dolls are creepy and I should make something cute.

Here are some of my latest spirit dolls, what do you think?


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So, I made a new version - is this cuter?


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I like making these little things, because they fit so neatly in my hand while I play with the stitches and I can use up all sorts of scraps and bits and pieces. I have even sold one or two on Etsy - it's so nice when people like what you've made enough to purchase it!

Summer Festival

I was at the annual Llammas Festival this weekend. The weather was mixed, and so was the reaction to my wares.

The Eastbourne giants, escorted by a retinue of drummers in colourful costume.



People wanting to browse the stall before we've got it set up - why do they do that?
You can see Suze's bum in the foreground, Tarni's bum in the background and Rosie and Sharon all ready to deal with customers.



One or two of my dolls and Suze's super felted necklaces.



Another of my dolls, Suze's semi-precious beads and Tarni's earrings.



And here's Rosie, presiding over Sharon's candles and the selection of cards.




Saturday afternoon the weather took a turn for the worse, it bucketed down with rain and our makeshift marquee just wasn't up to the job. Here are the girls making a futile attempt to waterproof it - and can you believe it, people still want to browse with all this going on!



I had to pack up my dolls and textile pieces quick and leg it back home to dry them out!

Sunday was much better. The sun came out and so did the crowds. We had a constant stream of browsers all day. Lots of people stopped to look at my dolls, asked lots of questions about them, said some complimentary things and took away my leaflets, but no-one was buying; not even the little things I made specially. I overheard many nice comments but, human nature being what it is, the one I remember most is "Well, they're way over-priced for what they are. It's not even a craft fair. I certainly wasn't expecting this!" And the runner up was "Sixty-five quid. Jesus"!

(I had so many photos I wanted to use that I also wrote about our weekend here with more pictures of the festival.

Art Dolls Only - 4 Elements Challenge

Its time for the ADO challenge! You can find all the links to the challenge dolls
here.

Here's mine, finished I think:


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It's Earth and Fire. We know fire in its devastating, destructive form. But in the right place, properly managed, it can promote regrowth and regeneration. The flame coloured doll is the fire part - the small faces surrounded by leaves at the base are the regrowth, regeneration and hope for the future.

Mine is a bit late, although it is still Friday 17th here! I had some laser treatment on my eyes yesterday, to forestall the onset of glaucoma, and everything is still a bit fuzzy!

Thee are some detail shots of the stitches etc. in the previous post.

Two challenge doll!

I've been taking part in Sharon B's Stitch Explorer Challenge. Find out all about it here. This month's stitch was needleweaving. I had a doll made up ready for embellishment, so I decided to use that. Then I found out about this and decided to join in. So I'm using the same doll for both challenges.

The brief for the second challenge is this:
your inspiration is the elements, and we challenge you to make an art doll using one, two, three, or all four of the elements as your inspiration.

My element is fire. We know fire in its devastating, destructive form. But in the right place, properly managed, it can promote regrowth and regeneration.

Here's what I've done with it so far:


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(I've already done some decorative hand stitching on the doll, added the faces and completed the needle weaving for the stitch explorer challenge.)

The flame coloured doll is the fire part - the small faces surrounded by leaves at the base are the regrowth, regeneration and hope for the future.

Here's a back view:


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a close-up of the face:


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and some of the hand stitched embellishment:


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She's fixed to a base made from a 'sandwich' of two felt-covered cds that same through the door as junk mail and she stands seven inches tall.

I'd really like to do some more elements, but I don't know if I will have time before the deadline.

Flower power

I've been taking part in Sharon B's Stitch Explorer Challenge. Find out all about it here. This month's challenge is casalguidi work. Casalguidi work is normally worked on linen , starting with a pulled stitch background. Motifs are worked on top of this using detached buttohole stitch and casalguidi stitch (traditionally raised stem stitch band worked over a bundle of threads)

I had this in my hand, ready to embellish - so what else could I do with it??


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It is a present for my granddaughter on her birthday.

Dotee-type dolls

I just made this pair of "smockeryfied" dotee dolls to thank a couple of friends for doing me a favour. Thank you Susi and Tarni.


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Oh dear! Now it's going to be hard to part with them!

My first proper pin doll

I seem to have escaped full-blown flu (the other person in the house had a really good dose), but I have got most of the minor irritating symptoms. I got up yesterday morning and felt as if I'd grown old suddenly overnight. Looking for something to do that wouldn't need too much application and energy, I made this 'pin doll', to cheer myself up:


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The 'body' part measures about 3 inches, so you need a good cup size to show it off to full effect!

It cheered me up sufficiently to make this pair of 'hangers on' to go with it:


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These are a bit bigger, the 'body' part measures 5 inches.

More spirits

I got inspired after making the previous doll, but I decided to try to make smaller ones. I wanted happy, cheerful faces, bright colours and a bit a sparkle. These measure about 7 inches high.


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These two are my favourites:


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Getting into the spirit of things

I've been having fun with 'spirit' or 'friendship' type dolls. I've never made these before.

This is the first one I made:


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The Boss says it's HORRIBLE, but I'm quite pleased with it. I like the 'bean-shaped' body - it fits neatly in the hand so it's nice to hold and nice to work on. This one measures about 9 inches. The fabric for the body is printed chiffon needlepunched onto a commercial felted fabric made from recycled synthetic fibres (doesn't that sound better than 'washing up cloth'?), embroidered and embellished with yarn and beads. I sewed a needlesculpted doll's head straight onto the body, so she has a strange humpty back and no neck. I think it adds to her charm!


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I think I might make some more of these!

Blogflog

It's official, stitching is good for you!

I think most of us committed stitchers are aware that once we pick up the needle and thread we are often transported to another place, where problems disappear, we relax and time stops. Before you know it, the children are home from school, himself is home from work and there is nothing prepared for dinner! (Not to mention the mess, the coffee cups, the washing still in the machine, no housework done and "Oh my goodness, I forgot to stop for lunch again!" Sometimes, though, this phenomenon can be even more beneficial than you would think. I followed up a comment from Molly
that took me to a post on her blog (not a textile blog, but a very good read nevertheless!) about Betsan Corkhill. Betsan, an occupational therapist, set up a knitting/stitching support group on the internet for people suffering with chronic pain. I'll leave it to Molly to tell you about it. If you are interested you can find her article here.
And here's the link to Bethan's internet support group
Stitchlinks.

If you are interested in the therapeutic effect of needlework, you may also be interested in the therapeutic effect of the results. Have a look at The Comfort Doll Project, started by Pat Winter to send hope and comfort to women affected by physical violence.