Finishing off...

I am always leaving the fiddly bits to the end as I don't like finishing off. When I was making Father bird I could see him with a knapsack tucked under his wing. I've re-cycled a tyvek seed pod and changed it into a natural looking knapsack. It's filled it with a mix of PVA glue and seed. After all, a bird family has to eat!

seed pod knapsack

Father bird

PVA and bird seed








When I made these dolls I wasn't thinking about standing them up, or that I would be putting them into the exhibition. Hindsight is a great thing! It would have been so much easier to put stands into the bodies of the dolls when I was stitching them together. My handy man husband has made little stands for them now and I've glued them to their bodies,  under their clothes. They are a bit wobbly but I think they'll do.

'Shall We Dance'

                          I'm going to attach these two together now but there's a look in the eyes of that man doll like he's begging me not to!      

Annual Exhibition 2012.

Last year I was having a bit of a rant, you can read it here.

The advertising for our 2011 exhibition was a paltry few lines in the IAC's Seasons Programme.

We were annoyed because we felt other exhibitors were getting better coverage than us.

We are a local group who, every year, put on a good and varied exhibition of craft that consistently brings at least 300 people through the doors of the IAC. 

Our group decided to do something about it!

Yvonne, in particular,worked hard at this, writing a letter and chatting to the Centre staff and consequently we were asked to bring in some of our work and have it photographed.

This year advertising seems to have changed and I picked up this leaflet for May/June when I went to my group yesterday.

This is a great improvement and nice for some of our ladies to have their work pictured.



Thanks to Yvonne and the IAC.



At the moment I'm working on this for the exhibition. It's a sign for the front of the 'cat on the bicycle.'





I've machine embroidered on pelmet vilene, added a cord to give it a raised edge, and backed it with felt.
Then I added some paint and metallic 'rub ons' and used my heat tool to pierce the holes. I wrapped a wire to hang it on the bike.  In other words, Mixed Media!
It's turned out o.k. but, as usual, not exactly how you would like it. I hope it is clear to people what it says.






 Not long to go now before this cat picks up it's passengers and they set off for their 'Dream Destination'.



Looking forward to seeing what everyone else has made too!

Paper I Pad App.

I really like playing with this.

Easter Monday, nest-building and eggs.

I'm knitting a rag nest from my Little Birds book. I'm following the pattern but somehow I've ended up with more stitches than it says. It looks o.k. though.

The tiny birds look happy enough with their nest, maybe because it's full of eggs!





This nest is made from a re-cycled egg box.

I've turned it into paper pulp and added some coconut fibre to it and some dried leaves, seed pods, sycamore and PVA glue. I pressed it over a bowl so I guess it's more of a bowl than a nest.




I've also made an egg from the paper pulp and added some strips of tissue paper to it, hoping it would make it smoother. I even rubbed it over with sandpaper but it's still bumpy.




I painted it with a bronze Lumiere paint. The writing is already printed on the tissue paper I glued on.

Then I added the spots of blue Lumiere using a cotton bud.




Do you think Mother bird will like her surprise egg?!

Easter Day.

Easter and there's a bit of thieving going on.


Red tulips I picked from the garden of a house waiting for demolition.
I felt sorry for them and thought I would appreciate them more than the car drivers whizzing by that don't see them. Then I felt bad for taking them and my Mum said she used to pinch a carrot from the farmer's field when she was a little girl and then feel guilty! We are no good at crime.



I made a Rice Krispie cake for Easter and there must be a thief around as the mini eggs keep disappearing!



Have to keep an eye on this Easter bonnet......



Happy Easter!

Postcard from Hampton Court Palace.

Finished at last!


You can read a bit about how long it's taken me here!


I've painted a piece of Pelmet Vilene with acrylics, mounted my embroidery onto it and satin stitched around. It's not exactly square but it'll have to do.

Count the knots!

Harmony Hill 'Play Day'.

It was Play Day at Harmony Hill last Thursday. This was something new that we hadn't tried before .
Margaret G. had the bright idea of bringing in some of our' Gizmos' so we could all play around with them.
You know, those craft items we buy that seem like a good idea at the time, and then we never use them?!

Maureen brought in her card making supplies and these stamps - there was something for every occasion.




I made this card under her instruction.



Here she is with Ann. There was a great variety of stuff on this table for us to play around with.



There was a lace- making table with Vivienne and Mavis in charge.

Despite Vivienne's best efforts it was all Double Dutch to me!
I never was very good with numbers...

This was Dorothy's table and you would think Carolyn was flipping a pancake.

But look what's in the frying pan, its Dorothy's favourite "Friendly Plastic!'

What's at Sylvia's table? Shrink Plastic!

Elizabeth was delighted with this little golfing man.




Margaret and Jennifer's table. Pom-Poms, cording and Suffolk puffs.

We had all these lovely wools and metallic threads to choose from.




Margaret demonstrating to Pamela how to make a mini pom-pom!




Not sure what's going on here girls. Country dancing?  Whatever it is, Jennifer is in charge!




This was Carolyn's card.

Happiness, I thought it summed up the day.

It takes a lot of preparation and work to organise all these activities - so thanks to everyone for their efforts. It was a fun and happy day!

Just plain weird!

When I was in Donegal I picked some gorse petals to try some egg dyeing. I wanted a coloured egg to go with one of the birds I'm making.
I hard- boiled the eggs along with the gorse but didn't have much success. I probably needed a whole lot more gorse.


So I boiled an egg with red food colouring. I liked the result and painted on spots with a Lumiere metallic paint. I then gave it a coat of varnish.

I like this egg but it's too big for my bird so now I'm going to try a smaller egg.



Mother bird is patiently waiting for her egg.

I'm going to tuck the egg under her feathers.

It was Mother's day today and my son gave me the ' little birds' book from the Design Collective that my friend Sharon had shown me.

Sharon is making the owls in this book and they are gorgeous.

The girl who compiled this book says she likes projects that are 'beautiful and sweet' and that she's seen her share of the odd, irregular (and just plain weird).

Well she ain't seen nothin' yet!!

Father bird, almost finished but I don't like his collar. It's coming off. And I think he needs a knapsack.

Then there's a nest to make and a suitcase and I'm thinking I might make a mouse, or a rat..........

Weird or what?

Weekend in Donegal.

Went to visit our middle son at the weekend and this is the view from his conservatory looking towards Derry.


Just up the road from his house.

We took a drive to Doagh Island and Carrickabraghy castle.

The sea was rough and shot up through the rocks like a fountain.

Lovely views of the sea.

I always go on the same walk here and my son's house is just down this road on the right.

We walked over the Peace Bridge in Derry.

This Cockerel lives next door, but it's my two grandsons that wake us up early in the morning!

Love going to Donegal!

Castle Espie Flyer.

Just need the passengers now!