Back Again!

Well I said it wouldn't take long didn't I?  Here is the second version of the necklace which I do actually prefer - not sure why I didn't think of this idea in the first place!!  Luckily I had just one little 'Y' connector in my findings box otherwise I might have had to make one from wire which would have taken longer.

Beading

Yet again I seem to have been missing from my blog but I can assure you I've not been idle, merely trying to use my time a little differently by doing more practical things rather than spending time at the computer.  I have a little beadwork experiment to show you today in the form of a necklace which incorporates some 'spiral staircase' or 'spiral rope'  bead weaving using seed beads and pearls together with a beaded bead using the same and just a couple of elements using beads on eye-pins.  I'm not altogether sure this is how I want it to look and might try a different way using the same components but with the beaded bead suspended vertically - a simple enough job to change it around and/or change it back again if I don't like the look - of course that is the beauty of making jewellery from components which can be switched around.  If I like the alternative arrangement I might post another picture.

Frog Bag

I thought it was about time I wrote another post before people think I've disappeared again - time just seems to fly!!  I've been stitching again and made some more bags for the tombola later in the year and here is one which uses up some frog fabric squares which I bought on a whim because I thought they were cute at the time.  It seems silly to just keep them around because I like them so I've matched them up with some bright red fabric left over from a previous project and made this cheery bag.  The sunshine has been glorious today and it was a shame really to be indoors but I had done all the prep yesterday for a bag making session - finding fabrics, cutting out and so on so that I could concentrate on the actual sewing today without dashing around the house looking for bits and pieces.

Sorry, I've just realised the photo is a bit 'fuzzy' so I will try and replace it with a better one when I've cleared up all the debris left from my sewing marathon.  There are two more of the froggy squares on the other side of the bag.

Edited to include a clearer photograph

Going Around in Circles

I recently saw a demonstration on Create and Craft where a circular stitching attachment was being used on a sewing machine and, guess what, I actually have one which has been lying around unused for a few years.  I thought I'd just dig it out and have a go to remind myself how it worked and having produced a piece of around 8" square thought it would be a shame to just put it aside so I've made it into a pocket for a bag, designed using up some of my fabric stash.  I'd like to say that the buttons were stitched on for decoration and of course they are quite decorative but one of the things I'd forgotten about these circles is that where they meet up,  some of the fancy stitches don't exactly match - the circles line up OK but the actual pattern doesn't finish as an exact match.  I must say that when I saw it demonstrated I had an idea this had happened but the camera panned away quite quickly onto another part of the design, presumably so that we wouldn't notice!!  Anyway I thought I'd just share this bag with you today and I hope you are all having good weather for the Bank Holiday - certainly looks better than yesterday at the moment anyway.

If anyone knows how to ensure that the fancy stitches match where they meet I'd be interested to hear as long as it doesn't involve complicated calculations!!

Pixie Snippets challenge 175/6

The challenge on Pixie Snippets is running for two weeks this time around so there should be plenty of entries for you to see over this time.  Mine for this week is a decoupage card using snippets of card to cut out the primrose design which was printed on the computer.  More snippets from my oddments boxes were used to die cut the decorative section for the sentiment and also the border at the bottom.  Finally the last remaining snippet from a pack of freebie papers has been used as a background.

Decoupage - Tattered Lace primrose die with matching CD-ROM
Border - Tattered Lace die
Sentiment - from a freebie stamp set
Decorative layers - Sue Wilson Caribbean die set

Background Technique

I decided to have a go at producing the Bokeh effect on a background but instead of the usual circles I used a stencil which was in fact a piece of 'waste' card left after I'd die cut some flower shapes.  Distress stains were used to colour the card first in streaks and 'splats' and then the flowers were overlaid in a random fashion using  white gesso thinned with a little water.  I didn't want to cover too much of it so simply stamped the wording on top and added a die cut strip and some flowers as a border.  A technique with lots of possibilities I think!

Border dies - from Tonic
Flowers - Sue Wilson dies with Card Candi centres
Leaves - Sue Wilson ivy die

Pixie Snippets 174

I'm including another of my notebook covers for this week on the Pixie Snippets challenge - lots of interesting 'picks' showing this week and a pretty daffodil card to see if you follow the link to take a look.  The journal cover started off with the addition of a piece of white card which had been inked with Distress inks and edged with gold embossing powder.  Some of the leaves were stamped onto the background and the colour removed from the leaves using water to 'lift' before colouring with a Distress Marker.  The snippets come in now with the flowers and extra leaves all having been stamped onto oddments of card, embossed and then coloured using pencils before cutting them all out with scissors.  Sadly we seem to have lost our sunshine and this morning is quite grey and dull - shame but I reckon the ground really needs a spot of rain.

Stamps used - Floral set from Sheena Douglass