Sunflowers

Happy weekend everyone..such a relief to have no where to go...and nothing much to do! I'm just planning on pottering around the house and garden midst feeding and tending to little ones!

I made this cheery window panel/curtain for my mama on Monday (Full moon meaning that I was super hyper and couldn't sleep!). She wanted a sunflower to brighten up the little window. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I'm keen to make a matching lampshade and some cushion covers too...hopefully this will actually happen or it will be added my infinite to do list!

Well..am off to make some spinach & cheese pancakes...and a nice strong coffee!

Love Dotty 

xxx

Doodles and dancing

I've been making an effort lately to try out some new techniques and play around a bit more with stitching, painting, applique and embroidery. There is so much inspiration out there it's hard to know where to start!! I shall be consulting the Stitchin fingers for help!

I had a play about yesterday with some fabric paints. I haven't touched them since I bought them of my course tutor about 5 years ago. This was the resulting sketchy doodle..

Freehand machine embroidery over fabric paints

It's still a work in progress, I'm going to finish stitching with the machine and then adds some handstitched details and texture. Sketchy but fun.

Also, some further adventures of the magpie!. This is the little chap I sewed for M a few months ago. There are more pictures on this post.

 

Our kitten (soon to be my mums) was rather interested in Mr Magpie..or Sparkle as Miss M calls him!

and finally, a few pictures for my Raindrops and Daisys Greenday Link up. To take part you just need to share a few pictures on the green theme and you can check out lots of other inspiring pictures from around the globe too.

Beautiful Tribal Bellydancers

 I took these picture a few weeks ago at a Hafla (Bellydance Party) that I went to. The Tribal Dancers always have the most beautiful costumes. Here's another..

Their dances are really Earthy and powerful and I always feel quite moved when watching them. They are gorgeous ladies! What I love about Bellydance is that it celebrates the beauty and power of women and its just REALLY good fun to do!

yet another lovely rainbow! We've had a lot lately!

 Sorry this has been such ecclectic and long post, my brain is a bit all over the place at the moment!

Hope you are well and happy!

Love Dotty

xxx 

all life is change...

With no particular goal in mind, I began sewing this morning and this appeared! I've been trying to think of my favourite sayings and things that inspire me and hopeefully inspire others too. 

I always like the messiness of the underside of work. Here's a peek at the hidden mess!

tidying up the edges to use the hoop as a frame

It's the first times in years that I've used a hoop to sew in. I'd grown a bit lazy and have been using stitch & tear to stabilise the fabric but I'd forgotton how much easier it is to sew in a hoop. Although you are restricted by the size of the hoop and the length of the sewing machine arm, it was well worth the effort. My brain is overloaded with ideas so I'm not sure where the next sewing trip will take me. 

All done in the peace of  my mess/studio room on yet another misty rainy Cornish summer day with fabulous tunes by PJ Harvey and Connan Mockasin playing in the background...bliss! 

 Love, Light & Laughter

Lisa

curtains, curtains & cupcakes

I went off on a tangent after beginning to sew the Magpie and have ended up sewing curtains for the hall...which has been on my to do list since moving in (well over a year and a half ago.) I was feeling inspired after a walk down the lanes, seeing all the beautiful cow parsley in the hedgerows.

 It reminded of this project from The Homemade Home by Sania Pell. So off I went to sew my own version! Here they are...  I might add a butterfly or two in the top part, just to pretty it up some more.

and I finished off these little curtains the other day. They used to be in my kitchen, hence the tea and cakes! They are kind of wonky but they do the job!

 

 and finally...the Magpie is nearing completion and is looking like this at the moment...

Its been pretty faffy to make because I'm making as a toy so having to sew and reinforce all the seams and thinks of ways to make feet out of soft material. I used felt and rolled it up and sewed over it in zigzag stitch to make the feet. I am super excited about finishing it, I just wonder how long it will last!

I'm definately feeling hyper creative at present, it seems to flow like that, I have times when I don't make anything for weeks on end and just watch way too much rubbish on the computer..then when I've overdosed on reality tv shows and "come dine with me" garbage (and eaten way too much chocolate) I get back in gear. I am so much happier when I'm creating, not always which comes first..whether creating makes me happy or being happy make me creative? What ever it is, its good though! 

Hope you are feeling inspired and creative too!

Wishing you a happy weekend

xxx

I'm linking up with Fiona who blogs over at Raindrops and Daisys for a new linky party with a green theme!

lovebirds dancin' a jig! (some new designs!)

Here's a couple of new card designs I've been tinkering with! This was commissioned for a friends wedding anniversary. When you wiggle the card about their legs move and they kinda look like they're doing a jig! Sadly, this amused me for some time!

and a card for my neighbour who I will miss massively...I'm so gutted they are gone :(
I handstamped the card with "Home Tweet Home" cos I love a corny pun!   

and this one for my blokes father's birthday. I drew little musical notes all around him.

I will be attempting to work on these designs in photoshop and get some prints done once I'm happy with the designs. Hopefully they will print out well, I'm still unsure of how the colour backgrounds will work, maybe I need to stick with plain to start with. Any tips from you arty folk would be much appreciated!

Well, take care my lovelies and I hope the weather has been as lovely with you as it was with us today!!

 xxx

Ouch!!

Look a little worried doesn't he.....`

I think the needle was a little too close for comfort!...yikes

and yet more Owl LoVe by the Little Dotty Bird....

Personailsed name hanger

another fun Owl card!

  How many Owl related puns could there be????

Already used "Owl always love you"

"Owl my love"

etc etc...you get the idea!!

Please let me know any you can think of...or any daft sayings!

Thankyou xx

am off to the school Christmas fair now...let the chocolate fuelled madness begin!! 

I'm linking up with crafty folk here:

Freckled Laundry

Kojo Designs 

paper and sewing

Here are a few cards I've made this week for a friend. (I haven't got around to putting anything in the etsy shop yet but I do make cards to order, just drop me an email if you'd like anything!)

made using patterned paper/book and an ol' button

Nice one to get in the post

 I tried sewing the paper bunting directly to the card rather than glueing and threading the bunting on (as on the card below). Threading it was quite fiddley and took a while to do so I think I'll stick to the new way, although I do like the way the bunting hangs freely.

It looks scappy in this photo but its better in real life....!

 off to the park now

wishing you sunshine

x

Delegation weekend

I got lawns mowed and hammocks hung (£5 carboot bargain woohoo!)

It is so lovely to lie in but not so much when kids jumping and climbing on you..! ouch
Also been starting on the broad beans, kindly de-podded by my demanding and somewhat volatile assistants.

 enjoyed the flowers..

Foxgloves (definitely NOT edible!!!)

lovely Borage flowers (which are edible)

Calendula (edible petals) 

 and randomly...here is the final piece I did for the course.

All stitched and painted from a photo I took of the (slighly run-down) beach huts in Hove. I always liked the ones with peeling paint and warped wood the best. They look like they've had a good life by the sea!

bye folks x

Sketchy stuff

I did a brilliant and inspiring evening course (NCFE level 1) in creative machine embroidery back in Brighton (lovely lovely Brighton...I miss you..!). The teacher, Wendy Dolan, was really generous in her teaching and we covered alot of the methods used by textile artists (www.wendydolan.co.uk.) The beginning of the course was mostly about learning how to draw and write freehand with the machine. Its a really exciting way of working on the machine and has been made popular lately by textile artist Poppy Treffry (see her at .www.poppytreffry.co.uk )  Here are a few pages from my sketchy work folder.

 My final project was a picture of the beach huts. Stereotype seaside image but its a lovely reminder of my (child) free seaside days...

I'll post a pic of the huts on the next uinstallment!  I really need to find a creative course of some description around here...I'm having withdrawal symptoms since leaving Brighton!

Sew many owls..

Was busy last night (faffing about on computer..ahem) and making this for fathers day. I do have a mild obsession with owls, although I know I'm not the only one, there are alot of bird crazed crafters out there!.

Then this one, not sure if  "Wise Old Owl" may offend a not so young recipient, but it would do nicely for grandads and the like!

The inspiration blatently came from these lovely lot...

from the polkadotshop on etsy.com

...and these little fella's I made for M a while back. The first (rather scrappy) one is the Mama and baby J bird and then M demanded another Daddy and M bird.

The M bird has wings! (random pouch is a new genetic adaptation!?)

 I came across this old rhyme the other day, it was featured on a poster in Country Living magazine.

A wise old owl lived in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why can't we all be like that wise old bird

As Alice once said "But that's just the trouble with me. I give myself very good advice, but I very seldom follow it."  Lewis Carroll

cheerio x