Off with her head!!!!

I'm not the Queen of Hearts or a Tudor monarch but I did have to chop the head off a stump doll I started making last week. She was going reasonably well and the grey faux silk with the white organza looked beautiful. 

So I had got her all dressed, arms and head sewn on then it was time to needle felt the hair on which was merino wool and angelina fibres. I was just adding the last piece and then snap my needle had snapped in the head. I tried desperately to get the needle out but it was gone and her head was stuffed very tightly so it wouldn't even squeeze out. I just didn't know what to do. I did have a lightbulb moment, I just needed to take her head off and make a new one which I did.  I still have the old head and took a photo of Selene holding it, and that needle is still in there it just won't come out.. 

Selene wasn't the only cloth art doll I made last week, I wanted to make a witch doll for myself. With this one I wanted to try out a new technique for the face which involves painting the whole of the face and head.  It went reasonably well I just need to get a brush pen as my fineliner didn't like the surface. Again I used the faux grey silk but with black organza this time, the hair colour was a problem I just couldn't decide, black was too harsh & grey too bland but I found some lovely magenta / plum wool. I feel she turned out really well. 

My next Cloth doll projects will be a woodland fairy and then a couple of Santa's, but in the meantime here are some more photos of Selene and Cerridwen the Witch.

See you next time

Victoria x

Butterflies, Bugs and Ducks

Yesterday my son came in telling me he saw a really pretty and maybe a rare butterfly on the flowers near our pond. We went to have a look and it was a really pretty Copper butterfly unfortunately we didn't have time to get our cameras as we were off out to lunch but I promised him we would be able to take photos when we got back.  

So a little while later and with the butterfly book to hand we stood and waited with our cameras at the ready. 

There were lots of insects on the fleabane flowers including my favorite Bumble bees. I also managed to get a lovely picture of a Hoverfly, they really fascinate me how they hover and flit about so it was nice to see one at rest. 

  

Unfortunately all the Copper Butterflies decided to disappear but that didn't matter as we had a lovely treat of about 5 or 6 Silver Studded Blue's flitting around. We had to wait patiently for them to settle on the flowers. I managed to get some really good close up photo's and then a Copper came back but my battery had died, so we decided to come back out again later. 

By the time our the battery had charged it was early evening and the butterflies had gone it was just the bumble bees and insects busy on the flowers. My son was trying to take a photo of a bumble bee but he got a bit close and she decided to crawl on the camera lens. So with no pretty butterflies and the wind swaying the flowers to much I decided to try and get a photo of our ducklings and ducks. This was tricky as they really hate you getting close but I managed to get a nice photo of the ducklings 

  

The adult ducks really weren't very sure and our dog wanted to play with them so I just had to take a quick pic. Hopefully we can get some photos of the other butterflies that have visited our garden this summer, maybe the ducks if they stay still long enough and hopefully our quails and chickens as well. 

See you next time.

Victoria x

Pinterest, Blogs & Sewing

I have just added a widget on the right hand side, can you see it? It will take you to my boards on Pinterest, I have lots of gorgeous things pinned on there as well as my own work, tutorials, etc. In fact I recently pinned a blog post on there about a problem I was having with my sewing machine. The tension was just not right and the thread from the bobbin kept getting snagged and however I tried I couldn't work out what to do. Well I had two options either send the machine back or find a solution on the internet. I always try the internet first and yes I found it in a blog post by rdrop and it worked. My tension was far too tight hence why the bobbin thread would just jam. I pinned the blog so I know where it was and others could also find it. Pinterest has become very handy for pinning things I want to look at later like tutorials and more. 

I was sewing a fairy when the tension needed adjusting, it was a bit of a challenge as she had wires through her legs and body so she can be posed. Also for some reason I don't like my cloth dolls at one point, this is when they are bald and with no clothes, I just think they are not looking good. But by the time I get the clothes and hair on I like them. 

For this fairy, who I called Oona, I used some of my favourite fabrics and some recycled from and old bridesmaids dress of my sisters. The skirt on Oona is a beautiful chiffon in a gorgeous blue that also has a purple sheen. The colours of her clothes also went well with her hair which was made from bamboo fibre. 

This is also my second blog post this month my first was for the Craft Pimp Blog, it was fun to write and was all about my first attempts at needle felting. You will find the post here http://craftpimp.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/ouch-that-hurt-crafts-that-bite.html  The Craft Pimp Blog has some great things on it including some regular items like The Market Place and Fridays Favourite. 

bye for now

Victoria x

I love gift wrapping.

Well the title says it all I love wrapping up gifts be it a present for family or friends. And I really love wrapping up the items people have purchased from my etsy shop or website. I don't use lots of wrapping some items like jewellery and the odd elf will be sent in a gift box but them I will add a ribbon and tag to them.  

I do try to keep the wrapping simple but pretty, I use this lovely glitter lime green tissue paper. So I wrap first in the tissue then I use one of my personalised Moo stickers to stick it down.

Then I use the curling ribbon, I got them from a florists section at a garden centre at a very reasonable price and they will last for a long time. I could leave it at that but I do like to add a pretty tag. I bought some Gorjuss tags a few years ago while I was still  papercrafting and I use those and some Handmade with love tags I found at a craft fayre. Its not a lot and doesn't take long but I think it does look pretty.

At craft fairs I just normally wrap in tissue and add the sticker but as now my daughter comes to help me I may train her up and have her wrapping the customers purchases with me. Now I'm going to find some new pretty tissue as I'm down to the last few sheets of the glitter tissue paper. I'm hoping to find something really pretty. 

Rivers and Oceans

One constant thing in my life has been I have lived by a river and the sea, most of my childhood was spent in Bournemouth on the beach and down by the River Stour near my childhood home.

We used to spend the summer holidays down by the river with a net trying to catch minnows and putting them in a bucket. There used to be a lovely spot near to the bridge in Iford and my sister always caught more minnows than me.

Old Iford Bridge

We also used to row and sail down the river down to Christchurch Harbour or go to Tuckton and launch the boats. We would eat a picnic lunch either anchored near the reed beds or pull the boats up at Hengistbury Head. Of course we would then go and explore the Head and look at the  archaeological excavation sites there.

Hengistbury Head

I have been remembering all this as my son has been reading a Famous Five book by Enid Blyton for his schools 50's topic. I read lots of the famous five books when little and it has brought back those memories.

Now I'm still living by water but this time its the Atlantic Ocean. We don't have miles of golden sand and piers at our local beach but it still beautiful in fact I think more so. If its a stormy sea you can sometimes hear the waves pounding into the rocks at night. 

Duck Pool Beach

Sometimes we go down there in the early evening with friends, our children & dogs, no picnic tea but a beach bbq. The children and dogs explore the rockpools and often swim with their body boards. Hopefully they will have some great childhood memories like I do.

Cloth Dolls and Trolls

I have been very busy with all sorts things and little craft projects that I realised I hadn't made a cloth doll for a little while. Also I had to make a goth girl doll for my daugher, she had all the fabric and trims ready for me. 

Originally the doll was to have bubble gum pink hair but it just didn't look right so she ended up with blue hair which suited the doll better. The blue hair was originally intended for another doll I had planned but I decided it wasn't going to look right either.

I have a few different dolls planned and I purchased some patterns to make them. First I really wanted to make a mermaid and I decided that a stump doll would be the best way to represent her. I embellished her with lots of seaweed and she just needed to be holding something and luckily I had made some lampwork beads which were just right.

Last weekend I really needed to make something so I decided to start on the Troll pattern. It took a couple of days and with a bit of head scratching I finally finished him. I just love his hair which is made from merino wool and needle felted into his head, and I just couldn't resist giving him some bushy eyebrows. 

Using the patterns is good as I'm learning more each time I make a doll and I have lots of ideas all waiting to be made, including another couple of Stump Dolls a Fairy and some seasonal ones. And in between those I have found something else I enjoy making which is fabric insects, I made some for the a may challenge. They used up scraps of fabric and also gave me the chance to use the decorative stitches on my sewing machine.

A passion for reading and seed beads.

When I'm not crafting I read a lot, its my passion and pleasure. Being part of a book club and having a kindle has changed what I read over the years but I can't go a month without reading a book. My favourite all time author is Terry Pratchett, I started reading his discworld books many years ago, the first book I read was Wyrd Sisters and I recently enjoyed the Long Earth, a collaboration with Stephen Baxter.

I also do like vampire / paranormal type of books and my most recent favourite series is from a british author, Stephanie Hudson. I have read the first two books in her Afterlife saga and I'm hooked I couldn't put them down and I'm waiting a bit before I get the third so I can savour it over the school holidays. 

In fact the Afterlife saga influenced a piece of beaded jewellery I made. With the cold weather we have had I've worked indoors and I have rediscovered my love of seed beads. So I purchased a few tutorials from Lynn Davy , a fellow Craft Pimp member. I fell in love with this tutorial and found some stunning gilt lined seed beads that were perfect. I also purchased a few bits to embellish the necklace including a winged heart which was inspired by the hero in the Afterlife saga, Dominic Draven. It took at least 2 whole days work but I was really pleased how it turned out. 

Reading as you can see can influence and inspire my work so I'm now considering my reading as research, well thats what I'm telling my family anyway. Now where is my kindle.........