Tulip's Treasure Box

I have to admit that I love beads. However, I hate beading. For this reason I am fascinated by beaded jewellery.

Take a look at these items from an Etsy shop. Tulip's Treasure Box features beautiful beaded items, and just three of them are shown here. Her shop announcement says: "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious.
It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." Thank you for allowing my joy to become yours. I am proud to create and present unique works of art





Enjoy the other works of art HERE

There are some times....

....When feet just don't touch the ground. It has been like that for weeks.

However, just to show that I haven't been idle here's a link to the Sassa Lynne at Etsy Blog

Embellisher/Textile Art Pack/Rolls

I just thought I'd tell you that I've put the first Embellisher Roll onto Etsy. Here is a picture of the contents and you can find more information about them by clicking on the link. If they have disappeared you can reach the shop via the link in the sidebar.



The contents make lovely surfaces for further stitching. This photograph shows one made using an Embellisher with a broken needle. Some people don't mind the holes, but I use this as a workshop sample to demonstrate the difference between broken and non broken needles.



This design including the fish is also made using the contents of a roll. The stitching is with a Serendipity Jumbo Medium Perle. Another Serendipity Jumbo is shown here.


You've seen this one before, but I thought I'd remind you that the background is also made using the vegetarian silk from the Embellisher Roll/Textile Art Pack.



By the way - I'm teaching at Missenden Abbey this weekend, and it just happens to be an Open Day there on Saturday between 11am and 3pm. If anyone is visiting the end of term exhibitions you are more than welcome to come and see what we are doing. We will be in the Carrington Suite, that's the old Lecture Theatre for those of you that haven't been for a while. I just ask that you respect the fact that this is a weekend workshop and we will be working away during your visit. I will have a few items for sale, but obviously don't want to be interrupted to a great extent.

What did I do yesterday?

Yesterday was a day of great concentration! I needed to dye a specific range of colours, but to do this I had to use a technique that is quite time consuming, so I don't use it very often. It is worth doing, though, as it creates well over 400 different colours within a minimum number of dyebaths. Of course 400 hanks means an awful lot of preparation, and once they are dyed they also have to be twisted into skeins, so the involve quite a lot of work.



Here are some of them drying in the open air.



They are shown in the early morning sun. By the time the sun is high enough to do any damage they will be in shade and fully protected.



This is just a small proportion, and may not seem very different to other methods at this stage, but there will be a wealth of colour change in these skeins when they are dry. Some of them may well find their way to Etsy at some time. I can't upload any more pictures as these are apparently just about at the limit of Blogger allowance.

Someone somewhere knows where most of these are going ;)

May, Take it Further

What a chapter of accidents! I have had to write this post in fits and starts. Many interruptions caused me to save and return to add more. The problem arose when I had more than one copy open in several windows (I still don't know how this happened). The result was that instead of publishing the final copy I saved the first! All the time and effort (well, almost all) was wasted and I have had to start again. Hopefully I can remember what I wrote, at least in gist.

I know it's June now, but I had actually completed the challenge by the end of May. As I thought, it was a holiday project, and here are my thoughts and results.

I gave the question a lot of thought because it goes much deeper for me than it would at first appear. My name is Welsh, but as soon as I open my mouth you will think I am English. It was a quirk of 'fate' that caused me to be born and brought up in England, but in spite of living here all my life I still regard myself as Welsh. I experienced Hiraeth long before I knew there was a name for it, and travelling over the border always makes me feel as though I am returning home.

In my working life I wear many figurative hats. I am a dyer, stitcher, artist, enabler (I feel that that is different to just a teacher). I work in textiles. My other hats include wife, mother, daughter, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend. At different times and if different places my 'title' needs to be different. With regard to my working life I consider myself to be a Dyer first and foremost. If asked 'what do you do' I always say 'I dye'. Of course, that could be for the impact, as it often raises a shocked glance as the 'y' isn't apparent in speech! I then go on to say that I'm an Artist who works in fabric and thread. I used to say that I worked in textiles. However, that seems to conjure up pictures of sheets and tea towels to the uninitiated, and I most definitely DON'T work in those!

Thinking along all these lines made me want to create something that harked back to my roots. Here is the result



This was made during our holiday. Fortunately I had an embellisher with me, and each layer was made using a different technique. There is also some hand-dyed fine viscose felt there, and some of the layers were made using an embellisher roll. It was good to make something from start to finish while still in the area. From first sketch to finished piece took about 3 days, but I certainly wasn't working all the time. It made me realise just how much I love creating, and how rarely I am able to fully indulge these days. However, dyeing is creative too, and I do LOVE mixing colour. Don't forget that you can see some to the colours I create on the website and also on Etsy.

A fleeting look at Etsy

This link won't last more than a couple of days, but if you haven't visited Etsy before it will open your eyes to the talented bunch of sellers. Pop over and have a look before it vanishes. It will open a whole new world. Each picture is a link to an item in a shop. You will soon find your way around.

PHEW!

Why is it that as soon as you agree to do something with a deadline you can guarantee circumstances will change and make it impossible without a lot of stress. The following postcard should have been in the post weeks ago, and most of it has been finished for some time, but it needed assembling. I haven't missed the deadline, but this should have been an easy quick task.



Finally it is ready to go into the post. The silly thing is that now I can't find the link to show you where it is going. I'll have to hunt for it and tell you all later. The background is made on the embellisher, from an embellisher roll. I will be loading some of these on the Etsy site shortly (it should have been today, but I've run out of time.)

If you have been following the Take it Further challenge I hope you wil be impressed by the fact that I have made this in blue!

I just have to keep running

So much to do, so little time. Does anyone else feel it too? There is still so much I want to create, but no real time to do it.

There are a few more threads to upload to Etsy, but so far I've just done one today.



The colours in the sunlight are truly stunning, and this picture really doesn't do it justice.

The quilties went into the post, and I have to say that it was a steep learning curve. Although it probably sounds simple to you I found the concept quite difficult. I couldn't be as free as I wanted to be. It was the restricted time that was the problem, and next time 'I'll do better'



Had a lovely day shopping for birthdays yesterday. Daughter and grand-daughter both had birthdays within the last week, so we had a 'girls' day out. Shopped 'til we dropped, then collapsed for the evening. Lots to do in preparation for teaching in Cornwall this weekend. I know a couple of you are coming, I'm looking forward to meeting you. The workshops are at the Roseland Mews Studios, link in the sidebar if you are interested, and a workshop in Grayshott tomorrow.

Catching breath

Three images to add today, and blogger was very good, albeit slow. The first is a new addition to Etsy.



Next is a picture of the NEW TOOTH. Yes, happy Jack has cut his first tooth. He is just as proud of it as we are.



I babysat for him last night and he was as good as gold.

Finally a picture of part of a little quiltie that will be in the post tomorrow.



I'm not a quilter, so this is an unusual project for me.

Serendipity at Etsy

Our Serendipity range of perle threads is very popular. I have been asked several times if they are available on the internet, so I have opened an Etsy shop to display some of them. I've only had time to list one so far, but over the next few days I will list more and more. Remember, these are not repeatable, they are really special, so grab them while they are there! Here is the link to the shop.

A new bag

I had such an exciting delivery today. I was browsing Etsy last week when I came across this bag. There was something about it that said 'buy me', and so I did. I have to say that it is even more vibrant than in the photograph, and I love it. It's even got a little heart bead over the 'popper fastening.

The best part is that I had already had contact with the maker, so it is from someone I know! I couldn't see any more bags on there today but here is the link to her Etsy store. I'm sure the situation will soon be remedied and there will be more there.