Felt Ornaments

Christmas is but only a few weeks away.

 Today I want to show you  some Christmas tree decorations I have made.

I used felt, odd embroidery threads and beads as well as other findings.

.....and a whole lot of imagination.....

....... and even more patience .....

Some of them were quite fiddly to make..... the biggest one measures only 6cm x 8cm.

I hope I inspired you.......

Sewing with Katrina

During my visit with the children, ( keep calling them that, they are adults already...hmmm.....but they will always be my children), Katrina and I were sewing small items for a colleague of hers, to exhibit at a craft show. It was a lovely rainy day, and we let our creativity reign freely.

The organised mess on the table is proof of the fun we had.

We had limited resources and came up with a pincushion,

some bags,

and two heart shaped hanging goodies.

Ta dahhh !!!

The fabrics, buttons and ribbons we used are supplied By Nicky Whittall from  

www.cavaliercrafts.co.uk

Have a look, she has some gorgeous stamping and paper crafts on her website as well.

The Bed and Breakfast Page

Just a quick note that the Bed and Breakfast Page has been updated.

See the Link at the top of this page.

England and old Embroidery

In September I went to visit my children in England. One day they took me to see Warwick Castle in the quaint little town of Warwick. 

The Castle as seen today dates back to about 1260AD.

Apart from handsome Archers I made some interesting finds......

This is how the ladies of a bygone era used to embroider......

 In the following photo you can see the master bedroom.

 You are looking at the bed which is hidden from view behind the kist. The walls are draped with hand stitched embroideries depicting life at the castle as well as hunting scenes.

 Absolutely amazing.....

In the cellars I discovered this lovely pharmacy. It was well stocked with all sorts of herbs and spices etc.

Isnt' it lovely?

This trip was one of my highlights on the holiday.

 Wow, what history one can see there. Some of the buildings are amazing.

 They look so skew and old, one cannot believe that they are actually still in use and that people still live in most of them. 

This trip was one of my highlights on the holiday.

Casalguidi Embroidery

and what I've been up to....

Hello again. Having survived a serious cold as well as the internet being down for a week it is nice to be back.

I have been working on several projects in the mean time. Remember those crochet granny squares from a while ago? I am busy making the cutest bags with them. (It think I might be hooked on granny square crocheting...)

I have also been working hard on a long and short stitch project of Poppies. It will be a lampshade, embroidered on white fabric with poppies in red, pink, yellow etc. I will post photos soon.....

Today I would like to show off my trinket box. The panel on the lid is embroidered with Casalguidi Embroidery. The design is from Via Laurie's book "Creative Embroidery",
 another very talented South African designer.

 If you want to add this book to your library of embroidery Books,
 the ISBN is 978-1-919992-60-0

Be sure to check out Via's website:  www.chameleonthreads.co.za

This type of embroidery is worked on top of a background of four sided stitch.

It is worked on hand dyed 28ct  linen using Chameleon space dyed perle threads.

The different parts of the floral design are stitched using double detached buttonhole bars, woven picots, couching, and other needle weaving.

Note how the embroidery lies on top of the fabric.

I loved this project, it is a very different type of Embroidery and absolutely beautiful. 

Until next time, enjoy your stitching!!