MERMAID DOLL.........HEART CUSHION.......

Good morning ...the sun is trying to break through...where has our summer gone? I live for those too hot day ,when we moan about how hot it is and have to sleep with all the windows open.

Never mind...perhaps we will get an Indian summer!

I have made another mermaid, the last was sold within ten minutes of putting her on e,bay.

I printed six at the same time..but home printing is not very controllable..so they all come out a bit different...I like that, it means each on is unique.

A close up of her face....

I found this fabric in' my pile for me'!...I only have enough for a few cushions.

I have a pile of fabrics I adore, but at times they fit the project in mind and I have to part with them.
This cushion has an inner lining, this gives it extra body and helps keep it in shape. There is no inner pad...but the whole cushion can be washed.

I added a double sided satin ribbon to the top...and appliqued a heart I printed on top of a felt heart to one side. The message reads 'I LOVE YOU'...I sewed it on by hand with embroidery silk.

HANGING HEARTS

MERMAID DESIGNS...MERMAID T-SHIRT...CROCHET TOP

This is a close

up of a piece of fabric I have just painted...it is going to be a big bag.

I am very pleased with this top....I hand painted the mermaid...slightly different to the one above....It is delicate...yet has strong clear colours and is modern...I used silver fabric paint to pick out the high lights.....I love that paint, when you iron to fix it...it melts into a glittery silver and catches the light.

Close up of mermaid.

This top is on e.bay...it is hand crochet in a shell design...I think the yarn is a silky pure cotton...not hard like some crochet yarn...It has some weight to it, stretches to fit when you wear it...I have worn it a couple of times....but it does not like my expanding midriff!

FAIRY PAINING...

I have put on this fairy painting so that you can see it properly....It is the design I have used on my fairy tote bags...

TOOTHFAIRY PILLOWS......

Little tooth fairy pillows...the pocket is just the right size for for the fairy to pop her coins into. I used a print for the fairy...hand painted the righting and decorations...and sewed a little pocket from sequined fabric...very fiddly!

MERMAID CUSHION......FAIRY BAGS...... MERMAID BAG...

Another mermaid cushion...I have made so many I have lost count...every one is different.

Sorry photo not clear....This bag has a print of a fairy I painted...It is a very delicate picture as fairies should be....I sewed it on catching in ribbon yarn with an irridesent lurex thresd...the same yarn I use on my angel wing bags.This is a little bag for little angels...or fairies!

The fabric is water marked pure silk...

Above is a larger version...

A small mermaid bag...made from water marked pure silk...so called if you dont know because it looks like it has ripples of water in it as it catches the light.

The perfect size for a little person!

DENIM SKIRT..HANGERS..BUTTERFLY CUSHION....FAIRY TOPS...

A pretty denim skirt...I sewed a double flower on the front...COOL!

Pale blue bought hanger with one of my hand made lavender bags looped on...an old fashioned idea, but lovely for a special outfit or little present.

This one is cream....I sewed a button on the lavender bag for extra detail.

I don't really have to tell you about this.... I hand print the design, then quilt the front with machine embroidery...I have sold so many....one customer told me she gave one to her niece, and the little girl won't sleep without it...That makes me feel good!

The last two of these...all I have left with this design is a larger vest top, and a t-shirt.

ANGEL DOLL...SEQUINED JACKET....FLOWER PENCIL...HANGING HEARTS....

Another angel doll...I only have a few left now, then that is it....I have ideas for other angels..She has cute hearts on her wings.

Oh..such a pretty little cropped jacket...I had visions of being wined and dined in this! No such luck...apart from being too busy I am never taken anywhere I could wear it...despite continuous hints! Are all men that dense? Or is it that they just choose not to here?

I have two flower pencil toppers left...The pencils are so cool...all covered in glitter I would have loved them when I was little. The flower and leaves are all hand sewn....nothing is stuck. I added a little embroidery and a sequin.

A hanging heart...there is also one on Shabby angel 1. Lovely to hang on a knob or hook or for Christmas.

This heart I thought would be lovely for a child's room...I threaded the loop with beads, it is quite tough...I know what little ones are like, so firmly sew anything they are lightly to throw about!

MERMAID PAINTING..SHIRRED DRESS..CORSET STYLE TOP

I have just finished another mermaid painting...as you can see it is the same design..but different colours...the design proved very popular so i shall repeat it but it Will always be unique...I use acrylic paint on canvas.. it takes me a few days to paint a picture...I do a bit here and there...then I leave it...keep looking at it to make sure I have balanced the colours and the positive and negative shapes....sometimes I gt stuck and can take weeks before I know what to do....I am going to make some mermaid bags for little girls...they keep pinching their mummy's!

Oops! My foot is visible at the bottom left....sorry..Colin has been told of for not cropping the photo shorter!

I bought this lovely dress for myself...I wore it once...I love it but it does not suit me...never mind! I have put it on eBay in the hopes I Will get my money back....

I made this top...it is really beautiful...the velvet is soft, with a pattern woven into it...I trimmed it with my favorite turquoise satiny fabric and beautiful wide lace that is a perfect match...It is fitted and feminine...fully lined with a side zip.

Detail showing the front...click on the photo to zoom in...

BUTTERFLY CUSHION...MERMAID CLOCK...CARVED HORSE.....FISH CUSHION

Well, here I am on my new lap top!!! ...I feel all officy and important!... Actually I am having great difficulty in controlling the mouse thing! It has taken me for ever to get to grips with all this computer stuff...I love it but I'm hopeless....Colin does all the e.bay writing so he is responsible for the bad grammar and spelling mistakes...such as the STRIPPY APRON and I think there are one or two on there at the moment...I just become sort of computer dyslexic....the right letters in the wrong places...thank goodness for the spell check...I can't spell for ****

Above is yet another butterfly cushion.

Oh I love mermaids and other fairy tale people...witches the most...I have one in my head....I will be starting her soon.

I am pleased with this...lovely for a child or in a bathroom...or anywhere ! It is made from mdf... Colin did all the dirty work...I had he pleasure of painting her.

The horse below is all my work...I carved it from mdf...I am trying to persuade Colin to have a go....It is hard work and very dusty so I doubt I shall do much more. I put knobs on this to hand things on...that's it really!

I have been with Colin a year and a half....I spent a lot of years on my own with my boys so have learned to do a lot of skills associated with men...we can do anything we put our minds to....However now I have Colin and he does the manly jobs...he is so lovely and kind...and he cooks great chocolate cakes!

Everyone loves my fish cushion so I have made another...I am diving into my precious stock of 70's fabrics....I wanted to keep them all for myself,for the day I have time to make myself something! If you click on him you should see all the bits of net and fishy materials I appliqued on...I don't think I spell appliqued right...take no notice!

HAND PRINTED ANGEL AND MERMAID...T-SHIRT

When I was little I saw a fabric panel for making a doll...the sort you cut out,sew and stuff....I can still picture it...but my mother refused to buy it. It started a fascination for printed panels... cloth kits designs...that type pf thing. It was not until I finished collage as a mature student may I add, that I sat to work printing my own. I do not have room to screen print anything large, so I use a process of mono printing which has taken my a few years to perfect.

Et volia...a hand printed angel.....

A hand printed mermaid......

A hand printed t-shirt...

BUTERFLY BAG...MERMAID BAG..CAT CUSHION...CAT CLOCK.

Firstly may I apologise for not having blogged for a while...our computer

has been sick again...we really are fed up with fixing our poor old computer..so we bought a lovely new lap top....It has taken forever to install everything...I lost my pictures...AGAIN...so we have spent all week sorting it out. Colin has been off this week...it's his birthday...so all in all we have not achieved all we should have.

Above is a bag I have just finished...the material has a lovely pattern with silver oblongs...they catch the light.I hand painted a butterfly onto some cotton...machine embroidered it, then appliqued it onto the bag...I am pleased.

The colour of the bag matches the shells in the picture. I took a print from my mermaid painting and fixed it to cotton fabric. I then sewed the picture to the bag catching in lurex thread in the process.

A hand printed cat cushion...Last week I printed about six, each in a different colour.I love doing this...each is so different and you get little un expected speckles and marks in the process. I then hand colour the design....I love doing the whole process. I design the pattern...cut the card to print the design...then make a huge mess on the dining table...I rig up a line across the room and hang my prints to dry.

I discovered Colin can cut shapes from wood! He seems to have endless talents which he keeps hidden...I wonder why! So now I have him at it cutting out my designs and I have plenty of ideas to keep him busy!

Oh what a cool kitty!

We work well together and shall be putting on some really funky clocks over the next few weeks.