Let us not forget!

I had a very interesting day today and it has really made me think. A whole jumble of thoughts about all kinds of things.

I went to a day care centre to teach some crafts to the clients for a day but I didn't really know in advance who I would be teaching. Luckily I took my usual kit and caboodle with me and very luckily I can think on the run.

I thought I'd be teaching mainly ladies who were Carers to do some arty stuff just for fun and to have some creative time for themselves. Instead it was a group of very elderly gentlemen with dementia!

As I looked around the room and was deciding what to do, I was wondering what their abilities would be and what I could do to make them happy.

After discussing it with their wonderful support workers I decided that we would use the Sizzix Bigshot machines and lovely patterned and plain card that I had brought and that we would make little simple memory books.

The Die cutting machines make this so easy because they just had to turn a handle and the beautiful shapes were produced. And all men,of all ages LOVE a gadget!

We folded plain card into little books and stitched the pages together with organza ribbon. The fellas chose their favourite colours for the ribbons and they enjoyed having choices about how their book would look. We then let them cut out the decorations for the front cover of their book and help with adding texture and a name plate. They were all able to write their own names.

I then went to each of them in turn and we talked about their memories. What an amazing experience FOR ME!

Each one of them had lived a pretty spectacular life! As I looked at them, I was thinking that nobody would know what fantastic human beings these are!

One was a nurse in the Army. He joined when he was just 18 and had been trained by them. He wore a blazer with a badge that stood for  Honour and Truth and had spent his whole life living that message. He had travelled the world and seen amazing things and tragic things and had stories to tell.

Another was a Doctor of Science and had been an advisor to all of Europe on Government policy. One was a fantastic sportsman and had played Cricket at Lords and sparred at boxing with Henry Cooper! There was a London Cabbie whose mind still probably had the Knowledge! and a Brickie who had worked in Australia and NZ and could still tell me all about the zillions of ways to make bonds with bricks!

We wrote their stories in the little books. They turned from a little craft project into precious pieces of personal history. 

My jumble of thoughts were all about how these wonderful men were sitting quietly with their own thoughts and imperfect memories and that as I had first looked at them I had no idea of their stories. Stories that will be lost in the mists  of time unless we make time to talk to our precious older generations.

It was a privilege to spend my day there today. 

I will be training the care workers soon on making Memory Books and using arty ways to save those memories so that their clients have a personalised book to aid their memories and their families will have a record of the lives of their precious people.  

Lace and Luck! Books and Blessings!

I've had a bit of a fabulous Birthday this year.

Usually my Birthdays pass fairly quietly but this year was a bit special. Not because it was a specially milestone year but just because some wonderful people made it amazing for me.

On my actual birthday Sam Packer and I met Maggie and Clive Grey at the studio of  Michael Wicks to see the new D4Daisy book being photographed. Even more of a thrill, it was OUR BOOK!

Cut, Shape,Stitch.

We ran around with samples, and sketch books and did step by steps and stitches for the photos. We discussed and arranged and tweaked all day!

It was wonderful to see how Maggie and Michael work together to produce the book. They have amazing vision in how to make things inspirational!

The book is all about innovative ways of using cutting tools for textiles and mixed media. In it we have experimented with tools from scissors to rotary cutters and punches to die cutters. We have also got a section on electronic machines including the new Brother Scan and Cut which we have put through its paces and which we LOVE!

We will have a stand at the Festival of Quilts for 4 days in August to demonstrate all our techniques and to launch the book. 

We'd love to see you there!

Then... the day after all this excitement I had the most wonderful present from some of my Stitchy friends.

They must know me so well because they got me the perfect present.

I was given a ticket to a behind the scenes tour of the textile archives at Waddesdon Manor to see the LACE collections and be given an insight into the work of preserving the collection by the archivist Rachel.

The day started with tea in the restaurant followed by being taken to the textile stores on the second floor of the Manor in the rooms which used to be the servants quarters many years ago.

Rachel had laid out the most exquisite lace and explained the history of the collection.We were able to look at the lace really close up. We could look at it through magnifying lenses to see the detail of the miniscule linen threads that were used to make the most elaborate and intricate laces.

Most of the collection of textile pieces and related items were collected by Baroness Edmond De Rothschild who was a girl after my  own heart.

She collected things that she loved just because they made her happy; snippets of fabrics, gorgeous buttons, exquisite pieces of embroidered textiles and fabulous lace.

Of course her huge collections differed from ours in the level of their rarity and splendour, she didn't have any old doilies ;) 

But she loved to dress up and put together some of her finds to wear in quite unusual ways just because she  loved them. It kind of reminds me of how I stroke my fabrics and buttons to make me happy ha ha.

After the tour was over I had a couple of hours to wander around the house and look at all the other collections. Blissful! and then to make my day even more lovely my wonderful friends Emily and her dad William picked me up and took me home for tea and home made biscuits before Camilla took me home. 

I feel so blessed to have such thoughtful friends. Sam who thought up the whole plan and Claire, Gwen, Kay,Sarah, and Camilla and Emily for being in cahoots for making me a perfect day. 

Thank you sooo much xx

I though you may like to see a few more photos of the textiles. Below is a roll of metal lace made from real silver and silver gilt thread. Such a beautiful texture.

This beaded bird is a small detail of a series of long panels in the house. It is covered with a fine layer of net to protect the beading.

The beads sparkle even in the low lighting  of the house which protects the collections from light damage.

This is a magnified detail of a tiny piece of a lace panel. Every millimetre of lace was astonishing in its intricacy.

Rejoicing in the little things

I love tiny things!

Sometimes the best things aren't big and showy, they are little and have to be searched for. I love looking for the littlest prettiest shell on the beach, spotting a tiny wild violet in the grass or finding the cutest button in a tray of bric a brac.

So when I found an old torn piece of doily that I had space dyed I thought it would be the perfect thing for making a page for my stitched Nature Blanket Book.

I found some gorgeous vintage velvet ribbon and placed it across the middle of both pages. I attached it with cross stitches on one side and feather stitches on the other side and then stitched on velvet flowers and little pink beads.

It is backed with a piece of old blue blanket. Such a lovely surface to stitch on!

On the left page I couched on a piece of wool roving with silk thread and added dyed felt leaves and weensy glass flowers. The bird was cut from felt with a Sizzix die and sewn on with detached buttonhole stitches. Her beak is needle felted on.

The right page is stitched with buttonhole stitches and straight stitches in variegated silk threads and the words done in back stitch.

I think the whole book will be a celebration of tiny beautiful things. Things to make us rejoice about the tiny pieces of nature all around us!

Behind the wardrobe door!

I have finished another Altered Book. It is called A Stitch in Time and is all about the joy of stitching and is full of buttons and little sewn things. I need to start a new one now really because I have so many ideas for this subject.

But as you may know I'm working on a very exciting project. (So no time for faffing about!)
It's not an altered book, not a fabric book but a real printed  BOOK! More about that soon. Promise.

For now I thought you might like to see a page out of the Stitch in Time book. this is a copper wardrobe door. It is made using heated copper and a fabulous die from amazing Spellbinders.

It has little hinges to attach it to the book pages and to allow it to open and close. And inside...

Four little dresses on hangers and chain. They are all made with vintage fabrics and lace with tiny hand sewn details. They were such fun to do. I actually made 6 dresses but as you all know we girls can never fit all our clothes in the wardrobe. Ha ha. the little fairies peeking around the door are from a fair.I wish I knew who made them.

Paper Feathers

Aren't feathers beautiful things? 
Even the ones that are not brilliantly coloured or exotically shaped are just wonders of nature. I love looking at them really closely and drawing them and I have to stop myself picking up some of the manky ones on the ground. However those are fantastic for using with Gelli printing and I will do another post about that soon.

For today I wanted to show you some paper feathers that I have been making.

These are made with old book pages and vintage pattern paper. 

They have wire sandwiched in between the  layers so they can be twisted and shaped slightly. 

They are so delicate to look at but quite strong despite being made of paper. 

What do you think?

It's never too late for LOVE

I know I'm too late for Valentine's day but in celebration of Love I thought I'd post some more photos of pages in my LOVE altered book.

The colour scheme for this book was inspired by the gorgeous marbled endpapers in this old Danish book that my friend Jo gave me. Deep red, powder blue and ivory.

I tried to make each page a different texture and each heart a different technique.

This first one has vintage velvet flowers on a lace heart. The page is distressed muslin which has been painted.

This is fragile antique silk with hand embroidery, mother of pearl buttons  and painted lace. The page is painted with scraffito techniques; The paint is scratched away to give a frosty foliage effect.

The heart in this photo is textured gesso with lace and a dried daisy on music paper. It has a tiny precious little gold bee on it. Its my bee brave motto!

The last one for today is a heart that is suspended between the pages so that you can see the fabulous textured lace that is sandwiched in silk organza. I'm really pleased with how this turned out. 

I wish you all LOVE in your lives. 

Valentines Day drives a lot of people slightly crazy. 

But love is a wonderful thing to celebrate at any time of the year.

xxx

Rain and Rust

Last Summer and Autumn I had a great time rusting fabric in the garden. I  tried out lots of different fabrics but my favourites were fine silk habotai, and vintage lace and doileys. 

It was always a surprise to see how much the fabric had dyed and the amazing patterns that were produced. Sometimes the rust ate right through the fine silk and made fabulous crusty holes.

In September I used some of the fabrics with handmade silk paper as a base for some of my original illustrations for Open Studios. 

After Open Studios was finished my butterfly of a mind moved onto other things and I completely forgot the last little rusty package... till today!

I went out in the pouring rain to rescue it and here is what I found.

So fabulous! 

The silk especially has amazing patterns. It is Eco dyeing, just using nature to make beauty all by herself. Its just a kind of magic! 

Happy day! :o)