I had to take a blogging break for two or three weeks, didn’t realise I would miss it (and you all) so much! I haven’t been idle though, you will be pleased to hear :)
Back for today only though as I am on holiday next week, then normal service will be resumed - hopefully.
Firstly, these are all wonderful pieces of work that I have received in the post lately:
From Anna, this gorgeous bookmark. A wonderfully encrusted surface.
And just look at the back too, what a brilliant idea for a backing.
It came with this lovely card crafted by Anna’s daughter.
And some other goodies too.
Plus I just had to take a photo of this neat little parcel they all came in before I unwrapped it.
Thanks Anna, much appreciated.
Also received this fabulous piece of silk paper from Carole which glistens when the light catches it.In her card Carole said she looked forward to seeing something fabulous made with it – no pressure there then.
Talking of cards, this is the one she sent. Another great idea – printed on little sticky labels.Thanks Carole, and if I do manage to make something spectacular I will certainly send it on to you.
It was my turn this month to receive a Calendar Girls postcard from Debbi, and to say I was pleased with it would be an understatement.The background fabric is printed and the flower is metallic mesh that has been heated to discolour it.
You can read more about this on Debbi’s blog.
Also got a ‘bonus’ card from Debbi. Have admired this style of postcard on her blog before and I was lucky enough to receive one. (Along with fairies, what I think of as ‘shaker style’ is another unlikely passion of mine.)

Val was the ‘lucky’ recipient of my card this month. Long story, which you can read on the Calendar Girls blogspot, but this is what she will end up with.
Three layers, all rust dyed using the Caustic Soda and Ferrous Sulphate method. Bottom layer is handmade paper, then Tyvek which has been melted with the iron and the flower is Lutradur.

I also melted some of the other Tyvek which I had dyed using this method and got some amazing results.


This piece here though is plain white Tyvek melted, machine stitched to a backing fabric then flooded with red then blue ink with a little bit of Interference Blue wiped over the top.
Back to rusting – I have been having a play with some teabag paper which came from Jackie’s Etsy shop. I rusted these two bits by wrapping them around a bottle with rusty wire. The first one had been dipped in tea before rusting. They came out really well, and although I had to be reasonably gentle with it, this paper will stand up to a bit of rough handling.

I intend to experiment more with this paper over the next few weeks – would be great if some of you had a go too, see what we could all come up with. This is the link to Jackie’s Etsy shop, if it doesn’t work properly go to her blog and follow the links from there.
It was a friend’s birthday recently and as she always professes to really like what I do, I thought I would put that to the test and make her something.

The card is rust dyed velvet that has been over dyed with Procion and the little label is rusted teabag paper.
The main piece isn’t quite finished though so it’s going to be another couple of weeks or so before she gets it.

It’s a double sided quilt, this side is finished, will show the other side when that is done too.
The design is an art deco design, parts of it filled in with organza.

Made a bit of a boob though – all should I say, a bit of a ‘bummer’. Take a look at this part of the design.
Now if that doesn’t look like someone’s bum, then I don’t know much about it. *LOL*
And finally, everyone’s favourite online mag is released on Sunday, Workshop on the Web – and guess who has an article in there?
Do hope you all enjoy it as much as you did the last one.
Must go now and get organised for this holiday. I’ve sorted the Laptop, some hand stitching and my Embroidery magazine which came today, so that’s the most important things taken care of - who needs clothes anyway?