Sunday, October 28, 2012

Tatted bookmarks and felt hearts

sometimes I wish I wasn't so much of a flibbertigibbet - I really am a Gill of all trades and mistress of none! Why are we crafters like this I wonder?  I think that it's because, when we see something new to create,  our creative juices start flowing, and we just have to try it....like NOW! lol

Tonight I have been making a felt heart with silk ribbon roses and  decided to add a little dragonfly

for the tail I used used some lovely Kreinik metallic thread that my friend Kim, from across the pond, sent me (thanks again Kim). It is a beautiful thread with lots of sparkle. I dye the silk ribbon myself because this gives a lovely shaded effect.


Another craft I enjoy is tatting and I couldn't think what to do with  tatted bookmarks (except, of course, mark the place in a book). I tried to think of a novel way to present them as gifts and came up with this idea


I printed the image from The Graphics Fairy on to an A5 card and set up the boy & girl images so that one was printed on the back of the card, as an extra touch.


I gave the little girl's dress a watercolour wash and added a ribbon to match


The purple bookmark pattern is a Mary Konior pattern and the red & orange is "Stumpy" by Kersti Anear

I thought about adding some text, but actually like the simplicity of them as they are 

Tatt's it folks!

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Painted lace

I love making lace..........crochet lace, tatted lace  and painted lace

I thought I would share my sheet of lace painting tips which I made up a few years ago. This is how to paint basic lace and, if you want to paint something, more intricate I would suggest looking at Arlene' Linton's site



It really is far easier than it looks to paint lace and all you need is a small flat brush, liner brush, stylus (or cocktail stick)  and water based acrylic paint. Painted lace is beautiful on all kinds of surfaces - if you are painting on plastic ie Christmas balls you can basecoat with DecoArt Multi Purpose sealer


To design a round piece of lace 
Place a round object (plaque, plate, saucer or similar) on to the project & draw around it with a soap (or watercolour) pencil – complete using the strokes* below
or
design a circular pattern (in segments)
Cut out a circle of paper and fold neatly as many times as required. Place on the surface and mark round the outer edge. Make small marks to indicate where each fold is and remove the folded paper. If an inner circle is required cut out a smaller circle, place inside the outer one and draw around with soap pencil.  You will now have equal sized segments to assist you in placing the strokes.

To design Square or oblong  project
Make 2 small marks on the outside edge of a coin with a permanent pen (the marks should define 1/3 & 2/3 sections of the coin). Place the 2 marks precisely on the middle of one edge of the square or rectangle you have already drawn and draw round the edge of the coin with the soap pencil. Continue drawing the shapes until you get close to a corner – now you may have to adjust the spacing to fit (or you may have a gap at the end) Repeat this on the 4 sides. Add the corner shapes by using the coin to suit the space. For more intricate lace a 2nd row of semicircles can be added (with each one resting on 2 circles below). You will now have a series of circles to indicate where the strokes are painted. Paint the lace using the following strokes as required. below.


Materials 
White acrylic paint - Plaid Folk Art or DecoArt Americana 
FloatingMedium or Brush’n’Blend
Flat & liner brushes. 
Stylus (or cocktail sticks) 

Paint a “C” stroke to create each circular shape around th.e edge with a  brush loaded with white on one corner and floating medium on the other



To paint a sheer effect for the base - mix a tiny drop of white with floating medium (or faux glazing medium) and brush over the surface (to create a faux finish effect at this stage you can use a dry brush or make  a pattern using a piece of net,  kitchen towel (I once used bubble wrap). The full effect will not show until the paint dries. 

Make dots using a stylus or cocktail stick. Make sure you have a good puddle of creamy paint.  If you practise you will notice that as you make the dots they get smaller each time which makes a nice graduated effect. If you want the dots a uniform size you should dip in to the paint puddle each time. To make the pattern symmetrical start on the middle of the outside edge o a C stroke and work down until you reach the start of the next stroke. . Then, reload the brush and start again - dot over the very first dot and work down the other side.  Always dip into the centre of the puddle.
To paint cute little hearts - dip the end if a liner brush into the paint puddle and make a dot on the project - repeat making a 2nd dot right next to the first one, then, using the end of the brush pull the paint down from each dot to make a 
heart shape
Lazy daisies use a liner brush and inky paint to paint little 5 petal lazy daisies (just like embroidery at school!) and make a dot in the middle for the French knot
Crisscross - use the liner with white paint. I find it easiest to go around the project making all the lines in one direction and repeat the other way to make the criss cross pattern. 
To paint a lace effect using a paper doily – basecoat the surface  using white or cream (or the colour you want the doily to be). Lightly spray repositionable adhesive on to the doily and place on the surface. Apply the colour you want as the background colour. I prefer to use a sponge dauber but you can also use a stencil brush or spray paint. Remove the doily and you are left with a negative pattern  of the doily (really effective)





I hope these little tips are useful…………enjoy

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Tea time

what do I do with my tatting bits and pieces?

I usually make earrings and necklaces, but wanted to do something different....so

I tatted this cute little teapot from the lovely book by Martha Ess and added it to a card

the image is yet another from Karen's site The Graphics Fairy - the colours are gorgeous

Years ago I used to teach card making, and still enjoy making some from time to time. I like the card to be about 250 gsm - this gives a nice crisp fold



I love tea and probably couldn't live without it!

want to come round for a cuppa?

 ps - my new Facebook page is called Roses and Teapots Crafts - I would love if click like

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Sweet peas

the weather in Scotland is beautiful and I can't believe I picked some sweet peas today. I love sweet peas with their beautiful shapes, colours and fragrance. I also picked a few fuschia, but I doubt they will last. Still, if I hadn't picked them Jack Frost would probably have visited tonight!



A couple of years ago I decided to paint sweet peas and I struggled with the colours and shapes, but eventually got there.  I used water based acrylic (DecoArt Americana)  but it was watered down so much that it had the consistency of watercolour paint


they were fun to do and made some nice cards

Maybe now I will try painting fuschias - they are so pretty too

thanks for visiting here

Friday, October 5, 2012

tatt's good

Good Morning

congratulations to Glynda Devore who was picked in the random draw - I hope you like the gifts Glynda

It's been a busy week - in between having new doors fitted in the house and a new floor in the living room, I have been busy tatting pretty little  teapots from A Book of Tatted Teapots by Martha Ess

I have been tatting for about 2 years and, up until then, I hadn't even heard of tatting.  Along with other crafts tatting is becoming really popular. There are lots of free patterns online,  lovely pictures on Pinterest and tutorials on Youtube. When I first started I bought "Learn to Tatt" by Janette Baker. This book comes with an interactive CD which makes it easy to follow. It explains how to master the craft and has patterns suitable for a beginner

back to time for tea......

this was my first attempt, it is called Tiny Round Teapot (an obvious choice of name!)


and.....a tiny square teapot

both were tatted using Lizbeth thread  size 20



Yarnplayer has wonderful patterns and one of the first things I made, using 1 shuttle,  was her Carnival earrings. It is an easy to follow pattern which incorporates beads


Another nice pattern is the Stumpy bookmark from Kersti Anear - I love this pattern and it looks good in variegated thread

I used the same "Stumpy" pattern for the angel's wings on a pillow for my friend Jo. The script "I believe in angels" is from The Graphics Fairy



.......yet another craft for which I need "things" - this time shuttles, threads (in every colour), patterns and a lot of patience!



Lots of tatting patterns and shuttles are sought by collectors and fetch really high prices. Mary Konior books are out of print, but can still be found. I have her books Tatting with Visual Patterns and Mary Konior tatting Patterns (of which there are 3 but I only have one so far).

Have a great weekend