Effy Wilds Book of Days

I,m still plodding on with my Book of Days,and hopefully the novelty wont wear off,Effy Wild,s link is at my sidebar on the right if you would like to join,I,m finding at the moment its a great way of making sure i do a little bit of Art work each day,then i can look back at this and see how i,ve progressed,also a brilliant way of playing around with new art supplies,experimenting too,which i have done in this pic,using my new Tim Holtz Distress Stains,and some diecuts. Debs (Rustycage) came to see me for a visit last week,we had a lovely day swapping Tim Holtz diecuts,she bought over the ones i havent got,sooo Debs you can see i have used the Cabinet Card and the Heart in these pages :)) I havent given up on my fabric art,have started on a new swap,creating a Fabric Tag Book,but wont be able to show the pics till around May when the tags go into the group.Thanks to Effy Wild for finding my Mojo for me lol,have so much to do now,dont know where to start :)) 2 more pages nearly finished January !

Completed Book Cover

This is for "The Book Of Days" project re:last post,enjoyed myself today slapping paint about again,I layered up using Gesso first after sanding the shine off my book,using Acrylic paint next, after that I applied strips and pieces of paper using Mod Podge to fix,the Butterfly was a problem,I used Effy Wilds method,stamping on tissue then tearing and sticking down,I didnt like the effect as the colours changed,used a Sharpie pen to try and alter it,still wasnt happy,so painted over the top with Gesso then the paint,lo and behold the thing came through,I loved it ! happy mistake's happen.........The book Plate is a Tim Holtz,they are really nice,now i,ll be kept busy HOPEING to fill the pages lol,I also used crackle glaze to fix. Happy New Year to all ! xxx Inside Pages !

4day Spread

Book of Days

This is something new for me !I have just joined Effy Wilds "Book of Days" here

This is the second stage of my book cover, am just waiting for it to dry,(dont you just hate drying time ! ) I am really wanting to get back into painting and paper craft,(keep loosing my mojo)a friend suggested I try this program with Effy Wild,she is a mixed media artist,we can work along with her each week by vidio to create a book of days,we each choose a word for our book that reflects each one of us,my word is HOPE,as i,m hoping to fulfil all my artistic projects in the coming year,and HOPE to at least spend an hour a day creating something even if its just a mess lol.In this book (like a journal)I hope to portray or doodle something about my day,I found a small (handbag size) sketch book,years old,forgot i had it,now to give it a new lease of life ! You can find Effy on Facebook under "Book of Days" Hopefully this week i will finish my cover and start on the inside page.

Leather Notebook

Yes Leather ! a friend of mine bought me round some leather offcuts,I was telling her my new Tim Holtz Vagabond machine cuts leather,I couldnt wait to try it out,first i wanted to colour it as the offcuts are a very pale beige,I tried everything to change the colour,it was the metalic Rub on's that worked,it wasnt untill i finished this little notepad that i found the best thing for dyeing leather is Alcohol Inks !! they work wonderfully ! Anyway am quite pleased with this first tryout it will make a nice little Xmas prezzie for her,I am soooo pleased with my Vagabond,thankyou Tim for this great machine,there is no end to what i can do with this !

A bit more leather work for a friend a credit card holder,this one is also dyed with alcohol inks

Happy Christmas ! XXX

Vintage book completed !

At last its finished ! I think i have learnt the best way to bind my books together now,well this way works for me using the "Bind it all" machine.
Thankyou everyone for all the comments on my last post,its lovely to get feedback x

So Far so Good

So Far so good,my little white vintage ladies book is coming along,this back page is something different,I was reading that you can use pressed flowers in Fabric Art,its so easy,just trapping the flower between a layer of cotton material then covering it over with fine netting then sewing down ,which i have done here,I am lucky that a friend pressed loads of flowers for me a couple of years ago,i put them away in a folder and forgot about them till reading this,had to try ! really looks lovely,just hope they hold up with the passages of time.

I have already bound my book ,now to just fill in the gaps and back pages with stamping and quotes.its a long job.........

Pure Vintage

Pure Vintage because these 4x4 pages are the start of my Vintage all white fabric book,The images here are much better in real life but not as good as my normal ones,now i know why the cotton fabric i used was not a close weave,thats a lesson learnt,but they are ok for this little book.I have such a lot of lace,hopefully this will use some of it up,have to say i miss the dyeing of fabrics and colours,it is a challenge though :))It sure makes you appreciate colour ! always exciting starting something new,I can't wait to create the cover,needs a lot of thought !

Autumn Colours

Fabric Postcard for a swap in my group,my favorite thing to do making fabric postcards.........this one is Batik fabric background layered onto felt,painted in gold fabric paint (leaves)and beaded,I know they used to make these in Victorian times,I,m off to google them see what comes up,I would love to collect them,proberly out my price range lol.

Mixed Media cards

A card made this morning for a friend whos in hospital.

Just 4"X4" felt square layered up with Organza so the colour of the felt showed through,then machined stitched across to make a pattern,the butterfly was cut out of a beercan using my Cuttlebug Machine,little silk flower and a bead,......"with love" tape ,I coloured with promarkers.Image is fabric,transfered by ironing onto freezer paper through my printer.
Hope she likes it !

And another

And another,thats all my cards done for this month !

Credit /Business cards or ATC holder.

These are simple !
Credit /Business cards or ATC holder.

I just measured 2 credit cards side by side to get the size,cutting out a longer length(think you can see what i mean by the pic) layered the front fabric onto felt then the lining underneath ,so three layers to machine all round,make an envelope sew down the middle and sides all done! then comes the good bit, embellishing.

The turquoise one at the back in the picture,I am using daily fits in my bag lovely,that was Batik fabric painted over with gold fabric paint,my favorite bead,and press stud to fasten.
The pale blue one(hand dye'd) hasnt been embellished yet ,I,m going to do a few of these for Christmas tree prezzies,well thats the plan lol.Maybe i will put some tiny flowers along the flap with buttons for the centers,have to go through my stash and match up..........

New Toys !

This is different ! for me anyway.
I have never seen or heard of these before,so was quite suprised when i had a package in the post from a friend with a few of these silk carrier rods to try ,those were in their raw state not dyed,so the square piece you see here is my practice piece to just see what i could create with them,i dye'd them with Cosmic Shimmer sprays striped and ironed them flat ,then machine sewed onto felt,loved experimenting with these so much and the lovely textured feel,just had to buy some more from Ebay,these in the bag i received this morning are dye'd already,beautiful colours and that silky feel !not at all expensive.

Now to think of something useful to make with them ! thankyou Annie for something different to spend my days playing with lol...........

Fabric Spectacle Case

Spectacle Case

This is for a Swap to create a fabric case for our partner,we had a choice of Spec/mobile/Kindle etc .so we chose Specs..........

I dye'd some white cotton fabric then rubber stamped over it with gold fabric paint (flowers)and layered onto felt, then made an air dried clay embellishment for the corner,painted with Luminere paints to match...the inside is fully lined ,using press studs for fastenings.

Really strange as there is so many ways to tackle this creating wise,I could have beaded or made fabric flowers for the flap,but for me it just evolves as i go along,starting with the fabric background and the colours i use.......I think i am spoilt for choice with a huge stash ! trying to match colours,I like to use mixed media makes it more enjoyable than just sewing jewellery on ! Yesterday was so depressing weather wise,cold and rainy,so this little project made the day go really quickly,and so enjoyable.