The Felt Group

We meet on the second Friday of the month in a village hall. 

We take our own lunch and as I was making my salad last friday I was wondering if I could manage without bread but then thought..'oh well, there'll be cake'

There is cake. We have a rota.

Last week lots of members were unable to attend. I was, as usual late but had a good reason, not just not getting up early enough.

I walked in to half a dozen eager faces and the cry 'Have you brought cake?' (It wasn't my turn)

Horror..no one had taken cake. There were only about 8 of us and we didn't get down to felting with any great gusto. Instead we chatted.

We go for friendship as well as felting.

I eventually spread some wool tops out for a piece to make brooches.

I took ages just adding wisps of many different colours mixing and 'painting' with the wool.

Then it was lunch time.

(No Cake)

After lunch I wet the felt and did about three rolls and then there was a bit of discussion about who was going to lock up as our usual key person was away, and second in command of the keys wanted to go early. One by one we said 'Oh well, I'm going early' until we all decided to pack up.

So I didn't get to finish my piece of felt until Monday.

Ah I love the felt group! Usually its a room full of variety, laughter, and heavy duty felting. The offering of advice, the family news, and general good feeling. It was just a bit thin on the ground last week.

So I'm leading up to my latest piece of felt. Very hard to photograph. If the light is good, the colour disappears as it bounces back. If its not good light it looks dreary. I hope this is just about middling.

 It worked out well from a sewing point of view. I'm happy with the mixing and went to my sewing room to work with it and these are what happened. I've increased the colour in the one below...its a bit vivid.

 This is better. 

 I like this the best but in reality the left hand side of the leaf is a lovely duck egg felt. I'll have to try these again.

 Anyway thank you to all the people who commented on my invitations. Rebecca loved them. I'm sorry if I didn't get to reply to all of you. Your comments are very welcome.

Stationary

 Scrap bookers and card makers look away now. This will not meet with your standards. I've seen some amazing creations done with inks and stamps and goodness knows what else, and I can't hope to reach those dizzy heights.

However I have been up to some cutty choppy printy stuff lately.

I rashly offered to make some wedding invitations for one of my former pupils.

I'm already booked to do her flowers and she wants only Gypsophila tied with string for a bouquet, and on the tables at the reception she wants flowers in jam jars decorated with scrim and string, which I think I can manage.

 So when she sent some ideas for invitations I think I knew what she would like.

My initial thoughts were to cut a stamp of a perching bird but my rubber carving skills were such that the legs caused me a terrible problem.

So I got out my tablet and opened photoshop. Think monkey and typewriter with me and photoshop...and then the wretched Macbook wouldn't speak to the tablet so I couldn't draw a bird even if I'd wanted to, so back to the drawing board..literally.

If a bird is flying you can't see its legs so here's what I carved.

I'd ordered some super duper 'Hairy Manilla' recycled card and envelopes and it came very quickly and printed up beautifully.

Not being accustomed to working in mixed media lately the only paint I could find  was a box of watercolour tubes. Within this box only about three of them were still moist so I mixed two of them , cobalt blue and alizarin crimson, with a roller..er sorry..a brayer.... and got a nice purply brown.

The paper just sucked it up.

Perfect.

I cut out the birds, and printed the names on the card. (I've scribbled on them to keep them anonymous)

I liked the bird being a sort of closure on the card.

 So I stuck it on half off!

For the other side I printed a sheet with the words 'wedding invitation' and cut out hearts

 I quite like them and I love the VT Remington font ( but I think it caused word to crash)

Inside I stuck printed sheets with the details of the wedding on cream paper in the same font.

 I did a few extra in case of mistakes and here they all are, ready for delivery at church in the morning.

 Sadly I think I've worked for about 10p per hour. 

But I enjoyed it.

(I also did a spare sheet of bird prints in case I found another use for them.

 They are the ones in the fourth photo . That was my mistake ..I took a photo and then left them at low level and Hetty ate them.)

 I found the cards fit exactly into and old Nokia phone box. I turned it inside out so thats another recycled bit. Don't you just love it when that happens?

UPDATE: She loves them!

Full stop or comma?

Just how many pictures of the the same thing scan one blog post risk?

 I just like making these these so much.

 The black one is difficult to photograph so I've put them all in!

 Sidey slidey view

 And then a little Paisley job with it.

 I like the assymetrical nature of these. the pale blue and blue has a quirky outline.

 The black ones are backed with moire. Ooh nice.

Sadly these have to come to a standstill while I try to source some more brooch backs like these

I've found some over the other side of the world and I've bought them but they might take two or three weeks to get here, so these will be the last for quite a while.

 Now here's where the camera does lie...this pink is beeee-ooo-teee-ful. But the picture isn't.

 Lets try one on the kitchen table.

Ooh . Yummy!

(Sorry)

In the Zone

These days sadly for this blog, my first stop for posting my photographs is Facebook. 

For those who don't use it, I have a normal facebook account for everyday stuff that only friends can see, and I have a 'page' for anyone to look at with just my textile work on it.  (Update for all those who asked its here: Jackie Cardy textiles )

It can be 'liked' by people and on Friday morning I had about 820 likes.

Then I uploaded these pictures and suddenly there was an absolute torrent of comments, likes, shares and now I have 960 likers.

For those of you who do use facebook I expect you'll be sick of the sight of these by now!

 Now, I'm not vain  enough to think that this actually means anything significant but its shown me that these pieces were well received so I must be doing something right!
When I made them I did feel as though I was 'In The Zone' which is an expression my son used once when I told him I'd had a very high score in tetris.

 Often when I sit down at my machine I can make what look like 'the same' sorts of thing but they just lack a little something and don't thrill me .
These did. I just love the way the colours work together somehow. Especially the leaf with the yellow centre on the left. It had a lovely blend of lime and jade down the side that was unexpectedly delicious.

I had made all these pieces as a selection for the delightful Lazyhill Gallery in Abbotsbury, Dorset, but when I showed them to Rachel for her to choose she wanted them all! 

I am so grateful.

Meanwhile I will be making some similar ones for other places.....if I am in the zone again.

Hear ye..hear ye....

Let it be known among all those e-present that the fair ladies from the Guild of Embroiderers within the borough of The City of Preston request your company to view their handwork at Barton Grange Commencing today 20th September and proceeding for one week hence.

I thought since we were at the end of Preston Guild I'd try a bit of a proclamation. Sorry if I got the language wrong but I'm sure you get the gist. We spent a very tiring but very pleasant day yesterday hanging the exhibition without any fuss in a spirit of getting the job done. The Barton Grange Staff were wonderfully helpful. 

I must say the exhibition looks superb with something for everyone.

We had lunch together in the cafe there, delicious and we packed up just in time for cake-o-clock and went home shattered but satisfied. Now all we need are visitors to see our efforts.

In the meantime I have been working on my usual, and come up with a plan.

I have made a whole lot of pieces to be made into brooches but suddenly wondered if anyone might want to buy them as 'patches' to do with what they will?

So I've decided to have a patches sale. If you wander over to my etsy shop in about an hour from now..(of course that all depends on when you read this but lets say Thursday tea time BST)there will be sets of patches available.

Here are a few photos.

First a foursome in pinks and greens.

 Then two of the 'hattifattners'

 and two more

 Here are two made in the Charleston-inspired felt that didn't quite make it to the final piece .

 two tropical garden types.

 a round and a leaf

 twice.

Allsorts. 

And as I don't have all the fuss and bother of making them into brooches, adding backings and  trimming, they will be considerably less expensive.

There are of course other things I have made into brooches. 

Because I have to imagine what other people might like I try different  colour combinations and sometimes I surprise myself. 

 Who would have thought this dull black with splashes of olive felt when combined with olive velvet would be so.....

 ...well......

..............I have to admit ...stunning. I love it.

I surprised myself.

Inspired by Charleston

 This felt has appeared before.

 Its mellow palette was inspired by the interior of Charleston Farmhouse Sussex which we visited just before this time last year. 

I had been thinking about what to do with it and recently I got down to it and produced a whole pile of little pieces as is my wont....which I then stitched to a background.

 Near to it was ok, but from a distance....

 too confusing.

So I made a nice neutral piece of felt, got out my un-picker and re-positioned the pieces.

 I am really quite delighted with the outcome.

 Thought I'd share.

 It looks sort of Heraldic

 Well....anyway..there it is.

 This exact time last year we were in Symi...ahh Symi...Blue...hot....delicious..sea swimmy Symi.

However funds this year did not stretch to that bit of heaven so as I felt the need to be on an Island we went last Sunday to Anglesey in order to walk to Llanddwyn Island. Bu all accounts a very special place. However when we arrived after a 2 and a half hour drive we found there was a dog ban between 1st May and 30th September,  so we were confined to this beach..which was very nice but not Llanddwyn. 

(See the kite surfers? It was windy.)

And definitely not Symi.

I liked this though.