Card Making, Fritillaria

On Wednesday morning I went along to Kim's card making class

@The Gallery and we learnt how to take a flower stamp

and make a card from it. I was fascinated how we all started off

with similar stamps and by choosing different colours and methods,

we all came up with completely different cards.

I chose the lily or Fritallaria as it flowers in Spring

here and it is Mother's Day this week.

I made two cards, one for my Mum and one for my Mother in law.

Both cards are on their way now.

It was another lovely morning,

Thank you to everyone especially Kim.

Carol's Stained Glass Window Wall Hanging

Carol is working hard at this Stained Glass inspired

piece and it takes alot of patience.

I keep photographing each week and getting her

to hold it up against the window.

It really is coming on and is going to look spectacular.

Barbara's Cherry Wallhanging

This was Barbara's third week and I think this is a wonderful

wall hanging made out of nearly all scraps she had and the red border

she brought. Every cherry and leaf are different, just like nature intended.

I reckon it will be a quilt next!

See my Cherry quilts by clicking the Cherry picture on the right

of this post.

Stella's Wallhanging

Stella had been away on holiday so it was back to the

Gallery this week to finish some more of her

wall hanging. She was a bit despondent when she first arrived

as the wallhanging she thought didn't look anything.

( I posted a beginning picture of the wallhanging before).

Once it was squared off, some embroidery stitches added and

the black border, ( this is bigger than it needs to be at the moment),

Stella seemed a bit happier and was definitely happy

when her husband saw it when he came to collect her.

We often disregard a project in it's early stages because it

isn't turning out quite as we imagined. Persevere and follow

this serendipity it can lead to some wonderful outcomes.

Also if you are really stuck, leave it out where you can see it,

have a break and come back to it, often it will show you what to do next.

Of course you can also bring it along to Gallery Tuesday and have feedback!!!

or your local group or understanding friend.

So Stella's wallhanging is ready to put together for quilting next week.

I think her Grand Daughter will be really pleased.

See more of what goes on @ The Gallery

www.thegallerydereham.co.uk

Gallery Tuesday

Three in a row all having a break from machining this week as usual

there was lots going on from mixed media, wallhangings and making

waistcoats out of Alpaca.

Jenn with her Grandad

Jennifer loves being with her Grand Parents and I feel

very lucky for her she has such wonderful ones.

This is such a lovely photo of them.

Ladies Night

More Mandalas Cards

Kim's class finished at lunch time so I went over to the Bead Shop

in Dereham that sells all sorts of craft items and

brought some card and of course a few pots of the

wonderful shimmer paints and Embossing Powders. Yum!

I had the quickest lunch I think I have ever had and

started stamping and embossing in gold.

Kim had given a demonstration of this earlier,

I always use it on textiles and in moulding plastics

so using it on paper is just magic.

Then to cutting out and figuring out what lines to choose!

Not easy when you get confused what line is what

and there is no tutor to hand!

The best bit for me was painting with the

shimmer paints, so iridescent, beautiful.

Above, you can see my second finished card,

completed all on my own with encouragement

from Haydn and Judy the Gallery owners.

I am quite pleased and Thank You to

Kim for inspiring another creation.

To see more of my creations visit

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Card Making

As some of you know I like making and learning different things.

I often learn a technique or skill at a workshop and

this in a way adds to my mixed media work as an artist.

I always learn something and find it humbling to be an

student. Different Tutors have their way of

setting out and using equipment that you would otherwise

never come into contact with or you have been doing

something the same way for years and you are

shown a new or easier way to do it, wonderful!

I am going to Kim's (a tutor @ The Gallery Dereham)

scrapbooking class and she mentioned that she does

different card making techniques too!

So I went along on Wednesday and

look at what I started on! these Mandala tile cards,

the rest of the group were already doing theirs and

I really jumped into the deep end.

I just loved it, the stamping and cutting out of the different layers

and then building them up again.

The shimmer paints are beautiful to use and so glossy!

I will be doing more of these.

See more of what goes on @The Gallery

www.thegallerydereham.co.uk

Beading Evening Dresses

I have made evening dresses in the past but this one I brought.

I've done some alterations to it and this week

I have added some simple beading to the bodice and straps.

The beads are small glass seed ones that really glisten

and of course they are in one of my

favourite colours.

It's always nice to go somewhere you can where a proper dress!

I hope to show you show photos shortly with me in it!

Design to Art Quilt

As you can see Pat has finished making her mixed media textile

trees and they are now ready for the background.

The background is calico dyed and painted in several layers

to build up colour

in certain areas, and to signify borders.

The centre of the wallhanging is all threads and strands of fabric,

machine stitched and embellished onto felt.

Pat is going to take these out in a circle to the border.

This is a piece which needed the design process to

bring ideas together and to choose the different

ways the piece could go.

The design element of any artwork can happen at the

beginning and often at many different stages of development.

Standing back and often walking away leaving the piece

on show allows you to discover more about the artwork or

develop a different technique approach.

Sampling on a mock up really helps.

Not all art making is clear cut and can teach all

of us many different things along the way

by trying different techniques before settling on the next step,

Experimenting is one of the beauties of ART.

Pat's Projects

Pat always has lots of projects in the process.

Here is a bag made from a Scottish Mohair Scarf.

It is being modelled by the Gallery Statue.

(She has had the opportunity to model Pat's wearable

creations before).

The cushion below is a modern linen and lace

cushion cover with Pat's added modern art, mixed media and lace.

Pat is adding some embroidery embellishments later.

See more creative work throughout this site

by clicking gallery or mixed media in the labels below.

Cherry Quilt

Barbara wanted to learn how to make applique by the machine.

She started last week learning how to use

Bonda web (fusible webbing) and

how to use a sewing machine, where to stop and start etc.

This week it was borders.

This is another quilt which is being made out of fabric scraps.

See more block quilts on my website

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Gallery Day 22nd March 2011

Sylvia is such an inspirational lady and every week

she wants to learn more and I think

everyone learns from Sylvia.

Here she is showing us the applique cards she has made

on her machine.

Sylvia is learning the different ways of Machine Embroidery.

See more Machine Embroidery on my website

www.art2inspire.co.uk

Art Tidy

Almost every week I make Art Tidy's for commissions.

This one was the latest one.

I teach students how to make their own when they

want a quick project to make.