About Me

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I am a lifelong fabric artist who loves bringing a home to life with quirky, unique and sumptuous pieces of textile art. I learnt my craft from sharing many a happy hour sewing with my talented mother. I particularly like collage, free-machining, needle-felting and creating home furnishings using a combination of machine and hand sewing. I love incorporating vintage and reclaimed fabrics, buttons, beads, jewellery and other items in my work to give them a second chance at being beautiful.

Wednesday 20 January 2016

WOYWW - Things to do with bubble wrap and a roller blind

Hello all!

I took a brief sabatical last week to look after a toddler with a leg in plaster (more about that later) so didn't manage much sewing.

Here's my workdesk this morning. A bit of everything - a customer order, some mounting and some new background pieces to needle-felt later.

You can see a large piece of wet felting that I made yesterday as a background for a larger sheepy picture I've planned, inspired by the Shropshire Hills.

If you're not familiar with the process of wet felting, essentially it involves layering pieces of wool roving (dyed sheep fluff) loosely on a piece of bubble wrap, squirting it with liquid soap, trapping it between net and another piece of bubble wrap, rolling it round a rolling pin wrapped in a bamboo roller blind and rubbing vigorously. The picture below might give you some idea of this...

It's quite a spectator sport...

My customer order is yet another personalised picture - this time for a lovely little girl called Ligeia. Ligeia loves lions and I thoroughly enjoyed designing this little lion for her picture. Here's a sneak peek and I'll share the whole picture at a later date.

My last share is a picture of my little man who fractured his leg just over a week ago when he tripped over kicking a balloon. He's been a very brave boy adapting to his plaster cast well (though thankfully it will be taken off next week).

Of course, with his football practice on hold, he's had much more time to focus on his reading!

That's all for today folks. I hope you have enjoyed reading about my work. Pop over to Julia's Stamping Ground to meet dozens of other fab artists sharing a snapshot of their workdesk with you.

Happy crafting x



18 comments:

  1. Oh the poor wee man! Bless him.
    The wet felting is looking fab. I had a go at wet felting at a class a few years ago and loved it. Would love to have another go... yet another craft I would need to find space and time for!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Catherine x #19
    PS have a good week

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  2. Oh the poor wee man! Bless him.
    The wet felting is looking fab. I had a go at wet felting at a class a few years ago and loved it. Would love to have another go... yet another craft I would need to find space and time for!
    Thanks for sharing.
    Catherine x #19
    PS have a good week

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  3. I really enjoyed looking at your how-to pics of the felting...very clever and ever so effective! And the lion picture is simply wonderful, you are so talented :-)
    Ben looks as if he's coping ok with the cast..poor lad but they do heal quickly when they're nippers (I should know, my two were always doing injury to themselves!!)
    Hugs, LLJ 10 xxxx

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  4. What a cute face peering over the table, poor little darling must be painful, my daughter also fractured her leg and she was howling with every move, maybe she's abig sook
    Bridget #1

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  5. Poor little man hope he recovers soon. Wonderful makes! Take care Zo xx 39

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  6. So looks like Ben is in charge of quality control - glad the cast is off soon. Looking forward to seeing the completed picture. Lion looks great x Jackie 32

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  7. Oh those photos of our little bookworm are lovely!! I will get your table ready for more felty fun. x

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  8. I lve your felt work so far, and that commission is sooo cute. I hope the little man is better soon. Jill #21

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  9. Hi there Tilly Tea Dance, pleased to meet you. Your felting is gorgeous - no other word for it. And your poor little fella... glad his cast is coming off soon. Looking forward to seeing more of your work. Hugs MMx #49

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  10. Poor little mite - he seems to be coping very well though - it is probably harder on you! Glad to hear the plaster is being removed soon. Ligeia will love her present, I'm sure! Happy WOYWW! zsuzsa #47

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  11. Oh dear! Poor little guy. Love the look of your felting. It looks great.

    Sharon k #52

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  12. Hope your little one is making good progress. Your felting looks lovely. Elaine

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  13. Hi Tilly, poor Ben! So easy for them to get these greenstick fractures, and I'm sure it will mend in no time at all. I'd never heard of wet felting before, but I was watching a TV programme the other night, about a guy who had moved to the country to run a smallholding, and a couple of local ladies came and showed him this process, using his otherwise unusable sheeps wool.Have a great week, Hugs, Shaz #16 xxx

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  14. I'm sorry to say it's just the first accident for Ben Max....he's a boy so there may be more to come. Glad he's coping well and I'm sure he will forget it quickly once the plaster is off.
    Hugs,
    Annie x

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  15. I *love* the wet felting. It's so beautiful and immediately screamed countryside at me! I hope we'll see the larger scene eventually!

    Clair @ Obstinate Pursuit
    WOYWW #13

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  16. I hope your poor little fella makes a speedy recovery. I love the wet felting picture although I always found it an awful lot of work for variable results - mine often didn't felt properly despite hours of rolling! I discovered needle felting a couple of years ago and find that so much easier to do. Perhaps I was missing some vital technique! I hope you have a good week - and good luck with the plaster removal.
    Diana #20

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  17. what bad luck for your son, hopefully the plaster doesn't has to stay on for too long. Thank you for explaining the process of wet felting, that way we learn something each day. Vicky#66

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  18. I did wet felting for the final piece of my hnd textile design course some years ago. Hmm I haven't seen it for a bit must dig it out.
    My nephew has broken his arm jumping off the bed and the little boy next door to us has done the same for the 2nd time. Boys will be boys won't they
    Lynn // 11

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