Beaded Purse

This is a beaded purse I made for a swap. I needed to make an item using some beads. I have had this quilted purse pattern for a little while and wanted to give it a go. The quilting and free motion stitching went fine but because it is quilted before stitching the purse together the seams were untidy. I used some more of the lining material to bind each of the inside seams which took quite a long time. It was a time consuming project but I'm pleased with the end result. I hope my swap partner likes it. You can click on the pictures to enlarge them and can see more of the details.

Fabric paper

I made some fabric paper using serviettes. I used this sheet of fabric paper to make a book cover and a card.



For the book, I used watercolour cards as signatures and sewed then to the spine of the book cover. The book cover was made from fabric paper back with felt that I oversewed using free motion machine stitching. I added some buttons to the front cover.



I used some of the left over fabric paper to make a card. Again I backed it with felt and oversewed using free motion machine stitching.

Stencils

I joined a swap that required the use of a stencil. I decided to decorate some small canvases I'd got a while ago. They are about 4 inches square. I used acrylic paint to layer up some colours. I then used a plastic stencil from crafter's workshop to add some pattern to the background and then a brass stencil from Dreamweaver for the central image. I am pleased with them and intend to use one for the swap and to put the other one on my own wall.

Nature ATC

Water stamping backgrounds and metal embellishments

Here are three ATCs I made using a water stamping background and some metal embellishments I made from wire.

Mixed Media Art Quilt

Wire work necklace and charm

Card

Bracelet

I joined a bracelet swap and thought I'd use up some pretty pink beads I had. I made the wire pieces using inspiration from Bead on a Wire by Sharilyn Miller that I've had on my shelf for a while now.

Alcohol inks

I joined a swap using alcohol inks so I've been experimenting with some techniques. Thanks for the ideas Adrienne.

First I put some drops of alcohol ink and some blending solution on a non stick mat and smooched some glossy card stock into it. I used the metallic mixatives on some of them. I used one piece to make a picture to put on a birthday card.

Stamp by Crafty Individuals.

I then stamped and embossed a collage stamp (Stampers Anonymous) using gold embossing powder onto some gold card. I then used my trusty chunk of wood with felt topping to add some alcohol inks. I used the piece and a piece using just the inks and no embossing to make a cover for a small notebook. I will send this away for the swap.

Beaded Charm

I have joined a charm swap and thought I'd try out some of my improved beading skills since reading Beverly Ash Gilbert's book Beaded Colorways. It cleared up some issues I had with the details of the beading process. I was pleased though that the basics of the freeform beading I've been dabbling in were not too far off. I hung the charm up on the wall to try to take a photo of it, it is just over an inch top to bottom.


From one side.

From the other side

ATC catch up

I belong to an ATC group and we have a guessing game every month to try to identify who made which ATC. This means that I can't post up the ATCs as I make them so I always forget to post them up later. So here is a catch up from the last few months.

Birds



Edgar Allen Poe


Texture



Beatles

Book

I made a book for a Christmas gift swap. I stitched some deckle edges notecards into a book block. The front and back were covered with hand painted paper and then I made a tag to decorate it using Tim Holtz stamps.

Christmas decoration

A Christmas decoration made for another swap. It was a piece of mount board covered in fantasy film, heated and then stamped into using black ink. The dangle was made by ironing fantasy film onto an inked stamp.