Fabric Painting

 

Hello .......... I'm finally back with a crafty post and something new as well, yesterday at craft club we tried fabric painting.

Luckily I already had this wonderful stencil at home so when I found out we were going to be trying fabric paints, I just couldn't resist taking my elephant stencil along.

As this is a new craft for me I had a bit of a test run, which was a good idea as my first attempt ended up with this jelly ellie phant, not quite what I was hoping for.

So I tried again with the purple this time using a foam dabber instead of a paint brush, but the outcome was not much better.  You see it turns out that not all fabric paints are created equal, so I tried a different brand and things turned out a little better.

So it was time to put the calico away and be brave and attempt to paint on a bag.

I had no need to worry, as the thicker texture of the recycled cotton bag took the fabric paint much better, yippee I was so pleased with the result when I peeled back the stencil.  All I needed to do now was make my Ellie a little friend .........

As you can see our little group created quite a lot of craftermath in the process of making some pretty bags, of the completed ones so far was have butterflies, ladybirds and my little elephants with other bags to come.

Ta-Dah

Here they are, I'm really pleased with how it turned out, and I love love love that blue.  It felt so good to get my craft on and try something new. All I have to do now is wait three days before running the iron over to set the paint and make it water proof.

Happy Crafting

 Clare xx

Patchwork August

Hello....... Here's a quick look back at August...........

A month of holidays, sunshine and star gazing here at the Summerhouse, some crafting too and as always lots of yarn.

Out in the garden the lazy days of summer were just perfect for enjoying the flowers, a mix of summer favourites and a few signs of autumn on the way with the viola's and cyclamen starting to flower again.

Well that's about it, each month I plan to post these patchworks at the beginning of the month but some how it never seems to happen, oh well better late than never.

Happy Crafting

Clare xx

Postcards

Hello.............. Over the summer I took part in a postcard swap with some friends who also have chronic illnesses,  we all signed up to send five postcards over the Summer, to five different people. Such a good idea as there is nothing like a little bit of happy post to cheer a day up.

Plus it was the perfect opportunity to get a little crafty, I already had some postcards to colour and my first effort is at the top of this post.

Here are some of the cards I received over the summer months.  They say that postcards are dying out with so much instant tech these days, but I still think there is something rather lovely about them.

So that got me thinking how could I crochet a postcard ???? I thought about adding a pretty crocheted border to a card but in the end I opted to make up some little motifs I could add to a card.  

They were all a bit free style and crocheted from fine cotton.

I simply placed them onto the postcard and then started to doodle around them with silver pen.

Ta-Dah

One (sort of) crocheted postcard.

Lots more colouring went on to, for this card I used watercolour pencils, then went over them with a water wash.

Before finishing up with some glitter glue.......... (as you can never have too much sparkle!!)

The final card  I sent was one I bought in Southwold, I just couldn't resist these beach huts and the wonderful refection's in this photo's.  I hope you all had a great summer and perhaps received some postcards too, lets try and keep the tradition alive.

Happy Crafting

Clare xx

Seven Sunny Days in Suffolk

Hello......... Last week we closed up the summerhouse and trundled off to Suffolk.  I love this little corner of the world and have visited it so many time over the past twenty years it's like visiting a old friend.

As you know my health and energy levels have been pretty poor this year, so one of the first things we did was visit Dunwich heath, it's one of my favourite places, so we wanted to go while I still had some energy.

This year we visited the National Trust's part of the heath, as they have a tramper, that less able visitors can borrow, which enables you to get right out onto the heath and in amongst the glorious heather.

It's a little bumpy but there are wide sandy paths that you mean you can go exploring.

Wonderful things to see and wildlife to spot, the heath is situated next to the rspb reserve at Minsmere, (where Spring watch comes from) and we saw so many birds, insects and bunnies out enjoying the heath.

After being coped up in the house it was just wonderful to take in all the views

and as for the heather  wow, we caught it at it's very best I think.

Now in case anyone is interested the Trampers are free to borrow, but you do have to phone and book in advance, (we phoned in the morning and went in the afternoon).  

They do give you a little bit of training but they are fairly easy to use once you get the hang of them.

Now I knew there were going to be some days when I would not be well enough to leave the cottage so I took lots of supplies along, for rest days

I did however make it to the beach for the first time in a year

so wonderful to feel the sand between my toes and lie in the warm sunshine, a luxury for me as the medication for Lyme disease makes me allergic to sunlight so if I go away I always have a treatment break.

So it was lovely to sit in the sunshine with my crochet.

Another short trip I managed was a drive out in the car to Snape Maltings,

Where we saw the traditional sailing barges,

and on the way home I snapped a quick pic of the 'house in the clouds'

Lots of resting gave me time to read my holiday book, and it was lovely to just lie and read, without any enforced pacing, normally when I follow my pacing program to help manage my energy I can only read for ten minutes a day, but as I was on holiday I decided to relax this, so while everyone else was out having fun I was keeping myself entertained with DVD's and my book.

Now no trip to Suffolk would be complete without a visit to Southwold, although I did find it scarily busy with so much traffic up in the town. It was my last trip out for the holiday as by then I had used up all my spoons

So the last few days of the trip were spent resting up in the cottage, although I did manage a short outing to the village duck pond.  So that's about it, what can I say the weather was perfect and Suffolk is so lovely.

But after a busy week both my nephew doggie and I were completely wiped out and in need of a good rest.

Happy Crafting

Clare xx