Into March

March came in with cold temperatures and sunshine.

My Christmas cactus seems a little confused about  the season

It's bursting into bud



















I've been doing a variety of stitching.
The blue ORTS bowl is complete with added bullions, beads, and tatted flowers.

a layered tatted flower beneath a bullioned edging, accented by two beads

the opposite side of the bowl has bullions and beads on the edging

a wee tatted flower on the inside of the bowl covers up the stitching for the outside flower

for those who asked, here's the inside story on the green bowl 

one piece of my gelli plate printed fabric is being titivated with a bit of variegated thread
hmmm, what happened to that bottom right curve? Ha! What curve, you ask? Yea, that one.
To frog, or not to frog.......that is the question...... : b  ...lol



The last few
 weeks have brought wonderful treasures in the mail:
 Createology sent me a magical bubble wand. I can hardly wait for warm temperatures and sunny days to test out my new wand. I bet it makes fabulous bubbles!

In the same envelope was this little fabric pocket, perfect for carrying a credit card, or two or three.......













From Diane came some dyeing thread.

This thread is not colourfast, so it can create interesting marks on fabric........I need to find some more play time.






Jillayne sent me some Season's thread to try. It's a lovely floss with a nice sheen to it. I wish local shops carried it...........I'm using it on the gelli fabric above......and I really like it!

I treated myself to some pretty thread by Lorraine. Aren't the colours wonderful?

Then, Mary Corbett had a giveaway, and I won a Blackwork e-course with Tanja Berlin!

I'm so excited to learn from Tanja. My class supplies arrived! I have some reading to do........ :-)












A little package arrived from StitchMAP with a couple goodies inside.

a pattern transfer sheet for monograms, and a kit for a needle box! What fun!





I am so blessed.







Progress continues on the Wedding Piece with a few additions........

a few grapes on the left side tucked amongst bullions and curlicues

beginnings of structure and leaves on the bottom right

curlicues on the bottom left await leaves and wee stitchings

the big picture




I'm getting there........

 a wee bit more stitching on  the gelli painted cloth.....you can see that wonky curve is still there.... :-!

layers on layers on small fabric pieces, gelli plate and stencil painted

 a large cloth in progress
I love playing with my gelli plate!




That's all for this week
Hope yours has been creative and full of fun!

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Bowls, Beads & 'Broidery

I added some beads to the green bowl. They're on the end of drizzle dangles. The same variegated thread I used to stitch the bowl, was used for the drizzles.

Since the bowls are for the Embroidery Guild's library display, I thought they should be decorated with some embroidery. The red one wears buttonhole lace and beads.
I think the blue one will have some beads and bullions.
I've been experimenting with painting fabric, and I've chosen a few of my favourites to show. There's lots more experimenting planned for the near future. The base fabric is a white cotton.

from layered brights

to soft and subtle

to big and bold



Fabric painting is fun!








The Wedding Piece has had a little attention, too, this past week.

a few beads

more woven picot leaves

a few seed beads and small details

and curly branches added to the base has it looking like this.

I'd better get cracking on lots of  leaves! Oh, and grape clusters.....oh, yes, and..............well, you'll just have to wait and see!
I'm so excited that this piece is now 3/4 done!

I hope you've had a fun and creative week.


Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

February's Freezing

It's been bitterly cold for the last week or so, with morning temperatures at -24C. Add in the wind chill factor, and it feels like -41C! Brrrr!
So I've been staying indoors most of the time. What have I been stitching?
Well, I went through some of my ORTS (you know, those thread ends from stitching and sewing) and I mixed in a few tiny pieces of fabric from left-over projects. Then I added in some lame for sparkle, some chopped up metallic candy wrappers, sandwiched them together with netting or organza, and created some bowls.

this bowl is an oval

a nice size to hold a glass candle holder

the green bowl has extended corners for a different look

the candle holder fits

you can see the lacy edge of the red and white bowl, it's open areas, and its rows of buttonhole lace

the last row of lace has red beads attached for a wee bit more bling



Why the bowls? Our embroidery Guild members are creating bowls for the annual Guild display at the local Library.
The green and blue bowls still need some added embroidery...........
Work continues on the Wedding Piece # 2.

more stumpwork leaves are wired and awaiting their floss.

delicate thread meanderings....

how many hearts can you find?

 leaves stitched onto the fabric

a stumpwork leaf layered over top

 

Soon the right side will be completed, and only the bottom of the Wedding Piece #2 will be calling to me.....

Hope you've had a wonderfully creative week.

Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Winter Blahs

Right around the middle of February, the winter blahs set in. It's mid-winter here, with another 6 weeks or more of the cold, the grey, and the snow.
So, to add a bit of brightness to last week, I began stitching in colour. At my local Embroidery Guild, we're creating felt works to sell at the annual Fiber Fest, raising funds for a local charity.
Introducing Cora Crow, a large, felt, pin cushion. She certainly has attitude, and I had a lot of fun embroidering and embellishing her.

I wanted to have her finished by Wednesday morning's Guild meeting.

Happily, one of the members fell in love with Cora and she's already sold. ;-)

I discovered, though, that I am allergic to the wool felt: every time I worked on this lady, I'd get blurry eyes and headaches.








Don't you just love those eyelashes?

Some more additions to the Wedding Piece. Nine more leaves and grape clusters were created, and I'm placing them on the right side.

I extended the main branch with tatted, curly stems.












More of the smaller leaves in subtle colours are needed, along with some tendrils and curlicues.

The top portion is almost finished.













Hope you've had a creative week.

Thanks for visiting.
Have a Happy Valentine's Day!
Hugs from Suz

February Fury

The snow has been swirling in the furious winds, so I was hiding indoors and stitching.
The last installment of the StitchMAP Hex Labs was completed with this stitching of some Winter Mittens, designed by Tom Russell.

A Fun Friday Tutorial for a small weaving was the challenge for this month. My weaving didn't turn out quite square. Actually it tapered and reminded me of a handbag, so I created two large bullion knots for the handles, and decorated the front with a tatted flower and a wee faux pearl bead. I could string it on a chain or wear it as a lapel pin, but I think I've decided to use it as my scissor fob.






The Wedding Piece is progressing.

The right side is waiting for me to finish and add the stumpwork leaves, along with more grape clusters.

Then, I'll extend down the side until the bottom section begins. Still lots more to add to this piece, but the finish is in sight, I think.

 Over the weekend, I played with my Gelli Plate and created some tags......

some interesting prints with a stencil I made

some small pieces for cards

and more prints. It was fun getting my hands dirty. ;-)

Hope you've had a creative and rewarding week.

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz