Upstairs at Abi's

My studio is on the first floor of a converted Victorian boot and shoe factory in our town. Upstairs my good friend Abi has a large studio she uses for her sewing workshops and designing. Her place is amazing and I never pass up the opportunity to nip up for a nice cuppa. You can read all about Abi's adventures here on her blog .... and her web site is here. Beautiful organised chaos. These were made using a Japanese fish printing technique, lovely fishy goodness. So much lushness to look at. Cup of tea corner.

Typograpy

I LOVE sewing lettering and it's not as difficult as people think. I use my PC to print up the letters using the fonts I want to sew then using a lightbox place the fabric onto the light box and trace it onto the fabric free hand. I like a raised 3d look so go over and over the letters by hand with machine embroidery thread. It is labour intensive but the finished effect is great.

Having a run of eye orders....

I think a lot of my time will be taken up sewing eyes, just had a flurry of orders. Love doing these!

Made In Northamptonshire

EXCITING TIMES! There's a fantastic new shop, just opened in the centre of Northampton. It is called Made In Northamptonshire and it is filled with art, handmade gifts and home wares. All created by local designer makers, artists and crafters. The shop is situated at 39 St Giles Street in an old shoe repair shop which I think it quite fitting. I would urge all Northamptonshire residents to pop along and have a looky loo. You won't be disappointed AND you can browse the other brilliant independent shops that grace St Giles Street. Check out their Facebook page here.

Kitchen counter Christmas tree.

Lovely sunny day.

Where is my husband?

Where is my husband?

There he is!

Chemistry Clutch

Started making a series of lush geeky clutch bags. First up of course is hydrogen. I'll have a whole bunch of fun matching girly linings with each element.

Not getting an awful lot done.

Half term and it's difficult to get going, so many movies to watch with sleepy relaxed children. I can feel this week being a right off already O_o.

Pretty Thing Love Token

Just finished and listed this little love token hoop on Etsy I really want to experiment with different fonts, get a super slick finish on hand embroidery. I like an almost 3d raised effect by building up the thread. Very time consuming but I think the end product is much more special.

Chemicals Rock

For years I have been yearning for an antique or vintage periodic table to hang in my dining room. I have never seen one affordable or old enough. I got bored looking and decided I was going to make one. I started stitching yesterday, I would really have liked to hand stitch it but it would take me years so to my trusty Bernina I turned. I am so excited about this and it's developing in the exact way I had hoped. I will keep you posted on progress.

Busted

Beautiful wrecks.

Thimbley

I have put my neck out, really hurts. A fly was trapped in our living room. After I chased it around for a bit I sat down and it dive bombed me, it got right near by ear buzzing loudly, I whipped my head round and cricked my neck proper good. As a consequence I have only been able to do small contained jewellery work. I made some really nice thimble charm necklaces, beautiful sterling silver vintage and antique thimbles with handmade mother of pearl, pearl and crystal charms. Lovely.

Going to work

It has been about 4 weeks since I took a work room at Burns Street Studios, an old boot and shoe factory in Northampton's town centre. Today was my second full day of working there.

It is still very weird going out to work. I have spent the last 10 years or so working from home, building my business, and working on my art while my children were little. I will now be able to work on bigger stitched work as well as move forward with my jewellery without the constraints of being in a domestic location. The down side of course is that I will have to make the effort to get dressed properly.

Put A Fork In Me, I am DONE

I have really enjoyed this commission but my hand is all achey and my elbow needs a rest. I am taking a little holiday and when I get back I will be starting some new designs and more big eyes.