Owls in embroidery hoops

From my last post owls hanging nursery mobile I decided to make some more simple gifts using the same owl characters. I sewed the pieces onto some pale grey needlecord (left over from my dungaree dress which I made - blog post to come when I get around to photographing it!) I stuffed some wadding into each owl too to make it a bit 3D, then I framed them in a painted embroidery hoop and hanged with a matching ribbon.

Please do get in touch if you would like me to make you anything similar :)

 

 

Owls hanging nursery mobile

Recently I created this set of cute owls to make into a mobile to decorate the nursery of a friend, which has a woodland theme.

I used lots of scrap fabrics but with a similar colour scheme, sewing 4 stuffed owl characters and 4 different kinds of leaf. I tried to add some detail to the back of each owl too, using buttons, felt and different patterns of stitching to stimulate the small person whilst they look at it!

I'm really pleased with how the owl characters turned out and maybe I can make some more of these little characters soon! Please do get in touch if you would like any similar things created for you.

 

 

 

Eden Project Botanical Illustation Course

Last week I attended a Botanical Illustation Course at the Eden Project. This was my second time doing a course there and this time it was a whole 5 days of drawing and painting, and learning a bit about plants.

The course started with us learning all about the different parts of plants and flowers to help make more informed drawings. We had tours of both the outside and tropical biomes from members of the horticultural team at Eden which were really interesting. 

We began the final piece by choosing something to draw, there were plenty of interesting plant materials to choose from, I chose this Globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus) because I love the colours and shape, plus I thought it would be achievable to complete a painting of this in the time. Next we made a scale drawing of the item, which we shaded in using graphite on some tracing paper. The original drawing was then transferred to the watercolour paper using tracing paper before being painted with watercolours.

Our teacher was the lovely Laura Silburn who is a botanical artist working in Cornwall, and a Fellow of the Eden Project Florilegium Society, whos beautiful paintings we were able to view at the end of the course.

My completed Artichoke botanical watercolour painting

Initial sketch of Artichoke

Dissecting a daffodil

Daffodil Ovary!

Our Paintings

Springtime Photo favourites

Just thought I'd share a few of my favourite photos that I've taken over the last couple of weeks, at National Trust properties Lacock Abbey and Kingston Lacy gardens.

A couple of bee photos to start, lovely to see the sunshine bringing out them out to find nectar.

I love the textures in this photo of moss on the very impressive Wisteria tree trunk at NT Kingston Lacy.

Some lovely spring flower pics

And finally some gorgeous Camellia Flowers from the impressive collection at NT Kingston Lacy, They look just great at this time of year.

Paper cut card

This is a papercut card that I made for my Dad's birthday. (He likes Skiing, Tortoises, Surfing, Fishing & Archery).

Hand sewn Christmas cards

I thought I'd show you my Christmas cards for my friends and family this year (only special people because they take quite a while!!).

I used white embroidery board by Paper Poetry from Rico design, it costs about £4 for 10 sheets which are 17.5 x 24.5 cm. I painted the board silver, black and gold, though I think you can buy it in different colours.

The card is perfect for stitching and embroidering into so I decided to sew some Christmas images which I drew onto squared paper before sewing properly. This card is really versatile and you could use it to create all sorts of interesting projects.
I managed to get hold of some two fold cards with windows which were perfect for mounting up the images, ready to give people for Christmas!

 

Exhibition visit: 79th Annual Exhibition from The Society of Wood Engravers

Yesterday I visited the 79th Annual Exhibition from The Society of Wood Engravers, at the 44AD Gallery in Bath. I was so impressed by the level of detail and workmanship in the prints that I felt I had to share my favourites with you. I have never tried wood engraving myself but I have tried Lino printing and found that quite difficult to get my head around, I think wood engraving must be super difficult! (and time consuming) it makes you really appreciate this ancient art form. The exhibition has now come to an end but you can see images of all the pieces on the Society of Wood Engravers' website.

The Sailmaker's Garden by Barry Woodcock

Dunnock in the Camellia by Cathryn Kuhfeld

Partrishow by Kathleen Littler

Lifeboat by Terry Browne

Greenhouse by Geri Waddington

The Tortworth Chestnut by Peter Collins

Cherry Blossom by Rosamund Fowler

Lewesdon Hill Beeches by Howard Phipps

Edward Thomas: A Landscape Journey by Neil Bousfield

Apple Pressing by Bob Guy