Wanted to let all you U.K. based creative bloggers know about a competition which is currently running. Pressies 4 Princesses is an online store specialising in handmade gifts. Thay are looking for unusual, special, well crafted items. Take a look at the brief and more information here,
http://www.pretty-somethings.co.uk/

I have been sorting through some drawers today and found these paper napkins. They were sent to me some time ago by my sister in law who lives in Vasteras, Sweden. Apparently she has a friend, Mayann, who heard I was interested in design and thought I might like to have these. I had forgotten how lovely they are, apparently they are an old design by a famous Swedish artist. If you know anything about this artist, or design, please let me know.

I have just finished another reclaimed cloth which has gone on the website. I used tiny patchwork squares to repair the lace edge. There are some pics here of the initial embroidery of the squares, and some after they wre cut up before tacking onto the templates. There are also a couple of pics of the finished item.

It's a busy house here today. I have lots of bright cheery haberdashery ready for a new project. I thought it would be nice to make some haberdashery collage, this may lead to other things,haberdashery cards, haberdashery tags, who knows. In case you are wondering I am delaying the dreaded design sheet. I am sure there are people out there who, like me, panic at the sight of a blank sheet of paper. Why is it then that a fresh, crisp, 'blank' piece of fabric induces excitement? Answers please!!

Wow, more than two posts in one day! Had to tell you about this book. I absolutely adore it and can't put it down. I have put up some images for you to drool over but I could fill hundreds of pages with them, every time I look I see something else I am amazed by. You really must at least get it from a library. The Art of Embroidery. Francoise Tellier-Loumagne. Go on, treat yourself!

There is a sort of round robin I have noticed recently in the blogging world, so as not to miss out, or be left out, I thought I would give it an airing on here.


I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

Got these lovely buttons in the post from Bev today. They are made from collaged vintage dress making patterns. We had the conversation ages ago about experimenting with this idea and she is way ahead of me! I have got as far as collaging my paper! I have so many ideas going round, I am still desperate to start the design sheet I mentioned a few days ago and promise I will get my pencils and paints out really soon. I also want to show you a few pages from my favourite embroidery book, that should be posted before the day is out!

c Sally Shim

I had a reply from a fellow blogger re using their images today. I say fellow blogger, this lady is far more experienced in this than I am and I am truly grateful that she is allowing me to share her work with you. Her name is Sally Shim and the link to her blog is on the right. She uses such fresh, crisp fabrics in her work, they are a real items to covet. This image is of a pinboard with fabric pockets, but there are lots of other lovely things available from her shop. Take a look!

We had such a good weekend with everyone here, Helen, James and Richard. I had bought gifts for Helen and Richard for their new house and it was great that they were so pleased with everything. I was extra excited because I had made this doll for Helen ages ago and hadn't told her because I wanted it to be a suprise. I was also a bit uneasy because as you can see it isn't a conventional doll. It was important to me that it was unique, and I wondered if she would truly like it! I needn't have worried because she adores it. Before cutting out the pattern pieces I embroidered her full name onto a large piece of silk dupion, repeating it until the cloth was completely covered, this was then cut up and reassembled to make the doll. It has no face as I would like her to give it a personal face in her imagination, it can be who she wants it to be.

If you have ever visited my webpage and read about my wrapping cloths you will understand my compulsion to distort and manipulate text, have a look, the link is on the right. I would love to know your opinion on the doll, please leave a comment.

image copywright Karen Harbour 2007

Following on from yesterdays post, where I was complaining about my lack of cad, painting and drawing skills, I got an e-mail today from my friend Karen who has wonderful talents in all three. I have posted some of her latest work here for you to get a sense of what I wish I could do. Also check out her website http://www.harbourart.co.uk/art/html/main.htm and let me know what you think. The images here are cad and when we were doing our degree together her design sheets were to die for. She tells me that others probably wish they had my embroidery skill and I do appreciate that, but there is a very frustrated illustrator inside me! Anyway after chatting to her earlier I am inspired to start a design sheet, (painted) and will let you know how I am getting on.I may not post again now until monday as the whole family is coming this weekend. I am very excited!!!

Oh, and I am not over England yet.

Whilst looking at other blogs I have realised how envious I am of what I would call proper 'surface designers'. Individuals who are really skilled with pencil and paint brush, or who can create masterpieces with cad. I would love to have half their drawing skills. My foundation tutor used to say that drawing is mark making, and is just as valid if the marks are made with a needle and thread. Whilst I do believe that, drawing in the conventional sense is a skill I wish I had. Obviously you can't progress through an art and design degree without some drawing, but it never really felt natural to me, I was always pulled towards the stitched mark. By way of an illustration I have posted a couple of pictures from my current 'sketch book'. As you can see I use that term loosely because it is purely embroidery, ideas I have or techniques to experiment.

Helen is coming home at the weekend with Richard and I am so excited to see her. They are shortly going to move into their first home together so guess who has been buying presents??? And we have got them tickets to go to Rovers so it should be a good weekend. On a more sombre note......I am gutted about England............In fact I feel worse just typing it out. If you come back tommorrow, I'm sure I will be over it!!

As promised, here are my finished knots and some pics of how they look as a trim on my embroidery. I would love to know what you think so please leave a comment or contact me through my e-mail. When I was making for new designers I lost count of how many knots I made and hadn't done any since then so really enjoyed getting back into them. I really strugle to take my photos, dont know if anyone else has this problem, at the crucial moment my hand shakes! I delete about 30 blurred ones for every reasonable one I get! Think I may have to buy a tripod.

On another note, I have spent so much time online recently looking at other blogs, some are truly amazing but unfortunately am not getting replies as yet to requests for image use. I am going to persevere though, if at first you dont succeed and all that.

My next 'reclaimed cloth' is nearly finished. I am embroidering broderie anglaise onto a lace edge that has pieces missing through wear and tear. I then plan to finish the lower edge with chinese knots. The images here which resemble fabric scraps are infact covered piping cord which by tommorrow will be chinese knots. It is enormously therepeutic knotting the stitched cords and I promise to have some images for you when they are done.

Today I went for a little peek at the christmas stock that is creeping into our shops. I do honestly think we are begining to see it too early but on a cloudy sunday if you are in need of a change of scenery it's as good a place as any to pass a little time. Well I'm afraid I was too tempted!! I came home from NEXT with presents for two of the tiniest members of our family, but they are so cute I couldn't resist. The hat is for my cousins little girl and the belts for my great nephew!!! I can assure you though that I am not as old as that makes me sound!!!

I Think Your Dress is very Beautiful cMrs Eliot Books

Hi. Sorry I havn't posted for a couple of days but I have been trying to learn about blog 'etiquette'. I didn't know if you should ask permission before using someone elses image even if you ensure they are correctly credited. Well I think on reflection it is polite to ask anyway!! I can now post an image of something I covet and which is at the top of my christmas list! Mrs Eliot Books is an amazingly inspirational blog and her shop on etsy is tempting in the extreme! Here is my favourite book, 'I Think Your Dress is Very Beautiful'. Please check out her blog, a link to which is on the right hand side, or just click here, http://www.mrseliotbooks.blogspot.com/

For the next couple of days I intend to approach more amazingly talented people in order that I can create a regular 'things I covet' feature. I am also continuing to work on my 'reclaimed cloths'. A major difference with these pieces is that all the construction is already done, a massive timesaver. I remember making my 'wrapping cloths' for new designers and making the pieces up often took longer than the embellishment, so it is a strange feeling to complete things so much more quickly.

I have been working on a new project which kind of follows on from what I based all my final degree work on. Pieces made for new designers also followed a similar theme. My main concern for what I consider my most important pieces is motherhood. How we protect our children and where that instinct/emotion comes from. For this reason my work is a combination of traditional technique using domestic reference and within that I like to give recognition to my female predecessors. This has mostly shown in surface patterns used in my work, from vintage tablecloths, lace or transfers. Recently though I have been looking at all the vintage cloths I have collected. These evoke memories for me, of my female granparents and I got to thinking how could these be made current/contemporary? Some of them are quite worn and we have the task of preserving them. So that is how my current sampling started, adding my own stitch to vintage cloths, in some cases covering worn areas. I am toying with the idea of naming this work 'reclaimed cloth', let me know what you think of this title, maybe rescued or similar would be more appropriate, I'm not sure yet. Another thing I have noticed is how I photograph and display everything hung up like tea towels!!! This has got to be an indication of something!? What I don't know!! Anyway, take a look at the images here. I am always desperate for comment.

Hi again. I've had a busy!! weekend. Went to see Runrig on saturday night, they were awesome, seem to get better everytime. Check them out here, http://www.runrig.co.uk/. James came home from uni to go along too with four friends, they spent the night on various floors and in various beds around my tiny house. Then on sunday it was rovers at home against Birmingham, a win for them capped off an ace saturday and sunday. I said I was going to post some images here from my etsy shop, so here are two selected close ups of what is on there. Please check it out. I was talking to my friend Jill, (told you I would mention you!!) and we were discussing all the inspirational blogs out there. I am wondering how to attract traffic to this one and am going to spend some time looking for promotional tips, if you have any please share them!

Whilst at New Designers I met some great people...you know who you are! Anyway I hope to get some images of their work up here soon, talented individuals indeed! When I finished my degree I trained to become a teacher and am now desperately seeking some teaching work. In the meantime I have opened a shop on etsy in a vain attempt to keep the wolf from the door. Not working so far though. The images here are from my degree work and in my next post I will have some images from etsy hopefully.

Hi there. This is my first page on here so let me give a bit of info about myself. I am an obsessional embroiderer with a passion for hand stitch. I hope to get some feedback on my work from this blog and I it would be amazing if a lot of people were inspired enough to come back after their first look. In july of this year I was selected to exhibit my work in the 'One Year On ' section of New designers in London. I have posted some images which are close ups of work exhibited there. Please let me know what you think.