Something completely different...

Towards the end of April, as part of our course, the final year students will be creating a pop-up gallery/shop in Wrexham, and we are tasked with stocking it with lovely things at affordable prices.  Since the glass  pieces I have been working on are somewhat experimental I wasn't sure that they would be suitable (or finished!) so I have gone back to my first love, textiles, and combined it with my second love, printmaking.

I've used various scraps of trim and edgings, some vintage, some reclaimed and some just 'spare', to make a series of collagraph plates.  It's a great way to use pieces that are too small for much else, and even pieces that are falling apart; they can be 'repaired' when they are glued to the  plate.  All you need to remember when you're making the plates is that you can ignore the colour and just concentrate on the texture.

My idea was to create printed backgrounds from the trims onto which I could add 'real' pieces of trim.  I originally thought I would ink the plates in a brown colour to give that vintage feel, but I didn't really like the results, even the palest colour seemed to overpower the delicate pattern and texture.

So I decided to stick to blind embossing, which is a much quicker and cleaner process without the ink, better all round!  I've been having fun 'auditioning' buttons from my button tin and scraps of trim from my ribbon box and I have finally made some decisions and sewn a few on...  I'm struggling to decide which is my favourite.  What do you think?

The paper size for these prints is just under A5; I think the size works well with the scale of the elements.  I am wondering whether to do some A4 sized ones as well or whether the extra 'bits and pieces' needed to fill the space will make them look too cluttered.

When I'm embossing I nearly always have a few disasters where either the plate or the paper moves and the whole thing ends up crooked.  There's nothing really that can be done with those prints except tear them up, which is ideal for making cards.

I was so pleased with these cards that I made a couple more prints on scraps of paper just so I could make some extra for my Etsy shop; I'll be listing them just as soon as I get some decent photographs.

And if you're anywhere near Wrexham during the week 22nd to 26th April, do pop along to the People's Market to see what other lovely things we have on show.

Destashing

The major clear out is still ongoing... this weekend we opened up some boxes of my husband's old clothes, much to my son's delight. Unfortunately he is nearly 3 inches taller and rather broader across the shoulders than his dad but he still managed to find some things to fit him and to satisfy his passion for vintage clothing.  It is a bit strange to think that stuff we remember wearing is now 'vintage' - I certainly don't feel that old!

I have been giving away armfuls of fabric but there are some pieces I have decided to sell - those university fees need to be paid somehow! I have listed my first couple of  pieces here, and I am going to work my way through the rest of this pile.

The top piece I think is a wax print, at any rate it is marked 'GUARANTEED ENGLISH WAX' in the selvedge; the next 3 are Liberty, 2 tana lawn and  one a heavier weight which I think was called country cotton - I don't think they make that any more.  Then a piece of vintage Laura Ashley furnishing cotton, some Rose & Hubble Christmas fabric, some blue gingham and a piece of brushed cotton in a rather jazzy design.  And when I've finished this pile, there is another... and I haven't even looked at the smaller pieces yet, there is definitely some more Liberty in there.

If anyone is interested in any of these and would like some reserved, just give me a shout!

Busy busy busy

I am very conscious that I have been neglecting my blog of late... my excuse is that I have been gadding around all over the place. First we went off to see my Mum at the seaside and of course I managed to fit in a bit of beachcombing...

As usual Mum was in the midst of a clear out - I have no idea why she was the owner of a polystyrene display head but I was quite pleased to take it off her hands!  Meet Florence - as you can see I have already started to give her a makeover...

Then back home to mountains of washing...  On Friday I managed to sneak off to Rugby for the day to visit the CULTEX exhibition.  This inspiring exhibition was the result of a collaboration between 3 Japanese and 3 Norwegian textile artists.  Sadly it has closed now and is off to Norway but the CULTEX website is well worth a look.  I can't show you any pictures from the exhibition but I did take a nice one of Rugby school - Rugby itself is very pretty, I have only ever been to the station before which doesn't give the best impression...

I had a little time to spend browsing the shops in Rugby town centre before my train home and couldn't resist this find in the fair trade shop...

I'm sure it's going to be very useful for something!

And in between all of this gadding about I have been working on  a couple of lovely wedding flower orders, including some flowers in lovely new shades of blue - the new colours will be arriving in my shop shortly!

Treasure

I went to visit my Mum recently - bit of a flying visit, not the best timing, long story...  But I came away with some old curtain linings which will be great for dying, and this...

with such treasure inside...

The button box originally belonged to my Grandma, who was born over a hundred years ago at the end of the 19th century.  So some of these buttons are likely to be not just vintage but antique!  I am torn now between wanting to use the buttons and just keeping them to look at...

As a child of course I played with the buttons and these ones were always my favourite:

I can't imagine what they were from but I love the unusual shape - very 1930's I have always thought, but Mum doesn't remember them on anything so I guess I'll never know.