Blue Suede Birds

Over the weekend I was fortunate enough to come across a lengthy piece of blue (what we think is fake) suede in the fabric shop.  It was screaming out to me to make some birds…so I did.

It was kind of difficult to sew with.  I kept feeling as though the needle hole would tear, but when I came to stuff it turns out that fabric is really hard wearing and the resulting bird has a really nice soft appearance and feel.

I also tried something different with the legs and they have held in position really well, while being a lot easier to get in place.  The eye is sewn on this one rather than being a bead…just because I couldn’t be bothered to find my pot of seed beads!

The stitching on these is with darning wool rather than embroidery floss.

And, the underside is the opposite side of the blue suede effect.  Still lovely and soft though.

Available in the shop

too soon for Christmas decorations?

We’ve been renovating our house since moving in almost four years ago.  Progress is slow but steady and lately we’ve (read Alasdair) been ripping out the old electrics in one room that will eventually be our living room.  The old wire is a lovely thick copper wire that we just couldn’t throw away.  So, I made some Christmas hanging decorations, while Alasdair replastered the walls!

Simple one first…the star.  Made from heavy grade copper wire that has been lightly sanded and bent to shape.

So pleased was I with the star, that I decided to branch out and try an angel.  I must admit to having to raid some colouring books for the basic outline!

Pretty good, eh?  The star and angel set will be available from our stall at the fairs we’re attending this winter.  Who knows, they might be joined by a gingerbread man or two.

Just in case all that Christmas decor is making you feel a little out of season, I also made this rather fetching copper and vintage button bangle.  I am particularly proud of this, my first attempt at real jewellery from scratch.

With copper in such short supply, it makes me feel I’m doing my bit for the planet by recycling the wire rather than throwing it out.

Now, back to the renovating I think.  Today the central heating is having a good old clean out.

Given wings, would we fly?

It seems like forever and a day since I originally thought about giving my bonnie birds wings, indeed, it seems like forever and a day since I actually started making this one!  Based around the same principles as it’s forebears I had to add some additional armature to build the wings both from a practical point of view but also to ensure that they would be strong enough to stand-up to life’s little knocks.  This is the end result

I’m reasonably pleased with the finished product although, contrary to what it looks like, I had an abstraction of a Green Finch in mind when I painted it!

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You would think that given, aside from chaffinches, that this is the only bird that visits our garden with any regularity that I’d be able to summon up an image in my minds eye and work it up on one of my bonnie birds; it seems my mind is prone to wandering when I pick up a paintbrush and the notion that I might paint anything in the fashion that I originally intended is completely lost!!

Available to buy from the shop

Iris – rainbow sock creature

Iris thinks of herself as a Greek goddess with her lush lips and impatient stance … it’s why she always seems to have her hands on her hips, no doubt tapping her toes. The truth of it though is that she is more messenger than goddess, her purpose being to take those dreams that are lovingly whispered in her ear and help make them come true, she’s on first name terms with the Tooth Fairy, Santa Claus and, most important of all, the Fairy Godmother. Of course the more cuddles and love she gets the more likely she is to pass on your hopes and dreams.

Available from the shop.

Taking Inspiration: The Peacock

Peacock’s are well known for their fantastic plumage and for proudly strutting their stuff, they’re also an immense source of inspiration for a huge number of people; as you’ll discover if you type ‘peacock art’ into google and look through the image results.  It’s easy to see why they should act on the imagination and why artists and crafters alike should wish to include aspects of them in their work, I was reminded of that recently when we visited a local farm park – see here – with the kids and there was a couple strutting back and forth, all the while studiously ignoring each others existence.

Their arrogance and aloofness reminds me of ‘those people’ who have an arrogance born out of forever being told how handsome or beautiful they are, how wonderful they are, how perfect … at least the peacock’s have reason to believe it of themselves.  Here are a few pictures I took while we were at the park:

click to full view

I’d love to do a Bonnie Bird drawing inspiration from these birds although I think I need to carefully consider the execution of such an exploit. So, in the mean-time, here are a few samples from around the internet of what others have been up to recently:

by Deadpan Alley

by Jen Skelley

by Verabel

by Sally Boyle

A right royal sprite!?

A Prince among wood sprites?

Surely he must be!  Look he has a crown on!?

I’ve put in place a self-imposed ban on making these sprites as they seem to be quickly taking over the house!  Until I start making more again I’m just going to drip feed the existing ones to you!

Available to buy here.

Dahlia Brooch

A few weeks ago I came across this tutorial on Holidash but it uses glue and I’m really not a glue person.  Nonetheless, I saved it in my favourites and last week I finally decided to have a go, using stitches in place of the glue.

I won’t pretend it wasn’t fiddly but I’m guessing it’s fiddly with glue aswell.

For some reason my petals ended up encroaching on the area where the centre of the flower should be so I sewed some seed beads in there instead to cover up my joins.

This tutorial was created by Megan of Not Martha and she has provided some further guidance on her blog.

The Sprites: plant pot / garden decor

I have blogged about these before, so won’t bore you with the details again.  I have been trying to get some decent individual shots of them though and having struggled with lighting and props I finally managed to get some pictures for the shop, I’m rather please with them so I thought I might as well share them.

Click to view full sized images, there will be more to follow as I upload them.

These sprites are available for sale here.

Denim Fabric Finches

A few weeks ago we had a spring clean of our supplies and I came across some really nice pieces of denim fabric that I was going to use for pocket pillow backs (and I still might) but I had an overwhelming urge to make denim fabric finches.

The first was sewn up before I decided they would look cool with embroidery:

So, I embroidered the wings on another one prior to sewing it up:

They naturally fray at the edges, which I quite like.

Available in our facebook and coriandr shops

sock creatures

As promised – the sock creatures I was working on last weekend…I was very busy, although I must admit that the sock monkey took the best part of two weeks (between real work, you know, the one that pays the mortgage!)

First up, that sock monkey.  A real labour of love.  They are very easy to make but take what seems like forever.

This very scary looking rabbit was supposed to be cute but turned out a bit Donnie Darko.  I blame my disturbed mind!

This is Red Wetty from the book Make Your Own Stupid Sock Creatures by John Murphy, the one I talked about in my previous post.  He’s the easiest of the creatures in the book and mine would have looked like the one in the book had I not decided to use a really small child’s sock as opposed to the recommended adult sock.  I also wasn’t brave enough to add teeth, which he has in the book.  Still, he’s got a certain charm.

Finally Owlsley, again from the book and, again it’s not the same as the one in the book.  John Murphy recommends a sort of hanging tag type thing made with an offcut of a tie, but we don’t have any ties and I thought it looked a bit too silly so I forewent it.

So, there you have it…all four sock creatures, all different and all very enjoyable to make.  You can make these from any sock although I tend to use knee high socks…just let your imagination run wild or go buy the book and follow the instructions.

All now available in our facebook and Coriandr shops