Psychedelic Cupcake

Thank you for your comments, I don't seem to be able to e-mail people who have commented on my blog. I'm sure I have done this in the past but I can't work it out, maybe it's since blogger was updated. In answer to Artyfartykat's question, I did use cutters, the flowers are made with a fimo cutter, the circles with the lid of a pritt stick and the squares with a felting needle container!! I had to make a small hole in the container so I could blow the fimo out.

The waistcoat is still unchanged, but I have managed a bit of knitting recently, here is my first attempt at a bun, or as the say in the USA, a cupcake. I know it looks loaded with food colouring, but it's the only colours I had in DK.

That's all for now, I received 17 Japanese craft books today, so now the children are tucked up in bed, I'm going to settle down on the sofa with a bag of haribo and work my way through the stack. I've been looking forward to this all day!!

I Love Buttons

I am really into buttons at the moment. I managed to spend about £14 on buttons at the knitting and stitching show. In fact I need a new button tin, as I can't close the lid anymore. I like to get the buttons out every so often, just to look at. However, collecting buttons can be quite expensive, so the other night I made my own!!! They're made from fimo. I think I'm hooked. I'm going to see if I can borrow my Dad's pasta making machine, so I can get a nice even thickness (I am currently using the kids play dough rolling pin).


Also this week, I have got back into felting after the post Christmas craft rest. Here's a WIP, not the best of photo's I'm afraid. When it's finished I'll have to model it, my vintage dress maker's dummy just doesn't wear it well. I am planning to add a big chunky collar and maybe some sleeves. It's a merino and silk blend, felted onto cotton scrim (with silk filament on the surface for subtle texture). It started off as one piece, which I cut arm holes in, then I wore it in front of a mirror and armed with tailors chalk worked out where to trim and sew. When I started I had no idea what style it would be, I just experimented with different ways of wearing a rectangle of felt until I had made my mind up, it was very nearly a V neck waistcoat with big lapels.

The tooth fairy has been busy

I'm going to write a quick post whilst my little lad is distracted with toys!!! Here's some work in progress. My brother gave me a lino cutting set a while back (I think I'd originally bought it for him as a present, but it never got used). As I have managed to keep up with my sketch book entry a day, I have a lot of ideas on paper and not just swimming around my head as usual. So I thought I'd transfer one to lino, I think it's worked quite well, I have only ever done a little lino cutting before, with fairly poor results (many years ago). I wanted a design that would repeat as I am keen to get back into textile design again this year ( that's what I did at university). The lino needs tweaking a bit, I would like a cleaner background. When the oil paint eventually dries I am going to experiment with painting over the top. By the way, does anyone out there know how long oil paint takes to dry? I am not a very patient person, and I think it's been a week already!! I did a lot of prints on different surfaces, and they are dotted around all over the place.

Here's a book I purchased recently, 'Fashioning fabric, contemporary textiles in fashion'. I've not begun to read it yet, but there are some great photographs. It's all about textiles within the fashion industry, as you probably guessed from the title. They focus on different designers such as Issey Miyake, John Galliano and Carla Fernandez. I was really pleased to see some felting in there, with the work of Anne Maj Nafar.


My latest bit of crafting was helping my daughter to make a tooth fairy purse (from the usborne book- Fairy things to stitch and sew). She lost her first 2 teeth yesterday !! I put together a sewing kit for her for Christmas, and this is the first time she's used it. However, she did insist on sewing some bells on, good job she's a very heavy sleeper!!


My last bit of news is I just found out I have been accepted to have a stall at the Woolfest in summer. I'm very excited, I am already working on designs for new knit to shrink projects. I will be selling craft kits - felting, silk paper making and knitting.

Felting Workshop

I am holding a felt making workshop for beginners on Saturday the 24th of February in Harrogate, North Yorkshire. If you are interested please get in contact with me through my website at www.fibrespace.co.uk

A big thank you

Other bloggers out there will all know the difficulty of photographing objects. In winter when the light is poor it can be really hard to capture colours accurately, particularly wool fibres. Before Christmas I had a couple of customers who where disappointed because the wool they bought was not quite like those shown in the photograph. So when my husband stumbled on a site showing how to make you own light box, he decided to make one for me. A few nights later it was complete and it works really well, here are some before and after shots.

Earth collection before


Earth collection in light box

It's hard to believe it's the same set of colours!! I can't wait to use it to take some photographs of finished items. Just need to get crafting again. First of all I need a big clear out, there seems to be so much clutter around since Christmas.

Hmmm, can't think of a title!!!

For Christmas my husband bought me a book 'The Digital Photography Book' by Scott Kelby. I have only had time to flick through, but it looks like a good book. I am hoping to get to grips with all the functions of my camera this year. Did you know you should only take landscapes at dawn or dusk (dawn being the preferred time)!!!! Since reading this I have been meaning to get my backside out of bed as soon as my little lad awakes (6.30ish), but this is proving harder than I thought, I really am not a morning person. Anyway, there was some pointers about composition, which I practiced on a family walk around Swinsty reservoir on new years day, here are two of my favourites, taken during a hail storm (these are not black and white photographs, it was just very dramatic light).



I still haven't got back into crafting, but I have been filling my sketch book. One of my new years resolutions was to do at least one page in my sketch book every day. So far so good, and I'm really enjoying it. I usually only use my sketch book if I have an idea, but now I'm creating ideas all the time.