Best bunting for your bucks.

This week I have been making some bunting for a charity called SEND A COW

Bunting is such an easy way to quickly add some colour and fun to a party or any place that needs jazzing up a bit, I have scoured Etsy and here is my top ten, hope you like them too.

From Paisley handmade.

From AniVintage

From vintage green limited.

From 1 pixie place

From Baloolah Bunting

From eaden yarns

from vintage and nostalgia

From chillipeppa (hee heee)

From peony and thistle

From The doll city rocker

Of course other market places are available but seriously why bother else where?



A little goes a long way

I have a fabulous customer who makes unique handbags and more, she is as crazy about wax print as I am and she recently sent me a picture of a her green boucle, while she had it wrapped around her shoulders she had a eureka moment, what could possibly make this snugly wrap better?

AFRICAN WAX PRINT OF COURSE!

I love how wax print is just as interesting on a small scale and I have a Grey wool blanket that needs some life injected into it so I think I may be stealing this idea.

Photo a day

Day twenty....................

SOMETHING I DREW

Okay, so I didn't draw it, but I did help colour it in.

Day twenty one............

BOTTLE

I picked these up at the local car boot for about 50p. no idea how old they are but they are very pretty and have wibbly glass.



I finally found the time to finish my one off hand painted cotton. but I seriously suck at photography and out of all the shots I did, this is really the only usable one. which is still rubbish. Will have to re-do them all before it makes it into my shop.

Fabric printing

I have been working on different fabric printing techniques, I had a go at screen printing using home made screens, but I didn't like the way the ink had to be really solid just to get a print. Then I remembered when I worked at a T-shirt printing place a very long time ago, I was told that there is no variation in screen printing. You have good prints and bad prints. This is very true so I realised that I would probably never be happy with screen printing, I needed some thing that let you be more creative with the ink amount.

Stencils were the way forward. and any way, screens are just stencils...............on screens right?? 

So I have nearly finished my first yard. I have to say, I SERIOUSLY LOVE IT! I have been designing and cutting my own stencils, lots of angular stuff, but also some circular masks. Here is a little peek.

I love the way you can use the ink how you want, creating light and dark areas. My stencils are all temporary and will only be used for this piece so it will be absolutely one of a kind. I will post the finished fabric as soon as its finished.

Ink, stamp, fabric.

I have been doing another custom order today, so the rag rug has taken a back seat, I had a request for some Indian block printing. <------- video here! I don't have the speed of this guy, and a 36 x 60 inches piece of linen took me a looooooong time. I will definitely look into making some kind of ink pad like he uses for next time I do a large piece, I think it will help me get into more of a rhythm, right now I apply the ink with a small sponge. I took a quick pic while I gave my back a break, please excuse the poor light, had to wait until the monster had gone to bed.

I have bought a few new colours and plan on going to bed with this book. for inspiration on how I will use them. Its a beautiful book that I really recommend. Its written by the lovely MissPrint ladies and covers a broad range of techniques.

'Rag rug' for the munchkin.

This is what I managed on day one.
It is definately looking more ruggy now. not sure how far this fabric is going to stretch.... but I am loving the colour combo and it will look fab in her room anyways.

I would love to see pics of rag rugs you or someone in your family made, or if you are making one right now why not post your progress too?!

Yep, I'm hooked.

After my first attempts at lino printing I'm totally hooked. I really want to be making one off pieces of fabric that I will eventually (when I'm brave enough) be listed in my Etsy shop.
I designed a flower that I thought could be used on greeting cards but also worked as a repeat pattern on fabric. I really enjoyed making this pattern using different shades of Yellow/Red/Orange. I'm quite proud of the results and Im already scouring the net for some nice linen (geez its pricey!)
and some paint suitable for lino printing on fabric. Here's how it turned out on paper, very cute.

Note book covers.

I ventured into my loft a few days ago to look for a book and came back down with three unfinished crochet blankets. shocking. I decided that I really should finish them so have been crocheting like mad to get them done, the one I'm focusing on will be lovely but it's big and not "airy" so will take a while, cant wait to post it!

 I went to my friend Sara's house the other day as she wanted to buy some fabric from my Etsy shop......... http://www.etsy.com/shop/ChilliPeppa?ref=si_shop , (please come and visit its been real quiet because of the hurricane) She bought a couple of fat quarters to have a go at making note book covers with them.

She has written about it in her blog so i'm going to be totally lazy and post some pics here, Well, its my fabric so why not.

Here's a link to her blog, She is crazy about crafts like me, I'm so glad I have finally found someone who understands me, My boyfriend is really bad at looking interested. Love you sara! x

http://kraftykowsjewels.blogspot.com/