Plush Addicts Open Day!

Check out the swag I grabbed today at the Plush Addicts Open Day!
plushaddict.co.uk is a great fabric website I stumbled upon a few weeks ago when I was looking for a certain quilting fabric for a project. They are based in Edenbridge, about an hour from me in Kent. Although they are based online they have open days about every 6 weeks where you can come to the site and shop in person.
My mum and I decided to go have a nose and this is what I came home with. I love my new foxy box for my sewing gear for work. I have no idea what I am going to make with the fabrics yet but when inspiration hits you guys will be the first to know!
We also bought a pair of KAM snap pliars and some colourful snaps to try out - I'm pretty excited about that. Keep an eye out for a project using those soon and check out the Plush Addicts website for great stuff.
If you are in the area this is the calendar of open days too.

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Having a cross stitch: Big Brownie Birthday Edition!

As I have mentioned I am a member of Girlguiding UK and this year marks 100 years of Brownies. This event has spawned a lot of projects and keepsake items and one that caught my eye was cross stitch patterns. There was a set of patterns for a Brownie, a Rainbow, a Guide and a Guider published in Cross Stitch magazine designed by Lucie Heaton. They were great but they didn't really represent my uniforms... So I adapted them!

Cross stitch isn't my usual medium of choice but I have done it in the past. I thought I'd give it a go for this project and attach the results to my new camp blanket. So far I have started my Guider and I will keep you posted on my progress :-)

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Exhibition Report: Medway Open Studios

Recently I attended a Fabric Manipulation workshop at INTRA in Rochester. Through this 6 week workshop I developed some interesting techniques, the build up to which I will share with you in another post. But this weekend the artists of Medway opened their doors to the public in the Medway Open Studios & Arts Festival. My Fabric Manipulation piece was on display so I went to see it, the finished pieces of the rest of the class and some great local artists.

A particular favourite I discovered today was Heather Haythornthwaite who creates beautiful prints. Her three prints of historically notorious Medway prostitutes took my breath away. She combines interesting elements to create her images inclusing text, old maps and images imposed with regular printed shapes. She is a part of the Ridley Road group and can be seen at stop number 6 on the Medway Open Studios Map.

Stopping in at INTRA I saw my oen piece beautifully displayed along with work by Faye Lamb, Bernice Friend and Rebecca Davison.

My piece is in the top right of this photo.

 

Finally I saw some lovely textile work in Sun Pier House, a large work in process wall hanging by Jenni Burrows really caught my eye.

 

If you are in the area you should check out all of these artists and art venues.

Find out more about Medway Open Studios here

The Medway Open Studios map can be found here

Look at workshops on offer at INTRA and Unravel & Unwind here (highly recommended!)

Find Jenni Burrows here

Find Heather Haythornthwaite here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Camp Blanket

I have been working on my Camp blanket for almost 20 years. It has Brownie badges, Guide badges, patches from the places I've been, badges for things I like and tags and bits and pieces from old clothing and stuff like that.... My entire life really! And it is finally finished! There are nearly 500 badges on this thing and I've already started a new one :-)

 

 

 

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Steampunk fun times!

Recently I started taking part in my local Steampunk group Great Kentspectations. So, of course I had to make myself an outfit. Over the course of a week I knocked myself up an under bust corset and a utility skirt to go with my utility belt. What do you think?

 

 

 

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Steaming Ahead

Over the last bank holiday I visited the Historic Dockyard in Chatham and their Steam and Transport festival. As well as taking a tour around the areas used in the filiing of Call The Midwife and meeting the Gruffalo in the Juia Donaldson exhibition I also visited Steampunk Central

 

I have just discovered that there is a Steampunk group here in Kent and I am looking forward to attending more events when I can. Steampunk Central had some great traders - I bought some jewllery, and some fun erformances. I am now a big fan of the female trio Artemiss and Steampunk Morris - I might even join the dance troop!

 

Now to just come up with a better costume!

 

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Making Up Is Hard To Do....

When I was training as a wardrobe supervisor we only looked at costume. As my career has progressed I have noticed that I needed a little hair and makeup knowledge as well. I was able to pick up wigs on the go but not as yet makeup.... Until now!

 

I took two makeup master classes at The Backstage Center in Essex this week. One was an Introduction to Stage Makeup and the other was Intermediate Theatrical Makeup.

 

I learned so much over these two days! I added to my own personal makeup skills and now have experience with design, ageing makeup, historial makeup and bruise and wounds.

I don`t think I will ever be just a makeup artist but I ave added to my skill set and I think I have added a fun new hobby! What do you think of my results?

 

 

 

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Stitch or Die

The Phat Quarter embroidery swap from Mr X Stitch moved for its latest instalment to the new stitching community Weave.

 

This time the theme was Beastiary - a book or tome that details mythical creatures. I instantly thought of a unicorn but I didn't want to do a pansy girly one - I wanted a shire horse inspired one!

 

I did this sketch on my iPad and really like the airbrushed quality so thought I'd have a go at that as well.

I played with airbrushing and couching on a tea stained background then outlined the image with a shield shape as unicorns are used in heraldry. I also added a Latin phrase to finish it off that translates to stitch or die!

My swap partner like it a lot and I like the new techniques I played with - maybe some more airbrushing in the future!

 

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100 Years of Brownies

 

I think a while back I mentioned that I am part of Girlguiding UK and am a qualified Brownie Leader.

 

This year Brownies is 100 years old and to celebrate there are lots of events planned. This weekend I took part in East Kent Guiding's big Brownie Birthday Star Quest - it was super fun! The girls (aged 7-11) got to go into the past, present and future at the Winter Gardens, Margate and do lots of fun activities.

This is me helping out with a science activity where the girls had to work out what the mystery white powder was from doing some tests - we think it was baking soda! That was in the future.

This us me with my original Brownie uniform - well the same as I wore anyway! In the past the girls could try on old uniforms. This, being a costume person, was my favourite part!

 

 

 

I made my mum hold up the best ones :-)

 

In the present the girls got to have a go at temporary tattoos, hair chalks and see some reptiles, including holding a snake. I think everyone had a good time and I was really glad I got to be a part of the Big a Brownie Birthday in 2014!

 

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