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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Let's Get Back To Business!

Hello my dears!  Yes, yes, I know it has been a long time.

2013 into the beginning of 2014 was a super busy time for me with my work which put a bit of a dampener on my crafting time.  I had some great experiences but some great challenges as well.....

.... As you might notice above the blog has had a name change.... I can no longer call myself a crafter at sea because I am no longer at sea!  That's right, my land legs have called me home and I am now a land-locked sailor.  I am currently looking to get into the theatre scene here in England.  It's all a bit scary but what I needed to do in life.  It has given me time to craft and catch up the blog though!

I have a few projects on the go right now and I have a few things to catch you guys up on that I worked on but didn't get chance to blog about.  Keep your eyes open in the next few weeks for posts on the following projects:

I finished adding the second layer to my beer cap belt.

My friend had a baby and I made her an embroidered gift.

My friends got married and I made them an embroidered wedding album.

I played around with eco-dying some fabric from natural elements I found on a walk.

I made a necklace organiser for my travels.  It is now going to be very useful at home as well!

I have an embroidery based on a song by The Band Perry... this is still a work in progress....

And finally, I worked on Legally Blonde: The Musical.  It was a very interesting challenge but I made it work!

I am also working on some online courses which I would love to share with you so there is a lot to come!!

Sea Gypsy

You know those Home Sweet Home samplers that you see? You know how you expect to see them? Well, I decided to put my own spin on it. This was how Sea Gypsy was born. My home is not really bricks and mortar. My home, I suppose, is a cruise ship. It is a different one every time, but it is home for the space of time I am on it. When I am between contracts I go back to my parents house to visit, granted, but it's not really where I live anymore. I don't really live anywhere but the sea.

I took the Home Sweet Home concept and fit it to my lifestyle. Instead of using the usual house motif, I used a ship. Sprawling mountains range behind it and the sea swirls around the hull.

I used a verigated thread that reminded me of the art work on the side of the first ship I worked on (and, actually, the ship I just got off of). I experimented with waste canvas so that I could cross stitch the recognised phrase down the side of the ship, as if it were the art work itself. The rest of the piece is my usual embroidery, bringing myself and the traditional together.

This piece is simple in both it's style and execution, however, the meaning behind it is quite complex and full, particularly to me. And that's what art is really about.

I don't think I've cross stitched for about 10-15 years...

Goodness! I've got very behind in blog posting! However, you will be pleased to know that I have been working on lots of projects so there are several things that need writing about!

Let's start with my new iPhone cover.... and my new iPhone! I had an HTC but didn't like it much so I've got myself an iPhone 3G now instead. I know it's not the newest one but I wanted one that uses regular sim cards, not the micro ones for when I am in the US. I LOVE it! I am definitely a Mac! Along with all the amazing things you can do with a iPhone, another draw were the cross stitch-able cases I had seen. I went looking for them online and found this awesome tutorial on making your own on Wee Little Stitches blog. This blog is awesome and I encourage you to check it out. They also have an Etsy shop where they sell cross stitch patterns of Pixel People. They have a great range but they didn't quite have ones that I really wanted to use.... so I designed my own!

Jareth the Goblin King

Jem from Jem and the Hologram and She-Ra

I played around with some graph paper and, even though I haven't cross stitched in about 10-15 years or used a cross stitch pattern in that time, I came up with these. I quite like both so might have to stitch up both and rotate them!

Wish me luck!!

They took lots of honey, and plenty of money...

Next week two of my friends have their birthday on the same day. It's going to be lots of fun, especially as we are in St Thomas that day and there's a crew party! For each person I have crafted a very personal present based on who they are and what they like/do. This is the first, for my friend Jonny Danger (yep, that's his real name) who we all call Tuxedo... he works with the kids, ok!

Tux is a poetry major and particularly likes Edward Lear so I stitched him a tie to go with one of his suits. He better like it, is all I can say because I had to use metallic thread. And we all know how difficult that is :-)

Thank the Goddess for thread heaven!

I'll post the other present for my friend Karlene next....

No Food For You!

It's here! It's here! My swap piece from Cocoaeyes is finally here!! I got Cocoaeyes as my swap partner for the Phat Quarter Food Swap and my piece from her arrived this weekend. It was a total surprise - I thought it was a box of t-shirts and then I dipped my hand in to find a lovely stitchery!!!

Cocoaeyes is obsessed with hazard signs so stitched me one up as you can see above. Girl, you would be so inspired by my ship - there are warning signs and mandatory signs and hazard signs EVERYWHERE!! Here's a shot of it on my cabin wall next to our no smoking in bed hazard sign, just for fun!!

She also sent me a lovely card full of compliments which was very much appreciated - you rock Olisa!!

Check out Cocoaeyes' blog here at Stitch, Stab & Scrawl, I highly recommend it :-)

Fancy Shisha Tutorial!

I decided to give you guys a tutorial for some mirror work. I originally learned this stitch from this blog post. I used the instructions on that post as a basis and kinda did it my way. So I thought I’d show you how I do it.

Fancy Shisha Stitch:

1
I used a large sequin for this but a mirror can be used as well. I glued the sequin down before I began just so it doesn’t move around while I’m trying to work. I used a simple glue stick for this. The stitches will eventually hold it in place. I used stranded cotton but used all six strands. Bring the needle up at the bottom of your sequin.

2
We are going to create foundation stitches. Take the needle down at the top of the sequin directly above where you brought the needle through.

3
Make the second foundation stitch horizontally creating an cross over the sequin. Try to make this as even as possible, it will help later.

4
The final two foundation stitches create an ‘x’ over the top of the other two. Again, try to make these as even as possible.

5
Now we begin the decorative stitch. I always start at the top. Bring the needle up to the left of the spoke.

6
Go back down on the right of the spoke making a very small stitch along the edge of the sequin

7
Bring the needle back up on the left of the spoke and the stitch

8
Pass the needle under the spoke right to left. Pull thread tight

9
Take the needle down on the right of the spoke as close as possible to the beginning stitch

10
Bright the needle back up to the front right next to the last stitch – don’t do it too close as it will undo the original stitch but close enough that there isn’t a gap.

11
Put the needle under the spoke left to right this time, pull the thread tight.

12
Take the needle down on the left of the spoke as close as possible to the beginning stitch

13
Bring the needle back up to the front right next to the last stitch – don’t do it too close as it will undo the original stitch but close enough that there isn’t a gap

14
Repeat steps 8-13 twice more so you create a filled in V shape around your spoke

15
If you followed the steps right to the end your thread should be on the left of the spoke and V…

16
Now wrap the thread around the rest of the spoke by taking your needle under the spoke right to left, wrapping about 4 times until you get to the middle of the foundation stitches.

17
Once at the middle take the needle under the spoke to the left from right to left.

18
Wrap the thread down the spoke as before, taking the needle under the spoke right to left until you reach the edge of the sequin. Secure the thread by taking the needle down through the fabric on the right side of the spoke really close to the point the spoke comes up through the fabric.

19
Now you will make the V shape on this spoke by following steps 5-14. When you finish this V shape you may want to secure your thread and begin a new piece, that’s what I do!

20
Follow steps 5-19 three more times until you have filled the last 6 spokes – and you’re done! Pretty huh?!

I hope these instructions make sense and are helpful! Leave me a comment with any questions or comments – they are much appreciated