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!!

Sketchbook Project Limited Edition

Goodness, it has been a long time! I have been settling in on my new ship, the install of the new cast was very busy and there is still soem work to be done, but I have five minutes right now to post a blog so I thought I's better pop in!

I'm currently in Alaska, enjoying the crisp air, inspiration and beer :-) I've already bought some lovely dyed fabrics from Juneau that I have plans for. I also have an embroidery piece in mind for a friend, now I just need to find time to start it.

Until then here is a little art to tide you over. I worked on a Sketchbook for the Art House Co-Op's Limited Edition project where one spread from each book entered will be put into a series of art books. I tried to express my process and show some experimentation with the theme Thread and Surface.

I experimented with surface design techniques and then used the fabrics I created to make mixed media collages at the end of the book. Some of the techniques worked really well and others need some work. I really liked flour paste resist once I got the hang of it and silk painting is always a winner.

I think I might turn some of these into prints at some point, or greetings cards - what do you think?