Yesterday's dyeing

I love how these have turned out, especially the girly one :)



And a cute pink nappy

Altered Element - upcycled mermaid bracelet

My upcycling package from Altered Element contained a huge wooden beaded necklace and a chunky filigree ex-bracelet with garish pink acrylic crystals - neither of which are to my taste, in colour or style! My immediate thought with the beads was to attempt to dye them black so I threw them into some procion mx dye I was using for another project where they entirely failed to dye. But the experiment was not in vain, as I discovered that instead their own colour was washing out. Several kettles of water later and I had some washed out blue beads just perfect for a seaside theme.
I took the filigree bracelet sections and started to remove the ghastly gems. I managed to prise a few off with pliers but resorted to sticking them in the oven to melt the remaining ones (warning: smells very nasty, you might want to take safety precautions).
Then I took one section of filigree and flattened it with a chasing hammer. This created a flat frame for an image of a mermaid (Artchix Studios, Altered Element sells a variety of Artchix images for collage). I adhered it using glossy accents and filled in the back for security. When dry, I glossed over the mermaid image.
The faded beads and filigree frame were threaded on black elastic to create a summery accessory, just right for the bank holiday.

Fabulous Artsycrafts weekend

Spent a wonderful weekend at Artsycrafts, run by Leandra of PaperArtsy and Lin of LB Crafts - lovely time playing with inks, paints and metal. I will upload my pics later but here's a peak at one of mine borrowed from the PaperArtsy twitter feed:


Thank you to everyone for making it all such a learning experience and so much fun.

Altered Element Design Team - Antiqued cuff

My Altered Element Design Team parcel came yesterday, containing the usual 2 packages - craft supplies and upcycling supplies.
My craft supples were:
Decoupaint Antik - reed
Decoupaint Patina - old gold
Craftynotions Puff Paint
Karantha stamp - floral texture no1
Twiddleybitz - small shadow box


My upcycling supplies were:
Chunky wooden necklace
5 large filigree links with pink acrylic gems
5 crystal flowers on a chain


Lots to work with there!
I decided to use the puff paint separately from the rest of it's parcel. I still had plenty of fabric and lace/ribbons from last month's upcycling project so thought I'd team them up.
Firstly, I applied puff paint to a strip of upholstery fabric through a crafter's Workshop Template 'Mini Flower Frenzy' (available from Altered Element) and heated it with a heat gun to puff it up.I decided it was too starkly white so 'aged' it with a touch of the Decoupaint.. I sewed the painted fabric , layered with ribbons, onto a piece of William Morris fabric. The cuff needed some embellishments so I added the crytal flowers, carefully cutting them from their chain links. Lastly, I added a calico backing and button closure.
I'm enjoying these cuff variations :)

Nappies!

Made 18 hand dyed organic bamboo velour nappies yesterday and spent the best part of this afternoon putting resin snaps on. These are being sold as part of Buy British Month on Cloth Nappy Addicts and will be in my Folksy store tonight.

Buy British Month on CNA

This month is Buy British months on Cloth Nappy addicts, the forum I'm a moderate on. It's a chance to showcase the products of the work at home mothers who frequent the board. Do feel free to come and have a look around.
http://clothnappyaddicts.co.uk/forum/index.php

Altered Element DT - Distressed cuff

In my April project pack I received a whole host of delightful goodies - black lutradur, a silver textiles pack and a yummy pot of Cosmic Shimmers Arctic Black embossing powder. Lots of ideas came to mind, especially for jewellery, but in the end I decided that I was just in the mood for a gothic style cuff.


Firstly, I cut identical rectangular pieces from some black felt, plum polyester satin and the lutradur. I cut them approx 8 inches by 2 inches, you need to make sure it fits around your wrist and add up to an inch for heat shrinkage. I layered the felt on the bottom, then satin, then lutradur on top. I then zigzagged around the edge to secure. Next I randomly machine quilted the layers. A heat gun was then used to distress the top two layers.
I took a generous pinch of Lametta hair from the textiles pack and adhered this to one half of the cuff with random machine stitching. On top of this I couched some medium boullion wire into a double spiral.
Using a Big Shot, I cut a bird shape from the Aluminium from the pack, then embossed it using a Cuttlebug folder. I brushed an embossing pad over the raised surface, applied the embossing powder and heat embossed this twice to add extra texture and interest. Lastly I adhered some craft foam to the back for stability and sewed it onto the cuff. Silver coloured fastenings complete the item.
An accessory fit for a gothic princess.




I have loads left in my textiles pack so lots more to play with - I fancy a bib necklace to match. The packs are a real bargain - I've bought 2 more in other colours.