Part Two

Yes, it's taken a while and seeing as though Sparkles and Nicks have finished their frames that I made for them, I thought I'd best pull my finger out!

The central image has been printed onto Decal Waterslide paper and attached to copper shim.  Then highlighted with some machine stitiching.

The main frame is made by stitching string through plastic canvas.  This was then glued to an artists canvas board and the whole lot covered in tissue paper.  Originally painted black and then used copper acrylic paint, cranberry alcolhol inks and various metallic rub-ons.

Don't hold your breath for number 3, it may be some time.  Lol!

Part one

of a planned 3.  I'm not religious but really like images of Madonna & Child and saw an article in a book which inspired me to have a go with my version. 

The base is a piece of board (21cm x 26cm) which has been covered in black velvet and painted.

The image was printed onto Decal Waterslide paper and transferred to copper sheet.  This was supposed to be stitched using the free motion stitching on my sewing machine but the guage of the copper was too thick really so I only ended up doing a small amount on the image by hand but did stitch the border on the machine.

The celtic knot and roundels are made out of copper and embossed.  Coloured with alcohol inks and glass paint.

The copper borders have been inked, machine stitched and a string of beads added.  Right, off to look for some thinner copper sheet and practise my free motion stitching as it isn't as easy as it looks on Youtube! Lol!

A gift for

Nicks birthday. Both are projects that I found in a book called "The Art of Stitching on Metal". Thankfully, I confessed this to Nicks as it turns out she has the same book! Lol! The dish is 3 different types of copper that have been heat treated and woven together. The woven piece is then placed on Kunin felt with a piece of chiffon over the top.

The whole lot is stitched together on a sewing machine and then heat distressed with a heat gun. The felt melts to give a lacy pattern and the chiffon melts away. You can distress as much or as little as you like. Whilst the metal is still warm, you bend and pinch the sides to give the dish its shape.

This may look easy but it was an absolute nightmare trying to hold it all together whilst getting an old temperamental sewing machine to do it's stuff! I did have plastic pegs holding the weave in place but decided to try and change the colour of the copper with my heat gun. That didn't work and it bonded the plastic peg with the silk and copper mesh. Blood, sweat and tears this project cost me! Lol!

The seed pod gift bag is a piece of thick silk edged with a decorative fibre with copper mesh on top. There are two larger outer pieces and two smaller inner pieces. Shaped and tied with the decorative fibre.

Altered Doll Challenge

Went to a car boot sale and found my Barbie; just ripe for a transformation. I originally wanted a smooth finish to my project, like brushed metal, but that meant she still stood out as a Barbie. Also, all those years of wearing high heels had made her not be able to stand flat so I knew mounting my figurine was going to be tricky.

So the textured look it was. Cut off her and bandaged her all over. Mixed some papier mache with pva and covered her all over. I had a pebble that I'd bought years ago as a tealight holder and I thought that would make a good stand for her. Unfortunately, because of the tippy toes and the generous proportions of her upper half, she would not become stable.

In the end I filled the cavity in the pebble with plaster of paris and stuck her into it but that didn't look right. Mixed some more papier mache and layered it on her and over the pebble to make it look like she's stood on the pebble with her dress draping over it.

Made some wings from copper mesh, outlined with krylon pen and sprayed with Glimmer Mist. And her crowning glory, a halo from copper wire.

I still have an action man to alter too but that will have to wait. But, at least he has flat feet. Lol!

Altered Fork

for a challenge set by Nicks & Heidi on Docrafts. Thanks to Nicks for traipsing round a car boot and providing me with said cutlery.

I never realised how sturdy forks are when deliberately trying to bend them!!

Decided to use my fork like a hand (albeit a very arthritic looking hand!) to hold all the charms I received in the charm swap. Mmmmmm basically because I couldn't think of anything else. Lol!

Jigsaw charms

made for a swap on Docrafts. Those jump rings and chains were very fiddly! Lol!

Bracelets

made with safety pins and beads. Saw this at a bead fair recently and thought it was quite effective and some (cheat) beading that I actually might be able to do (Lol) so gave it a go. The prong of the safety pin is loaded with beads and fastened. The head is then squashed slightly from the sides in to form a sealed hole in the centre of the head. These are all threaded with clear elastic thread, alternating top and bottom on each pin and with a bead also between each pin.