Week Thirty-Seven: Quilled Initials

Last week I made something in the popular Pinterest trend known as ombre, and this week I've made something in another pinterest trend's style: chevron!

Many people like to have their child's name or initial done up in an artistic piece for their bedroom wall, or maybe the family's surname initial to add to a beautiful wall of family photos.

I love this faux-vintage frame.

I went for a minty-aqua colour for this piece, I think with the white it's a very fresh sort of look.

 

Next week's piece is already done, and I've decided it's my favourite so far! I read the quote somewhere and the image came to me right away, and I just had to make it while it was fresh in my mind! So excited for you to see it, but I'll hold off for next week when it's actually due.

xnata

Week Thirty-Six: Purple Ombre Mask

Sorry I'm late this week, I'm back at uni and it's been keeping me very busy!

This week I've made my second mask and it's a dramatic purple ombre this time! Trying to get a few of these for the next markets I'll be in, though none are officially scheduled, there is a possibility for Christmas time...

And look, they're on sticks now!

I decided that the stick option worked better than ribbon as what beautiful lady would want a mask that interferes with her hair? The result is very elegant and sophisticated, and looks so natural displayed in a vase don't you think? I just bought a long piece of dowel from Spotlight, measured, marked and had my hubby cut it up, then I got all sandy and painty.

So many ideas for these. And it was easier this time, so hopefully I'll get faster at it each time.

 

I'm glad I have a hobby that 1: produces pretty things 2: pays for itself through selling what I make and 3: gives me something artistic to do when I need to take a break from my studies.

 

Next week we've got another framed piece to enjoy!


xnata 

Week Thirty-Five: Butterfly Nursery Mobile

This week I have attempted something a bit different, and I gave a clue a week or two ago on the Facebook page, and I must say I'm quite chuffed with the end product, it is gloriously sweet.

A Rainbow of pretty husked flutterbies for little babies to watch as they fall asleep!

 

 

The fantastic thing about these husked butterflies for this purpose is that they are so light and seem to catch the teeniest tiniest breeze, so it's basically constantly moving, which is perfect for the little bubby watching, it's quite mesmerising and so happy and bright.

 

 

I've used the classic husking technique as displayed in Week 7, in various sizes and all the basic colours of the rainbow.

The frame is made of the inside ring of embroidery hoops of two sizes, and I've painted them with a pearlescent white paint, then it's all put together with white embroidery thread, nice and thick to hold up the rings but one strand thick for the pretty butterflies. I've sealed the knots with fabric glue to avoid it unravelling, and I've sprayed the butterflies with 'preserve it' to avoid colour fading and make them a little tougher. And it's all held up by a simple silver ring.

I've seen ways to make the structure to attach it to a crib, but as it's so delicate I would suggest hanging it from a hook in the ceiling would be much better, and you can add string to the ring to have it lower down without it ending up within reach of your little munchkin/s as even a baby would crush these within seconds.

Here's a shot of what the little ones will see...

It was hard to pick a photo of this nursery mobile, as the breeze changed it so often that each picture was different in a lovely way. Getting this to hang evenly was the hardest part of this project I must say, it took a few tries and lots of wasted thread, but now I've got the hang of it I am sure I won't have so much trouble in the future.

So, that was lovely wasn't it? Makes you wish there were more real live butterflies around. We should do something about that. Having said that I found one in my kitchen last week, perhaps she saw these others and knew we were butterfly-friendly. Anyway, next week we're going to see something really purple!


xnata