Purses and Pouches Galore

It seems I've been into bags, purses and pouches lately. I've produced quite a collection for different purposes, even on commission. Here are some of them.

Paper fabric purses for an upcoming mixed media class (in September):
(i Nykarleby: så håll korpgluggarna öppna för mera information, ni som bor i området!):

To create the paper fabric, I've used the methods described by Beryl Taylor in Mixed Media Explorations and Kelli Nina Perkins in Stitch Alchemy. There's more to explore, so I'm sure I'll return to this subject later in the summer.

A waist purse to hold my keys while I'm out jogging (much needed, and accomplished at last!):

A batch of coin purses to sell at a craft fair this summer (the fabrics are my own hand dyed fabrics):

 

And a pouch for smartphones, also for sale at the fair (again, my own hand dyed fabric). So far I've only managed to finish one of these, but I'm probably going to make more now that I've worked through the original construction method and made some improvements:

That's all folks! Have a great weekend, and I hope to see you again soon! - Annika

Baby Wipe Shibori Revisited

For the last couple of weeks I've kept my sewing machine and fingers busy. I finished a skirt and a blouse that've been hanging around in my sewing basket for quite a while (how satisfying!), I've experimented with paper fabric (and there will be more, rest assured!), I've made a batch of cards, and I've sewn some small purses for an upcoming craft fair. I'll get back to these projects in my next blog entries, but this time, I thought I'd share the cards with you.

A friend asked me if I could make her some cards, and that inspired me to make a whole bunch of them in a technique I enjoy. Here's a sample:

You've seen the backgrounds before, in this blog entry, which was a direct result of this blog entry. As you can see, I've made good use of my shibori-style baby wipes. I've drawn the motifs myself, scanned them, printed them on cardstock and cut them out, before attaching them to the cards with thick double-sided tape for a 3-D effect.

(Oh, and of course I added a bit of glitz with craft foil. That goes without saying.)

Thanks for dropping by! - Annika

Poppy Love

After not having been very active on this blog for so long, it feels a bit difficult to get started again. What should I write? How should I start? Should I apologise to you, my reader, for my inactivity? Well, I think I'll just say that there's a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens, and with so many things going on and such a big change in my life over the past year, blogging had to take second place. But I missed sharing my projects and discoveries with you, so I will make an attempt to breathe new life into this blog now. And I will start by sharing a little piece of quilt art that I finished recently.

I started working on this mini quilt in December, and I've shared a couple of process images before here. It was basically finished and part of an exhibition in January (link), but I wasn't 100 % happy with it, so it's been hanging around looking a bit forlorn since the exhibition, until I took pity on it and added what I felt was necessary. And now I'm quite pleased with it. I attached it to a canvas frame, which will make it easier to display, as well as make it look less like a little potholder on the wall and more like a proper piece of art.

Ok, enough talk. Here are the images:

The size of the mini quilt itself is 15,5 x 15,5 cm (6" x 6") and the techniques include monoprinting, stencilling, fabric markers, fabric collage, Free-motion machine quilting, hand embroidery and beading. The name of the quilt is Papaver (2013). Papaver is the Latin name for poppy.

Thanks for reading! More to come soon, because I'm bursting with projects and new things to try. :-)

Thinking Outside the Box

A few weeks ago I endulged myself with a bit of box-making. I love small handmade boxes. There's something about the way they sit in your hand, and the way the lid slides perfectly in place with a little rasping sound.

This time I tried something new, and while I was in an explorative mood, I decided to stitch, or close, every side of the box and lid with a different method, just to see how it worked.

Here, the box is still without its lid:

And this is how I closed the sides of the box:

In the last image, I've hidden the stiches under a fused strip of fabric.

And this is how I closed the sides of the lid:

The finished box:

Right now it's holding part of my big collection of notes on small slips of paper. I'm always writing to-do lists, taking notes and jotting down ideas on any piece of paper that happens to be nearby, and my surfaces quickly fill up with these papers. Now I have a safe place to put them until I have the time to file them properly. Yes, I know I should file them properly right away, instead of writing things on little pieces of paper, but... well... you know...

Thanks for reading, and see you again soon! - Annika

Own Time

After a tough week I decided to enjoy a bit of own time with a simple embroidery project. Or two, in fact. Both are inspired by Japanese sashiko embroidery. Simple and relaxing.

I haven't decided what to do with this one yet. I'm just working on a piece of fabric that I coloured earlier, but that didn't work out as planned. I'm just improvising as I go. A mystery project!

This will be a dramatic skirt in black cotton sateen with red details. A long-term project, but I'm getting near the end now.

Have a great weekend! - Annika

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

I've had a few busy weeks again, but I managed to find time to create a bit of Easter ambiance.

First I planted some grass seed. It sprouted overnight. I love the furry white hair that first appear. And the stalks. Fragile, but determined, little spears of green.

After a few days it looked like this.

The beautiful root system is the reason why I planted the seeds in a glass candle holder.

Then the chicks and chocolate eggs moved in.

I dyed these eggs some years ago, using tea, coffee, onion peels and crocus petals. Yesterday I got a tip about more natural dyes for your Easter eggs. Check it out here.

An Easter cupcake gave me renewed energy to finish what I'd started.

I made paper crocuses with the kids on Wednesday

and was so inspired that I made a whole bunch for myself. Spring is late in Finland this year, so in lieu of real crocuses, I can enjoy these instead.

Thanks for visiting. Happy Easter and Happy Spring to us all! - Annika

Busy Fingers

I've been busy again for a few weeks, following a visit to the dentist's, where I had my very last wisdom tooth removed surgically. Things were a bit slow chez moi afterwards, as my jaw was pretty sore, which meant that I've had a lot to catch up with. (I was a bit worried that the last of my wisdom would go with the tooth, but I've had a few clever ideas since, so I guess I'm safe...)

My fingers have been busy this weekend, as I'll be participating in a fair (Arbismarknaden) at the adult education centre next Friday. I'm selling handprinted and machine and hand embroidered items, such as the pretty purses you've seen on this blog before (here and here (the green purse is still unsold)), these little boxes (my very first blog entry!), and these coin purses I've been making this weekend:

The prints are made with a hand carved linoleum stamp I made myself.

I also made a couple of coin purses for a friend and myself. The print on these is a monoprint which I texturised with a handcut eraser stamp in the shape of a key:

I'll report back later about the fair, Until then, have a great week, and thanks for dropping by! - Annika