Tuesday 21 April 2009

Just for fun today...

Hello dear souls, hope your week is flowing in a lovely and sunny way - the weather has been glorious here, we are in t-shirts and slathering on the suncream, eating al-fresco and contemplating summer holidays!
As you can see, Ive been busy today on some new textile art - its a little beach scene that Ive done onto felt backing with a mixture of fabric remnants I have in my sewing box, although its not quite finished yet - Ive still got a fair bit of hand embellishment to do, such as adding sparkly fish and some embroidered text.
I wonder if you can see the lovely stuff that the little boat is sewn on to? Its a glorious product that no doubt many of you might have heard of, called Angelina Fibres which is the most magical and amazing thing Ive been playing about with today! For those of you who are shaking your head and thinking, 'haven't got a clue what you're on about' I'll explain :)
Angelina Fibres are lovely shimmery strands that look like angel hair, they are mostly irredescent and when they catch the light they glow like the wings of damsel flies in the sun. You lay down your choice of fibres (you can mingle in various other colours, you dont have to stick to one shade) onto a piece of baking parchment, and then when you are satisfied with your design, you lay another piece of parchment over the top and with a medium heated iron, just glide over the top a few times to bind the fibres...here's the best bit...when you peel away the top parchment, you have a piece of shimmery fabric!! The possibilities for this beautiful stuff are endless - oh, and you can also add in threads, feathers and the like for extra texture!
I thought this would be a great way to get the effect of a shimmery sea without it being too over the top. Im just beginning to hand embroider my little glittery fish onto it, Im after a shoal in front of the boat but my fingers are worn out today so Im going to pick it up again tomorrow.
Im now debating whether it would be fun to enter this for the art show...musing on it at the moment but I think I'll get the feeling whether or not its the right thing to do when its finished.
Indecisive as ever eh?!!
Onto other things now, the crochet cushion front is now complete (hurrah!!) and Im now on the lookout for a suitable backing, perhaps later in the week, the little one and I will pootle over to Ecclesall Road at the other side of the city to browse the charity shops (alot of them on there) and will hopefully strike lucky! I can't wait to have it finished and plonked on the bed :) ...Ive already got another cushion pad at the ready, so taken am I with this ripply style that Im planning another one in contrasting shades! Do I ever stop?? No.
Well, as usual there are too many things I want to be doing and not enough hours in the day to do them all, so I think its time to take a break - get the kettle on and make a nice cuppa to go with those scrumptious chocolate cookies Mr Tesco just brought! :D
Have a lovely week, sending joy~full surprises and sunshine to you
J x

5 comments:

  1. I have been contemplating doing some textile art for a while now and feel really inspired by this post. I have heard of Angelina fibres but thought they were used mainly in card making. The fibres have worked fantastically in giving your sea a shimmer. I think you have used them very creatively. I bet you had great fun doing this.I am looking forward to seeing your completed cushion too.

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  2. OOOh, those Angelina fibres sound very tempting. When we were on holiday last year we saw some really inspiring fabric art ar Taurus crafts on the edge of the Forest of Dean, since fabrics are my thing I've been meaning since then to have a go. It's just having the time! Good luck with your piece.
    Kim xx

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  3. You are certainly in the mood for Summer.
    Your textile work is so refreshing and lovely x
    sumea

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  4. I love your textile art, the fabrics all work well together. Searching charity shops is a lame excuse for a visit to Eccie Road! Coffee at Nonna's, Lunch at Cafe Ceres and a detour to ISh fabrics while you are there too!!!

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  5. love your picture the angelina fibres sound like the perfect addition

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