Monday 16 September 2019

Curious on the Path of Positivity

I love moon watching and although I do not know the names or positions of the constellations other than the obvious ones, gazing at the night sky and marvelling at it's beauty has been a life-long habit. When I came across this quote from Stephen Hawking I knew I had to use it for the theme 'Curiosity'. 

While I acknowledge that  Stephen Hawking was a brilliant scientist there is one aspect of what he says here that, in my opinion, he misses. Not everyone will agree with what I am about to say and that is fine, I respect other people's views even if I might not agree just as I hope they would for mine. But as a Christian I do not look at the heavens and wonder about what makes the universe exist, I know who makes the universe exist. The first verse of Psalm 19 sums it it up beautifully: 

  The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Noel and Tricia Richards wrote a worship song some years back that was based on the opening verse of Psalm 19 and it has remained a firm favourite in many churches. If you are interested there is quite a good version here

Meanwhile I will carry on looking up at the heavens and continue to be curious about the wonders of creation in all it's splendour.

So here is my project for the mid way post for this month's challenge at Path of Positivity.




Materials used:
DDD Doodles - Be Curious sentiment (special commission)
plain cotton material
metalic DMC threads
plain tissue paper
embroidery hoop
ribbon
black felt

This project was an experiment, I was exercising my own curiosity here! I wanted to work out if there was a way of transferring digital images to fabric for cross stitching or embroidery. My original plan was to print it out on square paper and make a cross stitch chat but when it came to actually stitching it interpreting the chart for the text was too complicated for my limited abilities. So my back up plan was to transfer the design to fabric and embroider it. 

Before I go any further I know all the embroiderers out there will be throwing their hands up in horror but I am not a sewer, it is the least favourite crafty thing to do for me. Cross stitching I can just about manage but embroidery is a completely different matter.

Back to the story! Now I knew that you can use carbon copy paper to transfer designs to fabric the only problem was that in the last house move cull I had given all my carbon paper away and there was not time to order any if I was going to get it done by the deadline. So I thought if I print it out on tissue paper, tack it to the material and stitch over the top that would work. Well it did to a certain extent, the problem only came when trying to remove the tissue paper. I was left with little bits around all the letters. I soaked it in cold water for a while which got rid of some more then gently brushed it with a small cleaning brush. Most of the tissue has come off but if I look very closely I can still see odd  bits poking out from under some of the lettering.

So the verdict is that copy paper is probably better than tissue paper although it may take longer to transfer the pattern and if you use tissue paper it is not so good for lettering or small motifs and  try to find one without a coating in that will break up a dissolve better in water.

When I had finished my sewing and getting as much tissue paper off as I could I mounted it in an embroidery hoop and backed it with black felt. A ribbon attached to the top of the hoop makes a convenient hanger.

Will I try this again? Probably but with carbon paper and not for a while! Am I pleased with the end result? Well despite not going quite to plan on the whole I am. There are things I can try differently to improve it so it has been a good experiment.

The Path of Positivity Challenge runs through until 6th of October. Although the theme is optional if you do  follow it then there are extra prizes on offer. Our sponsors this time are Bugaboo Digi Stamps and Scribbles Designs both offering a prize for winners. All the details and the link to enter can be found on the Path of Positivity Challenge Blog here. I do hope you will join in with the fun.

Thanks for popping by. Take care.

Pippa

Entering the following challenges:








  



Friday 13 September 2019

Progressive Challenge at Scrapper's Delights

It's time for the start of a new challenge at Scrapper's Delights with a special little extra surprise for all who take part details of which will be at the end of this post.



Materials used:
Scrapper's Delights - Anna Mae 1
X-Press It card
brown card
designer paper 
buttons
shell
7" x 5" card blank
Copic pens:
skin - E000, E00, E21, E11, E04    R20
hair - E42, E43, E47, E89
dress - G02, G17, G29, G99
cloak and boots - R29, R39, R59, R89   C0, C1, C3, C5   G02, G17, G29
grass - G21, G24, G94
ground - E50, E51, E53, E55
pebbles - YR20, Y23, YR21, YR12   W9, W7, W5
pumpkin - Y35, Y38, YR14, YR18, E39, E18    E11, E33, E39, E18
sky - B0000

I am not a fan of halloween so asked permission to alter the image to make it more of a general one. To change the pumpkin I traced the pumpkin without the carving, transferred it to a scrap of X-Press It card and then having coloured it I fussy cut it and attached it on top of the original image. I also took out her fangs!

I did say that there was and extra surprise for all who took part in the challenge this month and this is it: 
Image may contain: 1 person

The challenge details and how to apply for the image are on the Scrapper's Delights Facebook Page. I hope that you will be able to join in the fun even if you, like me, don't do halloween.

Thanks for dropping in. Take care.

Pippa

Entering the following challenges:





Friday 6 September 2019

Chibi new release at Scrapper's Delights

It's new release time at Scrapper's Delights and this month I chose to work with one of the two available baseball images. Being in the UK baseball is not a game I am familiar with but we do have rounders which, as far as I can see, is quite similar.

 This card ended up being a card for my husband on our wedding anniversary, it was a bit short notice as so much 'stuff' has been happening in our lives and I did not get organised. However I was determined not to buy a card so this one stepped up to the plate. (I think I got a baseball reference in there!)




Materials used:
X-Press It card
printer card
Copic pens:
skin - E000, E00, E21, E11, E04, R20
hair - E42, E43, E47, E49
eyes - C5, C7, C9
bat - E31, E33, E35, E39   B24, B28, B39
t-shirt - Y13, Y15, Y17, W13, E18
hat and shoes - R29, R39, R59, R89     C0, C1, C3, C5  

The sentiment is printed out on white card and cut to size to make an A5 card blank. The coloured image has been fussy cut then stuck on the front with foam pads to add a bit of dimension.

Do hop over to the Scrapper's Delights store and take a look at the new images and while you are there why not take a peek at the Inspiration Blog and see what my team mates have done with the other images being released today.

Thanks for dropping in. Take care.

Pippa

Entering the following challenges:


Monday 2 September 2019

Curiosity and the ... dog!

This month's optional theme at Path of Positivity is Curiosity. I guess most of us know the saying ' Curiosity killed the cat'. I never really understood that, mainly because being curious is usually a good thing. The natural curiosity of children is fantastic to witness, their wide-eyed wonder as they explore the world they find themselves in. Somehow we adults lose that in the 'been there, done that, time to move on' attitude. 

One of the things I loved and now miss about teaching is once again experiencing that wonder along with them and rediscovering the simple delight of watching a snail move or finding wild flowers in the woods, moving a stone and seeing all the little mini beasts hiding under it. The natural world is full of wonders and they do not have to be big and dramatic either. So next time you go for a walk, even if it just down your street, keep your senses alert and see what wonders you can find or rediscover. You are never too old to be curious.


Materials used: 
X-Press It card
designer paper
gold mirri card
hessian flowers
7" x5" card base
Copic pens:
fur - E11, E13, E15     E39, E18, E29
nose - E13, E39, E29, E49
jowl - E50, E53, R20
snail shell - Y35, YR14, YR15,  W9
snail body - E13, E95, YR02
grass - G21, G24, G94, G99

The sentiment, one I made up, and image are printed together on the card then cut to size before being layered up with the designer paper and the mirri card. I tried to keep this one fairly masculine so used hessian flowers as accents (it was all I had in my stash!), although it could be used for anyone really.

Our challenge starts today and runs through until 6th of October. Although the theme is optional if you do  follow it then there are extra prizes on offer. Our sponsors this time are Bugaboo Digi Stamps and Scribbles Designs both offering a prize for winners. All the details and the link to enter can be found on the Path of Positivity Challenge Blog here. I do hope you will join in with the fun.

Thanks for popping in. Take care.

Pippa

Entering the following challenges: