Black, White and Red

Black, White and Red - 29 Faces

Black , White and Red - a favourite colour combination! Tag Tuesday has this as its current theme.

Here is my tag .... a stitched face. I use my sewing machine as my drawing implement.... a technique called free motion stitching or free hand machine embroidery. Of course, nothing is symmetrical or perfect but this is quite easy to do. Just lower or cover the feed dogs on your sewing machine, and move the fabric around manually while stitching and so the sewing machine "draws" a line, free hand. In the photo, the black line is the stitched line - what I try to do is an unbroken line, so often I go over and over the same line to get to the next section of stitching.

When I have finished stitching, I cut around the stitching and attach the face to a prepared painted tag with heat applique. Then, I use Inktense pencils to colour features and/or shade the face. In "Spots" I have also appliqued the clothing and the head wear. 'Spots" is the first in my current series #29 Faces. The faces are on larger #8 manilla shipping tags and are a development from a previous series of art tags , called 'Red Cheeks'

'Red Cheeks' 1-9 - stitched faces

The "Red Cheeks" portraits are much smaller but were created in exactly the same way. I thought it would be easier to do larger portraits but the first two have proven that this so far isn't the case. I much prefer working smaller!

'Red Cheeks" 10-18 - stitched faces

I am currently participating in the February 2020 Art Challenge - 29 Faces , so I created for myself a month of prompts just to keep myself on track each day.... " Spots " is the first of my 29 faces .

" Fruit" below is the second.... not only black, white and red, but a few other hints of colour, again applied with pencil.

My goal for #29 Faces is the daily practice of stitching a face each day for February and improved fluidity of motion and control of my sewing machine during free motion stitching. I am also looking forward to exploring the potential of using Inktense pencils on cloth. Hope you will see improvement as you follow posts of my work during the month - please watch this space for more....

Christmas Countdown 15 : Christmas Tree #11 - Disposable

Plastic cups https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/christmas-stem-ideas-kids/ Advent Blog : Day 11 - Disposable We are all so much more conscious about ridding our landfills and oceans of plastic waste. For Christmas, here is a way to use up some of those disposable items which seem to multiply at holiday parties and celebrations, or perhaps you have just been saving them up for a creative use.... Who would have thought coffee pods would make such stylish Christmas trees ? ... Add caption If you don't have one of those machines, then perhaps you have coffee on the run - Starbucks or Nescafe ? from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/369858188126737920/ Nescafe cups https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/72761350208620530/ The disposable cups don' t have to be brand names to work well as materials for Christmas trees. Taking an engineering approach to plastic cup trees seems to be the answer for a more ornate result. from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that work up

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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