Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

'Bird" - stitched collage postcard  'Nest" - stitched collage postcard The current theme for Tag Tuesday is "Birds and Nests - apologies to all the devoted Tuesday taggers, these probably don't meet the criteria. It is hard to disguise these are tags when they are clearly postcards. Being a little short on time this fortnight, I thought I would use something I made in a workshop I attended last weekend  . The workshop was led by UK based artist/author, Anne Kelly, who specialises is stitched collage using the natural environment as a source of inspiration. Both "Bird" and "Nest" were created from a  combination of fabric and paper - images from paper serviettes, text from abandoned books printed fabric, scraps of lace and braid - layered with printed organza on top. Then I added both machine and hand stitching to enhance the design. My first attempt at writing with my sewing machine was so rewarding and surprisingly less difficult...

Border pattern   ( February 2015 - Wilma Simmons)  Was this on my bucket list ?  No,  not really, but after completing Stages 1 & 2 of the Creative Embroidery Correspondence Course with the Embroiderers' Guild about twenty+ years ago, this year I decided to enrol in Stage 3 - finally.  As I want to record what I do, I am sharing each month's exercises with you right here. If you are unfamiliar with these courses, what you get each month is an envelope with instructions, handwritten comments by your assessor and some threads and fabric and then the completed work is returned to the Guild each month for assessment. February's threads and fabric  For February's lesson, the theme was inspired by border patterns, emphasising the way stitches turn into patterns when used close together to fill shapes and spaces. Besides the embroidery, there were drawings to do - three border patterns and three square patterns like tiles. I love doing this part, bu...

It is now the trend to choose a word to motivate and inspire, rather than making New Year resolutions. Strange, I know ... but I have chosen "TEA" as my word. Later in the year, my exhibition will be based on tea, so most of my creative activities this year will involve tea. Lots of  tea drinking is the most likely activity , So each Thursday ( most Thursdays) , I will post something  "tea" related. Here is my first for the year... An art tag made with a used tea bag paper , with some purchased images and stitching, created for the theme Homes/Shelter. I have added the words " A home is not a  mere transient shelter; its essence lies in the personalities of the people who live in it... H.L. Mencken )