Bah Humbug!

My friend Miss Bev was telling me that all religious celebrations have been cancelled at her school.  Apparently there is one child in the school who is a Jehovah Witness and his mother refuses him standing for "O, Canada" each morning, because of the phrase "we stand on God for thee".  The child has to sit in a corner, which you have to think will do wonders for his self-esteem!  Also, there can be NO religious holidays at school, no decorations, activities, stories etc., Halloween, Christmas, Easter, Diwali, Samhain etc.  So the children can't be educated about the different religious beliefs from around the world, can't be given the opportunity to be introduced to tolerance, they will only learn that fun is no longer taught at school.  Besides, I thought that Jehovah Witnesses were Christians given that the Watchtower is based on the bible.

End of rant.

I have been busy since last I posted.

Another Fairy Cat which is already with his new person Stephanie.  She described the fairy cats to me and was thrilled with this little guy.

I also made a grumpy cat.

Here's a pic of the original, just so you can compare.

 

Have a happy day!

Stumpwork and a new Project

I mentioned stumpwork in my last post.  Wikipedia says: Stumpwork is a style of embroidery where the stitched figures are raised from the surface of the work to form a 3-dimensional effect. 

There are some great books on the subject. I have two: The Complete Book of Stumpwork Embroidery by Jane Nicholas, and Beginner's Guide to Stumpwork by Kay Dennis, and there are articles on the net as well.  Its just a question of finding a source that works for you.

One form of stumpwork uses wire edging to create a flexible, dimensional effect. 

Really effective for pansy petals.

Or for a hellebore or Christmas Rose.  

 

  

Another form of stumpwork is raised embroidery.  In this case a layer of needlelace is worked over a stitched base.  Attached at the sides and top, but open at the bottom to create the dimensionality. 

 



 

So the reason behind my ramblings on stumpwork, is that I have been using stumpwork to embroider a set of wings for my new project.

The wings are attached to a burgundy cat.




He is the first in a series of Cat Fairies.  He has silver grey eyes and spectacular stumpwork embroidered wings. 

I'm really pleased with how he turned out.

What do you think?

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

Having told you about my Etsy shop I realised I really should show you some of the softies I've put up for sale.

 

This girl is so cute with her lilac swing coat and ribbon embroidered hat.

 

This tan fellow has an embroidered waistcoat that to me is vaguely Swiss.

 

 

A handsome black fellow with a mustard waistcoat.

 

 

This handsome chap has a quilted waistcoat.

 

So, if you have a spare moment please go to Etsy and have a look at hettyjeandesigns.

 

I am working on a new design at the moment, and I'm very excited about this new softie as it incorporates embroidery and stumpwork. 

 

"Stumpwork embroidery is a raised form of embroidery created on one background and transferred to another, ground fabric, and is three-dimensional through the use of padding, beads, wire and/or needle lace stitches. "  - Jeanmarie Bruccia, from Jenny June's Fancy Work.   

 

I have done stumpwork before and find it really interesting.  Here is a rose I made using stumpwork.

 

 

As you can see, the petals are covered with stitches of different shades of pink, and the wire enclosed at the edges allows them to be shaped to create a natural curve.  So pretty. 

 

Time to get back to my stitching.

 

Have a happy day!