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!



 

Mice on parade

I prepared five mice with different faces, just to show how you can create different personalities using different items.  As they lay there, it struck me as just too funny.  I got my cutting pad out as it presents the measurement element.

Remind you of anything?

 

 

Definitely a warped sense of humour!! 

 

Here's a different view of my little guys.  First left has black bead eyes, a pink embroidered mouth and black mouth.  Second Left has black embroidered eyes, nose and mouth.  Centre has embroidered brown eyes, brown embroidered nose and mouth.  Right of Centre has green button eyes, a green button nose and black embroidered mouth.  Second Right of Centre has black embroidered eyes and mouth, and pink embroidered nose.



 





 

They all have different charms, although I have to say the pink button nose looks like a pig's nose!  My preference is for black embroidered eyes and pink nose.



Scene staging at home and craft fairs

There is a lovely shop in Madoc called Country Treasures.  At the beginning of the summer I bought a wooden wheelbarrow that Pat Shannon of Red Door Antiques and More had sourced (check out her page on facebook).  I had to have it.  Pete was very dubious, but once it was laden with plants even he admitted it looks great. 



 

 

 

I'm faced with the prospect of moving it from this space to about 8ft to the left.  Pete is ordering some gravel which we need to top up the driveway, and the spot that the wheelbarrow occupies at the bottom of the drive is the most logical space to have the gravel unloaded. 

 

Either side of the path to the house are two flowerbeds crammed with Jurassic sized hostas and day lillies.  Actually I should say there were two, the one closest to the house has been cleared, covered with weed suppressant and just needs gravel to finish it off.  Whilst it looked wonderful the flowers really took up too much of the walking space, so much so that you could barely see the paving slabs, and as I am capable of falling over an ant it wasn't terribly practical.  We have some low profile solar lights to bed into the gravel, and our wooden bench and two cast iron urns filled with begonias will then sit on the gravel.  Practical and pretty.  I'll show you a picture once its finished.

 

I bought another of Pat's finds the other day.  It is this cute little stool.

 

 
At 5'9" I don't need it to access the highest of high cupboards in the kitchen.  No, I think this stool is going to be absolutely perfect for staging on my Hetty Jean craft fair table.
 

 
T-Rex likes it, actually I think he's laughing!
 
Funnily enough when I got home I glanced at the collage of family pictures on the wall, and I was sitting on its twin (well not really, but it is similar).  My older sister Sarah is in the middle, and the blonde blur on the left is my younger sister Jane, who is still a person of perpetual motion. 
 

 

 
I have been doing some more stitching.  My softies are all hand sewn, and in the majority of cases I create my own pattern.  This time I wanted to make a "big" cat (all of 10 inches from nose to tail).  Pete thought it was a lion, but I had a different cat in mind.
 

 

 

 
So, I needle felted different colours of felt onto the blank canvas.  Then I worked on his face using embroidery floss to create his eyes and nose.  Then the stripes were embroidered on, and he went from the picture above to the gorgeous little guy below.   It took a lot of work but I'm really happy with the end result.

I love, love, love tigers.  I think they are the most superb creatures.  I took this little fella outside so he could lurk around in the jungle.

 

 

 
Bea was not prepared to let me outside on my own, but when I went to take her photo she refused to look at the camera.

 

 I must share Bea's happy dance with you.  So funny.

 

 

 
Have a happy day!

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Hippos

Hello Blogworld. 

My name is Lisa, and I thought it about time I started to share some of my life in Hetty Jean world.

I had a lovely day in Bloomfield on Saturday, at the Quinte Educational Museum & Archives' Treats, Treasures & Crafts Show.

My table was groaning with Hetty Jean wares, and in between speaking with the lovely folk in town that day, I was working on a new pattern for a happy hippo.


 

Here's  my first felt hippo.  She has embroidered blue eyes, with needle-felted eye lids and nostrils.

 

I love the hippo ballerinas in Disney's Fantasia.  So I embroidered this last year, because I sometimes feel like a hippo, and I just love these girls.



Have a Hippolicious day!