Happy Halloween!

This years pumpkin, bought to you by wine and knives!

Happy Halloween everyone! 

Harry, admiring my handiwork

Eye detail

Happy Halloween cat

In the cat house

Harry's House

Back in November we got a cat, a rescue kitten from Wetheral Animal Refuge. I looked around for a nice pet bed but couldn't find one I liked and also I wanted Harry to have something handmade. So, I had a look on the internet and decided to make a sort of house/nest type affair for him.

Cosy

I used boodles, a yarn made from the waste from t-shirt production and an 8mm hook. I made the pattern up as I went along but basically it is a circle, into a basket then decreased again to make a roof-with an opening of course so he can get in and out. It was quite hard work as the yarn, being fabric, is quite tough and the house itself is quite heavy. I added a hanging loop so I need either to hang the bed for Harry or put a wire frame in to support the structure.

And out again

I finished the house just before New Year and despite trying to lure him in with treats Harry has remained monumentally unimpressed with my efforts, preferring to sleep at my door or under the table. So, I was very excited when he eventually, and without any prompting, went into the house to try it out. I didn't have my camera but luckily my Mum was there and took these snaps on her 'phone. I'm hoping that he'll use the house a bit more now either as a hidey hole or as a bed but either way it made me happy him trying it out.

Happy Halloween!

Scary Cat Carving

Some spooky pictures of this year's pumpkin!

Spooky Screen Printing

Ghosties and Pumpkins

I work at The Heathlands Project, a social enterprise supporting adults with disabilities. Yesterday two very exciting things happened at work. Firstly, we were on T.V. (watch us here) and secondly (and in  my opinion even more excitingly) my Monday art gang and I did some screen printing. I love screen printing; it's such a simple way to get really professional looking results.

Stencils

Last week we made some stencils by doing simple Halloween themed drawings which we then cut out. Some of the guys needed a bit of support with this and some of them managed just fine without me! This week I got one of the guys with whom I've done quite a bit of screen printing to demonstrate to the rest of the group how it's done. He did a great job and was really good at supporting other group members throughout the process.

First time screen printing

Pro screen printer

My design

We were just using normal copier paper to make our stencils and we got 2-3 prints from each stencil before needing to wash out the screen so we ended up with a good selection of prints to make into bunting. The guys did so well I'm thinking of locking them in a room to produce beautiful screen prints for me! I'm really looking forward to decorating our cafe area with the bunting next week.

Cats and Pumpkins

Bats and Cats

Beautiful Bunting

Bunting

Wonderland's Wonderful Masks

Marvellous mask

So, the summer project is here! Hence my absence from the world of blog as I have been deep in preparation for this wonderous event. Wonderland is a week long community arts project, organised and delivered by arts collective Impecunious . This year we are at Botcherby Community Centre, you can follow the fun on our facebook page. A full update will (probably) follow but for now here are some marvellous masks that I have been making with some of the participants.

Feathery find

Beautiful Bird

Happy Cat

Scary!

Rainbow Lovely

Marvellous Masks!

Wigton Craft Sale

My stall at Wigton

My friend Helen and I did a craft sale at Carlisle Youth Zone on Wednesday evening, it wasn't very busy but you've got to try these things. In a similar vein we went to Wigton Market Hall today, again it was very quiet but I sold quite a bit and got chatting to some very nice people which for me is part of the fun! Anyway, here are a few pictures, if you like my work please have a look at my Folksy shop www.folksy.com/shops/delicatestitches

Keyrings and earrings

Swallow Cushion #2 I liked the one I did as a commission so much I've made another!

Owl hot-water bottle covers

My stall at Carlisle Youth Zone on Wednesday