Tuesday 26 September 2017

Every Inchie Monday - Boa

So this week's Monday challenge word is Boa - I did think of doing a feather boa but on an inch??!!  It was hard enough trying to do a proper boa snake on an inch.  Didn't look forward to doing this one and again am in a "can't be bothered" mood today and all week so far!!  So what I've done is what you get!  Had great ideas of doing a tree snake - they look so good looped over a branch all green but I just couldn't get it right so just opted for loops and tried to widen the head rather unsuccessfully!!  Used curtain cord coloured and marked with promarkers!  The only trouble with promarkers is they look great when you've just done it but fade when they dry - I must have marked it darker in places loads of times but it still doesn't look dark and light! And now I can see the head properly on the photo (enlarged of course) I can see he has wonky eyes!  He's supposed to have a forked tongue - very difficult to achieve - just looks what it is - two bits of cotton coming out of his mouth!!!


Oh well you can't win them all!  Weather is miserable again - everywhere else in the UK seems to be having nice weather but not us - I think your whole demeanour changes when the sun shines!  Anyway thanks for dropping by and don't forget to click the link to see the other creative works of inchie art.  Thanks for all your lovely comments last week and should there be any this week - thank you again - much appreciated - hopefully they will make me smile! Hope your week is lovely!

Wednesday 20 September 2017

Every Inchie Monday - Trout

So we are staying with a sea theme and this week's challenge word on Everyinchiemonday is Trout.  I tried to do a trout twisting in the water so as to get it all in on an inch as it is rather long for a square!  It looked quite good after I'd drawn it but after actually embroidering it - I'm not so sure - it was difficult getting the black spots on it! and maybe I should have used a single thread as opposed to two!  It has become a little chunky however at least I've done it! 

We had guests staying over the weekend and was busy last week so have not had time to fit in any crafting hence being late this week.  Strange to think we only have 14 more to do for this year!! That means it's less than that till Christmas!!  Yikes!  Who mentioned Christmas? - have decided maybe I won't "Do" Christmas this year!!  And for anybody who knows me you'll know that's a big deal for me as I usually go overboard!!!  Anyway plenty of time to decide!!  I'll probably give in at the last minute and then will be racing round like a headless chicken!  Anyway weather is uppity at the moment ... rain and sun - don't know where we are - I think I'll put the washing out and just as I've hung the last item it starts raining ... hard .... so I'm ripping everything off the line as quickly as I can having spent ten minutes hanging it out!!  What a waste of time!!  Anyway hope you'll pop into the other inchie makers creative works of art by clicking the link and happy days to you all - Autumn is on its way the trees are beginning to change colour and soon it will be beautiful - I love this time of year - except the darker days.  Thanks for dropping by and for any comments you leave - always appreciated.

Monday 11 September 2017

Every Inchie Monday - Starfish

Well we are just coming down off of our high of Italian food!  Our lovely Italian lady has gone back to Italy having cooked every day for a week and her finale was escalloped chicken in breadcrumbs with roasted veg and a chocolate pear cake - so scrummy!!  We are still living off left overs!! In fact today has been nothing but sheet torrential rain and tidying up indoors and Sem did us gnocchi (from the freezer hand made by his mum) with a ragu sauce she did also - so you could say we are still eating Italian!  I managed to get my starfish done - I hadn't realised how many beautiful starfish there are - in fact I found a gorgeous purple one and one with more than 5 legs!  I did do one 4 years ago in orange peel which was rather lovely but I wanted to do an embroidered one with beads this time, however I didn't do a purple one as somehow it just didn't look right and I had this gorgeous orange variegated peach thread which I think has worked well with some two tone grey and orange beads and so here she is:

I wanted to make Silvana a little something to remember us by and so decided to make her one of my flower embroidered lavender bags with organza.  It's funny I haven't made one for a couple of years and I thought it was going to turn out horrible but once I started embroidering and then putting the beads on it turned out as pretty as the others I've made - I was very pleased and so was she!  The lavender I put inside was from France and was picked in 2013 but is still so strong in perfume - so much more potent than our own English lavender - must be the sun!!

 
The flowers bonded between the organza layers are lobelia, lavender and oregano with ivy and fern leaves.  I emphasised the oregano flowers with purple beads and the lobelia with blue beads.  Well that's all from me today, please visit the everyinchiemonday blog page, by clicking this link, to see the other inchie makers fabulous starfish.  Thank you so much for calling in and also many thanks for the comments you leave.  Have a fab week!

Monday 4 September 2017

Every Inchie Monday - Hermit Crab

Well it's still Monday so I made it!!  I have visitors from Italy staying and am experiencing the most amazing food!!  They insist on cooking as they love it!!  I don't mind cooking as long as I know what to cook but I hate having to decide what to do or try and make something up from what's left in the fridge.  Rosie's mum-in-law to be is a master of using up leftovers and making amazing dinners.  She's made fresh pasta, fresh gnocchi, fresh pizza dough and therefore pizzas - fresh Ragu sauce and tomato sauce - it's delicious - it seems the secret is to cook everything very slowly for a long time - she has things sitting on my rayburn for hours!!  But the taste is wonderful!  Tonight we had fresh tagliatelli with mushrooms and sausage!!  She used up the beef sausages in the fridge - but they tasted nicer than usual!!  It's been so nice as it gave me time to finish my little crab, this week's key word on everyinchiemonday, this afternoon when they all had a siesta!!  Anyway I was at a loss as to how to do this and the only way I could think was to make a shell out of coiled wool and then couch the red cord for the little crab with two black beads for eyes.  It looked more like a hermit crab in my draft drawing but I quite like the texture and I did colour the background with promarkers and silver thread in the water area - however the shell covers most of that!!!
 
Thank you for calling in and why not visit the other inchie makers talented work?  Many thanks too if you leave a comment by clicking the link - I always love hearing from you - it makes my day.