Thank you

No moaning this week! I'm getting better. Thank you everyone for your 'get well' wishes. Thank you so much to everyone that left a silly joke, and a comment. The jokes have been very funny. I have also had a few rude ones privately e mailed too! All really good fun.

Holly did the honours and picked the winner for my first anniversary of blogging 'giveaway'.......

The winner being Jenny Elkins, which is a really spooky coincidence, as I had mentioned Jenny at the end of my last post. Send your address Jenny and I will pop the Collage in the post to you tomorrow. Thank you to everyone, it's been a real giggle. ~0~

My Mom gave me a beautiful half finished, embroidered, vintage, linen tablecloth yesterday that was duly chopped into and 'repurposed' into a coin purse (oh no, not the coin purses again, I hear you cry. Oh yes, indeedy).

The top of the purse on this side, is the cuff of a beautifully embroidered lace sleeve. Edwardian? So delicate. It just fitted in nicely at the top of the purse and on the other side....

I let the half finished embroidery speak for itself with the help of a massive Mother of Pearl beast of a button.

~0~

I have also made this Collage. Lovely old Statement of Account with a gummed receipt stuck to it and a bright stamp marked 1954. I have applied an original photo of a lady in a long skirt, standing in her doorway. With no details of age or where the photo was taken, it's all left to the imagination.

I printed one of my photos of Daisies onto a piece of ledger paper for the lower half and worked some embroidery over the piece with buttons to finish.Close up of upper half of Collage.

~0~

Then onto this little number. I have made this mixed media piece to enter into our local Shirehall 'Open'. Judging next weekend, so I am hopeful it will be accepted.

It was a real buggar to sew, as I have worked it on a large square of very, very stiff khadi handmade paper, which I will in turn apply to a square boxed canvas. My fingers are skinned and so sore, trying to get a needle through what felt like shoe leather! I tried to use a thimble but it just got in the way.

It's called 'The passage of time'. My sister had given me a collection of old photos, she had come across on her travels, all from the same source and I think the two photos are the same couple. I hope they had a happy life together.

~0~

Our daughter Holly is learning to drive. She is having lessons, but I am going out with her regularly to obviously allow her to get lots of practice. My initial 'TERROR' has given over to a more relaxed state, as she has now become more confident and able. We have a evening routine of driving around our local country lanes, where she can stop and practice reversing and so on.

This is the kind of scenery we drive past......

Turn and look the other way and.....

oh dear..... we are very fortunate and this is a rarety in our area. Insurance job, joy riders? Who knows?

On closer inspection, the patterns the fire has left are incredible

I thought it would make a really interesting subject matter if you were doing say......City and Guilds Embroidery. So much pattern and texture.

Inside the car, front seats.

Swirling patterns.



Oh look you can just see my little car with Holly waiting at the top of the road. She's very patient with her Mother and her strange ways!

Well, at the risk of repeating myself, thank you all my bloggy friends for everything and for stopping by.x

Paper Anniversary

I'm going to get the moaning out of the way now.......I'm poorly (sympathetic ahh please), I have Labyrinthitis (vertigo) ....ugh, vile, nasty thing, go away. I have been reeling around home for ten days now giving the impression I've had one too many sherries (believe me I haven't) and feeling sick as a dog.....ugh. I look appalling! Still anyway, in between feeling sorry for myself and sick, I have tried to keep my mind occupied!
To celebrate what has been a fantastic first year of blogging and if it were a marriage, it would be a 'paper' anniversary, I thought I would make a 'paper' collage for my first 'give away'.
If you fancy this 1916 receipt, which has been 'hens teethed', leave me your silliest joke as a comment (thought that would be fun). I will still put the names in a hat and draw one out next Sunday 19th April. Make 'em clean now ;-) Go on, have a go! (The collage is only small, 5 x 5", wouldn't want to disappoint).~0~
I'm really into making purses at the mo, there are so many ways to embellish. It is also a very good excuse to use fabrics etc. that I have been holding onto for years. The picture below has part of a gorgeously embroidered hanky applied. I have had the hanky years, but I am really happy with how good it looks on this purse.
Front..

Back.. The look which I wanted was like opening a drawer of an old ladies' haberdashery chest, filled with old fabrics, buttons and smelling of moth balls (this doesn't smell of moth balls though). Faded Vintage darling!
I made a custom order for helenandsweetpea . Helen sent me a piece of old french fabric for her purse and a piece of 50's curtaining for Sweet pea's purse. Both worked quite well. Helen was happy.

I made another 'Vintage darling' purse, 'cus I was excited by the first one....both are sold, which is wonderful.

Playing with making greetings cards, but I don't think this one has worked. What do you think?

Onto another Greetings Card. This is a little beauty, lovely old card, 1940's/50's, with the sweetest illustration of a girl looking into a nest full of baby blue birds. Seasonal eh? So I collaged various little pieces of paper and then embroidered over the top, to make a little garden! She really is a sweetie. (Sorry if I'm making you nauseous now!)

On the theme of using one's stash, below I made a purse with the most gorgeous, I think, Crepe de chine Hankerchiefs. Different hanky for each side. Both strong, graphic print, just lovely.

With Art Deco buttons.

~0~

Our family has quite a few occasions over the next month, so I enlisted the help of stripeymonkey . Linda has been absolutely wonderful, she has custom made two stunning pieces of jewellery for me.

The pic below is a small heart Pendant with the letter 'K' stamped. This is for my sister in law's 50th birthday. (She lives in France, I don't think she reads my blog!)

Below is a Christening gift for my newly born neice 'Nina'. Charmingly, beautiful silver bracelet with 'Nina' stamped.



Linda kindly sent these beautiful buttons as a gift for me, she knows a thing or two about me.......thank you Linda, so pleased.

So remember, ditch the High Street Jewellers, buy handmade (as if you needed reminding!)
I will leave you now with Hens Teeth garden spring fleurs.

Oh, I nearly forgot, one of my dear bloggy friends is in need of some morale support, if you have time, please pop over the jennyelkins and have a read of a very pertinent issue :-)

Thank you so much for stopping by.x

Happy Spring time

Happy Spring time, well for some of us it is and what a magical time of year it is! I personally feel I have come out of a long, dark tunnel into the glimmering light. I do adore Spring, around Easter time is so lovely.
I wanted to tell you about this beautiful papier mache brooch I received from my old friend
tracy of Boboho. Tracy used to Lecture at the College where I now work, she taught me! She now lives in Denmark and has the most wonderful blog and website. Thanks so much Tracy!
I was very happy earlier in the week to purchase this beautiful old Bernina. The machine I have been using for the last few years has never filled it's side of the bargain...looping, puckering, tension a total mystery, very, very aggravating. So I took a chance and purchased this reconditioned Bernina. Oh joy, oh heaven, oh bliss, it is divine. The quality of the machine and the ease in which it purrs along. Mental note : never ever buy a low end machine again. Save, save, save and buy a sewing machine worth owning. Even though this beauty may be a little aged, she still has plenty of 'go' in her and so fresh with excitement of said new/old machine, I have been a makin'......

( By the way, I must say, I have updated my Etsy store, put this post together and will pop a few pics on Flickr and I'm sure I shall have entered old age! Does'nt it take time to do these jobs?)

Anyway, below is a piece I have made using a 1950's magazine advert for Helena Rubinsten. It's a bit odd, as the very attractive lady has a bird house for a hat. Well why not, anything went in the 50's. She is being entertained by a very sweet little birdy, who is just on the page. I managed to print with some beautiful wooden fonts too! The bird and birdhouse are appliqued and I had a little go with my new old machine with the leafy viney thing.

Motoring away with felt and vintage lace for a flowery corsage.

And another....

Really enjoyed revisiting my crochet Pendant designs, below.

The flowers are felt again, with a Liberty Lawn flower backing the middle and the buttony goodness of the crocheted necklace just sets it all off.

I have made this type of pendant before but this one is much larger. Double row of crochet buttons and I have used a crocheted doily and turned it into a heart pendant.

The base for this piece is a 1920's Daily Mirror Insurance Policy. Really enjoyed using the various wooden types and again I have added a 2D handmade bird. Embroidery added here and there. The bird looks like it is just passing through, not at all interested in whats going on.

Well that's me done for now, thank you for all your support and for stopping by.x

It's rude to point

As you are probably aware by now, I have a fairly newish job based in the Print Room, at our local College, Faculty of Art. I have spent the last couple of weeks basically cleaning and ordering and now my mind is starting to settle on the kind of art work that I can be produce, using the facilities...in my lunch hour, of course. A technique which particularly hits the spot is using the contents of drawers and drawers of stunning wooden fonts/type.
I am very much hoping to use these and incorporate them into my work somehow. It's the history of them that I find so intriguing, aswell as their beauty.
~O~
I have made two pieces this week. A flying birdy winging her way home. I have used as the background an Invoice dating 1945...Duck, Son and Pinker Ltd, (there may be a joke in there somewhere) which has the small written receipt, with postage stamp, applied to it. It's a sweet little concoction. The hens are a embroidery transfer, which I ironed on.~O~
Then onto this piece. I know it's not very clever to be pleased with yourself but I am! The bird below is a seperate piece, hand sewn using all manner of various fabrics and papers to create a really textured bird. I applied and then machined around her. Appliquing her to a beautiful piece of paper ephemera dated 1914.

I like the way she is just off the background paper, which has embroidery transfer paper added along with usual materials.

~O~
I also wanted to tell you about the postcards I ordered from Moo. I needed cards to write a quick note when sending stuff off and I shall have a job parting with these because Moo have done an exceptional job printing my photos. Top quality card stock, crystal clear printing and with the added bonus of it being a no brainer to order in the first place, I am seriously delighted!

I have got so many ideas swirling around my nogg that I can barely concentrate on anything!

Well it's been a week since my last post and I once again have to thank everyone for taking the time to visit. The comment notification thing has been a godsend and I feel much better in being able to respond to everyone that leaves a comment.

I must add that I have found a wonderful base of truly good friends via my blog and particularly Flickr. Generous, kind and supportive and downright hilarious, at times! We all help each other through the good times and unfortunately for some, very bad times. Speaking for myself, I know I would only have to post a question or a thought and I would have the very best in responses and I hope that you know that I too would reciprocate in the same manner.

Kindest regards to you all and thanks again for stopping by.x

Busy Bee

Really pleased to report that lots of crafty stuff has been achieved this week over at the Hens Teeth household.
So here goes......
This is a quite long coin purse, made from cream cotton but overlayed with the most exquisite vintage silk, which has been embroidered in self colour but also has drawn thread work. Now as far as I can remember, drawn thread work is pretty tricky enough worked on cotton/linen but silk! Uhh! Anyway, it is truly beautiful and I have enjoyed french knotting it to the back ground cotton and applying circles of muslin, Liberty and a button.

~0~

Same goes with this purse but I used fragmented, beautifully worn, thin cotton lace, so fine from years of use and laundering. This was layered over linen. I added the same kind of circles for texture and colour, with a little smidgen of embroidery and lots of buttons.~0~

I have also enjoyed using the vintage tweed I purchased last Saturday and have made two purses with appliqued birdies.

~0~

This was a commission, as I mentioned on my Flickr page, the lady who commissioned it wants to turn it into a handbag. But I must discuss this with her, as I don't think it's robust enough!

Below ~ She is such a sweetie to look at...... but by all accounts a proper little madam, so I'm told ;-)

Below ~ I would'nt normally associate yellow and pink as a great combo, but I think this Liberty is so pretty!

The background for this piece is a letter, which I have copied onto cotton, from a firm of solicitors, dated 1910, re: John Somebodyorother, dec'd.
I had'nt noticed the wording, had I, till the thing was done, duh! I hope the lady does'nt notice or if she does, I hope she does'nt mind that the letter is about some poor bloke who kicked the bucket back in 1910. Strange mix Viv, well done!

~0~
The purse below was another commission this week for a Mothering Sunday Gift.

"Mum, if you were a flower, I would pick you".

~0~

I'm lovin' 1950's/60's caravans or should I say the shape of them at the mo. Such strong shapes, so the piece below was loosely based around 60's caravan and travelling.

Last week I bought this Dinky Caravan at an antique fair, it has obviously seen better days, but I do love it so and will use the shape in things to come. It was an absolute beast to photograph, as it has'nt got it's wheels and it's all wonky.

~0~

I also wanted to show you a small part of my Shell Box collection. There is something about a shell box that makes me come over all nostalgic like. I'm up against it really, as my dear husband can't stand them. But they are still relatively cheap to pick up and they make such a good group. Handmade too.

~0~
Last but not least, Mothering Sunday, I am extremely lucky to have two wonderful girls 21 and nearly 18. Lucy (lives in London) went to the trouble of going to VVRouleaux to buy me this corsage.

And from Holly.... I adore Disney's Pinocchio, we had this film on video when the girls were small, so now I have a Platinum Edition 70th Anniversary DVD version. It's the art work............ I think it is sublime. The charm and beauty of this film never ceases to delight me. I think it is a masterpiece.

This what my feathered girls gave me today, along with alot of squawking and commotion....you should hear them when one is laying an egg! All worth it though.


Well, my dear friends, I want to yet again thank you all for visiting and leaving your kind comments.

Jackie posted a very interesting topic the other day about folks that blog and never reply to lovely comments left....never! (Not me, I hope ;-) )....... Well, it has given me food for thought and maybe it is easy to get complacent.Jackie told me that you can reply to comments left directly by e mail, I did'nt know that, so now I have that set up it will make life easier...thanks Jackie.

Sorry to have gone on a bit today, I bet you have taken root reading this post.

Thanks for stopping by. x