Cards and Carpets

I WAS going to be busy all day. I even had a list of things to do:

* Dust the surfaces
* Hoover the carpets
* Wash the kitchen floor
* Catch up on the ironing
* Email the agenda for the next credit union meeting

A Facebook friend put me to shame by tidying her house and doing some baking - but I spent most of the day embroidering cards.

Since I am experimenting with mixed media techniques the floor is now littered with beads, buttons,ribbons, snippets of lace, clippings from material, pieces of text torn from an old dictionary, paint spatters, threads and a dollop of acrylic wax - to say nothing of the pins and needles.

I quite like sitting on a cushion on the floor, with my back against the sofa (which is also covered in my needlwork supplies, but I do seem to have spread!

The embroideries produced today have not yet been mounted, so I have included photos of some I did earlier. The yellow one at the top was stitched for a friend who has been ill, while the pink one at the bottom was for the wedding of a friend of Elder Daughter.

Each card I create is slightly different, depending on the materials I have to hand, and how inspiration strikes. Some have more more embroidery, some have less, and I like to incorporate bits of text, torn from books that are falling to pieces, then coated with acrylic wax, which can be painted on and dries soft, so you can stitch through it.

I finding stamping letters or shapes onto the fabric and combining this with embroidery is very effective, and each picece is backed with felt to give a quilted feel.

Sometimes I trim the edges with ribbon or lace, sometimes I use the machine to zig-zag round them, then I stitch the finished work to cards, using beads or buttons.

I love fiddling around with colours and textures, and trying different techniques,but I do seem to make a mess while I am working.

Still, tomorrow is another day, so I shall think about the housework then...