Spring diaries

First sample completed for my Spring diaries class at Brewery Arts starting in January. We're going to be working from what we see each week as, hopefully, spring arrives! In case there's not much around I'm going to start with making the books for the diaries and then have a few things prepared like this bulb that is made using a pattern from Selvedge in an article about the work of Mr Finch. The bulb itself is calico that has been daubed with an old tea bag to distress it, the shoot is from a velvet furnishing fabric sample, and the roots are unravelled cotton string that was wetted and then scrunched up so that it dried crinkly.

Advent calendar

The advent calendar is finished and ready to send off to my grandson. I found some little wooden numbers in Hobbycraft and glued them on each house. In the end I couldn't decide how to attach a little gift to each house and instead added an extra bag full of little brown envelopes that I painted to numbers on. They were just big enough to take some tiny cars and Lego-type bricks to make into a kit. To mark each day as the countdown progresses a small wooden clothespeg with a bright star on it was included.

Advent calendar

The backs of the little houses are bonded with different red fabrics from my scrap bag. I've joined them all together with two rows of a stripy ribbon. Now to sew the fronts onto the backs.

Advent calendar

I'm making an Advent calendar for two of my grandchildren. The design is based on one in the December issue of Craft Stamper. That one was in paper this one is all fabrics. Two of the BBs came over last Friday and we had a fun day making the houses up. The base is pelmet vilene with Bondaweb or heavyweight iron-on vilene. It uses up lots of little scraps as well as various odds and ends of ribbon.

Journey

On the journey theme this term I've been looking particularly at the journey that I make most days when I go for a walk. The hedgerows this autumn have been filled with berries and the ground covered in seeds. I thought I might make some jewellery based on these. Last night I made the beginnings of a conker, some acorns and a few orangey red berries. All from fleece left over from the birds and nests project in the summer so some of the colours were already mixed and carded.