Whoops ..... MIA ....

It's been a while since I last blogged .... I picked up a nasty bug that hit me for six, lost my crafting mojo, then my blogging mojo but now back with a vengence! And something a little different.

Most people who know me are usually somewhat surprised if they see me sewing. They expect to see Sis and Mum sewing but not definately not yours truely. The truth, which I normally manage to hide, is that I can sew, I can do embroidery work .... I just don't get a kick out of it!

My Sis had an Open Day at Castle Court Quilters for the courses that she'll teach there over the next 6 months and roped me in to making samples aimed at the "beginner sewer", the "not-much-sewing sewer", the "hand sewer", really don't know what she was trying to tell me!

Quilters make postcards with various applique, embroidery and other such malarky, kind of like their version of ATC but I'm not sure how much swapping goes on. The class will have a Christmas theme, so here's what I came up with.

The holy leaves were cut from a small green Sizzix die that I bought at a nearly new craft sale for a bargain £1.50! The Sussex Puff berries were also cut from a 1 inch circle Sizzix die,  got to get my sort of crafting tools in there somehow. The Merry Christmas is from the retired Seasonal Wishes set from Stampin' Up. A few beads on the berries and dotted throughout finishes it with a subtle sparkle.

The second postcard also used a Sizzix die - so fab how you can cut paper, card and fabric yet the die stays sharp, wish I could do the same with my scissors. Bondaweb was ironed to the back of the material before the shapes were cut and then ironed onto the backing material, a sort of iron on double sided tape, especially good with the fiddly little antlers. And of course, the biggest, reddest bead I could find for his nose!

Here's a couple of examples made by a real sewer, ie My Sis, to show what you really can do with these postcards.

She used stamps for the houses and railings on this one with Staz-On ink.

If you fancy having a go at making one of these, give Diana a call at Castle Quilters for more details, ps, you don't have to be a great sewer or have your own fancy machine to have a go. Sis will also be teaching courses showing how to make traditional mohair bears (think Steiff), Rag and Folk Dolls, Landscapes with mixed media etc over the next few months, drop me an email and I will pass it on to her if you would like more details.

Thanks for stopping by....