Happy New Year

I would like to wish all of my lovely blogging friends a happy and healthy New Year. We have had a wonderful Christmas time with our little grandson and family.  Thank you so much for all the comments you leave on my blog, I appreciate them all.  I must apologise as I have neglected my blog a little. I do enjoy reading all of your posts even if I have not left a comment!  

 
until next time.... Jayne

Show and Tell - The Book Fair

The last book fair of the year was held yesterday at Tynemouth Station flea market.  Stall after stall of specialist book sellers.  For someone like me who loves old books it is my idea of heaven.  The normal market was on as well, so it was extra special.  My first purchase was a gorgeous tattered and torn book, Pamela or.........

 

 

  

A fascinating book, I will take time to read some of the chapters.  I love to think who owned this book.  The cover is very damaged, perfect to use as a prop for my work. 

 

 My second book is a beautifully illustrated 'Days of Delight'.

 

 

 

love this illustration and story

 

The Snow King

  

such a sweet illustration

 

Whitley Bay has an abundance of charity shops.  After work on Saturday I popped into the local hospice store and found these lovely old maps.  They are ideal to photograph my work on.  I especially like the old linen ones.

 



 

 

I have been working on some Christmas tags, dyeing manila tags red and green and stamping them with an assortment of designs.  My new books and maps came in handy!

 

assorted crowns, snowflakes and merry christmas

 

 

gorgeous snowflakes, lovely with brown paper wrap

 

 

lovely lace tags, perfect for wrapping with doilies

 

 

Beautiful autumnal days here in the north east, long may it continue, makes winter seem shorter. The leaves are falling, the nights are drawing in, the log burner and candles are lit, the hot chocolate is made....  time to get the knitting needles out.  Until next time...  Jayne 

 



 

 

 

 



 



 



 



 

 

 

 



 

 



Eco Dyeing and Printing in Cornwall

At the beginning of September I travelled down to Cornwall to visit my friend Marilyn Stephens (and her lovely hubby Chris).  Marilyn has been eco dyeing and printing onto fabric and papers for over a year achieving some amazing results.  She was kind enough to show me the ropes so to speak, and under her expert guidance I produced some wonderful prints.  We had such fun chatting, drinking lots of cups of tea and experimenting.

Marilyn foraging for plant material

 

preparing our pages

layering our leaves

 

 

my first ever eco dyeing bundles - such a long wait!

prints on sketchbook pages

prints on watercolour paper

fern leaf on watercolour paper - the yellow ochre is onion skins

unravelling, the best part of all!  This is my favourite

animalistic prints

collage of tiny prints on fragments of paper

 

Marilyn was a patient tutor, I made extensive notes as there are lots of preparations before dyeing and printing can begin. I did learn a lot from her and further experimentation is needed and equipment bought before I can start my own dyeing and printing.

 

Marilyn suggested a visit to Cornwall would not be complete without a cream tea and she took me to her favourite tea room - well it would have been rude not to ladies.....



Lanyon Tea Room - Cornish clotted cream absolutely delicious

 

 

Marilyn drove us around on a scenic coastal route ending in a visit to Falmouth where we sampled the tastiest fish and chips whilst sitting in the sunshine watching the world go by.

 





 

 

I had a lovely visit to Marilyn and Chris's, they made me so welcome. Cornwall is a lovely part of the country.  I am looking forward to starting eco dyeing and printing and sharing the results with you all.  Until next time...... hope you are all well and enjoying autumn

 

Oh no the big 60!

Life in the Hewison household has been a little manic lately, hence I have sadly neglected my little blog.  Mr T and I both had a special birthday within five days of each other.  We still can not believe we are so old!!! Thomas's Christening was last weekend so it has been a time of family celebrations.

lots of lovely cards and gifts

 

beautifully presented gifts from Gill W and Karen

 

flowers and herbs picked on the morning of my birthday

 

taken out for a birthday lunch (even if I did pour my French dressing into my teacup)

Mr T and I received wonderful good wishes, gifts and cards, afternoon teas' from family, friends, blogging and facebook friends.  A good time was had by all and it is still continuing.....

 

Thomas's Christening took place last Sunday, the sun shone all day, it was another lovely family occasion.  Thom was a little star, he only cried when baptised, he tried to stop the Vicar putting any more water on him by putting his hand in his way.  We all enjoyed our day, happy memories to treasure.  He looked so cute in his grown up linen outfit, we never knew Monsoon sold boys outfits and came across it by accident.  Emily had ordered some lovely soft leather shoes with his initial on them. 

 

 

Thom's Monsoon ensemble

 

cute as a button

 

 

Coco atop Thom's cake - it tasted as good as it looked!

 

Back to normal now although we have three afternoon tea visits to go - it's a hard life but someone's gotta eat cake!!!  Bye for now, until next time.  Next stop Cornwall to visit my lovely facebook friend Marilyn xx

 

 

 

 

 

Show and Tell - Crafts2Share

I had a lovely evening with the ladies of a local craft group.  I was invited to show the ladies my work and to demonstrate how to make a corsage or wristcuff.  The members had been dyeing fabrics at an earlier meeting and some had brought those along with them.  I took my Inspiration Packs along and some were used in the creation of these lovely pieces......

 

 

 

 

a needlecase complete with blanket label

 

 

shades of red corsage

 

raggedy neutrals

 

beaded bridal piece

 

beautiful greens

 

this one reminds me of a pansy

 

beaded layers

 

rose pink with a hint of grey

 

 

Lots of chat and cups of tea and coffee were consumed in the making of these lovely pieces of work. The very enjoyable evening came to an end all too quickly.  Until next time .. Jayne

 

 

 

 

 

Giveaway winner......

Drum roll................. and the winner is JuJu and Bubba. 

Thank you all so much for taking the time to leave a comment on my blog, and for your kind words, I really appreciate each and every one.

Jayne

A litttle giveaway....

As a thank you to all the people who have liked, commented and shared my facebook posts, I decided to hold a little giveaway.  I realised that a lot of my blogging friends who have also been very supportive do not use facebook.  I am posting a picture of the giveaway gift and if you wish to be entered I will add my pals to the list when I pick a winner.  Jayne x

Embellished Vintage kilt pin

Ups and Downs

I couldn't resist this little book when I saw it at Tynemouth Station flea market. I loved the colour and design of the cover. To be honest I had forgotten all about it until I was looking for a prop to use as a backdrop.  It made me think of how life is full of ups and downs.

 

The Story of a Newspaper Boy

 

Recently I have been feeling rather lost creatively. I feel as if I need a new direction but not sure which way to go.  I have lots of family photographs and letters and would like to create a sketchbook using some of them as a starting point.  My work is always created organically so I will have no final outcome in mind.  

 

As I walked to my Zumba class this morning I was thinking about how nice it would be to do some simple stitching.  I was running a little bit late but passed the RSPCA charity shop in Whitley Bay.  I did not really have time but something drew me in...  A very serendipitous visit it turned out to be....

 



 

As I was examining this a volunteer came over and went into great detail about how old it was, what it was used for, and gave me a demonstration of how it worked. 

 

 

 

 

I was given India Flint's Eco Colour book as a Christmas gift, I have looked through it a few times but haven't read it properly. One or two of my facebook friends, have been producing some amazing work using eco dyeing and printing.  My friend Marilyn Stephens is one and has been absorbed in it  for a while and has sent me a beautiful piece of her work.   I have been meaning to try eco dyeing but you do have to have a steamer - and there it was at a cost of £4 waiting for me in the RSPCA!  I do think most things happen for a reason, so here we are, a lovely old steamer with two valves to alter the amount of steam and a spout to top it up when the water runs dry.  Mr T thinks we should keep it as our steamer and relegate our modern version for bundling.  So it appears that the decision has been made for me by the purchase of the lovely old steamer.

 

I have been meaning to work with natural fabrics and stitch for a while so the two may marry together. Whilst searching for some linen I came across a little collection of natural dyeing that I had sampled whilst in the Highlands.  These were created using blackberries, I do love the shade it created. 





 

 

 

So, I have definitely have some new techniques to try over the next few weeks.  Watch this space...... until next time, hope you are all well and looking forward to warmer sunnier days. Jaynex

Yorkshire Tales

 

A few days relaxing in the Yorkshire Dales last weekend was just the ticket.  We stayed in a tiny cottage in the village of Bainbridge.  The weather forecast was not favourable but the rain stayed away and the sun came out on Saturday.  We pottered around all the little villages in the area, stopping for a cuppa here and there and buying some gorgeous treats from the lovely Askrigg Village Kitchen (Mr T loves the caramel shortcake). We were very surprised when the bakery was featured on Countryfile on Sunday evening.  One of our outings took us to Bedale where I spotted this amazing clematis standing outside a florist's shop.

 

I took a small selection of making bits and bobs and enjoyed sitting in the cottage sewing.  Show and tell coming up! 

 

 Pale blue and chocolate linen & lace brooch

 

 

 natural linen with a smoke mother of pearl button

 

 

 Shades of Ochre kilt pin - lace and linen embellished with hand embroidery

 

 

 Tiny hexi brooch

 

 

Broderie anglaise, lace and linen kilt pin - pale blue with an accent of chocolate

 

We always visit Farfield Mill near Sedbergh when we are in the Dales.  Four floors of inspiration await you in this vibrant arts and heritage centre.  Housed in a restored Victorian woollen mill on the edge of Cumbria and Yorkshire - now the leading venue for textile arts in the North West. An exhibition by the British Tapestry Group entitled Metamorphosis was fascinating, as was a lace making demonstration.  The lady had over 135 pairs of lace bobbins on her knee to create a piece four inches in diameter.  I was fascinated to watch her create such an intricate piece of lace, the skill required simply to keep track of the pattern and bobbins is unbelievable.  It will take her over six weeks to complete the work.  The thread was Egyptian cotton and so fine it was hard to see it.  There were some exquisite example of antique hand made lace.  A meander around Sedbergh's many bookshops was the perfect end to our short break.

 

 

Until next time.....  hope you are all well. Jayne