Awaiting the Britannia

Painted for the Bowen Island Arts Council Mini Gala. Every year the artists of Bowen Island donate an original piece of artwork that is auctioned off to raise money for the Art Gallery (BIAC). This was my submission this year "Awaiting the Britannia", the ship that brought many thousands of visitors to the island beginning in 1900. I was very excited that it was sold on the opening evening. It was a fabulously fun night, with wine, humor and many original pieces of art to admire.

Sea to Sky Postcard

I painted this postcard for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. It's a combination of 3 of our local West side Bowen Island beaches. The Mountains in the background including Black Tusk can be seen from Crayola beach. The Boats were inspired from Bowen Bay beach, the Cliff was King Edward Bay, and the Arbutus tree is my artistic license. The Snug Cove General Store, Phoenix Photo, as well as Cate's Pharmacy bough cards to sell in their stores. I love our community, it is so very supportive. I had the cards printed using Tree Free paper and Soy based low VOC inks. It costs more, but it's worth it to save a tree. I'm also happy to report that the original painting was sold! Cheers to small successes.
If you would like a postcard you can find one here on my Etsy store

Ode to Valentines Day

An illustrated story about the ups and downs - swings - of life and love, and how life and love can be shared.




find it on my etsy site
$3

printed on chlorine free, acid free and tree free fiber paper

Matryoshka Doll Microwavable Bed Warmer

This craft was designed for our local 2009 Christmas craft fair, I made 10 of these little dolls and they ended up being my best seller. This pattern is great for crafters like myself who have loads of leftover scraps of fabric. Just find three different bits that go well together. Amy Buttler fabrics are my favorite, and she has lots of beautiful designs that use the same colours.

I'd made simple rectangular neck warmers before but I thought it would be fun to give them a little more character.

The shape of the little Russian nesting
doll is perfect. I started by sketching
out a simple design.

should you not have time to make your own Matryoshka Doll Microwavable Bed Warmer you can buy one from my Etsy Store.

List of Tools:

• Sewing machine
• Sharp Scissors
  
• funnel
  
• chopstick
• Sewing Needle
• Iron
• Dressmaker's carbon or embroidery-transfer pencil
  

List of Materials: * tips

• 3 different corresponding pieces of cotton fabric 2 x 23cm x 23cm, 1 x 13cm x 10cm (2 - 9"x 9", 1 - 5"x 4")
  
• 1 piece of low-loft (thin) quilt batting, either cotton or poly will work, I used polyester because I had some on hand
• corresponding thread
• 3 cups of Oat Groats for filler *I found organic oat groats in the bulk section of whole foods (see other filler option bellow)
  
• Lavender oil * optional
  
• 2 corresponding pieces of felt for felt flowers *use real fool felt whenever possible
• 1 piece of skin coloured felt for her face
• 1 piece of felt for hair *I usually use chocolate brown for contrast
• Pink embroidery floss for lips
• Black or brown embroidery floss for eyes

Other Filler Options:

• Uncooked rice
• Barley
• Flax seed (this is a lighter option)
  
• Cherry pits
• Fennel seed
  
• Buckwheat hulls

* I've always used the oat groats because they hold the heat for a long time and they don't give off as much of a scent as other options.



MatryoshkaDollBedWarmerPattern -

or download the pattern here

Instructions:

1. With the right sides together, machine-sew the head to the body using the edge of foot as your guide with the needle in the right hand position in order to get the correct seam allowance, to avoid puckering. In other words you want to sew close to the edge leaving approximately a 3mm seam allowance.




2. Iron seams flat and top stitch on both sides of the seam.







3. Pin the back to the front, right sides together with one layer of batting on each side, machine-sew around edge leaving the bottom open for stuffing.





4. Clip curves and trim corners with sharp scissors, make small cuts at intervals around curves, snipping almost to but not through the seam. On curves that will be turned inward, clip wedges. Also trim down the batting to further reduce the bulk.






5. Turn doll right side out using the end of a chopstick.
* do not iron






6. Stuff doll with your choice of filler, using a funnel and the chopstick to get rid of any air spaces.
* if you are using a scented oil, mix it with the filler in a bowl prior to filling the doll.





7. Pin, then hand sew bottom of doll using a ladder stitch






8. Hand stitch face to body using a whip stitch.



9. Transfer the embroidery design of the eyes and lips onto the face. Because the face is felt you can use one of two methods.

• Using dressmaker's carbon lay the carbon sheet carbon side down on felt, and then lay the template design on top, and trace the design with a ballpoint pen
• Or using an embroidery-transfer pencil trace design onto a piece of tracing paper. Then iron the tracing directly onto the fabric

*personally I freehand the design using a pigma micron 01 (.25mm) pen which you can find at any art supply store (I got mine at loomis)


10. Embroider Face using a satin stitch, long smooth stitches will provide a shimmery finish. Stitches should be laid close together so that no fabric is showing through.
* embroidering felt can be challenging, I find it helps to go through to the layer of cotton underneath for stability. You could also use fabric paints if you wanted more control or detail.



11. Hand stitch hair, cheeks (optional) and flowers using the whip stitch.





Voila! Congratulations you have made your very own Matryoshka Doll Microwavable Bed Warmer.


or buy one from my Etsy store


It's time to try out your doll in the microwave. Because every one's micro is different, try heating it one minute at a time until you get the desired heat.

A New Year, a new project

Well it's 2010 and so I felt it was time to update my blog! 2009 was busy, I've been working hard to try and get my name out there as an emerging illustrator, but I've also been sewing, crafting, renovating, traveling and so much more. On December 31st I finally finished the last illustration for the Children's book that I've been working on since March. With 20 full colour illustrations this was my greatest achievement of 2009. The book is called "The Man With No Face for a Face" written by David Tilgner and is to be published by Skatch publishing, hopefully this year.
So, with the book finished, Christmas over, and a new year just begun, I've been thinking of what my next project should be.



I love nothing better than creating. Designing, crafting, sewing, drawing, painting, sculpting .... I thought it would be fun to start a craft blog!
I'm looking forward to sharing some of my creative ideas. The plan is to have photos and instructions along with patterns, tips and tricks, all for free of course. I'm also hoping to get lots of feedback from all you crafters out there.

The first Craft on the list :

The Matryoshka Doll Microwavable Bed Warmer

I made 10 of these little dolls for our local Christmas craft fair, and sold out. They are a fun craft that is not too complicated. You can also use up some of your scrap fabric as it doesn't take much. The matryoshka doll image has been quite popular these days, these little dolls make perfect original hand made gifts.Here are a few photographs of the prototypes. The pattern and instructions will be posted, hopefully tomorrow, so I hope you will visit my blog again soon, and often, as I have lots of crafty ideas still to come.

Blankets, Blankets, Blankets

I started making Bluebelle baby blankets for friends that were new mothers. They are hand made with 100% cotton vintage reprint fabric on one side and soft chenille on the other. Mothers, babies and friends liked them so much, I started to get requests form friends of friends. Now I'm selling them on Etsy.com . They are all one of a kind, prewashed and preshrunk, so that they can be thrown in the washer and dryer. The most amazing thing is how much the children seem to like them. I keep hearing "it's their favorite blanket!", which always makes me smile.
So the news is; it seems Bluebelle blankets are going to be in an Catalog called "handmade family". It's a catalog (coming soon) with hand made products, from all over the world, for children, babies and mothers.
Exciting times!

Welcome Spring

I feel like Spring has finally sprung! It's been a long cold winter and I'm happy to see some daffodils ready to open and tulips starting to emerge.
This is the newest addition to "Bluebelle greeting card series", to be found soon at my Bluebelle etsy store. bluebelleDesign.etsy.com
Love to hear what you think.
Happy Summer Solstice!