CANVAS COMPETITION

I held a canvas competition for the year 9 textiles pupils of Walkden High School in Salford, Manchester for the third year running.  I showcased my University Textiles work, images and samples of my greetings cards from Hallmark cards, images from my Art designer job and also my latest freelance and "Rankidoodle" work.

The pupils had to design and create a canvas which included a word, a pattern, a stitch and an object.  The winners would then receive their design printed on to a canvas to keep (3rd - 20x20cm, 2nd - 30x30cm & 1st - 40x40cm)

Me and Miss Quinlan (textiles teacher) met up recently to judge the competition.  There were some really great entries, lots of ideas were really "on trend" with great imagery and good use of colour...

So here goes...

I chose Jayes' NEW YORK canvas for third place because it has a good composition and use of space, I also like how the picture overlaps the wording and it has lots of neat stitching...

Jaye Rowlett

I chose Jasmines' canvas as second place because I thought it had a really lovely soft colour palette, the imagery is well printed and stitched and the fairground/circus theme is bang on trend!...

Jasmine Christie

...And now for the winner! *drum roll...

I chose Francescas' canvas as the winning one because it was so different to all the others.  She had really thought "outside the box" by making all the butterflies look like they are floating off the canvas!  Also the composition is great with the butterflies forming a heart and the colours are bright and summery!

Well done to the three winners and to all the pupils who took part, it was hard to pick from so many great entries.

You can see the winners from the previous years here.

♥ Valentines cards ♥

Love is in the air and I have been making some new ♥ Valentines cards ♥

They are available and made to order from my etsy shop here OR if you are a Scarborough local you can get them from Homebird House (opposite the market)

You can choose from six different fabric hearts and lots of sayings and quotes OR make up your own!

Please enter "BLOGFRIEND" at the checkout for 20% off EVERYTHING!!!

XXX

Scarborough Pictures

Here are my new artworks for my "Scarborough Fair" card collection.  

New images include images of Scarborough, Whitby and Robin Hoods Bay.

The cards will be available soon in my etsy shop here.

Prints will be available soon from The Local Art Company

Scarborough Fair collection

Freddie

Beach huts

Suncourt

Abbey

Lighthouse

Steps

Castle

Arcades

Robin Hoods Bay

★ "MAKE IT" MONDAY ★

#GIFT - Vintage Teacup Candle

These Pretty Vintage Teacup candles, great for unique handmade gifts for friends and family.  Search charity shops, flea markets, car boot sales and ebay for nice teacups and saucers, they usually cost £1-£2.50.  If you are making multiple candles it might be worth buying a full tea service, also often found in charity shops.  

These Teacup candles only cost £2.05 ($3.30) to make!  Find details of prices and stockists here.  

You could also add a personalised label with message, Download some FREE Rankidoodle Teacup Candle Labels here.  I wrap mine in polka dot cellaphane and tie with pretty lace, very vintage darling. x

For this project you will need...

Teacup saucer

15 tealights (plain or scented)

cellotape

Wick (12cm)

lolly stick (optional)

Wick sustainer tab (optional)

glue (optional)

Old pan

Metal jug

You will need to fill your pan with water and bring to the boil.  

Next take all of the tealights out of their casings (remove the metal casings and wicks) and drop them into the jug (dont worry if any of the casings/wick fall in they can be fished out later).

Next place your bowl/jug in the water and wait for the wax to melt

(please make sure the water doesn't run dry)

When your wax has melted pour a tiny bit into your teacup and push the metal sustainer and wick into it to secure.  Then either cellotape the wick to a lolly stick or you can just use cellotape, across the top of the teacup.

Next make sure you protect your hands (teatowel or oven gloves) and pour your wax into your teacup. Fill to 1cm below the rim making sure the wick is central.

Leave to set for about an hour.

And Voila!  You have a lovely Teacup Candle.

TIPS:

Doing multiple Teacup candle can save time.

Sometimes the candle wax can come loose in the teacup, to prevent this put a blob of glue between the teacup and wax (when fully set) to secure.

Download these FREE Rankidoodle Teacup Candle Labels here

★ ETSY FRIDAY ★

☁ Cloud Love ☁

With the miserable weather outside (in the UK anyway) I thought I would share some "Cloud Love"

Spoon rest by JDWolfePottery

Necklace by xoiasmeniNas

Cloud cushion by Hello Milky

Mobile by LeptitPapillon

Earrings by Morgan and Jane

Giclee print by Eloise Renouf

Please see my Etsy friday post about Eloise Renouf here

Baby patchwork quilt by Alphabet Monkey

★ ETSY FRIDAY ★

If you are new to Etsy you may not know about the Treasury pages.

This is where members and sellers promote little collections of goods they like, linked either by colour, theme or genre.  It is a really good way to get noticed on etsy, which has over 300000 shops.  So if someone puts one of your items in their treasury make sure you thank them.

Here are some of my favourite recent treasuries... 

...and here are some of my Treasuries...

★ INSTAGRAM FAVES ★

Time for me to share some more of my favourite people to follow on Instagram.

See my past faves here and here

Passionately curious artist.  Living in the forest with manolo, we get to peek at

amazing art in progress and also her beautifully styled home.  You can visit her blog here

Selina Lake is a London based Interior Stylist & Author of interiors books, Bazaar Style,

Romantic Style & Just released Homespun Style.  You can visit her blog here

Douglas Hale creates these amazing collaged images

If you ever thought Black & white was boring in the home think again,

a piece of cake 82 lets us glimpse into their mono home and it is amazing!

Paint the nursery black? yeh, why not!

Elsie cake is the author of A beautiful mess my favourite blog of all time,

this girl is sooo pretty, stylish and talented!

Hello sandwich is an Australian artist living in Tokyo, she creates really cute, colourful

handmade displays, packaging and decorations, you can visit her blog here