Herringbone

Since I have been researching and using Roman artefacts for inspiration this herringbone floor pattern has been a continuing theme in some of my work. I have also been doing some bookbinding and made this small pamphlet book above and hand screen printed the cover in a blue/turquoise colour.  I hand stitched the booklet in order to use as a sketchbook or notebook, and the pages inside are made from beautiful Zerkall paper.  After finishing the pamphlet book I decided to hand screen print my design in copper and made another pamphlet book:

I have also printed my design onto linen and made a small storage container which is very handy to keep all sorts of small items in the studio and home:

New Mountain Knapweed prints on linen

This lovely linen is beautiful to print onto as I have been developing a new textile print inspired by the Mountain Knapweed plant growing in my garden. I have printed it in two shades of lilac/purple which complement the linen beautifully:

Centaurea montana is the plant's latin name and firstly I made a Cyanotype from it and then drew from the actual plant into my sketchbook.  This is a very enjoyable way of working and the plant's colours very refreshing to incorporate into my print:

Tea Towels - Florentine Lilies in Emerald Green and Magenta

Over the last year I have been printing my hand screeprinted tea towels which feature my own design.  They have been great fun to make and are very popular and I will be printing new designs and colours soon. 

I have now listed them in my Etsy and Folksy online shops so please pop over and take a look. They are great for presents or if you just enjoy treating yourself to something nice for your home. 

Printing tea towels

During the summer I printed one of my designs that I had used for a limited edition print and for stationery onto tea towels. These were then available at the Open Studios that I exhibited at. The first colour used was the pink magenta one that you can see below. These proved to be very successful at the Open Studios and I was asked to make a custom order in a turquoise/green on some fabric for someone. This led me to try out this new Emerald colour in my Florentine Lilies design which has become even more popular and I have just heard that one of my customers loves it so much that she is framing hers.

Here are some sneak previews of the hand printing process which is done by me with non-toxic water based inks.  To celebrate the success of these and to welcome in the New Year I will be announcing a giveaway on this blog of one of my tea towels soon.

Winter Treats Etsy Treasury

LesMiniboux $10.00	HighStreetVint... $15.00	misterrob $19.50	deebeale $6.50
CraftyWoolFelt $9.00	larryforte $300.00	juniperberry $10.00	laKattun $42.00
Kristina14 $10.00	ShopKatharineW... $16.00	samorga $37.50	jackiehuang $20.00
LittleAlexande... $12.00	88editions $58.00	Hinge $25.00	GoodNorth $12.00

Treasury tool supported by the dog house

Whilst on Etsy this week I have created a Treasury of some of my favourite items and thought that I would share it with you. Unfortunately the tool that I have used to show it on this blog does not transfer fully to the small size of my blog and it cuts part of the Treasury off.  If you want to see it in its entirety here is the link to my Winter Treats Treasury. I would be really happy I woke up on Christmas morning to some of these gorgeous things.

Florentine Lilies fabric storage box

Although it has been a while since I posted here,  I have been quite busy with my art work and been selected for an artists development project for Shrewsbury Museum & Art Gallery - images of some of my latest work for this can be found on my art journal. This hasn't stopped me pursuing printing some of my designs onto fabric and I have recently made this fabric storage box for myself and it has also been on sale at the Open Studios that I have been taking part in. The print really works well on the linen fabric as well as the box being really handy for storing things in.

Florentine Lilies Linen bag and Fabric Printing

This is my latest fabric printing 'project' a linen bag size - approximately 34cm height 28cm width, that I have made using my own design - Florentine Lilies. Although slightly nerve racking at first - in order to make sure that the hand printed design was the right size for the bag - it was a pleasure to sew up and quite therapeutic in the end.

Firstly I hand printed my own design onto some lovely natural coloured linen fabric:

Then a smaller version of the same design hand printed onto cotton for the lining:

A peek inside the bag after it has been sewn up reveals a nice surprise with the design continuing on the lining:

I have made the bag just the right size to carry a few essential things when I am out and will definitely be using it as a book bag for my book group.