Sophie Grace Productions

Well Christmas has been and gone, I am looking forward to the New Year. 
For Christmas this year I decided to give my husband a drawing of our dog Rowan, as she probably won't be with us next Christmas. He has been pestering me to do a drawing or painting of her for him for ages and I haven't the time at the moment.
Where I work I knew there was someone who could probably do the job so much better than me, and she had just come back from a stint in Australia for Christmas.
I didn't give poor Sophie much notice. She asked for a photograph and I sent her this one which I took years ago, it is a typical image of Rowan. 

This was the result, I couldn't believe my eyes and my husband is over the moon.

If you would like a portrait of your favorite person or pet you can contact her through, twitter@SophieGrace_Art.

Spellbinders

Hi, I've been down to that craft shop again and this time I bought a Spellbinders shapeabilities set of rubber stamps and cut and emboss dies. What fun I have had! I have created this card by inking up a stamp with the Tim Holtz distress ink pens and stamping them onto watercolour type card. I've then cut and embossed them. I have also embossed a flower onto the matting layer which is a cardstock that feels like suede. The die cuts are applied using foam pads. I like to do a bit of squiggling around the edges and this time used the same pens as the stamp ink.

I hope you like what I have created.

Big Shot

I have spent quite a bit of my time in the past couple of weeks in the craft shop at work and in my fabric stash too.
I have had my eye on a die cutting machine at work for a while and decided to buy one and do some card making for a change, I haven't really done any since last Christmas. The Big Shot by Sizzix is quite an addictive piece of kit.
I am also trying to do some of my work placement for my college course in crafting of some sort, be it designing rubber stamps or background papers, also creating cards and scrap-book pages. Here are some of the cards I have made in the few days since I bought my Big Shot.

 For this one I have used a reindeer embossing folder, with some Core'dinations, ColourCore Cardstock, a die cut heart using some Christmas paper from a few years ago with a bow.

 Again I have used the reindeer embossing folder, with die cut card heart and a heart I die cut from some cotton check fabric I've been using for my aprons and bags, with a button from one of my old work shirts. I've finished the whole thing off with a fine liner pen.

Some old bits and bobs have been use from my Christmas box, I love the velum paper with glittery images on it, velum is so hard to stick down without seeing the glue through. I decided to stitch it and think it gives a real homespun look.

I'm a big Tim Holtz fan and have bought his tattered rose die, again I've used the velum and layered the rose up, finishing and hiding the centre with a Do Crafts flower and some Stickles.

I cut out a few bits and took the whole bundle down to visit my Mother. I did a workshop with her and we both really enjoyed it.

I will post my aprons and bags at a later date, thinking of creating a Pop up Shop for Christmas, maybe with some of my peers if they are interested.

Angie Lewin

Hi again, I may be slow on the up-take but I have just discovered recently the designer Angie Lewin. We went up to Kirkudbright the other weekend and I visited every art gallery I could find in this lovely Scottish Border town. There was an expo., in the town hall and I went into the first room downstairs to discover an exhibition of local artists. I got talking to Joanna McLeman Gisbey an artist maker about my college course and my uncertainty about where my work would take me.

She suggested I have a go at Japanese wood engraving and look at Angie Lewin's work in another gallery in the town.

Unknown to me at the time I had already seen and admired Angie's work, took another look and this is what I discovered.

Like Angie I have also trained in Horticulture, in fact I still work with plants. I just want to capture them all in some form of art, maybe this is the way I should go. I love plants and want to re-create them in stitch, print or art of some description.

I have never done lino or wood block printing but would like to have a go.

Kate Usher live brief

Finally I have got around to posting the results of work I did towards a live brief given to us for our final first year module, by Kate Usher of Kate Usher Studios.
I chose Boutique Hotel as my brief and struggled a little with a trend to go with and in the end didn't go with it.
I did some drawings of plants and some backgrounds, then decided I'd like to put some of my landscape drawings into the design too. This is what Kate saw when she had a meeting with us all to discuss what she liked.

The backgrounds I was told would not work as a repeat, I was disappointed but tried it anyway and I feel it did work.

Here I have used a combination of that repeat background and some of my other images. I really liked this design and the one below it. Kate didn't feel they were Kate Usher Studio style. and would I try using my image above intertwined and in green, and a topairy design too.

I feel topairy has been done to death but she seemed to like it, I much preferred the paper with background as I like French and Shabby Chic style personally. I imagine all of my designs could be used as wrapping paper and giftware as well as wallpaper.

Zentangle

I have just discovered Zentangle or Zen Doodle and I can't wait to have a go. Here are some images I have discovered in Google images.

I have been assured it is addictive and I'm sure it is, I can imagine using it on my journal and sketchbook pages.

Hi once again it's been a while. Since leaving college for the summer I've been busy at work and dying to do something creative, here are some bloom designs I have been working on this week with a view to print.
I love using my drawings to create repeat patterns like this.

  

Pinterest

I have joined Pinterest and love it.

A thing for roses

Hi again I'm sure I have just died and gone to heaven, somebody pinch me! This blog has everything in it this girl could ever want. Take a peek at my reading list and have a look. It's called 'a thing for roses'. Here is a taster.

As the market is currently on I thought we might be able to nip along to it
but as it is in Portland, Oregon. I'll have to dream on. I would love to be able to pop along to a market like this in the North of England, any body out there seen anything like this in the UK other than at Petersham Nurseries in Surrey?
It reminds me so much of the florist shops in France and Belgium.

Lisa Congdon

I have just checked my e-mails and discovered Kate Usher loves this web site. lisacongdon.com and I do too, her drawings, paintings and patterns are all gorgeous.

Gothic Luxe

It's been a while! Spring is a hectic season at work in the Garden Centre so I'm afraid my blog has suffered a bit, but the flowers are gorgeous. No need for a gym, my shoulders are aching. Mind you there was no need for those snow showers and bitter wind yesterday, poor Geraniums didn't know what had hit them.


Any way I'd like to show you what I did for our last module which was a combination of design and stitch. I chose the trend 'Gothic Luxe' and as usual used purples in my colour story, these were paired with black.
My research took me to the church yard where I was inspired by the carvings on headstones. I looked at things that influence Goths, like Cathederals in Europe, Whitby,and Victoriana. Goth fashion was another port of call, in the U K, Germany and Japan.
An old 'Fantasy Head' postcard I have, looked a bit like an x-ray, so I used some of my own x-rays as you have already seen in one of my other blogs. This was also part of this module.
I really wanted to do a print although it was not required and developed two.
We had to explore fabric manipulation, and as I was born to sew this was a joy. This would result in us creating a piece of wearable art or something for an interior. We were also required to deconstruct a garment and reconstruct it again.
The following photographs are a story of what I produced. Comments would be appreciated.




Fabric manipulation some of my samples.

Here I went on a dying spree, I just love it, how can anyone get so excited by a small bag of Dylon?

I'd sold but never used Shrinkles before, I have now and I love them too.

Print samples

A sketch book page

developed into a repeat

deconstruction/reconstruction.

Without boring you with too many pictures I was given two black camisoles to use. One was devore and the other pleated, this is what I did.

My finished pieces which I submitted were my decon/recon as a wearable piece of art, a cushion cover with my print on the back and I really enjoyed dying so made a skirt garment front.

Cushion front before being made up.

Garment front

Next on the agenda is a wallpaper design for Kate Usher studios, I've chosen Boutique Hotel style. I'm drawing plants, just for a change!