what katie did next...

One for the Boys!!

Having two young boys, I'm very conscious of the fact that there are so many pretty and lovely things to buy for girls, but boys can and often do get overlooked! Perhaps it's because they aren't really bothered by things in the same way as girls, or maybe it's because the designers don't really understand the wants and needs of boys.

One thing that has really upset me over the years (and I know I'm not the only one) with having two boys is the way that girls often have items with wording such as 'little princess' whereas boys are often given the option of 'little monster' or 'cheeky monkey'! I will not buy slogan clothing for my boys anyway, but I am appalled that the designers think of boys as naughty / cheeky.  

I am not a fan of stereotyping, I like people to be different, and comfortable with this. My eldest son loved Pink for such a long time, everything had to be pink; that was... until he went to school. Then he realised that boys couldn't love pink (according to his school friends) so now, he loves Red. I think it's a shame.

So, in order to redress the balance between girls and boys I made this...

 

Well, in a way I have redressed the balance in being able to buy for boys, but I had to give in a little to stereotyping when it came to the theme... my eldest has been pestering me for this in his room, despite the fact they already have two between them. I wanted to make something positive about boys because I think they're fabulous!! but, I may be a littled biased!

 

Have a great day!

A personalised framed Textile picture gift for Charlotte

Morning!

When I make a personalised gift, I am always careful to ask when it will be given, as I don't want to spoil a surprise on the off-chance that the recipient might see a picture of it on Facebook or Twitter before it is actually received. But, I know this was given at the weekend, so I am safe...

 
It was lovely to get this commission for a number of reasons; the first because this was a very wanted little girl, at one time her parents didn't think they would be able to have children, so she is very much seen as a gift.

Another reason I am delighted with the commission is because Sarah was a returning customer, I made her another commission some time ago, and she was obviously so pleased with it that she came back for more!

 
I think you all know by now how much I love making these special commissions, and this one didn't let me down!

Have a great day!

A family gift for the arrival of a new baby - with a little suprise!

I have been working on another lovely commission that I wanted to share;

The brief was to make a picture for a couple who have just had their second baby, a lovely little girl called Emily Rose (beautiful name isn't it?).

I was asked to use 'spicy pinks', use a quote about families and... include a picture of a gecko!! All is revealed below.

Once the quote was found and agreed on, I was able to start. I love making the felted backgrounds, it's at this point that the colour scheme is really decided upon.

The recipient family have a gecko that disappeared for a year (I think the eldest child may have had something to do with this), but they have just found him again! he was spotted when his head was seen poking out from below the fridge! So their family really is complete.

The gecko was actually very fiddly to embroider; when researching them I found that the front paws only have four 'fingers', whereas the back have five. Very difficult to do on a sewing machine when it's so small!

I thought it was a lovely quote, hhmmmm I think I may well be using it again in the future! It's so true isn't it?

 And, it's so nice to make something a little bit different!

Have a great day!

Who can resist a Jellybean? Another lovely commission...

I am now officially allowed to 'blog' about my latest commission, as it is safely in the hands of the recipient!

I was recently asked to make a picture to be given as a gift at a baby shower, for a special mummy-to-be (and baby-to-be).  The order came all the way from South Africa, from a very caring sister, and soon to be Auntie!! I was given the brief "something bright and fun, and it needs to include the name "Jellybean", as this is the given name  at the moment for the baby-to-be.

So, here it is...
I wanted to make something that would 'grow' with the baby, and thought it would be a nice touch to have a bit of 'Englishness' in to it by including the toadstalls. I purposefully kept it light and fresh, so it will go with any colour scheme, picking out little elements of colour throughout.

By now, if you read this blog regularly, you'll know I have a bit of an obsession with bugs, and I know most children do too. So, I included a bumble bee, and used him (or her) to help me spell out the name 'Jellybean' - I think he did well, don't you?

I would like to send Mummy & Daddy-to-be and Jellybean my very best wishes, I hope you have many, many years of love and laughter together!

 

This is how it looked when it was carefully packaged up into a bubblewrap envelope (it has another layer of bubblewrap underneath the tissue paper).

Have a great day!

 
 

What Katie did next... is Gift Wrapped and Gorgeous!

I have been holding off posting about this exciting new venture until I had something to 'show' you, and I think now it's time... please click on the link below:

http://www.giftwrappedandgorgeous.co.uk/index.htm 

I'm so pleased to have had my Textile Art on the front page!!

What Katie did next... has joined forces to become a Partner Company with Gift Wrapped and Gorgeous , a wonderful and very aptly named site, selling a whole host of fabulous products from a select group of Designers, and the lovely thing is all gifts are hand-made! It is run by Amanda and Alison, who have passion and energy, alongside creativity and professionalism, and I am extremely pleased to be working with them! I am going to be loading more products, and this will be ongoing, so please be sure to check in regularly!

*I am also deeply indebted to GWAG for being very patient with me when I have had teething problems uploading images and info onto the site - Thank you ladies!

Check out their beautifully designed site with an amazing range of goodies for all the people you buy gifts for, I've already planned my first order!

Have a great day!

 

The Element of Freedom - a personalised Christening gift commission

I have been working on a lovely Christening commission; the brief was to produce a picture to go with a specific fabric, and should include the little one's name and date of birth.

This was the piece of fabric I was given, which I love because of the simplicity of the illustrations and the vibrancy of the colours. She has this fabric in her room, and this was the only remnant left.

 
So, I needed to come up with a design that would complement the fabric, but I didn't feel that a direct copy would be right or indeed wanted.  There will be a time when the fabric etc is changed, but hopefully the picture will remain. 

So here's what I came up with...

 
Her name is Saoirse (a beautiful Irish name, pronounced Seersha) which means 'freedom'. Her aunt (who commissioned the piece) wanted this to be included as this was an important part of the choice  when they were choosing her name.

I loved the putting the little detailed elements into the picture, such as this...

and this...

 I hope Saoirse enjoys this as she grows!

Have a great day!
 

Fly, fly, butterfly...

I've not updated this blog for a few days because I've had a birthday and have been a bit busy in preparing to go back to work for my 'other job'. But, I have still been making, and I'm rather pleased with the direction 'what katie did next...' is taking. There are lots of exciting things happening, I will update you when I know more!

So, here's a sneak preview of some of the new art pieces I've been producing. As I said before, due to the popularity of the 'bright trees' work, I've been adding to them.  I'd like to introduce the butterfly to you...

I think you can tell I really enjoyed making this one, (actually I really love making them all). But I loved 'drawing' with my machine for this one, the freeness of being able to make a mark with thread. I also really enjoyed picking the colours and fabrics, as they each have a particular meaning and feel.

Watch out for the butterfly's friends, coming soon!

Have a great day!

Wild woods - the start of a new colourful series inspired by nature

I've been working on lots of commissions lately, but in my 'spare time' I've been sketching out ideas for a new series of pictures based on Trees, Flowers and nature.

I feel so excited about these, as they are exactly how I pictured them in my imagination.

I'm desperate to make some more in this series, I'm going to introduce butterflies and birds too... watch this space.

Have a great day!

New Baby Boy Twins gift - another finished commission

I have finished a lovely commission for brand new baby twin boys, who arrived recently.  They were long awaited, and very much wanted, and I was asked to reflect this in the piece.

I've been trying some new ideas out on canvases, and I think this one has worked rather well. I like the clean lines and space around the piece.  I also think it works well because the pieces are so tactile.

I was asked to use neutral tones, but I wanted to use little elements of blue, so when I embroidered their names I used one layer of blue on top of the taupe.  
  And of course, who could forget the buttons... chosen very carefully to complement the colours and textures, and little hearts to tell them how much they are cherished.

Sugar and Spice and all things nice...

Perfect for a little girls bedroom, if I say so myself!

After many (MANY) hours of trying to photograph my pictures, I have discovered the trick... (suggested by my huband) "have you tried taking the glass out of the frame?"

Erm, no, hadn't thought of it!  It works, it really works!

 
So, you can see far more detail can't you? and without the glare! 

 
When I take close up photographs like this one, I know that everyone will be able to see the imperfections. Hopefully, you'll also see the little elements that I add to each one, like the heart on the right (above). It looked too plain, so I used two different coloured threads, a lighter one on top and a dark one on the bottom, and stitched into the heart, to give it depth.

I spend a long time planning the balance of colours, making the felt in the background and picking the colours to go on top.  One of the things I really like to do is use at least two colours to stitch the writing, thus creating more harmony.  I don't want these pieces to look too rigid, they are made by hand and therefore I want them to look like that. They are crafted with care, and although I might use the same colours as another, or the same theme, no two will look the same.

When I choose the buttons, I choose them for their size, colour and how well they balance the whole piece. I always try to make the button holes go in different directions, why? I'm not sure, but it is something that I can be quite pedantic about (I have been known to take a button back off and re-sew it if it doesn't look right).

Obsessed... moi???
   

I'm forever making badges, pretty badges everywhere...

So, I've been adding to the designs.  It seems there is no point making just one badge at a time, you need to make a few.  So each time I select the fabrics, thread the machine up, decide what to applique, trim them and then make them into badges, I have a group of them.

I love seeing them like this, I think they look really cute.  They measure 25mm (about an inch), so they are very small in real life.

I need to thin k about how I'm going to present them for sale;

I shall have some cards printed for them to go on, once my Logo has been decided upon, which should be the end of this coming week.  The card needs to be able to be displayed clearly within a shop, perhaps they will 'hang'?

For a badge this small, the designs need to be very simple, due to the nature of applique.  I have got some larger sizes, so I can make more complicated designs on those.  I can't wait to try!

Have a great weekend, the weather looks excellent! 

Little Boy Blue

The little boys have been a bit left out over the last week with all the pink orders, so in an effort to readdress the balance I've made a blue one.

 
This is a more traditional boys picture than I've made previously, but I've had lots of people asking me about  'Baby' pictures. 

I've used a range of checks and ginghams, incorporating a number of different blues to avoid it looking flat.

 
This is the last in the series of pictures I'm putting up at The Chalet today!  I managed to finish them all just in time for my new best friend to arrive today - well in the form of a Badge Making Machine! I am so excited!   

A Christening commission...

Morning! What a lovely day!

Well, it's been a really busy week for me.   On the back of all the 'pink' pictures I've been posting, I've had lots of interest and enquiries, and I've been busily making commissions.  The first of which is this Christening picture...

The brief was simply "something pink and girly, with her name and the date of the Christening" - so I went for it!

 I think it's pink enough, don't you?? 

Have a lovely weekend, enjoy the sunshine!

Pretty little things...

I have been promising to make some pink pictures for two very lovely twin girls I know, who love very girly things! 

     

 
 
 
I decided to try out letters!  It's something I've been thinking about for a while, and as this is a time for developing new ideas, I need to try out as many diff as I can. I REALLY liked making these, probably because they're so pink and different to anything I would make for my boys, it made a real change. 

 
I tried to make them similar, using a range of silks and natural fibres felted onto the background.  To avoid them looking too flat I used my usual selection of buttons, and also added some tiny pearl beads.

Hope they like them!!

The Ladybug is finished!

I have really enjoyed making this ladybug, I think due to the fact I have used some of my favourite colours to help bring her to life. Here's how it looks on the wall...

I've grown quite fond of her, with her big smiling face and now I've embellished her with beads and sequins to 'glam' her up a bit.

 

I've purposely left some space at the top to enable me to personalise it if someone wants a name or a message there.  I felt there needed to be something else in the picture, so I grew a flower out of buttons, well, you know I have an obsession with buttons by now!! 

 The Ladybug is now looking for a new home...