what katie did next...

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!
 

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???
   

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!!