sewing

Just been to a secondhand warehouse and bagged this for €39.

The clutter on the top is just some of the goodies that were still in the drawers! It worked too - until I snapped the belt putting it in the car! I'm hoping they're easy to repair/replace.

more elephants

Y3's have been sewing. They've cut and stitched two sides to what is going to be a stuffed hanging decoration.  

back to work

Half term is over - back to school for the final push before the summer break! The final bit of art we did before the hols was to complete our recycled pieces in Y5. Card, buttons, wire and straws were all pressed into service to create our wonderful floral decorations. They have been placed around the school in an effort to brighten some dark and dingy corners.

 

masks made

We have been making masks ready for our plays. They are deliberately over-size 'so that the people at the back can see the characters'. These two represent Theseus and the Minotaur. Simple card/paper construction with button embellishments. All we've got to do now is write the plays!

peg doll

Arabella Peggotty is a refined young lady. She is confident and poised. It wasn't always thus - she had a lowly start in life, but through persistence and a winning personality has managed to overcome all the obstacles life has thrown at her. She is now looking to broaden her horizons further - you'll find her in my Folksy shop (button on the right) patiently waiting for the right person to come along.

She stands around 13cm tall and is made from a wooden peg, a lollipop stick and a carved wooden bead. Her joints are secured by thread and vintage Fench nacre buttons.

doll

Meet Abigail Spooner

From very humble beginnings, Abigail has grown up into a feisty, quirky young lady. She has very individual tastes and strong ideas about an eclectic range of things. She cares nothing for fashion trends and prefers odd, mis-matched outfits. She has a particular liking for bright red shoes.

She stands around 13cm tall and has moveable limbs. She's made from a small, carved wooden spoon, parts of a peg, lollipop stick, paint, thread, vintage buttons and string.

peggy

Here she is all finished. I think she's turned out much as I envisaged. I like the primitive style and lack of fussy detail. She's about 13cm long. Might end up making a few of these before my attention switches to something else!

I've listed her in my Folksy shop (please click the button on the right to visit).

latest peggy

Been making the pieces for a new peg doll. This time I decided to see if I could carve a simple face, much like the peg dolls of old. The easiest way to do it was to file and sand away part of a wooden bead and attach this in place of the top of the peg. The joints are secured with embroidery thread and vintage French hand-cut nacre buttons. Will give it a simple paint job, attach some string 'hair' and list it in my folksy shop when it's complete. Not quite sure what to charge though.

peggy revisited

Had this one on the back-burner for a little while and have just completed her. She has knees! But I'm drawing the line at elbows!! Her joints are held together with embroidery thread and vintage buttons and she measures in around about 12cm tall. Not sure whether to give her eyes or leave blank.

peg 2

Have made another unique, naive piece of folk art - Peg 2. She 'wears' a slightly battered and faded heart (possibly too many unrequited loves & missed opportunities). Could you be the one to make her life complete and give her the tenderness she deserves - or perhaps you know someone who would! An ideal valentine keepsake for the one you love.

She is jointed using red embroidery thread and vintage, hand-made French nacre buttons.

Update - she's now listed in my Etsy shop should you care to peruse. Click on the shoplink.

back from hols

All good things must come to an end - back to school tomorrow!

Whilst on holiday in deepest, darkest France we found these tiny (less than 1cm diam.), vintage mother of pearl buttons at a local brocante. They are supposed to go into my daughter's stash of goodies for her to use in her upcoming fashion & textile studies - but she says I can have some! I'm thinking baubles on hand-stitched Christmas cards - is it too soon to begin producing these and listing them on etsy?

(Wow! - now over 1000 visits - I should go away more often!)

origami

Y3 have been busy learning the gentle art of origami and have made simple boxes to tie in with their science topic on materials combined with a Design Technology unit on packaging.

At school we also run an arts & crafts enterprise club, where we produce items that we then sell on to pupils and parents. We have been busy making Christmas cards using stitches and buttons.