Time to throw in the T-owl 2022 Part 2

 Time to throw in the T-owl 2022 Part 2

I never like to make things easy for myself. In this case I decided that I wanted to have an Owl on the inside too.

Rough Inner Sketch

 

The idea was to have the Inner Owl awake. Therefore I needed to open the Wings.

More Bat than Owl

 

I decided to start another Sketch to work on. Okay I know I wanted the Wings open and more Feathery but even to my unseasoned eye this looks more Bat than Owl.

Inner Sketch Feathers

 

I suppose that the Feathers made it more Owl like but I cannot pretend that I was entirely happy.

Edit Face

 

I decided to return to my first Inner Sketch. I wanted to fix the Face. It was too cartoony for my liking. I had been puzzled by what was wrong with the Face. Then it struck me. It was the Ears.

Now some Owls have Ears you can see and some do not. However what they certainly do not have is Ears on top like a Cat. I began to Edit the Face starting with the Ears. I have to confess that I searched for Images of Owls on the Internet.

Edit Talons

 

I Edited the Talons. I made them thicker and sharper. I also changed the underbelly of the Owl. You can just see the outline of the Branch that I have it sitting on.

Edit Front

 

As you can see from the above photograph I have added more detail. I have added V shaped Feathers to the Wings and long V shapes to the Front.

Compare the Two

I have now completed my two Rough Sketches. They are quite different. Naturally I will be using the Inner Sketch as a Basis for my Front Page of the Card.

Time to throw in the T-owl 2022

 Time to throw in the T-owl 2022

Another last minute idea. Only this didn’t come out so well.

What Design

 

It was my friends 40^th Birthday coming up as in less than 24hours and I couldn’t find a single card that I like not even on the web. I decided to do an Owl which is one of her favourite Animals.

Rough Circles

 

Firstly I have to say that I am not a good Drawer. Therefore I need to start from the very Basics. Therefore a Rough Draft would be prudent. Firstly I Drew 2 Rough Circles. One on Top of the other. I now have a badly shaped Snowman.

 

Adding Face

 

Okay I now have Ears, Nose and Eyes. Something doesn’t look right but I can’t work out what at the moment.

Add Wings and Claws

 

I added some Claws though as it is an Owl I suppose I should say Talons. I also Drew some Simple Curves as Wings.

Elongate Wings

 

As I needed to make the Wings more realistic I Elongated them by adding a few extra Lines. The former Lines would be rubbed out later.

Add Curves

 

I added some Curves to give me an idea of Feather Spacing.

Feather Lines

 

I added more Lines to give more detail for the Feather Sections.

Wake Up

I added some Eyelids, a Mouth and a notice saying Wake up.

I now had an extremely Rough Draft and a Concept. I was going to have a Sleepy Owl on the Front of the Card.

All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 7

 All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 7

This is the Final blog on this Project.

Adding Feathers

 

The Final touch was to add the Feathers. I tucked them in a little behind the Badge.

 

Badge Side

 

I wondered how best to Display the Final Result. With no Mannequin handy a Stool had to suffice. In this photograph you can see the Badge and Feathers.

 

Rear Vail

 

In this photograph you can see the Full expanse of the Rear Veil. You can also see how I have wound the Chain back on itself rather than continuing on to the Badge side.

Chain Side

 

This photograph gives a great view of how the Chain dangles down and then comes back up on itself.

Veil Over

 

One thing that I didn’t mention about the Front Veil is that it is Long and Wide enough to Fold over Diagonally so you can see, eat and drink.

Spot the Badge

Finally the whole collection. The Hat, Mask, Earrings, Belt and if you look very carefully the Badge that I made is Pinned to my Coat.

A splendid Outfit for going to the Theatre.

P.S.

I couldn’t resist adding to the overall Ensemble by leaving my glasses at home and watching the performance with a pair of Opera Glasses.

All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 5

 All Steam Ahead 2021 – Mad Hatter Preparations Part 5

Back to Preparations. As one part is so short I have lumped it together. Feathers and Net Preparation.

Forage Feathers

 

I needed some Feathers to add to my hat so I went on a Forage around town picking up all the Pidgeon Feathers I could find. It seemed that I had a great many but once I had sorted them I found very few were suitable as they were damaged.

I had also forgotten that Feathers from opposite Wings would lean different ways and since I only wanted one direction that diminished the collection further.

Feather and Ink

 

Here is a trick I learnt from lovely Laura. I wanted Black Feathers so I used a Permanent Black Marker Pen to Colour them in. I also had the foresight to put paper underneath so I didn’t mark the table.

Double and Secure

 

I Cut a Length of Net. I wanted it slightly Thicker so I Doubled it over and Secured it with some Thread.

Right Fold

 

I took roughly a Fingers Width of Net from the Right Hand Side and Folded it Back on itself towards the Middle. I then Secured it with a few Stitches.

Second Fold

 

I moved across to the Right and Duplicated the Process. I now had my second Fold. I kept doing this till I reached the End and Trimmed any Net left over.

Completed Fold

 

I then proceeded to repeat this technique on the other side only this time I was Folding to the Left. Once finished I spread out the Folds a little.

This particular piece of Folded Net is to go on the Back of the Hat.

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 16

Dionne’s Draught Excluder 2019 - Part 16

Finally I am on the last section of making the Rabbit’s Paws.

Simple Paws

The above photograph shows the Paws as they are now. As you can see that they are Curved. However they have all ended up with slightly different shapes. I decided that this simply will not do.

Start at Side

I have found some material and though not ideally what I would like it will have to do. Laying the Paw flat I start at the Leg End and secure the Thread. I will work from this point all the way around to the other side adding the material.

Fluffy Paw Edging

 

I couldn’t find any Furry material to go around the Paws. Therefore I have reluctantly had to use Fluffy Feathers. Henceforth I am now not making a Rabbit. It is an Easter Bunny!

Nice Fluffy Paws

I have finished making the Fluffy Paws. I have some Feathered material left so I am going to continue the theme with the Ears.

Crushed Fluff

I am starting at the Sides and making my way around the Ear with the material. One thing I did not mention when doing the Paws was the Stitch I was using to Sew the Fluffy material to the Paw.

I am using a simple Looping Stitch. I am not sure if there is a technical name for this. I am putting the needle through 1 Side and then repeating on the same Side. I have not used Blanket Stitch as this would Crush the Feathers even more.

Ear We Go

Once the Feathery material was added all the way around I began to De-Crush it. Using a needle I gently teased out the Crushed Feathers.

You can see the difference between the last two photographs. So Ear we go. Four Fluffy Paws and a Pair of Fluffy Ears for our Easter Bunny.

Keep Cool and Keep Calm -Ice Inspirations 2017 Part 4

Keep Cool and Keep Calm -Ice Inspirations 2017 Part 4

This is the final part of the Ice Inspiration Icepack’s and frankly I think I may have gone a bit mad on what is for all intents and purposes a simple bag.

Penguin Design Idea

I have done Snowflakes, Igloo’s, Snowmen so far in my previous designs so I wondered what else I could come up with in my Ice Inspiration series. Then it hit me Igloo’s are found in the Arctic so let’s do something from the Antarctic. Hence the Penguin Design

Penguin Outline

It started off well with me doing my usual backstitch outline. Then as I was doing the feet a thought struck me. If I filled in the black areas they would merge into one. I had to pause and have a think.

Penguin White Section

Whilst I was contemplating the black areas I thought I would make a start on the white. This is again in backstitch but I have stitched back and forth across the Penguin in white in parallel lines thereby creating what I hope to be layers of feathers.

I also filled in the eyes and the orange areas of the feet and beak. For some reason I have also filled in a kind of widows peak. I think I might have been influenced by the succession of horror movies I was watching whilst embroidering.

Penguin Chick

Once I almost filled in the areas already mentioned the solution to my problem manifested itself. Instead of doing a Penguin I would do a Penguin Chick. Now I admit I have taken some artistic license but my ideas and ability do not always tally up. Instead of filling in the rest of the Penguin in black I have filled in the feathers with a dark grey.

This bright idea of mine took literally hours to do. Each little stitch was at a diagonal angle in order to create the feathery look.

Washed and Pressed Baby Penguin Chick

 

After laboriously filling in all the feathers I thought it still lacked something. Therefore I added a bit of coast, cold water and Icebergs. Only thing left to do was then add the press studs and sew the edges as before.

Here is the finished product all washed and pressed. Phew what will I come up with next?