Out and About - Wildlife and Wetlands Trust

A couple of new designs have come about after seeing news that, at Slimbridge, they are celebrating one of the longest running animal research projects with its study of swans and their unique markings turning 50 this year. 

I remember visiting Slimbridge as a small child and I have been amazed to see how much the Wildlife and Wetlands Trust has evolved, with other centre popping up about the country, including one near my new home in Llanelli.

I love Peter Scott's stunning illustrations.  He observed that each swan had unique markings on its face making it possible to identify and observe individuals.  His daughter Dafila,  helped him and this pastime morphed into the scientific research that continues today.

Given the intricacy and skill of their artwork I am not even going to attempt swans, but since many other breeds of bird can be found at the different trusts I felt on safer territory with some ducks and geese, especially given that spring is just around the corner and ducklings will soon be emerging from the eggs.

The hats came first, swiftly followed by a couple of sketches that form the artwork for my appliqued motifs.  Thankfully the cartoon approach disguises my lack of artistic prowess.

Those of you following the tips I've been sharing for our design challenge will know about the next steps. First the sketches need to be transferred onto some digitising software that the embroidery machine will understand.

 And once that's done the image is uploaded and the machine takes it from there.

I hope you like them.  They'll be added to our wildlife range soon.  But I've still got to decide whether to add eyes to the hats.  Given that they have beaks which sit below eye-level, something may be called for.  Eye-lashes perhaps?  What do you think?

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Trivial Pursuits - Mobiles

Always on the lookout for something for you to have a go at.  I seem to be on a mission to find the creativity in everyone!

Today, I happened upon some mobiles while clicking around Pinterest and just had to search out some tutorials from great bloggers to get you inspired.

If you have access to die cuts or are nifty with a pair of scissors, all you need for some of these is some colourful card, templates and something to hang them from.

           

And if you have some felt lying around, I'm sure these wouldn't be difficult to recreate too. 

I love this simple but effective mobile by Diane Bohn on her blog fromblankpages.  You can see the full tutorial here 

Or how about this adorable felt mobile by Jess? Again she has produced an easy to follow and highly illustrated tutorial which you can find here.

But if it all seems a little overwhelming, don't forget you can always buy one ready made.  There are lots out there, but since I've shown you one by Lovely Friend at the beginning of this blog, why not check out her mobiles on Etsy.  

And of course, do send us photos of your mobiles if you do have a go.  Or any of your other DIY projects too.  We'd love to see them.

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Design Challenge - Inspiration from a cake - Pt 2

Once the design has been drawn it's uploaded into the software where the magic begins and the illustration is converted into a program the machine will understand.

The design has been transferred to the embroidery machine and away it goes.

Can you tell what it is yet?

The completed design is then cut out and quickly compared with the original drawing.  There is a mistake on this one - the eagle eyed amongst you might spot it.

Here's a closer view.  Can you see the mistake?  The great thing is that this tester will hopefully highlight any blips which I can correct before signing off the design.

And once it's been cut out, it's ready to be stitched on to the sleepsuit and cotton hat.

I do hope this is inspiring you to have a go yourself.  Here's a reminder of the challenge and the link to enter.    Happy sketching!

               

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Design Challenge - Inspiration from a cake!

My sister in law is one of the most creative people I know (and is married to one of the others!)

For her son's recent birthday she made not only this amazing birthday cake but also these absolutely fab cupcakes for everyone to take home at the end of the day.

I know Kim for her attention to detail but there can't honestly be many people who would go to the effort of making unique toppers for each one.  Just love them.

Anyway, it gave me another thought about where you might get some inspiration for your own design in our challenge.  Mine came from her cakes.

I took the basic idea and sketched out my own picture.  I've tried to keep the different parts of the image completely separate by drawing them in different and distinct colours.  This will help when it comes to transferring the image onto the software for embroidering.

You can either draw the different components on separate sheets of paper or do it as one image.

To find out how this turns out pop back later when I'll update the blog with the finished result.  And in the meantime, I hope this has given you food for thought and inspired you to have a go at our design challenge.  To see how to enter click here ....

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Trivial Pursuits - New Ways to Show Off your Photos

If, like me, you are guilty of taking photos and never doing anything more than storing them in files on your computer, you may be looking for some unusual ways to display or share them.

I found these, and more, on Huffington Post's website and thought I would share.  Some I didn't like and others wouldn't suit my home, but I'm certainly going to have a go at a couple of these, especially the envelopes which would be great to personalise thank you cards.

This is a simple way of displaying photos on a shelf or table top.  You can find out how Rikki recycles the jars for use on her website here.

And I'm definitely going to be using this idea for sending out business correspondence.  The simple advertising that I will be able to include with various images of babes in my hats will be perfect.  And I'm sure grandparents would love to open a thank you card with a photo inside the envelope too.  See how to make them here.

And I'm going to rethink how I display my art in the kitchen when we finally renovate it.  I love this idea of wooden clip boards which was created by Love Grows Wild.  Check them out here.

I assumed that these coasters had been sent away to be made. I know that most of the supermarkets and photo labs make them, but it is possible to make your own.  If you want to a have a go, check out Granny Girls' website here.

And if you want to let someone else do the work for you, these lovely framed windows are available on Etsy.

I've been doing a bit of my own recycling in the office.  I took the prints from last year's calendar and mounted them in some old frames I had brought with me from our last home.  But although I love the images, I think I might have to try something a bit more original with the way I display them.  If you want to see some more amazing photos I've been sent by both customers and professionals check out our galleries on the website.

Do you have unique and interesting ways of using or displaying your photos?  Do let us know.

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Surf's Up - Phillip Island Penguin appeal

A conservation group in Australia is calling on knitting enthusiasts to donate small woolly jumpers for sick penguins.  Phillip Island’s Penguin Foundation uses the jumpers to help rehabilitate birds that have been affected by oil spills or similar leaks from fishing boats.

Knits for Nature, a program run by the foundation, has created up to 300 different designs over the years thanks to its team of dedicated volunteers but is always in need of more. And in fact they even run a competition for the best.

The winning entry : 'Underwater with Octopus' by Chantal Cordey. 

‘There’s a lot of hidden creativity out there,’ explained Lyn Blom, an employee of the foundation.

   

'Penguin Books' by Denise Franklin.                'Super Penguin' by Monica Novak

The jumpers help to keep the penguins warm and also prevent them trying to clean the toxic oil away with their beaks.  ‘If somebody puts oil into the sea… a little penguin swimming along pops up to the surface and finds out he’s come up in a circle of yukky stuff,’ Blom told ABC News.  

         

                      'Tropical Beach' by Sylvia van der Peet.                 'Fishbone' by Sue Arnold

‘The first thing he wants to do is get to shore because he loses all of his waterproofness.’  Oil mats and separates penguins’ feathers which damages their natural insulation and waterproofing systems.

I was fortunate enough to visit Phillip Island near Melbourne when I was teaching out there many years ago and have seen these adorable ‘little’ penguins, also known as korora or fairy penguins, at first hand.

And if you fancy getting involved and donating a jumper, you can find out more from the island’s Penguin Foundation website where you can also find their pattern.  We've included a link here too. 

And if you need some help with learning how to knit, this project is perfect. We've got tutorials on how to knit on our website. Click here to get started.

Additional reporting Evan Bartlett, the Metro

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