Gorgeous things!

Today was an ordinary group day, so we weren't playing with anything special. But almost everyone had wonderful things to show.

Beverley had some quite old show and tell. These pieces were made by her maternal great grandma in Ireland. Just incredible workmanship and in great condition considering their age. She also brought some work made by her paternal grandmother, who was a prize-winning embroiderer. Just incredible.

She also had the clothing from an antique doll given to her by an uncle. They were so detailed, just tiny replicas of adult clothing. I photographed the outfit with the top open, so you can see that it has been fully lined. Underneath is a modesty piece, a sort of blouse front, tied round the neck, to cover the front of the body under the top. Here you can see the back of the skirt, complete with bustle.

Beverley also brought some of her own work. Here is a piece she is working on, inspired by an article in Quilting Arts magazine.
She carved the stamp shown at the bottom, and used it to stamp on the background fabric. Then she stamped the same image onto another fabric and cut the images in half. She applied the cut images over the stamped images, giving a blended image. It's an interesting technique with lots of possibilities.

During the day, she was working on this bag, sewing on the handles. She has just a few stitches to go. It looks just beautiful.

Today, Carol was working on a set of ATCs for a swap, but I'll let her tell you about them. Nola added some text on a book she's working on, but it can't be shared just yet. And Helen had some beautiful books to share but the hopeless photographer didn't record them, or anything else she did today! Mea culpa!

More polymer clay

And some photos from the last playday, this time of Helen's polymer clay work. She decided to focus on buttons. She makes a lot of books, which often have buttons and ties as fastenings.

Playing with polymer clay

Rather belatedly, here are some photos of our last playday. We decided to experiment with polymer clay. Carol brought her pasta machine, having decided that making pasta was a thing of the past, and Prue ignored her jet lag to bring her little oven. Nola was using Fimo, while Tricia and Carol had Sculpey. I'm not sure what the others used now (sorry!).

Nola's main aim was to make a name tag for ATASDA meetings. As far as that went, it was a dismal failure, since she wasn't happy with either nametag. One used transparent Fimo, which turned out not to be transparent at all when baked, and had to be carved off again. The second was made from those inevitable leftovers and didn't suit the purpose it was intended for. But she made some beads and other jewellery things:

She also did some imprints from wooden stamps: These will be painted with acrylics and probably given a brush with gold paint or a little Treasure Gold as highlights.

Carol made some beautiful things, which I hope she'll share here. I have photos of just these few, a barrette and some jewellery things: