Decorative Boxes

        Top view of the drawers.
I was given a small set of 6 drawers, in bad condition.  I rubbed as much of the paint off and decided to cover it with some pages from a  1903 French magazine that  I was lucky to find on a market  stall in Brittany. It is full of beautiful pictures and adverts. I photographed some of the pages, then printed them.  Some had a natural sepia look and others I 'aged' a little. This is the top of the unit.

The ad which has amused and  intrigued me the most is bottom right, "A scientific discovery from America for anti - wrinkle cream"  There are a number of other ad's that you might expect to be modern products, i.e. antiseptic mouth wash and a variety of 'health pills'.  I had a lot of fun looking through it and then using copies of  it to cover my drawers.

This is a full page copy  from the magazine and is on the side of the drawers.

Side view of the drawers.


Another full page that I coloured after printing.  Such beautiful hats!

Front view of the drawers, with a little aging treatment.

 At a craft club that I attend, we decided to cover boxes in a variety of materials.  My choice was paper, so I found a use for lots of small, left over pieces.  I also had other paper materials to make use of.  The bottom left is covered entirely with postage stamps, British and foreign.  What a good and attractive way to recycle stamps.  It is a shame to throw them out.  I used to save them for the library for some charity, but they stopped taking them, so voila!  Another  use for them was found.

Another box, originally pine and for utensils .  I picked it up at a charity shop for a small amount.  It needed some attention, so I covered it with copied pictures from the above-mentioned magazine.  The red colour was copied from the back of the French magazine.  I coloured some of the other images, to give them more appeal.  Useful for brushes or pencils, etc

Lilly's crafts

Today is dedicated to my little friend Lilly.  She is 9 yrs old and loves learning crafts. I have been teaching Lilly to sew and cross-stitch because that is her passion right now, although she is beginning to take a big interest in paper crafting and together we have made some cards for her family and friends.  I didn't take any picture of those, but will do so in future.Lilly has only been learning to stitch for  4 months, so I am really proud of her progress.

 

Lilly's first flowers in cross-stitch

Lilly's hearts with running stitch frame.


So neat and pretty!

Lilly's first  sewing project.  Didn't she do well?

Lilly's first felt bag.  She made the flowers and the cord.  Well Done!

Lilly's practice sheet.  She learned so many new stitches.Good practice for dexterity and making small stitches. As you can tell by her other projects, Lilly's dedication has paid off.  Good girl!

Lilly's experiment.  She wanted to combine cross-stitch with hand-made flowers and the addition of a bit of a fabric that she liked. I am impressed. What do you think?

Greeting Cards

This was designed with a friend in mind, who was moving house, from a house lovingly built by her husband.  Although necessary in some ways difficult to leave.

This one covers several occasions, i.e. Valentine, Engagement, Wedding, Anniversary.

This could be for a birthday or Easter.

My first attempt at tea-bag folding.  Not followed by many because I found it too fiddly.

I used this one for a Sympathy card

The box was made with direction from my friend, Loraine, who is a Stampin' Up Demonstrator and makes beautiful cards..  I then made the card to match.  Another friend was so taken with it, she had to have them.

Art Work

Hello,

I decided to load some pictures of my art work today.  I hope you like some of them.


 This is a detail of a larger, oval picture in water colour.









'Poppies'  another water colour

 


'Autumn Leaves'  Another water colour from some leaves I collected
while staying in Brittany, France.





'Owl'  In mixed media.  From a photograph in a magazine.




  

   
While on a walk in Coalport, I took some photos of the swans and later composed this picture - again in water colour.                                                       

Patchwork photos

Patchwork

Here are some photos of items made by some of my students.  With the exception of one, none of them had done any patchwork before.

I am really pleased with the results.

Introduction

Hello,
My name is Elaine Jones and I am an avid crafter.  Although I have promised myself not to try out new crafts, when I see something new that catches my interest, I can't resist trying it out. However, there are a few favourites that stay with me.  They are:Painting (mostly in watercolour) Paper crafting -  especially cards.  Textiles - craft items and Patchwork & Quilting Crochet - Items ranging from lace doilies to blankets

Last January I received a City & Guilds Teaching Certificate.  Since then I have been teaching, with students ranging from 9 - 92 years of age.
I would like to hear from anyone interested in joining any of my classes or holding a workshop on any of the subjects mentioned above.

I will soon be uploading some pictures.
Hoping you have a crafty day.