Oh so pretty brooches

Thought I'd share these lovely flower brooches today.

Made using a combination of hand spun yarn and hand dyed

yarns (silk, mohair, merino and cotton)

Little flowers knitted by Vicky

and constructed by me.

Lovely Locks

Had a lovely day dying locks....

wow what wonderful long locks this Wensleydale sheep had.

They took some cleaning but definitely worth it.

Yes Jack they are indeed your lovely Wensleydale locks!

Jack's fibre can be found on etsy and ebay

Where does the time go when you are in the mode....lol

Well I have been still making felt for a very exciting project...

the piece above was a bit too hairy for what was needed 

and the piece below I love but not quite what is needed either.

Piece below just right, a lovely

mix of merino, grey shetland and silk.

Dying sari ribbon which is such a great product.

It's made from strips of recycled silk sari's which are then knotted

or stitched together to give continuous lengths.

I just love the vintage colours and effects 

you are able get with

acid dying them.

Dying thick and thin yarns.....

even tried some softer pastel colours here.

I probably love making the creativity packs the most.

Colour co-ordinated little packs of fun.

It's just as good as working in a sweetie shop

with all the fabulous colours.

Been at home all week with the kids as we have all

had a flu like virus....it's miserable!

Roll on spring!

Silk laps and Felt packs....

Yesterday I spent dying....oh how I love it!

I was dying lengths of silk laps

great for nuno felters and creative embroidery.

I love the vintagey colours below.

All these new items now at Hope Jacare Designs

Also this morning was spent making up some new felting packs.

Lots of lovely dyed wool, silk and Rita's(my friends) hand spun

yarns - she uses all the fibres I dye.....lovely.

More Dying !

Some Mulberry bark I have dyed for a customer

it's wonderful ( the stuff they make mulberry paper from)

in its bark form its great for mixed media work

and creative textiles.

Some Tussah silk noils and some Mulberry silk

that I have dyed for my next lot of felt making.....

I can't wait to see how these fibres card up with wool!

Happy 2013 ! The hamster is safely home...

You will be all glad to hear Grizzly the hamster

is safely back in his house...and happy!

My brother Angus (front centre) and myself (back centre) are not 

fans of having our photo's taken....

But this year we had a family picture done for my

Mum and Dad, and we survived the ordeal!

So it had all the grandchildren in it

along with Reuben and myself

and Angus and Jeni.

Of course Martha is the star - she was great!

Martha is much loved by us all especially Hope.

A special project for the New Year....

Happy New Year Everyone!

have just been chasing a hamster round the dining room

(yes his cage had been left open)

otherwise would be in bed by now....

don't often stay up to see in the bells.

But I thought I'd share some lovely felt I have been making this week.

It's for a very special project and hopefully I will be able to share

what with you soon.

This is a combination of

Merino, Grey Alpaca, Gotland , Kid Mohair curls, silk

and linen...it's lovely to the touch!

May 2013 be a great one and

bring everything you wish for!

Hope Jacare Designs now also at Folksy

Hope Jacare Designs has made it to Folksy.

Decided I should have at least a presence on Folksy.

If you haven't had a wee look round it's well worth a visit.

Folksy is a site that promotes Modern British Craft.

Handmade felt and hand dyed Mulberry bark

two of my favourite things!

How Lovely.....

Had to share it with you.

My Christmas card from Hope she did all by herself

- I was banished to the studio!

I love the fact it has 7 suns....so cheery!

Oooops I've been put right they are actually snowflakes...

should have known really! doh!

How about that for a 5 year old. Xx

More Christmas pressies......

This time a few brooches

using my handmade felt pieces

and hand dyed Merino pre-felt.

Wishing everyone a lovely Christmas 

and a great

2013!

Christmas presents for friends....

A few felt Christmas presents for friends

surprise surprise all made using felt.

I really like the combination of wood and felt.

I'm still working on some more...think it

may be another late night!

A bit of playing.....

I've been trying today to put together some photo's that best sum

up my work at the moment with my friends Rita and Vicky.

Rita as I mentioned before helps me pack my inspiration packs

she also makes some lovely hand spun art yarns using bats

that I card from my fibres, you can see them at

the bottom of the platter.

Vicky then hand knitted this fabulous flower below

using some of the hand spun yarn

How beautiful is that knitted flower and the ever so cute ladybird!

Then on the other side are the brighter funky

hand dyed merino pre-felts, batts for felt making

and needle felted flower embellishments.

Hey ho it's all felted!

Yesterday mornings lovely fluff carded bats

are now lovely touchy feely

pieces of felt.

Today my friends Rita (a fab hand spinner) and 

Vicky ( wonderful knitter also part time teacher!)

are coming round to help me make up creativity packs.

I pick all the bits and Rita has a flair for laying them out 

in their wee bags - what fun.

Vicky knits away always on hand to help out.

It's really a good excuse for a coffee and chat!

I've mostly been dying bits and pieces! What Fun.....

Fun, Fun, Fun.....

Hand dying Mulberry bark was a big

discovery for me last week....I love it

and think it will work in with both my loves cardmaking

and textiles

Then there's silk laps like a blanket of layers 

of silk fibre....

ooooooo the possibilities!

Have you ever seen a suri alpaca

- the ones with the really long curls...well this is

some of that and let's say if heaven was a fibre

it'd be pretty close.

recycled sari ribbon - every radiator in my house gets 

well used - this is Jacob's room!

Lots of silks...hankies, noils, topps

and a silk/alpaca/linen mix very interesting.....

So this morning I've be carding it all together with

some lovely merino....

So I can make felt this afternoon/evening.

I love it!

Just need to work out a way of avoiding purple hand syndrome

wearing gloves all the time would help!!!!!

Christmas cards....multi media.....

I hope the beginning of December is being good to everyone!

'

Some new pieces of felt with a project in mind!

Merino with Wensleydale, alpaca

Hand dyed Blue faced Leicester locks

and hand dyed silk .

It produces a really lovely light soft felt

with some soap and elbow grease!

Oh so hard at work!

The finished piece which has been printed by my

local printer and friend Scott at Largs Printing company

I haven't been around much as been really surprised

how well my new venture back in the world of textiles has taken off.

I have to say I think that I was meant to dye fibre,

 make felt and be surrounded by soggy piles of wet wool!

It's the life!!!!!