By The Ocean ATCs

 

I think I may be addicted to making these little cards - at the rate I'm going I'll have done the entire year's worth of themes in a couple of months and then I'll be twiddling my thumbs in Autumn trying to think of other ones to make! They are just so much fun to do and present a whole different set of challenges being on a smaller scale. You have to think a little bit more about composition and the scale of your stitches or trimmings or beads that you are using and, for me, I like to also think of ways to make each one individual whilst all looking relatively the same.

This set of cards is for the June swap, the theme of which is By/Under the Ocean. I've gone more for By the Ocean as, whilst rifling through my stash, I came across my 'beach hut stripe' fabric which is a fat quarter I bought several years ago that has four colour sets of stripes across it. Each colour stripe is separated by a white stripe, and they are in sets of three shades; orange in three shades, yellow, green and brown. Almost like a striped ombre. The scale of these stripes was brilliant because it meant I could use all three shades in one hut without it being oversized and they look pleasingly regular too, if you know what I mean?

I knew I wanted to use the different colours on each card, but I'm not keen on brown beach huts so I asked my lovely other half which his favourite colour set was and he chose the orange one which is why there are two of those.

I've tried not to overcomplicate these. The beach in my mind is serene, sandy, with the odd shell or sand worm cast, slight scrubby grasses toward the edge where it turns into a more rocky, grassy area, and with the waves lapping in and out with that delightful whoosh whoosh noise as they swap sea treasures with the sand. 

The top blue fabric is one that already has a slight cloudy look to it and I haven't done any stitching to that, save for the single strand fly stitch birds that are passing by. 

The light blue fabric underneath is a Makower Linea print and I've just highlighted the horizontal stripes with a single strand of back stitch to add texture, and some french knots on top. 

Underneath that I've got a gorgeous batik fabric which has blue dots on and some strange little leaf shapes every now and then. I like in particular how this fabric has differed in each card. One of the cards has no leaf shapes at all but lots of dots, which I've gone over in a rough sort of satin stitch to bring out a 'bobble' texture. Others have less blue dots but more shapes in, which I've gone around in a single strand of back stitch - mainly to help hold this fabric down where there are so few bobbles. This has been edged in bullion knots. 

The beach huts themselves were worked on first if I recall rightly because I was slightly concerned with them fraying (they are just cut and tacked down - not glued or anything with fusible films). I have worked back stitch up each of the inner stripes and then whip stitched over the top to give a chunky texture. In my mind I was thinking of weather-beaten boards that were slightly out of place from each other with obvious gaps between them and a rustic charm. 

The outer edge of the hut has been edged with trusty blanket stitch to stop any frays and then I was left with the conundrum of what to do with the roof and door! In previous little huts I've either used another fabric for these or stitched them on but I didn't know what colours to do them so in the end I plumped for using white felt for the door, initially stitched straight down the middle to hold it in place whilst I blanket stitched around those edges to match. Little tiny french knots have made door handles which I think look really sweet. 

The roofs are entirely stitched and I've used an off white here to try and give them a more salty/sun bleached look? I've used long straight stitches which are worked from the outside edges of the fabric up toward the top of the point and then, to help hold them, I've done little stitches perpendicularly across these to sort of look like slats but, more practically, to stop the stitches moving and revealing the beach hut colours underneath. I was careful to angle each side so that it matches the slope of the opposite roof angle. 

The sandy layer beneath has been edged with a sweet baby ric-ric trimming I found in the-stitchery in Lewes when I went to restock them with Stitchscape kits. I tend to try and stitch over ric-rac rather than through it because it can be fairly tough to do! I've ignored the big circle pattern on the fabric print itself and just worked random horizontal straight stitches to kind of emulate those ripples you get on the sand, and added some shell looking things with bullion knots. 

Above the ric-rac I've added some scrub plants with a two strand fly stitch, kind of blending the beach huts into their surroundings to look like they've been part of the scenery for a while. 

I love the fabric I've used for the sea. It had a print which looked like big scales, or waves coming in and I've kept these shapes as the base for my wave shapes - you can still see the print where the lines are whiter and more of a faded blue which reminded me of the little light ripples, or sea horses dancing in to the shore. 

Last year I came up with a technique of using blanket stitch to make wave-like features and I wanted to use that here. The blanket stitches themselves are worked off rows of back stitch which help to keep things regular and in shape so firstly I've followed the lines of the print with a single strand of back stitch in a dark blue to match the fabric colour. 

The blanket stitches then start at the sand line (you have to consider whether you want your water to be going in or out and this will dictate which side you start with because the stitches will sit on top of each other) and the upside-down 'L' shapes worked into the join of each back stitch, but the length of the blanket stitches can vary and be angled differently to give a more organic look. The rows underneath them are worked over the top and can layer over, or keep gaps between the rows to fill with knots. 

Waves were angled in from the side as the different sections are layered up, and the last blanket stitch rows to go in are at the bottom of the card so that they look like they are about to roll over those nearer the beach. I hope that sort of makes sense?

I've filled any gaps in the blanket stitch waves, or odd edges on the sand with french knots, firstly in white in different sizes (three, two or one twists), then in a light metallic blue for a touch of light sparkle, and finally with some little beads because I found them in my sewing box and the water wasn't quite sparkly enough!

There are obviously so many ways I could have approached the water, with lots of french knots (for lots of spray) rough satin stitches to build up texture, rows and rows of whipped running stitch to create more linear waves... but I'm pretty pleased with my more abstract interpretation. 

Because the huts are slightly different colours, they also work really well together in a row don't you think? If I wasn't swapping them I could frame them in one long frame as a set!

I'm so looking forward to seeing how everyone else interprets this theme - it's a pretty open one as you could look at coral reefs, rockpools, the beach, the open sea, different sea creatures, cliff faces, ocean sports.... Maybe I could just keep re-doing this theme actually in my bid to make as many artist trading cards as possible. I do love them so!