Rainbow Showers ATCs

 

These cards were all swapped and sent out a while ago now but I haven't had a chance to sit down and write about them to share with you all on here. I've only managed to do it today as I've dug out a second hand wearable baby holder and have the small screaming demon strapped to my front to keep my hands free!

These are the gloriously colourful Rainbow Showers April Stitchscape Swap cards and aren't they beautiful? So many rainbows in many different forms and, also, so many interesting takes on the theme. I love giving out themes and seeing where people run with them; just with this theme alone we have rainbow umbrellas in the rain, pots of gold at the end of rainbows, rainbow coloured droplets, the ingredients to make a rainbow, zentangle patterns, rainbow fields and many more!

The colours in these cards individually are lovely, but together they pack a rather powerful punch don't you think? You have bright rainbows, pale rainbows, pastel rainbows, dark rainbows... 

I love looking at the different ways of creating too. The scarecrow rainbow, for example, has a painted card background with the rainbow and sun, an embroidered felt field and scarecrow with fabulous textured outfit. Beads have then been stitched and glued (I think) across the whole piece to really bring it together and provide the rain droplets and a little sparkle!

It's great fun trying to figure out how everything has been achieved; have they painted or dyed the fabric, found the perfect fabric in a shop or their stash? Where did the inspiration come from; did the idea come first or did the thread/fabric/trimming? I mean, have you seen that gorgeous rainbow ombre ric-rac in the bottom row, second in from the left? 

These little sheep are so sweet and look to me like french knots using tapestry yarn, or similar weight, for the fleece with little black bead faces. I love the use of corduroy fabric for the ploughed field - it's such a perfect fit for the texture and looks great with the additional stitched crops on the top. 

The one above has come from Tracy in the USA and is based on 'Zentangle' patterns. I had to look up what Zentangle was but apparently they are unplanned, abstract, (usually black and white) patterns. Good old Google tells me that traditional 'Zentangles' are always created on 8.9cm/3.5" square tiles and always done in black ink on white paper. I think it's lovely that a traditional art form with set boundaries has been adapted to be used in an ATC, another art form with set boundaries!

I'd be interested to know, if you were to interpret this theme, what would you have done? 

Bluebell Woods & Finley

 

We nearly missed out on our annual Bluebell wood walk this year! I definitely blame a certain little someone for being so distracting and time consuming! Our beautiful little boy, Finley, was born on his due date (8th April) and is now nearly five weeks old - which just seems so incredible. 

It's been such a learning curve having this new, totally dependent, little being erupt into our lives, kicking and screaming. Everything feels like it's changed (and that I permanently live in a sleep deprived haze on the sofa) so it was really lovely to be able to continue the Bluebell wood walk tradition and enter the space of calm and serenity - this time with the milk monster coming along. Not that he noticed or appreciated the flowers, he was asleep in the sling the entire time!

These woodlands are a five minute walk from our house and the minute you enter the boundary it's like being transported to another place. It's instantly quieter, with just the sounds of birds chirping, or mice scurrying through the undergrowth, Blackbirds picking through the fallen leaves of last Autumn and the crunch of twigs underfoot. The smell is absolutely gorgeous too, sweet and gentle with a slight hint of damp from a recent rain shower. There isn't quite a smell like it anywhere else!

It was grey and overcast when we went this year, although quite mild in temperature. I like to check back on my blog for previous years to see what it was like; last year we brought my Bluebell Stitchscapes with us for a photoshoot in the sunshine (see here) and in 2020 - lockdown season- we spent a lot of time wandering in these woods on our 'Boris Breaks' (see here). We nearly missed the Bluebells this year really, they were slightly faded looking and a bit droopy by the time we got round to going for our walk. Hopefully next year we'll be able to bring Finley to toddle with us along the pathways and maybe appreciate his surroundings a little bit more! Bluebell wood appreciation is definitely something he will be taught by me.