Gauche Alchemy 3

Here are the last 2 projects I made in my capacity as Guest Designer for Gauche Alchemy. Both could be individual collages but I made them to also fit into the book (in the Bare Nekkid kit I worked with and which you can obtain here) and the cover for which you can see in my previous Gauche Alchemy post a week ago. You can also see these two pages on the current Gauche Alchemy site. Full instructions for making these pages beneath:

Eye Page
5 x 7”

Start with a piece of corrugated cardstock (kit) and cut to size 5 x 7”
Rub the surface with both a gold and a sepia inkpad.
Stitch a length of the lace (kit) along the bottom edge.
Tear a piece of text paper (kit), rub the edges with a sepia stamp pad. Tear a slightly smaller piece of craft cork (kit), stamp with a text stamp (I used KK2622 Life connects… from Hampton Art Stamps), and age the edges as above.
Tear an even smaller piece of brown paper (I used the wrapping paper the kit came in), stamp on the eye (The All Seeing Eye from Uptown Design) and age the edges as above.
Layer up all these pieces as shown on top of the corrugate card and stitch together by machine using a decorative thread. Sew slowly! There are a lot of layers but your machine should manage fine.
If you prefer, you could also glue all these layers together, one at a time.
Stamp a small tag (kit) with the text from Life Consists… stamp (see above) and adhere as shown with a brad (kit).
Stick on the self-adhesive EYE letters (Real Life Antique Letters).
Adhere the black vintage brooch as shown through the corrugated ribbles of the card stock. I found this in a second-hand shop so you probably won’t find something identical but search through your own vintage treasures and I’m sure you’ll find something equally suitable!)

Love page
5 x 7”

Make a small quiltie (size 5 x 7”) by layering up a piece of vintage napkin (with fringe attached to one of the short sides) and batting. Machine quilt the layers together using your preferred method. Zigzag stitch the long sides closed.
Transfer an image from a cabinet card to cotton, using a fabric sheet and following the manufacturers’ instructions. Layer with a piece of sepia coloured transparent fabric and stitch onto your background as shown. Sew on a strip of lace and the brown wire ribbon (kit) to the left of this image.
Machine stitch 3 lines to the bottom with metallic thread.
Add embellishment as follows:
Sew on 3 buttons (kit) on top of the brown wire ribbon
Sew size 11 seed beads around the edge of the image
Glue on 4 photo corners (kit)
Sew on 5 vintage buttons to the bottom of the piece as shown
Glue on the self-adhesive LOVE letters (kit)

Gauche Alchemy 2

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm the Guest Designer for November on the Gauche Alchemy site. And here are the next two projects on show there at the moment. The first is the cover of a book, the kit for which is included in the Bare Nekkid kit (which you can buy here!). Instructions are to be found below and also on the Gauche Alchemy site here.

Flower Book Cover
5 x 7”
Using the various papers from the kit, stamp on 6 large flowers, 6 medium and 6 small ones. There are many stamps like this available. The choice is up to you but I used Hero Arts Magical Flower CG284 (the large flower) and Hero Arts Layered Flowers CL496 (the medium and small flower). Cut out and colour in. I used Promarkers for this (remember not to use Staz-on for the stamping in that case!).
Layer them up, 1 large flower at the bottom, followed by 1 medium and 1 small one to make a total of 6 flowers. Stitch them together from the bottom, add a sequin and a size 11 seed bead. Miss the bead but go through the sequin and flowers again to the back. Knot off the thread, cut it and tape the ends down at the back.
Glue the 6 flowers to the front of the Art Deco Album cover (kit).


And I also made several pages for the book, the first of which you can see above and also on the Gauche Alchemy site here:

My Heart Page
Size 5 x 7”

Cut a piece sized 5 x 7” from one of the decorative pages from your kit and stamp a textured stamp all over the surface. I used text but merely as a texture so have used it mainly upside down so as not to distract from the main focal point.
Layer black lace (kit) behind this piece and stitch around all the edges.
Add a small vintage handkerchief on point on top and stitch down.
Add a strip of the circle paper (kit) as shown and stitch down.
On top of all this add a torn piece of painted paper and stitch down.
Add the self-adhesive letters MY HEART (kit) to the rusty heart and add Glossy Accents on top of each letter. Let dry.
Glue on the heart as shown using Diamond Glaze or another strong adhesive.
Finally make holes in the left hand side corresponding with the holes of the Art Deco Album (kit) and set in eyelets. Glue the page to one of the pages of the album (kit).

There will be more pages coming up next week!

Journey Quiltie and Memory ATC for Gauche Alchemy

Here are the first items I made with the wonderful Bare Nekkid kit, that I was send as their guest Designer for November, by Gauche Alchemy. The most important thing you need to know right from the start is that you can buy this kit yourself by going to this link here. You can read about it too on the Gauche Alchemy blogpost but I'm also going to give you the full instructions here on this blog about how to make both this quiltie and the ATC shown below.

Journey Quiltie
10.5” square

Start with one fabric, slightly larger than you want your finished size to be. I used a vintage linen napkin which had been tea-dyed. Layer it up with batting and iron the two together. On such a small piece there is no need to tack. The ironing alone will keep the layers together.
Sew materials randomly to the surface using your sewing machine and a thread of your choice (I used a metallic one). I added fabrics, laces but also sequin waste (kit) as well as corrugated cardstock (kit) and other papers from the kit.
When I added the embroidered green silk piece, it suddenly looked to me like a tree and that determined the direction I took my quiltie in. Always be on the lookout for where your art wants to go.
I started adding subsequent materials in a more planned way such as the Time text (kit). When happy with the layout, cut the piece to your desired size (mine was 10.1/2” square).
Cut out the paper bird from the paper (kit) and glue it onto the background where you want it, using either Wonder-Under, fabric glue or a Xyron Creatopia with the fabric glue cartridge (as I did). Stitch along the entire outline of the bird by machine using a thread of your choice.
Stamp your chosen word (I used Journey) onto one of the papers of your kit using a vintage colour such as Versafine Vintage Sepia and also distress the edges of the paper by rubbing it with the inkpad. Stitch into position as shown.
Cut out the backing fabric approx. 3/8” wider than the quiltie on all sides and iron on Wonder-Under to the wrong side of this fabric following the manufacturers’ instructions. Remove the paper from the Wonder-Under and iron the backing fabric to the batting, making sure there is 3/8” sticking out on all sides. Fold this ¾” over to the front of the quiltie on all sides; iron into position and then zigzag stitch it down along its edges.
Finally it’s time to add embellishments (always my favourite part!). I added hand stitching in the shape of running stitch to the red Indian fabric to slightly reduce the shininess and I also added cross stitching on the visible areas of the napkin. I used gold size 11 seed beads to decorate the tree, copper beads around the Journey word and finally green ones (echoing the colour of the tree) around the entire perimeter of the piece.
Don’t forget to add a label on the back with your name and a hanging sleeve and enjoy!



Memory ATC


Cut an ATC sized (2.5 x 3.5”) piece from one of the papers (kit) and layer with a similar sized piece of black craft felt. Stitch together along all the edges.
Stamp the eye (Eye & Brow no. 2182 stamp by Hampton Art Stamps) onto another one of the papers (kit), cut out and glue onto one of the brown tags (kit). Distress the edges of the tag using black stamp pad.
Glue onto brown torn wrapping paper. Glue all this onto the ATC as shown and stitch around the eye through all the layers.
Tear Memory text from one of the papers (kit) and glue underneath the eye. Cover with the wire ribbon (kit) and sew this on over the saying.
Cover the entire ATC with a transparent leaf fabric and sew around all the edges.
Layer the ATC with a black ATC sized piece of cardstock and using satin stitch sew around the entrie perimeter of the card using metallic thread.

Gauche Alchemy

Today offered up sunshine, mist and frost all at the same time. In short a typical autumn day here in the Scottish Borders as you can see above. This picture (also my blip for today) was taking from our front garden early in the morning.

It's pretty cold outside but inside I'm all warm and fuzzy feeling due to the fact that I have been announced on the Gauche Alchemy site as their Guest Designer for the entire month of November. You can read all about it on this post there, but I'm keeping my projects a secret till they are announced on the same spot in days to come. However I can reveal I did squeal with delight when I opened the kit they send me. And I love the work that was inspired by the pieces I did for Gauche Alchemy and which can be seen here.

All the pieces I've done for Gauche Alchemy will come with tutorials both there and here and uploads will happen on 10th, 17th and 23rd of this month.

Gauche Alchemy Blog Interview

I'm really very proud and pleased to announce that I have been interviewed on the Gauche Alchemy blog by Maggi. She has done a great job, asking really good questions which made me think and reflect on the way I make art as well as why I do so. Thanks a million, Maggi!

And to celebrate and in keeping with the interview a picture of one of my mixed-media collages or you could call them mixed-media quilties (as there are 3 layers, one of which is wadding (batting) called Life is a Journey.