TangleClub October Update

We are currently in the midst of a beautiful Indian Summer here, so in keeping with the summer spirit, I am offering TangleClub members a slightly out-of-season Leftover Lavender cross stitch project, designed to use up the leftovers from your lavender harvest as well as your leftover off-cuts of embroidery threads.  This pattern is from a revised reprint of one of my first mini-zines, now available as a TangleClub exclusive e-zine.

In further TangleClub news, the very last TangleClub edition of the Mulberry Digest is currently going to print and will be sent out to TangleClub Deluxe members over the next 7 days or so.  TangleClub Deluxe is no longer available to new members (but existing members can continue to enjoy the benefits for the duration of their membership) but some alternative, new TangleClub membership options will be available in the near future, so watch out for updates!

 If you are not currently a member of the TangleClub but want to share the monthly freebie goodness,  click here for all current membership options, and remember, if you spend £5 or more in the TangleStore or TangleStore UK you will qualify for TangleClub Basic membership absolutely free!

A mail art embroidery

I don’t know why, but I have really been drawn to bird-related imagery recently.  Just before moving house, I started working on this small embroidery, which I charted from an illustration by Jay van Everen (from the book ‘The Laughing Prince’ by Parker Fillmore, c. 1921):

I completed it after the move, and although I’m not entirely happy with the lower left quarter, I can’t imagine re-charting/re-stitching any time soon, so this will suffice, for now!  I thought the adaptation worked really well, overall. 🙂

(I will probably release the chart in zine form, at some as yet unspecified future point.)

A Happy Mailday Round-up #1

Over the last week or two I have received some totally awesome pieces of mail art, and because I’ve been super-busy and not blogged them as they’ve arrived, that means there is a bumper blog-ful of cool stuff to share today. 🙂  (Although, because there is just so much stuff, I think I will be splitting the post into 2 halves, so look out for part 2, coming soon!)

First up is this completely unexpected e-postcard from Sean Woodward of Planet Dada (ironically actually located in my own hometown, Derby), which I received shortly after joining IUOMA (International Union of Mail Artists).

And shortly after that, this wonderful fabric postcard travelled all the way from Sam Farman in Australia and made me very happy indeed 😀 (you can tell, by the huge smile!).   She embroidered a chameleon with daisy-like camomile flowers, to create a fantastic chamomeleon.

I love any kind of daisies (cream gerbera with brown centres were my wedding flowers), and orange is one of my favourite colours, so I had several reasons to adore this postcard.  I am just in awe of Sam’s embroidery skills – and originality!  But on a more basic level, I was just quite impressed that the stamps remained successfully stuck to the fabric backing for the entirety of their journey, and I love that they are ‘properly’ postmarked (I always think the PO is cheating when mail is hand-cancelled with biro!).  Sam was the recipient of the doodle-stitch postcard I blogged a couple of weeks ago, which also apparently arrived without any undue mutilation – hurrah!  Check out Sam’s sunnysidey blog, and be impressed by her constant creativity!

Next up is something a little bit different!  But actually, this post is getting quite long, so I will continue my Happy Mailday round-up in another post, to follow shortly…  Watch this space!

Does anyone have any leftover lavender?

The reason I ask is, I’ve just added a new mini zine to my Etsy store that is absolutely packed with project suggestions for your leftovers.  The zine is printed on recycled paper embedded with real lavender flowers, and will show you how to make lavender sugar, tea, incense sticks, infused oils and more!  Cunningly concealed on the inside of the zine, you will also find a cross stitch embroidery pattern and instructions.  You just need to turn the zine inside-out to find it!  And if you don’t have the leftover threads in your stash to stitch the pattern, I have also put together a limited edition kit including 21 different shades of overdyed floss + fabric so you can get started straight away.  Check out listings for both zine and kit for more info.

[Update: June 10th] N.B. The first kit sold straight away, so I have just made up &  added a second.  There won’t be more than 5 kits made, so buy now if you want one!