Tin Dog mark 1

I have been thinking of making some tin 'creatures' for a while and I have just this week made my first tin dog using tins from the secondhand store and some metal odds and ends I had in my 'collection'

I used a 'Jodekoek' tin for the bodu and an old tea tin for the head. His tail is a candle snuffer and his ears and legs are offcuts from coffee machines ( I used to work in the coffee machine factory)

I have quite a few more tins all in nice shapes or with nice Dutch writing or pictures on them and so I am intending to makes a few friends for the dog.

Guerilla patchwork

 

Recently there have been a lot of stories about guerilla knitting. I love these impromptu works of art but my knitting skills are somewhat limited and so i have decided to adapt the idea to my own ends.

I have been coppicing trees in our garden and regularly save the young tree trunks never quite knowing what for but they are so nice it's a shame to cut them up and burn them. I also have a lot of fabric offcuts and was looking for another use for them too.

I am happy with the effects and the pieces are just tacked with glue into place but i intend to oversew them now with embroidery threads for the proper patchwork effect.

I am now looking for a suitably gnarled trunk with a few branches intact which is room height so I can wedge it into place in the livingroom from floor to ceiling.

Mushrooms growing on logs

Theses mushrooms have been inside my head for a while now. It's quite a relief to get them out and into 3D. Each mushroom is a mix of both new and recycled fabrics and they are fille with fibrefill.

 They are embellished with an assortment off new and old charms, beads, buttons and other little nik naks like crocheted ladybirds and flowers.

 

  I love to reuse old jewellery and clothing and I scour secondhand shops and markets for nice fabrics I can use.

 

 

 

Each one is totally unique and handmade by me. The logs are from young trees whichhave been coppiced to avoid overcrowding. The rings are clearly visible and there are in this group five rings in all.
 

They are for sale in my Etsy shop called MrsBellybuttonsfluff. There is a link top right of this page.

I really enjoyed making this first batch of mushrooms and am cerrtain to be making more as I have an idea for an entire pole covered in sprouting multi couloured fungi.