Thursday 10 April 2014

Easter Hoop

Just before I launch into my description I wanted to share a story which made me feel good.
A few weeks ago we had a new postman, a cheeky chappie with an infectious grin. I realised almost immediately that I used to teach him when he was an eight year old. We chatted and he seemed pleased to see me too. He was the kind of child who came to school because he had to and just wanted to be a bit silly. No malice to him, just a normal little boy who found learning a bit of an unnecessary part of his life. I liked Adam and tried to make life as fun as possible. At the end of the year I had a lovely letter from his parents thanking me and saying that he now didn't mind going to school etc.
This morning I photocopied the letter and gave it to him to show his Mum. He grinned like a little boy again. Oooooo my Mums writing looks just the same, he said , and held it carefully because he didn't want to crease it. Made me smile too.

Anyway, Katrina Rollings came into our lives yesterday and gave us yet another refreshing idea to play with. I stored it in the back of my mind and got on with washing tidying etc. When I was in the spare bedroom tidying away some craft boxes I just spotted an embroidery hoop, and, Ping!! an idea blossomed. So here it is.
I started by cutting lonnnng triangles of paper left over from my theatre project. I rolled them round a skewer, glued them and wound wire around them to make beads. I glazed them with PA gloss glaze.

Next I used Katrina's baby wipe method to paint onto white card. loved the technique because it was quick and I like quick! I used 2 different colour schemes on one piece of card mimicking the colours of my theatre.

I stamped various Lynne Perrella images onto the card with Versafine in Sepia. I then die cut some of the images using Lin Brown's die and reversed each one to be able to glue back to back. I also added a dragonfly PA die and cut out a rectangle. I used Treasure Gold to highlight around my shapes.
I threaded ribbon onto a large needle and threaded my beads, some PA beads and a few others as well as my glued and stuffed images and a couple of skeleton leaves. They are there because of the lovely Julie Ann and her last blog post where she used leaves.
I wrapped my hoop up in bandage and painted it with the same fresco paints in the blue range that I used before. Then I wound wools and ribbons around it. 
Finally I tied my three hangings in place and Abracadabra….another finished project.
The hardest bit was taking a photo to show it off. Decided upon a garden setting.
Pleased with it and thanks to Katrina, you gave me another fun playtime.


14 comments:

  1. Loving your Dream Catcher style hoop, lovely colours, great beads and a wonderful finished project. Are you going to hang it in your garden or your house? :-) xxx

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  2. Fabulous idea and great make Hazel. Love those beads, excellent idea to use your scraps and the wire finishes them off perfectly xx

    Sam xxx

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  3. wow great idea, fab mix of the project and a dreamcatcher. loved the postie story, so cool that you kept his Mum's letter.

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  4. What a brilliant idea, Lesley. And how nice that one PA project led so neatly and spontaneously into another! It's great that you were able to use what was left from your theatre to make beads! I love doing that. This is a beautiful dream-catcher - such an original idea so well executed! I love the story of your postman. Sometimes I encounter ex-students too and it's lovely to see the people they have become. Teaching isn't easy, but it does have its rewards. Julie Ann xxx

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  5. How clever & it looks wonderful.

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  6. Wow Hazel, you are unstoppable, lol! Fab project and love your beads. They would have made a lovely necklace.

    Thanks for telling us your postie story. Lovely to know that you probably played a big part in him turning into a nice to know adult which as a Mum was always the most important thing to me with my own children.

    Hugs
    Lesley Xx

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  7. Oh! This is a brilliant Dreamcatcher and beautiful story Hazel. Fab marbles and beautiful threaded ribbon around the hoop. I especially like Lynne Perrella images that look slightly. I want to order PA dragonfly die.... xx

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  8. Hazel,
    Oh my that story was the best, I can't believe you kept the letter so long. I've moved so much I can't find anything. Your project is amazing and so creative.

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  9. Loved your story! As a parent of school aged children I can attest to the value we place on a good teacher and it's terrific to know that teachers value our thanks years later!!! Love the dream catcher, such a brilliant idea!

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  10. This is beautiful Hazel...lovely happy colours and a great idea!! The postman story made me smile xx

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  11. It's gorgeous Hazel, so clever of you. I will save a special cupcake for you at Stamp Magic! ;-) X

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  12. It's gorgeous Hazel, so clever of you. I will save a special cupcake for you at Stamp Magic! ;-) X

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  13. Oh it's wonderful! I loved your story at the beginning too.

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  14. Wow, it's fab! I love the beads and the whole thing is so bright and colourful.

    Emma x

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