Monday, November 30, 2015
Monday, November 23, 2015
Craft Ideas with Textiles
Craft Ideas with Textiles
The use of textiles plays an important part in all our the crafting projects we do at Colouricious. We have decorated textiles with patterns and designs since the beginning of time and in essence the methods we use today have changed very little from how they were first done.
Colouricious has lots of creative ideas on how to use textiles in your crafting projects and we have multiple videos and guides to show you exactly how to make each project. You can watch a number of the videos showing how you can make anything from paper from your old jeans to felt flowers on our Craft Ideas with Textiles page on our website.
Colouricious is so passionate about textiles and textile art that we have a range of DVDs covering lots of different textile techniques and skills. The DVDs will help you to learn and understand how to start creating your own projects. Each one is broken into easy to follow indexed chapters that you can watch and re-watch at your leisure. If you are just starting off in Textile Crafting then we have each DVD individually on sale on our website.
Last Call for Jaipur!
We have 3 spaces left on our wonderful trip to Jaipur that leaves in 11 days! If you take spur of the moment decisions or would like to give yourself an early Christmas present, or perhaps you have a crafting friend or relation that you would just like to treat, then get in contact with us straightaway and reserve one of these last three spaces.
The trip to Jaipur is probably one of our most popular holidays to India, as it gives everybody on the trip the opportunity to get involved in a number of different block printing groups and workshops. This is the essence of what Colouricious is about and is why I enjoy this holiday so much. I am sure that we are all going to have a great time on the trip, so if you want to grab a last minute ticket to join us then we would love to hear from you. You will not be disappointed.
Click on the video above to read all about the holiday to Jaipur and to watch how these wonderful wooden blocks are made.
Ideas for Christmas
Bird Wood Stamps
Our Bird blocks are always very popular as they are versatile and can be easily used on clothing as well as gift cards and presents. The block set above is called Two’s Company and is our Block of the Month for November. If you are interested in this set you can buy it here. If you just want to look at all of our Bird related blocks and plenty of other bits and pieces, then head over to our Bird Wood Stamps page and find the set that you like the most.
Come and see us at The Knitting & Stitching Show in Harrogate this coming weekend – we have some really gorgeous new blocks to share with you and some lovely artwork to inspire you!
Learn, Create, Be Happy!
kind regards
Jamie Malden
Colouricious
PS We have a favour to ask of you ……
when you watch one of our you tube videos actually on the you tube site, and you have enjoyed it, please can you click on the thumbs up! Thank you!
Be the first to be in the know. Get more of what you love!
Subscribe to our youtube channel to automatically receive notifications of when we upload new textile art ideas.
Craft Ideas with Textiles
Tuesday, November 17, 2015
Olive Branch
This amazing set features 11 fantastic blocks. The largest measures 7cm x 7cm, the smallest measuring 2cm x 2cm.
Olive Branch
Tropical Birds
The largest block measures 7cm by 7cm, whilst the smallest block measures 2cm by 2cm.
Tropical Birds
Roses & Co
The largest block measures at 8cm by 7cm, whilst the smallest block measures at 4cm by 2cm.
Roses & Co
Blooming Marvellous
The largest block measures 7cm by 7cm, whilst the smallest block measures, 4cm by 2.5cm.
Blooming Marvellous
Rabbits in a Field
This wonderful set contains many wonderful blocks for your crafts and textiles, with the 3 tulips block measuring 7cm by 5cm and the jumping rabbits block measuring 7cm by 7cm.
Rabbits in a Field
Monday, November 16, 2015
Beautiful Bead Embroidery
As the name implies, bead embroidery is the craft that involves adding beads as an embellishment to a fabric or material. The beads do not form a critical part of the structure of the project so you can be extra creative when the beads are sewn on. There are three fundamental methods of embroidering beads onto fabric:
- Individual – Beads are sewn on separately giving you very detailed control over the design you are creating.
- Multiple – Several beads are threaded onto the needle at once and then the line of beads is sewn onto the fabric. This enables the crafter to beads onto the fabric quickly and is an excellent way to build up the start f your design.
- Bead Strips – Lines of pre-threaded beads are laid onto the fabric and then stitched into place. This enables the crafter to quickly get a lot of beads onto a piece of fabric, but a design will be limited to the strips of beads that are available.
The craft of bead embroidery is practised all over the world and each technique has different names dependent upon where in the world it is done. In Europe techniques are known as Tambour and Luneville and are commonly used to embroider beads onto high quality dresses and accessories. In India bead embroidery is called Zari and Aari and can be identified by the beads being attached to the top of the fabric and a chain stitch is used to affix each bead to the fabric. To get the best results if you want to give bead embroidery a try, make sure the fabric is tightly stretched over a frame which will give you a good, tight, level surface for you to work on. It will also leave you with both hands free for embroidering, which can be helpful as the beads are small and the design soften very intricate.
Colouricious has a wonderful video about bead embroidering featuring Eliza McClelland who is an talented experienced British beader. You can learn some beading from her video below.To book Eliza to teach your group, you can contact her via her email address which is elizamcc@gmail.com
Bead embroidery is an excellent way to embellish block printed fabrics, highlighting the patterns and designs on the fabrics and making your designs stand out. You can see all of our printing blocks on our website.
We have had hours of creative fun block printing fabrics and then sewing beads onto the designs to embellish them. Very satisfying with gorgeous results. Choose your blocks from our ever expanding biggest selection in the universe!
Come to Kashmir
We are delighted that we have been able to organise a super trip to explore the traditional crafts of India in Kashmir. This is a fully escorted 13 day trip where we will explore the textile heritage of Kashmir as well as world famous the Hemis Festival.
The Hemis Monastery celebrates this event in the form of a 2-day festival. Its resident Lamas perform sacred masked dances leading to the destruction of the sacrificial offerings. Masks worn by the lamas represent various guardian divinities of the Dugpa order, of which Hemis is the leading establishment in Ladakh.
This 200 year-old tradition was introduced by a member of Ladakh’s ruling family who was reincarnated in the 18th century as the monastery’s Head Lama, “Sras Rimpoche”. The Hemis dances are a re-enactment of the magical feasts of Padmasambhava, in his services to the cause of Buddhism in his eight different manifestations.
During the tour you will get to see the crafts that have made Kahmir famous; carpet making and shawl making.
The Kashmir carpet industry is famous the world over. Kashmiri carpets are loved not only by the people of India but also by people in other countries. It is believed that the art of weaving Kashmiri carpets originated in Persia. Usually either silk or wool is used in making carpets. Sometimes a combination of silk and wool is used. Mercerized cotton is also sometimes used in making carpets. Mercerized cotton is a man-made fibre with sheen similar to that of silk. It is costlier than wool, but it is cheaper as compared to silk.
The base of these carpets is either made of cotton or silk. The ‘tree of life’ is a design that is very commonly found on Kashmiri carpets. Though the carpets made in Kashmir are expensive on account of their uniqueness and exquisite weaving, they are considered to be an investment.
Like Kashmiri carpets, shawls made in Kashmir are adored both in India and internationally. The Shahtoosh and Pashmina shawls made in Kashmir are world famous.
Shahtoosh shawls are made from the wool of the Tibetan antelope. These shawls are very light and soft. These shawls are extremely expensive because the wool used in making these shawls is scarce. The soft hair from the throat of the antelope is used for making these shawls. A few of these hairs fall off naturally when the antelopes graze. These hairs are collected and are then used in weaving shawls. Shahtoosh shawls may either be pure or mixed with Pashmina in order to reduce the cost. Shahtoosh shawls are so finely woven that the entire shawl can pass through a ring. It is for this reason that such shawls are known as ‘Ring shawls’. These shawls are usually not dyed and are used in their natural color i.e. light brown.
Pashmina shawls are made from the wool of the Kel sheep found in the Himalayan mountains. Such shawls are extremely soft and do not hurt the skin of the wearer. Pashmina scarves and stoles are also made. Pashmina shawls are less expensive as compared to Shahtoosh shawls.
Pashmina shawls usually have beautiful and heavy embroidery on them, while Shahtoosh shawls do not.
There is so much more we could tell you about this super trip to Kashmir. We have an outline schedule on our website, but if you want all of the details, then just fill in the form on the schedule tab of the holiday and you will be able to download a full itinerary showing you all of the hotels and places we will be visiting.
If this trip is of interest to you, go to the Kashmir Tour page and reserve your place now. We have just launched the holiday,but I am sure spaces will fill very quickly.
Alphabet Stamps
Our alphabet stamps give you the perfect opportunity to personalise all your gifts and cards. We have several different designs of fonts as well as some blocks of ancient styled text that will be beautiful as a background image on a paper design.
Take a good look at the alphabet stamps we have here.
Ideal Christmas Gifts
With Christmas fast approaching we have some great dieas that would make perfect presents for your crafting friends and family. Just click on any of the imides to be taken straight to our website
Learn, Create, Be Happy!
kind regards
Jamie Malden
Colouricious
PS We have a favour to ask of you ……
when you watch one of our you tube videos actually on the you tube site, and you have enjoyed it, please can you click on the thumbs up! Thank you!
Be the first to be in the know. Get more of what you love!
Subscribe to our youtube channel to automatically receive notifications of when we upload new textile art ideas.
Beautiful Bead Embroidery
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Christmas super printing set
includes a wonderful selection of Christmas themed wooden printing blocks and a box of 6 metallic paints suitable for textile printing but good for paper too – special price for one week only!
Christmas super printing set
Christmas super duper box
an A4 size box full to the brim of a selection of large to small wooden printing blocks for block printing all your Christmas projects from cards, wrapping paper, stockings, tree decorations and presents. Introductory and inspirational price reduced from £45 to £35 for one week only!
Christmas super duper box
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Bunny Wonderland
The largest two blocks measure 7.5cm by 7.5cm, whilst the smallest measures 4cm by 2.5 cm.
Bunny Wonderland
Monday, November 2, 2015
Use applique in your next project
Use applique in your next project
Appliqué (or “applied” when translated from French) is the art of affixing one item onto another to create a finished product. It is extensively used in textile arts to create decoration and depth to any craft product. It is also extensively used to renovate and revitalise old items of clothing into modern new pieces.
The item applied can be another piece of fabric or multiple pieces of fabric to achieve your goal. The fabric is normally folded in to create a nice clean edge, but there are plenty of creations that used the “frayed edge” of an appliquéd piece of fabric as part of the design so really there are no fixed rules on how to achieve the best results.
Individuals who make quilts use the appliqué method a lot as the technique lends itself to the square repetitive patterns that you often see on quilts. You will also see a lot of appliqué designs in products and crafts that are made in India and the sub-continent.
Colouricious have several videos that show how to create beautiful appliqué designs and you can visit our Appliqué textile technique page to watch and follow them.
If you would like to explore how to integrate appliqué techniques into your next craft product, then the Colouricious range of DVDs has a number of projects that would be ideal for Appliqué. The Recycled Reborn DVD is a perfect example showing how the creative use of appliqué can transform old clothes and fabrics into new modern designs. You can watch excerpts of the DVD and then make a purchase if you wish.
Everybody has an Angel
With the festive season soon upon us, what better way to decorate and personalise your gifts and cards than with an Angel. We have a beautiful set of 6 angels that will be perfect for you to use on gifts and cards for people of any age. From children through to grandparents there is an angel in this pack for them. It is excellent value at £35 and you can buy the set by visiting our website.
We have plenty of other sets of blocks that are suitable for Christmas and the season in our Latest Arrivals section, so why not take a look now and see what you can find.
Stitch Tour of Southern India
No sooner than we have seen in 2016 then we are off on a wonderful trip to Southern India and Kerala. In South India, textiles are considered to be one of the highest form of art and spiritual expression. The knowledge and skills required to create these textiles have been passed down through generations. This tour provides opportunity to explore and experience various kind of textile weaving and handicrafts. You will also have the chance to see magnificent temples, house boats, backwaters, villages to experience rural life, and know more about South Indian friendly and ever smiling people, their traditions and way of life and explore the scenic beauty of Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
This is a 17 day tour and we will be visiting loads of different places watching workshops and villagers show off their skills at textile art.
This is an exciting trip as we are venturing to places we have never been to before. If this trip is of interest to you, then we have a few places available, so please head over to our website and reserve your place by filling in our booking form.
Next Quilt Show
Colouricious is off to Dublin!
From 12th – 15th November I will be at The Knitting & Stitching Show held at Simmonscourt, RDS, Dublin. I am really looking forward to the show and I am sure there will be loads of Colouricious Club members popping in to say hello. I will be at stand K46, so if you are going to the show please come over and say hello, I would love to see you.
Learn, Create, Be Happy!
kind regards
Jamie Malden
Colouricious
PS We have a favour to ask of you ……
when you watch one of our you tube videos actually on the you tube site, and you have enjoyed it, please can you click on the thumbs up! Thank you!
Be the first to be in the know. Get more of what you love!
Subscribe to our youtube channel to automatically receive notifications of when we upload new textile art ideas.
Use applique in your next project
Sunday, November 1, 2015
Paper Craft - Jewellery Making - Block Printing
Paper Craft – Jewellery Making – Block Printing
Try the crafting ideas of bead making to make your own jewellery, this jewellery making idea is block printing onto old papers with Colouricious wooden printing blocks to make beads that are free and easy to make. Have a go at this bead making craft idea and have fun with your block printing. You can produce fabulous pieces of jewellery that you can wear yourself or give as a gift to who ever you like! Whether you want a fabulous bracelet, wonderful necklace or a pair of beautiful earrings, it’s up to you! This is fun for people of any age or arts and craft experience, and will ensure hours of fun. The choices are never ending with our range of blocks. Try making the jewellery in any colour you like. All you need is a few spare beads, some Colouricious wooden printing blocks, paint and spare paper! This is a great fun and a fabulous craft idea. Look at our examples below.
See our full range of Colouricious Wooden Printing Blocks for your textile art inspiration that can lead to other crafts. We have an amazing range of blocks. Large or small, detailed or basic. You can create any piece of jewellery you can imagine with the amazing range of blocks.
Paper Craft - Jewellery Making - Block Printing
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