CHARM ABOUT YOU

You may have seen these polaroid blocks if you're following me on instagram, well I made a couple more and turned them into a zip pouch! What follows is a mini tutorial of how to stamp text on fabric and also a little explanation of those words.

The fabric used for fussy cutting is Menagerie, Indian Summer by Sarah Watson. One of my favourite prints. I picked out a few animals to fussy cut and the sketched design of the print works really well for the polaroids. I used Paint Dot, Paper Bandana by Alexia Abegg for the background. Such pretty dots and the colours are just perfect.

I have 'written' on polaroid blocks before (I don't like that empty space) - embroidered text - but I just didn't have time for that. I needed something quick and so turned to stamping. The same method I used to stamp my initials on the bottom of my Everything In It's Place Bag.

It requires a rubber stamp alphabet, the kind you can get from stationery or craft shops. Each letter is an individual stamp - clear stamps with an acrylic block are definitely the easiest to use because you can really see where you are placing the letters. 

To use them you simple peel the letters you need from the plastic backing and 'stick' them to the acrylic block to spell the word you want to stamp. I used a Memento Dew Drop Ink Pad, a really nice sized ink pad for the small letters.

Then to make the letters waterproof and also more even I went over them with a fine Pigma Micron pen. The 02 was the perfect line width for my letters. Finally it's important to heat set the ink with a dry iron.

*I managed to spill water on 'strength' (hence the smudging) while ironing the piecing before using the micron pen so do that sooner rather than later!

So why did I stamp those words?

I like surrounding myself with things that make me smile, positive images and words. I have a book Animal Wisdom by Jessica Dawn Palmer, which is all about the myths, folk stories and traditions that surround the animals. I looked up the bear, owl, fox and racoon, then chose the words that most appealed to me. The ones I feel are important, mean something and I want to always be part of me. It will just give me a reminder and boost when I see those words.

I would like to be a more adaptable person, I struggle with change a lot and it has led to anxiety.

Physical strength is important to me but also inner strength and mama bear strength.

Honesty and instinct come fairly naturally but I sometimes silence my instincts and that leads me to not be honest with myself. Doing my #100daysofsilentsewing project is really helping me to focus more on my instinct and the silence is so calming.

It's been a crazy busy month and despite lots of ideas for the ink theme I left it until the last minute again!! I came across a cute vintage elf embroidery pattern on pinterest, it was credited to Crafty Modern but despite lots of googling I can't find the original pattern so that's as much info as I can give.

My daughter was recently given some brilliant pens for her birthday, some of which are glittery! I asked her if I could borrow them and got to work. I traced the image using my lightbox and had lots of fun picking the colours: