I bought some ribbon before Christmas, from the local market, wired edged ombre ribbon. Because the colours are graduated I thought they would make interesting flowers. I cut a length of ribbon 70cm long, removed the wire, by pulling it, from one edge, the base edge. At either end of the ribbon I folded over the ends, as shown in the photograph. With a needle and thread I sewed a running stitch along the length of the ribbon. I pulled the thread, to gather the ribbon, not too gathered or the flower would look like a rosette! I needed to form the rose naturalistically, so this stage was a bit of trial and error. Once the desired rose form was achieved, I stitch it securely together at the base. The wired edge allowed me to shape and form the ribbon, to give the appearance of petals. I think these roses have lots of possibilities, they could be used to decorate a hat, hair band, corsage, an evening bag and lots more.  

I got my ribbon from the local market, the haberdashery stall sells ribbon in 3 meter bundles for 60p, it's a bit of a lucky dip though, alternatively you could get it from VV Rouleaux for over £2.50 per metre.

I made my two pieces of Redwork embroidery into a removable book cover. I realise a white cover isn't the most practical colour, but it is washable, and a few coffee stains might compliment the design!

This has been a work in progress since the 24th November 2009. It doesn't take a lot of effort, it takes a bit of patience. I am on the home straight now, making the syrup. After making the syrup I realised the jar I had used, initially, wasn't going to have enough capacity for both syrup and vodka/lemon peel. I had to find another receptacle, a glass cookie jar was the only container suitable, I had to hand. I put in less of the syrup, than stated in the recipe, after a little tasting (it's tasting good!), I thought it was sweet enough. I'll now put it back in a cool dark place for another month, then I'll decant it into a bottle. Limoncello liqueur recipe 

Tracey over at Searching My Art (pop over and see Tracey's lovely blog) has sent me an award for inspiration and friendship, it really is much appreciated, thank you.

Today I did a sketch of my kettle, turned it into a line drawing then embroidered it. Redwork is addictive, no household object is safe from the Redwork treatment, the more mundane the better! Find out more about Redwork, history and method here

Yesterday I drew an espresso coffeepot, today I have turned it into an embroidery. I wanted to try Redwork. You can find out more about Redwork, the history and method here I traced my line drawing, of the coffeepot, onto white cotton fabric, I don't have a light box so used my window to do this. I traced the image using a red propelling pencil, this gave ma a fine line, the same colour as my thread. The stitch I used was backstitch, couldn't be easier. The basic principal of Redwork is you only use a single colour in your design, it doesn't have to be red it could be black, then it would be called black Redwork. I really like the clean graphic effect this form of embroidery gives me.

I decided to do a sketch today, for my Thing-a-day. I haven't sketched for years, at home I am surrounded by more accomplished artists (husband, son and daughter) this is a bit of an inhibiter. But today I want to draw something that is personal to me. I collect espresso coffeepots so that's my first sketch. I then turned my sketch into a line drawing, the next stage will be to translate it into Redwork embroidery. You can find out more about Redwork here

First make a pattern, to do this measure the height and around your book plus an amount for inside flaps. Add a seam allowance of 1cm (3/8th") all round plus an extra 0.5cm (3/16th") to the top and bottom of your pattern.

Cut out two pieces from the pattern.

Place the 2 pieces right sides together, and pin them.

Using a straight stitch, sew them together along the edges (seam allowance of 1cm (3/8th"). Leave a 5cm (2") gap, along one of the short edges, and use it to turn the cover right side out.

Trim the corners, so that there won't be any bulky fabric when you turn it right side out.

Turn right side out, Sew the gap closed and press.

Take your cover and wrap it around your book so that the flaps on the inside are even on the front and back, mark with pins.

Carefully remove your book and iron the flaps down so that you have a visible crease. Now sew the flaps down at the top and bottom edges of your book cover, as close to the edges as you can get it.

Slip your cover on to your book