Cherry and Cinnamon at the MAK9 Craft Exchange Derry 2013

I was honoured to have been invited to exhibit at MAK 9's Craft exchange in Derry/Londonderry this weekend. No ordinary craft fair, the Craft Exchange was not about retail, but instead an opportunity to showcase, communicate and exchange ideas with other makers and the public. Such an great platform for local craft professionals to get out there and show what they can do. Great and nerve wrecking, as I'm struggle sometimes to describe what I do! Well I definitely got some practice on Saturday night :)

Hi my name's Bridgeen, I'm an illustrator with a passion for digital fabric design, and contemporary hand embroidery. I really love seeing my work in print. :-)

MAK9 was born out of the Craft & Design Collective at Space CRAFT in Belfast. The main instigators are Gail Mahon, Heather Wilson and Stuart Cairns.This awesome group of makers found common ground through their own practices which did not quite fit into any one category of Art, Craft or Design. At the heart of the group is a passion to explore how they can open up opportunities to others to join the conversation and debate on the diversity of current craft practice. This groups goals are something I really felt I could relate to and get behind, so I knew this was something I wanted to take part in.

Left:My Album cover portraits and Right: hand embellished shirt dress and stumpwork belt with my logo.

I'm some ways coming to textiles and craft via the route of digital illustration makes for a unique mixture of traditional and digital skills. When I first started out I couldn't see how the various strands of my creative practice related to one another, but now I can see how they are all part of the same thing. From the comics to fabric design, I love seeing my illustrations in print- and fabric is as versatile as paper and has taught me to consider colour, texture and design. My favourite part of comic illustration is inking- for me that's when the drawing really comes alive- my embroidery portraits like comic work are often about economy of line, and they just allow me to do my inking with a needle instead of a pen adding an extra layer of texture and depth. In the future I'd love to take a stab (pardon the embroidery pun) at creating drawings and designs for more traditional forms of print like lino-cutting too. It all feels like a full circle now- right down to the work I create for magazines- the common thread in my work is really drawing and print.

Left: My work in print ( & sneak peek of new Derry fabrics) Right: a recreation of my Crafty Magazine Cover

You can check out more photos from the event on MAK9's facebook page here.

Sublime Stitching Floss- A stitchy review and give away

I avidly follow Jenny Hart's embroidery endeavours over on Sublime Stitching and when she announced her own line of floss I was keen to try it. In fact when it was first previewed in October '12 I was thrilled Feeling Stitchy embroidery blog tested the floss on my kitsch witch pattern. Now I've finally got some Sublime Stitching floss for myself , I bought the complete set in one of the sale promotions earlier this year.

In this review I'm going to comment on three things that stood out about this floss compared to other brands: 1. the packaging, 2. the feel of the floss and 3. the colour range. And at the end I'll even give you a chance to try out some of Jenny's floss for yourself in a little give-away.

1. So firstly the packaging; I'm a sucker for cute packaging and this product is so pretty! You can't buy the Sublime stitching floss individually, they only come in little pre-picked palettes of seven. Each floss has its own cute name and  label, and there are 9 different palettes. The names helpfully suggest what the palette might be best used for, like 'Portrait' for faces and 'Flower box' for floral patterns etc.  The down side to the packaging is once out of their wallet its damn near impossible to get them back in. Also I found you can't easily pull the floss out of it's skein so you'll need to unwind a re-wind onto bobbins as soon as you want to use them. Such a shame you can't keep them in their pretty packages for long!

2. This leads me seamlessly into point number two, the feel of the floss. I found the threads tangled  easily when pulling them from the skein, so I was a bit frustrated to have to do the bobbing winding before I could really start any sewing. The floss feels dry almost papery, and looks well in a stitched project, but it does have a bit of a tendency to stick to itself. Luckily I had some Thread Heaven floss conditioner to hand and that really helped things along. Over all I think this is a good quality thread, it lays flat and has no fluffiness or fuzzy fibres, and looks good in thinner strands. Great for precise work I think, and the trick is to work in shorter strands for less tangle!

3. The colours. Now if any one knows that colour on the computer screen doesn't always match colours in real life its me! (Have you been following my fabric design exploits ? Go here to hear all about it). I was surprised to find the Sublime Stitching floss palettes were more vibrant than I was expecting. I like subtle colours in floss, so palettes Parlour, Flower box and Portrait really caught my eye. And I do like these ones best but they are quite strongly coloured, even the paler flosses.  I also noticed across the collection that many of the palettes are pretty similar in that they each have a red, orange,yellow, green, blue, neutral, black/white, spectrum combo. (None of the palettes are tonal, or based on one colour family except Portrait, for obvious reasons). The little palettes work well as complete sets in themselves, and mix well with other Sublime flosses colours in the range but for me there wasn't the variety of tones and shades I would have hoped for in a complete collection. That said, these colours are all punchy, eye-catching and bright. Great for motif embroidery, and perfect for accompaniment to loads of Sublime Stitching Patterns!

So do you fancy trying out some of the Sublime Stitching floss for yourself? Here's your chance!  The Breakdance palette pictured above is completely unopened and up for grabs. Also if you don't mind my mitts having been on them there's also a little selection of flosses (on the right ) from other palettes, including some  mingles, that I'd be happy to send to a new home.  All you have to do is enter the raffle below.  You have three ways to enter: 1.Share this Giveaway on  Twitter and leave me a comment to let me know you've done that. 2, sign up to follow this blog by email again leave me a comment so I know you did that, OR 3, simply leave me a comment, maybe you could tell me your favourite way to use variegated thread? 
Just REMEMBER to leave me some way I can find you!

Compettition closes Saturday 18th May at midnight.  Good Luck! B.x
(p.s This is open to international entries so everyone welcome). 


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for playing along this draw is now closed. I had lots of fun reading your suggestions and it's been lovely to make contact with so many new people. The prize can only go to one person and the Rafflecopter has choosen! Liz Lew please get in touch and send me your postage details! 
(If I don't hear anything in 7 days I will redraw a new winner)

Follow me on BlogLovin'

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

If you are reading this post, it means you are on the new updated version of cherryandcinnamon.com Yay!!!
I've recently begin using Bloglovin' to follow all my favourite blogs, it's really easy to use and maybe you might consider following me that way?

Or If you'd like, you can follow me by email. Just pop your email address in the box to the right there ---> (top right of the side bar) And you'll start receiving updates straight to your inbox when I post something new. That usually once, or maybe twice a week if I'm feeling particularly productive.
I'd love to have you along for the ride!

Stitchy love,
Bridgeen.x

Embroidered Teen Queens at the new London Street Gallery

If you are reading this post, it means the updated version of cherryandcinnamon.com has finally gone live! Yay!!! I had a few teething problems but at last here we are. If you are following me using a reader like bloglovin you will need to resubscribe to follow - my next post will be my first ever give away and you don't want to miss that!) You'll also need to resubscribe if you follow by email as the old emails came from my previous provider.

Anyway, some good news this week, my work has been accepted into the Emerge + See exhibition in Derry/Londonderry's new London Street Gallery, a very impressive space on two floors of an historic walled city centre building. The show opens to the public on Saturday 11th May at 8pm, (everyone welcome), and runs until 27th May 2013. I can't wait to see the show, the level of work submitted that I caught a glimpse of was truly excellent! I think this Gallery is an fantastic addition to the City of Culture, long may it last!
I'll be exhibiting my Teen Queens series of embroidery portraits featuring some of my favourite female teen icons of the 80's and 90's from The Breakfast Club, Twin Peaks and My So Called Life. Hope you can come along and see them in the 'flesh' ;-)

Free Carl Sagan 'Apple Pie' Embroidery Pattern

I recently took part in my first ever on-line embroidery swap, courtesy of the lovely Olisa at the Phat Quarter flickr group. They do this awesome online swap -meet on the fifth Friday of whichever month is lucky enough to have one. Despite being incredibly busy right now, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to take in their 'I f*cking Love Science' theme! I knew I wanted to make a tribute to one of my science heroes Carl Sagan, (spurred on by the fact that my swap partner was already a fan). I tried to create something that might look sweet and traditional, but has a message about science, inspiration and the wonders of the universe. So here's what I made: (You might recognise the Quote from his TV show Cosmos).



I love the idea of these embroidery swaps. You get to meet and be inspired by fellow embroidery enthusiasts: Check out my awesome partner's for this swap Rachel Rose and  Keeley Brodwaith, aren't they ace?  You get to make something for fun for someone who'll appreciate it, and get this- someone makes something for you! How awesome is that?  So, in the spirit of swapping and sharing I offer you my 'Apple Pie' Pattern  for free. To download just click on the image below, then right click to save. At it's current size it will fit a 6 or 7 inch hoop. And if you need a reversed version of the pattern you can find it here.



As ever, I'd love to see how yours turns out if you decide to stitch this!
(N.b. Copy right remains with cherryandcinnamon, and the pattern is for personal use only please. )

Cover artist for new Crafty Magazine

So the new issue of Crafty Magazine has just come out and I am super excited to have my project featured on the cover!



Back in March the editor got in touch to ask if I'd be interested in creating something Roy Lichtenstein inspired for the magazine. They knew all about my background in indie comics and figured this project would be right up my street. And they were right! I was thrilled to get to work and put my own spin on Lichtenstein's comic inspired images. And if you'd like to read more about it, Crafty also posted a great little interview with me on their website talking about embroidery, textile design and why I love pop-art here: www.craftymag.com

Craft Supplies- what am I making?

Super busy this week with no real time to blog. So I will tease you with a little glimpse at my latest craft supplies...



 

Felt, feathers, beads: can you guess what I'm making? To be fair the stuff here is for a few different projects, but this will give you a little glimmer of things to come :)

I often struggle to get the crafty bits and pieces I need as I have no dedicated craft stores where I live. I recently discovered Abakhan Fabrics online who are UK-based and offer mail order shopping and so far I couldn't be happier with their service. Worth checking out if like me, you get a little stuck finding  embroidery hoops and such.

What supplies do you find hard to get hold of? Wanna show me your craft stash? Love to hear from you in the comments below.