This design came from a photocopy transferred to the fabric background using the Bondaweb method. I painted Puff Paint onto the body of the eagle and heated it to raise the texture, then added the terracotta colour with a Sakura Glaze pen and sprayed it with Moonshadow Mist. Split silk carrier rods were added to form a border and stitched down with an automatic stitch then zigzagged to the page. He looks a bit like an oven ready chicken, but these are all experimental rather than 'proper' pieces and serve as a good reminder for future reference.
The cover is made from 'fabric paper' made following Beryl Dean's instructions. I lined it with dyed fabric and bound the edges with ribbon. The central panel is made from foil chocolate wrapper bonded to felt and a shrink plastic lion motif is stitched in the centre. The letters are from a sheet of decorative adhesive alphabet tiles.
I found a tiny padlock which I thought would be fun to fasten the book - it threads through two tiny clear plastic rings. I would rather have had brass ones but these are not too obtrusive.
I even remembered to make a note of all the techniques and materials I used and put them into a little book which slots into a pocket in the inner lining/end paper. You're probably sick and tired of hearing about medieval tile designs but you can relax now - that is the end of them.
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Today is my mother's 102nd birthday though I'm not sure she knew what all the fuss was about. I went to see her with one of our daughters and while we were there our eldest daughter arrived with her daughter and her two children aged six months and two and a half. We filled one corner of one of the Care Home lounges with our five generations. There were no other residents in that lounge so we didn't disturb anyone. If I had known that we would all have been there together I would have taken the camera with me. The baby is being christened on Sunday and I am very relieved that it has turned a bit milder - my best bib and tucker is not as warm as all the layers I have been bundled into recently.