New Pillows!

I love to experiment, some things work, some don't, but I learn about products and how I can change things to improve on them.
I wanted to use fabric markers and still get a prim folk art look. I started with marvy markers, then I added some watercolor pencil and art pens. I think I got carried away and turned my colors to mud. What I need to do is, have more markers in coordinating colors, so I can shade without overdoing it. I like the marvy markers, they go on nicely, they don't bleed and can be washed.

When I was done, I started by painting on distress ink, not a good idea. The watercolors started to bleed out. So, I tamped up some of the color and then tried a light spray and that worked without bleeding. I guess I should have heat set the colors first, then added the spray;) But it worked in the end, the cloth was pure white and the spray gave it a nice aged look and covered what little red that was showing.

The design is a freebie that I found at Mary Corbet's site. She has some nice embroideries and wonderful tutorials on stitches. To make the piece, I lay the white fabric onto the pattern with a light box. I taped the pattern and fabric, so it wouldn't move. Then I colored in the design with the markers. Once that was done, I took it off and added the shading. The original shading was nice, but then I added more and it a lot of it blended in. Once that was done, I outlined the design with two strands of floss and added little details. I forgot to do the big flower, duh to me;)

This would be fun to do with small hearts too and hang them on a prim, valentine tree.
I distressed this piece with Distress It, on the cloth, before I made the pillow, I think it stained nicely.



I also made some more little pillows from Tiffany's designs. I am in a rabbit and easter mood, so the bunny if going to go into a new project I will be trying out. The pillows are made with tea stained fabric from moda, a light and a dark shade. I used distress on them, after I made them into pillows, and they didn't stain, seems the stain goes into the stuffing. So, if you use distress it to antique a piece, it works best on flat fabrics.