The lower part of the brim is covered in wool tops to represent the sea and the rest of the brim is covered in texture paste and shells.  Once it was dried I sprayed it with yellow ink to represent sand. 

 The crown is surrounded by beach huts made of paper and painted.  The top is painted green and topping it all is a lighthouse.

I have been decorating a summer hat for a display at our art group.  We were asked to decorate a summer hat and or thongs (flip flops) for our annual display. 

It has been a slow process but I am pleased with the results. 

summer daze

the sun, the beach and the twins - happy days

painted satin & dyed lace

I have been wanting to make a little trinket box for some time but I just haven't found enough free hours in the day to make a start. 

 Last evening a business colleague called in for a meeting with my husband so I took advantage of the fact that I would not be missed and spent some time starting off this project.

It is to be a small square (cube) fabric and lace box suitable for the dressing table.  I started by cutting out a strip of card (acid free of course) for the main body of the box.

The fabric is some white satin from the stash and the lace is synthetic and I tried to dye it when I was with Linda years ago.  It is a very pale gold colour.

To create the colour on the fabric I dipped the satin in some lukewarm water and then used a brush to apply some lumiere paints to the damp fabric.  In order to spread it out a bit I rolled the fabric up and then rinsed it 
 

 under the cold tap.  I wasn't too bothered about making it even or consistent because I want it to show through the lace in a random way.

Once I was happy with the colour I placed the fabric on an old towel and ironed it till it was almost dry.

I had to wait till the morning to attach the lace to the satin.
Using mistyfuse I bonded the lace to one half of the fabric as I didn't want the lace on the inside of the box.

To give a bit more shape I have put some batting under the fabric on the inside and now just have to decide how much bling to add before making the base and the top.


So far I am quite happy with this little box.  It is quite pretty and the colours remind me of the sand and sea.