Chair Candy

Jeez Louise. It sure has been a while since I did any blogging. I'm going to go ahead and blame summer for taking me outdoors and away from my craft table. And also work. I think I will blame work as well.

So what sudden craftiness brings me back I hear to you ask. Well chair candy crafting is what. Or cushions if you will.

In December 2011 I was asked by my dear friend Emily if I would re-cover some cushions. I said I would be delighted and that they could be considered Christmas presents. And then I looked at them for 7 months and did absolutely nothing.

Part of the issue was genuine creative block. I had been given a sample of the wallpaper from the room where the cushions would live and I found it a real challenge to think beyond the colour and pattern. I also don't usually design pairs of things so that was a bit of a stumbling block as well. Months passed and the creative drought continued. I was beginning to get fed up of having them on my to do list.

Wallpaper sample

My saviour arrived one sunny weekend in the form of a crafty friend returned from Aus. After much nattering and a good slug of gin/ bubbly/ other cocktails and ran-sacking my material piles, the juices got finally got flowing.

After an afternoon of peg making and hedgerow fizz (bubbly with elderflower cordial) I started to sketch out ideas. Luckily I had a free house for a few days I was able to get stuck in without interruptions.

And here is the final result! Ta DA!

I wanted to get away from anything floral but still wanted a sort of nature theme. I also wanted a bold pattern. The rising sun seemed a perfect image for a bedroom and I fell in love with idea of having the motif work across both cushions. Emily is a fellow teal fanatic so I knew I couldn't go wrong using that colour and I used a silk that had a pattern not dissimilar to wood grain running through it (I could't get a good picture of this but trust me- it's lush). The math and measuring did my head in as I am usually very slap dash with my projects so I am particularly proud of these in that respect.

After such an uphill struggle with these I did promise myself to leave cushions alone for a bit but then I saw the Ohh Deer Pillow Fight competition posted on Facebook.

The idea of designing what went on the cushion rather than making it certainly appealed and I made good use of commuting times to ponder through ideas. Today I bravely posted my finished image on their website:

If you like it- please go to the webpage and 'like' or tweet about it. Deadline for entries is the 8th September so go on- have a go!

I hope to be less of a stranger to blogging and there have been some very different projects that I have been working on which can be revealed soon.

Till then xx