Our little *families* gift this last Christmas (for grandparents and aunties and so on) was inspired by the fabulous idea on the lovely blog Hazelnuts of drawing on linen teatowels. It fit the bill perfectly for me - something sweet and personalised, that was a good indication of where we were as a little family in 2009, and was useful to the recipient (and hopefully still pretty!) without just adding to the clutter and tchotchka dilemma.
I took 4 *people drawings* that Cole and Imogen had obligingly created for me, consolidated them into one picture, and then traced the images onto cotton/linen blend tea towels with fabric markers. And heat set them. And that's it. Oh yeah, and I couldn't for the life of me find plain white linen teatowels, so I made them. Because you know, the week before Christmas is the perfect time to do this sort of thing. I'm thrilled with how they came out, and the oohing and aahing and giggles by the recipients makes me think they were well received as well. Of course, we're all extremely curious as to who is who in the family lineup on linen...the artistes themselves refuse to divulge. I adore this stage of experimentation and discovery through art - working out things like fingers and toes and hair and what makes somebody who they are. And I really really want to know who the one with no arms is!!!
That's lovely! We're Campbells too btw :) Well Mat and Hazel are. I'm still having issues with the fabrics I've used, haven't found the perfect one yet but will keep trying.
With the 60 seconds you recommended, is it the stuff in the spray bottle or the kind you mix up?
Posted by: Jacqui | January 16, 2010 at 06:03 PM
I'm so glad you like them! Yay for Campbells...2 out of 3 ain't bad ;)
Oh, and the 60 seconds spray worked well for me (I think it's a weaker solution - the mix-yourself-stuff I always managed to get to a paint-stripping intensity). Oh, and good old Chemico works wonders, too!
Posted by: Jolie | January 18, 2010 at 07:26 AM