Last week I noticed the first daisies of the year to be in bloom. Maybe
spring has sprung. So, continuing with
my daisy creations, two of my tags this week are based on the poem ‘Daisies’ by
the 19th century poet, John Clare:
Daisies, ye flowers of lowly birth,
Embroiderers of the carpet earth,
That stud the velvet sod;
Open to spring's refreshing air,
In sweetest smiling bloom declare
Your Maker, and my God!
Being a lover of both
textiles and wild flowers I love the idea of daisies embroidering the earth. The words also go well with my Heart of
Daisies from earlier in the month. I was hoping to make another heart with real
daisies, but there are still not enough daisies for that!
The first daisy tag is a
folded one, with the inside of the tag worked on watercolour paper. I started by painting a few blades of grass
and daisy heads, I then folded the paper and embroidered one half – using daisy
stitch to make one large daisy. I used
gold beads for the central disc.
On the other half I
attached a copy of the poem printed onto vellum, so that the painted grass
shows through.
On the outside of the
tag I made a cover to hide the back of the stitching, I used paper with tiny
daisies on it. On the front I put
‘Daisies by John Clare’ and on the back I put a snippet of information about
the poet. The whole tag is dotted liberally
with tiny embroidered daisies and is finished with a tie of green and yellow
threads.
After
making this paper tag, I wanted to make a fabric based tag with daisies embroidered
onto velvet as in the poem. I started by
painting some grass onto velvet. Then I
embroidered some grass using long stitch, then a couple of tiny daisies using
daisy stitch again, with a single gold bead for the central disc. On the back of the tag I stuck some ‘grass effect’
paper and a copy of the poem.
I have trimmed the top
and bottom with white lace. The first
two lines of the poem have been printed onto vellum and stuck onto the
lace. Again the whole tag is dotted
liberally with tiny embroidered daisies and is finished with a tie of white
ribbon.
The third tag is
completely thanks to serendipity. I was
looking for some scrap paper and came across a small photocopy of some
calligraphy I did 22 years ago! All I
did to make it into a tag was trim the corners, make a hole and attach the ribbon. I made
the original calligraphy picture in 1990 for my Mum and Dad. It is written using watercolours rather than
ink. I achieved the variegated effect by
dipping the pen in different shades of green every few letters. The words are spaced so they form a
circle. I’ve painted spring foliage and
flowers in the corners to make a square.
The poem is ‘Far Away’
by Helen Steiner-Rice:
The days grow shorter
as the year rolls towards its end.
Too soon it seems the light grows fainter and the
nights descend.
Brief the journey of
the sun. December days are drear
But they bring us to
the morning of another year.
At this point upon the
road the heart is strangely stirred
For far away we hear
the singing of an April bird.
With brighter hope and
lighter step, we tread the wintry hills
Having caught upon the
wind the breath of Daffodils.
The words fit so well
with this time of year I couldn’t resist making it into a tag! Shame I didn’t find this scrap of paper last
week, I could have saved myself a lot of work!
I’d love to know which
of the three you think is best, please let me know.
Thank you to all of you
for sharing your lovely tags, and a special thank you tothose who have made
lovely comments on mine, it is much appreciated.
Have a lovely week and
enjoy the early Spring
The first daisy tag is a
folded one, with the inside of the tag worked on watercolour paper. I started by painting a few blades of grass
and daisy heads, I then folded the paper and embroidered one half – using daisy
stitch to make one large daisy. I used
gold beads for the central disc. 
On the outside of the
tag I made a cover to hide the back of the stitching, I used paper with tiny
daisies on it. On the front I put
‘Daisies by John Clare’ and on the back I put a snippet of information about
the poet. The whole tag is dotted liberally
with tiny embroidered daisies and is finished with a tie of green and yellow
threads.
After
making this paper tag, I wanted to make a fabric based tag with daisies embroidered
onto velvet as in the poem. I started by
painting some grass onto velvet. Then I
embroidered some grass using long stitch, then a couple of tiny daisies using
daisy stitch again, with a single gold bead for the central disc. On the back of the tag I stuck some ‘grass effect’
paper and a copy of the poem.
The third tag is
completely thanks to serendipity. I was
looking for some scrap paper and came across a small photocopy of some
calligraphy I did 22 years ago! All I
did to make it into a tag was trim the corners, make a hole and attach the ribbon. I made
the original calligraphy picture in 1990 for my Mum and Dad. It is written using watercolours rather than
ink. I achieved the variegated effect by
dipping the pen in different shades of green every few letters. The words are spaced so they form a
circle. I’ve painted spring foliage and
flowers in the corners to make a square.
