Sharon Golding Designs

 Life for me is about staying alive, keeping active and learning new things. Latest thing to catch my attention is sewing.  Never really a sewer (or should it be “sewist”?) in my younger days, I find recently a strange draw to the sewing machine and fabrics.  Well, to be perfectly honest the fabric came first, became a bit of an obsession even, so once I had a fair stash I really needed to use it.  Enter the self learning of how to sew. I’m starting with simple things first, a pillowcase.  What can be more simple? Straight stitching.  Not a problem… I thought! My dolls are all laying around waiting for a new wardrobe of clothes, grumbling about their lot, but tackling a pattern is not yet on my agenda.  I’ve had to talk them into being patient. ;). First things first, straight things… simple makes that will be completed fast to keep my interest alive! Choosing the fabric for my new pillowcase is my first task.  Out comes the stash. Several hours l...

 Hello everyone! When I’m stuck or in need of motivation I always look for a challenge.  It gets me off my butt and making.  It’s great fun too. So with this in mind I signed up to take part in the Find Your Joy challenge this year. So far I’ve only done assignment 1, but my goodness, it’s such fun! Take a large piece of paper.  Using masking tape divide it up into either 4 or 6 sections.  Then using just 3 colours plus black and white, play, make marks, mix colours, have fun.  Paint over the tape disregarding it.  The only limit is to keep within 30 minutes. When finished, peel off the masking tape and magic happens! I enjoyed it so much it became almost addictive and I now have lots of little paintings to use in my journal or as collage or book covers, whatever. I decided to use yellow ochre, ultramarine blue and magenta as my 3 colours plus mars black and titanium white. First try:- Old masking tape gripped paper so hard and ripped it when removed! ...

 Hello all, Well the doll addiction has increased and it’s not over yet! I came across this lovely vinyl doll which reminded me of a favourite from my childhood.  Of course I had to have her.  She was a bargain price and I got her from a very nice lady.  However she needed some tender loving care, which I felt I would be able to give her. Her eyes were unfortunately broken and were in need of replacement.  This is a first for me, but I bravely took on the task.  I watched YouTube videos and read up as much as I could on how to tackle this.  With the advice of some lovely friends on FB groups I sent off for the replacement eyes. In the meantime, Susie was bandaged and given lots of hugs in the Dolls Hospital until her surgery. She was very brave and once she was sedated her surgery began. And the eye transplant was completed in very quick time, without any problems at all.   Susie is delighted with her new warm brown eyes and she is now joining her...

 My latest addition to the doll collection is this little beauty.  Happily no breakages on her journey, but she was in dire need of a wash and hairdo.  I also washed all her clothes.   This is her before her pampering session This is the end result.  I think I will call her Laura. I  feel I need to step back from the doll obsession now, just for a little while.  I have enjoyed this new interest a great deal and will return to it shortly. I hope you’ve enjoyed sharing my adventures. Best wishes Shari 😊

 Really getting back into my painting now.  Love this little painting and using a limited palette has really improved my colour mixing skills.  Hillside Cottage I intend to start getting together some step-by-step projects soon online, maybe on YouTube or something similar.  The idea is that you can follow along and actually create your own painting.  They will be aimed at beginner painters, so if you’ve always wanted to paint but not sure where to start these videos will show you.  Please let me know if you would be interested in these videos. Best wishes Shaz

 Hi All This week has been busy on the craft front.  Mostly little experiments and ideas at the moment, oh yes, I’m full to bursting of ideas!  Just not enough hours in the day. This post will be about the bits and pieces I’ve been working on this week. Firstly, an update on my sewing themed linocut.  I’ve refined the design, made the needle look better and had a general tidy up. Still in need of a little more work but it’s getting there. Sewing Linocut Next I worked on the little flower rubber stamp.  It needed more definition, so I outlined the centre and marked out the petal separations.  What do you think, better? Flower stamp The sewing box is still a work in progress, but here’s the original box with a new lid cut out as the old one was rotten and beyond repair.  I have the hinges, etc to reattach.   Sewing Box Project Will bring you updates on this as they happen. Finally, some pieces from my art course:- Ink & Wash   Ink line draw...

 Hello everyone, sorry I’m a little late with this post. Well this week has definitely been a printing week.  I have once again succumbed to the lure of linocut printing! I wanted a design centred around another of my hobbies, sewing.  I am upcycling a sewing box (which I will publish here later) and am considering using a linocut print to decorate. Having arranged some sewing elements - scissors, thimble, button and needle - I drew the design directly on to the Lino. Then I used my Lino gouger to cut away the area that was not part of the print - the part I cut away is the negative space around the design elements. As I am completely self taught in the art of linocutting I am not sure if my technique is correct, but it works for me.  At this stage I am reasonably happy with the result.  I had finished cutting and was happy with the linocut, so I tried a trial print to identify areas that needed more work. At this stage I felt either too much ink was used or I n...

Linocut Printing What a joy to discover something new, unique and beautiful in my craft skills.  Only a beginner at present but I'm loving what I have discovered so far.  Linocut printing.  Draw the design onto the Lino block, then cut away the negative space with the special tool, a sharp gouger which has different heads for different thicknesses. I enjoyed designing this bee and was delighted when it printed out so beautifully.  I must admit it took a couple of sessions to complete as it can be tiring on the hand and this was quite a large design.  But it was well worth it and I was very pleased with the result. I hope you like it too.  If you’re considering trying it out for yourself, go ahead, you won’t regret it! Best wishes Shari

 It has long been my desire to make a lampshade for a lamp that was gifted to me and I have at last accomplished this. With no real idea of how to go about it, I ordered some lampshade backing which is stiff kind of polythene stuff on which to mount your fabric. The fabric was an easy choice as I have mountains of the stuff from my sewing obsession period!  Having chosen a pretty blue-ish country pattern, I set about making templates of the wire sections to be covered. I used stiff card and simply pressed it against a section of the wire skeleton shade.  As there are two distinct sizes on my shade, I had to make two templates. Here are the two completed templates.  I used these to draw around to make both the fabric sections and also the backing mounts.  After drawing four of each template on to my backing mounts and four of each on to the fabric, I cut out the sections.  I think cut out the pieces. The polythene backing came with a sticky side so I was abl...

 So I have been working the silver again and so far managed to make two pairs of earrings, two silver rings, and a silver pendant. My favourite the silver twist earrings, they’re just so beautiful. Thanks for dropping by. Best wishes Shari

 Hello again, So many people have told me that they can’t paint and they wish they could.  My answer is Yes you can paint you just need to start.  So I’ve decided to show all you beginners and doubters how to do it.  It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3.... 3 paints, 3 brushes and 3 steps.  Just follow my lead. For the purpose of this demonstration I will use acrylic paints, but I will be using them like oils.  That is virtually straight from the tube with minimum water.  It’s easier using acrylics because you only need water to mix and they dry quicker than oils (sometimes too quickly!). To prepare the basics you will need are:- 3 paints:  Ultramarine Blue; Alizarin Crimson and Raw Sienna   (We will also be using Titanium White And  our Hero colour, Cadmium Yellow - use sparingly, this is the colour that will give our painting oomph!) 3 brushes: Large, Medium and small 3 steps: Draw; Block in; Refine. Two jars of water... one for mixing and one for ...

 Now here’s something interesting.  I was playing around with polymer clay with my grandchildren, just showing them how you can make things like jewellery and Christmas decorations then bake them in the oven and hey presto! You have something that lasts. I then started getting out some scraps of sterling silver and here’s what I came up with.  To make it even more resilient and hopefully long lasting I coated the clay with clear resin.  I’m quite pleased with this and will make it into a pendant. This is the front with the diamond cut into the silver And here is the back with the polymer clay coated in clear resin. What do you think?  Any ideas that could help?

 To follow or not to follow?  That is the question... Will it be worth your while?  Are we compatible?  Read on and find out.  If you are slightly crazy, with a quirky sense of humour and are into all creative arts then we may just get along.  This is me and I make no apology for being me.  I’ve been around a while and I have learned a lot about life.  Have I led an interesting life?  I would say yes... in that I have always gone my own way and done my own thing.  I love life and I love the little miracles that fill our beautiful world. Ok, so introduction over and let’s get down to what this blog is all about.  I want to share with you the things that I am passionate about.  To show you how I do things and what to me is important in life.  I hope we can find some common ground, some passion that we share, because I would love for us to start a friendship and to share our thoughts and beliefs, and maybe even discover a lit...