PUDDLEDUCK FARM

Upcycled Brooches!

2011-08-16T12:36:00.002+10:00

I’ve been working away madly making clothes for an upcycled fashion parade to be held locally this weekend! A friend and I have got together and are just having so much fun altering clothes; cutting bits off and joining things back together again. We’ve made some amazing creations and some wonderfully wearable looks too…!

I’ve just finished some upcycled brooches to add to our stall on the night. These have been great fun to make. Until I learn how to collage all 5 images into one; I’ll have to load all 5 separately!

I made these with leftover portions of doileys, stacked circles of fabric (dyed vintage linens & fabric scraps) from the upcycled sewing frenzy here in the studio. I then free motion stitched over the whole lot; added some tails and a little hand embroidery. I stitched a simple brooch pin on the back to finish....

They look quite quirky - and I like quirky!

Click on photos for more detail!

Of the colour Red… plus bitumen!

2011-07-25T09:24:00.006+10:00

I promised photos of my new red living room…. Wow! It is a different room and I adore it. I love being immersed in colour as opposed to just splashes of colour or feature walls….. Even the horrid brown panelling painted beautifully (with Antique White USA (Dulux)) It was perfect for all the trim and a built in bookcase near the front door too… I’m so happy with the colour… Red Stop (also Dulux) Love it, Love it!

New living room colour + Mojo!

After!

Before!

I just need a few new cushions and a rug and a throw rug. There isn't much wall space left for artwork...but maybe just a few small pieces...?!

While I'm on the colour Red, this is where I'm up to with my Tree Of Life #2! I still have some little details to stitch on... some tree roots, an edging, some details on the sun and moon I think, and some more hair on bird self (I've gone red again!)

my Tree of Life #2

I tried out the bitumen technique that Gary Reef shared on his site Loving Mixed Media again. I think I’m officially hooked! Here is the first one finished…

Bitumen experiment #1

This one is I used a simple paper doiley and a wall décor sticker thingy as a stencil…

Bitumen experiment #2

This circular one is another old unfinished collage (there’s more of them hanging around the studio that might get a face lift yet!) Not finished rubbing back yet....

Bitumen experiment #3

Eager to try some more!

Meeting a friend to discuss our entries into an upcoming upcycled fashion parade...

Bitumen Mixed Media Experiment....

2011-07-18T21:14:00.003+10:00

I haven’t been here for a little while…….but I promise I have been busy; very busy!

We’ve had the floor in our main living area sanded and polished; and the walls painted –red! More of that in a later post…

I’ve been mostly working on another tree of life textile piece – photos later; but I really wanted to link to this amazing Mixed Media Photo Tutorial by Gary Reef on Loving Mixed Media. There's another link to his site in my sidebar too...

When I saw this I just had to give it a go! I used an unfinished collage on a stretched canvas that just wasn't working the way I had envisaged! I painted over it with white paint, added some stencilling, bitumen and more stencilling....

I really like it like this even!

Then started rubbing back into the bitumen with some turps..... WOW!

Not finished yet; Boy am I having fun playing though. The technique involves collage, bitumen, spray paint and stencils…… WOW! Thanks Gary for an amazing tutorial… I might get brave enough to post a photo of my finished piece on LMM! I think I'm hooked on the technique (despite the smell of the bitumen!) and regardless of how this turns out will definitely try some more!!!

Back Soon..............! xo

Done, dusted and delivered!

2011-06-21T16:44:00.007+10:00

Yay, not long back from a day trip to Glen Innes to deliver my teapot and a friend's leadlight teapot clock! I got a sneak peek at some of the other entries…. Amazing talent! Some of the ceramic ones were especially creative!

So, I'm going to bore you with some final photos of the completed 'Crazy Glazy Beadpot' !

Crazy Glazy Teapot

Stuffed Felt Construction; beaded with Japanese Toho Beads

Spout- detail

Almost Cuppa Time!!!!!

2011-06-18T19:06:00.003+10:00

Just a quick update on my teapot! I may not have time to photograph it again before delivering it to the exhibiting gallery on Monday! I've added the spout! It looks just like I imagined!! Apologies for the poor photo quality....

About 90% beaded!

And here is our latest addition to the Puddleduck Farm Menagerie!

Latest Highland Teddy Bear (We're proud parents for the 3rd time in 2 weeks!)

Back to beading........................................!

I'm a little TEA_ _ T!!

2011-06-14T16:53:00.004+10:00

Some more progress on my challenge piece... still many, many hours of beading to go! I'm trying to bead the spout as much as possible before attaching it ; I'm finding the already stitched on handle extremely hard going!

Beaded Teapot - spout still to be attached!

Q What's better than 1 little highland teddy bear baby? A That would be 2 little highland teddy bear babies; they are just so adorable…

A frosty morning last week! 2 baby Highlands!...and 2 proud Mums (3 if you count me!)

...and little Mojo is fitting right in too; he’s such a sweeti! ( I think he's been watching the cats a little too closely!)

Apologies for the spacing and layout in my posts; blogger is really not working that well for me!

June Babies! ....real babies!

2011-06-04T20:11:00.004+10:00

Oh, what an exciting day! We have 2 new babies!

Here's the first little guy!

Mojo - a Shitzu Maltese X

(a wee play mate for Cee-Cee)

and the second; a little Highland Calf - born either overnight or early this morning!

Highland Calf

The kids found Mojo at the pet shop this morning. I've been looking for a black Maltese/Shitzu X as a friend for Cee-Cee for a little while now. Not urgently looking; just keeping an eye out looking! I knew I wanted a boy and I knew his name was Mojo..... He's every bit as adorable as Cee-Cee and I know they'll be great mates! He's about 10-12 weeks old.

When we arrived back from town Jon went down to feed the alpacas, sheep, mini horse and cattle some hay; he arrived back up at the house a few minutes later very excited; 'we've got another new addition to the family'! It's our first calf born on our property and we're soooo excited. It looks like a wee teddy bear!

What a wonderous day!

More good news; the recycled art exhibition I wanted to enter the bread tag piece into, has extended it's entry date... so there's a chance I may get it finished after all...... other wise I was just going to hang onto it for next year's deadline!

Still working on the Te _ _ _ t too!

Assuming Shape

2011-05-31T14:39:00.006+10:00

Finally this is starting to look like something apart from a pumpkin!

Felt and hobbyfill construction; including handle. Knob is a large timber bead, covered with felt and beaded. Rose decoration not quite complete (urgently awaiting beads to arrive in the post!)

Knob and lid detail

The reason the beading is looking a little random at the moment is that I'm using up the last of the beads I have with the view to infil and cover the T_ _ _ _ _ completely when the others arrive!

Awaiting the appendage that will make it's identity obvious!

Another little something I'm working on; for a recycled waste to art entry; due Friday (this Friday). I only started today... I made a little chart from some X-stitch software I have....

I'm using bread tags and hand dyed recycled rice bags. But I think I'm going to run out of bread tags! I've asked hubby to ask everyone at his work to bring in any they have at home... I need 960 all up... Am I going to get it completed in time? Probably not! Maybe for the 2012 challenge!!!!!!!! Not at all like me to work that far ahead. :) Wish me luck (I'm working Thurs and Friday too)

Back to the bread tags; no mail today (we only get it delivered 3 times a week) Sigh, so no more beads yet.....

Any guesses...?

2011-05-29T15:54:00.007+10:00

Still not a pumpkin.... busy working away at my challenge piece. Can you believe I've already run out of beads and have had to order some from the States! I hope they arrive in time for me to finish this piece as I really want to enter something! i have spent many hours beading already - mostly keeping hubby company as he watches TV!

Bottom view! Not a pumpkin!

Detail; Not a pumpkin.

I've finally finished My Flaming Heart piece! I added text, some recycled sari silk ribbon and vintage doilies to the clouds and edges. I'm happy with how it turned out and am itching to frame it! That's the only problem with working as a framer.... I want to frame EVERYTHING!!!!

Finally finished! My Flaming Heart

Detail: My Flaming Heart - Vintage doiley pieces as clouds, backstitch text, recycled sari silk ribbon

Detail: My Flaming Heart - Beading

Working on some other things too... which I'll show progress on gradually!

Trussed and Tied and ready to Dye.........

2011-05-11T08:27:00.003+10:00

Sounds a little ominous but really it's all about shibori! Here's some photos of the next stage of the upcycled silk scarf...

Upcycled Silk Scarf

Gathered and tied; ready for the dye bath

It took me a little longer to stitch and gather and tie up than I thought! Never mind, it's in the dye bath now... only an hour or so to wait until I can get it out and remove the stitching! I can't wait to see how it turns out.....

Running stitch, gathered up and tied off - front

Back view of shibori gathers

No, it's not a pumpkin......!

2011-05-10T15:49:00.009+10:00

WIP Challenge!

Yes, it may look a little like a pumpkin at the moment; but hopefully it will look like something quite different by the time it's finished (which needs to be before the end of the month so I can enter it into a challenge!) Wish me luck - there's a lot more beads to add yet! I'll post progress photos!

My friend Lynda and I have been busy playing with dye and upcycling vintage and found fashion! We've had so much fun collecting our resources and playing with embellishing them. We've been chasing up some legalities about selling these pieces and hope to have some of the finished pieces for sale in our etsy stores and a local gallery soon....

Upcycled Fashion

I've recently entered a few local art exhibitons and have been lucky enough to gain a 2nd place in the Works on Paper section with 'Virginia Creeper' at the Bendemeer Art and Craft Show and a 1st prize at the Currabubula Red Cross Art Show with 'My Tree of Life' Textile piece. I've been over the moon about both!

'Virginia Creeper'

Pastel

Another WIP! I found this lovely long silk scarf this week and am going to try some more shibori dyeing... I've drawn 5 circles and have stitched running (gathering stitch across each one - actually I've one to go!) I want to get it into the dye pot tonight. I envisage 5 patterned circles on a black background. I can't wait to see how it ends up!

Found Silk Scarf

Stitched ready to gather for Shibori dyeing...

The circles remind me of sunflowers at the moment...

COLOUR as a form of JOY!!!!!!!!!

2011-04-03T13:21:00.008+10:00

Oh, JOY! Look at these colours!

Fibre active dyes on vintage cotton

Low immersion dyeing

I finally stopped procrastinating and ordered some Procion MX fibre reactive dyes online. Out of the 8 colours I wanted; the first place I tried could only fill 4. Gladly they posted them the same day and they turned up here Friday! (We only get post delivered 3 times a week so this was even more of a wonderful surprise!)

Soooo, after dinner; whilst everyone else was busy I decided to have a little play! I'm so excited by the results! It's something I've wanted to do for a long time. I am amazed at the brightness of the colours and after I've been through the bright pure colour phase I'm sure I will love coming up with my own blends!

A little bit of shibori.... First on a silk scarf...

Shibori Silk Scarf

.....then on a piece of vintage cotton which I scrunched onto a plastic tube (again something I've always wanted to try!)

Shibori Cotton

I adore how the colours have blended together in places and the scale shapes from the scrunching!

I've also made some progress on my Flaming Heart piece this week; adding beads... I'm also experimenting with ways to depict clouds...

Flaming Heart - beading detail

and....... I just wanted to share this gorgeous op shop find. It is the most beautifully embroidered Chinese jacket. I originally bought it to cut up... but on closer inspection I don't think I will be able to bring myself to! The embroidery is to die for..... I'm not sure whether to get it dry cleaned or wash it myself... One pocket is badly ripped; so will need a lot of attention. Also, a number of the original toggles at the front are unravelled... so I'll have to learn how to stitch them back down. It would make an exquisite evening jacket..... the label looks as if it is about a 1950's vintage.

It is just so beautiful....

Vintage Chinese Embroidered Jacket - back view

The green and blue dyes should arrive from a little further afield on Monday! I can't wait to try them out! Happy days!

of Threads of Life......

2011-03-27T09:52:00.005+11:00

I’ve finished ‘Adorn’! I moved a few elements around and am even happier with it now…!

Adorn

Threads of the Past

detail

Adorn

Threads of the Past

I’m entering a couple of pastel paintings and ‘My Tree of Life’ textile piece (that I started in Jude Hill’s SpiritCloth online workshop) into a local exhibition. I managed to get the textile piece framed just in time! I absolutely looove how it turned out… that timber frame is just perfect... I used spacers so the glass wasn’t sitting directly on the fabric. I need to take it in tomorrow... but I like where I have it hanging at home....

I will frame 'Adorn' similarly...

Adorn

2011-03-23T17:24:00.003+11:00

This is what I've been working on most of today... Quite unlike anything I've ever done but I have to say it's been very enjoyable to play with!

Adorn

Textile Collage

It won't be mounted on black; that's a piece of black foam core board I use as a mobile design wall!!! I have several of them and they are often full on both sides with Works In Progress!

This piece includes all sorts of vintage and found textiles and bits and pieces! There is a piece of upholstery fabric and trim; some of the onion dyed linen and cotton from the other day; some crotched edges from the tiger lily doiley of Flaming Heart fame..., vintage buttons, organza, pink damask (gifted from Lynda), vintage bead set, beaded sari organza, a little onion dyed stuffed flannel heart and the stamped word 'Adorn'- still to be attached. I will mount this either onto a stretched canvas or mat board to frame under glass.

Such fun to make! (Back to work tomorrow-but how lucky am I to have had a full day playing) Dinner guest tonight; so had better get to the kitchen!

Coloured Progress

2011-03-23T09:20:00.003+11:00

I'm liking this so much better...!

The only blue fabric paint I had was metallic, but I think it fits in with the theme! I think I might add some white gauze or muslin clouds at the perimeter........

What was I thinking...?

2011-03-22T08:27:00.002+11:00

Truly, what was I thinking? I’m part way through this Flaming Heart piece and only now do I question WHY AM I WORKING ON WHITE CLOTH?

Lynda and I got together for another art day yesterday and had a couple of dyebaths on the stove whilst we worked away at other things. I am so pleased with the outcome [ always am :) ] Here are the results of the Onion Skin bath; mostly cotton and linen… and mostly vintage or found textiles! Love that old linen teatowel and the spots and rings that became visible after dyeing!

Onion Skin Dyed Fabrics

This is the simple Dylon Jeans Blue bath results. We tied the pieces with rubberbands as we wanted variegated colour not solid colour. Great results; great future sky pieces…. So again, remind me why I’m working on white? I think I’ll have to either paint or appliqué a background onto my Flaming Heart piece!!!!

Dylon Dyebath results

We played around with the gouache and indian ink wash off technique that I’ve tried before. The results weren’t totally successful and I’m blaming it on poor quality materials! I used an inferior brand of gouache which didn’t wash off the paper as should have happened. Consequently my whites are bright white not the soft sepia they should have been. Also, I rubbed a little hard trying to remove the gouache and have torn the paper….. Mmmmm should have known better!!!

Gouache and Indian Ink wash off technique

Tree of Life

Detail

Oh, and a last minute piece of discharged linen! Yuuuummmmm, look at those gorgeous organic shapes! Can't wait to stitch back into this!!

Framed!

2011-03-20T13:38:00.008+11:00

I framed the mini quilt I made for the Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine 'Pretty' Challenge last year. I'm pleased with the effect and will now get it into a gallery!!! It is framed without glass; but I might add glass and make more of a shadow box effect next time.

'Beauty, Wisdom and Grace'

Mini Art Quilt stitched to stretched canvas

More progress on my flaming heart piece. The wings have been ragged edge appliqued on (by invisibly basting them - as per Jude Hill's method) . I then outlined them with chain stitch in a variegated thread (my favourite type!) I adore how the variegated thread gives life and dimension to a piece.

I'll be adding a crown next....

Flaming Heart progress

...of March Madness

2011-03-16T07:50:00.009+11:00

Yay! I've recently reduced my work hours as I found I just wasn't getting enough time to play creatively and I felt somehow not whole because of that. Also, I felt that I wasn't spending enough time with my family....

So, flip side; Here I am with a bit less money to play with but way more time! I've done a little more to the sacred heart piece; the wings are cut and ready to trim and stitch on (soft creamy gold fabric- if they were jewellery they would be called white gold!)..... I'm loving this little piece; I haven't got a working plan; I'll just keep adding to it until it's done. I do know I want it to be very decorative and embellished!

Sacred Heart

Vintage Embroidery, silk and found textile Applique

on vintage linen

This is my first week of reduced hours and I am loving having my freedom back! I'm enjoying baking and cooking again; seeing more of my kids; and well, just playing! I continue to have a weekly art day with Lynda - this week we played with soldering. We soldered broken crockery, coloured glass and tried a technique (I can't remember if it was in Cloth Paper Scissors or Somerset Studio) where you adhese an image onto foam core board, polyurethane or varnish the image, add copper tape, then solder the edges and an eyelet pushed into the top of the foam core to make a pendant!

We had lots of fun...! and some mixed results! -I still need to practice my soldering technique and think I need a different tip for my soldering iron!

I also squeezed in a workshop with Glenys Mann (local textile artist who also teaches and organises textile events and classes bringing international tutors to Australia) which was fun! We did some natural dyeing, and rusting; as well as worked on an individual project prompted by Glenys' brief. She's a lot of fun and very talented and knowledgable.... I enjoyed the day very much!

WIP - Reliquery

My work revolved around the theme of reliquery. Here are some little pieces I worked on. This has since led me to explore the theme further and this discharged cross is a further step... I don't know where all this is going yet; but I'm having fun! Unfortunately I won't be able to make the class this week as Mack has a belated birthday sleepover...

Discharged Black Cotton Whole Cloth -Cross

Cross - detail

I just love the shapes and images in the individual squares. Not sure whether to add stitch or just leave it as is? Any comments welcome.

Off into town for coffee and cake with a friend; then a quick visit to the op shops, before coming home and finishing up the signs I've not had time to finish! I'm also going to mount my 3 sisters piece onto a painted canvas and hopefully frame it to take into the gallery. I'm going to rename it 'Grace, Beauty and Wisdom'!

Studio Day.........March Progress

2011-03-08T07:38:00.004+11:00

I spent a day in the studio with an artist friend yesterday; we did some monoprinting and discharge dyeing – We probably didn’t’ achieve half as much as we’d hoped but had a fun day! Thanks Lynda! She’s very talented! You can find her new blog here….

Simple Monoprinting on book pages and over the top of an old lino print.

Some discharge dyeing on black cotton.

We used foam and wood blocks to stamp on the bleach.

Progress on my Flaming Heart piece. I've used variegated DMC stranded cotton to outline the tiger lily flames! (From an upcycled vintage doiley)

28 Days has February...

2011-02-28T15:34:00.014+11:00

Yay, another day off of work – hopefully this will continue to be a weekly occurrence! I am so enjoying being able to do stuff apart from work and household chores!

Last Monday I bought some bits and pieces of patchwork fabric and also some op shop finds- vintage doileys and linen mostly! I started 2 new pieces over the weekend using some of my new treasures – another Tree of Life - similar to the one I completed during Jude Hill’s workshop and another featuring a Sacred Heart or Flaming Heart which is a symbol that I have had in my head for a few weeks now....

February Tree of Life

WIP

Hand Pieced background (commercial cotton and vintage linen)

and appliqued tree (hand dyed vintage cotton)

I'm just loving the red of my tacking stitches against these colours so once the tree is appliqued down I think I'll be adding red leaves or other detailing to this piece..........

Flaming Heart

WIP

Vintage Embroidery on Linen and Silk Heart Applique

Don't these embroidered tiger lillies (from a vintage doiley I’ve cut up) make the most perfect flames? I'll be adding a lot more embellishment yet (maybe even beads!); and will keep posting updates!

I'll be making 2 round trips into town tonight to drop and pick up kids for their high school 'disco'!! The theme is HORROR - so some fun face painting coming up!!!!!

....of Strawberries and Cream...and Amore!

2011-02-06T20:12:00.007+11:00

Another wonderful weekend…. Except for the heat! We had a storm come through and some welcome drops of rain early this evening but it is still warm… sleeping will be a little easier tonight though.

My Hanging Hearts have been selling well at the gallery and I’m so pleased I made the time to make another this afternoon. I’m still really enjoying these!

Strawberries and Cream

Hanging Heart

This one is made from a beautiful vintage embroidered linen cloth. I think it is crewel embroidery and the strawberries are absolutely beautifully done. The cream lace was gifted to me from a new artist friend (Hi Lynda and Thank You!) I added a few vintage buttons; some hand dyed silk organza held down with Running Stitch and just a few French Knots and Cross Stitches.

Strawberries and Cream - Detail

I really enjoy upcycling these vintage finds!

I'll leave you tonight with a couple of images of corners of our house! These are from our bedroom. The top photo is a closer representation of the colour of the walls we painted a few months ago. It is such a fabulous colour! It glows golden in the morning sunlight and is deep in the corners and shadows. I love waking up in this room! It is blissful!

Peony Roses would have to be my favourite flower- although I think I love them all. I also love oriental ceramics and I collect Fu Dogs (Temple dogs) There's a couple hiding in the greenery on this little pine table.....

Goodnight all.... and wishing you all a happy and creative week!

What a weekend!

2011-01-30T20:09:00.006+11:00

What a great weekend! I feel like I have achieved sooooo much. Don’t you love days like that? Firstly I didn’t have to work Saturday morning which was wonderful in itself! I got up early and cleaned toilets and the bathroom, did washing and ironing, covered the rest of Rose and Mack's school books (they are back to school this week and my baby Mack starts high school tomorrow!); normally these are all things which I detest! I don’t know what’s got into me but I actually really enjoyed myself!

Hand-Painted Sign

I finally painted one of the double signs (A-frame) that I was supposed to finish for a friend a little while ago and today I did the 80km round trip into town to buy groceries as there wasn’t much food left in the cupboard or fridge!

I made a baked berry cheesecake (YUUUUUMMMMMM!) and a roast leg of lamb for dinner tonight. Gee, I even washed some blankets which have been hanging around in the bottom of the clothes hamper…. and it was hot enough today that they were nearly dry as soon as I had hung them!

I also had a bit of a play around with this skirt which used to be a favourite until I was silly enough to wear it whilst cleaning the bottom of the shower one day. There was a horrid bleach mark on the bottom which meant I haven’t been able to wear it since; but I've had the inspiration to resurrect it!

Today I decided to try and embellish it a little by stamping household bleach on to the hem area with a cork- disguising the original bleach mark. I allowed it time to discharge and then washed it. Viola!

I think it would be wearable now but I am inspired by this piece of lace I picked up in Queensland late last year and want to somehow turn these dots into flowers.

Isn’t this lace just divine?

Off to watch some telly with the Hubble; I'm mending a favourite, favourite, favourite pair of khaki cargo pants using Jude Hill's invisible basting method. I think she refered to it as stitching that glues fabric layers together and that is exactly what it feels like. Jude's blog Spiritcloth is here for those of you who don't know her work yet. She holds online classes; 2 of which I've been privileged to have participated in. I learnt soooo much!

Finishing this post on a high! I feel great that I have done so much! Catch you soon..........

...........of Bush Dancers

2011-01-23T18:05:00.006+11:00

Hello there and a HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my followers, readers, family and friends!

Wow, it's been a little while since I posted here...! I haven't dropped off the face of the earth; I've simply been busy working on and off through the holiday season; alas with not to much to show in the creative department! :) I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and an inspirational start to 2011! Ideas are still coming thick and fast over here, I'm just finding less time to persue them... I'm planning to get my act together though and eke out some studio time.!

Dear Linda at Edelweiss Gallery, Dungowan has updated my artist's page. It's lovely to have some more recent photos on there. She also kindly included a photo of my most recent addition to the gallery on the Edelweiss Gallery blog! It is a soft pastel painting titled 'Bush Dancers' and I completed it during 2010. (and blogged about it here.) It is now framed in a gorgeous wide but simple gold frame with a triple mat....

I'll be back soon...! Promise!

Her Heart - and another!

2010-11-29T09:51:00.003+11:00

I made a couple more heart hangers over the weekend! I'm definitely addicted -for the moment anyway!

'' Hers'

This one is made of a rusted piece of embroidered linen. I added a little more embroidery, a chiffon rose and some beads I found in my stash that look a little like seed pods or shells of some sort.

Jacobean Heart

The Jacobean Heart is made from an old printed serviette that my SIL gifted me earlier in the year (they had been left in a cupboard in a house she bought!) I added running stitch embroidery, a piece of whitework with some french knots, a Tim Holtz bird stamp and some lovely mother of pearl buttons. The back is plain white; cut from the same serviette.

If I get time today, I hope to add them to my etsy store which has been sitting unused for a while!

...a pair of hearts

2010-11-20T15:59:00.005+11:00

I finished the last of the heart hangers in time to drop them off at the gallery on my way to work yesterday. Phew! It's been great to work to a deadline - makes me a little more focused!

Hope and Faith Heart Hangers

These were also made from fabric I painted and then stamped for Alisa Burke's Whimsical Women workshop. I stamped the gothic window stamp I recently carved onto rusted paper and machine stitched them onto the front of the hearts before joining. I love Alisa's 'Grafitti Style' and the black stitching really emphasises it! I added a chiffon rose, text and lazy daisy flowers. The copper stamped flowers are glaring a little in this early morning sunshine lit photo...

Off to do some more gardening! - weeding.... they are out of control after all the rain we've had!

Joy, Love and Bliss............

2010-11-18T07:36:00.004+11:00

A really quick post before I leave for work............

The next batch of hearts are finished!

Bliss, Love and Joy

I have 2 more to do to get to the gallery on Friday... These have been such fun to make.

a Haggle of Hearts

2010-11-16T15:29:00.006+11:00

I’ve made some sweet little heart hangers (maybe Christmas tree hangers) for the local gallery (Edelweiss Gallery). I had a mini production line going...

These three are finished and are made from the same base fabric

...a haggle of hearts.

3 finished; 2 needing hangers and further embellishment

Left: this one incoroporates some rust dyed paper

and the stamp I made last week

Right: I added further stamping to this fabric and incorporated

a piece of torn vintage doily

I used a mix of the hand painted/printed fabric I made for the online whimsical women workshop I did with Alisa Burke (to which I added more stamping!); vintage doily, commercial and hand dyed fabric and even a small piece of rusted paper!

I loved Alisa's grafitti style so much that I construced these hearts the same way as the art doll I learnt to make, with the seams on the outside!

I’ve embellished the finished ones with a some embroidery; a little chiffon rose; and a vintage button then added a wire hanger. I have 3 more cut out.... I'm on a roll.... (back to work tomorrow!)

Sold!

2010-11-12T19:49:00.003+11:00

I sold another of my paintings at work today! Yay! That will help pay for some of the framing I've recently had done!

This one is acrylic on stretched canvas and was painted a couple of years ago.

' Tree of Life - Fragment'

Sorry about the poor resolution photo. I lost the better ones when the computer had a glitch a year or so ago. Note to self - take some more photos of older works!

Hope you all have a fabulous and creative weekend.....

Carving and Dyeing....

2010-11-09T19:27:00.009+11:00

Results of today’s dye pot:

A small batch of Brown Onion Skin and Dark Red Rose Petals with iron added after taking out the silk. These will blend nicely with some others I have dyed......... The small square cloth at bottom left is a hand stitched serviette. I love recycling old household textiles!

I carved a couple of stamps- a wee bird and a goldfish that has been drawn for some time! Oh, and a little gothic window…….

I also printed the gothic window onto fabric but forgot to take a photo...

I've had a fun studio day and managed to have an enjoyable lunch and chat at friend's.

Back to work tomorrow......

Hope to be back soon....

of Holidays and Progress..........

2010-11-09T18:19:00.007+11:00

Just a quick post....

Hopefully I'll get back and add some more bits and pieces tonight; but for now just some progress on Teapot and Pears..... I've been adding some glazes. I've still got a way to go.

A little something I did one night when Hubble and I were staying at Sanctuary Cove a few weeks ago. I packed a few art materials and thankfully had my watercolour pencils and a brush! This is on postcard size watercolour paper.

Abstract Landscape- postcard size

Pen and Wash on watercolour paper

Not so sure about this one! A little fertility figure...

Later.....

Fun in the Studio....!

2010-10-19T12:41:00.007+11:00

At last! Here I am with some studio time... I've done dishes and washing and housework-YUK (the rest can wait now!)

Still Life SetUp in Studio

I’m going to paint 2 still life’s in a similar style to “Succulent in Terracotta”- (See pic in the bar at right.) Linda at Edelweiss Gallery has asked me to do a couple and given me some rough guidelines as to what her customer wants. I found a couple of old paintings which I've gessoed over. Some of the textural paint of the original paintings showed through so I used modelling compound to add an even more textured base. It dries a milky white colour so I overpainted that layer with a mix of 2 reds which I'm keen to try out as underpainting!

I’ve been inspired by the work of Katie Trinkle Legge who’s work I saw recently in the Monmo Gallery just north of Auckland NZ. Hers are oils and I noticed taht she used red underpainting. Her sense of colour and light is just fantastic. I would happily hang these in my home!! Wish I could paint like that!

Here are some shots of the progress of the first one!

Textured Red UnderPainting. Basic shapes marked out with pastel pencil and initial blocking out of areas.

Adding a bit of shading.

Adding some base colour

I'm going to use mostly glazes to change colours/shading and then add some finer detail last. Fingers crossed this works out!

of kiwis and a minature horse.

2010-10-18T13:15:00.006+11:00

Wow! What a busy few weeks it’s been…..! Hubble and I were lucky enough to go to New Zealand for a short stay. We did a circuit around the tip of the North Island commencing and ending in Auckland (I’d not been to that part before) and we had a totally grand time…! I can recommend NZ as a holiday destination to anyone. It is an amazingly beautiful and diverse country. The people are wonderful, friendly and creative. (I'm not biased because I lived there for 10 years either!! )

Silly me let my driver’s licence expire so I couldn’t help Hubble with the driving (I only realised when we went to sign up for the hire car :< I was more than a little embarrassed and worried about what the process would be to have it renewed once back in Australia. Thankfully it was easy and I’m happy to say I’m a fully licensed driver again!)

Here are a few snaps from our little holiday….

Cape Reinga, the northern most tip of the North Island. Traditional Maori stories of this area are fascinating. Signage describes both the stories and topography brilliantly.

The waves of the Tasman Sea and Pacific Oceans meet here.

Our new favourite place: Mangonui

A historic village right on the sea. Local art and craft; lovely atmoshpere and views to die for!!

We stayed right in the heart of Auckland. This was the view from our hotel room.

Green rolling hills filled with sheep and dairy cows, leading to sand dunes and onwards to the sea.....!

Home again. And here is the latest member of our menagerie…!

SuziQ

Her name is SuziQ and we collected her on Sunday. She’s a miniature horse as opposed to a Shetland Pony and is not quite a year old. She’s quite a wild little thing but I’m sure she’ll get used to Puddleduck Farm and the other creatures and the comings and goings…. And that she’ll settle in beautifully!

On the creative front; I feel like I've hardly had any time to spend on anything slightly creative! I've tried to keep a bit of a journal of our trip. I have a commission for a still life painting. I'm going to do 2 simultaneously... I've prepared the canvases and will hopefully make a start later today or tomorrow before heading back to work on Wednesday. Where are the weeks going? The kids are still in Europe... and having a fabulous time. No doubt they'll have some great stories to share when they get home!!

We gardened most of yesterday. Both of us on mowers; one push mower and one ride-on. We attacked a few of the beds over-run with weeds and the nearly 2 acre house-yard is looking far from perfect but a lot more presentable!

Wishing you all a wonderful and creative week!

of Anniversaries and Amazing Castles

2010-09-30T06:57:00.006+10:00

Wow! It’s been an amazing week! It was our 6th Anniversary on Sunday and my 45th Birthday on Tuesday. Hubble requested that I was ‘his’ for the weekend….! We set off on Saturday- destination unknown to me (I tried to get hints from him all week – but to no avail!) What an amazing and gorgeous surprise! We stayed in a castle (we’re talking rural New South Wales, Australia! Not Scotland! Not the UK or Europe.) This castle turns 100 years old this year and up until 7 years ago was owned by the one family… here is a link to a website with a little more info and some more photos; and another here.

We had perfect weather and even a misty morning........

I can highly recommend it for a weekend getaway! We were so lucky and had it COMPLETELY to ourselves for the weekend. We thoroughly enjoyed exploring all the nooks and crannies and the parapet and numerous balconies…. and we revelled in being King and Queen for the weekend!

A rotunda in a garden centre we stopped at on the way home.... would have been right at home in the castle grounds!

I caught up with my eldest daughter Kat for our birthdays this week.... about 8 hours driving to meet up for lunch. She's at Uni in Sydney and was up in Newcastle for a few days; so I took the opportunity to go and see her while she was a bit closer. Cee-Cee came too and was an angel all day! I'm so pleased she travels well.

I had a call from my work on my way home to say I'd sold a painting....! Wow, I'm so thankful. (that'll pay to get a few more framed!)

So, I've had a wonderful week.... back to work now.... Jon's boys are coming up for the long weekend and I hope to get some painting and gardening done! Maybe some art will created too..! Have a great creative week!

Oil Pastel Landscape

2010-09-19T17:30:00.005+10:00

My first few hours in the studio for quite some time this quiet Sunday afternoon! I'm missing just coming in here whenever I like... my day job is taking up more and more of my time. I'm still enjoying it very much but will have even less time as I pick up an extra day/week as of this week..... The kids are away (going to Europe for 5 weeks with their Dad- lucky things!) So, it's just me and hubby and my beautiful wee Cee Cee (and the rest of the menagerie of course)...

I had a play around with my scrap/sketchbook and drew this small oil pastel landscape based on a trimming from the bottom edge of a magazine clipping I glued in. It wasn't a landscape but certainly had the feel of one....

I haven't posted any art or textile work on here for quite some time and feel a little guilty! Hopefully I'll be able to spend some more time in here on Tuesday!

Meet Cee Cee

2010-09-18T21:31:00.003+10:00

Here is my new baby! Cee Cee.

She’s a 6-9 month old Maltese-Shitzu cross who we adopted from the RSPCA…. Jonny found her at the pound and thankfully no one claimed her! So, after a week we were able to bring her home. Mocha and Jazz - my crazy Burmese cats have their noses severely out of joint! I have them locked in the other half of the house and will gradually introduce them. BJ the Border Collie has welcomed her but he does make an awfully big play mate!

She is absolutely adorable! She's house trained and is just the gentlest wee girl! I love her so much already. I've wanted a little lap dog for so long and Cee Cee certainly fits the bill perfectly. Thank you to my darling hubby for finding her for me!! xxxxxxxxxxxoooooooooooo

Face Drawing Tutorial

2010-09-01T15:15:00.005+10:00

I've signed up for a face drawing tutorial over at A Drawing Project with Judy McCarthy. Wow, I only spent a few minutes watching a short video and am amazed at the improvement already!

Judy's other blog can be found here!

The first two are quite quick sketches in a fairly cartoony sort of style. I drew the bottom one whilst watching the video and taking notes. The linework/ small amount of shading etc is the same; Really the only diference is simply the proportions! If you're interested in drawing better faces you might like to pop on over to Judy's drawing blog.

I hope my scanned sketchbook page shows up clearly enough here.

Books, books, book...!

2010-09-01T14:11:00.003+10:00

For those of you interested in Books; my daughter sent me a link to a wonderful book sales site (UK) called the Book Depositry and the books seem very reasonably priced - the bonus being they don't charge postage! Worldwide!

For example that wonderful Boro book that we would all love to own is only $57.11 AU and no postage. It is $70.20 US on Amazon plus postage (and they have only 1 copy!) They seem to have a great selection of textile titles too.....

I'm heading back over there now......! ; )

Headless Tuesday!

2010-08-17T15:47:00.010+10:00

Here’s a quick update on my Whimsical Woman! It seems that a lot of the things I work on are auto-biographical…..(maybe even everything in some context)

This is made from hand painted and then stamped fabric. See last few posts. It also has some textile dye pastel, fabric marker and various fabric scraps. This is inspired by Alisa Burke’s online workshop. I just had to add legs though! The pink and black stripe is a commercially printed cotton which I over printed with a stamp and black acrylic paint (I’ve only ever made one other Art Doll to date – my Gaia Earth Mother)

Now that the body is stuffed I wish I’d put the little fabric collage a little lower.. oh well, I’ll remember for next time! Don’t quite know what I’m doing with her hair yet – I just know that it will be wild (like mine!) Gaia’s hair was ripped fabric – I may do something similar if I can find some suitable locks!

I hope to get this finished today. Art group and visitors for dinner tomorrow and then back to work on Thursday… where does the week go?

I couldn’t upload the photos from my camera as the battery had died...... I’m back after recharging it and now have the head on my WWW (Wild Wee Wiffy) or Wicked Whimsical Woman perhaps?

I’ll attach a few more found objects; cover the neck joint with a scarf and perhaps jewelery and her hair isn’t quite finished yet either………

Whilst I was waiting for those batteries to recharge, I also had a little go at smooshing some violets onto cotton- what a lovely image! I hope they retain some of the colour. Even if it fades or browns off I’m amazed at the detail! (Actually, it was a little more than smooshing; more like smashing!! :) )

of August progress...

2010-08-16T16:08:00.003+10:00

Firstly a little something I whipped up one night last week. Inspiration was from something I saw on Alisa Burke's blog (actually. I think it was her website!) I've worn it a couple times already and really love it. The gold colour is hand dyed silk, and the black is cotton. Very quick and fun to wear! Thanks Alisa!

Hand stitched pendant

I’ve just started quilting this after basting it to thin cotton; I’ve now added a hand dyed upcyled fabric piece to the back and it feels soooo nice as I’m quilting. Not sure about adding creeks or rivers now… I’ll see how I feel about it once the quiting is done. Loving those little ripples!

Earth Skin - Hand stitched silk

I did a little stamping onto my hand painted fabric pieces –(destined to become the bodies of my Whimsical Women (dolls). I’ve jumped ahead a little with my online course with Alisa Burke. It’s very enjoyable and it’s making me combine some techniques both new and familiar. Most importantly I’m having fun…. And I think that’s what life’s all about!

Flower Stamp (acrylic paint) on hand painted fabric

Eye stamp (acrylic paint), textile marker and textile dye pastel

Mixed Media WIP

2010-08-11T15:07:00.007+10:00

My third post for the day! ... but I'm hoping to make up for the lull in postings!

I've also been working on this piece after being inspired by Jesse Reno's work. Please do yourself a favour and check out his artwork on his website and any video you can catch of him working.

Mixed Media WIP

Detail

I came across his work a few months ago via someone else’s blog but lost the link and couldn’t remember his name..... By chance I came across his work again a few days ago and spent some time checking out his brilliant artwork & watching a few of the videos of him working. I find his technique fascinating… so…last night I had a bit of a play around; I’ve done a little more on it today too, but fear I have already got too precious and there are parts of it I don’t want to cover up.

Will attack it another day or maybe later on tonight when I can free up a bit again. I don't want to think about it too much. It is great fun to do and so hands on. Not my usual style or colours or anything really- Just wanted to have a go! (Don't let this put you off looking at Jesse's work! I adore his work but have just tried the technique and materials to see what I could come up with!)

He says in an interview that he wanted to do archaeology as a child... that was my dream also! I love the detail and layers in his work... If you're lucky enough to be in the US- he does workshops too!

of Whimsical Women...!

2010-08-11T13:55:00.006+10:00

So, What do you do when your online course finishes? Sign up for another course, of course! This time with Alisa Burke. I have visited her blog before and came across it again yesterday. I saw that she runs online workshops and so have signed up for Whimsical Women! It is a mixed media course and runs over 5 weeks. Although I can access all of the lessons at once; I am going to attempt to follow in order and spend a week on each lesson as suggested! (Now there’s a challenge in itself!)

So, today I have been playing around with fabric and paint! And haven’t I had fun? Back to work tomorrow so I’ve made the most of my studio time today! I'm very much interested in learning lots of new and different techniques which I can apply to my own work.

I also like the little bit of structure a course gives me. I'm sometimes pretty hopeless at motivating myself or setting goals to achieve!

These two pieces were just paint onto white cotton... I like the heading on the newspaper under!

This one was just a simple monoprint on glass... easy... and quick and fun!

I love the colours in these two monoprints. I added a bit more paint to the glass for the second one, drew in another image and just love the ghost effect of the previous image showing up.

These will be overprinted/ stamped/ painted/ embroidered or whatever before cutting up to make Whimsical Women! This is such fun....!

The end of the beasts......

2010-08-11T13:29:00.002+10:00

I did a eucalypt dye batch last weekend -to add to my stash. No huge pieces of fabric just wanted some more odds and sods for this piece I am working on… I think I am going to call it Earth Skin…

I have a thing for maps and aerial views and am lucky enough to have the most amazing book titled ‘Earth from Above’ with photography by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. It is divine! Another I have is ‘Over Europe’ which is a collection of photos from the same photographer and several others. Text is by Jan Morris.

This piece is made from hand dyed, printed and rusted silks. All hand stitched and seams basted a la Jude Hill’s invisible basting technique.

Jude’s Patchwork Beast online workshop has finished now. I haven’t been able to participate as much as I would have liked this time but I still walk away with some lovely techniques that I know I am going to utilise.

I spent almost 2 days solid stitching on this! I don’t think I am going to find and embellish a beast as such but see it more as a piece of Earth Skin. I see paddocks and roads and I want to add a creek and some dams… Maybe I will add an eye though...! Approx 55cm x 43cm (22"x17")

Some fantastic work was created in Jude's class. I loved checking out the site each day and viewing all the wonderous work that was posted. It was a large class and a very varied menagerie...!

Just thinking out loud… What if it was a piece of dried Earth Skin? So instead of blue creeks/ rivers/ dams they are the dried up remnant of those. Like scars on the skin?

Beasties..

2010-07-21T16:03:00.002+10:00

I'm currently doing Jude Hill's online Patchwork Beasts workshop... and loving it. There is some really wonderful work being created and as always Jude is sharing of her knowledge and gentle in her teaching approach. I've not been able to create as much as I would have liked but have followed the workshop blog and lessons.

This is the start of my second piece; Hey Diddle Diddle. The cow body is pieced; so far the other bits and pieces (head, legs, udder) are just pinned on. It is a lot of fun and I hope to add the rest of the menagerie! You know, the little dog, the cat and the fiddle, the dish and......

This was my first attempt at free piecing... I don't love it but it has become a little sampler for the techniques....

Back to work tomorrow... I had some oral surgery on Friday (teeth extracted!) and still feel a little off... Looking forward to playing with fabric over the weekend....!

SpiritCloth Progress

2010-07-15T07:53:00.003+10:00

I have learnt soooo much from Jude Hill's online SpiritCloth workshop! I have enjoyed the class immensley and Jude's teaching technique. I haven't been able to spend as much time as I would have liked on this cloth before the class comes to a close - I had 9 weekend visitors for the Hubble's 50th birthday + some extra work shifts... Still, I'm pleased with where this is at... still have backing and borders to add! The tassels are on a thrift shop pashima scarf I hand dyed. The cloth is only sitting on it at the moment but I think they will be added to the finished piece!

Off to work I go.... !

SpiritCloth Workshop

2010-07-01T18:38:00.002+10:00

I'm back- I've been reading through lots of troubleshooting questions on the blogger site and have moved back to the old editor for now.. at least I can add a post this way! It's been a frustrating few days trying to get this to work...

I'm really enjoying Jude Hill's SpiritCloth Online workshop... we're learning lots of techniques and asking ourselves lots of 'what ifs' in our process of creating a Story Cloth.... I'm loving the techniques; and will eventually try each type and make a sampler so I don't forget in the future!

I've put together quite a few different bases; this one I blogged about last week; old, old linen and cotton. I've been thinking that the linen reminds me of something and I know what it is now; papyrus. The fibres are visible and the stiffness of this little piece reminds me of the coarse texture of papyrus.

This is where I am up to with this one now; a story is starting to be told. The bird is seeking inner strength and is safe to be with her thoughts whilst in the tree. The tree itself is nuturing and protecting. Sometimes in my life I am happy to be the tree and other times I just want to be that bird sitting safely in the branches. The roots are couched threads and frayings. The sky, earth and tree are all hand-dyed.

Detail

Bird Detail

I think the cycles of life are going to be incluede in this cloth too...

Here is where I am up to with my Sun piece; I envisage it being part of a larger cloth. I adore working on this hand dyed lined background....

The Sun

Here is another little 'what if'. What if I put that gorgeous coloured hand dyed silk piece on a piece of that tweed? And what if I dig in my jar of scraps and pull out.... that piece of vintage necktie fabric and put it on top. What if that looks like a tree? What if I stitch it down just there?

Tree on Tweed

Hooked on Pastels!

2010-06-29T08:14:00.000+10:00

I had a bit of trouble with Blogger yesterday; and I couldn't post more than just a title... couldn't edit either! I'm playing around with some new templates so please bear with me whilst things move around and I play with headers and colour schemes! My photos always seem to be a bit squished up regardless of how I crop or resize....

Anyway, I've been enjoying playing with pastel on board; I'm quite happy with these pears.....

Pears on Glass Platter

Pastel on Board

...but not so happy with this sunflower. I think it needs to be darker at the bottom... It's lost some of it's shape. Please excuse the blurry photo!

Following the Sun

Pastel on Board

Really Slow Cloth

2010-06-23T12:37:00.002+10:00

No racing ahead for me this week…! I’m being forced to really slow down… My internet allowance for the month is exceeded already and hence the speed severely restricted! (I live rurally and have satellite broadband – We only doubled the allowance a few months ago and here I am, just starting Jude’s online course and, well, … things are slow……..! I managed to watch her video components [which are vey easy to watch and learn from] over the course of a few hours (for about 15mins worth of video) ;you get the picture?

(If you get a chance to do one of Jude’s workshops I can already highly recommend them!)

Also, I have a few extra days of work this week, so I missed my Garden Club Luncheon on Monday and a studio day! Oh well, I do enjoy my job and I still have a full day in here today after I’ve caught up with a few things. I’ll be working on components for my ‘SpiritCloth’

This first photo is a sun; it is the beginning of my story cloth. The linen is hand-dyed and basted to a muslin backing. All the pieces are raw edge appliquéd…..

This is a piece of very old linen (so old I can almost see and feel the seperate flax fibres!) on a hand dyed cotton serviette. The photo really doesn't do the colour justice the bottom layer is really a warm yellow...

I’m making some other small pieces and bases with the view to joining and adding some of them together to make a larger piece; I’m also digging out some little experiments from the past with the view to incorporating them in this story cloth.

of Pastel Paintings

2010-06-08T09:14:00.000+10:00

Mum’s glasses case is finished and on it’s way! I lined it with soft fleecy and added blanket stitch around the top edge. I'm pleased with how it's turned out! I hope she like's it!

Glasses Case; silks, cottons, sari silks, ribbon, organza and hand embroidery

I promised a while ago that I would add a photo of the plates my Brother and SIL gave me when they visited. They are oval shaped with a delightful border..... I just love the colourful retro birds…!

I had a productive day in the studio yesterday; finishing this pastel painting which was quite literally gathering dust! It's approx 48cm x 68cm [19" x 27"] and is the largest pastel I have done to date... I used Art Spectrum Colourfix Primer which is my favourite ground for pastel. It has such a nice 'bite'...!

Virginia Creeper

I also started and completed this smaller piece which I’m hoping to get framed at work in time for a few local exhibitions. Also on Colourfix Primer. 29cm x 22cm [11" x 8 1/2"] It is based on a photo I took at one of my Garden Club visits.

Untitled.... I'd love your help to title this painting...!

Umm... no stitching yet this week... but my fingers are itching to do some! I'm not sure about starting something new before I begin Jude Hill's online Spirit Cloth workshop.... No doubt I won't be able to help myself though! I think I read on Jude's blog that there are still spaces available in her 3rd workshop: Patchwork Beasts. There is a link in the sidebar of her blog.

surrender to stitching...

2010-06-02T14:51:00.000+10:00

I promised Mum I would make her a case for her glasses…the one she has is scratching the lenses… so I surrendered to this over the last few days…

I drove a friend into town yesterday; a doctor’s appt, hairdresser’s appt, groceries and errands… so... I had quite a bit of time to sit and stitch! We did manage a nice lunch at the gallery and afternoon tea before we trekked home. Jan has just had an operation on her foot and like most of us; hates the temporary loss of wheels (being able to drive) and with that-her independence!

I don’t think I could add too many more stitches to this if I tried! I love the colours and frayed edges and the variegated threads! Now to sew it up with a lovely soft batting lining and find some sort of closure... I hope Mum likes it!

of Flying High over a River of Tears....

2010-05-31T11:09:00.000+10:00

I have been working away on a few things....

My Watch Me Fly cloth is complete- I think! I’ve decided not to add a backing as I like the way the old damask linen falls. Here it is hanging in a window in my studio; I like the way the light is coming through the clouds and how the weave of the fabric is visible. I've enjoyed making this!

Watch Me Fly

This next piece is a piece of brown paper with an iron on vilene backing. The paper was crumpled and reironed giving it a wonderful texture to work with. I loved the way the light caught each crumple! This piece is inspired by my River of Tears journal pages. The photo shows some of the double page spreads from my journal photographed and printed out together.

The sequined piece that I used for the River has been in my stash forever and is originally from my Mum who was a dressmaker. The rocks at the bottom are reverse appliqued using sari fabric from yarnahoy ;the smaller rocks are made with fabric marker stitched over with straight stitch in a variegated thread. I forgot to take a photo of the finished piece... oops but I have continued the smaller round rocks along the top edge of the river and stitched orange ~~trumpet~~ bugle beads and a few Swarovski crystals in the river.... It all has meaning for me. I have taken the piece into work to get framed.... as I think it will work best as a framed piece. I want to experiment a little with framing some of these smaller pieces; and maybe put them in my etsy store or hang them at home! I envisage doing a series of these....

Full Moon over the River of Tears

Finally, this is a piece of PaperCloth that I experimented with some time back. I wasn't really impressed as I think I use too much PVA in the process of gluing tissue paper to muslin and the piece was left shiny and stiff. I had done some free motion stitching in white but then left it.

I came across it in the studio the other day and started to hand stitch into it. It really is quite brittle in places but I am loving the effect of the variegated thread stitches. I'm using a single strand of black as shadows between the flowers; sketch-like... I may end up cross hatching to make the shadows even darker. I wonder what will happen if I go over the finished piece with clear gel medium? Mmmmm...

Ranunculuses or Ranunculi

I'm so happy and excited that I'm going to be doing Jude Hill's SpiritCloth online course!

It starts in a few weeks... I've never done a course of any type online

and look forward to learning lots and being guided by Jude!

of windswept workings

2010-05-11T17:36:00.000+10:00

Look what happened to 'Watch Me FLY!' overnight....

I added the hill landscape yesterday before I posted here.... the windswept trees and house emerged last night whilst watching TV with Hubble... the trees are cut and raw edge appliqued from sari silk and the house is cut from the same red silk and white cotton that the centre woven panel is made of.

I have some onion skin dye on the stove...!

Watch Me FLY!

2010-05-10T12:45:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post... have been absent from blogland for a bit. Work… Visitors…. Family…. Real life

I completed the pieced top for the Hubble’s quilt. It looks amazing and is HUGE! Well, larger than anything I’ve made before... 2.5m x 2.3m! It’s off to the quilting lady tomorrow!

I’ve also been working on ‘Heart with Wings’ … It’s actual title is “WATCH ME FLY’ . This comes from my journal of 8 or so years ago when I was going through a particularly difficult time in my life…. I used the journal to vent and then gradually through the course of an entry I would get more and more positive until I came out of the other end happier; if not, more understanding and accepting of the place I was and of the feelings I was having…… It served me well... This piece represents me rising above and overcoming the situation I was in.

Playing..............

2010-04-19T15:52:00.000+10:00

Just a quick post....my Dad is visiting from South Australia for a couple of weeks! I haven't seen him for a couple of years and it is his first visit to our little farm!

This was so much fun to make with some bits and pieces which were lying around my sewing table! I was too lazy to change the thread on the sewing machine but I needed a break from stitching Hubble's quilt blocks!

Coloured foil and silk on denim

I've stitched down the heart and wings on my latest piece... and love the way the wings are rippling and looking feathery

Heart with Wings- downward thrust!

Heart with Wings-

Feathery wing detail!

I found the cutest cookie cutter at the kitchen shop the other day and just couldn't resist! Jon had some fun at work today with these in his lunch box and the kids (who go back to school tomorrow after a 2 week term break) are looking forward to taking some of these ginger cookies in their lunchboxes too!

Dog Biccies!

...of Pennants, Parcels and the colour Blue!

2010-04-13T14:49:00.000+10:00

I’ve received a fantastic parcel of fabric from Quilts for London… to be used for the Olympic Pennants. So… If you’re in Australia and are interested in making a pennant for the 2012 Olympic Games athletes email me and I’ll send you out a fat quarter to use in your pennant! You can register online at Quilts for London or contact me. While you're on the website check out the ever growing gallery of completed pennants! There are some instructions and guidelines on how to make them although as long as they are A3 size, subject matter and technique is really up to you! All that is asked is that ‘gold’, ‘silver’ & ‘bronze’ are not used or the Olympic symbol…. The aim is to present each athlete with a pennant at the end of the games.

Quilts 4 London

Fabric for Olympic Pennants

I’m still beavering away at the Hubble’s 50th Birthday Quilt! I have 75 blocks done and only 35 remaining! Go Sandi…! I was going to work a full day on it today but the garden and washing beckoned!

75 finished blocks for The Hubble's Quilt!

Look what I found on ebay- a little vintage weaving loom- well a set of three, really! The tied or woven squares can be crocheted or tied together… the mind boggles! And to use a Spirit Cloth term if I may (they are words that are now firmly stuck in my head… What if….? Not much time to play now, but I intend to try a few ideas after the quilt is done!

A little experiment with my new vintage weaving loom set...

Not much progress on the Hearts with Wings piece simply because I can’t decide on the orientation of the wings! Straight is a little like soaring or gliding (no effort required), down seems like some effort has been expelled in getting up there and that I'm reaching higher still. Wings up seems to me like the effort is yet to be made; that strong thrust that will push me up… I know some effort is required to fly… so I’m thinking wings down (Hubble thinks otherwise and he laughs when I ask his opinion -and then continue on doing what I'm doing anyway!)

Speaking of flying; here’s a little sketch in my sketchbook…. that I’m turning into stitch… a motley hand dyed linen background and some DMC floss. Truly I’m not a blue girl but it seems everything I’m working on at the moment involves blue!

Cross-Stitch on Hand Dyed Linen

Lastly, an image of the pattern on a set of plates I bought for my brother and SIL. Aren't the colours and design just gorgeous? We managed to find a few antique shops open on our Easter weekend travels...... They bought me a lovely set too; which I'll photograph later..........

Vintage Plate Design

of Pages, Prizes and Lucky Finds!

2010-04-13T10:11:00.002+10:00

Firstly I have received my April/May copy of Quilting Arts and am so happy to see my Sui Generis (and other finalists work too) have been published at full page size! (Seems I had 1 issue left on my subscription!) I’m so excited as I imagined that if I was lucky enough to be included that perhaps they would be smaller images! Many, many moons ago I had some Interior Design work published (in conjunction with the Architectural firm I worked for at the time) but I never actually got to see it... I moved countries just before it came out, and this was way before the internet and email become so commonly used! So, I am truly over the moon about seeing this piece in print! (Can you tell?)

April/May cover

Quilting Arts magazine

Sui Generis

Inner Animal Challenge

Secondly, a huge thank you and hug for Catherine at Emergence for the gorgeous tulip bag that I won on her blog giveaway! It is truly divine… [and after a quick iron - which I only did as Catherine suggested it may be required! ;) ] I moved straight in and took it off to town with me yesterday! It has ample room for the kitchen sink that many of us girls like to carry around on our shoulder and is my favourite ‘colour’ black.

Catherine's Tulip Bell Bag

Blog Giveaway that I was lucky enough to win!

The workmanship (workwomanship) is just perfect and I will get much joy from using it. Thank you Catherine…! I love it!

The fabric in the background of the photos above is a vintage piece I recently purchased on ebay. I had intended to cut it up.... but I've hung it across the doorway into the studio... and there it will stay! I may add a backing and a rod pocket or similar at the top but I adore it in our vaguely castle/medieval themed living area! I was drawn to the design and colours which remind me of crewel embroidery.What a lucky find!

I've more to show- be back later!

Sui Generis

2010-04-06T17:41:00.001+10:00

My Inner Animal Reader Challenge finalist piece is aparently published in the current edition of Quilting Arts magazine (May/June 2010) ........ and also on the magazine's website here!

My Inner Animal

Sui Generis (Unique; One of a Kind)

My poem description is on the QA website!

I'll have to wait until the mags turn up in newsagents here as I think my subscription has just ended... probably only a few weeks to wait but......... I really am so excited!! All the entries can be viewed here Click on the Photo Galleries tab at the top and then the Inner Animal Challenge on the drop down menu. There are some really amazing entries! Wow!

Dancing to the beat of my own drum...

Her name is Sui Generis and she see’s the world through different coloured eyes;

one blue and one green; like me!

Just a little wild!

Raw edge appliqué onto vintage scarf; hand dyed silks and found fabrics including sari fabrics. Hand quilted and embroidered. Binding consists of hand stitched vintage Bark cloth; Sari fabric, Hand dyed commercially printed cotton and silk. (Some purchased from yarnahoy on etsy ) ,Novelty yarns

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter break with family and friends! My visitors left this morning- we had a lovely week and the kids [cousins] all got to know each other a little better : ) We had beautiful weather and great food ( I even managed a little hand stitching and got a few blocks done for Jonny's quilt too!) So, happy days all round!

Will catch up with my blog reading soon!

...of Flying Hearts and Heartfelt Quilts

2010-03-30T10:32:00.001+11:00

Busy, Busy Busy!

I’ve been racing around like a mad chook! I have house guests arriving today (my brother, his wife and 3 kiddies). They are staying for Easter and I’m so looking forward to catching up as it’s been at least 18 months since we’ve all seen each other….

So, housework has been on the agenda. (Not my favourite past-time)… and as much as I say to myself ‘They’ll just have to take us as we are’…. Part of me wants to have the place looking at least respectable! So……….Blah! Nearly done now; hopefully I'll even get a bit of stitching done before they arrive!

Besides that; I’ve got my new car! Oh joy, it’s divine and I love it!

Heart with Wings (Working Title)

Detail

I’ve been working on the Flying Heart piece… It’s grown somewhat and I made a new Heart with Wings as the other one is too small now! (I’ll use it somewhere else I’m sure!) It’s mostly an evening stitching project and is coming along quite quickly.

Heart with Wings - Whole piece

Now reorientated so there is more sky at the top!

Heart with Wings WIP

Also, it’s hubble’s 50 birthday in July and I want to finish a quilt for him. I started it nearly 2 years ago and haven’t even looked at it for probably more than a year! He keeps hinting though… and I’d love to have it done for him. In the six years we've been together the only thing I've ever made him is a pair of boxers!

Jon's Quilt

WIP 36 blocks done-only 74 to go!

Kaffe Fasset Venetian Tile Quilt Design

The quilt is TRADITIONAL! …a gorgeous Kaffe Fassett design. The only traditional quilts I have ever made were a Log Cabin baby quilt for dear friends about 15 years ago and another Kaffe Fassett top that hangs unfinished on an old ladder in my dining room! It’s a lattice design and I love it but just haven’t got around to putting on the border and finishing it!

Unfinished Quilt Top

Kaffe Fassett Lattice Quilt Design

I have found a fairly local lady who quilts professionally and I will be taking Jon’s quilt to her once I’ve finished piecing. I’ve struggled with a square metre sized quilt under my sewing machine; I can only imagine how much fun I would have trying to machine quilt this huge piece! I would love to hand quilt it for him but I imagine he wouldn’t actually receive it until he was closer to 90! Maybe I could start another for him that I can hand stitch……. Now that I have a deadline to work toward to get it to the quilting lady…; I’m a little possessed! I need to make up 2.6 blocks per day! So far I’m averaging that! … I hope I can duck away to the studio for some sanity and stitching whilst my visitors are here….! ; )

...of Dragons and Hearts with Wings!

2010-03-23T16:11:00.002+11:00

I found some beautifully dyed variegated threads at Cottage Garden Threads... I came across the name on a blog, did a search and now I'm in looooooove and need to order some! I've been using mainly the DMC variegated series but have also used a few of the Anchor threads (which I've not liked as much because the colour changes tend to be too short and not as subtle!) The Cottage Garden Threads are available online at: Orange Daisy.. Yum!

Yesterday's sunset in the Dungowan Valley

What a wonderful week it has been already! I raced all over town today; finally changing my name on the last few bank accounts and a few other official things that had slipped through the net. (We've only been married 5 years! Can't rush these things!) I've been procrastinating because I thought it was going to be much more difficult than it turned out to be! Thank you to the lovely girls who helped me do this almost effortlessly today!

SOLD!

I did my grocery shop and had the most wonderful surprise when I arrived home! My Green Eyed Dragon that I listed on Etsy has sold! I'm so pleased! The buyer sounds just lovely and assures me that he is going to a loving home!

The week isn't over yet and is only getting better and better! I arranged insurance for my new car which arrives on Friday! (Lucky, Lucky me!)

To top everything off- I've just had a call from work and they don't need me tomorrow so I have a full studio day! YAY! (Not that I don't love work- it's just I love being here too!)

Here's a little look at some pieces I've been working on....

Two pieces of hand dyed silk

woven and stitched together

Red Silk and White cotton strips

Woven and stitched together

The red and white checkerboard and the blue squares are my experiments with Jude Hill's fabulous slow cloth fabric weaving technique at SpiritCloth. Here's a link to her video tutorial blog entry... which is serene and educational all at once! These little pieces were sooooo much fun to make! The blue squares are about 1" (2.5cm) square and the R+W about 3/4".

The blue and white piece on the right is a hand dyed piece of linen from my last dye batch

the heart with wings is from my River of Tears divorce journal...

I want to put all these components together; but may need to dye some more fabric or at least play around a little to make it work. I am going to add a few words but don't want to pre-empt them just yet. They are words I used to pump myself up at particularly trying times when going through a pretty yucky divorce. I had to work hard to get there; but they helped once I got to the point of being able to say them! Stay tuned!

tee hee, it's about me!

2010-03-17T21:44:00.000+11:00

The lovely Jane over at QuiltersCottageNorfolk has received my BLUE MOON inspired ATC swap and posted about it here! I’m honoured!... it’s so weird seeing your own work on someone else’s blog and what a gorgeous photo, Jane! Thank you! (Seems like I finished and wrapped it just a few days ago and now it’s around the other side of the world!)So, I can post my photo now!

Moon Shadow ATC

Discharge Dyed Denim, Organza, Tim Holtz Bird Stamp, Stamped Tree - embroidered

Embroidered MoonBeams, Machine stitched edging, starry denim backing with label,

silk and varioius fibre tassel

Blue Moon ATC Swap

Top: Sandi Manning

Bottom: Jane Clark

I really enjoyed this swap; (challenging as it was for me!) ....so thank you Jane!

I would love to do an ATC or similar swap with whoever is interested… just leave me a comment….

3 Pretty Sisters

2010-03-16T20:56:00.000+11:00

I’m finally able to post my entry for the Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine Readers Challenge- ‘Make it Pretty’! I checked their website today and the finalists are listed. -not me, but CONGRATULATIONS to all the finalists and I can’t wait to see all the finished mixed media artwork in the magazine!

Here are 3 sisters; each pretty in their own way.

I admire women who are strong and have a sense of self; who love themselves as they are. There is often a rivalry between sisters and friends as to who is the ‘pretty one’ or the ‘clever one’. These three sisters shine in their own way; they are happy to be different and happy to be themselves.

The Three Sisters

Mini Art Quilt

12" x12" (30cm x 30cm)

My inspiration is a dream-time aboriginal story that explains the natural rock formation known as ‘The Three Sisters’ at Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia. This is the version I like best although the other does include a Bunyip! The three beautiful sisters fell in love with 3 brothers from another tribe to whom it was against tribal law to marry. The brothers decided to steal them away and a battle ensued. The 3 sisters were turned to stone for their own safety by a tribal elder (some say it was their witch doctor father) - but he died in the battle and they couldn’t be turned back. Even as stone, they are still beautiful……………………

The Three Sisters - detail

Mini Art Quilt

12" x12" (30cm x 30cm)

The Three Sisters - detail

Mini Art Quilt

12" x12" (30cm x 30cm)

Beauty is so much more than skin deep; I believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder and that we are all pretty whether we are tall or short, plump or thin, have blue, brown, green, grey, or hazel eyes; whatever our skin colour, or age. Sometimes it’s on the surface, sometimes deeper down.

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in; their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.”

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Methods and Materials:

The background is thin printed cotton muslin over red and white polka dot cotton. The dots were visible through the muslin and daisies were embroidered around alternate polka dots with a variegated perle thread and leaves with 3 strands of embroidery floss.

The sisters’ faces were painted onto a piece of onion dyed silk with fabric paint, acrylic paint and textile medium. The circular faces were cut from the silk and needle turn appliquéd to their halo collars which were made of rust dyed silk and muslin. Buttonhole and Running stitch were used to embellish the haloes. The faces were slit from behind and stuffed with wadding.

The sisters’ dresses were made from various pieces of sari silks and cottons. Running stitch was used to outline design elements and attach the pieces to the background. Various novelty fringing/yarns were attached to the sisters’ halo collars as they were stitched to the background. Other embellishments include a piece of hand dyed vintage lace, and a piece of rust dyed corded silk (under the lace).

The quilt consists of wool batting and commercially printed cotton backing. Binding was made from silk, commercially printed cotton and sari cottons.

Most of the fabrics were in my stash; but the beautiful embellished sari silks and cottons were purchased from Manasi's etsy store:Yarnahoy.
Feb 2010

Please go and check out Yarnahoy's store- Manasi has some beautiful fabrics (and rovings) and gives a generous 20% discount on future purchases if you blog about what you made with fabric purchased from her! There are other ways to earn a discount too.... ( I've just received another bundle of scrap sari fabrics from her and they are truely delicious!) She has just returned from a trip to India, so will have lots of new and tempting fabrics for your textile art!

of Integrity and Earthiness

2010-03-10T09:41:00.000+11:00

On Monday I received the most beautiful pendant from Te at Soewn Earth in Tasmania, Australia! Wow, I was completely blown away with her presentation and generosity! The oval clay pendant that I ordered is divine, as was the beautiful hand dyed and embroidered pouch that it came in, complete with silk twisted cord and clay beads… and the most beautiful clay button. The texture on these are amazing. She has an etsy store here where she sells textile packs & clay bead earrings among other handmade items. I believe she will be adding the pendants to her store soon …….! Here is a link to her blog and her website. … Her work is so integrally earthy. They are even more gorgeous in real life!

Gorgeous Earthy Parcel from Te at Seown Earth

My attempt at an early morning sunshine arsty photo on background of hand dyed and stitched silk! (the back of Where will the Journey End)

I couldn't resist ,as the silk pouch and my silk were almost the same colour. Te's pouch is beautifully handstitched.

Te's beautiful hand made pouch!

Te's beautiful oval clay pendant. Isn't that texture divine?

(photo is a little warped again- sorry!)

of Stamps, Midnight Moonlight and Birthday Sleepovers

2010-03-10T09:37:00.000+11:00

I also received my Tim Holtz stamps from Karen at 1papercut etsy store. They were beautifully wrapped, and … included a litle gifty of another little set of arty stamps. Beautiful. Go check out her store; she has stamping/journalling supplies. The Tim Holtz stamps are to die for...[never thought I'd be into stamps but..... : ) ] He is a wonderful designer... Here's a link to his website .

I've finally finished my Blue Moon ATC swap for Jane Clark at Quilters Cottage Norfolk. It is actually take 2 as I wasn’t happy with how the first was turning out! I’m much happier with this one and I really hope she likes it! [no photos until I know she’s received it though!] It's called Moon Shadow as the Cat Stevens song was playing as I was finishing up and it seemed appropriate!

...and just so you know that I really am doing something on my studio days; here's an update of the little hand dyed lace piece. I'm liking how the Rose is looking with the variegated thread (one of my favourite things at the moment!)

The weekend was busy running around after my kids' social lives! (Their social calendar is definitely busier than mine!) It was also my youngest's 11th Birthday on Sunday and he had a couple of his wee mates sleep over on Sat night. They had a pizza/DVD night and no-one got to sleep until afte midnight! Mack (short for Mackenzie) is on the right getting ready to blow out the single candle on his six egg sponge cake - which was enjoyed by all!

Birthday Boy!

Cinderella is off to town today to buy a dress for the ball!

Once upon a time there was a Dragon....

2010-03-01T16:24:00.001+11:00

.......and now he is complete and up for sale in my Etsy store!

Green Eyed Dragon

Complete! with pashima shawl fringe

Hand dyed vintage embroidered linen backing

Hanging sleeve top left and pashima shawl fringe bottom right

Corner Detail - Double Cross and French Knot

I love the variegated thread cross stitches that fitted perfectly along the drawn thread type edging on the vintage linen.

Vintage Tie Label and Shadow work

I'm so pleased with how he turned out! The End.

Happy Days!

2010-03-01T15:30:00.000+11:00

I’m in seventh heaven today! Totally appreciative of my studio time and in awe of all the wonderful artists -and their work- out there!

I received my Love Gone Wild ATC Swap parcel today and am absolutely blown away! A special thankyou to: (Clockwise from bottom left) Sabine Schneider, Lynda Roddy Ozzauto, Sarah Boblit and Joy Meadows. Your work is divine and I love each one of your ATCs! I will learn a lot from each of them too……. The 5th you may recognize as mine ( I made a couple of extras- one to keep with my swaps when they arrived. I may get them framed altogether!)

This is extra sweet for me being my first ever swap (Imagine, my first ever ATCs – I’m officially hooked!)

An extra special thankyou to Lenna Andrews of Creative Swaps for being such a fantastic hostess and for sharing your creativity and allowing us to share our's too. (Check out her latest Swap!) ....and thank you to Vintage Image Madness too, for the bonus bundle- very generous!

In addition, I’ve received my Blue Moon ATC from Jane Clarke at Quilters Cottage………………… It is truly divine also! Beautiful beadwork atop a lovely mixed fabric background. Wow! ...and a gorgeous card made with some of the scraps- a work of art of it's own! I hope I can do the theme justice with my return swap! Thank you Jane!

Jane Clark Blue Moon ATC

Even the stamp and airmail sticker are true to theme!

I heard from my friend Sandie today! (Another Sandi -confusing I know!) She was lucky enough to go to a Helen Godden free motion quilting class over the weekend. Helen is very talented; Here is link to her artwork and another to her art quilts ... go check it out! Sandie doesn't have a blog but says she keeps up with my puddleducking via my blog... so, a big hug to you Sandie!

February ATC's

2010-02-28T09:14:00.000+11:00

Just a quick post this Sunday morning! Washing, baking and helping with homework beckons……………. also Mack is having a friend over for the day.

These ATC’s are made from some old watercolour paintings that weren't good enough to frame…. but are perfect for cutting into 2 ½ x 3 ½ inch cards!

300gm watercolour paper with old watercolour painting (c1995),

stamped text and embellishments,

text cut from old book, felt-tip ink pen outlines and border

I 'm going to give these to my new arty friends here in Tamworth who I will be meeting up with this week after an extended Christmas break. We've kept in touch but it will be nice to see what everyone has been up to! Again, my photo proportions are playing up - and I have no idea how to fix it; but if you click on the photos to enlarge; they'll be correctly proportioned.

An incomplete 5th ATC- just need to add text

I really enjoy creating these small artworks- I have Lenna Young Andrews to thank over at Creative Lenna and her other blog Creative Swaps. Her ATC's, altered books and collage work is inspirational. I entered her last ATC swap -my first! My return swaps are winging there way to me now!I follow her blog and thoroughly enjoy learning new techniques through her blog.

of a whole studio day!

2010-02-23T20:13:00.000+11:00

I found this small embroidery on linen at an op shop some time ago and just had to save it!

Today I threw it in the dye bath and after it was washed and dried I discharge dyed the original stitching... I love the effect!

Yay! My work hours are going to be consolidated a bit and it seems I am going to have at least a couple of days a week with no work… which means of course I can get more done at home and in the studio! Also, the total hours will be approximately the same as I have been doing but I won’t need to spend as much on petrol to get there (an 80km – 50 mile round trip) which is a bonus! Instead of 5 days part time it is going to be more like 2-3 full days.

It will definitely make me appreciate the time I do have here. So, it was down to busy-ness in here this morning and I dyed a batch of fabric with a particularly prevalent weed we have here. Again, the silk took the colour the best and adding salt at the end changed the end product from a fairly non-descript green to a mushroom pink on most fabrics. An interesting result on the linen….

I love the softness of natural dyes… I also found a piece of printed cotton that I had left in the bottom of my last onion skin dye bath. Beautiful colour! Nice effect! All rinsed and dried now.

Natural 'weed' dyeing!

The darker pieces are silks and the others, cottons and cotton blends.

I had the dyeing bug after that and I can always find plenty of scraps to throw in around here! So, I used a commercial jeans blue dye and did some low immersion dyeing. I love the effects that I have. Again a mix of cotton, linen, silk, & cotton blends. This was my favourite piece of the day! A gorgeous piece of linen which was scrunched and retained some whites!

Low immmersion -commercial denim blue dye on linen

Various pieces of cotton, linen and blends with denim blue commercial dye- low immersion

Fire Breathing Green Eyed Dragon!

WIP - Nearing completion!

Last night saw me stitching more on my Fire Breathing Green Eyed Dragon! He is nearing completion and I was just starting to think about a backing fabric and work out how or if I’m going to bind it; when inspiration hit from a piece of blue linen I’d just dyed!

I have an old thrift store pashima shawl I dyed a few months ago that has some nice tassels so I think I’ll use that on the bottom edge…. mmmm... might need something blue along that bottom edge too...

of Slow February Progress............

2010-02-20T09:15:00.000+11:00

So, here I am at the end of my second working week… feeling as if I’ve achieved, well, not a whole lot! I miss stitching, I miss blogging, I miss being able to do just what I want, when I want to! I don’t know how so many of you juggle a day job with creativity! I do enjoy my job though...... just need to learn to balance it all.

I’ve speedily read the blogs I keep up with (sorry, I haven’t left comments!), and tried to do at least a little hand stitching each evening….. Once I’ve caught up with the dreaded housework this weekend I intend to work on some things here in the studio…. I can't wait!

Hand dyed muslin, silk and linen...

This little piece is from my last dye batch. I'm not planning at all, just using scraps and small pieces and stitching to keep me sane...

Hand dyed vintage lace on rust dyed silks and muslin

This piece started life as part of a challenge but I didn't end up using it. I have more stitching to add; I'll out line the Rose with split stitch and possibly the leaves too. The background is machine pieced.

Hand pieced and quilted commercial printed cotton

This little block is all hand pieced from my scrap bag. I haven't done any hand piecing since the Really Ancient Cloth in my last post! (About 100 years ago!)

Thanks Marie at Ancient Cloth for the link to my Green Eyed Dragon! and to Catherine at Emergence for her link too. They are both doing some amazing work and experimentation!

A Really Ancient Cloth!

2010-02-12T08:11:00.000+11:00

Marie over at Ancient Cloth has started a quilt from recycled clothing from her family! It’s a wonderful idea and I’m sure it will give her a lot of joy as she puts it together and one day will give her the joy of memories when all the kiddies have flown the nest! I shared a story with her about a little quilt and she suggested I share it here:

I made this small hexagon quilt; all handstitched when I was in my early teens, maybe a bit younger. Mid to late 70’s (I think it was ‘finished off’ maybe in the very early 80’s!)

My Mum was a dressmaker and I used scraps from her sewing room floor! There is everything from exotic silks to pieces of wool and felt! I put a backing on it later; and eventually it became a doll’s blanket for my girls… I remember which fabrics were from clothing my Mum made for me or herself. When she saw it when visiting once, she could remember almost all of the clients and the dresses she made from each piece!

One of the silks has disintegrated completely and the backing shows through (Ummm… I obviously didn’t know about wadding! – Actually as a larger quilt it would have a nice weight. Although technically it’s not a quilt unless it has 3 layers. Is that right? ) There are cottons and jerseys in the mix too- all sewn in together! From memory it was paper pieced! The distortion of the felts etc is probably due to a necessary wash when the girls were using it! Even now it has a generous dose of cat fur- funny where those feline girls hang out! And even funnier, I don’t know why I’ve hung onto it; I’ve certainly never thought of it as special! So, thank you Marie for making me look at it in a different light!

Now, I'd better hurry up; it's off to work I go!

Have a good look around Marie's blog while you're there... She's very talented and her posts are interesting reading!

of Nature, WIPs and Work

2010-02-11T18:43:00.000+11:00

This new part time job is taking it's toll... : ) I'm loving it; but I'm exhausted! I think I'm still trying to get as much done (house, garden, studio) as I usually do and it's just not happening. I don't want anything to come between me and my creative time and I'm frustated with myself that I'm tired! I guess it's just all new and will be a matter of settling in. I started a little later this morning as I attended a little ceremony at my son's school........ It's great that my new work place is flexible; they're lovely people and I feel like I'm learning lots; it's hands on, which I love.

So, I haven't really done much needlework.... I started a little on the Blue Moon ATC last night... I'll see where that goes...

Blue Moon ATC

WIP

Yellow Clouds yesterday evening....

they really looked ominous and were strangely coloured..

but we didn't get a storm....

My very favourite rose: Mary Rose

see, I can do Shabby Chic!

Young Chinese Elm

My Silver Birch trunks are turning silver!

Having a bit of trouble with photo formatting of late. My pics are tending to get squashed up. I tried resizing a couple of them but now they won't centre.. so apologies for the mish mash array!

grrrrrrr

I have to make another 80km round trip into town tonight as Rose has a twilight school swimming carnival this evening...

The Hand Embroidery Networks (HEN) Winter Wonderland Exhibition is online here. There is some absolutely fabulous, clever and detailed work!

here comes the rain..........!

2010-02-09T17:50:00.000+11:00

but first...., I wanted to show you the starting point for an ATC swap with Jane Clark at Quilters Cottage Norfolk. Here is a link to her blog post showing her gorgeous Blue Moon ATCs. Please check out the rest of her blog; she has some really lovely and varied work... and updates at least once a day!

Blue Denim Moon

Discharged Denim - ATC WIP

Inspiration for this comes from Jude Hill's divine blog : Spirit Cloth. I read Jude's blog every day (I think I'm addicted to her slow cloth methods, her colour and texture combinations, her musing, her photos, her stitches and her beautiful story cloths) If you're not already following Jude I guarantee you will once you see her work!

Blue Denim Moons

Discharged Denim - ATC WIP

If you follow the links on Jude's blog you will find Shibori Girl (Glennis Dolce) who's amazing indigo moons Jude features. Again, check out her whole blog!

Rain Approaching

Sun Shower

(actually a little more than a shower but don't you love when it rains and the sun is still shining?)

We're thankful for the rain as everything was starting to dry out again!

...did I mention where I started work sells art materials? tee hee (musn't tell hubby!)

of Sunday Morning Variegations.....

2010-02-07T09:05:00.000+11:00

I’m loving some of the soft colours in my most recent dye play. Soft colours have never really been my thing! I’ve been pretty much into strong saturated colour. I love how colours sing off of each other! ..... and here I am playing around with such subtle variations....... I guess they are singing too.

Hand dyed poly cotton?

hand sewn raw edge applique

I don’t think this piece is 100% cotton. It is finely woven, frays easily and has taken the dye softly. I love the depth created by placing the variegated fabrics together

Detail

I have no idea what this is- maybe just a little sampler? I started doing some kantha across the square shapes but unpicked it…. Maybe I’ll add more embellishment or maybe I like it’s simplicity. I'll let it sit/hang now.....

Fire Breathing Dragon

2010-02-04T08:04:00.000+11:00

The Green Eyed Dragon is officially breathing fire...

WIP - Green Eyed Dragon

Vintage Tie, Denim, Hand-dyed silk, Czech linen/cotton cloth,

Couched threads and fibres- silk and cotton,

Variegated embroidery thread, Perle thread

Dyeing addict...!

2010-02-03T09:26:00.000+11:00

It really is no wonder so many people are addicted to dyeing…

An old linen teacloth and a little cotton top that my daughter Rose has outgrown..

I had a bit of a play with some orange and black dyes in the studio late yesterday afternoon (after a pretty full day in the garden-phew!) I love not knowing exactly how it's going to turn out…! At first I was a bit disappointed with the spotting that comes from experimenting and not dissolving the dye first but it’s growing on me now... there is some nice shading and variegations.

An old embroidered traycloth - I think linen..

from the top: silk, muslin, cotton(or possibly cotton polyester),

silk, commercially dyed cotton, silk

I threw in scraps and household linens.... linen, flannel, muslin, cotton and silk. I love how they take the dye on differently. I didn't do any shibori or tying of any type this time- just left the pieces scrunched in a tray...

Flannel

I don’t think any of them will be used as whole pieces... although I do like this little piece of flannel above.

I must do that again soon...! I had so much fun..........

Green Eyed Dragon

2010-02-01T08:52:00.000+11:00

I've been collecting neckties for about a year now; and have just 1 finished project incorporating them! (a bag that I use frequently!) I have 3-4 other pieces in various states of completedness some of which I have blogged about. I love the crazy patterns, designs and colours and I especially love how the colours look together -as they hang off the old wooden ladder suspended from the beams in my studio....

Here is a little something that I'm just letting happen with my most recent purchase...

Green Eyed Dragon - WIP

I'm not trying too hard on this and there's not a lot of forethought - not even a sketch...which is unusual for me... I'm enjoying the process.

Detail-

including vintage shadow work and label from back of dragon tie

Gold Lined Cloud Detail

- metallic fabric scraps, and worn denim

Off to do some gardening before it gets too hot.........

Lucky finds!

2010-01-30T09:05:00.000+11:00

Not my work.... but I have to share a couple of lucky finds from the thrift store yesterday! First was a little table top easel which I just couldn't pass up (only $4!). It will be very useful for my pastel paintings. The second was this sweet little crewel embroidered cushion.....

I don't know whether to be brave enough to wash it or not. There is so much work in this little design. It seems to have been stitched with 2-3 strands of 6 stranded floss not wool thread. The stitching is quite fine and in perfect condition!

..... it's sad sometimes to think of all the time and skill that went into making household linens etc in times past and that fewer people seem to appreciate them. I sometimes purchase them just to 'save' them. Occassionally I use them in my work. Once I've washed this I'll put it on the comfy chair in my studio... and tizzy it up with some tassels on the corners....! I want to bring it back to life!

I'm working on a kit monogram for my hubby's study wall (started about 2 years ago and it'd be nice to have it done and framed for his 50th in July this year!) Apart from that just dabbling around with some UFO's I've found whislt tidying my studio.................!

My Inner Animal!

2010-01-27T18:44:00.001+11:00

OMG! I’m so excited! My little art quilt has been chosen as 1 of 20 finalists in the Quilting Arts ‘Inner Animal’ Reader Challenge!!

Pin from a pack of school book labels I bought for the kids... seems appropriate!

Wow! This is a first for me (I’ve entered two other challenges previously; the first being ‘The Rhythm of Life’ Quilt Challenge for Down Under Quilts Magazine and more recently the Cloth, Paper, Scissors ‘Mother Earth Art Doll’ Challenge) I’m ecstatic to say the least. I don’t know the protocol so here I am blogging about it! I’ll post my little animal quilt off to the US tomorrow…. And even if it doesn’t end up being published it feels wonderful to know that it will be included in the exhibition!

Part of a UFO I picked up again recently!

Dancing to the beat of my own drum with a huge grin on my face!

Turning Over a New Leaf

2010-01-25T08:17:00.000+11:00

Just a quick post today...... A little something I have been playing with since being inspired by Erica Spink's tutorial at Creative Dabbling! Follow the button link Erica has added to her blog margin.

Needlewoven Leaf

on black felt

.......and here it is in my sketchbook and as a WIP

Off to do some housework. Hopefully I will get some studio tidying done this afternoon! ; )

LOVE GONE WILD!

2010-01-22T14:02:00.002+11:00

This post title is dedicated to the theme of my very first ATC swap hosted by Lenna at Creative Swaps. I've really loved making these and am excited about receiving my swaps in return! Thanks Lenna!

Mine are only slight variations of the same layout with the text ' WILD ABOUT YOU'.

I used rusted watercolour paper as a base; ripped printed tiger paper and leopard print ribbon was glued to the bottom of each ATC first; the word 'Wild' was then stamped and outlined with a black marker, then coloured with watercolour pencil and water; the eye was printed with a hand cut rubber stamp; watered down white acrylic paint was splattered over the whole front surface and finally small alphabet stickers were use to spell out 'about you'. The edges have been darkened and a fine black border added around the edges; front and back.

I'm officially addicted to ATC's! What a lovely way to give and recieve little pieces of art!

Joyous January!

2010-01-18T10:32:00.001+11:00

First, a sneak peak at one of the challenges I've been working on!:

Detail

Detail

It's all finished now and I'm ready to send off photos for the deadline!

January has been wonderful! We’ve had so much rain that everything is lush and green and thankfully it hasn’t been too hot; we had a weekend away at Bellingen on the motorbike (we didn’t get wet this time!) We stayed at Casa Belle which is a wonderful piece of Paradise in the Bellinger Valley just inland of Coffs Harbour in the north east of the state of NSW! This is our 3rd stay in 3 or 4 years and we just adore it! If you’re planning a visit to Australia or are in Australia and looking for somewhere to stay in this area, we can highly recommend it!

We went on another organised bike run yesterday - a perfect riding day; I had a shopping day in Newcastle (about 4 hours drive away) with my eldest daughter (Kat) last week and bought some much needed clothes, shoes and underwear!; My youngest 2 children have arrived home from Christmas hols with their father interstate; and on top of all of that I’ve been busy working on challenges! Not so much studio cleaning and redecorating happening yet but the year is yet young! I'm harvesting Button Squash, Lebanese Cucumbers & 'Jack Be Little' Pumpkins (soooo cute!) from my vege patch (seeds were all from Eden Seeds - non hybrid, old traditional, open pollinated).

Here is the first of my ATC swaps. I'm not 100% happy with it but it's growing on me! It's just so different to the other entries posted so far- which are all divine!

Here is the link to Lenna Young Andrews Creative Swaps website with updates on this swap.

This is a little piece of needle weaving in situ on a piece of black felt that I did in front of the telly the other night. There is a photo and tutorial of the technique on this lovely blog: Creative Dabbling I came across the other day! Click here to go to the tutorial.

Needle Weaving on Felt

I couldn’t immediately lay my hands on my embroidery hoop to weave onto fabric and I was itching to try this sooooooo I decided to use the felt as a base instead with very successful results. The instructions are for a brooch but I may turn this one into a necklace (I’ve been doodling ideas for fabric necklaces in my sketchbook and jumped on this technique when I saw it!) Thank you Erica for wonderful instructions!

Erica dabbles with lots of different techniques (like someone else I know!) and I'm enjoying her blog. I've just 'met' Erica and realised it is her selvage quilt on the front cover of the latest Down Under Quilts magazine! Congratualations! Click here to go to Erica's blog entry about the cover and a further link to the article!

A year of firsts!

2010-01-05T09:38:00.000+11:00

HAPPY 2010!

Only day 5 of the New Year and already so many firsts for me!

I’ve finished the first of the challenge pieces I’ve been working on (Just need to get some decent photos printed to send in) and am very close to completing a second! Yay! I’m pleased with the first; not quite so happy with the 2nd. I’ve blogged about it previously… Hopefully it will be all done by the end of today. Here is a snippet!

'Winter Wonderland' - Detail

Hand Embroiderer's Network Exhibition Entry

There is a link to the HEN at the bottom of this page.

A third entry I would like to finish is for the Quilting Arts ‘Let out your Inner Animal’ challenge which I’ve only cut and laid out so far! So a lot of work to do and the email deadline is 22nd Jan! eek! Link here for details.

I’ve also signed up for my first swap! It’s an ATC swap hosted by Lenna Young Andrews over here. She’s a very talented lady whose blog I’ve been following for a wee while now! Check it out. Another first for me in that I’ve not made ATC’s before!

And in yet another first, I’ve opened my first ever etsy shop! Click on the link over on the left there! I’m listing some older pieces. Still have some fiddling to do with my store………

My Mother Earth Art Doll challenge entry wasn’t chosen so I can show her here now! I’m actually quite attached to her now as she has been sitting on the mantel in my studio. Not sure whether to list her on etsy or gift her to a friend; or just let her sit here for a little longer?

Earth Mother Art Doll

Originally made for the Cloth Paper Scissors Reader Challenge

Gaia's Nuno Felt Cape with embroidered details and copper coloured beaded fringe- reverse side

Right side nuno felt cape

Gaia's painted and rusted face. Hand made copper clasp and beaded earrings.

I thoroughly enjoyed making her and have a second version in the pipeworks (read that as buried somewhere under the masses of fabric and junk in my studio!) - Haven't got around to that studio make-over yet!

A Snippet at the End of the Year..........

2009-12-31T09:22:00.001+11:00

New Years Eve 2009!

A snippet of a challenge I'm working on!

Challenge Snippet

Rain, rain, rain………………We’ve had glorious rain! The lawn is no longer dry and crunchy underfoot! In fact we'll have to mow before it warms up again as it will be a great haven for snakes!) The paddocks are greening up too and that means we won’t need to buy in as much hay for the animals.

Little Lily (the calf) is growing daily and is such a source of joy! Watching her bucking and yee-hahing around her yard makes me smile….

We had a lovely couple of days away over Christmas…. We rode the motorbike and being fair weather riders don’t even own wet weather gear but we had to ride home in the rain (about 31/2 hours!)- Suffice to say I’ve never been that wet whilst wearing clothes! Once you reach saturation point it really doesn’t matter any more does it? Hubble did a wonderful job of getting us home safely.

It’s been lovely to get back in the studio! I’ve been working on some challenge entries and so can only show a snippet! The photo above is so unlike anything I've done before! I'm working on 3-4 entries at the moment. Once they're done I'm going to clean up the studio! (I promise!) Hopefully find some shelves, rip up the vomituous carpet and paint the walls also! I've been offered some casual work in the New Year too so I shall be a busy girl!

Best wishes to all for a creative, joyous and prosperous 2010!

Our 'Lil Christmas Lily!

2009-12-20T19:05:00.000+11:00

We have been gifted an orphaned newborn (4 days old as I write this on Sunday) Black Angus Calf. She is absolutely beautiful and healthy and large! (The demise of her mother it seems) Hubby works with the owner; and because they are going away over Christmas they won’t be around to bottle feed her… Guess what? We have a new member of the menagerie…. Her name is Lily.

My 2 youngest kids are with their father for 3 weeks over Christmas but we have a houseful anyway (5 extras!) with hubby’s twin boys (15), his daughter (19) with her boyfriend and my eldest daughter (18). So Lily has been very well received and spoiled and will grow up to be the tamest cow ever!

She has the most beautiful big dark eyes with the longest lashes you’ve ever seen and is the most adorable creature! She is so easy to love… and I doubt that she will end up as steak! The original owners would like photographic updates!

Lily

Black Angus Calf

4 Days Old

Little Black Lambi

Approx 3 months old

Hasn't Lambi turned out to be a handsome boy?

Merri

Indignant about her new haircut!

Belinda

Occupied with her favourite past-time

Something Old..... Something New!

2009-12-15T12:24:00.001+11:00

I bought a pomegranate whilst doing groceries the other day... Not to eat (well not yet anyway!) but to paint! We had a pomegranate tree at home when I was growing up and I'm afraid I haven't even seen a fruit for years and years! These were imported from the US and I just knew one had to come home with me as inspitation! They have such a gorgeous voluptuous shape and beautiful colour topped with a quirky crown!

Pomegranate on Saucer

WIP

Collage

Still quite a lot to be done on this; highlights, shadows and I'm not so sure about the window frame colour.

Here's something else new, pretty faces painted onto onion skin dyed silk.

Pretty Faces

Painted Silk

WIP

Now for the something old! Here is this mosaic style stitching I was working on a few months ago. The stitching is finished but I haven't done anything with it yet!

'Mosaic Rose'

Rayon Thread on Inkjet Transfer on Cotton

This little cross-stitch was completed about 3 years ago. I designed it from a pastel painting I had done (with the aid of some Cross Stitch software)

'Posy for Klimt'

Cross Stitch on Linen

This Tree of Life is my own design too; from an acrylic painting. It's also about 3 or 4 years old.

'Tree of Life'

Needlepoint on Canvas

And the shape of the day is... SQUARE! All these pieces are square format; which is not usual for me as I'm a circle fiend! (Except for the last photo which is a bit off skew as it hasn't been blocked yet!)

Looking back, I have also noted that generally I am using more earthy colours than I have ever before... My work is becoming more muted, rusty, earthy... I think I like that.

I love colour and I have always used quite saturated colour; lots of colour contrast and solid colour with black and or off white. (This is true of my home too... ) Maybe it's an age thing?! Or maybe it's just a realisation that maximum volume loud colour isn't the only way to get noticed! Or maybe I just don't care about being noticed at all!

My alpacas are shorn and I have another couple of bags of beautiful wool to play around with! Really must get my act together and hunt down some carding combs! Think of all the fun I'm going to have! The girls really aren't happy with me and seem to be quite indignant about the whole process- and they do look rather hilarous without their thick coats!

Revisiting....

2009-12-11T08:50:00.000+11:00

Just a quick post with a couple of photos of some old work (2008).

From memory this was my first painted quilt! Approx 5" x 7" Postcard size. It was machine quilted and embellished with beads....

Copper Contours

My second painted quilt was a lot of fun... also machine quilted with bead and silk embellisment along the top and approx 5" x7". I like how the paint turned out on this one.

Cinnamon Moth