MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas to everyone !! Thankyou so much for visiting my blog and your continued support throughout the year. Wishing you all a safe, happy and creative New Year.
With Big Hugs and Kisses xxxxxxxxx

RECYCLE

This piece is made with a scrunched up brown paper bag which was hand embroidered, with bits of muslin and lace added. It was painted with white gesso, then painted with brown umber acrylic paint and lots of treasure gold and shiva sticks rubbed over the top. I love how it's turned out!! This technique was from a book called Paper,Metal & Stitch by Maggie Grey and Jane Wild....... Great book!!!

PAINTED WITH GESSO

THE FINISHED PIECE

RECYCLING

So, then I grabbed a previously made piece of hand turned applique (which I'd already cut up), and I did the same to this. This turned out all leathery looking and what a difference to the original. I'm so happy with this piece too!!

I DID THIS YEARS AGO!!

AND THIS IS HOW IT LOOKS NOW......

Thanks Nathalia !

LOOK, more goodies!!!! This is the box my goodies came in...... (A treat in itself) And here are my 2 gorgeous dolls. These photos don't do them justice. They are made from felt and embellished beautifully!! These gorgeous girls are handstitched, and I love them!!! You really do need to see them in person to realise how much work has gone into them. Thankyou so much Nathalia!!!

Also, this ATC!! I love the face and the way Nathalia embellished her hair. What great addition to my ATC collection.

Another Tome Page

Tome Group

We have had our 2nd monthly Patti Culea Tome Group at Textile Artistry. We skipped the 2nd page of the Tome and will do that next time (as I wasn't organised for the photo transfers), and started on the 3rd page instead. The 3rd page concentrates on fabric collage - the front page being Summer oriented and the back, Winter.


These are my front and back pages. I loved the Winter page best, which incorporates tyvek, cellophane, burnt organza, angelina fibres and various other embellishments.

Summer Page

Winter Page

These are the Summer pages of the ladies at the group (1 lady left before I took the photo). It was a great day, and we all had a lot of fun.

Lovely mail and surprises/Concertina Book

Mail Received

This is my last page for FibreArtFriends page swap. It's from Sarah, a beautiful Art Nouveau mermaid. She's a stunner, thanks Sarah.

I entered a little writing competition on Dijanne Cevaal's blog, and look what I received. This beatiful little art doll was made by Dijanne, and is gorgeous. I love her head scarf...... Dijanne is such a talented and amazing art quilter, and I now I own a piece of her art. Lucky me. Thanks so much Dijanne!!!

It was so exciting opening this package from Susan. How lucky am I to receive not one, but 3 Christmas presents . The book mark is made from handmade paper, with some embroidery on it. The postcard is embellished with such beautiful colours. And my favourite, is the little round Christmas decoration made with the embellisher (I think) with lots of beautiful yarn sewn on top. I can't wait to hang it on my tree. Susan is such a fantastic artist, and one of my very favourites. Thankyou so much Susan!!!

Concertina Book
The cover for this little concertina book was made from plywood, which I painted. The textile piece on the front cover was cut from an embroidered piece I recently made. I think I might add pictures of my 3 boys to the inside pages and use it as a little concertina photo frame.

Internet Dramas!!!!

Having a fight with my internet provider at the moment! Can't do much over cyberspace until it's all settled. Hope to catch up with everyone SOOOOOON!!!

Thread Sandwich

This is a piece I played with the other day. I layed snippets of thick wool between fusible web and chiffon, ironed it all to seal it. I then did lots of hand embroidery with different stitches and thread, then zapped it with the heat gun. In some places it needed toning down a bit so I added some treasure gold (of course!!!). I'm thinking of cutting it up to place on the front of some book covers.......not really sure yet.

I'm off to Bendigo for a few days to visit my Mum and Dad - catch you when I get back!!!!!

Lots of Mail!!!

These ATC's are from a swap I did with Isle from Belgium. Ilse and a couple of others organised a huge ATC display with ATC's from all over the world. It looked fantastic.... I made 4 ATC's, which when put together looked like our Australian "Red Centre". This beautiful postcard is from my lovely friend Doreen! It really is gorgeous - wonderful colours - love it. Thanks Doreen!!
And look what I have here!!! Dot you are so generous. I received these 2 very beautiful dolls in the mail. Now I have my very own original Dotee Doll from the lady herself. THANKYOU!!
And take a look at this girl with attitude......I just love her face. There are so many wonderful embellishments on both of these dolls, and lots of work goes into each one. Love them!!!!




Also, I received a double whammy from Mags. A birthday postcard - a beautifully stitched fan with wonderful texture..... And, below a fabric page which was from the Fibre Art Friends group fabric page swap. It is just gorgeous, I love it!! Thanks Mags!!! As this is the last page for the swap, I now have to think about how to bind them all together. That might also have to wait for the New Year (like everything else!!). Boy, am I going to be busy in the New Year.

To my Wonderful Blog Buddies

Thankyou so much for coming back, even though I've been such a "very bad" blogger lately..... I am determined to try and keep up more with my posts and your posts in the New Year - it will be my New Years Resolution. As well as being on time!!!!!! So thankyou for sticking by me!! At the moment I am a bit busy with work and making stuff for our school Country Carnival. My boys all have their birthdays at the end of the year - October, November, December - then there's Christmas.......etc, etc...... I know, excuses, excuses....... Anyway, I'm still here, and "I will be back!!!!"

Patti Culea's Tome/Postcards

Yesterday Cath, the owner of my favourite shop Textile Artistry, and I ran a Patti Culea Tome group. The Tome is a fabric book, and each page of the book shows a different technique. The next two photos show the front and back cover of the Tome which I made - in fact this is the second one I've made. I wanted to be sure I got it just right before the group got together. I met Patti about a year or so ago, at a doll workshop in Bendigo. She is so lovely, with a wonderful, bubbly personality. Seeing as though I was heading back to Melbourne, I was lucky enough to spend some more time with Patti driving her to the airport. You should check out the Tome series, especially if you're interested in learning the different techniques with all of those amazing textile materials that are out there now......
These are from the ladies in the group (lacking hair, face and embellishments). Most of the ladies managed to do the front and back cover to near completion - only the final touches left....... Can't wait to see them all finished!!
Today I made a couple of postcards. These are made with paper towel, foil and some FME. I'm really happy with how they turned out.

More Postcards/Country Carnival Craft stuff

More postcards!!! What a great month October is!

The first postcard is from Emmy - which was such a lovely surprise. I have made some wonderful friends over cyberspace - and Emmy was one of my first, and still one of my very best cyberspace friends!!!! As with all of Emmy's fibre art, this postcard is just gorgeous. Thanks Emmy!! xx



This postcard is from SuZ! It is adorable!!!! There is a little fairy sitting on the flower - can you see it? SuZ, you are the best. I love it - thankyou.

CRAFT STALL ITEMS
I copied this idea from Doreen (I asked her first if I could!!!)..... Doreen made her gorgeous needle books from an old jumper she had felted, but I used some woollen fabric which I had made a jumper for Dad - ages ago!!!!! Not as good as Doreen's, but good enough for the school craft stall.......

These are stuffed hearts, made from polar fleece. They're very soft and cuddly. I suppose you could hang them or write on the little tag and give them as a small gift.

Funky Art Journal/Birds of a Feather

Funky Art Journal

I've had Traci Bautista's book "Collage Unleashed" for a while. Got it out for a bit of a read (as you do), and it actually motivated me to open up my paint cupboard. Out came the paints, papers and stamps and off I went. I made numerous painted papers, and what fun I had - and what a creative mess I ended up making...... Then out came my handpainted fabrics to make the fabric collage cover. I added strips of fabric and yarn to the spine. This was such a fun project - I intend to try my hand at a few more of these.......

Birds of a Feather

Coming up in November is our school Country Carnival. I used to be the co-ordinator, but it was just soooooo much work as only a couple of us tended to make ALL the items for the stall. So, no more co-ordinating - but I still make items for it. Here are some cute little birds - hope they sell. If anyone has some good ideas for quick and easy items for school fetes - please let me know!!!

HELP!!!!!!!!

Help!!!!!!!! I have twelve extra 14 y/0 boys staying here tonight for Jack's birthday........right now they're outside with Phil who is lighting a bonfire. Peace for a short time!!!! But after that who knows???? I don't think there will be much sleep happening tonight. Stay tuned for my next post!!!

Also, I didn't realise, but my last post was number 100!!! I made it!

11 p.m. - Further to above......... The boys are all down the other end of the house watching a DVD, mattresses all over the floor - what a sight!! Boys are sooooo noisy. They don't even look like going to sleep yet. Here they are at the bonfire.........

Birthday Postcards/ATC's/Lovely Doreen

I was so excited when I received Lynda's parcel, with the beautiful fabric book, that I completely forgot to post a pic of this beautifully textured postcard that was also enclosed. Thankyou Lynda!!

Take a look at this beauty! I love Kim's work - she is also one of my favourite textile artists. Kim's work is always stunning - I especially love her art quilts...... Thanks Kim!!
More ATC's. The first one is from Eva - it has Angelina fibres, dyed muslin and some beading. The one below is from a gorgeously textured piece of fabric that Val made, which I had drooled over on her blog. Well, it's even nicer in real life. Thanks Eva and Val!!!!
These ATC's are great!! Very different from my already growing collection, and will make a fantastic addition to my now growing paper ATC collection. The first one is from Marlies, and the one below is from her 12 y/o (I think) student, Eline. I really love them. Thank you!! One of my best cyberspace buddies is Doreen. She is a very talented and generous lady -more than willing to share her vast textile experience. Well, look what I received for my birthday. A beautiful handmade card......it is a gorgeous design which includes a great textured handmade piece as a focal point on the front. But, look at that luscious tassel!! It is gorgeous, with LOTS of yummy ribbons and fibres, a silk flower on the top, and a braided loop. Thankyou Doreen!xx

Tagged/Reunion

TAGGED

I have been tagged by Susan to name 7 honest things about myself. Okay, here goes:


1. I have 3 sons and they mean the world to me - I love them sooooo much.......

2. I try so hard to not be late, but am nearly always late!!!! Why, I don't know.......

3. If my kitchen bench is untidy I can change from a calm person to a nightmare of a person in a second. I HATE having an untidy kitchen bench!!!! Anything or anywhere else in the house is okay - but NOT my kitchen bench........

4. I love Johnny Depp - he is my dream man. Nicholas Cage comes second..........

5. I exercise most days - okay I better be honest here - I TRY to exercise most days.......

6. When the weather is warm I am a much nicer person. I hate cold weather.........

7. I hate to do the ironing, and my ironing basket is full of clothes that I've forgotten I even have (that's how long they've been there). I iron only when I really have to......

Okay, now that's enough about me! Okay, I think I will tag:

Doreen
Jacqueline
Waltraud
Lynda
Gunnel
Vicki
Shashi

Your turn now ladies!!!!! Tell all.......

REUNION
On Saturday night I went to my secondary school reunion - Bendigo High School. You might remember from an older post, where we met after not seeing one another for about 25 years (or more). We now try and meet twice a year, and each time we arrange a dinner more and more people from the past turn up. It's great, and at times very emotional. This last reunion there were about 25 of us - but this photo is of myself with my 3 favourite school friends - still the best of friends even after 25 years apart. It was a great night!!!!

Dianne, Debbie, Julie and Karen (4 buddies from the past - still buddies in the present).........

Funky Journal - THANKYOU LYNDA!!!!!!!!

FLUFFY LIME GREEN FUNKY JOURNAL


What can I say, but thankyou so much!!! A wonderful lime green funky journal from Lynda - am I just the luckiest birthday gal ever!!?? I picked my parcel up from the post office on the way to work, and opened it at work. It was the best surprise package. I had an audience as I opened the package, which comprised of quite a few layers, bubble wrap, tissue paper, cardboard - and there it was - my very own fluffy yarn lime green funky journal. It definitely received lots of ooohs an aaaaahs from my work colleagues. I LOVE IT!!!! The spine is just the fluffiest and I can't help touching it all the time. The cover is embellished dyed cheese cloths, the inside cover is covered with these great clock images, and to top it all off, it has many signatures of beautifully painted and stamped hand made papers and tags with a few surprise charms added in here and there. I really could go on, and on, and on about how much I love it - but I better not. Thanks again Lynda!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a month!!!

October is definitely my month!! Not only is it Spring, but I am receiving some wonderful cards in the mail...... Here are some more birthday postcards from my Fiber Art Friends.



Postcard from Terri.

Postcard from Micki.

Postcard from Elaine.

Postcard from Sue.

Thankyou so much - I love them all!!! They are all so individual and wonderful - and what a way to celebrate my birthday........