Thursday, April 30, 2009

Australian Wildflowers Quilt.

Last year the Creative Group which is part of the ACT Embroiderers Guild decided to make a wall quilt which would then be the main prize in the raffle at the exhibition.
Well we didn't get it finished for last years exhibition but it will definitely be ready for this year.
The theme that was chosen was Australian Wildflowers and members were asked to embroider a flower in whatever thread that they chose.
We ended up with Silk Ribbon--Wool --Perle cotton-- and Embroidery floss and one Machine embroidered piece.
There were 15 ladies who were interested in participating.
The fabric was hand dyed by Lois Evans and it was cut into varying sizes to allow for the different flowers that were chosen.
Over the next few days I will endeavour to show you all the finished pieces.
13 ladies did the embroideries (no I didn't do one) and 2 of us are responsible for piecing it together and finishing it off.
The first one shown was worked by Margaret Roberts (the Aussie one) and has been done by Machine Embroidery.
It is a Native Iris.



Next is the Flannel Flower which was worked in wool by Suzanne Clarke.




Finally the Waratah which has been beautifully worked in Silk Ribbon by Annette Horvath.
If you look on the stalk you can see an ant.





I have to apologise for the puckered look on some of these due to me having to scan each one.
Today I have been adding the borders and then it will be handed over to Annette Dziedzek who will be doing the rod pocket on the back and the bindings (not my favourite job).
Come back tomorrow and see some more.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

I've Won Again

You won't believe it but after years of entering Giveaways and winning nothing I have received another one --well actually I won it by default.
Debbi had a giveaway of a set of flourish stamps on her blog and it was won by Hilary who advised Debbi that she was moving house and that she would like to pass it on to me.
Well to say I was blown away by Hilary's generosity is an understatement-I was over the moon especially as I love flourish stamps.
I wasn't able to take a good picture of the stamps in their container because of the flash reflection so here is a picture of the blurb in the back of the pack.



And guess what----yes -Debbi sent me another 21 different serviettes to add to my collection.






I really must start using them---but-- they are so beautiful I just like looking at them.
Thank you Debbi and Hilary.



Saturday, April 25, 2009

Calendar Girls April Postcard

This is the April postcard that I received from Pat for the Calendar Girls Challenge.
Pat has worked it on silk dupion and framed it with upholstery cord.
If you would like to see the other postcards that the girls have done click on the Pink Calendar Girls button in my sidebar.



Thanks Pat for a lovely postcard.

More Swaps

Ebony and I recently swapped ATC's with Anne L from France and again we received some beautiful cards in cross stitch.
This time the theme was Easter.
The first one is for me and it is adorable.






How cute is this one for Ebony--so much work in such a tiny space.



These are the cards that we sent to Anne.
I wanted mine to reflect the meaning of Easter to me so I simply back stitched a cross with some green grass underneath.
Ebony made a floral card with a bunny on it.




Thank you Anne for the swap it is always a pleasure to swap with you.

Friday, April 24, 2009

Postcard Swap

This month in the Fabric Postcards for Stitchers group my swap partner was fellow Aussie Gina.
The theme was a choice of either Spring Flowers or the Colours of the Rainbow.
Gina chose the Colours of the Rainbow to do for me and I chose Spring Flowers to do for her.
I love the mixture of fabrics and lace and ric rac braid plus hand embroidery that Gina has chosen.




My choice for Spring Flowers is another piece of an old embroidered doyley that I had plus a lace butterfly motif.
I have heaps of old doyleys that I rescued from our church op-shop some in good condition and others with holes and rust spots and stains.
I use the damaged ones in crazy patchwork and to make postcards from.



Thanks for the swap Gina--I am enjoying this group very much.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Swaps with Kiwi Carole

I have been in another swap with Carole in NZ and this is the ATC that she sent to me.
The background is a delicate fabric and has paper flowers held down with a brad.
I love it --thanks Carole.




This is the ATC that I sent to her.
The background is coloured with Distress Inks then stamped with a word stamp.
I added the picture of the lady--a flourish and some rub-ons.




Thanks for the swap Carole.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

April pages for Fibre Fever

This month in Fibre Fever my swap partner was Janny from the Netherlands.
Janny's theme for the fabric page was Vintage and this is the page that I made for her.
The background fabric is a soft dusty pink colour and I collaged antique laces and a cream satin heart shaped fabric embellishment and buttons as well.
I also added running stitches to accentuate the heart and blanket stitched around the border.






This is the page that I received came from Ati in Norway.
My theme is Butterflies and Ati has worked a georgeous big butterfly in cross stitch in the centre and surrounded it with Crazy Patchwork and tiny metallic butterflies and beautiful embroidery stitching.
I am sorry but the photo does not do this page justice but at least you get the idea.




Thank you Ati for a great page.

Friday, April 17, 2009

Ebony's Art

This is Ebony's new piece of art--what she was working on before didn't get finished after she saw what I was doing.
The canvas that she used was one that I had started in the Fiber in Form workshop and had a raised design on it that was created using Texture Paste.
She took this outside and sprayed it with black paint and then some gold- silver and purple paint as well.
Next she got some bottles of Jo Sonjas background paint and dribbled it from the bottles all over the canvas followed by some glitter paints as well.
Well she got a bit heavy handed in some places so I suggested that she use a plastic fork and make some designs by dragging the fork through the thick paint.
And the good thing about this painting is that I get to keep this one.
Thank you Ebony for my special piece of art.



Wednesday, April 15, 2009

More Art

Today Ebony and I spent a bit of time together painting--I can't show you hers because it isn't finished yet.
We were using box canvasses and I painted mine in acrylics using the colours that Ebony squeezed out onto the tray and I painted and stamped designs onto it.
Then I placed a Tim Holtz flourish masks over it and sprayed the whole thing with black paint.
When I removed the flourish -this is what was left.
I rather like it-- looks a bit like grafiti doesn't it.





This is what the painted canvas looked like after I had finished the painting.
There was no design planned with the painting I was just using up all the leftover paint that Ebony had squeezed out.



Extra note--
Yesterday I was reading Debbi's blog and she had mentioned that she had purchased this mask and used it but was not overly wrapped in it so I told her I would use mine( which I had just purchased as well) to see how it looked.
I must admit I am happy with how it turned out but it can be a bit hit and miss--but then if you don't like it you can just gesso over it and start again :-)

Sunday, April 12, 2009

April Calendar Girls Postcard

This months calendar was chosen by Susan and has been another challenge for me mainly I think because of the colours.
Here is the calendar picture that we had to use this month-----




This is my interpretation of a section of it.





While sorting through some samples that I had done on the Fiber in Form workshop with Lynda and Carol last year I found this one.
It had lots of texture that said tree trunks to me so I decided to use it for this months challenge.
(I have just realised that I have posted it upside down.)



I painted 2 different coloured greens onto the background leaving the trunks to stand out.




I then added some stitch to emphasise the path and some foliage on the trees and trunks.



I hope you like it Debbi--I know it looks very dull and boring but in reality it has a lot of texture.


Thursday, April 9, 2009

Postcard for Easter

Today I received this beautiful postcard from Maureen for Easter.
What a wonderful surprise it was to receive this card out of the blue as I was not expecting it.
Maureen this is so beautiful and the stitching is magnificent.
Thank you very much.


Sunday, April 5, 2009

Mixed Media Collage

Last week when I wasn't feeling well I thought I would do something to cheer myself up.
I started with a rectangle box canvas which I had previously coloured with an stamp ink pad. Next I added torn papers from the ones that Janet had sent me in my giveaway prize (see below) and Hilary had sent me several weeks ago.
I added stamped and stencilled designs using acrylic paints - then I played around with walnut ink and colourwash sprays to create a wash effect.
I then used a sanding block to distress it and finally added a couple of coats of Mod Podge to give it a semi gloss appearance.
Lastly I added 2 "Kaiser" wood flourishes that I had painted black and added Goldfinger around the edges for hilites.
I rather like how it turned out but I am sorry that I didn't take step by step photos as I went along as I was really not sure what I was doing and just kept plodding along.
I will have another go this week and see what I come up with.

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Horse Riding - Ebony Style

Today Ebony went for her birthday horse ride and she had the best time ever-in fact she thinks it's the best birthday present that she has ever had.
Sorry about all the photos but it was such a momentous occasion that I had to record all of it.
So here goes----
"Hmm which way is the front"?


"OK I'm ready so here goes"

"Well that was easy"



"OK so I have the grip right "



"Look at me-look at me"




"Here we go off for a lazy ride down the trail"



Back after an hour of riding--"How cool was that"



"Yee hah"




After all that she said "Can I go again soon"
I reckon that will be a resounding yes.
Now she's in training for the Equestrian events in the 2028 Olympic Games :-]


Friday, April 3, 2009

Prize giveaway from Carole

Earlier this week I received my prize from Carole in New Zealand for winning one of her giveaways.
It included 3 of her personally photographed cards--2 small stitcheries that will come in handy when I go away for a few days and need some stitching to do.
There were also some entry tickets that will come in handy for my mixed media work and also some black lace.





Also included was this lovely serviette which I was so pleased to receive -not that I needed more serviettes but last year Carole sent me one of these serviettes and I have been too scared to use it in case I ruined it.
I had thought of asking her for another one just in case but I didn't because that seemed a bit it rude.
Anyway she included one in my prize bundle as well.
Now that was the icing on the cake wasn't it.





Thank you Carole.