August Postcard swap

The theme for the August postcard swap for the "Fabric Postcard for Stitchers"group was "Summertime" or the "colour yellow".
Well how could I think of summertime when it is freezing outside so I chose to do yellow.
I have this lovely fabric with fairies on it so this is what I made my card from.
I hilited the wings and the dress of the fairy with machine stitching in gold metallic thread but it is hard to pick up in the photo.

My swap partner was Cindy from the US and this is the postcard that she sent me.
I am not sure if Cindy has a blog or not but I cannot seem to find it if she has.
It is very textural and if you click on the photo you should be able to see all of it.

Thank you Cindy I love it.

August Calendar Girls Postcard

This months calendar page really had me stumped--maybe it was because I was not feeling well but I just couldn't get my head around it at all.
I kept staring at the blank piece of fabric and also a piece of white cardstock wondering what I would do.
At one stage I had thought that I would just send Carol M (my swap partner for this month) a piece of white cardstock and tell her to put something on it for herself.
Finally I decided to just concentrate on the hearts and go for it.
The background piece of fabric is a baby wipe that I had used to clean my stamps with.
I placed it onto a piece of commercial felt and ran it through the embellisher and then I cut out heart shapes and placed them on top of and underneath the base and embellished the lot together.
I then added 3 purchased hearts to give it more texture.

Here is the page that Val chose for August---I kept looking at the people trying to get inspiration but finally I followed the hearts and went for it.

If you would like to see what the other members of the group have done go here to have a look.

Ouch

Today Ebony had her next grading for her Martial Arts.
She is now a Purple belt one (5th Kokyu).
She is doing really well and has the determination to do even better.
One of the things she has to do is front splits and side splits.
Here she is showing me that she can finally get all the way down doing the side splits---ouch again.

This is a photo of Ebony and Sensei after Grading.

Congratulations Ebony

At Last something to show.

Here are this months fabric pages in the Fibre Fever group that I belong to.
This month Mieke and I swapped with each other.
The first one is the page that Mieke sent to me and has a lovely big butterfly made from left over threads --it is a lot nicer in real life.




This is the page that I sent to her and her theme is "Being Lucky"
I machine appliqued around the edge of the four leaf clover and the word lucky was also done using the built in alphabet on my machine.
I the did buttonhole stitch by hand around the edge.

I am starting to feel a lot better now thank goodness-three weeks is far too long to be not feeling well.

What have I been doing?

Firstly let me say thank you to everyone for their wishes regarding my sniffy nose.
I am still not 100% but I have to soldier on as I have heaps of things to catch up on.
The last weekend in September is the Embroiderers Guild annual exhibition and as usual I am running around like a dog chasing it's tail trying to finish off the things that I am putting in the exhibition.
I am also in charge of the Recycle Table which is a big money earner for the guild.
Members donate things that they no longer need like kits-books- threads-fabric-gadgets-embroidery frames etc -in fact as I tell them "if you no longer need it someone else will".
Last year we raised over $4,000 for the year by having a recycle table.
This week myself and another lady have been sorting out all the "treasures" that have been donated over the year and we have been pricing them and boxing them up ready for the exhibition.
We do operate the recycle table at the guild and it is always well stocked but I do keep things aside to take to the exhibition.
The photo below shows some of the threads that we have.
They are priced and bagged up with all the same type of threads in one bag ready to be displayed in baskets on the table.
We have all the different types of DMC threads
There are the Caron threads and every hand dyed thread type that I have used.
Then there is Appletons wool -enough to start a shop.
Gold threads silver threads --oh the mind boggles.
And all I could think of was "I would love that one" but I had to resist--"get thee behind me Satan"




This bag is chokkers full---but wait there's more---my head is spinning.

Next week we are pricing fabrics---Aida cloth-Lugarno--Linens of every count and type and colour and they all fit into a bag as big as the thread bag.

We also accept things from the members who want to sell their stuff on commission--we keep 20% of the sale price for the guild.

If you belong to a Guild and want to make money then this is an amazing way to raise money.

All I have to do is leave my purse home on the days or else it will all end up at my place.

Ebony's Two Poppy's

This week Ebony's other Poppy has been visiting from Kenya for a few days and to say that she was overjoyed to meet her other Poppy for the first time is an understatement.
He told her Kenyan folklore stories which she loved and he sang to her in his own language while telling her these stories.
Ebony's mother had not seen her father for about 12 years so there was much happiness all around.
Here is a photo of Ebony and her 2 Poppy's----------I think you can see how happy she is.

Come back soon Julius --Ebony wants to learn more about your culture.

Sniff Sniff

No eye candy--no poetic words--nuffink.
I am just dropping by to say hi and to explain my absence-----------------------
I have the dreaded lurgy.
My nose thinks it's my feet and won't stop running--all I want to do is sleep.
I have tried to do a few of my committments that are due but alas it's not working out so all I can say is--I'm back off to bed.
See you when I feel better.

Monthly ATC swap

The July ATC swap in our group of five was my choice and I chose black and white plus one other colour.
I should have posted these before I went on holidays but I just ran out of time.
The top left one was made by Ann in The Netherlands-next with the red bottom section was made by Debbi in WA to the right of that is mine then the bottom left one with the flower is by Annie in WA and lastly the bottom middle one with the teal centre piece was made by Carole from NZ.
The face on mine is made from a button and I cut the shank off the back of it.




Once again ladies a great set of cards for my collection.

More Perth photos

Thanks to Jo for sending me this photo I will treasure it always.

And a few more photos -none of them are of the work that I did in the workshop because I need to finish them off but I will try to get them done soon---I promise.

Here is Maggie demonstrating how to do it ---------------

A shot of the ladies working hard on their pieces -which is what I should have been doing instead of taking photos.

The lady in the front of the photo in the burgundy top is Dorothy Boxall who comes from Perth and is one of the many friends that I have made while doing Dale's online workshops.

More swoopy photos taken from the balcony window-----

And another one.

No more swoopies left ---at present anyway.

What can I say ?-----

----but to tell you that I have had the most enjoyable holiday of my life--or should say of our lives.
Perth was fantastic--the weather was superb- we left Canberra at 7.15am and the temperature was 2 degrees Celsius and we landed in Perth at 1.30pm (Perth time) and it was 20 degrees Celsius and it stayed like that the whole time we were there.
We had a fantastic apartment with a great view -almost in the centre of the city-what more could we ask.
The public transport was free around the city -the people were friendly-nobody bagged us because we came from Canberra (they usually blame us for what the politicians do) and we could sit on our balcony at night watching the planes coming into the Perth airport.
And then there was the really good stuff--on Saturday I went to the Craft show and the only stand I got to was the Thread Studio--need I say more.
I was like a woman possessed-all that yummy stuff and my credit card really did take a belting.
I watched Maggie demonstrating on the embellisher at Dale's stall and went to hear her lecture which was wonderful.
When I walked into the hall and was heading to the Thread Studio's stall I heard this voice say "Doreen"---nobody knows me in Perth--but it was Jo (Aussie Jo) a fellow blogger.
We had never met face to face before but she recognised me from my photo (unmistakeable as it is) and we chatted for ages--went to see several displays together--had lunch-sat at Maggies talk--old friends instantly.
Then I bumped into Linda another blogger whom I knew would be working on one of the displays and we had a big chat.
Linda and I have been friends since 2006 when we swapped ATC's in a swap arranged by Dale.
I bumped into Helen Gray who is a wonderful Textile Artist from Canberra who was there as the guide for a display by 6 talented people from the ACT.
On Tuesday I did the workshop with Maggie Grey--what can I say?-I don't think I have ever done a workshop with a more generous person than Maggie.
She gave us so much information -nothing was held back--no secrets kept-she told us the lot.
It was all hand on and I mean hers-she came by as we worked and tweaked a bit here and fiddled a bit there always encouraging us as we worked--I learned so much.
In this photo from the left is Linda,Jo,Maggie,Dale and little ol' me.



On Tuesday night Jo,Stephen and I were lucky enough to be invited out to dinner with Maggie, Clive, Dale and Ian.
On the way to the car after dinner Maggie showed me how to take a swoopy photo-the proof is below.
It is of flashing lights in the window of the local member of parliament and if you click on it you will get a closer look at what looks like stitching.
Thanks for showing me how Maggie.

This is Stephen and I at the dinner---all together now-ahhh.

This is the apartment where we stayed and that is me up on the balcony on the 7th floor and the sky was that blue colour all the time we were there except for the morning on last day.

It's nice to be home again in my own bed--you can't beat it can you.

A little Holiday break

This will be my last post for a while because we are off on an exciting venture.

Very early in the morning we are heading off to Perth (on the opposite side of this big country of ours for the non Aussies who may be reading this) for a ten day holiday.

I can't ever remember going away for longer than a week for a holiday and I am getting excited at the thought of the whole thing.

And why am I going to Perth you may well ask?

Well it just happens that Maggie Grey is out in Oz at present and will be giving workshops in Perth while she is here and I will be lucky enough to be attending one of these next Tuesday VBG.

The fact that I am flying from one side of the country to the other didn't deter me because I will also get to see Dale at The Thread Studio (my credit card is twitching at the thought).

I have been an admirer of Maggie Grey's work for a long time and to have this opportunity to attend a workshop with her in person --well I just couldn't miss it could I.

And I will also get to meet some of my Aussie blogging friends in the flesh-in person-to touch.

Linda S whom I have been friends with for many years now and Joanne B (Aussie Jo) will both be at the same workshop.

When we discovered that we had booked into the workshop we decided to book for the same day so that we could finally meet -how cool is that.

So while I am away--be good--and I will tell you all about it when I get back.

Only one more sleep---------------

Crazy Quilt block swap

Recently Maureen and I had a swap with our Crazy Quilt blocks.
We eached pieced a block and then sent it to the other person who the did the embroidery and embellishing.
This is the block that Maureen pieced and I stitched on.




This is the block that I pieced and Maureen finished --the real colours are a wee bit darker than this photo shows.

Maureen also included for me a postcard that she had made as a memento of her trip to Japan.

Thank you Maureen for the swap I really like what you have done for me.

My Country Postcards

This month on the Fabric Postcards for Stitchers Group our theme was My Country.
My swap partner was Rosemarie who lives in the UK and is a new member in our group.
I love her card and I think it is truly British with the double decker bus and a Londan cab.
You can't see it in the photo but she has sequins on the headlights and they really shine.
I am not sure if Rosemarie has a blog or not.


My postcard to her is made in a similar fashion.
I had a piece of fabric that had all these different Aussie icons on it so I cut some of them out-- mainly the ones that most people would recognise anyway and then ironed them onto vliesofix and then onto some calico.
I zig-zag stitched around each section in black thread and then machine stitched around the outline icon on each one.
I found the word Australia on another piece of fabric and added that to it as well.
The postcard reminds me of the tourist postcards that are in all the popular tourist places around Oz -which to my horror are usually made in Asia somewhere.

Can't wait for next month to see what eventuates.

Calendar Girls Postcard from Neki

I have just realised that I haven't shown the postcard for this month from Neki.
When you look into the card you can see many layers of different fabrics and beads.
If you look here you can see the photo that we were working from this month.



Thank you Neki for a beautiful postcard.

More Backgrounds

Here are the last four backgrounds that I have done at present.
The top one was done with Distress Inkpads and Starburst sprays-------------




This one is done with Starburst sprays--------------

This one is also Distress Inkpads and then spritzed with water -------------------

Colourwash sprays -Starburst sprays and stamped with Distress Inkpad.

I will do more when I have time.

Painted backgrounds

I have been painting pages in a Visual Diary to experiment with some inks and some starburst sprays so that I will have a record of what they look like when I want to use them again.
I am rather happy with the results that I have achieved so far.

one----

two---

three---

four---

five---

More tomorrow.

Bubbles

I'm forever blowing bubbles------------



Pretty bubbles in the air--------------------





They fly so high----------------------



Nearly reach the sky----------------

Then like my dreams they -----fall down-----

Bummer-------------------------

ATC's

Recently I did an ATC swap with Julie who lives in WA--- Australia.
Julie does the most amazing mixed media ATC's with so much detail--I love just looking at them to see what else I can find.
----------------------------------------------
In comparison I feel as though I have shortchanged her in what I sent to her.
At our Paper Arts group we have been experimenting with different techniques for backgrounds and I have shown you some of them in the past.
These two ATC's of mine were made using two of the techniques that we have done.
On the left we were making a batik background using wax and inks and on the right is the technique using paper serviettes--I still have over 200 different patterned serviettes to use.

I hope Julie likes them.

Holey Moley Club samples

I have signed up for Dale's online Holey Moley workshop which started last week.
As usual Dale has put together another good workshop but the good thing about this one is that it will run over 12 months.
The lessons come in every 2 months and there are 6 of them which gives us plenty of time to do our samples.
Plus Dale has been giving us little extras now and then to keep us on our toes.
We are making holes or mayby I should say circles in my case -because with the first one I didn't make the holes inside the circles.
The first sample is made using the Flowerstitch foot.
I love this foot as it is so creative once you master it.
By using the different patterned stitches on your machine you can create amazing flowers.
I even managed to make a star and if you click on the picture you can see it better--it was made using the scallop stitch that I have stitched out on the left hand side of the sample.




The next samples were made by wrapping the thread around some different sized knitting needles several times and then buttonhole stitch was worked over the wraps.
The biggest sized one was made by using the cardboard tube from a toilet roll.

In this sample the apricot one is made on a 20mm knitting needle (which is huge) and I have worked the second ring through the first one.

With the green one I worked halfway around the wraps on the toilet roll tube and then I wrapped the thread around my finger several times--and worked on these threads doing the buttonhole stitch- then I re-connected to the main wraps and continued around the toilet roll tube until I had finished.

I am now thinking up different ways to explore this technique.

Oh and I meant to say that in the very first part of the lessons we were using paper-tyvek and lutradur but I haven't done mine yet--naughty me.
I can't wait to see how this all ends up.

Fibre Fever Pages.

This is the finished woven picture from a few posts ago.
This month I had to make a page for Maureen and her theme is trees.
I wanted to make something different so I made the background that I had shown earlier.
The trees are made using small chopped up pieces of different colours of green fabrics-stitched between 2 sheets of solvy-then washed to reveal the tree tops-which I then stitched to the background after I had added the trunks.
I did some free machine embroidered grasses to add a bit more texture.



Below is the page I received from Ritva--which has a beautiful hand stitched butterfly and lots of beads and the large butterfly is printed on the fabric with more stitching added.
I love it Ritva.