Ebony's finished ATC's

Ebony finished the stitching on her ATC over the weekend and they are ready to be sent out to her swap partners.
I must let you know that I tried to influence her in the stitching but was told in no uncertain manner "Nanny I know what I am doing I am going to put flowers on them" so I left her to it.
I had also given her some beads for the centre of the flowers and I could hear her complaining in no uncertain terms about not wanting to do it because it wasn't working.
When I checked she was trying to stitch the beads on with the chenille needle that she had used to stitch the flowers with.
After giving her the correct needle and thread she was happy again and finished the beading.
These are going to ------------

Mary Anne
Dianne
Anne L in France
Jacqueline
Jan
Lise

And they will be in the mail tomorrow ladies.

She now has to make more for 3 other ladies who also asked to trade with her.

March Calendar Girls

After much deliberation I have finally finished my March postcard for the Calendar Girls challenge.
My first attempt was with wet felting but that was a disaster-then I attempted one with card stock- another disaster then Tissuetex you've guessed it -another disaster.
So I finally decided to do fabric again and that was heading in the same direction but then while searching through the stash a piece of fabric fell out onto the floor and lo and behold it was just what I was after.
I think it had been sent to me by some wonderful blogger with a card that we had swapped but I can't remember who it was.
There were flower designs appearing amongst the different colours so I stitched around them and FME some leaves and stems
It wasn't wide enough for the base of the card so I centered the panel on another piece of fabric and zig zag stitched around the edge and then attached the vase with ziz zag stitch and FME the blue circles like on the vase in the picture.
My card is for Carol T this month---I hope she will be happy with it.



Each month I have also made a postcard for myself which is a replica of the one I have made for my swap partner but this time I didn't have enough of the fabric with the flower designs on it so I just made this one for me.
I have just noticed that I have a floating leaf---it has no stem to attach it to anything
Maybe I can call that creative licence.

Ins and Outs

This week I received a beautiful postcard from Beate in a one on one swap.
I have sent mine to her and I hope that she likes it because I really love this one from her.
Thanks Beate.





And here is the ATC that I made for Anna.
Anna issued a challenge to use these buttons in a project and also to make an ATC to send to her as well.
The background is needlefelted and I have added hand stitching also I hope you like it Anna.

March TIF finished

My Crazy patchwork block for the March TIF challenge is now finished and again I am pleased with how it has turned out.

I usually try to stay within the colours that Sharon has given us but this time I had to use some brighter colours to give the block life.

This time I have added a spider and it's web and also a lot more silk ribbon embroidery.

I am glad that I decided to do the crazy blocks each month because I am enjoying the stitching very much even though my right thumb isn't very happy about it.

Now to get on with all my other challenges that have to be finished this month.

March TIF

Progress report...........................the seams have been embroidered -now for all the decorative work..beads-buttons-motifs -charms and whatever else I can find in the stash.




While on the business of the stash--I am still only using from the stash but the problem is because of the fact that I am only using "small things" on my CQ block the stash doesn't get much smaller--but I am enjoying it just the same.

Felting with Ebony

Yesterday was a public holiday here in Canberra so Ebony and I did some felting.
She loves felting but I think it's mainly about the mess than anything else.
To begin with she had to put a piece of terylene fabric down on the table --Fiona Wright who taught me this method calls it "Granma's curtains".
A piece of thin white silk chiffon 55cm X 35cm was then put on the curtain.
Then she placed the wool tops out in the design that she wanted on top of this.




Next there was a layer of this crappy scarfe over the top ..................

She then had to place the "grandma's curtain" over the top of this and it was then placed on some thin plastic (like you get over your clothes when you get them back from the cleaners) and rolled up in a towel and then rolled and rolled turning the plastic wad 4 times so that it was rolled in each direction once.

Then the piece was removed from the towel-plastic-curtain and placed in a plastic bag and put in the microwave for 40 seconds and removed and the fulling process begins.

To do this the plastic bag was smacked onto the table a few times until the bag burst and then she had to throw the felt wad onto the table.

This process makes the piece felt together ..the more you do it the more it felts.

I had to help at this stage because her arm was hurting.

I made a piece as well and they can be seen below..Ebony's is on the right .

They were both the same size when we started but I felted mine a bit longer than she did.

This is the back view and you will notice that the dye has run out of the wool and the piece of silk is now apricot.

I didn't use the silk on mine because I wanted to show her how it would look without it.

Ebony's felt is now 28cm x 21 cm.

I think she is going to make ATC's with hers because she wants to make some "fabric" ATC's instead of card ones.
So in a few weeks she will have 6 ATC's to trade---anyone interested?

All in all we had a good time.

March TIF Block

My block is pieced for this months TIF challenge and now for the stitching and embellishing.
It's a public holiday here today so I can stitch all day and hopefullyI will get all the seams done and I should have it finished by the end of the week.........hopefully.

TIF Challenge March

After a lot of procrastinating I have finally come up with the colours that I am going to use for this months TIF challenge.
I have noticed that some people have chosen different colours to what I have but I suppose it all depends on your computers interpretation of the colours.
I finally decided that these colours went well together so I am sticking with this.
Now to get on with making the block.

More Good Mail

Ebony and I are so lucky with the art that we have been receiving lately.
So many people are sharing their art with Ebony and encouraging her by swapping ATC's with her.
We received these two Button Angels from Jan in England and they are so beautiful--mine is the one on the right.
Ebony has sent Jan an ATC as her part in the swap.





I received this lovely Postcard from Lise inNorway--it has a small dreamcatcher in the top left hand corner.

Lise also sent Ebony 2 ATC's and Ebony has sent hers to Lise as well.

And here is the Crazy patchwork block I received from Maureen -----which I have to embellish as part of a swap that I am doing with her.

When I have finished all the stitching I will return it to Maureen and she will send me mine---which means that I am going to be a busy girl over the next few months as I will have to do one for Mary Anne one for Maureen and also my TIF block as well.

Enough of this blogging and now to get stitching.

March Calendar Girls

Here is the March picture for the Calendar Girls Challenge---if you would like to view all the cards for the January and February challenge you can see them here.

Now to start on this months challenge---will I use paper this time --or needle felting or--------questions--questions--questions

You Make My Day Award.

I am a naughty Girl--earlier this week Debbi nominated me for a "You Make My Day Award" and I completly forgot to put it on my blog --so better late than never here it is.
I am supposed to nominate 10 people who make my day and then notifiy them.
There are so many bloggers who make my day ---like my fellow Calendar Girls Group--and then there are the blogs that I lurk around sometimes leaving a comment but more than often not--I admire their work and I should leave a comment but for some reason I don't.
So I am taking the easy way out and I will just say if you wan't to play then by all means do so and I will leave it at that.

Leap Day Activities

What did I do on the extra day of this year?
What else ---- I went to a workshop.
I took a 2 hour trip with a friend to a small village down on the South Coast of NSW called Mogo.
Mogo is one of those lovely little places that are craft dedicated and you can spend hours just wandering in and out of shops and the food is fantastic (well what we had was)
We had a 3 hour class in Japanese techniques for dyeing papers.
Even though I had done some of the things before it was nice to sit in a small classroom (it could only take 6 students) doing something that was so relaxing (and messy) on a beautiful Autumn day in pleasant company.
One of the techniques was called Orizomegami ---the art of paper folding and dipping in inks to form patterns.
I am always amazed at what you see when you unfold the papers.
The first 3 pages are in this technique...and we used rice paper and writing inks.

The next technique is Paper Batik....

We brushed wax on the paper first in strokes and then gave the page a wash in yellow watercolours.

Then we brushed on more wax and applied more colours after the wax dried.

When the papers were dry we ironed them between paper to get rid of the wax.

I rather liked doing this and in the comort of my own home I will do lots more .

This last piece of paper was used to clean out the ink containers .....

What a great day......

New Book

I received this book in the mail yesterday from the Thread Studio and I must say it is choc-a-block full of great ideas.
As it says on the cover--"A Handbook of Surface Design-Recipes and Creative Paper Projects" and it is true to it's word.
A lot of the information may not be new to some people but I have found it hard to put this book down and I can't wait to start on some of the techniques--but not today.
I would suggest that if you can't find it locally then contact Dale at The Thread Studio and I am sure she will be able to help you out.

TIF February Challenge

I have finished the February block for the TIF challenge and I am very pleased with the end result.
I am also pleased to say that I have still only used things from my stash and I was surprised at what I could find that fitted into the colour scheme.
I did have to use a light green silk ribbon and thread which was not in the colours but I needed to add stems and leaves in a couple of places.
I love the gold charm of the lady in the bonnet that I have had in my stash for some time and this seemed to be the right place to put it.





The block is not quite as dark as it appears in the photo but after taking 20 photos this is the best one that I could get--thank goodness for digital cameras.
Now to get ready for March

More mail

This week I also received from Mary Anne in Canada a crazy patchwork block that I am going to embellish and then send back to her when I have finished -- if you look here you will see the block that I sent to her which she will embellish and send back to me.
The photo colour is a little lighter than in real life but no matter how I tried it still came out this colour.

Mary Anne also included some gifts for me which included these wonderful prints on fabric--I can see lots of uses for these.





And a piece of fabric and lace and also a beautiful card.....................





And 2 ATC's--one for me (on the left) and one for Ebony..............
Ebony loved her ATC very much seeing that it was unexpected and also that it has a fairy on it.
Thank you MA your gifts are very much appreciated.

I would also like to take the time to thank those bloggers who have swapped ATC's with Ebony.... she loves her ATC collection and is becoming very proficient in making art to swap..in fact when I suggest something to her that might look good on one I am politely told "I know what I am doing Nanny I don't need your help thank you"....a very determined young lady indeed and she won't be 8 until next month.

Mail this week

I received lots of mail this week the first one being from Debbi who sent me this beautiful ATC.
I love the delicate design and as usual Debbi has created a wonderful little piece of art.
Thank you Debbi I love it.




The next one is the ATC that I sent to Debbi in return--it is worked on a needle felted background and is hand stitched in variegated cotton thread and finished off with alittle button.

And lastly the card that I received from Helen Cowans from a swap we were involved in last year.

Helen has worked this on her embellisher and it is a work of art.

Thank you Helen

I will post the rest later on today............

TIF February challenge

Progress has been slow this month on my TIF challenge but now I have started the surface stitching things should look up from now on.
I am trying to stay within the colour choice and so far I have been successful---I have silk ribbons and buttons and lace motifs that will come within the colour range so things should work out ok.
I am hoping to have this finished by the weekend but I have a busy schedule this week so time will tell.

Calendar Girls February Postcard for Debbi

This is my February Postcard for Debbi-----------------
The base fabric is a piece of royal blue felt on which I ironed some Gossamer Fuse and then added the heart shaped vase which is a cerise colour.
Over this I placed a piece of an old navy sheer scarfe with tiny white flowers and then ironed it all together.
I worked 2 rows of navy and 1 row of aqua cotton thread in running stitch to outline the vase and then I stitched by machine the pattern that is on the pink vase in the calendar picture.
Next I embroidered the flower using Lazy Daisy stitch in 2 different shades of aqua added a French Knot in yellow for the centre of the flower and in green I worked the stem using Stem stitch and Lazy Daisy leaves.
I then echo quilted around the vase and flower on the machine.
I wrote the word "Friends" with a Fabrico fabric marker pen and hand stitched it onto the vase.

To see the other Postcards that have been made for February click on the Calendar Girls badge in the side bar and it will take you there.

I hope you like it Debbi

Cyber Fyber Exhibition

I dropped by the Cyber Fyber blog today and I was amazed to see just how many people have signed up for a trade with Susan.

She started out with 163 postcards that she had made for the swap (details here) and now has only 44 left- so if you are thinking about swapping a postcard with her I would suggest that you do so soon before they all go.

Also there were 130 ATC's available in the beginning -but now only 52 are left.

You may think that all the good ones would be gone but don't be fooled because they are all good which is a credit to Susan's talent to be able to produce such works of art.

The time that Susan has spent preparing this swap in conjunction with the Cyber Fyber exhibition in January is amazing and yet she still manages to create beautiful works of art at the same time.

Well done Susan you are truly one remarkable lady.

Crazy Patchwork blocks

I seem to be doing a lot of Crazy patchwork lately- firstly in the TIF challenge and also I am involved with several swaps whereby I piece the block and then I forward it on to my swap partner who will embellish it and then return it back to me and I will do the same for them.
The first block I am swapping with Maureen in Queensland (Aus.) and is in pastel silks and lace.
I like this square as it is soft and delicate.
There is no time limit set for the return so we will be able to stitch at our leisure.



The next block is totally the opposite in colour--very strong and bold and Autumny-(is there such a word?).
This is made of silk -linen-brocade and velvet.
This is a spare that I have pieced together and I will either swap it at a later date or do it myself.
I love working in Autumn colours but I think that even I will find this one a challenge ---we will see.




You can see in my previous posts some of the other blocks that I have made already.

ATC's a Crazy Square and a New Blog

I received these 2 ATC's yesterday from Anne L who lives in France but she doesn't have a blog which is a pity because she does the most beautiful Cross Stitch ATC's'.
I have traded with Anne before and I really enjoy opening my mail from her just to see what she has stitched this time.
I was surprised to find 2 ATC's in the envelope as we had only arranged to swap one but to my surprise one of them was for Ebony.
Ann had heard that Ebony has been making and swapping ATC's and had sent one for Ebony and asked if Ebony's would swap with her in return-Ebony is very happy to oblige.
Being the good(huhum) grandma that I am I let Ebony choose which one she wanted and she chose the pink one and I am happy with that deal.

And here is the Crazy Patchwork block that I have made for my swap with Mary Ann of Magpies Mumbling fame.We are both making a block and swapping them for the other person to embellish--I think this will be a challenge for her -but knowing MA she will not be phased one little bit.If you want to see the block that she is sending me just click on the link

And now to a new blog--my friend Suzanne has started a blog--well to be honest she started it last year but got sidetracked along the way-but I am glad to say she has begun to blog again.
Drop by and see what she has been doing with background ideas for her mixed media work.

Cyber Fyber and TIF

Today I received my ATC and Postcard that I traded with Susan Lenz as part of the swap that she is holding in conjunction with the Cyber Fyber exhibition that she is organising in January 2009.
The colour is not true here but they still look fantastic to me.
And you wouldn't believe it or maybe you would --I forgot to take a photo of the ones that I sent her but if you go to the Cyber Fyber blog site you will be able to see them --the Postcard is number 5 and the Atc is number 17.



Also in the mail today I received these hand dyed threads from Sharon B for guessing the reason why she joined all her samples together --aren't they beautiful --all hand dyed by Sharon.
Now I have a question--am I allowed to use them in my TIF challenge?--because I have stated that I would only use "stuff" from my stash--that I would not purchase anything new---but I didn't purchase them did I--and they are now in my stash--so does that count ? ? ?
Thank you Sharon you are a very generous lady.

February TIF Challenge

This is my pieced square for the February TIF challenge colour concept--I am not happy with it but this is 3 hours work and it will have to do.
I seem to have a few square shapes that I don't like but I will try to conceal these with the embellishments and there are dark sections but if you click on the picture you will see that they are different textured fabrics and again I think they will work ok once embellished.

The other part of the challenge was the question "What are you old enough to remember?"

I can remember plenty but the best memories I have are my childhood ones.

I remember as a toddler picking up the pins off the floor for my mother and putting them in the pin cushion--she was a dressmaker and as the other kids were at school I had to be with her in the sewing room.

I remember my first day at school and didn't know that there were different boys and girls toilets and I went into the wrong one.

I remember being a Brownie with Brown Owl and the Toadstool that we sat around in a circle.

I remember the day the war ended in 1945 and my mother grabbed me by the hand and dragged me up the street because everyone was celebrating.

I also remember the food coupons that we had during and after the war because of the food shortage--I used to trade mine with my older brother for money.

The Chinese grocer who had a shop on the corner--his brother had the laundry on the opposite corner.

We had a copper that mum would fire up every Monday so that she could do the washing--I am glad I don't have to do that now.

Sunday school picnics and school holidays where we went on the train to visit our Aunty--it would take several hours to get there but it was only 40 kilometres (25 miles) away.

Ah (sigh) what great memories they are and I wasn't even 8 years old when this all happened.

OK back to the real world and now to start embellishing this months block.

Postcards 1 received and 1 mine

I am a member of the Calendar Girls and we are making postcards from the pictures on a calendar--just follow the link for details.
Here is my February postcard I received from Joanna --it is made from hand dyed fabrics with a hand painted flower and bud.
Joanna took her design from the pattern on one of the vases in the picture.
Thank you Joanna it is so beautiful.



The second one is my sample for this months challenge with the Creative Group at the Embroiderers Guild.
You would think that I would have had enough of stitch samples after the TAST challenge last year but no I am at it again and there are only 12 of them so that should be easy.
I have decided to do postcard size samples this time.
The first stitch was running stitch.




I have started the Creative year out well and in january I completed 10 things that I had set out to do.
If I can keep that up all year it will be fantastic.

BIG News ---CYBER FYBER

Susan Lenz from Art in stitches has announced a wonderful exhibition in the US and has invited me to exhibit a piece of my art.
To say that I was honoured would be an understatement and I thank you Susan for even considering me.
Susan has also planned an ATC and Postcard swap in conjunction with the exhibition.
Below is the introduction to how Susan has set up the exhibition and Card trades but if you click on the Cyber Fyber link it will take you the the blog and all will be revealed.
If you would like to trade with Susan you can follow the links and it will take you to all the ATC's (130)and Postcards(163) that she has made for the trade.
They are truly outstanding and she has even cut up some of her previous art works to make them into the cards.
So if you would like to own a piece of Susan's art then go to the CYBER FYBER blog and trade.

Extract from blog---------------------

CYBER FYBER is an exhibition scheduled for January 8 - 20, 2009 at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios, 808 Lady Street in Columbia, South Carolina. (The gallery's blog is here.) There will be three sections to the exhibition:

1) traded fiber postcards

2) traded fiber ATCs

3) artwork by invited fiber artists...each representing a specific aspect/benefit to Internet/blogging communication.

Saturday, February 10 will be "Fiber Day", a partnership with Creative Sewing of West Columbia...complete with demonstrations
Saturday, February 17 will be "ATC Trading Day", a chance for artists of all ages and media to gather and trade ATCs.
Also, there will be an International Random ATC Trade...a chance for all artists in any media to mail ATCs with self-addressed, sufficiently stamped return envelopes for a random drawing trade (arrangements are being made for out of the USA artists!)...and it has been suggested that I learn how to "live broadcast" this! (I've got eleven months to figure this out!)

Congratulations Susan for having the courage to firstly come up with the idea and then to follow your dream of uniting the creative bloggers into one big family.
Thank you Susan

February 1 and the TIF Challenge

Sharron B has just announced the February concept and colours for the TIF challenge and boy are these colours different--I think this will be a real challenge.

If you want to read all about it just click here and it will take you to the appropriate place to read all about it.

Here is the colour palette for February so now I am going to have to delve deep into my stash to find what I need to make my crazy quilt block- but I am sure I will find something and I have to remember that I am not allowed to buy anything new (my self challenge) I have to only use what I have.