Recent Mail in and out.

Recently I did a swap with Maureen x and I have already shown the ATC's that she sent me and I can now show you the ones that I sent her because I know that she has received them .
The one on the left has a base of silk paper with FME stitching on it and the one on the right is wet felted with both FME and hand stitching.
Both of these ATC's were made from pieces that I had done before that were hidden away in boxes so I decided to recycle them as ATC's.




The lovely pink CQ heart was also sent to me by Maureen as a swap---------------------

And I sent her in return this tassel----------------

I also received from Domi this collaged ATC---------------

And this is the one I sent her in return.

The base of this card is a baby wipe that I was using to clean my stamps with.

I loved the colours so I decided to keep it.

When I got my embellisher I decided to lay it on some commercial felt and run it through the machine and it looked good.

I have done some hand stitching on it which is a bit difficult to see in this photo.

Thank you Maureen and Domi

TIF April Block

Finally I have finished my April block for the TIF Challenge.
Because I usually love working with these colours I thought it would be a breeze--but not so.
I really struggled with this block because everything that I chose to use looked very dull and boring.
I also changed the way I pieced the block in that the size of the different fabric pieces are larger than I normally do and I think this may have added to the problem.
I think I unearthed every bit of lace - silk ribbon - trims and buttons and beads that I owned to come up with this finished piece but I think in the end it has worked---well I like it anyway.
All the fabrics in this block are second hand--picked up at charity shops or trade tables.
In fact I think the only things on this block that I had previously purchased new before this challenge started are the silk ribbons and the butterfly motif--so the stash has reduced once more but not that much that it can be noticed.

Now to see what May brings..........

I have finally made something to show

I have just realised that I haven't updated for a week--where did those days go?
Several weeks ago Ebony had her 8th birthday and so many of you sent her birthday wishes but she also received a parcel from Paula in Queensland.
Now to say that I was envious would be an understatement.
When she opened it there were a huge pile of patchwork squares -laces-ribbons-ricrac-fibres-embroidery floss-buttons-beads and sequins all for her to make ATC's with.
When Ebony saw all those squares she decided that she wanted to make a little quilt.
She proceeded to lay the squares out on the floor--shifting them around until she had them arranged the way she wanted them -I tried to give advice but in her usual manner she knew what she was doing so I let her do it after all it was her quilt.
So I pinned them together and set the sewing machine up and away she went.
She now has 4 rows of 5 lots of 5inch squares stitched together.
Now let me tell you she wanted to finish the whole thing before she went to bed - yikes.
I allowed her to choose the fabric for the sashings and borders-again I had to keep my opinion to myself but I think it will be very nice when it is finished.
I am not going to show it to you until she does a little bit more so you will just have to wait a while----sorry.





I decided to make Paula a tassel to thank her for her generosity towards Ebony and I hope that she liked it--well I know she did because she has let me know.

Ebony and I each made an ATC to swap with Paula as well--mine is needle felted and Ebony"s is a card one that says Thank You to Paula.

You know I am truly amazed at the way the blogging community are so caring and encourage Ebony in all that she does----Thank you everyone.

Even more ATC's and some Art Dolls

Well we have been inundated with ATC's this last week.
Ebony has been trading her ATC's and I have been swinging on her coat tails.
Last month she made some ATC's and swapped them with some wonderful people and I have been lucky enough to receive one as well from some of them.

The first two are from Jacqueline--Ebony chose the one on the left.
Thank you Jacqueline.



The next two are needle felted and they are from Francoise mine is the top one.
Thank you Francoise.

These two are from Carol T and Ebony chose the one on the left--I think she liked all the beads---they are both beautiful -thank you Carol.

These two are mine and I am so lucky to have them.

I swapped one with Maureen x but when it had arrived there were two in the packet--they are gorgeous and the stitching is so beautiful.

Maureen also included Miss Prim for Ebony-she's the tall lady---and the other one is a domino doll from Jan which arrived several weeks ago and I forgot to take a photo of it.

Thanks again to all the lovely ladies we are absolutely overwhelmed.

April TIF

The April colour palette for Sharon Boggan's TIF challenge has been posted and it definitely says Autumn.



I have made my block and you won't believe it but I haven't one single dark brown piece of fabric in my stash --not one---and seeing as I am only going to use what I have in my stash I don't have brown in this block.

Here is a photo of the Ornamental Grape that grows over our pergola and it is in full Autumn colour---what more could I want for inspiration than this.

Now to get on with the best part--the embellishing.

Arte y Pico award

I have been given the Arte y Pico award by Jacqueline and Jan and I thank them both for thinking me worthy of this award.

There are 5 rules attached to this and they are :

-1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogging community, no matter what language.
2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.
3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.
4. The Award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte Y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5. To show these rules..
It is a very difficult decision but....Here are the people that I have chosen---

Julie who makes the most incredible mixed media art--from found objects.

Susan for her incredible forsight in arranging the Cyber Fyber exhibition.

Dot who is the most generous person I know in blogland and makes amazing art as well.

Annica for her persistence in creating a small piece of art every day for a month as part of the TIF challenge

Nellie for her amazing art quilts that are breathtaking.

Excellent Blogger Award

Sharon has kindly awarded me the E for excellence award for which I am honoured to receive.

I would like to pass this award on to so many bloggers whose work I admire very much and who have helped me along the way on this incredible journey but I am going to give it to 2 lovely ladies whom I have met this year and who both work in very different mediums.

The first is Jan in the UK who does the most amazing mixed media work

and is so generous with her ideas.

The other is Judith in New Zealand whose Silk Ribbon Embroidery and Crazy Patchwork inspires me to achieve a higher standard in my hand embroidery.

Thank you to both ladies for your inspiration.

April PC for Carol M

Here is my April Calendar Girl's Postcard for Carol M.
I thought that I would try something different this time in fact I made several different versions but this is my final choice.
I started with a sheet of primed artist's canvas and coloured the background by sweeping a blue stamp pad lightly over it.
I then painted the flower which was on the right hand side of the calendar page and added some hearts as well.
Now I don't profess to be an artist but I had a go and it does have child like qualities don't you think?

I felt it needed more so I inserted a red heart shaped brad in the centre of the flower then I painted a coat of gloss Mod Podge over the card and I placed a sheet of white tissue over this.
When this dried a repeated the Mod Poge and tissue once more to give the whole thing a misty appearance.
I outlined all the flower and hearts using Fabrico fabric pens.
I hope you like it Carol.
If you would like to see the other Calendar Girls postcards just scroll down and click on the Calendar Girls badge on the left hand side.

More ATC's and a book

More ATC's --this time from Anne L who lives in France but doesn't have a blog.
I love swapping with Anne who does the most amazing cross stitch designs.
The tree and butterfly card is supposed to be for me and the other one was for Ebony but I have decided to swap with her because I actually like the sampler one--although I haven't asked Ebony yet.
Thank you Anne as usual they are beautiful.



Also I have received an early Mother's Day gift from my daughter Susan who purchased this book for me via the Internet from a second hand dealer in the UK.
I have wanted this book for ages since seeing about it on Sharon B's blog last year when I was doing the TAST challenge.
It has every hand embroidery stitch imaginable in detail so there will be no stopping me now.
Thank you Susan I love it.

ATC's from Ati

Yesterday these two lovely ATC's arrived from Ati in Norway.
The one on the left is for Ebony and the one on the right is for me.
It has been a lot of fun for Ebony and I to swap with my blogging friends together.
Thank you Ati we both love our ATC's very much.

Happy Birthday Ebony

Today 31st March is Ebony's 8th Birthday and yesterday we took her and 5 of her special friends out to the Pancake Parlour for lunch and then we went to see the Dr Seuss movie "Horton Hears A Who".
What a great kids movie it is-the girls all thought it was fantastic and the adults loved it as well.
Ebony had to get all poshed up with her own idea of fashion including her Mum's earings and lipstick.




And of course Nanny had to make her a cake--it had to be a sponge cake with cream and icing.
Looked more like a wedding cake really but she thought it was fantastic and more to the point it tasted good as well.

Book Workshop

I went to a workshop on Friday and I made this little book.
I love creating these little gems --they are full of unusual sized pages and pockets with ribbons and fibres to finish them off.
This is the cover but I am not sure about the papers we were given in the kit--not my taste really.



The inside cover front and back had a pocket in it which held several tags with fibres and ribbons.

Inside were odd shaped pages that were covered in different papers -- rub ons were used to embellish as well as metal tags.

There are more pages but it was difficult to photograph them--so I took a photo from above to give you an idea.

A great work shop with plenty of ideas to use in future projects.

Postcards and ATC's

I can't believe that I haven't posted for a week--I have been busy but I don't have anything that I can show you that I have done................but I do have my March Calendar Girls postcard from Lynda.
Lynda has printed the words onto watercolour paper and then she has printed the vase and flower onto acetate and stitched it down only along the top edge so that the acetate can be lifted up to reveal the words.
When I was trying to take a photo I kept getting a pink look to it and I was getting cranky until I realised that Lynda had printed a pink background on the acetate along with the flower.
If you want to know how she did the postcard you can go here to find out.
Thank you Lynda as usual it is beautiful.
If you want to see all the other wonderful postcards that the team have created go take a look on the blog here




Then there are these 2 ATC's that Ebony has received from her swap recently--she is so pleased with them.
The one on the left is from a friend of mine who lives in Canberra and has asked Ebony to do a swap every month with her--how fantastic is that.
The one on the right is from Robin in Queensland who is a new blogger and she is doing wonderful things as well--drop over and visit her and see for yourself.

Easter Thoughts

Just a quick note to wish everyone a happy Easter---
If you have family visiting enjoy their company---
If you are driving to visit family please take care on the roads which get very busy at this time of the year---
But most of all remember just what this time of the year is really about and why we celebrate Easter.
Happy Easter everyone.

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.