I made a journal

On Sunday I went to another class at the same place where I made the box of cards last week.
This time I made a gardener's journal.
We used "Basic Grey" papers (aren't they lovely).
The cover is chipboard which we covered with the paper then stamped the name on an extra piece of card stock.
We added the embellishments last.
After we had made the pages and decorated them all we constructed the book and then added the spiral binding by machine.






This is a close up of the embellishments on the cover.





Here is the first section which is for Summer.
There are 6 pages in it--2 each for December -January and February and each month has instructions for jobs to do in the garden (in Canberra).

Here is Autumn and the months of March - April and May with there instructions as well.

Now we have Winter with June -July and August and ditto notes.

Lastly is Spring with September -October and November in here.

I will have to find someone to give it to because I don't like gardening and I can't send it too any of my blogging friends overseas because they are all upside down to us.
I haven't been able to take very good photos of this book because it just doesn't like being photographed and it keeps moving.

Anyway you get the idea as to what it's about.

Last samples for week 1

These are the last samples that I did for week 1 of Dales Embellisher course.
The first one is my challenge piece and it has a background of a painted baby wipe that was embellished to a piece of commercial felt.
I then punched in some wool threads to form a grid.
The flowers are cut out from a sample piece made by embellishing some silk throwsters waste fibers - wool fibers and scrim bits onto a scrim background--then I cut out the flowers -put the centres in and then embellished them slightly to the background--I like the look of this one.




This last one is made from all the bits that I cut off my other samples when I trimmed them off.
I put them onto a fiece of felt and voila something to make some more postcards out of.

Now for week 2

Embellisher Workshop

I am doing the online workshop run by Dale at the Thread Studio and here are a couple of samples of what I have been doing.
I made these 2 little houses that I will attach to another piece of felted fabric later.



This is a baby wipe that I used to clean my stamps when I was doing some cards and I ironed on some painted vliesofix then some gold foil--I then put this on top of some felt and run it through the embellisher I will make some ATC's with this.

This is some wool fibers embellishe onto felt-------------

And the same coloured silk fibers on felt as well so I can compare the difference.

I am enjoying this workshop very much and have learned a lot even though we are only in the first week---I can't wait to see what the other 5 weeks brings.

If anyone is interested in doing this workshop Dale will be running another one later on.

Postcards in and out

I received this lovely postcard from Mary-Lou in Canada during the week and had forgotten to post it onto my blog but better late than never I say.
Mary-Lou is one of the ladies that I have been swapping with on the Stitchin Fingers site and I am sure that she doesn't have a blog.




This is the postcard that I sent to her and she should have it by now.
The background is felted with lots of hand stitching on it.

I hope that you like it Mary Lou and thanks for trading with me.

Art from Dot

This week I received a surprise package from the talented Dot of Dotee doll fame .
I have admired these Russian dolls that she makes for a while now and I was totally surprised when I opened the parcel and there they were--I was not expecting these dolls but I am very happy to receive them from Dot.





She also enclosed some lovely pieces of fabric for me and I think I will share them with Ebony.Thank you very much Dot.

More ATC's

I have received some more ATC's from the ladies in the Stitchin Fingers group.
The top two are from Helen and they are made from a part of a special day in Helen's life.
The darker one on the left is made from scraps of Helen's wedding dress and the one on the right has a base of handmade paper which was used for Helen's wedding invitations.
How nice of you to share this with me Helen -I really love them.
One of them is for Ebony but I haven't told her yet because I want to look at them a bit more before I do. (naughty Nanny)
If you want to see the ones that we sent to Helen just follow this link.



This ATC is from Simone and it is so beautiful -a colage of different fabrics with a fabric printed photo of a little fairy.
It is hard to see the photo but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't do any better.
Thank you Simone.

This is the ATC that I sent to Simone --it is hands felted with both hand and machine stitching on it.

Somehow I managed to delete the photo from the folder where I store them ready to put on my blog and of course I had already deleted it from the camera so I copied this one from Simone's blog (sorry about that Simone)

More tomorrow.

TIF Crazy Quilt Block

I said I was going to change the way I pieced my TIF block together this month -well I have and here it is.
Having seen it now I am not sure if I am going to like doing it this way but I won't know until I do it will I.
It is strange how everybody sees the colours differently-so I went to the Colourlovers site where Sharon submits a photo and they choose the colours from the photo (I think that's how it works anyway).
I then went to Pam's site because she choses the DMC thread colours that will match the selected colours.
So all in all this is the nearest that I could get to what has been submitted and I rather like it now--and I seem to have plenty of"stuff" to do all the embellishing so I'm rather pleased.

Now all I have to do is get stuck into it.

June TIF Colours

These are the colours that Sharon has given us for the June TIF challenge--YUK
I have decided not to do the usual pieced block this time as I think it will be too hard to embellish--but I haven't decided exactly how I will do it yet.

This one is really going to be a challenge.

ATC Swap

Today I received from Carol K in Florida this lovely ATC of an underwater scene.

Carol and I belong to the Stitchin Fingers group and arranged to do a swap together.

I am not sure if she has my ATC yet or not but it won't be far away if she hasn't.

Below is the ATC that I sent her--it is made from a baby wipe that I had used to clean my stamps--when it had dried out I put it on top of some commercial felt and ran it through the embellisher to punch it all together.

I then added hand stitching.

I hope that Carol likes it.

Look what I made.

Today I went to a class at Leanne's home and we made this wonderful box -- we also made cards and tags to go inside.
First we made the box--which has an acetate window in the top and then we added the felted sticky back flowers across the corner.
Next we added the flowers and the tag which we also made.



When we had finished the box we made the eight cards that went inside .
Some that I made had the ribbon horizontally and on the others it was vertical.

This is a better photo to see the ribbon positions---we also made some tags to put on the back of the envelope----------

Next we embellished the backs of the envelopes.

What a great class ---and I can see some friends getting one of these packs for Christmas.

If you would like to see more of Leanne's work drop by her blog --just follow the link.

ATC from Tricia

I received this ATC from Tricia several days ago and I haven't stopped looking at it since.

I met Tricia through the new Stitchin Fingers group and we decided to do a swap together.

I asked Tricia what her surname was so I could put it on the envelope and she said it was Cook but she didn't like it.

I then told her that Captain Cook was the first person to raise the English flag on our soil claiming it for England.

This then set the wheels in motion for this wonderful ATC because Tricia decided to do a scene from Robin Hoods bay which was where Captain Cook was born.

The detail in the little work of art is amazing and I truly am in awe of it.

Tricia has worked it with a hand held felting needle.

Thank you Tricia--do you get the feeling that I love it.

Oh and by the way if you would like to see some more of her beautiful little scenic ATC 's drop by her blog via the link above.

This is the ATC that I sent her which was done on my embellisher with Hand embroidery on it.

Calendar Girls Postcard from Sandy

This is the lovely postcard that I received from Sandy for the May Calendar Girls swap --it has a hand dyed fabric background and the vase is suede with beads stitched on it.
The flowers are glass beads with smaller beads in the centre and is finished off with hand stitching.

Sandy also included a tag for Ebony and she loved it.

Thank you Sandy from both of us.

Change of Address

I received an e-mail from Shirley Ann Sherris yesterday stating that she was not able to access her old blog anymore and that she has had to start a new blog at http://shirleyannesherris.wordpress.com
If you are a regular reader of Shirley's blog and admire her wonderful work ---and you have her on your bloglines feeder or another one then you will have to change the address to continue to access what she is doing.
I know that I wouldn't want to miss out on what she is up to.

I've won the Lottery (well almost)

In the previous post I showed the ATC's that Ebony and I sent to Judith in NZ and these are the ones that she sent us in return--the first 2 are for me and it is difficult to get a decent picture of them but if you click on the image you will be able to get a better look at the wonderful detail in them


This one is for Ebony and it is beautiful as well--so much colour and Ebony loves it.

But wait there's more-----Judith also lavished us with these amazing gifts which is so generous of her and they will indeed come to great use--both by Ebony and myself.

Motifs-------------------

Silk Ribbons-------------------

Sequins-----------------

Sequins-----------------

And more sequins-------------

Beads-----------------

Paper cut outs for ATC etc-------------

More paper---------------

And doo dads(that's what I call them anyway)

Now wouldn't you say that was as good as winning the lottery?

Judith you are a very generous lady---Ebony and I both love all that you sent to us and we thank you very much.

Swaps we have sent lately

Here are some ATC's that I have sent out and I can now show you because the ladies have received them.This is the ATC that I sent to Helen in the UK --I met Helen through the new Stitchin Fingers group that Sharon B has started-if you haven't visited it yet just follow the link and take a peek.

Helen also asked if she could trade with Ebony and this is the card that she made for her.

Sorry about the glare but with all that gold on the background it was unavoidable.

These are the ATC's that we swapped with Judith in NZ recently.

The one on the bottom right corner is Ebony's and the other three are mine.

Again I am sorry about the quality of the photo but the battery was low on the camera and I wanted to get them in the post so I couldn't wait for the batteries to recharge.

The top left one is torn strips of organza stitched together on the machine and hand stitches were then added.

The top right is made from a baby wipe that I had used to clean off the ink on some stamps -I placed it on top of some cheap felt and ran it under the embellisher -then added some hand stitching.

The bottom left one that looks like a white blob is actually a lovely piece of hand made paper with flower petals embedded in it.

I attached a piece of beautiful lace on top of this and it is nice --shame you can't really see it properly though.

A couple of swaps

I have been involved in a couple of swaps lately and I can now show you because they have reached their destination.
The first is a tassel that I made for Sharon because she mentioned that she liked several that I had on my blog previously.
I used fancy fibers for the skirt and the twisted cord -the head is made from silk paper I had in my stash that I made ages ago and an organza ribbon is tied around the silk paper.
This is an ATC that I made for a dear friend Janet in the US.
The base is hand felted and then machine embroidered with some hand stitches also added.

Calendar Girls Postcard for May

My Calendar Girls Postcard for May is for Val.
The base is layered starting with a cheap apricot coloured felt- then a very fine piece of apricot silk and on top of this is a piece of apricot chiffon scarf.
I then stitched over this with the embellishing machine to create a some texture.
The flower is a paper one with a heart shaped metal brad in the centre and the stem is made with strands of wool felted in place with the embellisher.
I echo stitched with free machine embroidery around the flowers as a hilite.
Instead of leaves I have added some tiny feet because the verse in this months calendar says
"People always come and go but friends leave footprints in our hearts"
I hope that you like it Val and it is on it's way already.

May TIF Crazy Block

I have finished my May TIF challenge piece and I have mixed feelings about how it has turned out.
I really struggled with the colours this month--not that I didn't like the colours because I did--but I just couldn't seem to get any life in the block-you know -the colours just seemed flat to me.
I kept auditioning things to put on it but nothing jumped out and said "yeehah" I'm the one--so I had to just make do with this.
Maybe that is my punishment for buying the "stuff" that I did when I was on holidays seeing as I said I would only use what I had in my stash.
I think that maybe next month I may piece a different shape to the block and see what happens then.
I can't believe I have done 5 blocks already and seeing as I intend making these into a "Crazy " fabric book I am starting to wonder just how heavy it will be when it is finished--I may have to get a trolley to carry it around on.

I am sorry about the bright photo but I had to take it outside to get a good picture.
Oh well roll on June and the start of another one.

Postcard from Jo

I received this postcard from Jo earlier this week

I had previously sent Jo an ATC and she sent me this postcard in return--her reason for making the postcard and not an ATC was that she didn't want to cut the fabric any smaller and I can understand that as it is really beautiful.

Jo had made the flower collage on the card from silk paper that her 8 yeard old daughter Claudia had made.

How good is that.

Thanks Jo your card truly enhances my Postcard collection.

Stitchin Fingers

Sharon Boggan has started a new online community site called Stitchin Fingers.
Membership is free and open to everyone interested in textiles.
If you want to learn more about it and join up just follow the link that I have provided.
Sharon can explain it a lot better than I can.
And if you want to see my page you can click on the badge in the side bar--but there's not much on it at present.

May TIF

Finally I have pieced my block for the May TIF challenge.
I struggled a bit with the piecing of this one because there were 2 pinks and 2 blues in the colour scheme and no matter what I did there always seemed to be a blue next to a blue or a pink next to a pink.
Anyway I got it finished in the end and I am quite pleased with the result even though there are pinks side by side.
Also the lighter pink one on the right hand side is really paler that it appears here.
Now on with the embellishing and using some of the treasures that I got in Melbourne last week--I just have to pretend that I have had them for ages--I won't tell if you don't.

Embellisher Workshop at The Thread Studio

Last week I enrolled in another online course--this time with Dale at The Thread Studio.
This one is on working with the Embellisher and is called Embellish stitch and Enrich.
The workshop commences on the 4th of June and runs for 6 weeks.
So if you have an embellisher and you want to learn some fabulous stuff (just like Dale makes)
why not pop over and join in.
If you follow the link it will take you to the page with all the information.
I hope to see you there.

Cyber Fibre Swap round 2

Susan Lenz has announced the second round of swaps for postcards and ATC in conjunction with her Cyber Fyber exhibition in January 2009.
The first round was so succesful that Susan has decided to make more cards so now is your chance to get involved in this wonderful swap.
If you haven't already traded in the first round then go to the link and choose which card you want and arrange a swap with Susan.
Remember that this second swap is only for people who wave not previously swapped in the first round.

A Gift for me and an ATC for Ebony

Sunday was Mothers Day and I received the most wonderful gift from Ebony.
We were playing in our favourite room and I was dividing up my beads to share with her because they were ones that I won't be using much of in the future.
She had some florist wire and threaded beads on it and made me the bracelet in the centre of the picture.
The necklace was a surprise--she told me she was making something for Poppy and she measured my neck for the size because she thought we had the same sized necks.
And then she started adding beads and sequins etc until it was finished.
Poppy was in bed by the time she finished so it was left on my table.
When I got up (after a sleep-in) on Sunday morning I was given the nacklace for Mothers Day.
I had no idea that it was for me --now to say it's isn't the most comfortable thing to wear is an understatement but I did wear both the necklace and bracelet to the Embroiderers Guild today in all my glory.




As you can see she has put some letter beads that spell Nanny--I think I am the luckiest Nanny in the world.

This is the ATC that Ebony received from Claudia who is Jo's almost 8 year old daughter--it is so lovely to see children swapping ATC's.

Claudia has done a wonderful job and Ebony loves it especially the pink button--there is machine and hand stitching on it ---thank you very much Claudia.

Claudia wants to swap with other children now and if you have children or grandchildren who would like to swap with her go to the above link to Jo's blog .

And being me I forgot again to take a photo of the ATC that Ebony sent Claudia but it is posted on Jo's blog so you can see it there.

Like Jo said -once children had penpals now they can swap ATC's instead.