Cards received

I received these ATC's this week --the top ones are from Anne in France-one is for Ebony and one for me.
I love the way that Anne does her cross stitch ATC's- they are so precise and each time I swap with her I am amazed at the designs that she embroiders.




This ATC comes from Heather in the UK .
Heather is new to trading ATC and I saw on her blog that she had made some and asked her to trade with me.





Heather also included this beautiful hand made card.

And guess what--it wasn't until I was uploading these photos that I realised that I hadn't taken a photo of any of the ATC's that I had posted out to these ladies--sorry about that.

Fabric Book Page

Before Christmas I was invited to join a Fabric book page swap by Ati and as this was a first for me( being asked to join a page swap that is) I thought that I would give it a go.
The theme that I chose was Butterflies and my first page came from Cobi who lives in the Netherlands.
It was very hard to take a photo of the page that would do it justice because of the reflections so this is the best that I could manage.
The butterflies are in 3D effect that also doesn't show up in the photo.





I managed to take a horizontal view which shows them standing up but the colours are wrong.
Anyway the effect is great.




This is the Page that I sent to Helga who lives in Germany.
Helga's them is Angels and my page has a piece of fabric with angels in the top right hand corner.
I added the laces and was going to do embroidery stitches on the page but I removed them because I felt it looked better without them.
I think this is going to be fun.

Art of a different kind--Culinary Art that is.

Now let me say from the beginning that I am not the worlds greatest cook --I cook because we have to eat and that's it.
But every now and then I even surprise myself and make something new.
I know that all my Blogger friends in England will be laughing their heads off when they see this but it is a first for me.
Stephen and I were watching pay TV this afternoon and believe it or not we were watching one of those many English shows that are to do with buying or selling houses or Escape to the Country etc.--you know the ones that I am talking about.
Anyway this bloke and his girlfriend were making Toad in a Hole and Stephen said "now that looks great--I reckon I would like that"---"do you think you could make it"
(Stephen cannot eat onions as he is allergic to them so we eat normal meat and Vegs meals)
Could I make it--I didn't know so I hopped on the internet and Googled Toad in a Hole and Bingo there was the recipe---and another bingo later --Voila--Toad in a Hole".
I got carried away with how much I made (because there is only the two of us)-so I hope it reheats well or that it is nice to eat cold cold-but I made it and it was damn nice even if I do say so myself (and Stephen loved it ).





And here is my dinner ready to eat---smothered in gravy----mmmmm




So now if any of you English ladies come visit me I can always cook you Toad in a Hole for your meal :-))

Rusty Stuff

Part of the Ratty Tatty Papers workshop was about rusting papers with Ferrous Sulphate and a Caustic soda solution.
I also had these instructions from the workshops that I did with Carol and Linda in their Fibre in Form workshop.
I didn't like the idea of using these chemicals although they all assured me it was safe to do so.
Knowing what I am like I thought I would do myself some harm and my husband felt the same as well.
Then I remembered that someone years ago had told me about using steel wool and water and vinegar so I decided to use this method instead.
In the first photo the rust is very crusty and has a wonderful texture.




This photo is of the last piece of paper that I put in the sludge that was left--it turned out very even in the colour.
I bet if I tried to get the same effect again I wouldn't be able to.





In this piece I turned the paper around and also over so that I got a very nice variation in colour.

In this one you can see the strips from the roll of steel wool that I used.

I also added a couple of pieces of cotton fabric just for fun.

All in all I am quite pleased with the results.

A Few Changes

I have been fiddling around for several hours changing backgrounds and headers ---it took me ages because I didn't have a clue what I was doing but I finally came up with something that I like---what do you think?
I found the background tag on Janet's blog so I took a look at what was on offer and I chose this one and then Blogger had a header that matched it.
How lucky is that?

Stuff for Me

I received these wonderful papers in the mail a few days ago from Hilary who knew that I was doing the Ratty Tatty Papers course and thought that they may come in handy.
Will they? I reckon they will---there are pages from old magazines and old music sheets--some old doctors prescriptions dating back to 1922(doctors wrote just as bad back then also) pages from a Japanese book and a French book as well as old dictionary pages and also catalogue pages.
Who would think anyone could get so excited over old paper.




I also recieved my Starburst Sprays that I ordered from The Thread Studio---whoo-hoo lots of fun ahead for me.

More Ratty Tatty

I'm a bit late in showing this lot of my Ratty Tatty Papers workshop with Dale but what can I say---I just forgot.
The first photo is a piece of the painted tissue paper that I had done earlier and I attached it to black felt with vliesofix.
Where the tissue had holes in it and the vliesofix showed through I added some rust foil.
I love the look of this piece.






The next one is another piece of painted tissue attached to felt as above and I machine stitched on some strips of painted paper and appliqued them to the tissue base.
I then gave it a coat of Acrylic wax.

The last one has a base of silk cocoon strippings stitched to black felt and I then added some one inch tiles made from a left over from the above piece.

I love this piece.

A few trades

I recently traded a hand made card with Pam Kellog who is better known for her Crazy Patchwork but she also makes the most beautiful glitter cards .
This is the card that she sent me and I love the way that she has added glitter to the edges.





Here is the card that I sent her which has layered papers with added embellishments on it.
It is interesting to see the different styles that we both do.

These are the ATC's that I received in the Cyber Fyber ATC international swap------

The one on the left is from Maggie Hannigan---the middle one is from Michelle Goldsmith and the one on the right is from Cheryl Gebhart.

Postcard from Pippa

Today I received my Calendar Girls February Postcard from Pippa.
Pippa has interpreted the calendar page in a very interesting way which I think is very clever.
The background represents the balloons in the original picture and the gold pieces represent the unicorn's horns (see the original picture in previous post)
I love it Pippa.



Pippa also included some wonderful doodads for Ebony I think they are made from Fimo but I am not sure --Ebony will love them when she comes out on Wednesday.
(I peaked in the onvelope --naughty Nanny)

Calendar Girls February Postcard

This year each months calendar page is selected by a different member of the group.
This month it was Sandy's turn and the page she has selected is shown in the bottom picture.
I wanted to do something different this month although I kept thinking "embellisher" until I found that I had a stamp of a unicorn that I could use.
I know he is facing the wrong way but what the heck it is still a unicorn .
I painted layers of different acrylic paints onto tyvek until I got the effect that I was looking for -then I added some Jo Sonja's interference paint to give it a bit of zing.
Next I used the heat gun to get the textured look that I was after and finally added some "Goldfinger" to the raised sections.
The unicorn was stamped onto black card using a Versamark stamp pad and some gold and green embossing powders were added and then heated with the heat gun.
I cut the card into a circle and stitched it to the Tyvek.
I hope Carol Likes it.






Here is the calendar page that we are working from this month.






This years challenge is very interesting with such a variety of calendar pages--if you want to see how the other girls have interpreted this page take a look here.

The Bushfires

Just a short post to say thank you to everyone who has contacted me enquiring as to my safety.
I can assure everyone that I am not anywhere near these horrific fires and my heart goes out to the families who are affected by this most tragic event.
The death toll has almost reached 200 and the people in charge are saying it could reach 300.
They are still searching through the rubble trying to account for the missing people.
One wonders at the devestation to the wildlife and the farm animals--my mind cannot envisage the total loss--how will the ones that survived cope with the loss of their food supplies.
The Australian people and businesses have donated over 31 million dollars to the bushfire relief fund and I would like to ask anyone who reads my blog if you are able to donate any money no matter how small or large please go to the web site of the Australian Red Cross and give generously.
Thanks again for being concerned for my safety and please remember the communities who have lost everything in your prayers.

January Stitch Explorer 2009

This year Sharon Boggan has another stitch challenge which is called " Stitch Explorer"-- if you go here you can find all the details regarding the challenge.
The first stitch pattern that we had to do was Chicken Scratch and I must admit it is one of my favourites.
The piece on the left was done several years ago and I decided to use it again because I wanted to show how it would look using the same design but with a different coloured thread and also working on the opposite squares.

The one on the left side has the base layer of cross stitches worked on the dark green squares using white threads.

Then the white thread was laced around and through the crosses to form the pattern.

The one on the right side has a base layer of green cross stitches which were worked on the white squares and have been laced with white thread.

The one on the left looks like it has a narrow white ribbon running below the stitches where as the right one looks like it has a green ribbon running through it.

I could work this pattern many more times using these two coloured threads in different places and it would look totally different again.

This is the third of Sharon's challenges that I have participated in and if is half as good as the previous ones I will be more than happy.

Silk Paper

As part of the Ratty Tatty Papers online workshop that Dale at The Thread Studio is running I have been making silk paper.
The first one is made from 2 layers of a silk cap.
This silk fiber is very thin and sticks to your fingers especially if you have any loose skin on them.





The next two are made using dyed silk tussar fibers.
These colours are no longer available but I have had them for at least 5 years and I still have plenty left.




They are all made using Textile Medium

I am not a great lover of making silk paper--I don't know why-maybe it's because I can never get the same even flat paper that everyone else does.

I wouldn't mind if I were trying to get a textured look but I'm not .

Embellisher Textile Challenge

Dale at the Thread Studio is having an Embellisher Textile Challenge which will be touring with her this year to places where they will be attending Craft shows in Australia and Alexandra Palace in England.
The theme of the challenge is "Connections" and the entries were not to be bigger than 20cm x 20cm and had to be made on the embellisher.
I have sent in two entries --the first one is called "Rainbow Connections" mainly because of the colours that I have used.
The base is made from "Colour Streams" Silk Fibers from Robin Alexander called Marrakesh (which I have had for a very long time)that I embellished onto felt.
I added 3 slips that I had left over from my Cyber Fyber wall hanging and I connected them with a cord that I had made on my sewing machine and 3 buttons.
I then used running stitch in the same colour silk threads and also some perle cottons to add texture.






The second entry I have called "Broken Threads re-Connected".
The base is wool tops which I lightly embellished onto some flannelette and then added a piece of my own hand dyed scrim which was embellished to the base.
I then placed some fibers over this and embellished them in.
Next I cut the piece into different width strips and rejoined them onto another piece of flannelette-- sometimes I turned the strips upside down.
I wanted the joins to be slightly noticable in keeping with the theme.
Next I used 3 different coloured perle cottons-(green -mauve and raspberry pink) to re-connect the broken thread lines.
I edged the piece in buttonhole stitch but it wasn't until after I had sent the pieces to Dale that I realised that I hadn't taken a photo of the finished piece with the borders done.
So you will just have to imagine the lovely even blanket stitches in green perle cotton around the edge :-}
I quite enjoyed doing these pieces -it made me think about the theme and how I would go about interpreting it.





These pieces will be on tour for 12 months and then they will be returned to me.

Blogaversary prize

At the beginning of January was my 2nd anniversary of when I started blogging and I had a giveaway which was won by Jacqueline.
I haven't heard from Jacqueline yet that the prize has arrived but I thought that I would post a photo of it in case everyone thought that I didn't have a prize after all.
And I am sorry if I have spoilt the surprise for her as well.
I hope you like it Jacqueline.

Postcards

Yesterday I received my first Calendar Girls postcard for 2009 from Sharon.
January's calendar page was selected by Debbi and it is from a Shane Pickett calendar.
If you would like to see all the other cards and the original picture go to our Calendar Girls blog here.
Sharon has put a different slant on her postcard and I love everything about it.
Thank you Sharon I love it.




I also received a postcard from Doreen K who lives in the US.
Doreen kindly sent me a postcard to cheer me up after my toe operation and it worked.
Thank you Doreen you are a wonderful friend.

On a good note my toe finally looks like it belongs on my foot and not in a freak show.

Thanks to everyone who has sent me messages I do appreciate all the comments and they helped to cheer me up.

Now back to creating :-)

Meeting old friends and new

Today I went to the Botanical Gardens in Canberra to meet up again with Sharon B and Annie W for coffee and also to meet for the first time fellow Aussie blogger Judy B.
What a great afternoon of non stop chatter-show and tell and lovely coffee.
Both Sharon and Annie brought along there band samplers and all that I can say is Wow.
You have to see both of these with your own eyes to appreciate the amount of work that has gone into them.
If you want to take a peak at both of them look at Sharon's here and Annies here but with Annies you will need to work your way back through previous posts to get the full story.
Sharon also had her Diamond blocks with her and they were well worth taking a look at also.
Judy is a well known patchworker from Bordertown in South Australia and she had come along with some of her smaller works of art to show us.
It was such a pleasure to spend quality time with fellow bloggers again.


From left to right are Judy-Doreen-Annie and Sharon with Judy's show and tell on the table.
I had to leave after 2 hours as I had to go back to the doctors to have my toe checked again.

Ratty Tatty Papers

This week was the start of the Ratty Tatty Papers online class by Dale at the Thread Studio.
As usual Dale has set us off on a wonderful journey of learning new stuff--this time with serviettes.
I use serviettes a lot in my art and this is something to add to the list.
The serviette was given to me earlier this month by an internet friend Heather in Queensland and I thought I would use it in my first sample.
There are three layers in this piece-the base is a quarter section of the serviette then a gridded layer was added and lastly the top slip pieces were added.

Here is a photo of the gridded section after it had been washed.

Now onto the other part of this lesson.

This looks like it will be an interesting workshop.

Ouch

If it looks like a sore toe and it feels like a sore toe then it must be a sore toe.

I will be out of action for a few days as I have had a small operation on my big toe :-(

Lynda asked for a photo of me in bed with my leg elevated but this is all she is going to get--a photo of my toe.

OK I am back off to bed.

Calendar Girls 2009

This year for the Calendar Girls challenge we have all submitted a page from a calendar of our choice and each month one of the pages will be used as the inspiration.
The page for January came from Debbi's calendar which is by Australian Aboriginal artist Shane Pickett.
This was a wonderful picture to interpret on the embellisher and I am pleased with how it has turned out.
I used a dark brown felt as the base and layered wool and silk fibers onto it but I worked from the reverse side to achieve the subtleness that I was after.
The two rows of stitching are worked in running stitch by hand.
If you would like to see some of the other interpretations go to the Calendar Girls blog here




Here is the original picture that Debbi posted.

What a great choice Debbi.

And the winner is

I have been waiting for Ebony to wake up to draw the winner of my giveaway but she refuses to even stir so I have asked Stephen to do the honours and the name he chose was Jacqueline.
Congratulations Jacqueline-- I know your address and I will contact you later today regarding your prize.
Thanks to all the people who commented I really appreciate it.

CYBER FYBER almost here

The internet is abuzz with CYBER FYBER fever -the wonderful exhibition created by Susan Lenz in Columbia - South Carolina - USA.
Susan has spent nearly 12 months organising this exhibition and all the other things that are associated with it-ATC and Postcard swaps-exhibitors-sponsors-Opening night-publicity- demonstrations etc.
It is an incredible feat for Susan (and Steve) to pull together and they have done it with such professionalism that it can only be a roaring success.
Ebony and I have been lucky enough to be invited to enter an exhibit and I have enclosed several photos that I have taken from the CYBER FYBER site to show you how they look hanging in the exhibition.
( click on the photos and they will enlarge for easier viewing)
If you click here you will be able to see the demonstration time table for Saturday's Fiber day.

Ebony's quilt hanging in the exhibition is the one second from the right in the corner----hanging near the three pieces by Lynda of Purple Missus.






Here is mine which is the third from the right---the top one.
How exciting is this to be exhibiting in this wonderful exhibition

Wow this is exciting.

Two Years Old

I nearly forgot that it is two years ago today when I started my blog.

Where has the time gone to--I know I have been busy and I know that I have made some amazing friends since I started blogging.

I have learned so many new skills due to having a blog----

I have joined some wonderful groups-------------

Done some amazing online workshops-------------

Received some wonderful gifts---------

So it is my turn to give back a little.

I have decided to have a little or maybe big(I am not sure yet) giveaway to celebrate this milestone--not sure what it will be but it will be worthwhile.

If you leave a comment here by Thursday (Australian time) I will get Ebony to draw out the winners name.

And to think it all started because I joined Sharon Boggan's TAST online challenge
Thank you Sharon.

My Tower Book

Back in October Lynda of Purple Missus fame bought me for my birthday a copy of Maggie Grey's new book Textile Translations.

Part of owning this wonderful book is that there are free classes to go with it.

I haven't been able to start on the lessons until this week because of prior committments but now that they are all done I can get on with them.

The first lessons were to make a tower book and this is now finished.

The tower is a triangle and this is the side view with the front opening showing the pages.

Next is how it looks front on with the ties undone.

The back view-------------

And how it looks all tied up.

Now I have to catch up some more.

My Cyber Fyber Piece

Now that Susan has posted the photos of the entries in the Cyber Fyber exhibition I can show you mine.

I know that I could have shown you before but I wanted to wait for Susan to do it first.
If you would like to see all the entries that are in the exhibition and why the people were chosen you can go here .

Most of the stuff in this piece has either been given to me by cyber friends or is recycled or left over bits from previous works.
I can't remember the exact size but it is around 30cm x 40cm (12" x 16") and is mainly hand stitched except for the border which was attached by machine.
I am very happy with the way this turned out and I hope you enjoy looking at it.

ATC's from Claudia

Yesterday we received these two ATC's from Claudia who is Jo's daughter.

These are Claudia's drawings of her "crazy angels" which her mother transfered onto fabric and then stitched onto the ATC.

How clever is that---and now we have a piece of her creative drawing.

Ebony chose the one on the left which made me happy because I really wanted the one on the right but I always give her first choice so it worked out well.

Thank you for the swap Claudia.

I can't show you the cards that we sent to Claudia because somehow they were deleted from the folder that I had them in----Mr Nobody has been at it again.

Do you have a Mr. Nobody in your house ?---when things go missing "nobody" know what happened to them.

OK I have cheated I went to Jo's blog and copied the pictures that she had put on her blog.

Ebony's is the one on the right.