Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - New Blog

Please note that I now have a new blog!!!!  My new address is:

http://faerydi.blogspot.com/

Thanks for visiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 - Fabric Makeover

My blank canvas for this piece was a horrible bit of floral fabric.  It was either, chuck it!, or revamp it!!  So, the end result was this.

Purple Lace

I really enjoyed making "Purple Lace".    I glued and sewed lots of bit of lace and textured stuff down, then painted it with lots of different kinds of paints, then sewed it some more....   I joined a fabric charm bracelet swap on FlickR, so I think that's what I will use this for.  They are to be cut into approximately 1" squares for the swap - 15 of them.  Sounds like a lot of fun, and how exciting to receive my finished bracelet back....   Thanks Ruth for organising it (that's if you read this).  

Friday, December 8, 2006 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALLUM!!

Callum (my middle boy) turned 11 today - so instead of a party he chose to take the day off school and spend it with Mum.  How sweet!!  He is a sweetie...we went to the movies to see "Open Season" and then had lunch together.  What a wonderful day we had together - not often do I get to spend time alone with any of the boys, so it was very special.....

Callum blowing out his candles  (oops, didn't have time today for a home baked cake) /All 5 of us

Thursday, December 7, 2006 - Little Computer Nook and "Circles"

Did a bit of organising and moving around.  Now my computer is in my art/craft room tucked into a little corner.  I have a board at the back with some of my fibre pieces hanging on to keep me company.  The piece in the middle with what looks like a "D" on it, is from Emmy - it's my favourite!!  On the bookshelf I have my snack of pistachio nuts (yum!), and just a very few of my collection of magazines.....

I am doing an online one lesson fabric collage workshop with Ann Maullin.  This looks nothing like what Ann's pieces looked like, as I added circle after circle after circle, then handstitched circles, then machine stitched circles - until I had completely covered the pieced fabric underneath.  BUT I like it - and that's what workshops are all about - to inspire you to branch out.......

Circles and More Circles oooooooo

Tuesday, December 5, 2006 - Fabric Book RR

I have been participating in a Fabric Book RR, and my book is back.  Yeah!!  I absolutely love it - thankyou so much to everyone who participated.  It's already been well read!!!  It's one of the best things I've done, and I've already signed up for another one. Here's the photos of the pages of my book - theme was "Floral Fantasy".

Floral Fantasy   (cover made by me)  

Inside of front cover with pocket for instructions/Sign In Page (made by me)

Both pages made by me.

Page on left made by me/Page on right made by Connie (has a wonderful tag doll in the pocket)

Page on left made by Connie/Page on right made by Becky

Page on left made by Becky (has an amazing story about a fairy who loves flowers in the pocket written by Becky herself)/Page on right made by Sylvia

Page on left made by Sylvia (beautiful ribbon work)/Page on right made by Chriss (awesome!)

Page on left is the back of Chriss' page (a work in itself)/Page on right is the inside of the back cover made by me.

The End of my Floral Fantasy Story..........

Sunday, November 26, 2006 - Fabric Journal Cover

After my hectic day yesterday with 5 extra boys to look after, I decided that today was my day.  The boys were told do not disturb!!  In one of the groups I am in, there was a conversation about starting a fibre art journal - somewhere to put your ideas for what you want to create, or any pictures you find that you like, sketches, doodling, etc......  So today I made a cover for my "hopefully" fibre art journal.  I recently obtained the book "Creative Recyling in Embroidery" by Val Holmes, and when flicking through it I saw a photo of a box which was created from layers of fabric and cling wrap  fused together by the iron.  Ooooh, just my thing......

The fabric I made.....

The Fabric Journal Cover....

 Now I just need to discipline myself to use it...................

Saturday, November 25, 2006 - What I did today!!

Today we celebrated my youngest son, Hamish 8th birthday.  Went to Maccas for lunch (yuk!), then to the park for a play.  The boys had a great time, and I polished up my counting skills by doing numerous head counts. Then we walked along the foreshore, got our feet wet, annoyed the fishermen by asking them 10,000 questions about how/why they gut the fish, and watched the pelicans feeding on the fish scraps thrown to them.  My 3 boys were with me, plus 5 extra 8 year olds - oh what fun we had!! 

Rub a dub, dub 5x 8 year olds in a tub                                                       Hungry Pelicans

Christmas Cards

When all the boys had left, I sat down to make a couple of Christmas cards promised to ladies overseas......  They are made from embellished felt and sewn onto patterned cardboard which I then rubbed with treasure gold.  I love how the cardboard patterns have shown up. 

Thursday, November 23, 2006 - Fabric Book RR

I am participating in a Fabric Book RR with 4 other ladies, and this is our last month.  By December we should all have our own books back - which is all sooooo exciting!!  I can't wait, and I know that mine is safe and sound back in New South Wales, Oz.  The theme for my book was Floral Fantasy.  I will post some photos when I have it back.  But I have just finished a page for a lovely lady in the U.S., who had the theme "Vintage Women".  I enjoyed making the page, as it is so different to what I normally do. 

ROMANCE AND PRETTY THINGS

The rest of the book had a lovely vintage feel and included lots of ribbons, trims and images of lovely ladies, so I followed along with the feel of the book.  "Vintage Women" makes me think of romance and pretty things.

Monday, November 20, 2006 - A quilt a month.....

I have been busy trying to get my quilts ready for a Quilt Expo in Melbourne, February 2007.  There are 50 of us making 5 quilts each - so there should be 250 quilts on exhibit.  Lucky me will be able to go and see them all on exhibit, as I live just near Melbourne - so it will be all very exciting as I've never exhibited anything before.....  The group I belong to are a very talented bunch, so it should be quite a dramatic display......

My Quilts

Now, I just need to add a label to each one and also write a little blurb about them.....

Saturday, November 18, 2006 - Field of Flowers

For the last couple of days I have been working on my "Woman" theme for Textile Tuesday.  I'm not very good at drawing - but I was really happy with this simple drawing of a lady sitting in a field of flowers.  So, I converted her to a little art quilt.  It is fabric painted, appliqued and free motion embroidery.  I added some silk thread to her hair to give it more texture, but that is not really noticeable on the photo.  It isn't binded yet - haven't decided how I want to bind it yet.

Field of Flowers

Wednesday, November 15, 2006 - Who's a Lucky Girl?!!

I AM!!

I received my package from Michelle today.  This pendant is absolutely gorgeous!!  I am going to be the envy of all my friends when I wear this.....  Here is Michelle's link to her beautiful glass art http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoozlesfusesglass/

Thankyou Michelle.  I LOVE IT.

Monday, November 13, 2006 - High School Reunion

I had a wonderful weekend!!   Friday lunchtime I picked the boys up from school and we headed off for Bendigo, which is a long 3 hour drive with 3 noisy boys in the car.  I grew up in Bendigo, my Mum and Dad and my brother still lives there.  Not only did I get to see my family, but a couple of girls from my old secondary school organised a reunion for some of the girls.  This is the second one we've had now and both times I became a little emotional, as some of these girls were such close friends of mine, who I hadn't seen since I left home at 19 years of age - which is oh, 3 years ago (oh yeah!!!!) - no 25 years ago.  It was just amazing, no-one has changed, just a few more character lines - it was like being back at school - giggles all round.  The first lunch we had was 6 months ago.  This time we had a few more girls arrive - and I know it will grow as word spreads, as we had such fun reminiscing good old times!!!!  Don't know what all the other patrons at the bistro thought of us..... 

What a great bunch of gals!!!   (I'm the one in the front with the white top on and blonde hair)

Thursday, November 9, 2006 - Textile Tuesday - "Red Theme"

I was busy today!!!  Kids at school, Phil at work, day off for me - yay!!!  Time to try and catch up with all the Textile Tuesday themes.  I LOVE the colour red.  Inspiration for this little piece came from QA magazine - Fall 2006 - Issue 23.  What fun it was to make - but by the time I finished with all the free motion embroidery, my shoulders were aching so much.  No chance of a shoulder massage in this house!!!!  Anyway, the aching shoulders were worth it, as I'm really happy with the end result.....

Red, Red Flowers

Thursday, November 9, 2006 - Michelle's Fabric Parcel

This is my painted fabric parcel all bundled ready to send off to Michelle.  It went in the mail today........    My pendant from Michelle is also on the way - can't wait!!

Tuesday, November 7, 2006 - My "Black Theme" for Textile Tuesday

Today, I thought, was a good time to start to catch up with all the themes for Textile Tuesday.  I had painted this fabric ages ago and had no idea what to do with it - so decided to embellish it for the "black theme".  The fabric was monoprinted with the bottom of a peg container.  I did a bit of FME all over, added some black mesh on the side which I wove with some silver thread.  It still needed something, so I chucked on some organza circles.   The edge is bound with organza and FME.  Hubby asked what am I going to do with "it"?  I might make a box to put them all in, or make them into a book..... 

"Wheels in Motion"

(Photo makes it look very paint blobby, but it's not too bad in the flesh.  Photo on FlickR is much better.)

Monday, November 6, 2006 - Another day of Fabric Painting.....

An entry a day!!  I know that won't last - but until the excitement dies down - here I am at it again!

Another day of fabric painting.  Isn't it fun?  It's like being a kid again - paint on my face, hair and hands - not to mention on my clothes.  Next time, I'd best remember to change into some old clothes before I start.  Some of the fabric I'm really happy with, others I might try and revamp another day.

This one is my favourite. 

When you do fabric painting, all these other images come to mind of what you can do with the fabric and you feel ever so creative....   This is when I need an art journal - something I've been wanting to start for a looooong time. 

Just a quick thankyou to everyone who has visited my blog, and left such lovely comments.  It really is much appreciated. 

Sunday, November 5, 2006 - Beautiful day for Fabric Painting

Today was warm, sunny and a beautiful Spring day here.  Just perfect for sun painting.  I'm in a swap with Michelle - one of her beautiful pendants for some painted fabric. Here's a link to Michelle's gorgeous glass jewellery: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shoozlesfusesglass/  And, of course, I jumped at the offer to be the owner of such beautiful glass art!!  Tomorrow will be another day of painting, and I will pick out the best to send off to Michelle.  Here's an example of today's painting.....

I broke up a silk flower and layed down the layers on the painted fabric, and also added some ivy leaves.  The flowers turned out great, but the leaves were a bit of a blob.  You live and learn.  Ohhh look, there's our hippie tank in the background.........

But take a look at how the flowers turned out - I love them!!  At the start they were white,  now they're multi coloured.  I think Michelle might like a couple of these flowers too......

So, that's it for today - all packed up, raring and ready to paint again tomorrow.  I'm going to try shaving cream prints!

Saturday, November 4, 2006 - Hippie Herb Garden

Today my 2 artists (the 3rd would rather play computer games) decided to give our new herb garden a face lift.  I had lots of sample pots lying around from when I couldn't decide what colour to paint the house.  What a great job they did! 

"Ummmm, I think we'll paint it green first"

"Whadda you think Mum? We've named it the Hippie Herb Garden".

Well boys - I think it's gorgeous.  What a great home for our herbs.

Friday, November 3, 2006 - Emmy's Fabric Journal Pages

 I joined in a Fabric Journal page swap on FlickR, and then pulled out at the last minute - you know what it's like, not enough time in the day......but Emmy had already started on mine - the theme being "Passion", so we decided on a one to one swap just between us.  Because, of course,  I just had to have the pages Emmy was doing for me.  You will understand when you take a look - she is such a talented fibre artist.  Here's a link to Emmy's amazing artwork.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/33074438@N00/

Okay, so my theme was "Passion".  Emmy's was "Your Garden/Backyard/Surrounds,etc", and while I was outside enjoying a cuppa, there came my inspiration.  I love magpies (not when I'm out running and they swoop me) - and there was one sitting on a branch in a gum tree, just waiting to be put on a Fabric Journal page for Emmy.

So, this is Page 1. 

MAGPIES NEST

And, here is Page 2

GUM LEAVES

And this is the "Little Signature Bag", which has my details in it and goes inside the Magpie's Nest.

I posted the pages to Emmy in the Nederlands today and I hope she likes them..........

Thursday, November 2, 2006 - First Post!!!!

First post!!  Yeah, I actually did it - without my 13 y/o help too - he'll be so proud of me.   It's 11.15 p.m., so won't babble for long  - but now I've started I'm keen to talk about what I'm creating at the moment and to add some pics.....so, until tomorrow - I'm off to bed. Goodnight.