Saturday Morning...

Well I got through Friday without too many dramas (there was a slight one in the afternoon when I received a call at work from my son Zach who had been left stranded after the school swimming carnival - at least it wasn't me who forgot to pick him up and I got to play "mum to the rescue" - these extra points are well worth accumulating when you have teenage sons! He was a bit hot and bothered as it was a rather hot 39 degrees here yesterday - and it is supposed to be the same again today) .

Thinking in terms of "Creative Every Day", last night I made a nice dinner while I relaxed with a glass of wine and then I made good progress on my Calendar Girls postcard for February. This is what it currently looks like -

It is commercial music themed fabric fused to black felt and the petals are made from dyed mulberry bark. The connection with music comes from the wording of this month's verse. This is the first time I have used mulberry bark although I have had it in my "experimental materials " drawer for quite some time. I bought it from Dale at The Thread Studio - and what a treasure trove of stuff she has!! I cut heart shaped petals from the bark, used small pieces of misty fuse to anchor them to the fabric and then hand stitched around the edges and in the middle using another product bought from Dale - beautiful multi-colour silk threads (by Jacinta Leishman). I have machine quilted along the music lines to and I have to decide what to do about adding a flower centre. Originally I was also planning on adding the words (or some of them) from the calendar verse but at the moment I am thinking I might just add the centre, finish the edges and then leave it at that.

Yesterday I actually received my February postcard (above) for this Calendar Girls exchange from the wonderful Doreen Grey. Needless to say Doreen is rather more organized than me!! Doreen has chosen different elements from the original picture to inspire her postcard and it is just beautiful - very cheerful and the heart shaped vase is a great connection with Valentine's Day. Have a look at Doreen's blog or the Calendar Girls' blog for details on how she made it.

And to finish, here is another fabric postcard and a card which are, I think, in the latest Stamping & Papercraft Magazine's "Stamper's Challenge" section. The idea is to showcase the different ways a particular stamp can be used, so I did one on fabric and one on paper. This particular stamp is one from Stamper's Anonymous and it is ideal for fabric. The card had too much dimension for a good scan and it is actually a lot brighter in real life!

And now to go get on with the day!! I have a day planned around domestic duties but with some creative bits interspersed. I think my fairy slippers for Joanna are probably what I'll focus on - they are so small and fiddly!!

PS Oxford Impressions have a new plate of unmounted stamps out - Country Girl - check them out! I think they are gorgeous with a great range of versatile imagery. Love that rooster and the chicken wire and the wheat and the little girl and the checked border (and and and.. you get the picture, it is a great plate)