Fabric Paper Postcards

Life is incredibly busy at the moment and I am getting minimal computer time - I feel quite deprived as I haven't been able to do my normal blog-reading this week! I'll have to get some catch-up time on the weekend to make sure I stay sane(ish).

I have some mixed feelings about the whole informal blog protocol thing about not posting pictures of postcards, ATCs, cards, quilts etc until the recipients receive them as I personally don't really think it matters much - if I am the recipient I am always thrilled when I see the item "for real" regardless of whether I have seen a picture or not. In some ways I think it adds to the anticipation. So that was a long-winded rationalization of the fact that the picture at the top is one of a set of fabric paper postcards that I have just completed but not yet mailed for a small group exchange that has been running this year.

The fabric paper was made "a la Beryl Taylor" with stamping added. I am loving having a machine that has some nice fancy stitches - this one made a nice frame for the vintage image that was printed out on paper and then fused to strong interfacing before being stitched to the postcard.

I've made seven of these (they are all basically the same) so I have one spare if anyone wants to do a postcard trade with me (first in basis - just leave a comment).

Last Week...

My fabric paper "piece" mounted on mat board
from Beryl Taylor's Fabric Paper Workshop

I have now been back three days and I cannot believe how quickly those three days have gone!! I had great intentions of doing a recount of my week yesterday but it took too long to sort through my week's photos and there was serious competition from Zach for the computer. I thought this was going to be my 100th post (significant only in that the number sounds big!!) but I had a draft post that I hadn't ever deleted so I have another day/post to go.

So to tell you about my week - it was a fantastic mix of socializing, buying, eating and learning with big chunks of inspiration, fun, laughter and new friends! In other words - a perfect week. I loved the Craft & Quilt Fair (the quilts on display were incredible and I was totally won over by two felted ones in particular) - possibly I appreciated the Fair more than many Perth-ites would as I am very restricted in the craft/art goods I can buy here without using the internet and it is such a different experience to see things and touch things before buying them!

I went on both the Saturday and the Sunday and my purchases included the pretty selection above plus a whole pile of stamping/paper arts "stuff" that was seriously discounted on a couple of stalls - you cannot argue with 60% off. I also bought the Janome Xpression (embellisher machine) because Dale and Jaslyn wouldn't give me one good reason not to! I have been wanting one for about 18 months and the Janome is so reasonably priced (even before the show special) that even an embellishing beginner such as me can't really do without it!! When I grow up I guess I'll need a Baby Lock.

Highlights of a social nature were meeting Jaslyn "properly", catching up with Dale & Ian (The Thread Studio) and Jo and Jacky (Artistic Journey), having coffee and good chat with Kim Jones and also a quick chat with Jen Jones and Julie van Oosten (who has some great new chipboard products).

I stayed with my wonderful friend Jude, her partner Pete (and of course, Rosie - the dog!) for the week in her fabulous new house and it was just so nice to have the time together. Here is a photo of us (minus Rosie) at dinner on the Friday evening (at a lovely Thai restaurant - name has been forgotten already unfortunately).

I had a lovely dinner with my son Josh and niece Jasmine on the Saturday evening at Chutney Mary's in Subi - here is a quick shot of Josh in his college room before dinner, and yes I know that Josh will hate this one but I only took two and the other one is blurry. Unfortunately I forgot to get a photo at dinner (Jasmine's boots would have been worth photographing by themselves!).


Joseph was in Perth for a meeting on Monday so afterwards we visited his second son Jacob, his wife Melanie and the beautiful (of course!) grand-daughter Skye. It was an exceedingly wet day and I got drenched trying to get a parking ticket in Perth while I waited for Joseph. I didn't end up with any decent shots of Mel, Jake & Skye all together so these are all of Skye with us. The hardest thing about living in Kalgoorlie is being so far from family.

Skye combing my hair - a picture of concentration!

Tuesday to Thursday was spent doing three very inspiring and informative workshops with Beryl Taylor (whose website is now operational). I bought Beryl's book when it first came out - one of the few times I have bought a book sight-unseen direct from the publisher - because I had loved her artwork in magazine articles. Needless to say the book didn't disappoint and it has been a fantastic and very well-used resource. It was even better, of course, to have the opportunity to learn direct from Beryl - she is a very friendly, relaxed and sharing person and her art is incredible. She bought heaps of her pieces to the workshops so we could really look at them in detail. I did three of the four workshops and the first two had only small numbers so it was a terrific opportunity to have "personal" tutoring! I got to share with and meet some great women at the workshops (special thanks to Jaslyn - hi!!) and a particular highlight was Annie coming down at short notice from Kalgoorlie for the Wednesday workshop. That was a lot of driving for one workshop but it was great to be able to enjoy the day together. Thanks too for transporting my Xpression home for me - it would have been a pain on the train. These photos were all taken at the Thursday workshop and show only a portion of the room and participants.

Dale telling me not to take pictures of her taking pictures!

The Embellishments Workshop (maybe not a lot produced, but a lot learnt!)

Various fabric paper pieces made at the workshops (better in real life!)
- these incorporate various papers, wall papers, organza, dryer sheets,
tyvek, foil, spackle, paints, dyes, stamping etc

Wednesday night I had dinner at the Left Bank with my lovely sister Kathryn and her partner Roger. (And Kathryn I did take a wrong turn on the way home and toured a bit more of Fremantle than I had intended on my way back to Jude's!!) As always, Kathryn, it was so special to have time with you - just wish we weren't living so far apart.

Friday was extremely wet and cold in Perth and I spent the morning and early afternoon, before catching the train home, with my dear friends Jen and Suellen (seen here in Dome before we got drenched moving cars and changing locations). The train ride home seemed much longer than the ride down just a week before (it really was the same though - around 7 hours). It was a lovely week and I am so glad I have another week of holidays to follow through on all the inspiration.

Fragments - some fabric postcards

I made the most of a relaxing day and had another go at my fabric postcards for the "Fragments" theme. I started them last night and if I hadn't been so tired I might have thought it through a bit more but I decided to stick with them today and to see how they turned out.

I have improvised along the way as there were a few challenges but I am happy with the end result. They are made up of torn "fragments" of scrapbook papers laid on felt with a layer of pale organza randomly stitched on top to hold the pieces together. Floral/text images torn from napkins (decorator serviettes) have been glued on top with diluted PVA. When they were dry I used a wood burning tool to melt back some of the organza and to bond the edges a bit. The whole postcard was then lightly coated with more diluted PVA. When they were dry I stamped some swirls in sepia ink and added a strip of lace before doing the backing and edges.

I've also continued with my tissue paper collages but I am not sure that I am terribly enamoured of how they are going. They might be another project that gets put aside and replaced with a fresh start!


I am getting pretty excited about my holidays in August - I am taking some recreation leave so that I can go to Perth to do three workshops with Beryl Taylor. They should be terrific - I am doing one on embellishments and a couple on fabric paper. I don't know if anyone I know is going to these but I would imagine they will be very popular so if you are going let me know! I am planning on staying in Perth for the best part of a week to catch up with family as well and to attend a couple of days of the WA Craft, Quilt & Stitch Fair at the Claremont Showgrounds.

P.S. I wish tomorrow was a Public Holiday - I would love another day of creative fun!

Something completely different!

These two pictures are of my two pages in Fiona's Heart Shaped book. It is part of a small round robin based on shaped books (mine was the arch). Other than using the heart shape for our pages, Fiona's only other requirement was that we include something we love at the moment. I am in love with the pink and orange colour combination and have been for quite a while although I don't actually do that much art in this colourway so my pages celebrate this love! The background to the scans is silk fusion paper which I have also made in these colours but I didn't end up using any on the actual pages.

The first page is based on a piece of very pink fabric paper that I made some time ago (a la Beryl Taylor). I have toned it down with gesso and then added some stamping, the picture, beading, the orange flower trim etc and a final dusting of Micropearl Pearl-Ex which is a product I have had for several years and hardly used.

The second page is based on striped scrapbook paper which had been stamped several times in different colours (white gesso, Orchid Chalk Ink, Brilliance Orange) with flourishes/swirls (Fancy Pants and Rhonna Farrar), text (Oxford Impressions) and a small heart. The picture, embellishments and trims are then added along with some dots of dimensional paint and gel pen. The flower in the little girl's hair looks too big but it only just covers the enormous bow she was actually wearing in the photo! The ric rac doesn't go all around the heart as Fiona is binding the book on the bottom left side and that part needs to be relatively flat.

Lessons Learnt re Paper Fabric Quilts

I just took this quick photo to share. The pot of Z..... (the name has completely escaped me!) sits on an old wooden table outside my kitchen window while it is in bloom. It is so bright and cheerful and reminds me of all the reasons I love hot pink and deep orange together. Time to do some bright art I think - maybe tomorrow, because this afternoon I have to finish my alphabet tags (all the fiddly bits that are left).

So these are the lessons I learnt in the course of making my first paper fabric quilt (following Beryl Taylor's method for making paper fabric) as outlined in the Premiere Issue of Cloth Paper Scissors and her book Mixed Media Explorations:

1. Make lots of pieces at the same time in different colourways (if you have the space as it would be good to have lots of choices for layering, applique pieces etc). It is probably better to make several 12 inch squares rather than a couple of big pieces.

2. The PVA can be quite heavily diluted and still work - too thick a glue impacts on the softness (or otherwise!) of the paper fabric. I think it also makes the surface a bit shiny which may or may not be a good look depending n what you want.

3. On some pieces, colour the back side (which will look like fabric with paper images peeking through the open weave) as you may like the result even more than the front.

4. Maximise colour variations when colouring the surface while it is still wet (my pieces didn't end up with enough variety really).

5. Make some pieces that are not "too busy" - this is determined by the paper pieces you are using (although you can tone them done by using paint etc).

6. The paper fabric tears quite easily if you want rough edges but it is a bit unpredictable.

7. Paper fabric punches really well.

8. It is really easy to sew paper fabric, especially by machine but needle holes really show up if you unpick any stitching.

9. If you back your paper fabric with felt and then want to use wonder under or vliesofix to adhere it to another piece of fabric that is felt backed, it won't work as the sandwich is too thick! Ask me how I know...Solution had to be more stitching which messed things up a bit visually.

10. Adirondak Color Washes are a fantastic colouring agent while the paper fabric is still damp. I didn't use my Moon Shadow Mists but I will be next time as I think they would be gorgeous as a final light spray over the diluted inks and paints.


Seeing it was so long ago that I posted pictures of the two pieces of paper fabric that I originally made, I have included them again for reference. I have only used a section of the butterscotch/walnut ink one so far in making the first quilt. I am planning something completely different with the pink piece (which is VERY pink!).

Method I followed in making this quilt as pictured in my last post - tear out a piece of the paper fabric and zigzag stitch it to a piece of felt the same size, similar colour. Stamp desired images on kraft coloured tissue paper with permanent black ink. All of my images are from my favourite Oxford Impressions plate "The Art of Being Beautiful".

Use Mod Podge to glue the tissue images to the background, overlapping them where desired. I also cut out and glued a bit of manila folder to sit behind the woman's image so that her features would not be obscured by the images showing through the tissue.

Glue on some paper ephemera (the ticket and painted die cut dress form) and a scrap of tulle. Glue on twill and lace. Stitch around some parts of the tissue pieces and stitch in the gutter down the lengths of the twill and lace.

Ironed on wonder under to the back of the felt and attempted to iron it to a piece of black fabric that was backed with black felt (already stitched together). Failed. Stitched the two sandwiches together cursing my stupidity for not anticipating the wonder under dilemma.

Hand sew buttons and the scissor charm to the quilt and use small black pins to pin black twill to the quilt as a removable hanger.

Ciao for now

Having trouble tonight with Blogger

For some reason Blogger won't let me upload anything tonight unfortunately, so this is just a quick little post to say that a big chunk of today was spent working on my tags (and doing the week's washing, which was actually a pleasure on such a glorious autumn day).

I'm making good progress on the tags and it is mostly a case of assembling them now. Tonight I am going to work on my "paper fabric" quilt a la Beryl Taylor. Can't wait for her workshops in Perth in August - she is so inspiring and I love the way she mixes paper and fabric together. I must contact Dale at The Thread Studio to find out if details are confirmed yet as I'd hate to miss out. I'll be taking some annual recreation leave to get to this as I lose a couple of days travelling (by train or car) unless I fly ($ I would rather spend on a Janome Xpressions).

Hoping the latest Cloth, Paper, Scissors arrives in my letter box on Monday - once I know a new issue is out I find the wait so hard! Until tomorrow - when blogger may be a bit more cooperative!

Lucky Me - Gifts from Natalie!

Wow did I have a great mail day today! Natalie sent me a great sheet of Stampington Clearly Impressed stamps (a prize from her blog) AND her beautiful "Here is the Key" canvas, as recently featured on her blog. I have a real thing for keys and house shapes Natalie, so I am rapt. There is a lot of wonderful detail in the background - very Misty Mawn. Thank you so much.

The stamps are all a great size for ATCs and I haven't been making many lately so I can see that I will have to make some this weekend. The stamps include both the word "love" and a heart and I am just about to start making my alphabet tags for a swap and they will be perfect for my design - I have the letter "U". We have to include a heart somewhere in our design and this image is ideal as it is really pretty and not too big. Kismet is a wonderful thing.

Other plans for this weekend - besides the usual obvious "must do" domestic tasks - include going through several cupboards for a garage sale that I am having shortly, listing some stuff on ebay, and doing some art. I must get started on those alphabet tags but I also want to work on a small art quilt that I am making from paper "fabric" a la Beryl Taylor. Probably need two weekends in a row with no work week in between - I'd like Easter again, it was just so nice to have four whole days.

And to finish, here is a recent photo I took of the moon in the dusk sky. It was really beautiful - I love the soft light at dusk.