And now for some fabulousness!!

I participate in a small Australian group that swaps fabric postcards on a (roughly) bimonthly basis and the current theme is Marie Antoinette. These are the three totally gorgeous and absolutely stunning postcards that came my way this week -

Above Postcard by Coralee Barker

Above postcard by Karin Hutchinson

Above postcard by Stephanie Grant

I just love them!!

November Calendar Girl Postcard

I forgot to say last Sunday that I was going to be away for the week with work. We covered a lot of miles this week and came home tired and with a coating of good old Australian red dust! Quite strange too as we are having our second wet weekend in a row - not at all usual for Kalgoorlie in spring (we are on the edge of the desert and our annual rainfall only averages 260 ml).

This month the Calendar Girl postcard "inspiration" is the picture above so I have focused on the daisy shape. I had previously made the basics of the flower using a previous project "gone-wrong" so it was a fairly quick postcard to pull together. I have ironed painted fusible webbing onto text printed fabric as the base (with a felt and Pelmet Vilene Plus backing). The actual flower was originally based on pretty much the same idea but I messed up the project and ironed it on the wrong side so I ended up painting over it and spraying it with mists etc.

I have "rescued" the flower from the disaster basket and restitched the edges in black to make the edges more pronounced. It is sewn to the postcard using a colourful clay button (it has a bright yellow centre that for some reason won't show up in the scanning!)

Why is it?

I love this photo - I took it on the Esperance jetty -
it amazes me that a plant can survive in such a harsh spot -
surrounded by wood, bitumen and blue metal!

From Jacky Williams - Oriental ATC trade (and extras!)

Why is it that the project you are working on and that MUST be finished pronto is not the one you are wanting to work on!! I am sure it doesn't just happen to me. Maybe it means I like the planning more than the doing... or maybe it means I suffer "from the grass is greener on the other side of the fence" syndrome!

Anyway I pushed through it today and finished the big project that I was working on (I'll share later as it is a secret sort of swap for the 12 Days of Christmas) and that meant I had a little bit of time left to play with some other stuff. So I pulled out my beeswax and made a few ATCs and did a few other bits and pieces. Nothing to show at this stage from my activities today as I just have a lot of stuff "in progress". But what I can share is some of the beautiful art I have received and some more textured surfaces that are in progress.

My October Calendar Girl Postcard from Val Thomas

Textured Surface - Progress shot of painted molding paste on fabric

Textured Surface - Progress Office of painted molding paste of fabric

Textured Surface - Progress Shot - painted molding paste and puff paint on fabric

Textured Surface - Progress Shot - painted embellished fabric

Textured Surface - Painted & Varnished Sewn Fabric Strips

Textured Surfaces - Progress Shot - Tyvek strips woven, painted,
distressed and stitched to canvas ready for painting

Mixed Media Monday - The Human Body

This week's theme at Mixed Media Monday is "the human body - or parts thereof" so it is very fitting that my Lingerie themed Little Fat Book came home to me this week from its travels. The round robin was started in 2006 but mine got a bit delayed a couple of times so it was lovely to have it come home! I think there are some more pages that were mailed to me separately but of course they were put away for safe keeping nearly two years ago so it will be interesting to see if I find them before we eventually move house!

At the top you can see the book covers - I love that lace tissue paper that I used to cover the mat board.

Pages above by Jo Wholohan

Pages above by Kim Skinner

Pages above by Megan Shields

Pages above by Ruth Kelly

Pages by Megan Shields

My pages

A Few Recent Random ATCs For Trading

Stitched and beeswaxed paper and ephemera - traded

Fabric, lace and dimensional paint - traded

Stamped on silk with a paper tag and clockface charm - traded

Painted vliesofix on text printed fabric with felt flower trim, glitter paint and mini ric rac - traded

Vintage image printed on fabric and adhered with flower trim and star sequins to a playing card that has been coloured with alcohol inks - traded

If you are interested in trading just leave a comment - first in first served!
I am open to fabric and paper trades.

An Oriental ATC Trade & Some More Texture!

I recently had the opportunity to do a three way Oriental ATC trade with Jen and Jacky. The ATCs above are the ones I made and the one below is Jen's. I'll post Jacky's when it arrives. I used some red vinyl fabric (the stuff that is quite thick and used for upholstery) as my base - it accepted machine stitching and I like the fact that it is a flexible but sturdy. The vinyl came from Reverse Garbage outlet in Brisbane several years ago! Can you tell I am trying to use up "stuff"!

And I have decided that I am not going to do anything else to this canvas - it is my practice sample for surface texture using molding paste, muslin and washers with paint. It is a practice sample, hence the lack of a focal point! (something that is bothering the males of this particular household!) I have used Lumieres in Sunset Gold, Super Copper and Halo Blue Green as highlights.

More Textured Surfaces

Some more textured surfaces - the experimentation continues!

And this one (below) is a progress shot - more to do, it is way toooo dull!

It May Be Spring Here But....

It may be spring here in the southern parts of Australia but in Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft it is "Winter Snow"! The current issue includes my "Studio Steps" article which is largely based around the Oxford Impressions "Winter Snow" plate of unmounted stamps - a very versatile collection. And if you are interested in joining the Oxford Impressions design team, Suzanne is calling for applications for 2009 - see here for details.

Textured Surfaces

Just a quick little post tonight as I am midway through painting a whole lot of textured surfaces!! Waiting for layers to dry so I can do the next lot takes more patience than I have when my creative time is limited to after-work hours!

Here are the first few of my "Textured Surfaces" experiments from the Fibre-in-Form workshop I am doing. The workshop involves (amongst many other things) using moulding paste but someone recommended flexible gap filler so I have tried that as well and absolutely love it. It works out a lot cheaper and is such a lovely texture plus I am sure I will be able to stitch into it. I have already used up a mini can and will definitely be getting more! The picture at the top of this post is the flexible filler on fabric with a text stamp pushed into it while it was still wet. It has had multiple layers of paint and metallic rub-on added and is still very flexible - like a thinnish leather.


This photo (above) is of strips of cloth (recycled rice bags) painted, inked and then bleached in places. The effect really makes me think of old weathered painted wood.


This last one is completely outside of the class "style" as it has only one light layer of paint dry-brushed over the filler but I just really like the effect with the white filler and bits of the rice bag text peeking through. This one is also very flexible.

Now back to my painting...

Mixed Media Monday - Autumn Colours

The theme this week at Mixed Media Monday is "Autumn Colours" so I am posting a rather autumnal card I made a while back for Stamping & Papercraft. It is based on those wonderful Chalk Inks which I just love using as they stamp (and layer) so well! Makes for lovely detailed backgrounds.

Today was a good mail day too as I received my copy of the new Stampington publication "Where Women Create" - I just love seeing other people's creative spaces!! Very inspiring.

Another Skinny Book Page!

This one is made as part of a monthly challenge for the Creative Soul Retreat I am participating in next March in Melbourne. I chose to use the skinny book format for the challenge. The theme this month was "thrones" - had fun constructing the little nest in what I think of as the "Gaye Todd" style! I got to use my two new little leaf punches as well. The only stamping is the text in the background as the rest is collaged, inked and splattered. I didn't think the bird needed a little crown but maybe it would have added to the throne theme (I like it when other people do it but just can't do it myself for some reason!)

Creative Wednesday - Make a House

Continuing on my skinny page addiction, this is another one for the Creative Wednesday challenge of "make a house". I had this piece of watercolour paper that I had previously painted, stamped and splattered and its gentle iridescent mauve and green colouring "spoke" to me yesterday so I used it as the base for the page.

The main part of the house is made from a "special collection" envelope (I'm recycling some very old church collection envelopes that my Mum gave me when her church was getting rid of them - I love their small size and naturally aged look). I'm thinking I should have coloured the envelope a bit differently as it blends a bit too much with the background but I was having a tone on tone day I guess! The rest, apart from the little Collections frame, is made up of little bits and pieces in my scrap box with liberal lashings of white gel pen of course.

The rest of my weekend creative time went on working on my "Twelve Days of Christmas" gifts , making some ATC trades and painting samples for my Textured Surfaces workshop. Multiple painting layers mean none are finished yet but I have about twenty pieces scattered around in various stages so eventually I am going to have a lot of pictures to share!

Mixed Media Monday - Lock & Key

I've made a little skinny page (3 x 5 inches) for this week's Mixed Media Monday theme of "Locks and Keys". Really enjoying the skinny page format - I'm making two others at the moment for other challenges.

I've been on a Blogging Vacation

This week just disappeared for me (once again) so I haven't had time to blog for a few days. I don't feel any obligation to do so but it amazes me when I don't get around to it as I really enjoy it and the contact it brings with others. Makes the world seem much smaller. Anyway I am posting a stamped and stitched card I made for Stamping & Papercraft magazine quite some time ago just so that there is something pretty to look at - I really like pictures on blogs and this is after all a blog about the stuff I make!

Anyway one of the reasons why I haven't had much blogging time as I have been trying to get back into a routine with my walking after a rather long lapse through the winter months. The trouble with walking on my walking machine is that I read while I am doing it so that I don't notice the time and get bored. Then the trouble is that I don't want to stop reading so then I have less time to do other things.

On top of that I have been engrossed in making my sample pieces for the "Textured Surfaces" online workshop that I am doing. I have been playing with house paint, tyvek, molding paste, couching threads, fabrics, stencils, puff paint etc etc and having fun doing it. I am not posting pictures because the samples at this stage all look very bland as they haven't had the glorious painting layers yet. This weekend I start painting and adding colouring so hopefully I will get some blog-worthy results.

And if you don't already read Vicki Welsh's blog, pop over and participate in her fabulous blogoversary give-away (the 28 Oct post) which will be drawn on Nov 6. Vicki is a textile artist (and fabric dyer) and a great blogger who shares lots of information and links to others work that she has discovered in her own blog-hopping forays. Good luck!