My Red Inchies - Finished at Last!

This afternoon I made the most of my extra long weekend and finished off my red inchies for the latest exchange. I have made nine different types and the top photo shows the finished set. The next two photos are different views of the 81 inchies in all their red goodness!

These are photos of each type:

Red patterned fabric with a red flower eyelet and white dimensional paint dots and hearts.

Red text fabric with a large red sequin, small black sequin and gold bead stitched on.

Measuring tape patterned fabric with red cord, red flower trim and white mini ric rac added.

More of the red text fabric but this time with a red velvet ribbon and tiny gold bell stitched on.

Red fabric with a mini yoyo stitched on with a red sequin and white seed bead in the middle.

Oriental patterned fabric with an octagonal coin stitched on.

Swirly patterned fabric with organza circles folded and stitched on with a gold sequin and bead.

Checked fabric with buttonhole stitched edges and a red button.

Acorn patterned fabric with gold glitter edges, a red netting overlay, crinkle ribbon piece and with black seed beads sewn on.

My September Calendar Girl Postcard

This is my postcard for this month for the Calendar Girl exchange. It goes in the mail tomorrow to Doreen over in Canberra and I have just snuck in before the end of the month!

The inspiration this month was this calendar page featuring Hundertwasser's Green Town so I decided to focus on the green colour and a few of the stronger lines and shapes. I pulled out my Embellisher which has been tucked away all winter (when I most logically would have been using it seeing as felt and wool are much more user-friendly in the winter months!) and machine felted a piece of light olivey-lime stretch velvet to a piece of lime green commercial felt. I added some yummy thick wool fibres (the sort that have colour that changes along the length) for the lines and small circles of darker green and black velvet for the trees, machine-felting them all in place. I added some hand stitching and sewed on a few sequins and beads to add a little bit of "something". And it has made me want to do some more stuff with the embellisher!

I have been making the most of the beautiful spring weather and doing lots of gardening over the last two days so finishing off my little red inchies will have to wait until tomorrow.

The Start of a 4 Day Weekend!

It is a long weekend here in Western Australia this weekend and I am very fortunate in having an extra day off on Tuesday, making it a four day weekend - what bliss. I think I am going to need it though just to do what I would normally do in a two day weekend as I have had an allergic reaction to something this week since I got home from my work trip to Wiluna and Leonora. I am operating rather below par at the moment (although my swollen and numbed face and lips have gone down a lot thank goodness). This is the second time in just over a month and something I haven't experienced before, so I'm trying to work out what I have been in contact with (or eaten) that might do this to me!

I finished off my pages in Samm's altered book this week and I did end up adding something to the first spread - the textiva dragonfly that I recently made! You can just see it peeking through the arched window on the left side. The arch is painted with Lumiere paint and then stamped and sponged with black ink. The light has obviously hit the textiva at a different angle as the colour is completely different to the previous view as seen here. The green pages are painted with acrylics and gloss medium using the plastic wrap technique (a favourite for quick interesting backgrounds).

And this is another little lock and key ATC I made this week for a trade with Sephi. It is a bit blurry as I was too slack to pull out my camera and made do with the scanner. The little keyhole was a bit too dimensional for that to work well!

I have been puttering away with my red fabric inchies and I am also working on my September Calendar Girl postcard so I'll have some pictures to share soon. I have actually pulled out my Embellisher for the first time in months and I am really enjoying making my postcard with it using stretchy velvet, commercial felt and some beautiful wool. More tomorrow...

There is Nothing Quite Like Sea Air!

Earlier this week I had to go to the town of Esperance for work purposes and what a blessing that was! There is nothing quite like sea air (and beautiful views and the feel of the ocean and beach sand between your toes) and when you live inland your appreciation of it quadruples (at least!).

Esperance is on the southern coast of Western Australia and can often be very windy (all those southerly winds blowing straight up from Antarctica) with fast changing weather conditions but on Monday we arrived in time for a pre-sunset walk along the town bay promenade and the old long jetty. Totally glorious - no wind and a beautiful clear sky. The first photo is the view as we stepped onto the jetty and the next is the view on the way back down the jetty.

The next day showers were forecast for the late afternoon so we decided a lunch time walk was essential. We took our (late) lunch and went out to Twilight Cove which is a short drive out of the town. It was getting a bit windy but it was mesmerisingly beautiful and it was lovely to walk on the beach.
The clouds came in a bit earlier than expected though and we had a faster walk back to the car than expected. It started raining shortly afterwards and yet looking at these pictures from 45 minutes earlier, it is hard to imagine!

At the bottom of this post there are a few other photos taken from the town lookout first thing that morning.

On the arty/crafty scene I have not had a chance to do a real lot but I have some things in progress - my red inchies (nine different types in lots of nine), an altered book, some ATCs and my Calendar Girl September postcard. Yesterday I had a lot of fun using various sprays and some glimmer mist masks/stencils - I set myself up outside so it wouldn't matter if I made a mess - and I did of course. I might even do some more today (on fabric perhaps) as it is another lovely spring day here again!

This is one spread I have completed in Samm's Altered Book "Through the Window/Still Life". I think I have finished it although I may of course change my mind before it is time to post it on to Jacky! I think the arch window frame looks less "prominent" in real life - or at least I hope it does. I'll probably finish the spread beneath it today so I'll post a picture in my next post.

This week I have received a gorgeous leaf themed fabric postcard from an exchange with Leah in Texas. And Leah included an unusual card (by Sandra Donato) and one of her own funky mixed media ATCs. It makes me feel joyful just looking at it!

This week I am heading to Wiluna for a couple of days - the opposite direction to last week - so bush, red dirt and eagles will replace the waves, sand and seagulls of last week. Contrasts!!

Photos of Esperance and surrounds from the town lookout.

So What Have I Been Up To?

Just a bit of this and a bit of that! First off I finished my "key" themed ATCs for the first swap with a small local group of friends. I used my latest Cuttlebug embossing folder (Ironwork), metal tape and black gesso for my background. So glad I bought this folder - it is a lovely detailed image. The keyholes on my ATCs are Collections Chipboard which I have painted with my beloved Lumiere paints and the keys are from "Life's Journey" but I have coloured them using my Krylon silver leafing pen.


My swapping partners (Renaye, Christine and Meagan ) outdid themselves with their ATCs and I am thrilled to have these ATCs in my growing collection! Our next theme is Halloween so I am going to have to put my thinking cap on...


I have been playing with angelina fibres, textiva (fusible film) and opals/utee etc. These two "fabrics" are so much more ethereal and sparkly than they look as I had to scan them on calico.

They have little organza snippings and mini sequins mixed in with the angelina fibres. I think I will be cutting out shapes from the fabric to make mini embellishments or maybe just layering them as a background on fabric ATCs.

This is an embellishment made with two sheets of textiva with angelina fibres in the middle. The sheets are laid on an inked stamp, covered with a teflon sheet and ironed until the textiva does what textiva is made to do! I've trimmed it and love its sparkly transparency (you can see how transparent it is in the scan as the fabric underneath clearly shows through the dragonfly). It would be even better with a more open stamp - mine has a bit too much detail so too much of the ink shows. The result looks quite blue in the scan but it changes a lot depending on the angle.

I am also making a page in Samm's "Through the Window/Still Life" themed Altered Book so I covered a Collections chipboard arch with various thick embossing enamels and textiva. It ended up being multi-layered as I wasn't happy with the earlier results! And now I am going to go and sit at my desk and enjoy the last of the day's beautiful sunlight and work on the book.

PS I have a stunning piece of art to share ("Art of the Month" from Marlene over in Queensland) but I have to get a good photo first! I am away for the next few days with work again (but this time I am heading to the coast instead of the desert!) but I will post it when I get back.

Wishing you a wonderful week,

You are my sunshine...

Recently I was asked by Cardmaking, Stamping & Papercraft (CPS) to participate in a feature celebrating song lyrics and this was the song that jumped straight into my mind!! I had to go with it as it was so instinctive...

This card is in the current magazine issue and guess what - my blogging pal on the other side (of Australia) Sephi Kemp went with the same lyrics on her card!! Some songs just stick! My card uses a very large and particularly gorgeous detailed quarter circle stamp by Fancy Pants.

PS Blogging time is in short supply at present but I am back from the bush and trying hard to get myself back into my creative routine - yesterday was however completely absorbed in overdue paperwork and tax stuff ... it was a lousy way to spend Sunday but it is certainly better out of the way and I am of course promising myself that I am not ever leaving it to pile up again!