I'm back & Esperance was BEAUTIFUL!

I got back tonight an hour and a half ago and while I am a bit tired from the drive I am still exhilarated from the two walks I managed to get on the beach - dusk yesterday and again early this morning! I know this is nothing to get excited about for those of you that live on the coast but living a long way inland for the last 14 years has really made me appreciate any coastal time that comes my way!!Just a short post tonight with a few pictures from last night's walk. There was lightning and rain and a magnificent rainbow a half an hour later so it was just as well we went walking as soon as we arrived! You can see from the light that a storm was imminent. It had all blown over by morning so the beach and jetty had that lovely just washed "look" for our walk this morning.

Esperance (which is only a small town but which services a harbour and a significant agricultural region) has a great craft shop (Create & Sew) so of course I had to do a quick ten minute shop there once we finished our business and before we hit the road again. I bought a few odds and ends and an absolutely beautiful fabric inspiration pack which I will photograph for my next post. And I have come home to the latest Stamping & Papercraft magazine and also Cloth Paper Scissors so I am off to bed for a good read.

So where did this week go?

I know I only had two weeks and a bit of holidays but going back to work this week seems to have resulted in a very short week creatively speaking!

This week could appropriately be entitled major unplanned expenditure week - the new solar hot water system has finally been installed (it really does make sense to spend a lot upfront to effectively use your environment for the next X number of years but the initial $ are a bit of a hurdle to that thinking) and of course two palms and an ornamental tree in the front yard have been pink-ribboned by the electricity commission yesterday so major pruning is required (and the last time we had to take a tree out it was a major shock to the bank account!). Things come in threes, so of course my trusty Canon multi-function printer has died. But at least it wasn't the washing machine this time!

Anyway on the way home from work I decided to get the new printer (I had been planning a print-free zone for a while on the basis that the Canon still worked as a scanner) and decided to go with all the good press the Epson & Dura Brite Inks have been getting. The actual printer is so cheap it is ridiculous relative to the price of the inks but I guess that is the way of things these days. So to cut a longish story a bit short, I have just got the new printer/scanner/copier set-up but it is at the expense of my original plans for the evening!


So to get to creative stuff - last night at Annie's I started my little rust art quilt - I have decided to make myself a small art quilt that celebrates the organic results of rusting. It will be just fabric and hand-stitching (not necessarily quilting) and maybe some beading. I used my new "Snap" frame that I bought at the recent Craft Fair - and I am already wishing I had also bought the bigger size as it works brilliantly and is so much easier to use than the old embroidery hoop (even if so much more pragmatic).



The scans above are of my recent Adirondack Color Wash fabric experiments (perfect I am thinking for fibre ATCs and postcards) - some of the pieces were coloured just from mopping up over-sprays on other pieces and I think I like them just as much! And to finish, here are some scans of a couple of pages I have done in altered book round robins.



Bedtime reading tonight is the latest Cloth, Paper & Scissors which arrived today (thanks to the speedy and very efficient service The Thread Studio provides) plus I have started a Michael Connelly novel. Pity it isn't the weekend - we have had a real springtime feel here weather-wise (yesterday it was 28.5 C or 83.3F and today was just a touch cooler) - I would love a morning outside repotting my hanging baskets and then some afternoon reading in a sunny spot! At this time of year,however, the weather changes quite a bit, so we will have to see what the weekend will bring.

My First Paper Fabric Quilt

I am attracting some bad karma for some reason - I logged on yesterday to find that all of my recently re-established favourites have gone again! And I know this time (for sure) that I didn't delete them. Then I went to load my "little bit shiny/little bit blurry" photo of my first paper fabric quilt, which I have just finished and which I am very happy with as a first effort, and blogger would not cooperate again.

Hmmm - I need to be replacing my current thoughts (throw the computer into the swimming pool/pull the connection out of the wall/give up on the electronic age altogether etc etc) with something a little more zen. So I went to bed and read - meaning savoured! - some more of my CPS. I am trying to make it last seeing as the latest Somerset Studio hasn't arrived here yet.

Anyway this morning I can load photos again, so here is the not so good photo of my paper fabric quilt. I'll post about some of the "lessons learnt" in making this tonight or tomorrow.

An old friend of Joseph's arrived yesterday afternoon from interstate and will be staying with us for a few days. Their friendship started in the 60s when they were both very young and travelling to England as part of the Aussie pilgrimage that many did and still do. As I have only been in Joseph's life for the last 24 years and as they have lived most of their lives in different parts of Australia, I have only met this friend once before about 15 years ago. I see an interesting weekend ahead with lots of reminiscences!

Tonight & Artwords (Botanical)

I've just got home from a night of stamping (a bit) and chatting (a lot) with my stamping friends Annie and Narelle. I was playing with the latest Oxford Impressions stamps (Bird's Nest), Annie was making a cute little purse notebook a la Cloth Paper Scissors (Issue 9) and Narelle was making lots of cards (she can stamp and talk at the same time, a skill that was not shared by the rest of the table!). It was fun and we talked about lots of products and techniques and things we are all going to try. Next week we are going to do a little canvas art workshop together so I can be sure I'll have something to show at the end of the evening.

Last night I finished my first paper fabric quilt (other than working out what I am going to use to hang it up) so I'll photograph it tomorrow and share it. I am pleased with it considering it was a learning experience. I certainly have a list of things I would do differently next time but it isn't too bad for a first effort. After seeing the article in the latest Cloth Paper Scissors, I now want to try that sort as well - much more like a real quilt in appearance.

The photo at the top is of a page is my entry for Artwords this week - the theme is Botanical. This is a stamped card that I painted with those delicious little pots of Radiant Pearls. This is my first go at participating in Artwords and although I didn't make this card especially for this topic prompt, my plan is to use the theme each week to try something different in future - or at least some weeks!

On my lunch break

I'm not sure what is going on with blogger lately but I am suddenly having lots of trouble loading photos - the functionality just disappears for hours on end. This was the case again last night so no post because it just doesn't feel right without photos!

Anyway, I am on my lunch break now and I have come home to find that the three poor little roses that were on my rose bushes yesterday (unseasonal but much appreciated blooms!) have been obliterated by the howling dusty winds that have been blowing all night and this morning. This photo was taken in January I think and is what our front fence looks like when the roses are blooming (and there is no awful wind). As an aside, the red house next door has been repainted by the new owners since this photo was taken, as has the deep purple fence which I edited out of the photo!

Last night I was lost in my new Cloth Paper Scissors (I just love this magazine) so didn't get anything much else done creatively. Zach is off on a school retreat for the rest of the week so no doubt the next three evenings will be more productive. My stars for today "said" that I should not worry so much about productivity - made me laugh out loud as I always worry about that!


These scans are of the front and back of another page I did in Ann's Metal Journal for the exchange a couple of years ago. The backgrounds are sponge painted with Lumieres - the olive green is a favourite colour and I think it goes beautifully with copper. I love windows and peep holes in journals and altered books and I am thinking it would be fun to do with art quilts as well. I love Jo's recent quiltie where she included gorgeous little metal doors. Have a look if you haven't already - it is really nice.

So now it is time to go back to work. One huge advantage of living and working in a small town is being able to come home for lunch!