Tuesday

I have just received a wonderful needlefelted ATC trade from Ev Watts - it is so luxuriant and vibrant and gorgeous - I love it Ev!! And thank you Ev for the bag of wonderful tiny sequins as well, I thought I had some tiny ones but these ones make mine look small rather than tiny. The way Ev has incorporated beads and sequins on the ATC is amazing!


I also received my challenge "material" for the Unique Stitching Art Quilt challenge that is raising money for the NSW Cancer Foundation. It is the first time I have ever participated in something like this and I am really looking forward to it. The challenge will be to incorporate the mystery material (visibly) in a square quilt (between 10 and 12 inches) made on the theme of "Australian Autumn". It is not due until early February so I have plenty of time. I am thinking this will be a good project while we are away over Christmas/New Year.

Despite my excitement about getting something included in the next Somerset Studio I decided not to do anything for the latest theme of "heroes" - for some reason the theme just didn't inspire me and the only idea I had was to do a piece about my Dad, but I just couldn't get motivated to actually DO IT! I am trying to go with the flow a bit more these days so when I really have to force myself to do something I am interpreting it as something I can skip. Hope that isn't just a sign of a weak character!

So to finish off tonight, here are a couple of pages from a colour based journal exchange I participated in some time ago - fabric, paper, fibres and beading.


PS Check out Lisa Vollrath's site for her Christmas countdown with free (linkware) printable images.

Artwords - Internalize

Well I am back from Perth - had a fabulous time and will write a "proper" post later this afternoon (my 100th post!!) but for now this is my submission for this week's Artwords theme of "Internalize". I want to post before the next theme is announced. It is a page I did in a Green Colour Journal exchange a while back and incorporates one of my favourite images. Contemplation seems to me to be a very "internal" sort of thing so this piece seemed appropriate for the theme given I haven't been around to create something especially for it.

Some more journal pages

These are some more pages I made for the "Midnight" Journal. I really do love using black and purple and gold. It is so rich looking. The two purple pages go together "at midnight she dreamed dreams of wild abandon and passion"! My clock image is a dinner plate image cut from a magazine and the beautiful purple paint is Lumiere.

I have a day off work tomorrow so that I can have more time with Mum and so I can catch up on some of my arty commitments. We are really looking forward to setting up a table and getting out a lot of stuff to play with. Last night Annie and Narelle were showing us all their wonderful new purchases from the Craft and Quilt Fair they attended in Perth a week and a bit ago so we are all filled with inspiration and are itching to get down to it.

More Great News!

I came home tonight with a new haircut (an on-the-spur-of-the moment decision to convert a trim to a shorter cut!) and a plan to pack as I have to catch a plane early tomorrow morning for a few days of meetings and workshops (work, not art unfortunately!) in Perth BUT I got diverted by my mail - a complimentary copy of Gallery Summer 07!

This was very exciting as I had not received any advice that I had anything in it. These scans show the two pages which include my pieces (the top right one and the middle one on the second scan).

And now my Mum has rung to say she is coming up next Tuesday for a couple of weeks! I have been really hoping she would visit - she lives a thousand kilometres away from me - as it is her birthday in June and I haven't seen her since Christmas. We have so much fun together and my son (the 16 year old one still at home) is already thinking about the baking that will be done while Nan is here!

The pictures below are the last of the beautiful Cream Journal pages. These ones were created by the lovely Ruth Kelly (whose postcard was included in yesterday's post). Ruth does a lot of really experimental stuff and I love the way she expands my horizons and opens my mind to new things!

I'll be back on Saturday and in the meantime no doubt I will feel very blog-deprived! I am getting a chance to see my son Josh who is at uni in Perth, so that will be lovely and it will more than compensate for being away from home for work two weeks in a row!

Sunday Bliss

I have had such a lovely weekend!

Yesterday I received an email from Somerset Studio saying that I have something in the July/August (Nature Preserved) edition so that made my day. I sent in about six pieces as that theme really appealed but of course I have no idea which piece was selected or even if more than one has been chosen. I didn't do anything for the next edition (Vintage Halloween) as I just don't relate to the theme given that it has no relevance here in Australia (except for the kids who think it is a way to get lollies!) + I have always found masks and bats too creepy!!

Yesterday, and today on and off, I have been working on some pieces for the Christmas edition - Readers' Gallery- section of Somerset Studio and I have indulged myself. Most of them are probably not particularly suitable (as in Christmasey) but I enjoyed making them and that is the main thing! I always find it hard to do things so far in advance of the actual season!

Today I made marshmallow brownies (to keep the male side of the family happy) and Zach's soccer team won (actually both teams he plays for won, including the team that plays Friday nights). The sun was shining for most of the day and I felt very productive and happy. Sounds a bit dense when you write it but it really is true - some days I am just SO happy!

I was intending to catch up on my Sunday Artwords challenge for the week but the theme is "Bustle" and it just hasn't inspired me in the short amount of time available since I got back! I think I will just focus on the Wednesday Stamper challenge which is "Games"- there is some fantastic artwork on this theme already ... go here to have a look - http://wednesdaystamper.wordpress.com/2007/05/23/games/#comments.


I have scanned my re-worked Wednesday Stamper canvas for the Turquoise theme (to see the original go to my post of Sunday 13 May) . It just didn't seem finished to me and although I am now happy with it, I can see that it is probably more conservative now as I have added elements to all four corners (I seem to need that sort of balance in the art I make!) . I was very tempted to add a word (such as "Inspire" or "Beauty") but I don't seem to be able to forget Carol Lunn's comment to me a couple of years ago about the common practice of labelling art! So I added Hero Arts flowers instead.


I have also uploaded Kim Skinner's pages in my Cream Journal - they are lovely and textural although that may not really show up in the scans. Kim is known for her altered books and her love of fine mesh - what that woman can do with mesh (the sort that is known in Australia as fly wire!) On my desk at work I have a fantastic piece of altered art that Kim produced for a one-on-one exchange last year - it is themed "Create" and every day I look at it and remember why I need my day job!! I must take some photos and share it - it is fantastic and I gets lots of interesting comments from having it on my desk.

Last post until Thursday...

Well I thought I would squeeze in one more post before I leave (work trip, nothing exciting unfortunately). I'll be back on Thursday evening and I expect I will be feeling very blog-deprived by then after five days without a computer!

This canvas was a UFO* until yesterday when I decided to finish it off. I'm not totally happy with the result but I was in a bright art mood and it was fun to play with my new paper flowers and ribbon. I wasn't happy with the intensity of the white ink on the stamped background text so I went over it with a white gel pen. Think I might start just writing on some backgrounds for a change instead of relying on stamped images all the time.

* UFO = unfinished object

I have had a super busy Sunday morning - rushed into work to do some last minute printing of information I need to take with me, rushed down to the monthly Boulder Street Markets and rushed back home to pack. I am leaving soon but had to "report" my great excitement of the morning - I met a young guy and his two young sons at the markets - they spend their spare time fossicking in the bush and then sell the old bottles and ink wells etc that they find. I love old bottles but I have promised myself I won't buy anymore but they also had a small collection of really rusty old bits and pieces - buckles, watch pieces, buttons etc. A lot of then had been burnt at some stage and they are just perfect for my taste! Needless to say I bought the lot. When I explained that I wanted them for collage he told me he usually makes the boys leave all that sort of stuff but now he is going to let the boys collect it for me. Much cheaper and more convenient for me compared to spending days in the bush! He said they often find lots of doll parts but I can't handle decapitated heads and unattached body limbs - they spook me.

The photos below are of the dreamy Cream Journal pages the very creative (and productive!) Jo Wholohan made for my journal. Jo is really into layers and it is wonderful looking a her art and realising just how much detail and layering is involved.

Wishing everyone a happy, creative week!

Wednesday Stamper - Turquoise

Being pretty new to blogging I haven't previously participated in the Wednesday Stamper challenge, but I noticed yesterday whilst visiting Belinda's blog that the theme this week is a colour - turquoise. I don't actually use this colour that much but I think it is beautiful so this weekend I have experimented a bit to come up with a stamped and painted canvas for the challenge.

This is the result and in the end I don't have that much turquoise happening but it is there! I used my new flourish stamps rather indiscriminately or perhaps a more generous way of putting it would be to say I used them lavishly! The paint washed off the clear stamps so easily afterwards too. I think the canvas needs something else but I am leaving as it is until I figure out what!

The three scans below are all pages that Megan Shields did in my Cream Journal - they are just divine...

Artwords - EYES

This is my entry in this weeks Artwords topic which is eyes. This was a page in a Bazaar themed journal exchange (I have cropped the scan a bit) which incorporates my love of all shades of purple and my love of fabric.

I have also included scans of another couple of pages i did in the same journal - all rather purple!


I drew the mehendi - time consuming but quite addictive but then I have always been a doodler! It was covered with fabric afterwards.

Where did the weekend go?

So, here we are and it is late Sunday afternoon! I knew the weekend would go fast preparing for and having the garage sale but wow, it has gone even faster than I expected. The sale went well and was worth doing - the proceeds will cover a new set of drawers for my son Zach and a large bookcase for myself as I have decided I am sick and tired of not having enough book cases in this house. We are all readers and of course I want to keep a lot of my stamping and quilting magazines as well as books, so the solution is simple - buy more! And I have created enough space by selling old sets of drawers and a dressing table. I even have cupboard space now - what bliss...

I have done NOTHING creative yet so tonight I am not going to read blogs so I can go and finish some things that need to be mailed tomorrow. I am taking a couple of days recreation leave later this week between the Anzac Day Public Holiday on Wednesday and the weekend so I will have 5 whole days in which to be creative (and to clean the house of course, seeing as it only got a vacuum yesterday!) Can't wait, I am going to immerse myself - I need to work on my alphabet tags, my paper fabric quilt, my one on one canvas swap, my new shape book round robin, my Oxford Impressions Bird's Nest samples etc etc. I'll make a tray of yummy brownies to keep Joseph and Zach happy - stomachs seem to be the biggest issue around here a lot of the time.

In this house Joseph and I share the cooking and last night Joseph made a delicious Italian fish dish accompanied by a wonderful vegetable risotto and for tonight he has made another Italian dish - a beef and spinach "pie" - layers of macaroni, the meat sauce with capers, olives and tomatoes, topped by a spinach, ricotta, sour cream and mozzarella layer. Looks fantastic and is making me feel hungry already and it is only 5pm! It will go great with a lovely glass of soft red wine and some crusty Italian bread.

I have uploaded scans of my pages in the Pink Colour Journal Exchange I participated in with a bunch of great Australian paper artists - I don't do much pink but I am getting more and more comfortable with it, especially after reading the delectable blog by Posy! Have a read - her house and pursuits are so pretty (and so far removed from my red dusty living /mining environment here in Kalgoorlie)!