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!

Wednesday Stamper - Games

Well I ran out of time to do anything especially for this Wednesday Stamper theme so I am posting some pictures of items I made a while back - the one above is using Oxford Impressions stamps - riding a bike like this looks like a game to me! This one has heaps of stamping with the background as well as the photo stamp.

This one was for a deco exchange - the theme for this one was Playful. I loved this transparency of the children playing dress-ups. There is a little (tiny) bit of stamping involved!

Fabric Postcards

"Serene" by Fiona Mortimore

Today I received my first fabric postcards from a small Australian exchange I am participating in this year. Great artists and great fabric postcards! The theme was "Serene" and I posted my postcards for this theme back in my post of the 8th of April. I just love seeing how everyone has interpreted the theme!

Our next theme was my choice and it is "Fragments". I have to get cracking on this one as they are due at the end of June. I chose this theme as it provides so much scope - literal and figurative.

"Striving for Zen" by Karin Hutchinson

"La Serenissimo" by Coralee Barker (look at this felting!!)

"Serenity - Autumn Flight" by Ruth Kelly

Aren't they all just lovely!!

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.

Finally time to post!

I have discovered that I am blog-addicted! It was very hard being away all week and not having computer access in the evenings after the work day had finished.

Above is a very poor photo taken as a quick snap into the morning sun but this is where I was staying for three of the four nights. I love the "Welcome to Paradise" sign on the old and decrepit hotel! Wiluna is a funny sort of town - very small now (the one pub, one shop/petrol station, population around 500) but very strong in our short Western Australian history. It is so strange going to these places that used to be thriving towns. There is lots of large scale mining activity happening now in the region so things are starting to change for the town again.

I came home to some great packages - a tin of 48 Lyra Crayons that I bought off someone on the net who had decided they weren't using them enough (I have been wanting a set for ages but didn't want to pay the full price), heaps of coloured tissue paper I bought cheaply on ebay for my tissue paper collages/fabric postcards, a jumbo jigsaw pack for an exchange I have just joined and the latest Stamping & Papercraft magazine (congratulations again to my mates Sue Smith and Jhodi Bennett for their inspiring and beautiful articles).

I had a quick play with the Lyras last night on cheap, very textured water colour paper and I just love the effects that can be achieved so quickly. I think I can tell what sort of backgrounds I'll be concentrating on for a while! I must look up some sites for hints and ideas on using them.

Then yesterday I received my gorgeous canvas wall hanging that Jo Wholohan has made for me. It is full of texture and colour and detail and is just beautiful. This is the result of a small group doing a one-on-one exchange based on a challenge to incorporate paint, metal and fabric in an item. I have started mine for Fiona and need to get it finished this week. I'll post a photo once it is finished. My photograph of Jo's work just doesn't do it justice as I am getting too much reflection (needless to say I need to invest in a better camera).
Note: I have edited this post to add a daylight photo of Jo's canvas - less glare and reflection!

While I was away I worked on the hand quilting of the birdhouse quilt I have been making for ages for my Mum so I haven't completed anything this week. Rather than have a post without lots of pictures, the other photos are of my "treasures" from the Boulder Markets last week - some lovely rusty bits and pieces recovered from old campsites in the bush, a package of stunning yellow speciality paper strips and a couple of metres of lovely beaded trims.

Today is a play day - grey and overcast here so no temptation to do anything outside of the house! The biggest temptation I have to avoid is spending too long catching up on all my favourite blogs...

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 - Fleur De Lis

This week's theme for Wednesday Stamper is "Fleur De Lis".

I coloured a small canvas board with three shades of Brilliance Ink (orange, pink and green) using a baby wipe to blend the colours. I then sprayed the board with water and Worn LipstickDistress Ink (straight from the bottle). I blotted the ink so that it only left a subtle glow on top of the Brilliance ink.

I then used a Paperbag Studio Fleur De Lis stamp (I have discovered that I don't have many of this image which is weird considering how much I love the shape) and stamped it repeatedly in various Brilliance and Chalk inks. I did the same with an Acey Duecy text image. After adding a collage image of a woman I punched out several fleur de lis from scrapbook paper using my large Carl punch and dry brushed them with gesso. I glued them onto the canvas and added a few delicate flourishes in black ink. (Everything seems to look better with flourishes lately!)