Where did January go?

Only four days this week ... mmm.... what did I do? I finished off making some felt pins - to go with my scarves and my model Sodabeh, wore them as belts. Sodabeh is an exchange student from Norway, and is Riikka's friend. These photos are to advertise my felt accessories classes later in the year at The Eclectic Studio in Sydney and at LamboArt Studio in Thornton .

Not sure how the month disappeared - still have a list of "things to do".... so this weekend is devoted to doll making. I am still making Mrs Chalumeau - a Pearly Queen for the Hello Dollies Challenge to be unveiled at the Craft and Quilt Fair in Newcastle 20-22 February. Our exhibition is called "Hello Dollies Goes Crazy" - a display of embellished dolls against a backdrop of embellished crazy quilts. It will look spectacular!

I have also joined a group called ATC (Artist Trading Card)

Art Dolls. I participated in a swap this month with the theme "Retro". The rules are that a "doll" is to be made on a card base ( 2.5 in x 3.5 in), any media, and bits like legs and arms can fold up to the size. It isn't as easy as it sounds, especially working on a card base and so small. I started off with two images which really suited the 'retro" theme. I wanted to interpret the 1960 song " She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini" so I used the image of the girl hanging out the washing and made a cloth yellow polka dot bikini . Her legs were much longer than 3.5 in so they were attached with a brad to fold back to fit in the little envelope. The other one was much more straightforward, but I changed the original image from holding a chocolate cake to a "surprise' package and a bottle of champagne . Now she really does know her way around the kitchen. The rest of

the saying is " A smart woman knows her way around the kitchen... right out the door and into a good restaurant!'. These two cards are now off to USA to another person in the group.

On the family front ... Brandon celebrated his fifth birthday on Tuesday and started school this week very happily. We didn't look after Dylan this week as he had his first sleep over at Kellie's and Adrian's place - very excited to sleep in the same bedroom as his cousin, Brandon. Unfortunately, he missed home and Kellie had to sleep with him! It was good for us to have a day off babysitting as Jim sprained his ankle on Monday and was in pain and hobbling around for a few days, and I am still plagued with tooth aches. To make things worse this week, we paid a visit to our financial adviser and that wasn't good news ... Oh well, we are still very fortunate and we still have many many more great days than bad. Be happy! It's a wonderful world!

photo above - Adrian cutting the cake, Brandon, Dylan, William, held by Riikka.

Too Precious to Waste

Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons More than a year ago, a decision was made. The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2] A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that

'Anything Goes" and It Does Matter.

When 'anything goes", does it follow that "nothing matters" ? .... I think not. When I interpret "anything goes", I think it means taking a few risks and experiment, but also care about what you are doing and finding a purpose in the process. Currently, the Tag Tuesday theme is "Anything Goes" ... This describes my daily art practice at the moment. I am doing #the100dayproject and each day I am responding to weekly published colour prompts #coloricombo, curated by artist, Este McLeod. During the last week, the suggested colours were jade green, primrose, vermillion and purple grey. Each day, I've been trying to experiment with colour and technique with the goal of developing and learning. Here are some of the tags I created using these colours, or at least as close as I could manage with stuff from my stash... I have titled these "Fragments from Afar" as all of them feature an image or a postage stamp from somewhere far from

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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