A Week of Wool and Winners

We have had a few days of cold, wet and wintry weather, so it seemed just right last week to create with wool. I have been making little free form pieces which I hope to transform into some of my altered bags for some individual orders amd for the Edelweiss gallery which wants more stock coming into the colder months.

And, just for me, I have started to knit a pair of socks from Kaffee Fassett wool – quite an extravagance, but I can’t wait to get the lovely wool socks on my feet.

My family, it seems, also love wearing and playing with wool.

I made Kellie this little shrug as the cardigan I made for her last year was too big. Jim's Aunty Maureen now has the cardigan,and loves it and Kellie is much happier with her warm woolly shrug. Kellie's little son , our outdoorsy grandson, William wouldn’t be without his woolly hat in this weather.

My blog friend from South Australia has been sending me lovely parcels of goodies, and in the last one, was a set of wool knitted finger puppets – Dylan, our middle grandson, is having a great time with them this week.

How lucky am I! This week I found out that I am the winner of the Blog giveaway by Dust of Enchantment . http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5338181
I chose some wearable origami – tiny paper cranes inserted into a tiny glass bottles made into earrings. Thank you very much, Tracy .

This is the second blog giveaway I’ve won this year. The first was the beautiful fabric from Thea and Sami in February. http://www.thea-sami.com.au/

And that’s not all, a couple of weeks ago, I was very embarrassed that I had double booked - a Rotary fundraising breakfast for Gemma Sisia's School in Tanzania and babysitting William in Maitland. So, I started the morning at the breakfast, gulped down some toast and mushrooms, bought some raffle tickets to support the cause and rushed off even before the guest speaker began and drove to Maitland. I didn’t think again about the raffle tickets, but I found out yesterday that I won a night for two in a hotel with breakfast! Thanks, Rotary Club of Newcastle Sunrise! There is also a different sort of winner in our family. Brandon our oldest grandson is also a winner, but he worked very hard to achieve his prize. He won an award at school for his outstanding literacy skills and mastery of phonics. He only started school this year, and is reading quite well. Congratulations, Brandon.

Christmas Countdown 15 : Christmas Tree #11 - Disposable

Plastic cups https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/christmas-stem-ideas-kids/ Advent Blog : Day 11 - Disposable We are all so much more conscious about ridding our landfills and oceans of plastic waste. For Christmas, here is a way to use up some of those disposable items which seem to multiply at holiday parties and celebrations, or perhaps you have just been saving them up for a creative use.... Who would have thought coffee pods would make such stylish Christmas trees ? ... Add caption If you don't have one of those machines, then perhaps you have coffee on the run - Starbucks or Nescafe ? from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/369858188126737920/ Nescafe cups https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin/72761350208620530/ The disposable cups don' t have to be brand names to work well as materials for Christmas trees. Taking an engineering approach to plastic cup trees seems to be the answer for a more ornate result. from https://www.pinterest.com.au/pin

Countdown to Christmas 20 - Fruitcake song!

There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that work up

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

Search This Blog