Congratulations and Celebrations

Congratulations to winner, Gill who will soon receive her own traditional bilum and wooden wall hanging from Papua New Guinea.. The selection of a winner was a serious process, with all entries' names placed in the bilum and one chosen.

Thanks to the eight followers who entered – perhaps the prize wasn’t to everyone’s liking, but these items were made with love, pride and generosity in far more difficult conditions than we can imagine. Please remember that this week is International Anti-Poverty Week.

Congratulations too to all who participated in the Hunter Homeless Connect Day Sleepout and event this week. I survived only because I had a really great swag to sleep in – it was a very cold night. Thanks to fellow Rotarians who joined the District 9670 team in the sleepout and to my wonderful club, Rotary Club of Wallsend-Maryland who fed all the homeless pretenders on the night. Special thanks to all my family, friends and the Lemon Grove Hotel, Wallsend who sponsored me - the total raised on the night was in excess of $23,000 in sponsorship, with more pledges to come in . It looks as though we all had fun, but that was because we knew it was only for one night!

Celebrations for Jim’s birthday were enjoyed by the family this week – a simple dinner with chocolate birthday cake, the favourite of the younger family members!

Celebrations, too this week for my first Etsy sale in a while. I made these green fairy and leprechaun shoes for a special order.

Congratulations too to those who have worked towards the canonisation of Sister Mary McKillop, now Saint Mary of the Cross - first Australian Catholic saint.

I wish everyone a week of congratulations and celebrations.

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...

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 w...

From my workshop page....

Current Workshops Offerings Thinking of a workshop for your group in 2022? Art Doll Workshops : - Garden Thread Dolls (one day workshop - WoW -(Woman of Wisdom) - embellished stump doll with either cloth head or clay head. This is an a rt doll workshop .... either offered as a series of workshops or 2 full days days! - Message/Story Stick doll - doll made with found objects and upcycled cloth. ( one day) - Elemental totems - stick doll variation , with sculpture ( one or two days, depending on surface decoration of fabric) TEXTILE AND MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOPS Temari - embroidered wrapped balls in traditional style. - Dipping Into Tea - tea and embroidery on canvas with photo transfer on fabric. ( two days) work by Judith Bee, workshop participant. - Tea Bag sculpture : ...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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