Card Crazy and Crafternoon Teas

I am determined this year to be better prepared for Christmas. I decided to give cards as gifts for a few people this year, so this meant having them made and sent, ready for them to use as Christmas greeting cards. This last week was devoted to card making. I went crazy and spent almost every spare moment making cards. I was also very happy that I used only paper and card which I already had. Some are in traditional colours and others are just using leftover bits and pieces.

Having sworn that I would not take up yet another creative interest, I started some life drawing classes last month - only of course, to help me improve my doll making. Tonight will be the fourth week of a six week course and I am really enjoying it. Ann, my teacher is great and has classes for beginners and the more experienced. Look on Facebook the drawing room . These are some of my drawings from last week's lessons.

And, I almost forgot - Happy Halloween to blog friends particularly in the northern hemisphere. Having said that, Halloween seems to becoming more popular here is Australia. My grandchildren had a party - complete with costumes, spooky party games and a ghostly pinata. Alas I forgot to take my camera Perhaps some photos next week from the family.

Reminder about my Summer "Crafternoon Teas" on Sundays - happening soon. A crafternoon tea is an afternoon where like minded people get together to create and enjoy a scrumptious afternoon tea. The first is on 14 Novermber, and it will be one of the Felt Fun Days... learning new ways with plastic templates. Contact me is you're interested.

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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...

Fabric Tags for Tag Tuesday

At Tag Tuesday, this fortnight Sandie is hosting the Steampunk/Mechanical challenge. Although this isn't a theme I usually tackle, Sandie's tags are so fantastic and inspirational that I was motivated to create a tag this afternoon. I had some fabrics on my desk which I discharge dyed last week.and this piece with the addition of a few copper cogs reminded me of " industrial and mechanical" . The way the background fabric was created was by applying bleach gel with a roller over the top of a plastic stencil. The fabric was originally a bluish dark grey cotton, When the bleach had removed the colour, the process was halted with a commercial neutralizing solution called AntiChlor. I have been told that a vinegar solution will also stop the discharge of colour and act as a neutraliser. The metal cogs were stitched on to the fabric by hand. Here are a couple of great resource sites for discharging colour with bleach. - Threads ...

Fragments

Some days are just your lucky days - today I was very fortunate and privileged to open the first ever Australian exhibition "Fragments" by UK Fibre Artist Sue Hotchkis . Here is a little about the techniques of this amazing textile artist from her own website ... Working intuitively with print and stitch, marks, textures and colours are exaggerated, intensified to reveal the detail and complexity within the images. Materials are deconstructed using modern methods, ripped, burnt and dyed. Time is invested in their reconstruction; pieces can take from a week to several months to create. Whilst being aesthetically pleasing the work can also act as a metaphor for deterioration and ruin, associated with urban decay and ultimately death and loss. They evolve organically, built up with layers of print, cloth, paper, and stitch into three-dimensional abstract forms that hover between object and image; to create a unique, visual and tactile lan...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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