Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

 Happy Australia Day… to celebrate, I made a koala plushie. I bought a fabric panel of an owl and a koala at the Wallsend Community markets last month, so thought today was the right day to make this Aussie icon. Australia Day was a rather lazy day. . A morning walk and then we retreated quickly back inside to escape the heat. I put a small indoors thermometer outside to test it out – it gave up! Obviously over 40degrees! We only went outside because we had to. We celebrated Australia day tonight by cooking, taking and sharing a slow cooked lamb dinner with my friend and my sister-in-law, both patients in hospital. Much better we’re told than hospital food! Here's a special thought for Australia Day: "Close your eyes... and think of the land that gave you life and breath, and think of all the reasons you are glad to be there, with the people you know, with the people you love."  from The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith. This week has been a slow c...

This week, when I was trying to think of what to create for this month’s Art Dolls Only Challenge – Animal Totems. I first thought of my owl woman doll, who now lives with my sister in her owl collection. However, with the news of the devastating floods in Queensland, and now in Victoria and NSW in my thoughts, I couldn’t get the image of green frogs and the Aboriginal story of Tiddalik out of my mind. The tale of "Tiddalik the Frog" is a legend from the Dreamtime mythology of the Indigenous Australians. In the legend, Tiddalik awoke one morning with an unquenchable thirst, and began to drink until all the fresh water was greedily consumed. Creatures and plant life everywhere began to die due to lack of moisture. Other animals conspired against Tiddalik, and devised a plan for him to release all of the water he had consumed. This was successfully coordinated by a wise old Wombat, when Nabunum the eel made Tiddalik laugh when he tied himself in comical shapes. As Tiddalik lau...

One of the textile things I love doing is making fabric out of scraps... I think this is often called pizza fabric because all sorts of bits and pieces are thrown down onto a base. This was one of the activities at last Sunday's Crafternoon Tea. For those not familiar with a 'crafternoon tea', it is a lazy Summer Sunday afternoon  when a few like minded people get together and "create" and indulge in a scrumptious afternoon tea.  Prior to the Fabric Fun day, we've had a felting afternoon, and a clay play day , with another clay play day planned for next month. Last Sunday, we had demonstrations of felt embellishment with angelina fibres, glitter and organza and paper collaged fabric as well as some experimenting with the embellishing machine and making the "pizza" fabric with free form machine embroidery. The days are lots of fun as well as being inspirational, so when Autumn and Winter arrive, we will change to Souper Skills Sundays - learning new c...

No, I wasn't here either - this photo is courtesy of the Sydney Morning Herald,  but I was at the "Not the New Year's Eve Concert - Live the Music" at the Sydney Opera House  to celebrate the end of 2010. It was a really fantastic concert with bright talented stars - soloist and orchestral musicians and opera singers. The venue was also magical . It doesn't matter how many times you visit the Opera House, each time is special . The architecture is amazing, the harbour sparkles and the concert hall is wondrous.  What else have I done to herald the New Year?  I finally gave in and went to a SALE. I don't usually bother with the post-Christmas sales, but I just couldn't resist this skirt. It was still expensive even at half price, but it reminded me of a  wonderful boat ride down the Li River from Guilin to Yangshuo and it fitted me! With the deadlines for the Art Dolls Only Challenges on New Year's Day, I have also been spending a lot of hours finis...