Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Model United Nations Delegates and Secretyary -General  My schedule for last weekend: Friday and Saturday :  Secretary -General, Model United Nations Assembly, Muswellbrook ( in the upper Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia) Saturday night: Miriam Margolyes Performance, Dickens' Women in Civic Theatre, Newcastle Sunday : Workshop, teaching an updated version of the message stick art doll. Newcastle. Much of this may be considered "work" but it was all so enjoyable, I think it could be said I have had a weekend of "play". .  However, it was still  an over-scheduled weekend and I still felt tired.... Model United Nations Assembly 2012 The Model United Nations Assembly is an initiative of Rotary District 9670 where senior students come together, as representatives of member nations of the United Nations. The delegates debate world issues from the point of view of their designated countries - a very difficult task, but executed with great knowledge, understan...

This week , Anzac Day is commemorated in Australia - a remembrance day for those lost at war. April 25 was also the day when women in Columbus, Mississippi decorated the graves of both Union and Confederate soldiers in 1866. This act of generosity and remembrance helped establish "Memorial Day" holiday .  It always seemed ironic to me that, during the war years, women were considered able, equal and competent and  were respected in many fields of work, denied to them because of gender in previous years and sometimes in subsequent years.  Medical Doctor  My " Women at Work" series  was created to remember the struggle of women to establish themselves in the workforce.  They are quite different from my usual style of dolls. They are all simple  shapes with machine embroidered outlines.  From a distance, and even in these photos, the lines look as though they have been drawn onto the fabric, but it's all stitching. I have added a splash...

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...

During the Easter weekend, I have been doing some" catch up" work, completing some orders and finishing a little art doll I started a week ago as well as eating a chocolate Easter egg or two and going out to dinner  and movies with friends  - perfect weekend!  Here is my little Forest Friend, rescuing a nest of eggs at Easter... and here are the basic steps: 1. Have a good friend to inspire, motivate and help... Bobbi (Lambo Art) explaining anatomy and armature 2. Make an armature from wire and check the proportions against an anatomy chart. Wire armature, secured with insulation tape.   3. Flesh out the armature by covering with lots of  aluminium foil. Armature covered with foil   4. Make foil bases/ armatures for head, hands and feet Foil armatures  5. Cover and sculpt with polymer clay. I used Sculpey" Living Doll" and I made two pairs of hands because the first lot looked like lobster claws!   Cure in an oven at 130 ...

Easter is a special celebration in the Christian liturgical calendar, so if you celebrate , Happy Easter. In our family, we usually have an Easter Egg hunt in our garden, but with all of our family away this weekend, we will have a much quieter and more reflective time. These photos are of tags I have made over the last few weeks  and are inspired by Easter related themes ( some have been shown before). They are mixed media tags, using all sorts of materials - paper, card, polymer clay, wire, embroidery, fabric and various combinations . It has been a lot of fun being part of the blog group challenge Tag Tuesday - a tag on a theme each week. Tag Tuesday: Easter Eggs  Tag Tuesday: Easter  Tag Tuesday: Goose  Tag Tuesday: Mad March Hare  Tag Tuesday : Bird/Nest  Please check out  this link  to see more beautiful tags with an Easter theme. Easter Blessings to family and friends.