Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

a small section of the 150 metre embroidered white ribbon  On International Women's Day, 8 March 2014, an amazing community event occurred.... It was a 14 hour stitch-a-thon starting at 6am and finishing at 8pm ( 14 hours for 2014). Not only did we celebrate the achievements of women doing an activity generally classified as domestic art, we also raised awareness for the national and international campaign against domestic violence. We embroidered a white ribbon .... at Newcastle's well known  gallery, devoted to textile and fibre art - Timeless Textiles  Early morning stitchers - the first came at 6.15am  Why White Ribbon?   This is directly from the  White Ribbon website  ....  White Ribbon is the world's largest male-led movement to end men's violence against women.  White Ribbon Australia is a non-profit organisation and Australia's only national, male-led primary prevention campaign to end men’s violence against women. Through primary prevention init

khadi paper, rooibos tea bags, permanent ink pen, card, tea bag tag.  This tag was created with the theme "Africa" in mind. The khadi(cotton)  paper has been dyed with rooibos tea bags. Many of you may already know about rooibos tea , but if you don't here is some information straight from Wikipedia....  Rooibos ( Anglicized pronunciation:   / ˈ r ɔɪ b ɒ s /   roy -bos ;  Afrikaans pronunciation:  [rɔːibɔs] ,) means "red bush";  is a  broom -like member of the  legume  family of plants growing in  South Africa 's  natural shrubland.  Its  scientific name  is   Aspalathus linearis .  The leaves are used to make an  herbal tea  called Rooibos, bush tea (esp. Southern Africa), or simply rooibos. The product has been popular in  Southern Africa  for generations and is now consumed in many countries.  I used a permanent ink pen to draw the Adinkra symbol and to write the story explaining the symbol. The tea bag tag didn't have any markings on it, so

Tea eggs  It is actually Good Friday here as I write this , but I did make these tea eggs last night when it was still Thursday. These are not as colourful and shiny as Easter eggs from the shops, but I really love their simplicity, and the subtle colours of the "cracked" patterns. And they taste good!  Here is a recipe - please note all quantities are approximate!  1. Boil eggs slowly until they are hard boiled . Cool the eggs and when they are cool, crack the shells using the back of a teaspoon. Leave the cracked shells on the eggs.  2. Prepare the steeping liquid. For every three cups of water, add about a tablespoon of  dark soya sauce, and 2 tablespoons of black tea leaves ( you can use tea bags - this would probably be the equivalent of 8 tea bags?) . To add favour, I add some cinnamon, lemon or orange rind and 2-3 star anise. You could also add a pinch of salt,but I think the soya sauce is quite salty enough. Bring the steeping liquid to the boil and simme

Earth laughs in flowers.... Ralph Waldo Emerson.  Tea bag luminary - tea bag paper, silk organza, dried frangipani flower, stitching and beeswax. Created 3 April, 2014 at Elizabeth Bunsen's workshop, Tea, Leaves and Sandwich Magic.