Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

At Tag Tuesday, Joan   set us a really fun challenge.... tic tac toe . We were asked to create a tag using three elements in a row from the tic tac toe grid Joan provided.  For my first tag,  I chose the top row - washi tape, stamping and reused item. ( I also used a stencil because I saw stenciling on the grid, but this was not one of the essential elements)  The washi tape is at the bottom of the tag, the stamped message is "be happy, be bright ..." and the reused item was a magazine page, torn into little pieces , and then I cut a circle from the collaged paper to create the bauble shape. And here is a Christmas themed tag...   For the second tag, I used the diagonal row starting from the top right hand square - reused item , buttons/brads/flair and stenciling. Again, the reused item was a magazine page, torn and collaged , the brads are like little buttons, with stenciling in white to create a contrast.  Thanks Joan and Tag Tuesday, I really en

I am rarely so organised to have Christmas decorations up this early. However, yesterday, I used this display stand/ Christmas tree at the Hunter Art Bazaar. Most of the handmade decorations on it were sold, so rather than put the stand away for a few weeks,  I hung  some of my temari balls (some made by my mother and some made by me) and here it is on the dining table already.  I must admit I thought to myself that it is  far too early for Christmas decorations and I checked , on Google, of course and it appears that I am a little premature in setting up any sort of Christmas tree.    November is too early for Christmas According to an poll carried out in 2015 by Confused.com, over 86% of people believe that November is too early to put up your decorations.  So, it appears that December is the most socially acceptable time to get into the festive spirit.  And if the good people of Twitter are to be believed, there are many that support this. ( from https://www.confused.

.Each year , a rtists from across Australia and overseas will once again unite to create works of art on aprons for The Apron Project. In the last three years over 100 artists have presented more than 200 aprons and raised much needed funds for the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter.    Importantly they also raised awareness of the growing epidemic of Domestic Violence.  The Apron Project was created by Australian Sallianne McClelland who is the current chair of t he  Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Women’s Shelter   which services women in crisis in the community and is currently also working with the State and Federal governments to better the living opportunities once women leave the shelter and attempt to restart their life.  T he Apron Project has never been more needed than it is today.   2015: 66 dead | 2016: 71 dead | 2017: 53 dead and to date 2018: 61 dead.   In the same period artists from across the USA and Australia have contributed over 300 aprons and have collectively rai

Worn on Remembrance Day (11 November) each year, the red  poppies   were among the first to flower in the devastated battlefields of northern France and Belgium in the First World War. In soldiers' folklore, the vivid red of the  poppy  came from the blood of their comrades soaking the ground. The tag I created is for Tag Tuesday which has the theme "Poppies" suggested by  Design Team member, Wendy   . It is a cloth tag, with a photo transfer - a family photo taken in England in 1915. The two servicemen pictured are my husband's grandfather and his great uncle.   I also cut out the poppy and leaf from fabric and coloured them with Inktense pencils. The red embroidered crosses are for the love  shared within this family. Lest we forget.

Blue Horizon - Paper and cloth collage - Wilma Simmons 2018  Two of my collages sold this week have a touch of blue. This was an accident as I was using my fountain pen ink on these collages and when added to the  previously dyed fabric, it turned blue.  I rather liked the effect and added some more blue fabric.  I know that blue is the most liked colour of all people - what is the attraction of blue?  Blue is the only colour which maintains its own character in all its tones... it will always stay blue;” Raoul Dufy, French Fauvist Painter, 1877-1953  It’s nature’s colour for water and sky, but is rarely found in fruits and vegetables. Today, blue is embraced as the colour of heaven and authority, denim jeans and corporate logos. It is cold, wet, and slow as compared to red’s warmth, fire, and intensity. Blue has more complex and contradictory meanings than any other colour.  These can be easily explained by pinpointing by the specific shade of blue. Dark blue: tru