Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

 I hope everyone who observes Easter has a happy celebration - a time of renewal. No doubt, you all indulged in some eggs, perhaps chocolate, sugar candy or plain boiled.... in an egg cup.  Five interesting things to know  about egg cups.  1. Collecting egg cups is called  pocillovy 2. The  earliest egg cup found was a silver one, discovered  in the ruins of Pompeii   after Mt Vesuvius erupted in 79AD - the egg cup may have had BC origins.  3. The first images of egg cups were spotted in a Turkish mosaic dating from 3AD 4. During the French revolution, King Louis XV was said to have popularised egg cups as French citizens tried to imitate    their king’s ability to “decapitate an egg at a single stroke.”  King Louis often entertained his couriers with his ability to do this  with his  breakfast eggs.  5.The  famous 'Bunnykins" egg cups are called single "bucket" cups. Other categories of egg cups are si...

Eggs and hares were symbols of fertility and a new beginning in spring. Since time immemorial, eggs have been associated with world or universe by many cultures. So, it is not surprising that eggs for hundreds of years have been used for rituals, decorated and were hung in temples in Babylonian time. They dyed, painted, decorated, and then used egg as a symbol for spring festival since eggs represent new life and a new dawn. When Christianity spread out across the world, egg becomes a symbol of man’s rebirth rather than nature or spring. Christians symbolize the egg to Jesus Christ tomb from which he broke forth and rose again. Likewise, they painted the egg with red to symbolize the blood of Christ, and every year the decoration becomes elaborate and colourful. Today, Easter eggs decorated with myriad of colours to make it more fun to look at, and children  can better understand their importance to the celebration of Easter.  From Ten Easter symbols and Their Meaning  ...

At Tag Tuesday , the current theme is Bunnies and Butterflies.... a celebration of Spring.   This is a heat appliqued fabric tag with an Australian touch.  While I love Michele's theme and have nothing against bunnies,  I have not really kept exactly to the Tag Tuesday theme  - my tag is a Bilby and Butterfly.  Why?    For some years, I have been supporting "Save the Bilby" fund - a campaign to save a native endangered animal and its habitat. A bilby is a small marsupial and it has long ears like a rabbit. Especially at Easter, the campaign increases its presence, with chocolate bilbies instead of bunnies.  Hope I am forgiven for going off on a tangent with my tag?  More info about Bilbies - here 

Tea eggs - hard boiled eggs cracked and soaked in spiced tea and soya sauce  stteping liquid.  Easter eggs , also called  Paschal eggs , are  decorated   eggs  that are usually used as gifts on the occasion of  Easter .  The oldest tradition is to use dyed and painted chicken eggs, but a modern custom is to substitute chocolate eggs wrapped in colourful  foil , hand-carved wooden eggs, or plastic eggs filled with  confectionery  such as  chocolate . Although eggs, in general, were a traditional symbol of fertility and rebirth,    Christians also  say Easter eggs symbolize the  empty tomb  of  Jesus , from which Jesus  resurrected . http://discovergreece.info/the-greek-tradition-of-the-red-easter-eggs/ In addition, one ancient tradition was the staining of Easter eggs with the colour red "in memory of the  blood of Christ , shed as at that time of his crucifixion."    T...

I love this way of decorating eggs for Easter - it is a natural process and we can eat the eggs without too much guilt or damage to our waistlines. All I did  today was boil up some brown onion skins /peel. I prepared the eggs by cutting up some nylon stockings and placed a leaf down over the stocking and then the uncooked egg on top. Then I pulled the nylon stocking tight around the leaf and egg, making sure the leaf was placed where I wanted it, and secured the parcel with a rubber band. I put the eggs in the dye bath and slowly brought them to a boil, let them cook for about 10 minutes, and let them cool in the dye bath for at least.an hour. I think the better results came from the heavier, stronger leaves -   the upper left is grevillea, and the lower left is rosemary or perhaps you prefer the more delicate prints from the ferns? Happy Easter!  

Bilby Totem - art doll  A Bilby is an Australian  nocturnal marsupial also  known as the rabbit eared bandicoot Its  long ]hairless ears are used to detect predators and prey.  Bilbies used to populate over 70% of Australia but now are extinct in three states, NSW, Victoria and South Australia and are endangered in Queensland. At Easter time, the Save the Bilby campaign comes to mind as many Australian children will receive chocolate bilbies instead of Easter bunnies ... The green tag on Australian chocolate bilbies indicates how many cents from the purchase is donated towards the fund to protect this endangered animal. Buy Australian to support an endangered Australian. 

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 ...

With the Easter weekend over, I can calmly reflect on what a great weekend it was. It's been a long time since I cooked hot cross buns from scratch, but when I went to the bakery last Thursday night, they had sold out! I was a little "hot" under the collar and cross, because I hadn't planned to spend Good Friday morning baking! However,  I  checked the internet for an "easy" recipe  . The recipe in the CWA cookbook seemed a bit complicated, but I am sure it would have produced good results, too! I am sharing the recipe link  because although Easter is over, without the cross, these buns would be a delicious treat at other times of the year.   I have never been good at baking with yeast but all seemed to go smoothly even if the process seemed a little tedious, waiting for the dough to double in size and then do that all over again. However, in the end I  was happy with the results. Both batches tasted great, and the family ate them without complaints! ...

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.

With Easter and Anzac Day making the next weekend a five day holiday, it is a great opportunity for  a family "get together ". We will have a house full of relatives, so we are all looking for a special time with my mother, niece and her partner and of course our own children and grandchildren. How cute is this Easter card made by our grandson? My mother has been with us for a week, and has been very busy making "Easter" eggs - aren't they beautiful ?  And  we have both been making felted eggs as the photo shows. I have also just finished some little art dolls ... This little serene green goddess symbolises the peace I wish everyone for Easter... If you celebrate Easter, best wishes for a blessed and happy Easter and  I hope Anzac Day is a special day for all Australians.

Happy Easter to all my friends and family who celebrate this special religious event. Most associate eggs with Easter, so I thought this photo of quail, duck and chicken eggs for sale at the morning markets in Luang Prabang in Laos on Friday morning  was most appropriate. Jim ( my husband) and I arrived home yesterday from our amazing, wonderful, exciting, spiritual and inspiring trip to Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos. You may have guessed we enjoyed  all the different experiences and I will be blogging about some of the mjore interesting stories with photos over the next couple of weeks.   Whatever beliefs you have, there is no denying that one of the most spiritual and peaceful places in the world is Angkor Wat in Cambodia.  When I  reveiwed  my holiday photos and came across this one, I am reminded that " Easter tells us that life is to be interpreted not simply in terms of things but in terms of ideals." ~ Charles M. Crowe Ke...