I went out to the back of the house this morning to gloat over my new stencilled concrete slab,and this is what I found.............
A distinct variation in the colour!
We had a light shower of rain during the night,and the change in colour marks the difference between being under cover and being exposed.
To say "Not happy Jan" is putting it mildly..........
I wonder what excuse they'll attempt to fob me off with.
(I'll keep you updated)
Finally,the weather was "right" for the next stage of our yard make-over!
Not the "Wham! Bam!It's done" like you see on the TV shows:
more a looooooooong drawn-out process like getting teeth pulled.
Yesterday the weather was perfect for cover-creting:
not the strong winds and cold temperatures of earlier in the week,but a gorgeous,sunny Winter's day!
The fellows prepared by covering brickwork and fence with a protective wrap of plastic before cleaning ,then acid etching the two concrete slabs.
I chose a barley colour to complement the brickwork of the house and the pebbles and pavers in the back path.
As you can see in the final photo,
it has given a feeling of continuity,the way the faux tiles flow around the side and rear of the house,
and I'm so happy with the colour. 
The next step.........
will be roofing over both areas,and then my (second) mirror and the Sleeping Buddha plaque can be positioned on the fences.
Maybe
,by next Summer,the project will be complete!
The Challenge over on Fiber Art Traders was "What do you see?"
We had been given a shape to convert to a doll which was to represent what the shape conveyed to us.
I kept hearing the FAT lady singing about growing old disgracefully...........
So I naturally thought
RED HATS
and
CQ
!
It's been a while since I've played with crazy quilting,so it was a good time to have fun!
There's still another FAT lady being created...........she's a similar colour way to a rectangular piece I'm working on;
but more about that:
later!
I was
not happy with the way my purple lady was developing-------
(I hasten to add it was my own fault--being over eager to get a result)
I've pieced two more attempts for the "What do you see" doll.
These probably wont be put up for swapping either:
I just like to work a project to a logical conclusion.
I admit this photo looks more like a mad woman's breakfast than anything else,and probably all you can see is a hotch-potch of orange and purple-red,but trust me,there are three entities here.
Give me a day or so,and come check out the difference.
Kayla,who's now living in Darwin,wanted to know how my garden grows................it's about five weeks since she's seen it.
So,this is what it looks like by flash at 8 p.m. tonight;
The glow is the reflection from the cane framed mirror.
Today,via RedcliffeFreecycle.com
I acquired another mirror..........I'm not sure as yet,where precisely it will go...........
I'm still waiting for the grano worker and the patio installers to come do their thing!
I have a 'sleeping Buddha' plaque,and a small water feature,as well as today's acquisition waiting to be "homed"...........but they're not being positioned until the construction is finished
You may ask,what is Freecycle (tm)........it's a group around Australia,whose aim is to reduce landfill by offering products/whatever no longer required by that person.
No charge is made to the new owner........you just accept the offer and pick up the (as is) goods.
It's amazing what can be acquired this way.............well worth you checking it out....just Google "freecycle" and your area.............and help reduce landfill
Myfanwy H's card for theEmbellisher_Art_Postcard group has arrived !
The working is so delicate......she has needle punched wisps of fibre onto a blue foundation.......puts me in mind of the Summer skies I hope she should be enjoying in the northern hemisphere at the moment.
The three flowers are hand stitched.
.............and aren't the plants enjoying it!
Our rainwater tank is full and our yard can not soak up any more moisture.
Even the front yard which was pretty badly abused with heaps of soil,gravel,timber and an industrial waste bin is recovering.
The dead looking bare brown patches are greening into grass.
Mother Nature can be so forgiving.
The top photo is of a Cordyline fruticosa----one of my favourites with its blend of pinks,green and cream.Behind it is a dark burgandy cultivar and the narrow leaf is a "walking Iris" I liberated from my son's garden.
The middle photo is a combination of an Impatiens in the foreground
,and (yet another plant liberated from my son's garden a few year's back)I'm not sure of the correct botanical name,but commonly called variegated goose foot ,I think.
And the last photo.....Clivea,Draecena and unknown fern.
The draecena and fern languished in pots on a back patio at our original KenMaursCorner in the Caboolture Shire.
They really have relished the relocation.
After a few days of rain,glorious rain,the showers held off today........
On the far (southern) fence I've mounted this cane mirror ,
and I love the effect!
"One day" I'll mount a larger mirror that reflects the width of our narrow yard.
In the meantime........ I dream.
Another Clivea has bloomed! (See the tiny splash of orange at the base of the mirror?)
The Draecena,the Cordyline and the Crotons...the orange/yellow splash of colour 2/3s up the reflection are thriving.
Yesterday's mail delivered this sparkling beauty from Suzan W of the Embellisher_Art_Postcard group,where we've been having a swap.
For those of my CQing friends,"embellisher" is a term that resulted from savvy marketting by Babylock when they named their needle punching machine an "Embellisher"!
Being the first cab off the rank,so-to-speak,the name stuck,and whether you own a Janome Xpression like me or in the cases of others Viking and I think Husqvarna also have a machine in the market now,generally everyone says "embellisher"
This swap required that we needle felted a background,then went "wild"!
Suz has used gorgeous ribbons,threads,Angelina fibre(I think) and the lace motif.
Not being a skilled photographer I found this sparkling piece difficult to photograph.but trust me,it's a truly gorgeous card!
Thanks Suz!
The upper photo shows the partly finished PSI (plus sized inchies)
The lower photo shows them mounted on corrugated card.
What is an "Inchie" you ask:
Think of a fabric and fibre Postcard;
an ATC--Artist Trading Card----------and as night follows day,we get the Inchie and the Plus Sized Inchie!
Most people by now know of the Postcard with it's 6by 4 inch format;
The ATC
has a 2.5 by 3.5 inch size
and the Inchie, my friend ,is the miniature version of both the postcard and the ATC:
A one inch fabric and fibre art square.
And then Normajean Brevik over at Fiber Art Traders (aka "FAT" to its members)
took pity on those of us with fat fingers and introduced us to PSI..Plus Sized Inchies---
which are 1.5 inch squares.
Trust me,you'd be surprised at how much easier these art sqaures become with that extra half an inch in their dimensions!
The lavender,red,turquoise and purple squares on the left are all one inch squares,and the first I attempted.
The midnight blue and silver ones are 1.5 inch squares or PSI.
The four sets of Inchies were the first I made and were swapped on Carol Taylor's "Textile_ Challenges" group ....and I learned the hard way.!!
I was required to make nine one inch squares for each colour way.
Okay,easy.....a three inch square divided.
My first mistake was fusing the fabric to a stabiliser (in this case,Timtex)
Because I prefer hand work,this made things difficult when I started embellishing;
so I'd advise using a lightweight stabiliser (iron-on Pellon)
You'll also note that apart from most of the Lavender squares,and some of the Turquoise ones I did not "finish" the edges!
(Finished edges were not a requirement,but it does give a better effect)
Before I say anything further,let me tell you where I first heard of the Inchies......and it was Carol who told me:
An Australian woman,Dotee featured One inch fabric collages on her blog"Dotslifeandart"
http://dotslifeandart.blogspot.com/ in mid January this year when she blogged her Fabric Collage Tutorial;
Sara Letchner on http://artsquaresswap.blogspot.com/
also featured them i during May,where you can see how some members used their Inchies to create something else.
Carol on Textile_Challenges ran a Swap, and kindly helped with background information I'd forgotten about (Thanks Carol)
Normajean on FATS went to the slightly larger format.........
So really,how you fabricate your inchie is limited only by your imagination;
Think of them as miniature quilts.......having three layers like most quilts.
But do remember...if you you embellish heavily all over the square it will be difficult to do a machine edge finish after you have added the fabric backing.
My next sets I want to incorporate an eyelet in each one so that they can be more easily used as Charms.
Using light weight water soluble solvy
(At the time I knew of no other type)
some examples of needle-lace/trash-bag quilting:
Discarded threads and thin slivers of off cuts of fabric were laid over a layer of cold water soluble Solvy.
The fibres were stitched together to form a "fabric"/lace;It was then placed in cold water to dissolve the Solvy,leaving a new fabric/lace (call it what you will) which I used as CQ embellishment,and for fabric and fibre postcards.
Yesterday's mail delivered cards
from two swap members the Art2MailGroup29;
The upper one featuring frogs (and reminding me of the Green Tree Frogs that lurk in our garden) came from Anneliese in North Carolina.
Unfortunately the bloke sitting down lost an eye in transit,but some surgery with a heat wand and a clear crystal will repair that.
Doesn't this card (from Eva in Colorado) make you think
SUMMER and water melons?
I'm feeling a wee bit guilty.........so far I've received four cards and sent none.
However,now that my Inchies,Plus sized inchies and embellished post cards are done,I can meet my committments with this group and feel less guilty.
