Friends of the Pound

One of my online friends is a "friend of the pound".
For those of my overseas readers,the Pound is neither a unit of money nor a weight measure in Australia,but a place usually controlled by local government where lost,strayed or dumped household animals are held for a very short time in the hope they will be reclaimed by their owners.
More often than not,sadly,this is not the case,
and as the Friends aims are to..........

Our primary purposes are to rehouse the animals to save them from destruction and improve conditions at the pound.
We would also like to encourage responsible pet ownership such as de-sexing and micro-chipping.

I'd suggest you check out the link and take a second look at yourself:are YOU doing the right thing by your animal friends?

The second pot pourri heart

The second pot pourri heart,

Using plum and white as my main colours this second heart features tatting SRE and BDE,and some bead work to liven it up.

Having cleared my conscience regarding these swaps, I did a little more work on my Art Journal quilt for February;

I discarded my plans for applique and played with laying different texture s for the effect I was after........

but until I add the next component in the scheme,I can't be sure that my ideas will work.



My final block for a Redwork swap is about 75% complete,thankfully!

I'm getting weary of cows jumping over the moon :-(

I wonder if the other participants in the Swap are feeling the same way.

Pot pourri hearts

I finally managed to complete my two Pot Pourri filled hearts for a Chain of Hearts swap.In this one,the central patch is waste thread lace and I've added SRE and BDE flowers.I hope.. will like it.It WILL be in the post tomorrow. 

kurliskottage: Update on Jesse

kurliskottage: Update on Jesse

Against the light

Showing the 'paper' held at arm's length against the light to show the fibres. 

Take Silk

About two years ago I read an article in a CQ magazine on making and embellishing silk paper and this led me to the book "Take Silk" by Judith Pinell (a Milner Craft series publication)
She described an easy method for making 'paper' using silk tops and textile medium.
"Tops" is a term used to describe a thick ropelike mass of parallel fibres which may be eit5her silk or wool.

The photo above shows two batches of silk tops: one a spiral dyed fibre by Jacinta Leishman and a blonde/undyed tops I buy from Elaine at her HIGHLAND-COTTAGE-CRAFTS http://stores.ebay.com.au/HIGHLAND-COTTAGE=CRAFTS
Apart from a sheet of plastic (I use bubble wrap) some sheets of netting;water,a dash of detergent and Textile medium,plus of course the tops,and a drying screen or tray,nothing else is requiredexcept time and patience. 

Silk paper

A sample of the paper made yesterday. 

Villains--

As well as heroes and heroines,a great story must have at least one villain!
May Gibbs made the Banksia men fit the bill;
Hairy,knobbly and nasty,they were depicted as the ogres.......or as my kids called them:the BIG BAD Banksia men! 

Bush babies

Bush babies, originally uploaded by curli.

Some of the bush babies

Gumnut Babies

Some one on the Chain of Hearts group http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/ChainsofHearts/ was querying what Gum nut babies were,so I thought I'd help out by scanning some pics to illustrate.
The above is a scan of the book cover.the book being bought in 1969 and devoured by a couple of generations in our family.
Snugglepot and Cuddlepie were two characters brought to life by May Gibbs and were two foster brotherswho lived with Snugglepot's Nut (gum nut,not weird) father and the book deals with theri adventures in the bush.
Think of the kewpie dolls of long ago and you have something similar.
 

Winter in the Garden

Winter in the Garden, originally uploaded by KathieB.

KathieB produced this Winter wonderland for Fibre Art Journals and I just HAD to share it with my readers.
Doesn't that glimmer remind you of an Aurora (Borealis)?

Jesse,our black panther

Jesse,our black panther, originally uploaded by curli.

Jesse needed to go visit Dr Eric today.

Jesse has had alump over his right ribs that has increased in size over the past month.

Hopefully it's only a cyst,but fluid obtained from a needle aspiration were sent off for evaluation after microscopic survey revealed unusual cells,

Jesse is 15 years old...but still preety active and agile.

He behaved like a perfect gentleman in the Vet's rooms.....not even a twitch when Eric inserted the needle.

I.m not sure whether Jesse thinks he's a cat,a superior being(probably) or a higher form of humanity!!

He is a most superior cat and we're hoping the surgery with a GA is not indicated.

A Swingle for CJ

A Swingle for CJ
Round about now,this Swingle should be arriving in CJ's postbox..if Ozpost are doing their job!
Why "SWINGLE"?Some folks call them Amulets,others "swing purses" I like swingle!
It can be used for mobile phone,car-keys,fantastic plastic,a comb,lippie,iPod;........wear it like a pendant and keep your hands free!
This is a fairly simply embellished purse:There is a butterfly with wings made from silk tops using the silk fusion/paper method;there are flowers made from Mokuba picot edged ribbon,some SRE featuring Joyce/Fargo Roses; some BDE and a few colour co-ordinated acrylic "gemstones" to add a little bling!

1000 Journals

 
Here is the Journal,resting ,before I proceed to embellish its pages;
The dimension of the triangular shape is 5 inches along the base(longest side)and 3.5 inches on the other two sides. 

Sydney Opera House

 
Move over Jorn Utzon,a coloured version of the Sydney Opera House has arrived in the guise of a tiny journal. 

My first tiny journal

My first tiny journal, originally uploaded by curli.

My first "tiny journal" for 1000 Journals:the first step is the hardest!

Another Kate Greenaway design

Another Kate Greenaway design from the Dover Needlework Series edited by Julie Hasler,1990

A Kate Greenaway pattern

Circa 1880,this Kate Greenaway design is one of my favourites.
WHY?
Because it's feminine,wistful and evokes the innocence of a by-gone era,when there was Time to sit and think.

A classy lady

 
At a time when I was finding it difficult to obtain crinoline or Period style designs to stitch for a proposed quilt,I discovered some historical costumed ladies designed for Blackwork in an English magazine:This lady was one of them. 

Another Blackwork pattern

 

At a time when I had no computer as yet to trawl the web for more Crinoline style patterns,I adapted this lady from a blackwork design. 

Poke bonnet & Parasol

 
Unfortunately my photographic skills aren't good enough to show the ecru threads more clearly,so the sausage curls and her bunch of flowers are fairly obvious 

Crinoline ladies

 
Over the past five years or so,I've been stitching "crinoline,or period ,ladies with the view of making yet another quilt.
Along the way I've veered from the traditional ecru of Candlewicking and added touches of colour,and further dimension with bullion stitches etc.
This "lady" is one of the earlier blocks.