Wordless Wednesday

 

 

Warts and all!

Two recent themes I attempted to cover in the Postcard format were:


Doors: These two cards weremeant to represent my front door!
For the background fabric in both, I used a mono print made with my Gelli plates..
Mixing Nepoaque dark brown with  Russet and Titanium white I attempted to have a grainy timber look  for the fabric.
I then used Textiva film cut in a semi circle to represent a coloured glass insert in the upper section (of the door). A fine braid was used to complete the sectioned window.
The braid I used in the upper photo,frankly I would not repeat this , as it turned out to be too "clunky" for the effect I was hoping for.
A gold button for the door knob and the door was complete!
The lower door benefited slightly from the mistakes in the first card, in that I used a finer cord to outline the window and the door panels.Unfortunetely the round cord was a little un co-operative and my square panels are not SQUARE.

The second theme was ITALY!
PostCardMailArt group are alphabetically visiting countries of the world, and nowwe are up to "I".
 I decided to try a collage...a technique that I do not use very often.
I obtained an Italian language newspaper: which unfortunately did not have many colour features in it except on the cooking page where the recipe of the day was "Stuffed Zuccini flowers".

Using Modge Podge, which was a first for me I collaged snippets of newspaper articles.
I then sewed together the green, white and red of the Italian flag and added them to each card:
And WHOOPS! I've just noticed that one flag has been positioned  reversed! I hope that does not insult any readers as it was truly accidental and no insult intended.

Honestly though, I do tend to be a tad dyslexic at times, and I hope that can be my excuse.

I'll be taking a short break from postcard making, and blogging for a while as I have corrective procedures for cataracts

and I'm hoping that as friends say: Everything will be bright and beautiful in the near future

Shoe-box rescue kits

Yesterday I drove up to BribieIsland and visited with the Island Quilters who had kindly donated some Shoe-box Rescue kits for Flood afflicted quilters and sewers.

I now have about 60 kits to deliver, thanks to the Crazy Quilters of Caboolture and the Island Quilters of Bribie Island.
As you can see from the second photograph, my dining table  is being used to tag and seal the boxes prior to delivery.

Hopefully I can get down to the Shed (CONNECTED  regd charity) on Saturday to get them out to the areas requiring help.

Island Quilters are still a community minded group. It's over seven years since I have had contact with them (I used to be a member) and it was good to renew acquaintances and see how they still support communities in need:  Little wooly caps for Premmie babies at Mater Hospital;
                                    Knitted mini sleeping bags that as the infant grows becomes a pullover for kiddies in the PNG Highlands;
                                    Cuddly bears for an orphanage in Africa....and the shoe boxes for our own people.

I'm just an old fashioned gal!

 
 I tried doing some Blue -work stitching by machine, and although I had good designs to work with, I did not like the resulting pieces.

So, once again, I returned to where I started.....handwork!

Two pieces in the six by four inch format were more satisfying for me.
Sure digitised embroidery provides some wonderfully intricate results, but nothing measures up to the satisfaction of hand stitching a design, even if one's stitches are not as precise as machine stitched work

Accidentallandscapes

 Using the technique  popularised by Karen Eckmeier I tried making some" accidental landscapes" in Postcard format.
With "accidental landscapes, one starts layering at the top of the scene.
Each subsequent layer is topstitched in position, rather than the  raw edge applique I normally use..
And instead of using toning threads to sew down each layer I used Superior clear monofilament....I realise now that was a mistake. and in the future will avoid a short-cut in order to obtain a better result.




I wish I could say that I was happy with the resulting landscapes, but feel I need repeat the exercise in a size larger than 6 by 4 inches.
Also, adding some Angelina fibre plus a copper thread for "glitter" on the sunkissed water was  "too much" for such a small format.


 Cards 3 and 4 I used a softer fabric to represent the sky. and more greens for the hillsides:
I still didn't manage to incorporate the SEVEN that Eckmeier suggest using!


Oh well back to the drawing (and cutting board)

But that will need wait until I complete a couple of other postcards with different themes.

China

Theme: China

 The theme for my current swap is  "CHINA".

On Postmark'dArt, they have been tackling the Alphabet, and anything commencing with the current letter is presented.

On PostCard Mail Art, we are tackling countries alphabetically, and these are my offerings under the  China theme.

In the three of the cards, I have used reluctantly , I admit, three die-cut paper forms: Tigers and a dragon.
The reason for my reluctance stems from the fact I purchased several packets of these die-cut rice  papers in Beijing in 1998.
When I bought them, I had no idea what they were normally used for, or even HOW to use them.
Over the years I have found that for me layering them behind bridal tulle worked.

So, here I am  fifteen years later, and almost the anniversary of when they were bought that I have only one or two tigers left: NO peacocks and NO dragons!
Two of the background fabrics resulted from using
Iridescent  emerald LUMIERE paint over a bamboo stencil, then heat  fixing the dry paint.
The tiger on the green fabric has the symbol for tiger (I hope)  figured with Tsukineko Fabrico Markers.
The "Peace" card was constructed using the stencilled fabric and machine digitised embroidery.

Two of these cards will bemailed off in the next day or so.......but WHO will receive what??
Until it arrives in the recipient's mail box, I'm not telling!

Preparing for St Patrick's Day

When I was a child , and living in Western Australia,
St Patrick's Day,March 17, was celebrated in a big way :
All the pupils of the Perth metropolitan Catholic schools would assemble at Subiaco Oval for an open air celebration of the Mass is honour of StPaddy

And various dioceses around the state would celebrate with concerts and dances.
The community singing of "I'll take you home again Kathleen"
"O Danny Boy" "Galway Bay" would nearly raise the roof of "His Majesty's Theatre" up the top end of Hay Street.

Of course, way back then a great deal of the Perth population was of Irish descent, and that made a big difference !
These days, sadly, it is probably deemed politically incorrect to celebrate so publicly, unless it is a parade organised by a pub!

Anyway, as you can see I have started making cards to celebrate not only St Patrick's Day, but also my heritage.
I hope my friends enjoy the cards

AND SEW IT GOES: About thread...

AND SEW IT GOES: About thread...

Take one Shoe-box:

 Take one shoebox, and add:
Pair of scissors, needles, pins, pin cushion
Threads: both machine and embroidery
BUTTONS
Safety pins
A chocolate bar
any craft things you would like to share
a magazine: not necessarly quilting or crafting
some fabric (fat quarters or fat eighths)

By now you got the picture  (smile) Now get to it, please

Shoe-box Rescue kits

 Can you imagine not even owning a needle, or threads , or even replacement buttons to make repairs to your family's clothes?

Can you imagine the desolation of knowing that  your much loved stash of fabrics (dress making and quilting)

 your threads ( sewing and embroidery)
Your scissors
pins , quilting and embroidery frames etc
are all smothered in foul smelling mud.....
How would you feel?

I am a volunteer with CONNECTED, a Brisbane based charity that rose from the discovering of a NEED to assist other charities at "ground zero" at a time of floods and disasters.
 During the eighteen months since the January 2011 floods  Connected has worked with the larger charities by processing the overflow of donations that were given by the generousity of the Australian people.
Connected works out of an industrial shed on St Vincent's Road ,Banyo, sorting,packing and arranging transport o necessary goods to stricken areas.

About a week ago, as I worked in the" Shed" my thoughts drifted back to the big floods of 1990/91 out Charleville way, and how quilters in south east Queensland banded together to remind their quilting sisters in the flooded areas that the had not been forgotten by collecting fabrics, needles and thread and dispatching them to the affected towns.

I thought of using  shoe boxes and filling them  with basic sewing equipment,plus some fabrics and  embroidery threads, safety pins, maybe a magazine and a chocolate bar! Something to say to the women  "You're not alone"
Sure they won't have time for the frivolity  ofembroidering, or even have time or the energy to read a magazine when there is so much to do .But the time will come....

WHY a shoe box? It's a handy size, AND they can be added to the pallets of goods going out to these flood affected areas easily, that's why!

Craig Michaels of Connected will make sure that the recue kits will be distributed along with the other relief supplies.
To lessen the extra "chaos"in the Shed I will use my home as a drop-off point, and do basic sorting and packing here before taking it to the Shed.

Did I mention that Connected is staffed completely by volunteers? We get NO funding from any government agency, but we have many wonderful supporters.
Can you help?

This is for "Outback Drifter"

 Round 16 of Swaps on Postmark'dArt and one of the themes I'm participating in is TREES.

As usual I have tried hard to find inspiration, and found it through the photography of an online friend "Outback Drifter"  aka Kim Piddington.
Kim lives in the "Corner country" of Australia in Tibooburra, and his photography of wildlife and scenery is great.
So Kim, thank you for inspiring me.
The tree and silhouette were printed on vellum  then fussy-cut and laid over red fabric and red metallic card overlaid with golden organza and shreds of the same organza were used to represent colour in the skies.
The whole collage was then overlaid with black tulle to stabilise the   piece.

So, Kim, once again I owe you thanks for inspiring me.

CQJP -December block

CQJP -December block, a photo by crazyQstitcher on Flickr.

An exmple of truly beautiful CQ

No theme: Postcards

  Time is passing quickly and I have only 44 days to complete
  and mail my cards for PostMark'dArt Round 16 Swap.

I thought that an "easy" No Theme might help me ease into the New Year.

Trying out my hand at Collage....a technique that I rarely use, I crafted these:

Using a Japanese syled chrysanthemum fabric plus a bamboo themed fabric I added in some cases, ric rac braid painted with a metallic Lumiere paint, some metallic organza
some faux jade Asian "coins" and random cuttings from Asian papers.


These will be mailed out tomorrow,and I am now planning how to tackle the theme of TREES next

Delightfully Crazy: Friendship Card - Cheery Lynn Designs

Delightfully Crazy: Friendship Card - Cheery Lynn Designs: It's nice to be back creating with Cheery Lynn Designs dies for 2013!  I created this card a few weeks ago now, playing around with my...

Desert Rose

 Back in October I commented upon my (blooming )Desert Rose (Adenum Obesum) and since then I have had a pleasing display of blooms on these two plants.
 Since October, two seed pods have grown, and this first one reminds me so much of the horns of cattle, that I thought I would share with you.
The first, in particular, put me in mind of  the horns of some Zebu cattle.
 The second shot reminds me of Western Long-horns.
 A close up of the flowers