Merry Christmas

Just a quick message ... thanks to all of you who have visited my blog this year have a fabulous Festive Season ... I hope to post a bit more regulary from mid January when my overseas visitors have left ... having fun with them at the moment today we were Kayaking (Hubby and I on our new kayaks!!!) how energetic... it was a nice 28 degrees c but pretty windy especially paddling back down the river into the wind ... could end up with huge arm muscles haha! Haven't had much chance to do crafty stuff but hope to get to it at the end of next month! So good wishes to all :-) Oh I forgot ...the pic is of one of the 3 Xmas 2008 bobbin which are in my catalogue!

ATC Christmas Cards

Hi All -Well the Lace Fair last Saturday went very well... I sold lots of my Hand Painted Lace Bobbins ... and the money earnt will go back into my "Lace fund" (for next year's Australian Lace Guild Conference and also for the International Lace Congress which I hope to attend mid 2010 in Japan (never been there so would be brilliant if I can save enough)). Here are some pics of 4 ATC Christmas cards which I made a couple of weeks ago as a swap with 4 ladies from the Australian online Lace Group which I belong to... I posted them off last Monday but I am still waiting on the ones for me .... :-( a few people are already receiving theirs ... it's the disadvantage in living in the world's most isolated capital! ho hum! I am also working madly on my wall panel which I want to get finished a week Wednesday before our UK family arrive to stay for 4 weeks.

Kids, Needlelace and patchwork wall panel

Hi All - I have been soooo busy getting ready for the Cattern's Day Lace Fair this coming Saturday and also working on the wall panel for our Family room... I want to get it finished before my sister in law and her family arrive in 2 weeks and 6 days time!!! Here is a pic of my Daughter back at the beginning of November on the Race track (Horse!) in Melbourne ... the first Tuesday of November each year is the race the "Country stops for" and the first time that she has been to Melbourne at all! the next pic is my son all dressed up ready to go on his year 11 River Cruise ... I didn't get to see him as I was away in Brisbane at the Lace Guild conference when it was on :-( so daughter took this pic for me ...
I couldn't remember if I put a pic of my Needelace "Frilled Neck Lizard" on here if I didn't here it is now ...this piece was designed especially to go on display at "The Lace Place" which is a lace museum about 4 hours drive from Perth!!! inland (East) at a place called "Hyden" where the "Wave Rock" is! (if you want to Google it)! It is my own style of needlelace called "Cordonnicot Lace" and that is why it is on display there as a type of lace "invented" in Australia! The last pic is the middle of my wall panel for the Family room ... I am making it in 3 parts so it is easier to do the machine and hand embroidery on it ... more pics are being taken as it progresses and a couple of days ago I started working simutaneously on the 2 end panels ... so more info to come .....

Lace from West Aus at the AGM

Hi All - here are a couple of pics from the AGM display of the Western Australian display which I put together with the help of 3 other WA gals. There are a few bits of mine here ....the coloured piece at left of the 2nd pic is my "A Tree for all Seasons" Needlelace piece. The Bedfordshire bookmark at very bottom right of the 1st pic is also mine ... as is the the coloured Venetian Gros Point necklace and earrings at left of 1st pic ... 2nd Item up... the little "Punto in Aria" mat under the colour Tree for all Seasons is also mine. There are some suberb bits of lace here especially the large oval Romanian point mat on the right done by one of the memebers of the Embroiderers Lace group here in Perth ... absolutely gorgeous ...I could find a home for that one haha!

Queensland visit

Hi All - Just a quick post ... here are a few pics from my trip away back at the end of September ...during the Lace conference week we had the Wednesday off - I went out and about with 3 friends and we went up to the "Glasshouse Mountains" to a place called "Montville" where there are lots of lovely "grockle" shops (Tourist) ... the other 2 pics I took on the way "up" the mountains ... couldn't find a hill with a lonely goat so took a pic of a lonely cow on a mountain instead haha! Went for my usual walk this morning with my mate along the cliff path near us ... nice day for it ... it was a high today of 24° and sunny but of course the flies were out but we both now have fly nets to go on our hats haha! so we had the last laugh!

ATC's

Hi All - Sorry for the lack of blogs recently...I have been soooo busy. The painting and decorating of our large living area is finished ...the last of the furniture arrived yesterday and today and tomorrow we are putting all the stuff away in it's new home(s) i.e.photograph albums, puzzles, board games, and lots of other "useful" junk!!! haha!
With the time change here the difference to the UK is a pain in the bum! and I haven't been staying on the computer as long in the evening I have just been popping on to read a few emails. Here are some ATC's... the first one is by me with a yacht and birds painted on some dyed silk (Old Op shop (Charity shop) blouse which I bought to chop up!) and a little bit of tatting for the waves (I made 4 as the lace display in early September at the Albany Lace Weekend was a theme of " Nautical but nice!" and I had no lace which would have been appropriate so thought I would whiz up 4 ATC's (1which I am keeping for myself) and the other 3 to swap at the Lace Guild AGM at the end of September ... The second ATC was made by my friend Mary ...she does some great stuff ... this one is called "Leather and Lace!" it has tatting on some leather and some textured knitting wools used. The 3rd one is another of mine ... I made 12 ladies (all slightly different) I hand painted calico for the background then painted the ladies on then embellished them with tatted lace and beads for their jewellery! I have another "swapping" session to attend at the Cattern's Day Lace Fair here in Perth on the 29th of this month and after that I will post whichever ATC's I have still available for swapping if anyone is interested. I am still madly painting bobbins for the Lace Fair and have also managed to find a small amount of time to make 4 Xmas cards for the online lace group I belong to. I have also done a little more work on the wall panel for our newly decorated Family living area. No peace for the wicked ...bwah hahahahahaha!

AGM Pics and news

Hi All - I am back (briefly) I have been really busy in the studio ...painting bobbins ... I had another couple of small orders and a larger one of 25 bobbins! in the last few days so I am absolutely flat out ... in between still doing the decorating of the living area (in essence 4 large rooms in one!) hopefully we will finish it this weekend! The pics here were taken at the recent conference ... the AGM dinner in fact! The first pic shows on the left, Margaret (my tutor for the needlelace workshop) from New South Wales, me in the middle and my friend Gaye from South Australia on the right. The second pic shows my annual dinner date my luvly mate Ethel (Yes the Ethel I stayed with in Sydney last year on my needlelace teaching trip and who introduced me to the Suckao Chocolate pots!!!) I have known Ethel for 14 years or so now! and we catch up every September at the Aus Lace Guild conference week! The bottom pic is my buddy Shell (Michelle) from Tasmania ... she was kind enough to put up with me for the week as we shared a room.
Besides the bobbin painting I am getting a little bit done in the "crafty department" ... I started the "Indian style" crazy patch (wall hanging) panel to go in our newly decorated family room it will measure around 1.84m long by 75cms deep and I am doing it in 3 parts so that it is more manageable for the embroidery and beading/sequining! I am taking pics of it as I go so stay tuned..... must dash ...have fallen behind with the emails too! never enough hours in the day and it doesn't help with the clock change last weekend (Daylight saving ...grrr hate it!)

Secret Pal Swap

Hi All
Sorry for the lack of posts .... I have been busy decorating our main living area ... 2/3rds done so getting there slowly ... also I have been in the studio painting bobbins (orders from the recent AGM in Brisbane and also getting ready for the Cattern's Day Fair at the end of November which I will be having my usual stall at ...) Here are a couple of pics of the luvly little bag which I recieved as my first swap (there will be 4 at the beginning of the months Sept - Dec) It has pockets front and back and cute tassels - I luv it ... hehe for the second swap (October) I received a tub of drinking chocolate powder (mmm mmm) and some material scraps and beads which my "secret pal" sent for me to use on some ATC's ...Thanks Secret Pal (in case she visits here! hehe) . I found out last Saturday at Wire lace that one of my students who attended the Wire lace workshop I taught back in April entered the pendant he made in my class at the recent Perth Royal SHow and one a first prize ... how cool! Yay Go Bob!

Painting and Decorating and ATC's

Hi Everyone - I have sneaked onto the computer ... my Hubby is on holidays this week and we are redecorating our living area... it was last done nearly 16 years ago when our son was a few weeks old! We are painting two colours ... todays walls were a saffron golden yellow colour and tomorrow we do a second coat then the other walls which will be a cinnamon red colour.... I have bought new curtains which are deep dark blue ... the theme is a Marrakesh/Indian/ Moroccan feel.... as you will know I mentioned a couple of months ago that we had bought a huge TV and new "dark" wood furniture ... so I am really looking forward to it all being done. I am planning a wall hanging ...long and narrow on the Indian style crazy patchwork with embroidery and have a lovely carved long thingie from which it will hang ...probably sounds very confusing but I will post pics eventually which will make it clearer! So I have not had a chance to get back in the studio since I got back from my 2 weeks in Brisbane last Sunday... I hope to get back in there next week as I have around 100 bobbins to get done by Cattern's Day on Nov 29th! Eeeek!
The pics here are ladies which I painted on (painted) calico and embellished with tatted lace and they became ATC's some of which I swapped at the recent Lace conference.
I will be ducking out (of the painting) tomorrow for a couple of hours as it is our daughters 19th Birthday and she is taking the day off and wants me to go with her shopping for a dress and a fascinator as she is off to Melbourne at the end of the month and is going to the Melbourne Cup Races!!!
That reminds me I have to go wrap her pressies ....

Queensland Holiday

Hi All
It is the last day of my 2 weeks in Queensland today...so iwill be back on my big computer next week and will pop pictures on of what I have been up to ...Hi to Lyn if she's reading this !! hehe!...

Queensland holiday

Hi All - well it's my last day in Queensland...I had a great conference week and the last week as an extra holiday has been great... I am typing this up on the tiny Asus Eee PC ...this week has been the first time I have used it's wireless capabilities... when I get home (and back on the big computer) I will put up piccies taken whilst I have been away and I will also have picsof the 8 new ATC's that I swapped during conference week! Hi to Lyn if she's reading this ....I thought I should put up a new entry haha!

Lace Conference

Hi All
Just a quick message to say I fly off to Brisbane at 7.35 am tomorrow morning not sure if I'll get to post again whilst I am away though I am taking my Asus Eee Pc I am not sure for the first week at the conference facility about getting connected and then the week after at my mates house it might be more of a possibility... I am back in Perth on Sunday 5th October so I will catch up with everyone after that if not before... be good hehe!

Daffodil Purse

Hi All - I had a fabulous time the weekend before last - down at the Lace weekend in Albany. My friend and I stayed in a 2 bedroom unit which really nice and we hope to stay there again next year. I prepared my needlelace pieces for the upcoming Australian Lace Guild Conference AGM week next week... I fly to Brisbane this Sunday early. I am really looking forward to it and catching up with my interstate Lace friends! I have been really busy this past week and weekend getting things ready for teh conference and as I am away for an additional week straight after I have had quite a lot to get sorted. I am still madly varnishing a final batch of bobbins and spent an hour and a half this morning labelling another batch!
Here are a couple of pics of my Daffodil Neck purse under construction ... it is finished now and I will be wearing it during the conference week... the Daffodil is Elizabethan style embroidery and there is of course tatting added for extra "pizzazz!" ... well I have lots to still do but must go now and get dinner ready or else the family will be "revolting" (tongue in cheek! haha) :-D

Last two Wild Women (for now ...)

Hi All - Well we are 3 days into Spring today .... the forecast said a top of 22°c but it was just over 26°c!!! a beeeewdiful day! Here are the pics of the other 2 Wild Women brooches that I made for the swap. The first the details are as for the first one in the previous post but the second one is hand needle felted wool fibres on Kunin embellished with tatting and chenille wool and beads and an ankle version of the leather boots!
I am madly working on 4 ATC's at the moment ... have to get them finished by the end of tomorrow as I want to take them down to Albany for the lace weekend ... they have a display table and the theme this year is "Nautical but nice!" well with all the lace I have made over the last 18 years I don't have anything really that suits that theme .... so I decided to make a few ATC's and then I can take them to Brisbane on the 21st when I go for the conference and we will be having a swap during the week..... I had some blue/green salt dyed silk (from a blouse which I bought at a charity shop) and I painted some little Yachts and a few tiny "v's" for birds in the "sky" and then for the waves I have tatted some fine thread "rings" so it is a frothy sea haha! .... I will of course take some piccies and post them on here soon ....
After I finish them tomorrow I have to pack as I will be out the door at 6.40am on Friday ... the drive to Albany is 5 hours plus a 20 min morning tea/scone and jam! break (and loo too of course haha) so hopefully my friend and I will get down there around 1.15pm ... we usually drop our gear at the accommodation then head down to the main street where there is a cafe we rather like then after lunch we head up the main drag where there is a large craft shop and a few doors along a 2nd hand book shop!... fingers crossed for a bargain!! LOL ... There used to be a large quilt fabric shop but it has closed since we there last September :-( so I will be back on here early next week....

Two more "Wild Women"

Hi All .... first I would like to say thank you to those of you who have left a little "comment" recently ... I love getting them :-) Here are a couple more of the "WIld Women" brooches I made for Dale's swap at the Craft Fair earlier this month here in Perth. The first one is "duster" felt (Thanks Pat hehe) with a painted nappy liner "bonded" (with bonding powder) to it then a little bit of metallic thread machine embroidery. There is painted "glue" (thanks to Carol for this technique) (painted with Lumiere paints as I found these worked the best out of the paints I already had in my studio). The face was done as the first brooch mentioned in a previous post then various bits of tatting were added as well as a bit of beading and some "fluffy" wool. The feet are leather with stitches for the "thongs" (or Flip Flops if you are overseas and have a different meaning for thong than we do here in Aus!haha). The second brooch was made on a background of painted fleecy (track suit fabric ..."wrong side" which is fluffy!) then embellished with tetured wool and beads ...a central tatted flower and some other tatted lace for the bottom of her "dress". The boots were made as the first brooch using an offcut of soft leather which was lightly stuffed with toy stuffing. I know the first brooch has gone to live with Penny in South Australia. Another one of the 3 went to live in another suburb here in Perth but I am not sure where the other 2 ended up.... I will show the pics of the last two on my next post... I am off next weekend down to Albany for the lace weekend and I am soooo looking forward to it ... I have been soooo busy the last 4 months painting bobbins ... it'll be nice to sit and sew for 2 whole days ... I have been given the pattern for the upcoming needle lace workshop I am attending for a week in Brisbane from the 21st Sept -(The Australian Lace Guild Annual Conference week) and I will be preparing that in Albany ....

Japanese ATC's

Here I am back again - I thoroughly enjoyed the Olympics and managed to get bobbins painted in the mornings and crafty stuff in the evenings ... I just need to get some time to load the camera program on this new computer and then I can pop the pics on to this blog.
The ATC on the right was made by my mate April ... she is obviously doing Japan as her theme at our embroidery group haha! ... you already know that my theme is Egypt haha... I love April's work and fell in love with this ATC so I made the one on the left for her (I made an additional 6 to swap at the Aus Lace Guild Conference week which starts on Sept 21st ) ... I painted the Japanese ladies with Acrylics on calico then appliqued them onto some red/black fabric which was a dress I got at a local "op shop" (Charity shop) ...I added some tatted lace and made it look like a fan and I made some of the tiniest tassels ever haha! I have quite a few ATC's to take and any which are left I will pop on here ...so stay tuned!

Wild Woman Brooch 1

Hi All - I am still busy watching the Olympics and enjoying it all thoroughly ... just watched our Aussie guys win 2 gold medals and a SIlver in some of the rowing - still waiting on the men's 8 rowing race later .... Here are a couple of pics of a Wild Woman brooch I made ...I made 5 ..this was the first one which I fell in love with and have kept haha! I will be wearing it at the AUstralian Lace Guild AGM week in 5 weeks time... She is hand needle felted and I have added some of my tatting ... funky hair haha!
I couln't find anything to use for feet in the local shops and ended up making leather boots (I make my own leather thimbles so always have leather scraps in the studio) I liked the boots so much that I made some ankle boots for one of the others, another pair of knee boots on another one and the last two had little leather feet with stitching added to look like "thongs" (not the underwear sort! but what we here in Aus call "Flip Flop shoes!) You will get to see pics of these in following posts. I haven't yet received my WIld Women in the post ...waiting with batited breath... though I know one of mine has gone to live in South Australia with Penny
All my Wild Women were based on statues in a book I have on Inca's - the faces I made using thin metal and an old biro!
...Thanks to those of you who take the time to leave a little comment for me on previous posts ... I love getting them... though I am still yet to get more than 5 (which was my New Year's Resolution! hehe) well now I am off to have dinner and watch the TV ...

Hi All - Studio and Olympics

Hi Everyone
Just a quick note to say "I am around and about" - just really busy in the studio painting bobbins - I have quite a few large orders in at the moment and I am also trying to get the stock together for both the Albany Lace Weekend (Sept 5-8) and for my stall at The Australian Lace Guild AGM week (Sept 21-28) ... and have to confess that we bought a new big 46 inch LCD TV 2 weeks ago and on Saturday (just gone) the unit for it to sit on and matching coffee table and recliner 3 piece suite arrived so I have been coming out of the studio at 7.30pm and instead of spending 1 1/2 hours at the computer I have been sitting in the comfy chair and watching the Olympics!!!
As we here in West Australia are on the same time line as China we are getting coverage at normal times and not all hours of the night as we have in most past Olympics! Which is great as I can work in the studio and have it on on the tv in there .... (Instead of watching recorded stuff from previous evenings as the daytime tv here is atrocious!) Wow! good word that ...think I will make it my word of the week haha!
Well off to the comfy chair and to watch this evenings coverage ... :-)

I am back and More Nefertiti

Hi All
I have a brand new computer ... got it finally on Friday but as I twas my Hubby's Birthday I didn't get anytime to do anything... I was demonstrating lacemaking (Wire Bobbin lace) at the big Craft Fair here in Perth all day Saturday with the exception of an hour mid day when I went along and did the "Ratty Tatty Paper" workshop with Dale of the Thread Studio ...It was great and I have lots of ideas but unfortunately no time at the moment to do anything about it grrrrrrrr! all day yesterday I was at our best friends house helping out then attending her youngest daughters 21st B'day party which was great but it was mid evening by the time we got back and I was sooooo pooped! Anyway I will take pics of teh stuff done at the workshop and also what extra things I do to it as and when ...stay posted! Here is a pic of the Needle lace Nefertiti complete and ready to be mounted ad a neck purse ...these pics were taken a couple of weeks ago before the old computer fried and it has progressed to being finished now but I haven't hada chance to photograph it yet!
I hope you are all well and being very creative I am looking forward to catching up on your blog pages....:-)

New computer next week

Hello, hello..... well we are not going to be revamping the old computer - we are getting one built and it should be ready around this Thursday - with all our old info loaded on to yay! So I will be able to update you all with pictures real soon.
I went to the Western Australian Lace Guild AGM today ...saw lots of lace friends ...ate homemade cakes and bikkies and drank tea...dirty job but someone's gotta do it!haha!
I was naughty and bought myself a pair of bobbins made by John Law ( he makes absolutely super bobbins) they are African Blackwood with an insert of swirly goldy acrylic...will take a pic and put on here next week!
Ron gave a talk on how he makes the various bobbins which was very interesting.
Next weekend is the 3 day Craft Fair here in Perth that Sarah Lawrence (UK) is coming to ...she wrote the "Wild Women" brooches book...I have made 5 wild women brooches ...one for myself, one for Dale (The Thread Studio) and 3 to swap... there will be a display at the craft fair ...can't wait to see everybody's! :-) (if you hav ebeen reading Dale's blog you will know Sarah is staying in Dale's Studio!
I have booked into a "Hands on workshop" called Ratty Tatty Papers with Dale and am really looking forward to it on Saturday when I am at the show all day with my friends from the lacecargot lace group...we are demonstrating all day (except from1-2pm when I nip off to do Dale's workshop! I will try not to spend too much money at the show haha!
I went to Dale's last tuesday andbought some more Lumiere paints...i am really into the at the moment so decided to restock whilst delivering the brooches. I also took my daughter for lunch as she works down in Perth City.
I made the mistake of going into Borders book shop... I usually check out the bargain table and there was a book called "An Encylopedia of Egyptian Artifacts" not a big book but very heavy in weight...printed on good stock with the most disgustingly wonderful pictures in it ... very worth a drool! It was only AUS$11.99 - am soooo pleased with it as you know I am working on Egypt as my theme this year at my Stitchety Grubs Embroidery group! Brings my total of Egypt books up to 6 hehe!
Well off to get a cuppa and choc and have a bit more read of the Egypt book before we tune into our favourite "Tour de France" a little later.

Computer Crash!

Hi All - our main computer fried itself yesterday - so I am now using the Tiny ASUS EeePC that the kids gave me back in may for Mum's day..... I will be taking it on my travels to Brisbane in September for the Lace Guild Conference week (and my extra week of holiday over there)... and for my UK trip next year in August..... good practice though with the tiny keyboard I am gonna have to trim my nails! So you will get the pictures I have taken recently in a while when we have sorted out our computers... ho hum!

Needle lace Nefertiti

Hi All - Well here are a few pics (at last!) In the first you can see the goodies which I bought at the big Craft Fair here in Perth back at the end of May ... I wanted to stock up with Angelina fibres .... I got a few bags to replace dwindling supplies plus a couple of new ones - I am weak what can I say? haha! Also as you can see there is a pack with 3 little Shiva (Markal) sticks - I do have 3 others in the studio but they are big ones(and different colours) which will take me forever to get through but I liked the idea of these 3 'specially the gorgeous blue at the top! There was a stall selling little bags of flower "Lace Motifs" - $2 Aussie dollars a bag ... bargain and great for ATC's as well as crazy patch. I also bought some Textiva Fusible film cos it was pretty and shiny haha! and restocked on little square beads which I like to use in the Wire Bobbin Lace jewellery and I use them in the kits which I make up for my students.
There are 2 big Craft Fairs each year and the second one is in 2 1/2 weeks time - I am demonstrating with the Lacecargot Lace Group (on behalf of the West Australian branch of the Aus Lace Guild) all day on Saturday 2nd August - Though I will be snoofying off at 1pm as I have put my name down with Dale of the Thread Studio to do her hand's on "Ratty Tatty Papers" workshop which will be playing with Lutradur, Gossamer Fuse, Moonshadow mists and more on papers and fabrics - layer bonding and burning!.... rather intriguing as I have read about these but never used them... (am verrrry excited hehe!). The next 2 pics are of my Needlelace Nefertiti which I have mentioned in earlier posts every single stitch is a buttnhole stitch (wouldn't mind a dollar for each haha!) There are 4 shades of threads on her face and at one point I had 7 needles on the go!
At my embroidery group - "Stitchety Grubs" for this year's project we decided to do embroidery with the themes of a favourite country ...as you can guess I chose Egypt and am doing several things of which this Nefertiti is the first - there will be more pics of this Nefrititi in her stages in subsequent blogs ...so stay tuned :-)

Lace, Roos and walking

Hi All - First of all here are a couple of pics ... one of a piece of Bedfordshire lace - a motif which I did in an AGM workshop years ago ... designed by my friend Liz Ligetti who was the tutor - a great workshop that one I have very fond memories haha! The other pic is of my 2nd ever piece of Needlelace - the flower based on an Ann Collier piece and I "fudged" the bee. yep I do wear it from time to time - I wear all my lace jewellery!
I have started walking with a friend every Thursday ... this was the 4th week today but she was looking after her grandkids so I went on my own. We had been walking 8kms along the local "cliff path" (I live 2 kms from the Indian Ocean)and it has been taking us an hour and 12 mins (she is faster and fitter than me so I am the slow coach!) ... I didn't go quite as far as the weather was a bit iffy and rain was threatening but still did 50 mins altogether! so I feel proud haha! I saw 2 wild Kangaroos in the "scrub" - the first week I went I had seen one but today it had a "friend" LOL :-) I was the only person on the path initially and they both gave me a funny look - they obviously weren't impressed with my intrusion! on the return trip there was only 1 there. (The pic here was taken either by my daughter or her friend (who was visiting from the UK back in April) - it was taken at our Perth Zoo).

Well travelled ATC and blog visitors

Hello All - Well I have been plodding away in the studio this weekend - plodding because I had a "cold" start last Friday so I have been taking herbal cold tablets and willing it away! I received a beautiful ATC last Thursday which was from Denise .... It is beautiful and I will take a pic this week.... I had been worried about it as Denise had posted it back in early May ... when it turned up there was a "stamp" on the front of the envlelope to say that it had been missent to "Grand Cayman" !Good grief who'da thunk! LOL! haha! Have any of you had one go to somewhere exotic first? Also - yesterday I reached 1,000 hits on this blog ... gotta love that Neo counter and also I have gained another country overnight so I have now had visitors from 54 countries ... wow! thank you all so much for stopping by... I luv to have visitors :D

What I've been doing the last week!

Hello, hello hello - yep I am still here - just been really busy in the studio the last week painting a couple of big Bobbin orders... last Friday I was baking cakes -a recipe a friend gave me for a packet mix cake plus you add a packet instant whip pudding mix and a cup of lemonade - a really moist cake ....I did a chocolate one (duh! of course) and a Raspberry Swirl one! to take on Saturday which was the West Australian Lace Guild day and the group I go to - (Lacecargot) were the hostesses ... so I went armed with 1/2 of each of the 2 cakes ( had to leave the other cake halves for the piglets in this house!) and a large plate of mixed sandwiches.... It was a great day even though it was a bit rainy we had around 24 people there (which is about the maximum for the room we were in anyway!).
Sunday I was madly painting the bobbin orders (after the 1 1/2 hour morning ironing session yik!) then yesterday I was bill paying and then bobbin painting and cleaning (double yik!) the house as today it was my turn to hostess the little quilt group which I belong to. I did manage to do a bit of the hemming stitching on my Kanthas quilt today (pics soon) and last Saturday I did get to carry on with the needlelace Nefertiti and YAY! I finished it in the evening that day - it is "off the needlelace pad" now and waiting to be mounted and put together as a neck purse for me to wear at this Septembers Aus Lace Guild AGM conference (also pics soon)- I have been taking pics of it as it has been worked. Well am pooped so bye for now :-D

Small Russian Mat

Hi All
Here is a pic of a small Russian Mat I made a couple of years ago ..... I took a pic with my new camera which was on the bestest setting and ended up huge in the MB's but I am trying to learn how to compress the pics before I put them on this Blog ... so this is a bit of an experiment - the easiest thing seem to be to do it and then check to see what the quality is like .....
I had a good weekend ... the Wire Lace Day on Saturday went well though the heating in the room we had hired was useless and the temperature had gone down to 3°c the night before ... I spent the whole 4 hours from 10am- 2pm with my scarf and jacket on still!brrr! We have 14 members in the group and 11 were there which was great as 2 are overseas - and at this time of the year germs, colds and flu are prevalent. I did get underway with my newest piece of wire lace jewellery - a Scarab design ... I will take pics as it progresses. Well a program I like to watch is about to start on TV so ta ta for today... :D

Last couple of pics of Elizabethan piece

Hi All Here is a close up of the Daffodil and a pic of the total piece.... I still have to frame it...
I went to my local "Spotlight" store yesterday to get some more "toy" stuffing (I have made some more "peanut" shaped "neck pillows" and had run out) and as it is the end of the Financial year this June 30th they had quite a few things on "clearance" (gotta luv that word haha almost as much as "sale"!or "bargain") anyway I ended up getting a couple of black folders which when opened have a clear pocket on the left (for a project sheet perhaps) and on the right a large plastic pocket containing 4 sectional plastic containers for beads etc at a cost of $7 each folder!!! I also got 4 packs of glass beads which had lots in for $5 a pack -all different sizes...I had a ball today sorting them out and generally admiring them haha yep I am a sad bunny LOL :D.... I think will have to take some pics as the folder is hard to explain and you probably wanna see the beads anywayz! I also got 5 small 8 compartment containers for other beads that I already have ...haven't had time to sort them out yet though!
I have embroidery tomorrow and will have to do grocery shopping on the way back as my usual day is 8am on a Saturday but this Saturday it is Wire Lace Group day! ...

More of the Elizabethan piece

Hi All - I had a nice afternoon at one of my Lace groups today - ("Lacecargot") only 5 of the 7 of us there though... one had gone to an art exhibition way down in Albany and the other is due back anytime from 7 week in UK/Ireland and USA! - So lots of chat and news from her when she comes to the next meeting! I spent the afternoon doing little bits of Tatting for another batch of ATC's ... more about them down the track..... Here are a couple more shots of the Elizabethan piece - you can see my variegated caterpillar in these ... It was made using an actual variegated silk thread (All thread used on this piece was silk ...with the black/gold "butterfly" thread around the chain stitched stems ... also a little bit of Kreinik blending filament crept in - in the odd place!(hehe)). If you are familiar with this type of Elizabethan embroidery you will know that it is quite dimensional ... the deep purple/blue flower in the top pic (top right) has a yellow "pocket" and tucked away inside are tiny beads ... I adore doing this type of embroidery but haven't done any for quite a long time .... I must try and get to some next year -hmmm I think I may make that my next year's project at my Stitchety Grubs Group) Thanks you to those of you who left a comment on the previous entry and one a couple down ... I still can't seem to get more than 5 comments though (that is my goal by the end of this year!) I am very envious of blogs which I visit that continually have 11-20 or more ...sigh - giggle haha! Oh well back to chatting to my sis in the UK on teh web cam though it is a very dodgy connection ... the sound is very "hiccy burpy!" LOL!

Elizabethan Style Embroidery

Hi All - Here's a couple of pics of a piece of Elizabethan Style embroidery which I did several years ago (it was my first time) I have since designed and made a heart with Australian wildflowers rather than the traditional English ones and intend on putting a book together at some point (I still have 9 ISB numbers sitting over in Melbourne!). It won't be for a whil as I also want to do a book on my Wire Bobbin lace pieces and also a book o nmy Venetian Gros Point needlelace and a 2nd book of Cordonnicot Needlelace patterns ..... My "backburner" is seriously over loaded haha! I have been working on my Neferititi Needlelace the last few days and it is coming along well ..... I have been taking photo's of it at various stages and will post them on here when it's finished. I have decided that rather than incorporate it into the "Egypt" themed embroidery I had originally intended it for I will now perhaps make it into a neck purse so that it won't spend it's life in a drawer or in a pic frame!... My Australian Lace Magazine arrived today, at last, and the form for this years week long conference has been mailed ... finger's crossed that I get into the workshop that I want! (A needlelace one rather than a bobbin lace ... much easier to transport the gear for that on an airplane! - I learned that 12 years ago haha!!!)

Needle Lace Needlecase

Hi All - wow! It's the weekend again ...I have been waiting the last couple of weeks for an ATC to come from the USA ... but not yet :(
I am also somewhat impatiently waiting for the Australian Lace Guild Magazine which was due around the 1st if June ..... but I am not the only one quite a few friends have commented on it's absence! Perhaps there is a big back log of post sitting somewhere in the middle of the outback! There's probably a pile of post the size of Uluru (Ayres Rock!) haha! LOL!
I have been busy painting bobbins in the mornings of this week in between being a Taxi for my son as he had exams at school and only needed to attend at the times his particular ones were scheduled! In the afternoons I have been working on my Neferititi (needlelace) which is to go on my "Egyptian" themed piece for this year at my Stitchety Grub's embroidery group.
The two pics here are two of my needlelace needlecases from my "Collection" They were both done at Aus Lace Guild National Conference workshops ... the first pic is "Reticella" and the second is Punto in Aria .... They both have a background of Purple Thai silk (from a top which I bought at an "Op Shop" (Opportunity Shop or Charity shop)).

"Garden" Theme Needle case

Hi All - well we had the first day of winter here in Australia on Sunday (1st June) ... It was quite nice weather considering the day before we has 12 hours of on and off thunderstorms and heavy showers ...and yep! I was driving around in it as I went up into the "hills" to a Guild Lace day! Luckily when it was at it's worst we were snuggled up in the scouts hall scoffing home made soup!
Here are some pics of the little Needle case I made for Susan (Artybliss) ... our theme was "The garden"
and as most of you know I collect Needle cases (of all sorts of shapes and styles) I thought I would make Susan one as they are always useful! especially when you have several projects on the go!... I tatted her some pink flowers then attached them to some green Batik fabric then started embroidering ... the bees and ladybugs are ribbon embroidery the 3d green leaves above the ladybugs are a needle lace technique called "woven picots" and I added sequins and some of the tiny little buttons I bought last year when I was on my Lace teaching trip over in New South Wales. There is, of course, a "Redback" spider too (we have them in our garden all the time!) I am rather pleased with how the case turned out and am seriously contemplating making one for me! haha!