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