Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Hi All
A Very Merry Christmas to you all - I have had a very busy last few weeks - sorry for the lack of Blog Posts - I hope to rectify that as my New Years Resolution - and now family are on holidays - so still busy doing the social thing!
It's 34°c today and we are hiding in the cool air con - Daughter did go in our pool this morning but the water temperature is only 24°c and she soon hopped out! We are getting a pool blanket delivered and installed on January 6th (I will be at Lace but Hubby will be still on holidays then - so it should be there when I get home that day yay!) it's supposed to keep the water up to 10°c hotter and of course will keep out the palm nuts (the actual trees are in our back neighbours garden!) and other leaves out.
Well we just had roast pork cooked on the Webber BBQ outside so we're all stuffed now!
Once again Merry Christmas and have a great New Year :-)

Needle Lace Kit and Needle Lace Pillow

Hi All
Yep - I am still here - I hope to have more time for the computer from today which was the Cattern's Day Annual Lace Fair here in Perth, Western Australia...where I sell the bobbins which I paint ... I have lots of photo's to load from the last few months but I haven't had time so far as once I have loaded them on the computer I then have to compress them and name them and it all takes time...
In the meanwhile - here are a few pics of my Needle Lace Travelling Kit and tiny Travelling Needle Lace Pillow - The first pic shows the Pillow at the top and the Kit at the botton in the closed position. Pic 2 shows the Kit open - the pocket at the top left holds a little container to put spare "Couronnes" in (Little needle lace flowers) and also a tiny pair of tweezers. The pocket at the bottom left is of course for embroidery scissors.... in the centre is sewn 2 little sealable plastic bags in which I store the cardboard floss bobbins of Cordonnet threads and the actual thread for the needle lace and also a contact lens container in which I keep a random selection of tiny beads to incorporate into the lace and any other little things necessary (Like fine wire to help make picots).... on the back inside at the top is a detachable needle case (attaches with velcro) and in the bottom right pocket I keep the sewing thread for couching and a couple of my own homemade leather thimbles... Basically in this tiny case I have everything I need for a needle lace piece. The final pic chows the Needle Lace Pillow in the "open" position - out of the carry bag and you can see a little matching pin cushion on the end....

Jewelled Jemz Neckpurse and Jelly Roll

Hi - Confession time - I still haven't had the chance to load on the pics from my travels ... I've been busy painting bobbins for the upcoming West Aus Lace Guild Cattern's Day Fair on Nov 28th and also working on several emailed bobbin orders that I have received as well as running my son around who is in the middle of Year 12 TEE exams and working on other crafty things in the studio.... I had a lovely surprise the day before yesterday when I had a parcel in the letterbox ... couldn't think what it would be ...I had totally forgotten my Blog friend Pat in the UK had said she would send me a booklet on using "rusting powder" (She had given me a pot of it when I met up with her at the V&A in London at the end of July) ... and bless her also in the parcel was an spangled ebony Lace bobbin ... just gorgeous - thanks Pat :-) ... you spoil me :-)
The pics above are: a little embroidery for one of 3 Jewelled Jemz neck purses which I made to colour co-ordinate with my (suitcase) wardrobe for my UK trip and the other pic is a Jelly Roll of fabric which I got in April when I was on my Wire Lace teaching trip to Adelaide - there was a lovely Quilt shop opposite a lace meeting which I went to in Strathalbyn ... no idea what I will do with it but just loved the colourway and had to have it haha! Oh and thank you to all of you who stop by this blog and visit - for ages I was stuck on 99 countries on my counter but now have clocked 100 woo hoo! hehe!

Yes - More Wild Women Brooches

Hi All
Here are a couple more Wild Women - The first is one that I have kept myself - she is made with hand needle felted wool, textured knitting wools, Painted hot glue motif, beads, Green metallic thread tatted hair and one of my painted faces ... yes I made about 20 faces and I only have one left LOL! The second pic is a little lady that has gone to live with my friend Margaret whom I sit next to on Wednesdays at Wanneroo Lace Group ... she put up with me making lots of Wild Women earlier this year (quite a few of them were for gifts on my recent trip to the UK) so I felt it only right to give her one of her own! LOL! :-) Margaret's is made of painted fleecy (the fluffy inside! of the fabric) Goat mohair for hair.... beads and tatted flowers.... her shoes and handbag I discovered in a scrap booking section in a local shop...
I have been making some more Wild Women today - different to these - this time I have done the faces on small wooden heart blanks ..... stay tuned for pics ......

More Wild Women brooches

Hi - I still haven't found the time to load all my holiday pics onto this comuter - but here are a couple of photo's I loaded on before I went away but didn't post (explanation below ...read on...). The first 2 were given to me for my Birthday by my friend Colleen - she was only supposed to make 1 but she made the one on the left first using some of her hand made Bedfordshire bobbin lace and she wasn't happy with it so she crocheted the fluffy one on the right and she gave them both to me ... I think they are both fabulous and have worn them several times! The 3 in the other pic were made by me ... but they haven't been posted until now as they were gifts - the one on the left with blue shoes was for my friend Judy's Birthday back in June, the one in the middle was for my Blog friend Pat when I met her for the first time in London at the end of July and the pink one was for my friend Maureen whose Birthday was in early August. (In case you don't remember our project at my Stitchety Grubs Embroidery Group this year was to make each other a wild woman brooch for our Birthday's LOL :-) - there are a couple more pics of yet more Wild Women - some of whom were given as gifts whilst in the UK - I will pop them on the next post.

Hello and new Lacey ATC's

Hi All
I still haven't had a chance to load my holiday(s) pics on this computer - been busy with the family - our son had shocking Tonsilitis last week and is on antibiotics - his sister has had it bad over the years but this is the first time that he has had it and it had to be the week of his pre TEE exams -ie these exams are a small percentage towards his main ones which are in 3 weeks time so I guess better now than then! ... I am looking forward to him leaving school completely around November 16th ... it will be stange no longer having kids at school and not having to do the "school run" mornings and afternoons anymore ... after 17 years !!!!... it means I should get a whole hour more in the studio each day!!!! as it takes 30 minutes round trip to the high school! Yippee!! I received 7 new ATC's whilst I was away in teh YK but I haven't had time to actually photograph them yet however here are a couple I did recieve and do a pic of just befor I left at the end of July.... The top one is done by Elsa a lacemaking friend here in Perth and the bottom one by my friend Mary also a lacemaking friend here in Perth! Elsa's is bobbin lace and Mary has made hers all in needlelace! I love them - just gorgeous hehe!

Yes I am back and I won an award

Hi All
Yes Pene I am back ... but only just ...after the 6 weeks in UK I had 3 days home then 4 days in the South of West Aus - in Albany for their annual Lace weekend then home for 3 days then I was in Brisbane for the Annual Australian Lace Guild AGM week and returned this past Sunday ... I haven't had much chance to blog yet as I had my monthly machine Embroidery workshop day today and of course the last 3 days I have been doing the workshop work from the 2 days that I missed when I was away .... Next week I start back in the studio painting bobbins and running my son to school for a week of exams (though the school is on holiday the year 12's have to do the exams) His main exams though are from Nov2-18 ... poor kid!
Yesterday morning I was madly emailing my travel agent to book my flights for the OIDFA Lace conference i nJapan in July next year (2- 18th are the dates I will be away). (OIDFA = Interenational Organisation of bobbin and Needle lacers).

Whilst in Brisbane last week I was also asked about teaching wire bobbin lace in Tasmania in mid May next year ... so that is (lightly) pencilled in my new lace diary! exciting stuff!

A week ago Saturday my duaghter moved out of home in into a unit and seems to be getting on well ... bless ... never cooked or cleaned much at home but she's learning fast LOL! Haha!

yay! go me!I haven't had a chance to load all my luvly pics on here yet but I have to have a brag and say that the Triennial Lace Competition was last week when I was in Brisbane and I won (second time in a row) the "Mixed Lace" category (you may remeber the G- String "The Sea" theme from last time) this time the Theme was The Rainforest and I made a top (very brief one!) hahaha :-) The prize was a beautiful little wooden bowl made by a woodturning fellow in Brisbane from 4 different woods ... just wonderful and on display on one of our cupboards in the family room! Smells great too as one of the woods is "Camphor Laurel".

Hello from the UK

A quick hi ...I am having a great time in the UK....already done LOndon.....and now just spent a week in The Lake District...including Beatrix Potter's house and gallery as an artist I was in 7th heaven...also found a craft shop in Kendal though I only bought hand sewing ballpoint needles (for Needlace) a brand I had not seen before...also went and saw the Quaker Tapestry in Kendal....beautifully worked...bought books on it in fact books on Beatrix too and I also got to the pencil factory (Derwent) and treated myself to a tin olf 36 "Inktense" pencils mmm mmm.... a week tomorrow I am off to Cornwall to stay with a Lace and embroidery friend so a nfew more crafty things happening then...hope you are all being goood out there in blog land!!! LOL

New ATC's

Hi All
Here are 4 of my most recently received ATC's - The 1st pic - left one is from Winifred Simhauser of New South Wales (Australia) and is "Self made cotton fibre background embellished with wool and silk" (the cotton fibre is grown on her property!), the right one is from Gail Walker of the UK. The second pic, left, is from Domi Bouguet Tognon of France and the paper flower one -J Prosper of Western Australia ... thanks ladies .... I am just finishing up my packing for the UK trip (away for 6 weeks) I leave for the airport this evening at 6.20pm (AWST - Australian Western Standard Time) my Daughter is taking me down there .... must go now and pack my wash kit and the final thing is my make up bag .... have to take the Polly Filler or else I'll frighten the native's haha!LOL!

Free Machine Embroidery Workshop

Hi All
Here are some pics from the Free Machine Embroidery workshop which I attend each month ... in the first workshop in March we Sun dyed fabric ... in April we did dispersal dyes and did some sample free machine embroidery work, in May we did machining onto the sun dyed fabrics ... and in June we did more embroidery with couched cords and satin stitch lines - pics to follow and this month we cut up a piece of the dispersal dyed fabric and arranged it in a design pinned to tulle and dissolvable fabric - machining "lace" between the pieces... pics of this to come to as they are still in the camera.
Only 10 sleeps to go until I leave for my 6 week trip to the UK .... I have been madly working the last couple of weeks on my competition piece for the end of September (Australian Lace Guild Conference week in Brisbane) ..... hence why I have been so quiet on this blog! I have popped by occasionally to visit fave blogs but have been to pooped in the evenings to spend too much time on the computer and of course at the moment we are watching the Tour De France which is televised live and the time itstarts on TV here is between 8pm and 10pm (as we are 7 hours ahead to GMT). Well it's about to start so ... comfy chair time hehe!

And the Winner is........

Hi All
As promised I did the draw today for the winner of the Wild Woman Brooch from the entry dated June 17th ... and (drum roll hehe) the winner of the brooch is .....Tatting Chic .... I will leave a message for you on your blog or perhaps you can email me your snail addy... Congrats and thanks to the others who entered ... I will do another giveaway later in the year when I am back from my UK/ Southern Western Australia/Brisbane travels :-) (I leave in 13 sleeps time hehe! but will be taking my tiny Asus Eee PC with me and hope to pop posts on this blog).

Giveaway reminder

Hi All
Just a quick reminder that there is one more week until I draw the winner of the little Wild Woman brooch in the previous post so do put a comment on the previous entry to be in for the win.....

Finally Time for a Giveaway!

This Giveaway is now closed :-)
Hi All
At last here is my Giveaway as promised several weeks ago.... This little WIld Woman brooch is looking for a home .... just pop a comment on this blog entry to be in the draw . You do need to have a blog to take part and will need to leave a email with your comment so I have a way of contacting you.
The winner will be picked out of a hat on Tuesday 14th July at 7pm (Australian Western Standard Time) (this is the date of my 27th anniversary - when I started dating my hubby haha! also my Brother in Law''s Birthday)....

On the crafty front I have been still madly working on painting lace bobbins .... It's a bit like swimming through custard every time I think I can see the light at the end of the tunnel another order comes in! but it's all good as the funds will go towards my lace trip to Japan next July for the OIDFA (International organisation of bobbin and needle lacers).... I did get a chance last week to do a bit of free machine embroidery - all to do with the monthly workshop mentioned in previous posts ..... I leave for the UK in 5 weeks 5 days time and yes I am counting as I still have lots to do .... and not enough hours in the day!hehe!

ATC's and busy students

First pic shows 2 ATC's I got a few weeks ago - (I know I've been really slack loading pics onto this computer! - I have been sooooo busy....)
The flowery one on the left was from Beryl and the one on the right from Heather- thanks ladies they've been much admired at my Lace and embroidery groups! The other 2 pics show my very industrious students in April when I flew over to Adelaide to teach them Wire Bobbin lace jewellery...

Congrats to our son

Congrats to our son ... passed his driving test 1st time (like his big sis did 3 years ago ... yay!) last Thursday. Now he has to complete a 25 hour log book over 6 months so should be able to go on the roads on his own at the end of November - we won't know ourselves haha!
I've been busy painting bobbins - 139 in the last 8 days!!! still quite a few to go and another order arrived 2 days ago for 29 - so no peace for the wicked!!! I did get to go out for the day yesterday "up into the hills" to the monthly WA Branch (Aus Lace Guild) meeting and managed to do about 4 inches of the lace strip that I have on the go at the moment .... It was lovely weather (even though Winter here in Australia officially starts tomorrow), sunny and around 24°c and was the same today (not that I was out in it!
Pic here was taken back in January when we got our son his Holden Astra car .... it's been good practice for me driving a manual again as my own car is an auto but the 2 cars which I will be hiring in August in the UK will be manual.... Just in case any of you are wondering I haven't forgotten my promise to Raffle a "Wild Woman" Brooch ... I just haven't transferred the pics to this computer yet .... please stay tuned.... :-) I have quite a stash of pics to transfer .... and with my monthly Embroidery day on Friday ...there should be some more....

Madly Lace Bobbin painting

Hi All
I am still here - I have been busy painting bobbins .... clearing an order of 8 pairs of Australian State Flower bobbins - so 16 bobbins, another order of 9 various bobbins.... both orders have just been posted this morning ... ...I sorted and labelled around 80 bobbins on Saturday.
When I got home today it was to start varnishing another 100 bobbins.... the first 40 commemorative's for the online Aussie lace group -" Gumlace" (there will be over 100 items on this order eventually!) 8 pairs of bird bobbins that were ordered, 20 (5x4) new People bobbins - Cypress, Macedonia, Turkey and Cook Islands!, 30 Cattern's Day 2009 ladies (first batch I usually end up painting around 80 each year) and a couple of other odd orders.... phew! After the varnishing today I started painting 16 bobbins with the "Albany Pitcher Plant" which are the commemmorative ones for the Lace weekend this September ... I am counting down to my trip to the UK - I leave 9 weeks tonight ... so it's gonna be a verrrry busy few weeks.... I am also trying to work on my "Triennial LAce Competition" piece which needs to be finished before I leave as when I get back from the UK in September I only have 3 days at home before the "Albany Lace weekend" then when I get back from that - another 3 days to get the sox n jox washed and then I fly to Brisbane! for the Aus Lace Guild AGM week that I may or may not be teaching at (I won't know that until early August - 6 weeks before it takes place...!!!) So please forgive me if I am a little slack with the postings .... I am still popping by all your blogs when I get the chance :-) (oh and the pic here was a one off "Raffle" prize bobbin for last year)

Meerkat

Hi All
Just a quick note to let you all know I am alive and well haha! I have just been sooooo busy - the Friday (before last) at Northam - giving my talk on Needlelace went very well ... lovely place and lovely people.... I hope I get a chance to go again... I went to the Big Craft Fair here in Perth last Saturday - demonstrating bobbin lace with my "Lacecargot" Lace Group ... spent money on books, shiva sticks. prismacolour pencils and a few other bits and bobs - most of which were actually on my "shopping list"! I have taken pics of my goodies and also the other few crafty things I have been making and I hope to load the pics on here in the next few days.... In the meantime here is a pic of the mummy Meerkat which I took at the perth Zoo back in January - she was guarding her babies ... soooooo cute ... as you know I love Meerkats .... I have downloaded the crochet pattern from here to make one but as I have never crocheted I am having to learn first! haha - I tried to get some friends who already crochet to make one for me but none offered! dangit! LOL Haha! Another problem is that the Mohair wool (Patons) that they recomend is not available here in Australia though it is available in the UK - so I will try and get it when I am over there (I will be landing in London 10 weeks today!!!) and the second pic shows 2 of her babies (there were 3).

Daffodil purse

Hi All
I am still here - been really busy ... the Machine Embroidery workshop was good ... I am little more confident with the free machining but a long way to go (I still prefer the ol' hand embroidery hehe!) I am off to a small town called Northam tomorrow (never been there before) the Embroidery Group out there have asked me to go and talk to them about my needle lace ... I was gathering it all up last weekend and didn't realise it would take up a whole fairly large suitcase hehe! Here is a pic of my Daffodil neck purse ... the daffodil is "Elizabethan style" embroidery which I did on some of my hand dyed fabric years ago then dug out last year and embellished with some tatting etc....and turned it into a purse with earrings to match ...of course! hehe!

2 New Atc's

Hi All - Here are a couple of pics of 2 ATC's that I received recently - the beautifully painted landscape - is by Margaret - just gorgeous ... painted on material and then the tree is lots of tiny French knots - exquisite! I am going to put it in a frame to go on the wall! The other is by my mate April - it's fantasic too ... April is a great machine embroiderer and I love the metallic "Sticker" fishies ... I luv shiny things haha! I must of been a magpie in a previous life hahaha! Thank you soooooo much ladies :-)

Birthday Wild Women

Hi All - I had a great trip over to Adelaide last week. I flew over on the Tuesday (14th) and was met by my friend Coral ... we went for a cuppa at a local shop centre then did a bit of grocery shopping at Woollies. On the Wednesday we went to the suburb of Norwood .... more shop snoofying! Including a trip to Country Bumpkin Craft shop though I didn't buy anything! We found a shop that sold Mexican Chilli Sauces with some very creative and hilarious names we were in hysterics in there!... the best chilli sauce names are a bit naughty to put on here! haha! I was taken to a cafe for lunch where we met up with some other lacemaking friends ... most I already knew but there were a couple of new ones. In the afternoon we went to a shop where I got a lovely silk scarf ... which will go in the suitcase in July for the UK trip. On Thursday Coral took me into central Adelaide to the Art Gallery and after a quick cuppa with 2 lace friends who are catalogueing the collection of lace there we went to see the Japanese Art Exhibition which is on from March to May - some stunning Okimono's and beautiful Netski's. We also popped into the Museum to ther "Egyptian room". There was of course a side trip to Haig's chocolate shop (You can't go to Adelaide without a visit there!)
On the Friday we went down to Strathalbyn to join the lace group there for the day ... opposite is a beaut Quilting shop where I bought a swatch of fabric strips and some lovely fancy buttons ... pics to come....
On the Saturday and Sunday I taught the Wire Bobbin Lace Jewellery Workshop with 12 students attending which seemed very successful and lots of lace and chatter and yep! chocolate involved haha!
I flew back home to Perth on Monday and back to reality in having to do the cooking and other household chores - Coral spoit me rotten including cups of tea in bed in the mornings ...I can't remember the last time I had that probably at my sister's in the UK nearly 3 years ago!
I am back to madly painting bobbin orders though I did have time out yesterday to go to the monthly WA LAce Guild day down at the Shelley group which was great - got to see some friends I haven't caught up with yet this year.
Today - I was bobbin painting in the studio this morning (though it is a holiday (Anzac Day)) but this afternoon I continued working on a competition piece ... not sure if it will be done in time for teh competition.... we'll see!
The photo's here show the Wild Woman brooch which my friend Ros made for me for my birthday a couple of weeks ago - I love her crazy hat haha! and the other 2 pics are ones made by made - the green one for my friend April (who has just returned to UK for the 6 months of the B&B season - her B'day is early May) and the other one is the one I made for Ros - her birthday is 3 days before mine. The last pic - the wild red woman which I gave to Coral in Adelaide as part of the goodies for "putting up with me" hehe! Yes it does have some of my wire bobbin lace on it! Oh and I haven't forgotten my promise to celebrate 3 years of blogging by "raffling" off a Wild Woman Brooch .... just have to finish it off and take a photo..... stay tuned....

My Kanthas Quilt

Hi All
I finally got around to taking photo's of "My Kanthas Quilt" which I finished in February ...
Those of you familiar with Kanthas symbolism will recognise traditional motifs such as the "Trees of Life" in each corner, Fish and Peacock for fertility as well as the "Conch" (Paisley) symbols and "Whorls" for prosperity etc.... Traditional Kanthas have symbols indicative to the person they are made for (ie me! hehe) so there is a Dragon - I was born in the Chinese Year of the Dragon, A Falcon - My Native American Indian totem is the falcon (we have Native American Indian in our family tree), A Ram's head - I am an Aries and there is also the Aries symbol on the quilt along with the Leo symbol (for my Hubby) Libra symbol (for my Daughter) and Scorpio Symbol (for my Son) also a swan which is the State bird emblem for Western Australia, a pink diamond - my birth stone, a paint brush - I trained as a Fine artist and Graphic Designer- an eye to ward off evil, a caterpillar - for my Stitchety Grub Embroidery Group, a snail for my Lacecargot Lacemaking Group, an elephant with trunk up - for luck, a needle for my embroidery/needle lace, a Lace bobbin and a Tatting shuttle for my other lacemaking techniques and a Tudor rose as I was born in England and there is of course the traditional "Ashtadel" (Lotus flower) in the centre.
I am off to Adelaide tomorrow to Teach the Wire Lace workshop this coming weekend ...I have 3 days snoofying around before it with my friend so I will post all the gossip when I get back ... be good out there in Blog land - Cheers B.

New Wild Women brooches for Birthday

Hi All
I have been really busy the last 2 weeks.... getting ready for my Adelaide trip next week..... organising the things I need for the workshop itself and organising food for the family etc etc.... and also getting ready for this Easter Weekend .... have a fabulous Easter everyone.
It was my Birthday last Sunday (Yep! 21 again hahaha) my daughter and I went to Hillary's Boat Harbour and snoofied around the shops and had pancakes at one of the many cafe's ...mmmm mmm! The Hubby and Son were off at Aussie Rules Football as "son's" team were playing at the main Subiaco Oval down in Perth!
The 2 pics here are of 2 of a couple of my B'day Pressies... the first is from my friend Maureen - we are all (at my embroidery group) making each other Wild Women Brooches for each other's birthdays this year ... this is my Charleston Gal! - cool idea hehe! and the 2nd Wild Woman is from my friend April ... she looks like she has popped her finger in an electric socket doesn't she ? haha! ZAP! LOL! I love them both :-D
Last Friday evening was my son's year 12 School Ball and I will pop a pic or 2 of that on here soon ... Also during the day last Friday I had the 2nd day of the free Machine Embroidery workshop and spent the morning doing dispersal dyeing and the afternoon "playing" with free machining ... also more pics to come on that....
Today I got a brand new Vaccuum cleaner ... the other "died" 3 weesk ago and I had only had iot 9 months ... dunno what was actually wrong with it but we've been given a brand new one! so no excuses not to clean over the weekend!
Also today my 3 Moleskine Sketchbooks finally arrived ... I ordered them from a local art shop 9 weeks and 1 day ago! I want one of them for a journal for my travels to the UK in July... so I am glad they are finally here... Yay happy dance ... on the sad dance front though I subscribed to Quilting Arts Magazine at the end of last year and the first issue of my subscription arrived on Jan 27th so I stupidly thought that the next (bi-monthly) issue would arrive around March 27th!!! NO! I am still waiting for it ...13 days later and there is now no post until Tuesday afternoon because of the Easter break and I fly off to Adelaide in the morning at 9.45am on Tuesday so if it arrives whilst I am away the earliest I will see it will be Monday 20th when I get back! sad sad face :-( especially when I have seen it available at some places here in Perth since April 1st grrrr! ... only cosulation is my friend April subscribes too and hers hasn't arrived yet either! bah humbug!
Happy Easter and eat lots of choc mmm mmm!

Japan Neck purse

Hi All
Just a quick hello ... here is a pic of the Japan neck purse and earrings which I made last year - it was supposed to be an ATC but got converted to the purse front instead! hehe ..... I am madly working on my Wild Women brooches and have completed 2 but can't put the pic on here for a day or so as they are Birthday pressies and I haven't given them to my friend's yet....
This Friday is my baby boy's Year 12 School ball ...we have to go and collect the hire suit on Thursday after school ...I will be sure to take lots of picures and will no doubt pop one on here... it will be really wierd in November when he leaves school (the Aussie school year is February - December though the year 12's leave after exams in November - summer holidays is over Xmas/ January here when the weather is at it's hottest) as I will no longer have to do teh 10kms drive to school each morning then again in the afternoon... a whole 2 1/2 hours a week yay! - more studio time whoopie!!!)

Embroidered handbag

Hi All - I have been really busy the past week or so - getting ready for the Wire Lace workshop which I am teaching in 3 weeks time - also I have started working on this year's painted bobbin stock as well as a few large orders which I have "going through" at the moment. Never enough hours in the day is there?
I was a bit miffed (Putting it politely!!!) last Sunday when I discovered that my "Ott-Lite" True Colour Task lamp which I have had 2 1/2 to 3 years suddenly died last Sunday! The bulb is s'posed to last 10,000 hours ...mine will have done around 5,000 at a push! so I have been attempting to track down a replacement bulb - TALK ABOUT HEN's Teeth - you know ...RARE! Here in West Aus I can't find anywhere that stocks it ...the shop at which I bought it still sells them but not the replacement bulbs!!! as does another local large craft shop but they too don't sell the bulbs.... I have found 2 outlets ...an Embroidery/quilting shop right over the other side of the country in Queensland and a Scrap book place also over in Queensland!!! The bulbs cost AU$30-34 plus $9 postage ..... I have decided to get a completely new lamp from "the internet" a place over East Aus (I think in New South Wales) but it is a similar lamp (Aussie company rather than the USA Ott-Lite) and for AU$85 I can get the lamp with an additional replacement bulb and that price includes the postage!!! ... what a bargain! ...I am amazed though that these shops sell the lamps but not new bulbs for them ...sheesh! crazy!
Ok... now stepping off "soap box"!!!! hehe!
I was given 2 new "Wild Women Brooches today ... at my Embroidery Group (Stitchety Grubs) we are all making them for each other's Birthdays this year ...and as we usually meet 2 weekly this is the last meeting before my April B'day! I will take a photo of them over this weekend and post them on this blog. They are sooo cool hehe!
The pics here are of an embroidered Handbag which I did a few years ago ...and forgot I had it ...it was buried in my wardrobe!!!
Tomorrow it is the West Aus Lace Guild Lace Day and I am looking forward to catching up with some friends whom I haven't seen since the Cattern's Day meeting last November - (Cattern's Day is really "St Catherine's Day" she was the patron Saint of Lace makers - it is Nov 25th) so It's been 4 months! Oh and Thank you to those of you who were kind enough to leave a comment ... I do so love getting them ..... and I will be giving away a Wild Women Brooch which I mentioned in the previous post soon ... it is 3/4 done ... so stay tuned.....

Dolphin painting

Hello hello All - I have been without a computer for the last 5 days .... so a bit lax with the blogging! I have received 6 new ATC's in the last week and a half and will take pics of them in the next day or so for you to see... they are bewdiful hehe!
Also I will be doing a giveaway shortly as I see today (now I have this computer back) that I have "clocked up" 5003 visitors to my blog and also it will be 3 years in April since I started blogging ...so in celebration I will have a giveaway "Wild Woman Brooch" - so stay tuned.... I am making quite a few Wild Women brooches at the moment as my friends and I at my embroidery group and I are giving them to each other for our Birthdays this year and I am also making them for friends who I will be seeing on my travels - the Adelaide wire workshop which I am teaching in 4 weeks time and also the 6 week UK trip that I am going on at the end of July ..... nice light weight gifts to pop in the suitcase! The dolphin picture here I did in early December for a friend of mine to give to a young lass whom she looks after ...for Xmas ... so just to prove that I do paint on a large scale once in a blue moon and not always the tiny 17mm wide images I paint on Lace Bobbins! hehe!

The other 2 Wild Women Brooches

Here are the 2 other Wild Women Brooches which I received in the swap last September - The first one is called "Kinky Kamiko" she is beautiful and the more you look the more detail there is... her hair is wool and very effective and there are beads all down her "lapels" and also along the hem of her kimono and on her "hair piece". The other brooch is from a lady in UK (She is in the same group as the purply one at the top in my previous post dated 26th Feb 2009) - I love and wear them all :-D
I had an absolute ball at the Free Embroidery Worshop 1st Day last Friday ... a bit warm (33°c and only ocelating fans there) but I didn't have time to worry about it as we spent the morning doing sun dyeing and the afternoon preparing for Dispersal dyeing ... part 2 of the dispersal dyeing will be on Friday April 3rd ... I did remember to take a few pics and will get on and load them on this computer later in the week so that I can show you all..... I also must remember to take a pic of the 2 ATC's which I received last week ... one from Beryl in the UK -she was the winner of my neck purse in the "One World- One Heart" giveaway and it was sent in the most gorgeous card which I must take a pic of too.... the other ATC was from my friend Mary ... a fantastic needle lace one ..... stay tuned for the pics....

The Completed Wall Panel

Hi All - Here are some pics of my wall panel which I made last November/December.... you will remember seeing the first photo which shows the middle panel sewn together and ready for me to start embellishing ... after 6 intense weeks it was ready and hung on the wall on December 17th at 8.40 pm ...3 hours before my Sister-in-Law and her family arrived in from UK via New Zealand! talk about a tight deadline hahahaha!
The wooden hanger I found at a craft gallery/cafe in the Swan Valley here in Perth ... I am really pleased with it ... and it has been much admired (usually by me each night as it's right above the TV!!!)
It is my first day of the Machine Embroidery course tomorrow ... I have popped my camera in with my sruff and hope to be able to take pics..... more on that in the next post....

More pics of my Wall Panel

Embroidered Denim Cuff and new Grand Niece

Hi All
It's a long weekend here in Aus - (it is "Labour" Day on Monday) though I have to do some dreaded housework on Monday as I have the ladies from the little Quilt Group that I have been a member of for 13 years coming for the day - we take it in turns each month and March is my turn. The pics above are of a cuff that my friend Ros made for me last September ... I just received the news that I have another Grand Niece - number 3 ... Baby Jessica was born 4 hours and 20 mins ago in the UK -there's a pic here of my nephew Chris and new baby daughter hehe!

Wild Women Brooches

Here are two of the four Wild Women Brooches I received last year when I participated in the swap that Dale arranged .... the first was from a lady in the UK and the second a lady here in Perth (a couple of suburbs away!) I have worn them ...I wore one each day during the Australian Lace Guild Conference AGM week last September and received lots of compliments ... I have worn them several times now ... they are just gorgeous...
Don't forget I have ATC's for swapping (see post below)
I will be starting a Free Machine Embroidery Workshop on Friday March 6th it will be once a month on the first Friday of the month we will be doing "Sun dyeing" the first day ... I am really looking forward to it and will of course be taking pics and popping them on here! As most of you know I am predominently a hand embroiderer and it will be good to have some pointers for Machine embroidery.