Kangaroo Paw

I took this pic a few weeks ago (during the conference- on the day off) There are several "paws" in the family but this particular one is the Western Australian State Floral Emblem (Mangles' Kangaroo Paw).... I have painted it very small many times onto lace bobbins! I am off to Wire Lace Day tomorrow and am going to do a Christmas decoration ... from a Jana Novak book ...only uses 3 pairs so not many bobbins to wind haha! I hope to take some more pics next week of crafty stuff ... I seem to have a lot of "real" pics not many craft subjects ... probably coz I haven't had a lot of time to do crafty stuff ...too busy workin' :( ho hum ....

At the beach! and sexy sox!

Hi

Here are a few shots that I took down in Albany at Middleton Beach ... we were collecting shells and I decided to take same "arty" pics ...

I went to our Wsetern Australian Lace Guild Lace Day yesterday ... a good turn out and I took some of my ATC's to show off ... the ones I have receieved as well as some I have available still for swapping ... we - the West Aus members - are planning on having a "swap session" at one of our monthly Lace days next year (hoping actually that it will be at the April one). Those of us who have already participated in swapping are trying to educate and convert those who haven't been "bitten" by the bug! It's slowly working haha! After the AGM dinner at the conference recently we had a "slipper/sock" party in my room ... here is a pic of our "tootsies" LOL Haha! :D Can you guess which is my foot?

View from my room

Here is a pic of the Flame Tree which was outside my bedroom at the units we stayed at in Albany ... I took a close up arty farty shot too! haha!

I bought some scrapbooking motifs today at the cheap $2 shop near where I go to Wednesday Lace Group ... 200 shapes in each bag... 1 bag of butterflies, 1 of heart shapes, 1 of star shapes and the last of flower shapes. They are sort of fabricky (new word? haha!). The colours are pastel iridescent in shades of ... orange, a light pink, a mid pink, a purple, a green and there could be some others ... I haven't opened the bags yet.... I will use some of them on ATC's as well as incorporating them into embroidery. I need to make some cards soon (for Birthday's etc) When I dig out the camera I will take some pics and post on here.

I also got a small bag of "holly leaves" with "that" time of the year nearly upon us.

I have made my 2 kids an Xmas decoration every year since they were born so that one day when (!!!!) they move out they will be able to "dress" their own trees. Not sure what I will actually do this year ... as some of you will have seen in old blog entry on here that last year I painted big "Gumnuts". Any ideas for quick decorations??????? I have done various beaded ones over the years and little ones in felt, cross stitched ones, decorated polystyrene balls ...etc ..... I am always on the look out for ideas :D

Oh! and just in case you are wondering .....I do make myself a decoration each year too as our tree would be very "nude" at some point in the future if I didn't now wouldn't it? hee hee! :D

Lace Weekend away

Hi All

Here are some pics from my Lace weekend away at the beginning of September... we stayed at a different place this year ... lovely units which have their own little lake on the grounds. The bullfrogs were very loud at night (thank goodness for earplugs haha) and the ducks were up early apparentley too! This one was a bit unsociable ... there were actually 3 pics ...3rd time lucky to get him without his head tucked somewhere! I have been really busy the last 2 weeks ... DD turned 18 early last week and I have been madly painting Lace bobbin orders from the AGM at the end of September... still got quite a few more to do and also to get stock up together for the November annual "Cattern's Day Lace Fair" here in Perth -Cattern's Day is an abbreviated name for St. Catherine's day (Catherine was the patron saint of lacemakers).

Surprisingly we are one of only a couple of States here in Australia who celebrate Cattern's Day!

I have started my Xmas shopping and want to do what I did last year (for the first time) and that is to have all the present shopping done by the end of November!

Great Conference Week

Hi All

Betchya all thought I had fallen off the edge of the world??? haha! I had a fabulous week teaching at the Australian Lace Guild Conference and I got to catch up with all my friends from all over Australia ... My students produced some great wire Jewellery of which about 5 of them wore the pendants and earrings to the Conference dinner which was great to see.

Here is a pic of my first ATC's which I made quite a while ago but was unable to put the pic on here as they were for the 9 National Committee members. (At last year's conference I one 9 ATC's by them so these were in return). Now that they have been given them I can put the pic on here :D When I went to the lace weekend 3 weeks ago in Albany my friends and I got to wander along the local beach collecting shells and I took some arty shots so I will post them over next few entries ... I will try and get back to blogging regularly again. My daughter is 18 on Tuesday so I am looking forward to celebrating that with close friends at a nearby restaurant .... have the bubbly ready! and yes there is bound to be chocolate involved! haha!

Lace Conference

Just a quick Hi ... I have been sooooooo busy getting ready for the beginning of the week long Australian Lace Guild Conference ... it starts this Sunday but I am heading down on Saturday - a day early- so I can go and snoofy around the shops in Freo ... I have a lace guest - Shell from Tasmania - arriving tomorrow and she is staying for 3 nights then we drive on down together. I still have a few "teachy" things to get organised the next couple of days but I am "skiving" on Friday and driving Shell to the Swan Valley - http://www.swanvalley.com.au/home.html - those of you reading this overseas - that is our local "wine region" and there is of course the lovely "Margaret River Chocolate factory http://www.chocolatefactory.com.au/ yep not sure who will be leading whom astray LOL hahaha! :D
I will be sure to take pics and give you all the goss from next week .... including the ATC swap which they have asked me to co-host on Monday arvo (Aussie slang for afternoon) - I have 27 ATC's to swap ... probably going to have quite a few left over so will swap any left on here....
Back soon ...:D

Blog troubles :(

Hi
I had a great weekend down in Albany ...I have some pics but haven't been home to load them on the computer! I have been trying to put the NeoCounter back on this page tonight but it won't let me :( I am soooooo fed up with trying to sort it out in the template ...the silly codes are all so much jargon ..... sheesh! How do all the other bloggers out there manage to have lots of ring links on their pages when I can't even get the one Embellisher one I had before we updated this B****** page! bah humbug!
Grrrrrrrrrrrr >:( It has been wet and wild here today ... and it's s'posed to be "showery" all week.... wonder where Spring went hmmmmmmmmmm haha LOL!

Back soon

Hi All
Just a quick note to say I am off very early in the morning tomorrow for my Lace weekend in Albany - the actual workshop is Saturday and Sunday but for those of you who don't know ... it is a 5 hour drive (includes a 15 min bathroom break!) so by leaving early we get there around 1pm and can go to the Patchwork Warehouse and the Craft shop yay! I will be driving back Monday in time to collect son from High School.... so catch you next week ... have a great (crafty) weekend and take care :D yep the wine and choc are packed ... gotta get the priorities right hahaha! :-)))))))))))))

More Lacey ATC's and Needlecases

Hi - Here is the other pic of some of my needlecase collection .... the pic shows some of my Wooden, Silver, Cow horn and beaded cases .... The bean pod one is special as a lace friend's Hubby made it.... following a traditional antique design.

Also here is a pic of 8 more Lacey ATC's though I have decided to keep the one at bottom left ... yep it's on some "yellow Duster" from Pat (http://alteringthoughts.blogspot.com/ )

-sorry still haven't learnt how to do that link thingie and don't have time this month to sit and play ... hope to find time after the teaching at the Aus Lace Guild AGM which is only 3 weeks away tonight!!!! Going back to that ATC there is just something about the pic and the way it came out I am gonna have to keep it! haha! I have another 10 ATC's in "mid make" ..... not sure if I will get them done in time for the conference but I have a few other things to get done which have priority so I will have to see how time goes...... Dear daughter flew back in today via Malaysia from her UK 5 week trip but her suitcase isn't due to land another 4 hours and coming via Singapore!!!! and will apparently be delivered by 9 am tomorrow .... so have to wait for any likkle pressies (if I have one!) I know she has something for her Dad and brother!

It's Father's Day here in Australia tomorrow and I have just realised I have done nothing about wrapping the pressies from the teeanage kids ...shame they haven't learnt to do it themselves hmmmmmmmmmmmm! ....

Needlecase Collection

Hi
I have been soooooooooooooo busy the last week or so ... all the preparations for the workshop I am teaching at the Australian Lace Guild in 3 and a half weeks are coming to a crescendo! ... I have spent the last 4 days winding Enamel Coated Copper coloured Wire onto small reels, selecting beads and putting "findings" into little "kit" bags for the students who are participating .... those doing the 2 day workshop will make one or other of the 2 sets of jewellery (See first blog entry for last February) or if they are doing the 4 day workshop and are very industrious!!! they can have a go at both designs! I have also been varnishing around 180 bobbins and still have a batch of about 50 to start varnishing! Here is a pic which I took at the Lace Day back in June and forgot was in the camera .. the display for the meeting was "Needlecases" (I started collecting needlecases just over 5 years ago) ...these are the fabric ones made by me and various luvly friends and I will post a pic in a couple of days of some of the cases which are made from wood, bone, metal etc...... If you click on the pic you can see more detail ....(Pat do you recognise yours? :D)

Stitchety Grubs Stitches

Hi

These two pics (specifically) for my "fellow" Stitchety Grub Embroidery Gals ... a pic of Ros's "Chambray blues" jacket and Colleen's Crazy patch bag (with of course her own handmade bobbin lace on it!) We have all done our last Month's Pekinese Stitch and are now onto this month's "Chain Stitch" -I haven't actually started mine yet but I know which little square of my Pantoran (see earlier blog postings) I will do it on ....I will do it in fine thread as ripples around the gorgeous "totoise" button a lace friend gave me 2 years ago ...I have been saving it for something special ... now is the time haha! I will ofcourse post a pic when done ....I have been busy varnishing around 180 bobbins at the mo and a another batch of 40-50 will need doing after that .... and I am also working on the Wire Lace workshop notes and of course luvly ATC's .... (spoken or rather written like a true addict haha! :-D) No peace for the wicked!!! he he he waggling eybrows!

ATC's ...still haha!

This is a pic of my first ATC which I made back in March for Pat (Hi Pat :D) I forgot I had taken a pic of it and it was loaded on along with the other various pics which I finally put on my puter last weekend. My last post was Sunday and on Monday I made another 8 ATC's ...yep am getting addicted haha! but haven't taken a pic yet ... haven't had time. I did take the ATC's along to one of the Lace Groups I go to on Wednesday to try and get the others to have a go (not sure any will!) There was a lacemaker lady visiting from New Zealand and she seemed very keen so I gave her one of my ATC's to get her started! I am madly preparing my teaching notes and patterns for the Conference next month ...the days are going by soooooooo fast .. .I will be going down to Albany 3 weeks tomorrow and will spend 2 whole days working on my Russian mat, yakking, eating, boozing! (in the evenings gotta have a glass of vino!) and generally veging out ... it's gonna be great! 'specially as there will be me and my mate, Ros (we usually both go) and 2 mates who are flying over early (for a bit of a holiday before the conference) from Victoria. Waa hoo!

Russian mat "update"

As promised a couple of weeks ago... here is an updated pic of my Russian Mat ... I really haven't had much chance to work on it this year ... only the odd "Lace Day" here and there and as all lacemakers know (those who attend Lace Days) you only get to put in a few pins at a lace day- 6 if you are lucky hahahaha! :-D

I am planning on taking it down to Albany in early September to work on it over the 2 days of their "Lace Weekend" . (For those of you overseas - Albany is a little town down South of Perth it is a solid 5 hour drive from my house ... so my friends and I will head down on a Friday ... make Lace for 2 days (Yay!) then head back on the Monday!). This will be my 14th consecutive "Albany Weekend" I will have to paint myself a bobbin to commemmorate year 15 next year! and take some "bubbly" down :-D oh and of course choccie haha!

Lacey ATC's

Hi

Here is a pic of 6 of the ATC's which I have been busy with over the last few days... I have done an additional 9 too but they are for specific people and I will try to remember to post the pic of them in about 7 weeks time after the Aus Lace Guild conference week.

All the lace is hand made - using a variety of techniques: tatting, and bobbin lace ... I bought some more sequins last week too ...dontcha luv it when you get something new like that and you sew them onto everything ... my son better make sure he doesn't stand still near me or he could end up with them on his Footy shirt (he might get a 'complex"..... though of course he has known for years that his Mum is nuttier than a fruit cake hahaha! :-D)

From "Duster" to artwork!

Hi
Here is a pic of one of the dusters which Pat at
http://alteringthoughts.blogspot.com/ sent me back in mid March. I ironed tiny bits of polyester "fluff" stuff which I bought for a couple of dollars onto it (I think I mentioned this in previous blog entries) then added Angelina fibres, stuck it between "glad Bake" paper and ironed it -then free motion embroidered it with metallic thread. Next I will add some bits of various knitting wools ... and do a bit more machine embroidery then embellish with bits of my hand made lace, sequins, beads etc ..... I will use some of it to make ATC's for the upcoming Australian Lace guild Conference swap ... If there's anyone out there in "blogland" reading this who would like to exchange ATC's with me please do get in touch :-D - there is supposed to be a display of ATC"s at the conference as well as the swapping going on but all I have is one card which the lovely Pat sent me when she sent the duster package and a set of 9 made by the Lace Guild Committee gals last year which I was lucky enough to win.... I am so "behind the eight ball" when it comes to ATC's mainly 'cos time has been scarce this year! I have lots of embroidery projects planned for after this years conference ... the teaching side of things is a great consumer of time!

Inchies with tiny tatted bits!

Hi

I have been really busy the last week and a half hence why I haven't had a chance to do any blog entries!

I also have some pics in the camera and need to take some more. I have been doing a few ATC's ready for the swaps that will be taking place during the Australian National AGM Conference week at the end of September! Here are a couple of pics of the early stages of some of the Inchies I made a few weeks ago.... I have been also madly tatting tiny little bits to embellish them with.

I am trying to get my bobbin orders done too ... on Monday there was a vague light at the end of the tunnel but yesterday and again today I had a couple more orders come in hmmmmm. So it's into the studio tomorrow and time to get the paints running "hot"... I went to an op shop today and managed to get a copy of a big book by Steve Parish of Australian Rainforests ... beaut ... as it is the theme for the 2009 Australian Lace Guild Triennial Lace Competition ... I already had 2 books on this topic but I had coveted this one several years ago when I was doing the City & Guilds..... back then I borrowed it from the local library.. so Yay! :-D I am doing a happy dance that I have my own copy ...haven't had a chance to look through it yet but when I move away from this computer tonight and over to my comfy chair with my cuppa tea and some choccie I can give it my full attention!

A few weeks ago my daughter helped me update to the newer blog and she put a pic up for my "title" but unfortunately I lost my Blog Embellisher ring logo box thingie and also my Neo Counter ... foobah! I guess I will have to redo it sometime :-(

Old ! Embroideries

Here are a couple of embroideries which I did about 15 years ago! I found them again recently when tidying the studio!! I didn't get a chance yesterday to take pics with the camera as I had hoped... but spent the whole day working - painting bobbin orders ...and again today ... feels a bit like swimming in custard! sigh! :-D

So hence the two pics which I took a few weeks ago!

Hello!

Hi
I am hoping to take some photo's tomorrow and load them on Monday as the kids have used up all our "fast time" and the computer is on a "go slow" and it's driving me nuts!
So "hold that thought" and come back for a visit in a couple of days :-D

Altar Cloth 3

Hi
This is the Altar cloth at St Nicholas's Church, Ashmore in Dorset. I took this last year too on the UK trip but it is also the church where I got married just over 22 years ago and yep this cloth was on the altar then too LOL! :-D

Bumble bee

This pic was taken by me last year on my UK trip in a beautiful Garden called "Larmer Tree" near the village in which I grew up in Dorset. It was a fabulous day weatherwise and hardly anyone else there ... I took this pic cos my Australian friend who was travelling with me had never seen a Bumble Bee before as we don't have them here in Aus!! I had forgotten all about this pic until I was reminiscing through some of the pics and found it....