Full circle

I feel like I have completed a full circle with this new book I'm making. Believe it or not I used to create vintage and sepia many years ago. Back in the 'earthy' days. I live in a log cabin with some internal mud brick walls, back then everything was 'browns' and a la natural. Now things have changed, I still live in the same house but the timber and adobe walls have become more, shall we say, Mexican, Bali, Mediterranean style colours as has my art.

The pages above are a few from a booking I'm making to teach in a 'Vintage Book' all day workshop at Hann Made in Mentone in June. The memories came flooding back, staining the papers with tea and coffee. I remember staining our timber floor with a very strong brew of coffee, the house smelt wonderful for days.

I'm also carving stamps and putting together kits for the Altered book workshop I'm teaching at our Artistic Journey Retreat here in May, Nina, Misty and Traci Bautista are also teaching workshops at the retreat, so I feel very honoured to be in their presence. I'll have photos of the kits when they're complete.

Decorated papers and sneak peaks

These are some papers I've been decorating for journals and my paper packs. I will be teaching this and other methods in my next workshop at Hann Made Studio in Mentone on April 20th. The workshop covers decorated papers and them making them into a journal. The phone number to book for this class is in my side bar.






Above are sneak peaks of the pages I did in Judy's book in our ABRR. The title of the book is protection and was quite a challenge. If you want to see a fantastic book visit her blog here and see Judy's latest work, this is one very talented lady.

Vintage shades of aqua

Wow, the weather here has been stinking. The temperature is 38C as I write, with no end in site. It's autumn here but Mother Nature seems to have forgotten.
I've spent the last two days inside making the necklace above. It's listed on my Etsy
I'm also making, don't fall off your chair, a vintage book, me vintage, for a class I'll be teaching at Hann Made later in the year.
I'll have photos soon. The book is made using mount board. Believe it or not I used to be a vintage girl some years ago, until I saw the light, just kidding, I'm very adaptable.

Sneak peaks

I've mentioned before that I am participating in an ABRR between eight of us in Australia and seven from the US. We've finally decided that it's OK to put the sneak peaks that we show on our private blog on our own blogs. We are now working in the books from the US. These are snippets from my two pages in Carla's book. The theme for Carla's book is 'Day's of our lives', so needless to say mine has lots of colour.
When I get a chance I'll do a patchwork of photos of the other peaks in the earlier books

Pisces

This is what my jewellery table top looks like most of the time. The jumble is a necklace in progress.



The usual chaos of my studio, so many projects all at different stages.



The finished product. Another necklace to go on my Etsy . The lovely pearl fish, hence the name Pisces, were given to me by Judy . I actually made the wire rings, soldered them, then flattened them, I really enjoyed making this piece.




This is the one that started it all, this is mine, it's made from lots of old beads I've collected over the years, my own hand made beads, found objects, old earrings, even a picture of my grandchildren. I think it's become my mascot, people regularly say, 'I don't remember your face, but I remember your necklace'. It's not the lightest piece I've made but I'm used to it.




These are some of my hand carved stamps and stencils, photographed on some of my papers that I've used them on. This is for Michelle Ward's Street team crusade No 18 . This time Michelle is asking people to show their hand made stamps and stencils, so here's mine. I still have quite a few more, probably on one of my table tops somewhere.



Thanks also to Marie and Penny for tagging me re seven more questions about myself, I'll really have to think over this one.

Altered book workshop

Here are some photos of the students from my last altered book workshop. They were very enthusiastic as you can see from their faces. A lot of work was created by everyone.



This is the lovely June who tried to tell us at the beginning of class that she had no artistic talent whatsoever. I think we managed to change her mind. June created some wonderful pages and saw napkins and paint in a whole new light.



Kerri was very keen, she had even started a book before she arrived to class, I've never seen such a prolific student, she churned out some beautiful pages, so full of colour and interest.



Darling Marty's a regular at the workshops, she has a wonderful altered book she's created, but she wanted to decorate some papers ready for the hand made journal class coming up in April, she almost has enough papers now to make a journal, she was so productive.



Margaret has also been to the workshop before and her book is looking really lovely. Margaret puts a lot of thought into her pages and has created some wonderful pieces.



I think this was Sue's third class, unfortunately she had to leave early, so she wasn't able to create as much as she would have liked. Raelene has also been to the workshop before, she now works at the studio where the class is held.

The next workshop is a decorated papers and hand made journal class on the 20th April. We also have a class making a vintage book on the 22nd June. I'm making a sample so will have photos on my blog as it progresses.

Shades of green

Another week, another necklace, I can't believe it's seven days since I lasted posted, I'll have to try and catch up. The necklace above is the latest one on my Etsy

I've been tagged by Linda and Opie and Toni to answer six things about myself, I've done this once before so I'm racking my brains trying to think, here goes

1 I was a lucky survivor of the Ash Wednesday bush fires here, twenty five years ago, I can't believe it was so long ago, it still makes me shiver to think about it. Our house was surrounded by fire, but we were one of the lucky ones.

2 I was obsessed with owning a box of Derwent coloured pencils when I was young and promised to marry a boy in grade four at primary school when he gave me a box for my birthday. I wonder if he's forgotten.

3 I met my best friend when I came out from England fifty years ago and we're still best friends and I still send a card each year to my best friend, in England, prior to coming to Australia.

4 My favourite TV shows are the English murder mysteries, Midsummer murders, Miss Marple, Silent Witness.

5 Daffodils are my favourite flower

6 I'm an avid collector of stuff, beads, art materials, old junk. I might be able to use it one day. Mean while my husband tells me he won't visit my studio unless he's wearing a hard hat.

The rules say I have to select six more people to tag, but I'll tag whoever hasn't been tagged before and wishes to do so.



I've also received a You Make My Day award from Sharon . Thanks Sharon you've helped make my day. You all make my day, so thanks everyone.