Journal workshop

Just letting you know I will be holding a decorated papers, journal workshop at home on Saturday the 13th of March. If you're interested in attending please email me for details. I still have a couple of places left.

This is the finished journal.

These are typical papers that we will make to go into the journal.

I'd again like to thank everyone for visiting my blog and leaving all of your lovely comments, it's so difficult to get around to you all personally, I try but working full time and my jewellery and other art ventures doesn't leave me a lot of time to catch up with everyone, so thank you all, your comments are very much appreciated.

I spent most of Saturday with my brother and sister trying to find a suitable aged care facility for my mother, she's eighty five and had a fall four weeks ago. She had to have surgery due to bleeding on the brain, this has left her with very little movement down her left side, she struggles to move and can't sit up at all. We're hoping there might be a chance she will improve, but things aren't looking too good. My eighty eight year old father is finding it difficult to come to terms with as he's been her carer for the past ten years, he's done an amazing job. It's so sad to see it come to this.

I've finally started the 'Princess wall" for one of my little princesses. She is a great supervisor making sure I get the colours right. Here's where I'm at so far. I'll show more photos as it progresses.

I've just completed another hand made journal hopefully to sell at the retreat in March. I hope to have a few more made as well as some jewellery, canvases and hand carved stamps. Busy busy.

The cover is hand painted canvas lined with fabric.

This is the inside showing the fabric lining.

These are just a few of the pages.

And how's this for artistic coffee, there's a lovely cafe not far from home where they make fabulous food and great coffee, it tastes as good as it looks.

I couldn't resist this photo, we pass these trees on our daily walk near home, the flowers are delightful. I finally remembered to take my camera with me last week. I had to use the flash to try to capture the true colour, they are the most magnificent of our flowering gums (eucalyptus ficifolia), the trees are usually alive with our equally colourful lorikeets.

More soon, enjoy your week.

Blog Hopping

You probably all know by now how I admire Susan Lennart Kazmer's work and how I can't wait to attend her classes when she comes here in March. Well, Jen from her design team at Objects and Elements is organizing a blog hop showing how people are using Ice Resin in their work. If you want to see what others are doing just visit the links below.

My piece is a silver spoon that has orange sari silk in the base with a tiny globe inside an oxidized copper frame. The whole thing has been filled with the Ice Resin and I dropped in small pieces of silver solder around the edges before the resin dried. I added wire and beads and attached it to one of my hand wired and soldered chains. I may still add a couple of other things to the chain.

Don't forget to check out the other participants

Susan Lenart Kazmer http://susan-lenart-kazmer.blogspot.com/

Shea Fragoso http://www.whathappensnext.typepad.com/

 Molly Alexander  http://beautifullybrokenme.blogspot.com/

Karen Burns http://web.me.com/vintagefindings/Vintage_Findings/Blog/Blog.html

Keecia Frazee Deveney  http://www.lemoncholys.blogspot.com/

Mary Jane Dodd  -- Mary Jane  http://mairedodd.blogspot.com/

Melanie Earthenwood  http://earthenwood-beads.blogspot.com

Shea Fragoso http://www.whathappensnext.typepad.com/

Kerin Gale http://remnantsofolde.com/posts/

Vickie Hallmark http://fiberartglass.blogspot.com/

Jess Italia Lincoln http://www.vintaj.com/wpblog/

Jill Liles http://livngoodjewelry.blogspot.com/

Heather Powers  http://www.humblebeads.blogspot.com/ and http://www.artbeadscene.blogspot.com/

Amy Purdes http://www.spritecreations.blogspot.com/

Jenny Barnett  Rohrs  http://www.crafttestdummies.com/

Stephanie Rubiano  http://www.soigathered.typepad.com/

Lisa Sommerville http://www.lisasomerville.com/2010/02/kitchen-sink-stamps-altered-jewelry.html

Kim Taylor http://sassycrafter.blogspot.com/

Jen cushman  http://www.objectsandelements.typepad.com/jencushman/

Deryn Mentock http://somethingsublime.typepad.com/

Kristen Robinson http://kristenrobinson.typepad.com/

Barbe Saint John  http://barbesaintjohn.blogspot.com/

Graffiti workshop

For some time now I've admired the work and style of Alisa Burke, she has such an uninhibited, unique way of painting. I decided to enroll in her latest online workshop and boy is it fun. I need to loosen up in my painting and this is certainly one way to go about it.

This is an unfinished canvas that I've had sitting on my easel for about eighteen months. I was stuck and had no idea where it was going to lead.

  

So I decided to give it a new life, this became my first stage of the technique.

It needed something so I added yellow

and just kept going. I'm not sure if I'll do any more or not, I'll let it sit in my studio for awhile and see if it speaks to me. I'm really enjoying the workshop and new techniques.

I seem to always be making red necklaces, they just keep evolving in this colour combination. This one is for my stall at Creative Soul retreat in March

Back with more soon.

Needle felting

I've been wanting to have a try at needle felting for some time now but rushed out and bought the needles when I saw this video clip by Rice. She makes it look so easy and it is. After contacting her I got some tips on how to shrink my jumper and it worked, usually I spend hours plunging woollens into boiling water then into freezing cold water and all I get is shriveled hands. 

It didn't take long to produce the piece in the image, I'm going to add beads and stitching to it.

I thought I would scan it into my computer rather than take a photo and the image above is the result, it looks like it has a filter applied to it. This gave me the idea to try some photoshop filters on it and the ones below are the result.

This has the posterize filter applied.

This is the watercolour filter

This is the fresco filter

I might have to print these out and use them in my journals.

To finish off here's a couple more shots in my studio.

This is one of the shelf units that houses some of my paints.

The fabrics in this photo are from very old Japanese work garments, there are about thirty square pieces, some already patched and stitched from all of their years of wear. I bought them in Japan around fifteen years ago. The lady in the shop asked what I was going to do with them and I said I would probably turn them into a quilt. She picked up a pile and stroked them gently, she said we just look at them. And guess what after all these years I just look at them too. I want to use them in something special but until I can create quilts like Jude I'll just look at them.