A visitor to my studio

This darling little frog visited my studio last night along with three, not so welcome, huntsman spiders. We have had some rain just recently and the spiders come in to keep dry. I'm not sure how the frog got in, maybe when the door was open after the heat. He's now back outside in our pond.



This is my current jewellery project or should I say projects. I have a few pieces on the go at present.



These are some of the pages in my journal I'm making for my etsy store, it will have all decorated papers of different weights and sizes, as well as some of my altered art type pages. It's taking longer than I thought but I hope to have it finished soon.



These are some new papers I've been working on this weekend, they are now available on my Etsy




My drawer fetish continues. I found these again at The Warehouse, they are so useful as they open down, like the old hardware store drawers.

I'll be teaching another altered book workshop this coming Sunday, March 2nd at Hann Made Studio in Mentone, there are still places available if anyone is interested. The phone number is in my side bar.

Thanks to everyone who drops by my blog and to those who leave comments too, I really appreciate knowing there are people out there who take the time to check out what I'm up to. I try to reply either by email or visiting your blogs, but there are some people I'm unable to answer as there is no link, to those I say a collective thank you. Thanks also to those who visit my Etsy and especially to those who have purchased from me, you are all so very kind.

Great new Photoshop frames

I can't believe a whole week has passed since my last post. Where does the time go?
I suppose on working and making jewellery, if I stop and think about it. Below is my latest necklace, this is another of my favourites, I love the colours. It amazes me how different this piece looks on a coloured background as you can see in the second photo, it takes on the colours around it. It has lots of crystals and rhinestones which pick up the colour. This piece is on my Etsy store





Now to the photoshop findings. I had an email from Gillian Allen who runs Art-e-zine. Gillian has added a new tutorial with all sorts of links here . These are some of the effects you can achieve, with your photos, very easily. Gillian runs a fabulous site with all manner of tutorials and lots of fabulous inspirational pages.





We're back to summer again with temperatures in the 30'sC. This is the view from our front door and up the garden path.



We have a saying in Australia 'true blue' which means real or real Aussie. This flower definitely fits the bill, it's a miniature agapanthus, which I think originates from Africa, but this little beauty was developed here in the hills by a local nursery. It's a true blue and gives such a wow factor to the garden



This ginger flower is one of my favourite perfumed plants, the whole garden has this beautiful heady perfume, especially towards evening. The bees love it too as this little chap shows, he was so intoxicated on nectar he didn't even notice me.



Finally I have to let you know about this fabulous artist Michelle Moode, she does wonderful things with pen, ink and fabric. This is a piece I purchased from her etsy . The image is only small but so much detail and work, I love what she does which is amazing as she doesn't use a lot of colour, it must be my other side showing through.

Creative weekend

This post is a bit of a jumble. I've had a busy weekend making jewellery and decorating paper, as well as baby sitting one of my delightful grand daughters. The weekend goes way too fast, it's almost over here in Oz.




The necklace above has gone to Touchstone gallery in Olinda today. It has a vintage look to it. I love the colour and apparently it's very popular at present. I'm making a similar one to add to my Etsy site later in the week.



The decorated papers are for a journal I'm making to sell on my Etsy site. It will have all decorated pages and some of my artwork scattered through out. There will be no blank white paper in this one, it will be all ready to go to add images, words, artwork, whatever. I hope to have that finished by next weekend.



This is a page in my journal that I worked on, driving to and from work, while sitting in traffic, waiting for the lights to change. It's amazing how much you can do just doodling and there's no road rage, I arrive at my destination much calmer and relaxed,
quite often covered in marker ink, but hey who cares, that's art.



Finally, when I was rummaging around in one of my drawers of trims, I noticed all of these colour combinations and textures and took shots, I love the eclectic mix.

Judy came to play

I had a fabulous time with Judy when she came to Melbourne with Michael who was teaching classes here. Judy came to play in my studio on Saturday and then we went to Camberwell market on Sunday. Judy was like a kid in a toy shop, she'd never seen a market quite like it. They sell just about everything, including lots of old stuff reasonably cheap, we tend to take it for granted assuming they have similar in other states, but apparently not. I bought some nice old jewellery that I can take apart and re-use. It was quite a warm day so by the end we were wilting, but we still managed to find the strength to visit an old book store, that has some magnificent old books, papers, journals and very old document, needless to say, we didn't come away empty handed.



On the Saturday night we went out to dinner with Judy and Michael and some of the students from Michael's class, including the very entertaining Jen Crossley . All I can say is Jen kept us very entertained (and we have it on video Jen) with some colourful language when Judy gave her a lovely surprise, which I'll leave Jen to show on her blog.
Judy made me this beautiful journal, I can't wait to work in it, it's divine. All the colour in my studio was quite a shock to her, she was working on a project and had to compromise as I don't have very many dark products, she did very well with what I had.





Finally this is another pair of earrings that are for sale on my Etsy store

In a good cause

I was asked by Monica if I would join a group of fellow bloggers to create a 2 inch square, decorated with paper, fabric whatever I had on hand. Most people have made at least one, these are my three. Monica is going to join up all the squares and make a doll and hopefully a quilt that will be sent to Art Doll Quarterly and then auctioned on Ebay. The proceeds will go to help fight breast cancer. There's still plenty of time to contribute. If you'd like to help please visit Monica's 'girl gone thread wild' blog




These are a pair of earrings I made from some vintage rhinestone and crystal pieces I had, they are on my Etsy store along with the pair below which feature very tiny lockets that actually open and have room for two images in each locket.



I was also invited by Seth from 'the altered page" blog along with many fellow artists to answer seven questions about art. Each day Seth is featuring the answers to one of the questions. It's interesting to read the amazing range of answers.

Gotta go now my dremel's calling.

Drawer fetish

I have to confess, I have this drawer fetish. My studio has a myriad of sets of drawers, wooden, metal, plastic, even cardboard.
The photos show my latest collection, they are very tiny, ideal for all my small elements and found objects. I started out with one set as they were very cheap in price and quality, but once I realized how useful they were I had to have more. For you Aussies and New Zealanders out there, I bought them at the Wharehouse, a chain that sells pretty much everything very cheap, the quality is not always brilliant though. These were originally $9.50 AU dollars, but I bought them on special for $2.50. Needles to say they are almost full of my little treasures.

I also have photos of my latest jewellery that I'll be adding to my Etsy store today





Here's a couple of photos of my jewellery desktop, the drops lined up are ready to be assembled into a new necklace. The other photo is typical of the things I collect, these are very, very old buttons. I've used a couple in the copper earrings above.




I thought it was about time I added some artwork as well as jewellery, which seems to have taken over my life at present.
Here's a page from my latest altered book, I'll probably add images to the pages later.



And finally, do I hear a cheer, this is a site I meant to mention on my last entry. They are trying to get like minded blogs from around the world out there. They contacted me and asked if I'd mind if they did an entry about my blog, to which I agreed. Here's the link Queen Kat's bloggers club They are doing a great job.

Sorry one last thing. Thanks to the lovely Judy Scott and the very talented Waltraud for both nominating me for 'You make my day' award
I would like to nominate all the blogs I visit on a daily basis, you're all wonderful artists and blogger friends. I promise I'll go now. See ya.

More jewellery on Etsy

I only have two more days then it's back to the grind of full time work again. Not happy Jan (the Aussies will know what I mean). I've been so busy making jewellery and my ABRR that I haven't had time for journaling, sigh, not that I'm complaining. I took lots of earrings and brooches to one of the galleries and came back with an order for three more necklaces, which was wonderful.
The brooches and earrings above are all available on my Etsy store . I've been working with hearts for a Valentine's theme. Must get back to it, the hours are slipping away.