Bilum - em Tasol

Experiment: paint chips, paint stix, inks and embossing plates

2012-01-24T17:25:00.000-08:00

Just recently a friend of mine from Split Coast Stampers (Misstreez) had been using her Shiva Paintstiks and had wondered whether they could be used for stamping. I have wondered this myself on a few occasions. So yesterday I finally took out my Paintstiks for a bit of a mess around. I haven't had them out for a while, so they were all dry and needed to be peeled.

For those of you who don't know, Shiva Paintstiks are like long fat crayons but are made of paint without much oil. They are mostly used for rubbings for fabric and used in quilting. The company that makes them has a website here. This is what three of mine look like:

(They are about 12cm long)

(Photos can be clicked on for a larger view)

So to find out whether or not they could be stamped with, I took a brown one (not shown ) and scrapped a little onto a non stick surface and added a few drops of oil. I used a wooden skewer to mix it. It was thick and lumpy and even after a while of both stirring and leaving it sit to dissolved - it just stayed fairly thick. More oil just made it more of the same and oily. So really for stamping it was not very good -

You can see from the picture - the brown flower is the Paintstik stamped onto ordinary cardstock and the pink flower is the stamp with normal stamping ink and embossing powder. Just too lumpy to be really effective as a stamping medium. If I really want to stamp with paint, I can use my acrylic paints (which are better with foam stamps than rubber stamps) or just buy ordinary oil paint and go from there.

Now I have to say, this is not to denigrate Paintstiks in anyway, it is just that from this little experiment, I feel they are not useful for stamping.

So while I had them out, I thought about some earlier experiments I had done, by rubbing a Paintstik on the surface of an embossing plate and then putting cardstock onto it and running it through my Bigshot dye cutter and dry embosser. Lately I have been collecting paintchips just for the heck of it, and playing with them. So I lay one of the chips on a suitable coloured up embossing plate and look:

I love the effects - this one using a sort of cobblestone plate. The pink being the Painstik colour and the lighter part being the paint chip. The lighter part is indented. I did a couple more because it is hard to wash off and so wanted a few more for some scrapbooking I will be doing later.

So because it is so difficult to clean off the embossing plates, I thought if I dry emboss and apply the stick after, what would happen? This:

This was achieved by putting in the paintchips one up and one down and running through the Bigshot. Then getting the paint stick and lightly running it over the ridges of the indentations. This will make a nice fish or mermaid tail...

Hmm, so I thought dark on light is nothing unusual, but when using stamping ink, if you want light on dark, stamping ink doesn't work all that well, and you are better off using coloured embossing powder and Versamark/watermark ink.

So I grabbed a dark paint chip and whizzed it through, and hmmm....

So I think that the raindrops are a bit too far apart for this to be conclusive. But I think both cases make the raindrops look dimensional which is a good thing. It is a thing I will have to play around with a bit more.

Well, so then I thought I would play around with dry embossing the paint chips and patting over with inkpads.

Well the one thing I know about this, is that if you want the ink to sit only on the top of the thing and not down in the indentations - that means a fabric pad has to be used and not a sponge pad. This is a bit disappointing to me because I love my sponge pads. Nevertheless, it was a chance for me to re-acquaint myself with my Stampin'Up! inks and play with my few Distress Inks.

I have 20 assorted colours of the Stampin'Up! pads but only five of the Distress ink pads at the moment, so my colours for them were pretty limited. the distress ink doesn't really sit well on the paint chips:

I heat dried these and the colour is blotchy. I still like them, and they will end up on a scrapbook page...

But okay, my favourite pink is the SU! Pixie Pink and I had to use some.....

The colour is not very good in these photos; but the effect is quite nice. I am sure I have some baby pics of one of my grand daughters that will benefit from these...

And one last crossover -

Okay, this is a paintchip that has been dry embossed, coloured over with a Painstik, then dunked into my clear embossing powder and heat embossed. Where the other Paintstik chips are going to take a few days to dry - mostly because of the humid and wet weather, this is dry already, and shiny and lovely. Of all the techniques I experimented with, I think I love this one the most.

Conclusions: In all I did 18 samples and I thought: I should be doing more of this stuff, it is fun and has some good applications for both cardmaking and scrapbooking. I should also be doing it on a larger scale than just paint chips. These will all be used, as that is what I made them for, but I will be doing smaller samples for the technique journal I am keeping...

Twenty Twelve...

2012-01-01T23:16:00.000-08:00

I promised a bunch of people I had two resolutions for this year, one is to blog more - and hopefully across all my blogs. The other is to tweet the Apocalypse - because so many people think this year will be the end...

2011 was not a particularly good year overall. I was too wrapped up in myself and my "problems" to see the broader picture, but a trip to Canberra last week to visit my sister and my father in his nursing home, as well as a few other things have helped put things into a bit better perspective.

I have done a few things craft wise, in the past few months, building on the Swaps for SCS I entered. There was a caffeine card swap:

This is the basic layout of the six caffeine cards for the swap. They ended up being 6 by 6 inches because the size of the coffee pot to make the other items have proportion. The coloured paper is the tablecloth and was cut with my Nestibilities. I used brown ink and fine embossing powder to make the brads brown from silver to look like coffee beans.

These are the remaining five. Colouring that many coffee pots and cups took ages but I really like the effect. I used copper coloured stickers to write the word "Coffee". The colours are crap but clockwise from top left are pink, purple, orange, yellow and the one centre is blue. Photos are taken with my mobile phone which seems to be not a good idea.

I received five lovely cards in return and I hope I will remember to photograph them soon.

There was a Christmas card swap:

I nearly forgot this one, so it was a little bit of a rush job. The photo again was from my mobile phone, so not the best colour wise, even though I put it through a colour "fixer". The matt is actually a mauve colour. The angel is also painted with blender pen and stamping ink, much like the Koi in the earlier post.

But I think my favourite had to be the four seasons ATC swap. I made sixteen ATC's four for each season - and received 16 in return. Again I will have to photograph the return ones because they are just so beautiful...

My cards :

Autumn

Winter

Spring

Summer

Yes the winter is an actual knitted piece. My thinking being that here in Australia we don't have snow, so snow themed card wasn't really appropriate. However, like the Northern Hemisphere, there is always knitting. So with some wooden skewers cut to size, topped with a card end.

But, seriously, it is very expensive swapping and as things are at the moment I can't afford it. I understand it is fair enough that we pay for our own postage, and I don't begrudge that. I just can't afford it just now.

However, the items I received in return for my swaps have convinced me that I am not really much of a stamp "artist" - partially because I cannot afford, nor want some of the gizmos and gadgets that are available to make cards look more "professional"... I am happy where I am ...

I have some other craft items, but not yet photographed and many UFO's, all for another blog later....

Crackhead....

2011-07-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

...I don't usually write about more personal stuff on this blog as it is for my main blog, however, since this one is linked to my SplitCoast Stampers' signature line, I am writing this here.

I was supposed to have the first part of my surgery last Friday. Two weeks ago, I had been to the pre Admission clinic and the anesthetists who examine your suitability for anesthesia both declared me high risk. Needless to say, that freaked me out. Mostly because it was only four weeks since I had quit smoking after 35+ years and I am seriously overweight. Of which, quitting smoking did not help me.

They ordered me to have a blood test at the pathology section of the hospital, which I did.

I was so upset by them saying I was high risk, I went to see a doctor on the Monday. My previous doctor had left at the end of March to take up lucrative lodgings on the North Shore as a private doctor. So I had to find a new doctor. Luckily for me I recalled that my medical office had sent me an SMS saying there was a new lady Doctor starting that very week.

Very nice, older lady. She listened to everything I had to say, because she realised I was very upset by then. She said that she would get some blood tests of her own done, that she knew of some medication I could take as a hunger suppressant and I could delay the surgery until I was less of a risk. Although the Specialist had informed me without the surgery I would die, this Doctor seemed very skeptical about that, which has cheered me up.

The following day the hospital rang, and said that the anesthetists wanted to see me again, in light of the blood tests I had had done. I asked the person who rang me if it was possible for them to postpone the surgery for three months, she said it was, so I am relieved about that.

When the Doctor got the blood tests back it showed that my blood sugar levels were very high. She immediately ordered a diabetic glucose test which I had the following Monday after a three day high carb diet over the weekend.

Well, it is not quite diabetes. But she prescribed the pills which are not on PBS and are extremely expensive. They are based on amphetymine (hence my daughter calling me a "crackhead" - in the blog title). I have been on them for three days now and waiting for my appetite to be suppressed.

Meanwhile, my daughter is again unemployed, thanks to her company closing its doors and she being only a casual employee. So I am making cards for swaps and will post photos of them quite soon.

Coloured image swap on SCS

2011-05-30T00:17:00.000-07:00

This is one of the cards I made for the swap. It is the first card swap I have ever entered, so I was not sure if it was what they wanted. I guess since I have uploaded it to my gallery on SCS I will find out soon enough.

The fish image was stamped first and then coloured, I did a mask for fish and placed it over it and then coloured the water. I used a darker color around the fish to give it some dimension - but looking at the pic I am not sure howwell that worked. I added the pearls for air bubbles.

The shells and "seaweed" were stamped and coloured and cut out. The white edges of the card stock were then coloured so that it was more even. A small star fish bead seemed to let me finish the card.

Coming up with colours for the matt cards was a bit of a challenge, but I found a blue the same as the darker blue for the fish part of the card and felt the back ground was sandy enough to pass off as sand. I made a tiny horse logo with my name and year to stick on the back of the card.

Hope they like it...

On being slow...

2011-03-17T00:52:00.000-07:00

I have not been doing much of my paper craft things. I am slowly building the ugliest stationery box you are ever likely to see, and doing some cross stitch.

If you have read my other blog you will know that I have bones pressing on my spinal cord, causing mental depression and slowing some of my other faculties as well - or maybe old age is catching up with them. ;-) . So I find it hard to concentrate for very long on anything. Walking is becoming harder and harder for me. I will be having an operation, probably within 3 months and another one a month later which should remove the bones from my spinal cord.

After that I should be able to gradually build up and begin my crafting in more earnest. So I beg your indulgence for a few months that will be spotty to say the least.

Updating

2011-01-09T17:55:00.000-08:00

Gosh, I hadn't realised it was so long since I had updated this site. So sorry. I thought that you might enjoy seeing a few things - first up being my bigshot. In my last post I had said that I didn't really feel I could justify the expense of having one of these. Little realising at the time that just before Christmas Lincraft would have them so cheaply it would impossible not to get one. Normally these retail above the $150 mark and hover around $200 but this one was on special for $99. I thought it would just be the body itself and not really worth it, but it included all the folders and two acrylic blocks for the sandwiches that are made for cutting and embossing.

Because of the width of this machine, I can use my embossing folders which up until now have been pretty useless because of their width. Now I can use them on appropriately sized paper and cardstock. I have three dies now as well, a flower, some leaves and a corner swirl. The dies themselves are relatively expensive, but if I get enough use of them, can probaby justify the expense. Tim Holtz has some dies and embossing folders that are, what seem to me to be, reasonably priced and hopefully I can get some from a Queensland retailer in the next couple of months. No holding any breath.

This is a photo that I recently scrapbooked - she is my cousin's daughter. The wedding was last year and she posted pictures to Facebook. I had been wanting to do it for a while and finally got around. This is one of what will hopefully end up being ten pages. I want to make a 12" x 12" album in the same way I made the last one, but with white wedding dress fabric that I have. When those are finished I will post them here too.

I have some medical issues to be taken care of over the next few weeks so maybe not post again for a while. Once those are out of the way, I will show you some other things I have been doing and talk more about the above photograph.

Leaving final word up to Starbug

Talk to the butt ...

Punches -vs- Dies ... and booty

2010-08-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

These are some of my recent punches.

With Stampin'Up! recently bringing out the Big Shot to Australia, I have been thinking seriously about die shapes and using them for both paper arts and fabric arts. I already own an Accucut die cutter, and I could probably adjust it to take new dies. I also looked at the various large nesting dies, which are the shapes I would most likely use, because they are the most familiar and used dies. The nesting dies are very expensive in Australia; some recently retail ones I looked at were $182 for a set, of I think 20, in increments of about 5mm. The various shapes, squares, circles, hearts and scalloped versions thereof, along with a few other shapes add up to a fair amount of money if you were to buy them. I guess if I was having classes and charging commercial rates, I could probably justify a few sets, but when it is just me - it is a ridiculous amount of money. I would probably only use a few sizes suitable for cards and that would be it.

So I turn to craft punches; as you can see above. I have about four circle ones, and probably would use two more sizes, and I have about the same number for squares. I have a few other standard shapes, including a very nice, large dragon and these have gotten me by quite well. I have spent a few dollars buying them, but no where near as much as a few sets of the nesting dies would set me back. I will probably try to sell my Accucut. I can see the usefulness, but the expense isn't really justified for me.

BOOTY:

These are new Japanese papers. Proper ones, not just some pattern I downloaded from the internet either. Eckersleys have them. There are about a dozen or so available, but they are not cheap, so I limited myself to four. They are A4 size, which isn't too shabby and I have some projects in mind for them.

Of the three books I ordered from Amazon, two are to do with my crafts, one is Making Hats from the 1920's and the other is Metric Pattern Cutting for Children's clothing. So I have plenty of things to keep me busy. If I can just get some time cleared away from everybody else's demands I will be fine. lol.

Sorry the picture quality is not the best, for various reasons I have had to use my phone cam, not the best, but I think you can get an idea.

Mail ....

2010-08-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

I got two nice pressies in the mail yesterday, well they were delivered by courier, but same difference. One was the punch I had ordered from Regal Craft and the other was the netbook computer. The netbook had been stood on by a nameless member of the family and the screen was wrecked. The daughter paid for it to be fixed, and there it was. Pretty good for the repairers concerned. And it works. I guess for how much they charged, it should, still you do want to know.

It is grandson2's during the after school times, but mine during school time. lol. It has a webcam. Mostly it moves around and is portable. We have a wireless network which we are still ironing the kinks out of, but it is getting there.

The punch is a 1 1/4" square, no dramas, but will help for my card making, scramping and other media arts. Which is why I posted this here, rather than my main blog, as I am blogging some politics there are the moment. This is my happy place. lol.

Wow ...

2010-08-03T17:55:00.000-07:00

I know a few people read my blog, and kudos to them, as I am a sloppy blogger to say the least.

Yesterday I had a comment from an artist who I really admire. I feel very honoured to have had her even look at my blog.

I have taken out the sewing machine and I am currently making up some trial designs to sew up. I have miles of calico (muslin) to make my rough drafts in; maybe I will share those, maybe not. Sometimes the calico actually looks the better fabric and with a bit of dolling up and/or stamping could be quite the goer.

I have dug out all the cameras, all their cords, inserted new batteries, checked the SD cards and so we have a go there too. lol. Keep you in the loop ...

Excited ....

2010-08-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

After my recent adhesive disappointments, I have had to rethink my entire adhesive way of doing things. Some are not pleasant, and I will find a way to bulk order permanent tape for the mini Sticker machine.

I have my sewing machine back from servicing, but haven't used it yet. I have some new fat quarters to make some goodies with so all that is for the next couple of weeks. I'm going to have to clear some space to set up the machine anyhow. But you knew that already didn't you ....

The second punch that I wanted, a 1.5 inch square, I have ordered from the Internet from an Aussie company. It should be here any day now. That will be fun, something in the snail mail other than bills. lol.

But I have ordered me some new rubber as well. And some books from Amazon. Two of them are crafting books, well more the sewing side of things, one being drafting for childrens' clothing which I love doing and want to get back into. The other is a millinery book using techniques from the 1920's. Now that should be very interesting. I have not done much millinery, as I am self taught, as in most things, but I love the idea of hats, especially in Summer when it is sunny and a bit of shade over the face is a good thing. I'll keep you "posted" as I receive them.

Oh yeah ....

Messing Around

2010-08-01T22:47:00.000-07:00

I have been experimenting with different backgrounds and headers. I think this one is okay, 'specially the horse. Have played around with some of my other blogs as well. Stay tuned ..

Disappointed ...

2010-07-31T01:12:00.000-07:00

Well, off I went with the daughter and two grandsons to MacArthur Square, Campbelltown. They say that from Big W to the Food Court at the other end is one kilometer exactly. I don't know how true this is, but when so many people say it there has to be some element of truth. It feels about that distance, except when you are tired or busting ...

I had hoped to be able to purchase two punches and refills for my Xyron sticker machines - in permanent stick (as oppossed to repositionable). In the past Big W has been a reliable and less expensive venue to purchase these items. Only to be disappointed. Their scrapbook aisle has gone from three down to part of one. I checked the whole stationery section, only to find nothing of what I was looking for.

So the next choice, Lincraft, is right down the opposite end of the building. I haven't been the best with an enlarged colon (waiting to see specialist) and the pressure makes me walk funny. The thought of walking an entire kilometer was pretty daunting. So I grabbed a trolley to lean on and made my way to some personal purchases in Best and Less, trust me, when you are a large odd shape and size, B&L are the best at good prices.

Finally after about half an hour, I made it to Lincraft. Surely, they would have everything I needed. I found one of the punches I required, and while they did have refills for the Xyron machines, they only had repositionable. I have about two each of repositionable already.

I sat down and ate some food, had a drink and a chat with the daughter. She and the boys loaded up my trolley with their goodies. My only other recourse would have to be Eckersleys.

The lift with a trolley is a nightmare. Glad I don't have kids in pushers anymore. But Eckersleys is one of my favourite shops for buying unusual craft supplies. They are pretty well my stalwarts for everything - but a tad (well more than a tad really) expensive. Still, I had the money and the desperation in I went. WTF? Where is everything? You have so got to be kidding me. Not a bleeding sausage. Whoever decided to overhaul their paper craft section must have been on drugs or something. Well, that is the mood I am in just now on how I feel about it all. No second punch, so I have ordered it off the internet. Not one of the refills I wanted - even in repositionable.

Luckily Spotlight have a sale on at the moment, and I have to go to the Spotlight Mall tomorrow to get my sewing machine from being serviced. Please let Spotlight have the refills. Is it really too much to ask?

Common ...

2010-07-28T23:15:00.000-07:00

I am on a few forums and groups that are for cardmaking. Mostly because they also have some scrapbooking forums and stamp stuff. They all have galleries where people can post pictures of the things they make. There is some really lovely stuff out there.

But so much of it looks as though it was made to a formula and had premade bits just glued to it. With the sketches that people offer, the dies and punches they use, basically it is made to a formula. Admittedly a handmade item, but a formula non the less. To me this is manufacturing and I am guilty of using it as the next person. Except for one thing. To me there has to be that edge of chaos somewhere. Where you expect a straight line, there is a ripped line; where you expect pearls or brads there are eyelets with string dangling from it. I cannot stand my work to look completely manufactured.

A couple of years ago when I was talking to my sister about making cards for Christmas and renewing our interest in scrapbooking, she made a comment along the lines of she wouldn't invest in stamps because they are like colouring book pages for adults. I had thought the same thing myself years ago. And stamps sure are the stallwart art of the manufacturer type card makers. And their Copic markers. Colour in the stamp with the Copic marker and no one can tell it isn't a real flower, right?

It may sound critical, but seriously card making should be individualised and a bit artistic. Rip up paper, use bottle caps and washers. Don't make your cards look like everyone else's. Since there are several million of that stamp anyhow. Don't follow fashion. You take pride in dressing as you like, having your house as you like, why should your card making be any different?

Take the stuff you have been taught by good teachers and expand on it. I love to get my embossing powders onto a washer, mixing colours and textures and then drizzle stuff into them.

Experiment. You don't have to sell/give away your experiments. Put them into a folder to remember what you did that you loved or hated. Be daring. Get out your brayer and give it a good workout, rip up some Post-its and do some masking. Look for stamps that come from little known manufacturers that no one else you know has heard of. Use their stamps.

The thing that also amuses me is the die mentality. All those shapes. For what? So your work looks the same as your neighbours? You like her stuff, borrow it and expand on it.

One thing I love is my Bind it All, yeah the pink one. I like to punch the holes into things and then tie some of it together and use maybe one wire spine on it somewhere to make it look different. Go and buy some real locks and keys and use them to make something useful, very useful. Make polymer clay feet so your box has something to stand on, or use those dice bits for feet.

People will love your work even more if they see some evidence of YOU in your work.

The making of an album ...

2010-07-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

Earlier this year, my elderly father moved from Adelaide to Canberra, to be nearer to family. He has the family albums, so my Aunt, who remains in Adelaide did not have access to them any longer. As part of my "therapy" to overcome the major depression I had, my psychologist suggested that I take up a few projects. So I thought an album for my Aunt with pictures of my self, my two sisters and our respective families and grandchildren would be nice for her.

Above is the Cover of the album I made for her. I made if from a single fat quarter of fabric as the album is for 22cm x 22cm (8" x 8") pages. It is not overly large. The flower was originally a white fabric flower which I have coloured using my Versacolour mini and the red spots using Red Stazon after the yellow ink has dried.

I used a grommet (eyelet) in one corner (with my u-beaut cropadile) and threaded through for the tags. I like the effect without it being over arty farty.

For the inside cover I have used a neutral cardstock, bookmaker's glue and all on a base of archival quality chipboard.

This is the side view to show you how 43 pages of scramping look. It took almost six weeks to complete. I have used "Wonder under" on the spine and ironed it to a same size piece of calico. This will give it expansion and make it last so much longer than a cardstock or paper one if you purchased a commercial album this size.

I will share some of the photos from the album to give you a feel for how the work was done and some of the detail that has gone into each page and it's opposite journal page.

ARTIST TRADING CARD:

This is the page of The Daughter and Grandsons 1 & 2. I wanted a sort of ATC feel to it. I printed off Lorum Ipsum in fancy but very tiny font, then applied four shades of brown ink around the edges with the Versacolor ink minis and then a final hop around with the black one. I have used a yin yang stamp for the circular drops attached to brown ribbon. The Eiffel tower was stamped and embossed. I cut round the top of the tower to slot in the photo behind it.

A few other stamps, were used to add a bit of abstract feel to it. I printed off the words onto some scrap cardstock and ran them through the Xyron sticker machine. There are a row of gold brads down the RH corner and along the bottom which were cut off in the photo.

The page opposite this one is rather a scaled down version, and instead of the picture I have journalled about the photograph and the people in it.

LIZARD LOVE:

Grandson2 loves lizards, so it was only natural I did a page that had lizards on it. But putting it into perspective with the picture wasn't all that easy. This photograph makes it look as though there are several kinds of lavender but in fact the matt stock is bright pink - his favourite colour at the moment (don't ask - he wont say). Unlike most of the other pages for the journalling where I have made them just either the same as each other or reflection of each other, I have made this one a continuation picture.

I tore a sheet of printer paper to make the shape of the creek for the lizards, and using my Versacolor mini stamp pads applied various greens, then blues and brown and green again for the banks and creek. I then used blender pens (SU!) to blend the colours. I stamped on the dragonflies. Then used the white gel pen for the waves on the water. I used the thin end of double brush marker pens to make the grass. for the weeds I used a skinny plant stamp.

The trees in the back ground were stamped in green, then used a maroon pen to colour the trunks and branches. The lizards I had downloaded onto cardstock several years ago. I just cut them out and using foam dots to raise them made them look like they were drinking at the stream.

Below is a closer look at each side of the picture.

HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF SHEBA

This last page is for my Arabian mare, Stephanique. She is a dear old horse and I wanted somthing fitting for "the Queen of Sheba" (lol).

I used a background egyptian themed stamp I have had for a few years with Versamark. I stamped the versamark onto the page, then sprinkled clear embossing powder over it. Tapped it off and heat embossed it. I had to use the stamp four times around the page to cover it.

I then used the Versamark again for the Eye of Ra and the Ankh, then sprinkled on some hologram gold embossing powder. When heated, the hologram gold is really sparkly and looks like real gold. The three little date palms were stamped in back ink and clear powder used on them. One didn't take so well so I fixed it with a black marker. Shhh ...

So the entire album has gone along in this manner, using colours from the phot0graphs. Stamps and use of brads, stick on crystals, punches and so forth.

My Aunt was pretty happy with the album, so that made me extremely happy.

Enter a dragon ...

2009-09-16T11:49:00.001-07:00

I received some new stamps this week that I had ordered from the USA. The dragon was one and the Asian writing was another. They are unmounted. The writing was on a sheet with two other blocks of writing - one old English and the other handwriting. They are considered background stamps. I couldn't resist putting the Asian writing with the dragon and adhering it all to a background sheet downloaded from the Canon website. Four gold brads just seem to set it off. The dragon is stamped in Versamark onto red cardstock and then holographic gold embossing powder melted onto the versamark.

I have been wanting to make my father a nice card that was not the usual "Thinking of you" flowers or other usuals of these types of cards. I think this fulfills my desire perfectly. Here is the inside. If I wanted to, I could add a few pages as everyone wants to send a message to Granpa.

the card measures 14.5cm square.

I apologise for the quality of the photos. I took them on my phone camera. Usually it is a pretty reliable instrument but I think the lens must need a good cleaning.

Another day goes by ...

2009-09-14T17:21:00.000-07:00

I am preparing another nice frame, but the old person is here. He needs attention and gets very "upset" when he doesn't get it. So rather than showing you what I am doing, I am here updating the blog and thinking about the frame rather than doing it ...

I received some wonderfuls stamps yesterday from the USA. I will be using some of them on the frame, but I will try to photograph them later and post them.

Click into my favourite places and be taken away to a crafter's fantasy ...

A padded picture ...

2009-09-07T04:07:00.000-07:00

I am sharing these photos for my non-Facebook friends. Interesting concept and one I would like to expand on at a later date ...

This is the actual picture, stamped and inked. Then the designer paper padded frame is applied.

In this picture you can see the dimensional effect of the padded frame.

I stamped a dragonfly onto a small scrap of clear acrylic sheet and when dry I cut it out and glued it into the corner after folding the wings.

And then for the back I used a sheet of chipboard to give it stability. I then used some scraps of the chipboard and designer paper to make the stand.

Displaying Cross Stitch

2009-09-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

I have been doing cross stitches like forever. I think I did my first one in my teens and have been stitching on and off ever since. As a result, I have a pile of Aida with neat little designs on each piece that just sits in my cross stitch box wait and hoping one day to be "used".

So having recently become enamoured of Paper arts I thought that I could combine the two and make a display for some of my pieces. This is the result for six of my pieces. I wll put photos up of close ups of each piece so you can see it in greater detail.

Each piece was mounted into or on top of a piece of card stock and some of the cardstock was stamped, some of it was glued and others had things glued to them. Then I put eyelets into each corner of the cardstock and tied it to a twig with beading leather.

I haven't decided if I should add dangling things to the tops of the twigs or not. But I do like the kind of book effect I get from this.

Facebook

2009-08-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

I have just networked this blog with Facebook, so I will keep it updated as much as possible. I will try to fix the cat photograph so that it is not so big! In the next few days I will post some pictures of my latest makings and go from there. Thanks for following me.

Updates

2009-07-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

Wow, almost a year since I was here. Alot has happened since then, but the main news is that the studio will be opening in about two weeks. We have done so much to it to make it ready. There are still bits and pieces still to be done - it will probably be an ongoing project for quite a while.

I have been doing some art, but at the moment I have been dedicating much time to scanning and cataloguing some very old photographs from my family. Some of these are over 150 years old and there is even an old tin type print which is, to me, most valuable of all.

The garden has been neglected almost to the point of non existence, but that is being recified over the next few days. It should be quite pretty if you come to visit.

I have joined the ranks of Stampin'Up demonstrators, but mostly as a hobbyist as I like to use other stamps and inks in my work. However, should you find yourself needing any Stampin'Up products feel free to PM me through my e-mail in my profile. I will put up photos very soon and update this blog as frequently as I can. So hope to see you soon ...

Sharing ...

2008-08-18T02:10:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking for a while that I would like to share the links of some of my RSS feed for crafts. These are the ones I like best, besides Sharonb's which I have already listed.

The first is for Annette Husband a gifted artist who lives at Humpty Doo in the Northern Territory. I have admired her work ever since I saw an article on her in Rubber Gazette, a now not published publication that I really loved. I met her through the After Midnight Stampers on yahoo groups. Her work is really amazing and she is so smart, too. She has some good video demonstrations on her blog.

The next one is another After Midnighter, Jen Lowe. She has a delightful blog. She is such a happy person, and shares her art with her mother who is in a nursing home. Just go and be made happy by this lovely lady.

Finally, Michelle Zindorf's blog is page after page of tutorials for stamping, mostly cards. The pictures she creates are just amazing and so simple to do. She is very thorough with her techniques and pictures are clear. Her instructions are so simple, even children can do them.

Later I will add some more URL's that you will enjoy.

bye for now ...

Cathederal Window Quilt

2008-07-06T03:00:00.000-07:00

FOUNDATION PANEL

Well, as I promised, here is my version of a Cathederal Window Quilt tutorial. This is the first of two parts. It is very picture heavy so it may take a while to load. My photos are the best my cheap little camera would allow me, but I think with the text below each photograph, you should be able to get the general drift.

1) I began with about a metre of heavy sheeting. It had been sitting around in my stash for several years, and I had used bits and pieces of it over the years for various things. Unbleached calico (muslin), that has been washed of all sizing is just as good, or any other medium weight cotton fabric. I have also ironed this piece so that it is as square as I can make it.

2) The sheeting had no selvedge, so I had to find a straight edge by removing threads and going from there. Along the straight edge I found, I made four 23cm (about 9 inch) cuts, and then tore the fabric into four even lengths.

3) Removing the threads that came out, brought the width to 22.5cm and along one edge, I again made four nine inch cuts and tore through, yielding sixteen squares of 22.5cm (this is just under the 9 inches) each.

4) Each square is folded in halves and the two short edges are then sewn together. I did a few reverse stitches at the beginning and end to make sure the stitching stayed in place.

5) Snip off the corners.

6) Take the squares to the ironing board and press the seams open. Here you can see I have used a sleeve board and my dear little clover iron. Let me assure you, you do not necessarily need a dear little clover iron, but it sure does make it easier. If you are using a full iron, just use the very point to open as much of the seam as possible. You will see why in the next picture.

7) Pin the two raw edges together making sure to keep the pressed open seams flat and matched as exactly as possible. Pin one end flat and use another pin about 4-5cms (1 1/2 to 2 ins) from the other end. This end is going to be left open, for turning. The pin is just a marker.

8) Again I reverse stitched both ends of the stitching to reinforce the stitching. This will be very necessary to keep the stitches from coming out when turning.

9) You should now have a square that looks much like this.

10) Cut off the corner of the closed end of the seam.

11) Finger press open, and then iron the whole thing flat. It is really imporant that these seams are very flat, as when you turn them, they need to remain flat inside the square.

12) Fiddle inside with a finger and outside with your thumb until you have the diagonally opposite corner to the opening. Push the corner through the opening and carefully pull through.

13) Again fiddle with a finger inside the opening to ensure the seams are sitting flatly and again iron the entire square.

14) Now fold each of the corners in to the centre and pin. These are the basis of the frames that are the hallmark of the Cathederal Windows.

15) Use a straight stitch and sew first down the entire centre of the square one way, turn it 90 degrees and sew the other centre, to form a cross.

16) A group of four completed squares. You can see how they will go together to form the frames.

17) Using a zigzag stitch, join the two squares together through a frame. If you find sewing like this awkward, you might like to tack them onto a piece of non iron, non woven interfacing. This will help stabilize the sewing. You can either leave it on afterwards or snip it off.

18) The four strips of four squares awaiting final joining.

19) In the end, I decided against zigzaging the panels together and used hand stitch, in this case I used ladder stitch. It is a bit labour intensive, but I like the result it yielded. It really doesn't matter as in the end you can't really see any of the stitching. So use whatever is easiest for you.

20) A closeup of the final panel. YOu can see the frames all ready to receive the pieces.

21) I am using two panels for a frame to demonstrate how the fabric squares are sewn to the

frame.

22) Measure the outside of the frame (in this case it was 7 x 7 cms) and cut the square about 0.5cm less. (i.e. 6.5 x 6.5 cms).

23) Pin the frame around the patch of fabric, as shown.

24) I use blind hem stitch, which is a little like ladder stitch to hook the patch to the frame.

25) And here is the finished patch.

You can see that it is really quite simple to do, and using a sewing machine for much of the foundation work means that you can get through it faster than by hand. For the slow cloth purist you can sew it all by hand. I did when I first started making these. However, for making a full size quilt, when all of the patches must be done by hand, making the foundation by machine helps speed things along, and it is neat and tidy.

Hope you have enjoyed this, my first tutorial. Some parts were delayed because of my being sick. Later when I have finished the panel, I will photograph it and put it onto the blog.

cheers.

Towards a brighter tomorrow ..

2008-07-01T02:15:00.001-07:00

Well, the weekend, anyhow. I have been busy making a Cathedral Window Quilt and have documented it in the form of a tutorial. I shall edit the photographs, work on the text part and post it for you to see on the weekend. I would do it sooner, but I have to earn a living three days a week. Also, I have not looked at the photographs on a computer yet to see if they are going to be suitable and may have to go back over some areas if they are not clear.

I hope it will give you all something to look forward to, and enjoy, as much as I have enjoyed doing it.

Till then ...

To be. Or. Not...

2008-06-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Paula Hewitt at The Beauty of Life wrote about her thoughts on the debate between "craft" and "art". Sharonb (see sidebar) also weighed in with her comment. So here is what I think.

People who call their work "art" often think they are different because they went to "Art School" or something and studied some sort of Art. Technically, for this to be so, their work should be peer reviewed - which mostly it is not. Their "Art" is not different to those of us who "craft".

"Craft" too, used to be what more skilled workers did, and belonged to guilds and had apprentices. Such as masons, carpenters and such. Nowadays these people are referred to as "blue collar workers" and frowned down upon by the "white collar workers". "Art" was usually limited to "painting", and included Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Renoir and Monet.

But now, anything goes, and craft and art are much the same thing. Often it is producing something to justify the huge expense of buying all those "artistic" goodies and stash. So unless you are going to differentiate with guilds and apprentices, you really are just another person with alot of expensive "artistic" goodies and a stash you have to reduce.

Unless you are peer reviewed, you artistic status is much the same as mine, and mine is that of a learner, or maybe "journeyman".

Galleries that wish to differentiate are also going to find themselves going out of business. So much is available on line and so much of it commented on by the "hoi poloi" that trying to have a gallery that is not commented on somewhere in the blogsphere is just not possible. People need to be able to interact with art, whether it is on gallery walls, on their own private walls or on the internet. If they cannot interact with art they are going to let you know about it in no uncertain terms.

It is not much different to the debate going on in the world of music these days. With so much music available on line, many music houses either have to adapt or fail. There are those who are trying to hold out for "the noble cause" but cannot understand why people are not flocking to them and their coffers are empty.

Art and music have become "common". They are not there just for the elite select few, they are there for everyone. The "hoi poloi" understand art just as well as the elite, select few. Just because they are not "megarich" and overeducated, does not mean they do not have an opinion, nor are they incapable of "truly appreciating" the subtleties of nuances within art or music.

Thus saith the hoi poloi ...

A bit of catching up ...

2008-06-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

Because of my big cleanup, I have not been making things. I have not go anything to show you. But I have joined a social network for Stitchers, called Stitchin fingers. It is run by Sharonb, who I have talked about in earlier posts. I was going to do her Take it Further Challenge. These people are way too advanced for me. But in the group there are a cross section of stitchers, from beginners through to advanced. It is a lovely hub, and I hope to learn more, and contribute a little.

So when I have finished my cleaning up, hopefully today, I have some work to do. I am hoping that today will be the day I can take my machine to the shop for servicing, or if it is tomorrow, I can give it to DD for her to give to them.

Now that I have some really good storage for my crafts, and will get one for my sewing as well this week, I think I can be a bit more organised. Hopefully this will produce Art. The storage is really large boxes that slide into metal shelves, so most of it would be okay to just tape up for travel. A few things I would like to store more securely for travel, like my laminator, my clover iron, heat embosser and melt pot. They have electrical parts and I don't want to risk them breaking by being thrown around by careless removalists. Nothing like some tension sheet. (You know, bubble sheet that you get at the post office - on Red Dwarf it is called Tension Sheet - lol).

Then maybe I can vamp up and ramp up this blog to be something.

... never know your luck in a big city, as the X used to say ...

Star Book take 2 ...

2008-05-26T04:05:00.000-07:00

Well, whaddya know? I no sooner post my Star Book photos and TV Weekly are giving out the instructions. I made my book in 2006, and there you go. It looks much the same. I will have to go check out what sort of glue she is using to make it.

What I like about the TV Weekly is that it is video based, they make it interesting and show you how to do it. I have done a few things from their shows. Very slick and professional.

cheers ...

Star Book ...

2008-05-25T22:34:00.000-07:00

I love making books. Books that are glued or books that are sewn or books that are a combination of both. I also like folded books, such as a maze book or concertina book. Today I am going to show you my Star Book.

Okay, this is the cover. The paper was downloaded from the Canon site and was just so pretty.

The handsewn spine. I just used crochet cotton; but I used a cradle to mark all the holes. I have seen these made with a Zutter punch and wire spine, but it didn't look as good as the effect you get from handsewing.

The first open pages. The picture on the blue square is a gold stamp image.

Here I have cut out a frame on the left hand side and inserted a photograph. On the right hand are two tiny frames that have floral stickers to add a little focus. (Sorry the camera strap dropped down).

This is the tiled page stamped with my dragonfly art stamp and embossed. Opposite is an acrylic pocket with a tag. The tag top has beads and embellishments tied to it.

This is the last page. The tied thing on the back cover is a mini book. It has pages, but nothing in it just yet. I still have one or two small things to do to the book.

I think everyone should try at least one. This was the second one I made. The only problem I have had with it, is that the glue between the pages doesn't hold too well. It is quite heavy and I think this may be the cause. I will keep experimenting.

adieu ...

Adhesives, glue and other sticky stuff ...

2008-03-22T03:38:00.000-07:00

As a horselover as a child, certain adults thought it would be helpful to inform me that dead horses got sent to the glue factory. The upshot of this was when I was starting school, when we had to glue and paste, I would become distraught at the sight of the Clag bottle and immediately burst into tears. My teacher would make up flour and water paste for me to use instead. It wasn't till I was in my teens that I found out this little myth was just adult humour.

I will not use this space here to discuss the rendering of animal parts into glue. In fact these days, I am not sure those of us in the West use rendered animal parts as glue, but use a petro chemical by product or something.

My first choice in adhesives are double sided cassette tapes. These are usually well made and not overly expensive and by and large do the job required. If I need something stronger, I use a clear liquid glue. Other adhesives I like are my sticker machines which are also fun.

I do not like stick glues. Stick glues always dry out and do not adhere after a period of time, usually less that a year. I have used several different brands and have found this to be true of all of them. I like the idea of a stick glue, and they are certainly the most inexpensive, but their longevity is not the best. When I want something stuck, unless I use repositionable tape, then I want it stuck forever.

When cutting an item that has been glued or even a glue tape with a removeable backing, first coat your scissors with versamark liquid from a stamp pad or pen. The versamark is easily removed later by wiping with a baby wipe.

I am sceptical about the "acid free" status of glues. What would be in a glue that made it acidic in the first place?

Will update soon ...

Taking the time ...

2008-03-07T12:16:00.000-08:00

When you see something like the Wedding Album below, or other finished pieces of work, you have to realise that there has been much time spent in doing the item. I am talking years. You cannot just sit down one morning and say "I am going to make xxx". I cannot make a saddle, nor for that matter a bridle - I understand the concepts behind making them and as a horselover I would love to be able to - but apart from not having the tools to do so, I do not have the skills either. And it is the gaining of the skills in the first place that you require in order to make anything worthwhile.

The Album came about because I spent almost one or two nights per week for a year going to classes at a scrapbook shop learning the basics. I have books and magazines that I have used articles from, to experiment with various products to suppliment what I learnt at the scrapbooking shop. I have taken the money and invested it in the finest tools so that I have both the tools and skill to do this. But having said that, one of the skills that an artist has to have is a sense of colour.

When I first came up with the idea of the Album, knowing Kylie's dress was going to be blue, I had thought of matching the colour and using plain blue paper and stamping it and embellishing it in other ways, but still with the pieces torn and placed on each side of the pages. It was my daughter (who has also done much as I have with scrapbooking and paper arts) who suggested the yellow for the matting. Again it too is a different yellow from the frangipani flower centres too. But these colours work. They work because they are a whole. They go with the pictures, they are very modern and they are very beautiful. They are whole.

Each page is made from a single piece of card stock, cut to 12 inches by 11 1/2 inches. The extra half inch on the edge of the page is for the binding combs. So each page had to be moved in by this half inch. The back of this half inch border is re-inforced by another strip of cardstock so that when the album is open, there is enough strength at the hole for it not to tear. So in effect what has happened is that I have designed the pages for 11 1/2 inches by 11 1/2 inches.

I took the time to have the pictures developed in a lab rather than print them out on photo stock paper myself. My printing skills in this area are not the best, and as I know this, to do the album justice, the extra money I spent doing this has resulted in beautiful pictures.

Overall, it has been a fairly expensive project - it was a gift to the bride as a wedding present. Kylie is a lovely lady and she has married her dream beau, I thought she deserved something special to remember her special day. I could offer to make this album because I knew I had the skills, knowledge and tools to do it justice. Serendipity helps too, because I was looking for other papers when I discovered those lovely papers that I ended up using.

Still here ...

2008-02-27T02:44:00.000-08:00

I am still here. I have been trying to upload some photos that seem to not want uploading. I will look at them again on the weekend and see if I can figure what is wrong. I have some things to show you including my TIF piece. So if all goes well I will back on the weekend.

A little to share ...

2008-02-11T20:19:00.000-08:00

Well, I did promise to share some photos of the Wedding Album I am making for the lady at work as her wedding gift. I am not the best photographer nor am I the best scrapbooker, but she is pleased with it. It is by no means finished. I put it together so that she could see the theme that I had used throughout.

I thought going off to Vanuatu to get married extremely romantic, so I have tried to keep the basic theme going. But I tried to keep in mind that they are a bit older couple who have been living together for a while and didn't want the expense or stress of a big wedding with a million guests.

I found the papers in my local scrapbook shop and the cardstock is Bazzil (?sp).

the Cover - a small metal frame with a cutsie dimensional sticker in it.

The first page - I laminated a little map I downloaded.

Detail of the cross stitch palm tree - the slippers were also cross stitched. There is another tree later in the Album as well.

His Page - it needs something

Her Page - the shiny things are little rhinestones in a spiral with rays coming off them. I liked the effect it gave. But this also needs a little more.

A joint page. When you see the next picture, it demonstrates that the two individual photos open so that some journalling can be added.

The Wedding Ceremony page. I used stamps and cutouts to highlight it. The facing page also has the cutouts.

A dimensional paper frame for the Certificate.

The inside back cover has a holder for the disc with all the photos on it. I used two punches to make the hearts and ran them through the sticker machine.

There are 16 pages in all back and front. Each page was started with a 1.25cm (0.5") margin so that I could use the Bind-it-All. The covers are chipboard. I glued a thin strip of paper over each outer edge, the used a sheet of the paper as the cover. Inside I glued a sheet of the card stock. I am hoping to maybe make a box for it.

I am pleased with the colours. I wasn't sure when I first saw them but DD suggested using the creamy yellow matts and lettering which has set it off nicely. I think I will look around for some gold or copper coloured metal embellishments and see how they will look. I felt it best not to get too arty farty with it.

At least it isn't Cheech and Chong ...

Good news, bad news ....

2008-02-03T02:03:00.000-08:00

The good news is that the lady for whom I did the Wedding Album for was very pleased with it. Which is a great relief. So now I can finish it off, over the next few weeks. I have some photos.

The bad news is that due to the weather being inclement, I have not been able to blog at all because my laptop will not pick up a signal and DD has had to use hers so the GS's can use the X-box while the weather is bad.

So next weekend will have to be it.

Uh-Oh

2008-01-30T01:49:00.000-08:00

I am in trouble now. I haven't finished my challenge piece for this month and a new one is due on Friday. Could this have something to do with getting my head around the concept of "Organisation"? Well, partly. But mostly I put a marathon effort into finishing off the Wedding Album I have been doing for the lady at work. Once DH finishes watching his DVD I will set his chair up to take the photographs. I want to give it to her at work tomorrow.

And I have been doing it the slow way, I hand stamped every page and embossed the stampings. I made paper flowers by hand rather than purchase ready made ones. Because I have used binding for the spine, I reinforced every page, meaning that I had to move everything over enough to allow for the reinforcing cardstock as I put it on last. There is much "Slow Cloth" concept in the album and I am very proud of that. When I put up the pictures on the weekend you will see what I mean.

I don't feel it is finished, either, but I want to show it to her, incase she doesn't like what I have done.

So I will put in a marathon effort on the weekend to finish the challenge piece and begin to journal ideas for the next challenge. Maybe I should offer to photograph and post the journalings, because then I will have to do it to put up.

see you soon ...

Blue and Green

2008-01-14T18:37:00.000-08:00

I am going to place some pictures here of some weedy vine growing at the back of our place.

The area is rough: we haven't had horses down there for months, since the young colt died.
I can still hardly bring myself to go down there, because I expect him to come running up wanting to know what is going on.

I am putting them up, however, because of the beautiful colour contrasts. It is quite an overcast day today, but the colours are still vibrant. I would love to capture these colours in some way, and maybe during the year I will be able to. Still I thought anyone looking might enjoy them as well.

I think they are some sort of morning glory. They have little yellowy things in the middle that have the pollen stuff. (I did say I don't know much about flowers).

The rather amusing thing about this vine is that it is smothering the lantana, which is also considered a weed in this country. However, the really sad thing is that it is also strangling many native trees growing in the bushland area next door. The owners are a Government Department who unfortunately do not seem to care one little bit about the trees, the bush or any of the native (an unnative) animals that reside there. Even the "conservationists" do not care and that is really, really bad. I guess it is out of the way and not a stage for their egos. If we went in there, we risk being charged with trespassing. The maniacs on their motorbikes do not ever get charged but we have been warned.

The bath is a water tub for the horses, and always has a little water in it for the birds and a rock so they don't drown. We have never used the hitching posts. If the horses use, them it is for a good scratch, but now it is a little low for the mare and just something to walk around.

Backside

2008-01-13T16:28:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about this for a while now. No one else seems to have written much about it that I can see. However, I consider it is an important aspect of working in all needlearts.

I suppose older, more experienced needle artists do not think too much about it, but the newbies and even intermediate stitchers need a bit of a primer on the back of their work.

Why is the back so important? The back is important because if it is too lumpy and messy, it will show through to the right side of the work as unsightly lumps and bumps, it will feel harsh to the hand and give the appearance of lack of knowledge or care in execution.

I guess in a way, taking care of the backside of your work is also part of the slow cloth concept.

People often comment to me on how tidy the back of my cross stitching is. This is because I use a loop start stitch so only the tails are threaded under stitches when finishing. My work lies flat. Also I do not cross over rows at the back, either, so nothing shows through the holes when viewed from the front. It has taken me an age to learn to do this, but it has made such a difference to my work.

If I made you a garment, say for example a jacket, but I did not finish the seams, did not line it or press it as I went along, it would not be very beautiful nor would it look good when worn. However, spending the time to finish the inside seams, press all the seams open or in one direction, lining and even handsewing where needed, although you cannot see these things from the outside, would make such a difference to the appearance of the garment and how it felt to wear.

If, like me in the needlearts, you are self taught, it is worth investing in a few "how-to" books and taking the time to learn to finish the backside of your work so that the front is beautiful.
Taking the time to learn how to finish stitches on the back so that the work is flat is necessary. Learn how to finish without knots; press your work from the back, using a towel when raised surface embellishments have been added. If necessary, prepare your fabric with the use of a tear or wash away backing, so that the front surface does not pucker. Spend the time on preparation to have a good backside and it will lift your front side to a much greater level. You will notice the difference yourself, and people who look at your work will notice the difference.

Time is of the essence ...

I forgot ....

2008-01-08T01:30:00.000-08:00

In my rush to load up for my TIF challenge, I forgot another photograph that I had taken.

I downloaded the colour swatch of the challenge and went in search of the embroidery threads. If I get some time I might try them together with some cross stitches or French knots. Anyhow, I referred to the website Sharon had said offered the DMC numbers and wrote them down. But as I had printed it off as well, I compared to my own threads, and sure enough I had some of them already. But, as you will see, I found a different number to the strange green colour:

The green I found is 522 (directly under the colour swatch) where the recommended colour was 3764. I am sorry to be a pedant about this, but I was just looking around for some rubber stamps when I thought I would look. The creamy yellow doesn't show well in the photo, and I think that is because of the overabundance of green.

I am off to the Scrapbook shop tomorrow to work on the Wedding Album and hope I will have some progress to report tomorrow night.

cya

Here we go ...

2008-01-06T23:37:00.000-08:00

Well, I have a bit to get through in this blog.

First, for my challenge piece. Much of my time has been spent researching my subject. So it does not look like I have done much. Cut a piece of A4 (ish) card, covered it, stamped and embossed it. Downloaded a couple of pictures of my subject. But I am still considering, as I have to find some newscuttings and stamp words onto it. This woman, while extremely beautiful, was not a "flowery" person. So flowers and girly stuff are not going to be appropriate.

So to get on with it. Here is a photo of what I have achieved so far. As I said it doesn't appear much - yet.

I like the size. I can put much onto it to better convey the feel of the woman during her heyday. What you can't see here, is how beautiful this woman is. Later, when I have done the piece I will upload the top picture to give you a better idea.

I will also give you a link to my horse page so that if you want you can read the result of the research I have done.

My next photograph is the art piece I did for my sister's 50th Birthday.

I started these cross stitches originally to frame each individual piece and give them to her for Christmas a few years ago. I did one of them and started a second then lost interest in them.

When I realised her 50th was coming up, I thought I would finish them and do them as one picture. I looked around on the internet for a stamp to make background paper, but ended up doing a terracotta tile that is in the middle. The picture doesn't show the detail on the tile much, but it has some gold embossing and greyish paint to make it look old. It does work. When I put it together I wanted a sort of Museum Exhibition effect. The ankhs are made from dipping cut card into gold embossing powder with UTEE in the meltpot.

I still have it because I am going to get it framed. I hope that I can get it done soon and without too much expense, although I won't let that stop it from being done. Some detail of the cross stitching is below:

I love the stitching in the hair of the queen and the detail on Tutankhamen's beard. It took ages to do and was pulled out several times, but finally it was done. I also debated with myself whether or not to add beads to the queen, but in the end, I just left it.

Enjoy.

My concept

2008-01-01T21:31:00.000-08:00

Well, I have had an interest in Arabian horses since I was about 12 years old. To me, of all the horse breeds, they are the most beautiful. The Thoroughbred, my second favourite, is the most courageous.

Lady Wentworth (Judith Blunt-Lytton) was the inheritor of Crabbet Stud, the English foundation stud of the Arabian horse. She was quite a character, and it is interesting to see that even today people still have contraversial ideas about her.

The stallion that she purchased and began the controversy was, of course, Skowronek. I could not find any photographs of her without him. So the two photos I downloaded, from the public domain have her with him.

She was trained as an artist, and I noted that recently some of her waterpaintings were sold for quite healthy prices. She also modelled for artists and was a beautiful woman in her own right. One of my photographs shows this quite clearly.

Of her breeding program, no one could doubt she was a formidible character. But what I also found admiring about her was that she was prepared to stand up and be counted when it came to things Arabian, including contradicting American men who thought they knew more than she did.

I always have admired the stronger women of history, and there are plenty that I could choose to conceptualise into a piece of art, but I think Lady Wentworth tops the list of Admirable women in Arabian horse history.

As a point of interest, Lady Wentworth's grandmother, was Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron. Yes, the one who helped Babbage with his computer concept and who wrote the first programming language.

I am going to do a collage of her.

Take it Further Challenge 1

2007-12-31T14:03:00.000-08:00

Yippee, it is Finally the Big Day. Sharon has set her first challenge.
We are to make an artwork about a person who we admire. There were colours given for the alternate part of the challenge, but I know several people who I do admire, and I am going to work something about this lady and then later I am going to blog about her on my horse site, because she was a foundation breeder of Arabian horses, and an extremely interesting person.
I am going to enjoy reading about her and finding pictures of her and documenting much of it. It will be something for me and for my blogs.

Ohh I am so excited.

I will keep detailed notes here and will take pictures when I can and post them here and on flikr as well.

Hey Happy New Year's everybody.

Boney fydies

2007-12-30T21:29:00.000-08:00

I have photographed some of my bits and pieces, just to prove that I am actually enthusiastic about the Take it Further Challenge.

This first picture is of my embroidery threads. The first two boxes (pink and green) are my DMC threads, and the end box (actually a broken clear box) are my Anchor thread, spare threads and spare winders.

I keep all my threads in numerical order, because when I cross stitch from graphs, they give the number and numerical order is just so much easier to find.

As each card winder finishes I am putting the new threads of that colour onto a plastic winder, as I think that will last longer.

This is my trusty 6 inch embroider hoop (smirk).

(No points for guessing what this is of).

I actually have a variety of embroidery hoops from three inches all the way to a large rectangle winding frame.

Hoops are not an issue. lol.

This is my trusty ironing ham. Displayed are my faithful scissors.
I recently had these sharpened. The red ones are quality Brazillian scissors with a slightly serrated edge. They cut beautifully. My DH was using them to cut hay twine in the horse's food shed until I rescued them and offered to put them through him if I found them there again.

The silver ones are Japanese drop forged stainless steel ones. My DD says her earliest memories of me are using these same scissors to cut out fabrics. I have had them a long time.

I do own other scissors but these ones are special to me.

My Clover iron. Since I am doing applique work in this Challenge and other little things, I have

decided that my Clover iron will be perfect.

Shown on my new sleeve board. I have been wanting a proper sleeve board since forever (I had made one previously out of a cardboard cylinder that finally died after all these years). I finally shouted myself one before Christmas.

These are the handiest things, and I am looking forward to giving them a good workout.

I have a boiler steam iron as well, but as I am running late with all these gizmos, I wont be loading it up for this entry.

Yeah, hands up who wouldn't kill for one of these babies? My very own daylight. I got it at the Crafts and Stitches fair in August this year. If I talk too much about that day I will get so cranky, but that is because of the Equine Influenza.

This light cost me $75 where normally they are about $129. They are bringing out one with a rechargeable battery some time this year. I want one.

I could not believe the difference this light has brought to my work, especially my cross stitching.

Provenance:

This is a crazy quilt cushion cover made by my grandmother, although I have no idea when.

She was born in 1898 and died in 1957, so since I was born in 1953, I never really knew her.

My mother gave me this when I talked to her once about teaching myself crazy quilting. She thought I might get some ideas from it and then throw it away.

WTF?

(Luckily she is no longer her to ask me what that stands for.)

This is the reverse of the above cushion cover. You can see it is well worn from using old fabrics and then use as a cusion. I so wish I could know the stories about the fabrics. I have so little of my family history.

Rather than have you think I disparrage my mother, she was the one who developed my love of sewing and taught me to cross stitch and some embroidery. I will always be grateful to her for that. I still miss her very much.

This is the first garmet I ever made that used crazy quilting embroidery techniques. Remember I am self taught in almost all my crafts, although I am a qualified dress maker. The fabric strips are velvet and the lining is antique Thai silk (yes it is). It is a vest in child's size 10 and I made it about 22 years ago for my eldest DD. It appears not finished, at the front, but it had hooks and eyes for a while. After she gave up wearing it, I took them off and just keep it as a nice piece that I once made.

Slow Cloth

2007-12-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

Related to my recent topic on Slow Art, is the ongoing topic of Slow Cloth. This topic is still around and still creating interest from much of the Craft/Art section of the internet. I have found it popping up in places that are not related to the usual blogs I read.

However, on Red Threads, Lainie was again talking about it - it is part of blog mission. Sharonb has been talking about it on her blog as well too. Talking about slowing down, talking about the traditions of slow cloth, of creation and community. How can there be creation without community. Part of my response to Lainie's blog are as follows:

I am really enjoying following the exploration of this topic. When I lived in PNG many years ago, the making of bilums (native bags) was done in this sort of community environment. Rather like the quilting bee. I suppose now that we have more transient societies/communities, we try to form this sort of community through our online contacts. If I am honest, it is part of the reason I signed up for Sharonb's challenge for this year.

Many people may try to justify their crafts as art, in which case, they seem to be loosing the plot.

The traditions which come with slow cloth allow us to draw from the past in order to create the future in what we do now. In some respects, too, it is making our own traditions. Those of us who have no family tradition in this respect must draw on the traditions of others. I feel a great respect and gratitude towards those others that they feel enough care about their work to share it so that people like me can learn and incorporate it.

Now I have to teach my children and grandchildren, so that somewhere it becomes "my" family tradition as well. And maybe one day we can spread it out to the world as well.

I think the time it takes to do anything, not as a measure of hours and days, but that we do not pace ourselves against a clock is always relevant. It is like the magazine that offers to let us create things in 10 minutes. Mostly by using precut things, pre glued, as like stickers, and pre written. When you make "art" like this, I always wonder why you don't just go out and buy a commercially available equivalent. Not only is it not really hand made, no one appreciates it truly as handmade, and therefore is much of a waste of time. Whereas if you cut the original yourself, even using a pattern, take time to fossick in your various embellishment containers, use glue, or better still, a needle and thread, and using an actual pen to write with. Or failing that take the time to use stamps and embossing powder. Make it look as though some actual time, effort and the biggie, THOUGHT, went into it. In paper craft, nothing says time taken, thought and care like punching holes and using a needle and thread.

And I guess while I am on this train of thinking. Perhaps one vital omission has been made by everybody. How much care and of your heart goes into anything?

I breed horses. Every foal I have bred I have become attached to, I think foals are the most wonderous babies of all. I handle them from birth and teach them things so that they are able to live comfortably with humans. However, I become very attached to those babies, and when it comes time to sell them, I really cry and grieve for that baby. Needless to say, I do not breed many horses. It is too emotionally draining for me.

In the same way, when I make anything, my sewing, my embroidery, my cross stitching and my paper arts, there is alot of me and my emotions in the end product. Thusly, I do not make many that are for sale. I do give away things, and I am happy to trade item for item, but selling is a different kettle of fish. It is not the money that is the problem, but knowing or not knowing if it has a "forever" home. Which is why I cry and grieve for my foals.

My things that I produce are a part of me.

Maybe that is the intrinsic meaning of slow cloth and slow art.

Flora and fauna of my area ...

2007-12-19T02:38:00.000-08:00

Let me tell you something. I am not a flower person. I don't hate flowers, I just am not overly interested in them. I have done a few floral cross stitches, as far as that sort of thing goes, but if you ask me, I couldn't tell you a stamen from a stem. I am an animal person. I take great inspiration from animals, particularly my horse. She is my darling and since her boy passed away earlier this year, the love of my life.

This is Bruce. He is our resident Koala. He came for a close up visit last night and was about a metre from me when I took this photo of him. He is not in a gum tree, as when he was going from one gum tree to another, we saw him, and he thought this might have been a short cut to the roof. He normally lives in a tree at the side of our house, which overhangs the roof.

This is my inspiration. This is what makes me proud to be an Australian. This is the direction my art will take - from the animals and nature. Watch this space as I try to sketch him on the weekend. Hey I can upload photos!

For more photos of our animals here at Unicorn farm, click on the link above Sharonb's.

I am going to tell you a story ...

2007-12-17T23:34:00.000-08:00

Talking about slow art, I want to tell you the story about bilum.

A bilum is a specially woven bag worn and used by women in Papua Niugini. I lived in the Highlands for four years in the early '70's. The bilums are made in groups, rather like a quilting bee, where mothers, daughters, aunties and friends (wontoks) sit around in a group, making the threads for the bilums and then weaving them. The thighs are shaved of hair and the area used to twist two threads together. New threads are joined in this way so that each bilum is effectively one long thread. The weaving is done by using a darning or wool needle and a small wooden stick, like a tongue depressor or ice cream stick. The most valuable ones are plastic of the same size.

We sit around making bilum, and talking, gossiping about people who we know, laughing and joking. Sometimes we will sing a song, usually a little ditty mocking someone we know. Occassionally a mother with a baby or baby piglet will pull out a breast and feed it. We often laugh and gently mock. It is our way. And our bilums get made.

We use the bilums to collect our coffee beans from the trees to take to the roaster. We use them to collect our vegetables from our gardens. We carry our babies. Sometimes we send them to the market for the foreigners to buy.

Oh, yes. In the making of bilum, there is much slow art, there is a story with each one.

This was the original way all crafts for our lives were made, this is a community way that should return.

Slow Art ...

2007-12-16T00:32:00.000-08:00

Sharonb has been bloggin about the concept of "Slow Art", and what it probably is and how it applies to what people do in the Arts. She came across the idea from this site here. Some of the other crafters are blogging about it, so I thought I would add a few thoughts of my own.

To me, Slow Art, is the time taken to make art. Any art. All the planning, designing, researching, putting the materials together and finally the making of the piece, with the thoughts and feelings that occur during the making.

I guess it is the total opposite of making something really quickly, gluing a few shapes to the front of a ready cut card, stamping a kitch saying inside and claiming it is "handmade". Okay, I have been guilty of doing that myself, on occassion, when something has come up, and someone has asked me to "make" a card quickly.

However, on my "real" art pieces, I agonise for ages to try and get it to look how I visualise in my head. People who keep art journals or any sort of journals to plan and poke in are so organised. I just keep a picture in my head. Probably why some of my work ends up as UFO's and some of those end up "recycled". I guess from that you can guess "organisation" is not even close to being my forte. Hey, I try and work on it.
(Note to self: The road to Hell is paved with good intentions).

Funnily enough, when I design clothing, I always start off with a crocqui and sketch onto that what I think the finished garment should look like, and I use that to check out fabrics. Then I go and buy the fabric, the matching threads and accessories for it. I decide whether to hand hem or machine hem the edges and all the stuff. Then and only then do I work out the pattern. Sounds abit arse around, but that is just how I do it. Maybe if I do a commission work, I might do the pattern so I do not get too much fabric or not enough. Commissions, alas, are far and few between (read: non existent right now).

The real thing I love about my art is that it is so relaxing. Seriously, if I have a stressful day at work, a stress headache or stuff, just spending a little time either doing my art or going through Spotlight or Lincraft just relaxes me. My partner always tries to encourage the doing art rather than shop, but I'm not fussy. lol. Relaxation to me is really the loosening of all my muscles and switching my brain to a slower "mode" and just chilling. Sewing is the best, but any of the others work as well.

****

Since the goal of joining the Take it Further Challenge is for me to get organised, not only will I be doing it, blogging it, I have decided I will make a genuine attempt to keep a journal as well. Plan what I am going to do with each month's challenge. Maybe if I commit to blogging that as well, it will help me. I have a moleskin I bought this year just for that, and except for one sketch I did of a thing I want to make, it is virgin. haha. No points for guessing why.

If this works, I shall certainly owe Sharon a debt of gratitude.

Sorting it all out ...

2007-12-08T03:00:00.000-08:00

Well time is bleeding away, and I must get a wriggle on. And so I have put my best scissors in for a sharpen. I have had these scissors for so long, my daughter says they were a part of her childhood! They are the best quality there is, so I guess they probably were.

I have finally found somewhere to set up my ironing board, so I will tear around like a headless chook tomorrow and get all my fabrics together. I will get them ironed and photograph them.

I will also photograph all my embroidery threads. I have a couple of hundred different colours all neatly wound onto cards and neatly stored into thread boxes. Have been for years, as I am a mad cross stitcher. I should also dig out my embroidery hoops, pins, needles and smaller scissors.

Then I only have to move things around to set up my dear sewing machine. But that might be a bit longer project, as I still have some Christmas cards to make.

But at least I feel like I am starting to get into the swing of it (the challenge) and next I have to get photos posted. I think I should probably trim them down and then try adding them.

Welcome to Bilum ...

2007-11-05T12:51:00.000-08:00

Bilum is the Niuginian word for Bag. A bilum is hand woven bag made from natural and, these days, synthetic fibres. They are made from small to large. The larger ones often hang from the head holding a baby up to six months old. They are amazingly comfortable for the baby and being carried on the head frees up the hands for other things.

In this blog, I would like to discuss techniques and throw around ideas maybe show off some of my work.

I also want to showcase some of my other crafts and point to other craft sites on the 'Net that I think provide interest to the topics.