My b day

Wonderful family and friends made yesterday very special. Another birthday bites the dust but good memories are added to a very blessed life.
Holly made a cute chocolate cake as she is on holidays...the kitchen was also a surprise when I got home, but can't be annoyed at that after the effort. The cake below was one she was practising for her Home Economics exam. It was delicious also. She didn't end up topping with the extra berries but it was crowned with toffee shards, a strawberry and mint leaf. We don't watch MasterChef for nothing LOL.

The sponge cake and custard were made from scratch and after quite a few attempts ( we didn't mind tasting the rejects) EUREKA!! she got it! Those food stacking rings are great tools.


This gorgeous bird was a very special gift. Made all by hand with paper mache, painted and decorated with gorgeous patterned papers and completed with hand fashioned wire legs. The craftsmanship ( or should I say craftswomanship) is absolutely exquisite. If you are like me and love crafted birds especially these I can point you in the direction of the artist. I will have photos of her other birds soon to show & going to aquire some for sale myself so I'll post more info later on this. Too lovely not to share.

I am lucky enough to have wonderful friends at work and made to feel special with lovely gifts & greetings.
The most gorgeous scissors ...heading straight to the studio. Arty earrings wich I love, beautiful flowers, crafty magnets, chocs and birthday greetings....yep, very special.



Yellow roses are probably my fav & these certainly brightened up my day as well as work space.

Take Care and hope your day is special also,

Deb

June happenings.

June is always a busy month for us. Two family birthdays, school holidays looming again and this year, preparations for Holly's school formal. This final senior year is flying along and it will be over all too soon. It is a very exciting one though as pathways for study and the future are mapped out. Better just worry about formal dress and shoes for now. That's drama enough!


The Textile Show was on last weekend and was a really interesting day out. I took a quick snap of this clever wearable art example...not sure about photography in there so It was very quick.

So much to see and do. I brought home some great new products for dyeing fabric, decolourants, wool & silk strands for embellishments and generally way too many things. Oh, I forgot the books...I love books and found two that were perfect additions to my resources. One was on interesting Shibori methods and the other on natural dyeing. I know I read too much and do too little at times but one day.........

The next exciting happening was the Surrealist exhibition at GoMA. Interesting and worth seeing if you are in town.

Rene Magritte, The red model

Back to Melbourne..... and down a little alley opposite Federation Square is Movida. Would like to eat at this Spanish restaurant one day. Heading down in August for the Tutankhamun exhibition so hopefully get a chance then. There is lots of graffiti and skateboarders too so plenty of atmosphere and colour.

Just had to show you these magnificent doors ( and daughter). I took this last April when we visited Nicola Cerrini's studio at the Abbotsford convent artist's community . The studio is actually to the left of pic and up a sharp flight of beautifully worn very old steps but I loved these doors too.

I've been playing around with Nuno felting scarves ( it's been extremely cold lately, well cold for Brisbane) and scarves have been on my mind. Dyeing, then embellishing. Hope I end up with something worth showing.

Take care for now,

Deb

ps. Thank you Stephanie & Bev for your kind thoughts, always appreciated.