Time-Out

Hi everyone,

It has been a shocking time for many. Major flooding in northern Queensland and the devastating fires in Victoria. My prayers and thoughts go out to all affected. I could only imagine the hardship and terror felt as I watched and read the news, celebrated the survivals and mourned those lost.....so many heros doing amazing jobs. ....so much heartache. I'm so proud to be an Australian, we don't give up and we rally when needed.

It's been a little while now since my last post but there has been so much going on and exciting news to tell. Firstly, we were delighted last week to be told hubby & I will be grandparents in September. It was certainly a surprise as we didn't think it would happen with our eldest at all but secretly thought it would be such a shame if it didn't. You can imagine my dreams from that point on......designs for cot quilts, toys....the list goes on. It still hasn't sunk in completely. I find myself breaking out in a big smile as I think about it.

This last Friday morning to Sunday evening was an interesting break away for me as I went on a school art camp. The senior girls were right into the workshops presented and the outcome was spectacular. We went to Mt. Glorious so the scenery was lush rainforest, just perfect for the "nature" theme. The photography students took brilliant macro shots and I had a play around as well. I watched shibori dyeing which was very interesting, played with silk painting again, something I have always loved to do and helped out with wearable art.....lots of fun! There was so much preparation before hand and so many activities; day and night, that I just collapsed when I got home and still feel like I need a good sleep.

I will leave you with some of my photography efforts.
The area was alive with small bush creatures and lots and lots of birds.

Well I was trying to be artistic! Tree bark with a little parastic bush orchid (I think).
I disturbed an owl on the path while walking back from the work site to camp one night and it flew up onto a branch and stayed long enough for me to catch this image.





Another artistic effort that could be used for a painting or fabric design.

Yes, another bottlebrush!

Some of the students dyeing efforts....pretty effective!

Part of the final performance. The girls altered cloth to form living backgrounds for projected images ( their photos). Quite stunning with dance movements, sound effects and a rainforest background.

Best wishes
Deb

Whimsy

Hi everyone,

This is just a very quick note to tell you about an absolutely wonderful Etsy Store I have just found. If you adore whimsy and the cutest of cute little people then you must have a look. I think Henry is my favourite, although they are all loveable. The colours are beautiful and the faces.....well, I did say they were cute! It's called http://www.kazzmagorical.etsy.com/

Also show & tell two new buttons -

Bye for now,
Deb

ps. Thanks for your comment Beth. Yes, we women are very good at multi-tasking and I too wouldn't have it any other way.
pps. Stephanie, I guess the reality is a little further from my imagination. Just think how wonderful it will be when the sun does come out.

Here's Harriet

Hi Everyone,

I have finally pressed the "send" button to despatch an essay I was doing on Renaissance painting techniques. I feel free, at least for the weekend anyway. The assignment was really interesting but time consuming and I will need to get reading again for one more essay before the fun starts with Print Making. Anyway, the break mean't I could show you Harriet. She is rather cute and once again fairly easy to put together. Her hair is painted on...so not too fiddly and her clothes are fun to applique while relaxing. I was stitching while watching the cricket.
Hope you like her. Harriet is No.2 (April) in Doll Club.

I used a lovely spotty Moda fabric to finish the sample and they work really well.....spots within spots!
This little iced vo vo biscuit will not break any New Year's diet resolution, it's a sweet little polymer clay button from the "Treat" collection. Holly has made lamingtons, choc chip cookies, jam on toast, lemon tarts, choc biscuits with vanilla cream.......all sorts of goodies! All available in mixed packs & singularly from the Wattlebee Website.

And as I take my victories where I find them.......I think I have also triumphed over the little bug that has been destroying my passionfruit. I was only recently feeling very smug having spied the biggest crop ever to then find spoiled fruit dropping on the lawn. So I put together a little trap and voila! I am at least retaining most of the fruit.
Deb 1 - bug 0, ha ha.
I've even sent out the first Newsletter for '09....good stuff!

Take care & happy sewing
Deb

Doll Club

Hi Everyone,

We've been hibernating here trying to stay cool, it's too humid to do anything much outside that you don't need to do. Which I must admit is ideal for crafting.

I wasn't going to continue the doll club this year as I had so much on my plate I didn't think I could do it justice, but I had so many lovely emails asking about when it would start again that I knew I just had to do it. We will be starting in February and all the info for 2009 will be on the website in the next couple of days.

Here's a sneak preview of the first doll. She appears complicated but believe me she isn't. I love making items in a "cushion" type style and I have done the bunch of flowers she holds in this manner. I did a similar small bunch for the Australian Country Threads, Mother's Day doll.

So easy, and really effective.
The second doll is a real cutie, she sports a hula hoop and will be ready for show and tell soon.

Australian Country Threads this month also has a contribution from me called Happy Heart. It was for the applique special so she has some nice applique hearts on her dress.

Heres the cover.The boys are at the beach again trying to catch some more big fish, dare I say they are "hooked". We have a long weekend to celebrate Australia Day on the 26th. I'm sure the beach will be packed.

I mentioned our Etsy store previously and there are a number of new items that we had fun making. Here are a few pencil/office/locker cases that we have made.....Holly made matching charms to dress up the zip pulls.

This one belongs to the cup cake one.

I thought the cases would be perfect for bits & pieces that would be handy to keep at work like spare keys, deodorant, paracetamol, phone chargers etc. Holly likes them as pencil cases as they hold 'everything'!! Check them out at 2bees.etsy

These are the gorgeous versions of 'Kitey' being made by the lovely ladies in Bohdana's doll club in Prague. I love all the different colour combinations.

I thought 2009 should start with an updated profile photo with the addition of my brand new, super cool googles. I can see for miles now! ( The kids say I look like Rosemary from that tv show - Ladette to Lady.......... poor Rosemary!)

Now I should get back to Miss Hula Hoop!

Happy sewing,

Deb

Ps. Stephanie, wish we were in your winter wonderland.

Renewal

Happy New year to you all,

I know this is a little late as we are already half way through January, but we were having such a good holiday that no one wanted to come home. I say that knowing that we love being home it's just so nice escaping for a while.

I always love the start of a new year. It really does seem like a chance to do things better and improve on what we learnt the previous year. I must confess we still have Christmas decorations and a tree to put away though, so it really doesn't quite seem like 2008 has passed.

A nice way to start the year is with a new project in Australian Homespun Mag. "Wattle" was a lot of fun to make so if you can get yourself a copy I'm sure you will enjoy making her.

I didn't forget about the competition. Thank you so much to the lovely ladies that left comments, it's always great to hear from you and I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are fully invigorated for 2009.
Congratulations to Linny, her name was drawn and her pattern awaits - (Linny just let me know which pattern you would like and a postal address to send it to).

I wanted to share some images taken while we were away and some exquisite little flowers that were begging to be photographed. We used one of the images taken to create a new fresh banner for 2009.
This beautiful Crepe Myrtle from our garden is almost ready to open it's blooms. Each petal is so tightly packed into it's little bud just ready to burst.

This gorgeous Bougainvillea flowers in profusion at our front door. High maintenance as it is; grows overnight and is thorny....but how could you not enjoy that colourful sight.

This little plant(pigface) was found on the beach one morning while we were walking.
This is one of the boys worming. Drag something smelly like fish frames over the sand and up pop sand worms. Some of them are as thick as a pencil and over a mt. long. I haven't been able to catch one ( don't really want to either) but the kids have the knack.

This was the bonus for staying longer. My middle son caught this 25lb Golden Trevally off the beach. He was pretty proud of himself and it was delicious to eat as well.

Well holidays are over so it's back to work...new dolls available soon.

We also have an ETSY store( see side bar) for all the things we like to make that are a little different.

Best wishes

Deb

last minute

Hi everyone,
Just wanted to show you our latest goodies for Christmas. We have made two new Spice Angels dressed in vintage doileys, linens and lace. Holly and I had a great time digging through the large stash of vintage materials collected over time to find just the right bits & pieces . It's been a while and I had forgotten some of the treasures packed away. We love making these dolls as it is such a lovely way to use gorgeous old materials. They smell Christmassy too; the hearts are filled with cloves.

The first one has blue accents with a lovely old blue bird doiley and "french blue" shoes.

The bottom doll features an autumn toned doiley and "maple syrup" painted shoes. The best part is bringing them to life by blushing thieir cheeks....they 'warm up'.

Holly has been busy on her own too. There are more licorice allsort buttons and the cutest little plum pudding buttons avaliable in the Wattlebee shop now.

Plum Pudding Buttons - so cute!
These cute Holly leaves and Berry Beads are perfect for making an original pair of earrings but could be used on any Christmas project.

Licorice Allsorts - New colours and styles

Holly likes to make sure all the holes are clean in her buttons and we have the perfect size drillbit hidden away, I say hidden as our drill went missing, then one by one the bits went too. Lovely sons like to use them but they don't remember to give them back. I have to hide my scissors too! I hope Santa brings me a new pair....I've hinted a lot! Perhaps ones that give an electric shock to anyone not using them for fabric...ha ha!

Hope you are well underway with Christmas preparations and not feeling too stressed.

Best wishes

Deb

Drum roll please......

Apologies for being sooooo slack with saying hello. I don't know what happens at the end of each year, the world speeds up and time seems to speed up with it. Everything has to happen before the magical change over to another year. I think I'm my own worst enemy as I try to do too many things at once and end up not finishing enough of them.

Anyway.... an absolutely lovely thing happened recently. I was awarded a very special honour from a very special blogger in Ireland. Stephanie's blog - My Calico Heart is always interesting and a visual delight ( also updated regularly...unlike mine). I was really thrilled to receive this award and have posted the banner with pride. I feel I have found a new friend and it is certainly inspiring and rewarding to have people like Stephanie on your side.

As to new designs...well I just finished work at school and as the kids are now on holidays ( me too) I'm ready to go. I really love christmas and all those holidays so no excuses are allowed. Not sure I'll finish the small Christmas wall hanging. The Moda fabric is gorgeous but I want it to be perfect, and at the moment it's not so I'm just going to chill on that one. There's always next year!

Another enterprising friend in Prague is holding Doll Club classes featuring my dolls. I am thrilled that the classes are going so well for her. Bohdana is a very talented person and her expertise in sewing and classes is a vital part of the success. I'm very grateful to her for my part in introducing doll making to The Czech Republic. Bohdana has sent wonderful...joy filled photos of classes in progress. I will ask permission for photos to show.

Until next time...
Deb