craft weekend

This post is so very overdue but i havent posted about our weekend away in August at Heathcote..... we all had a ball as usual, some new members joined us and they fitted right in. we are a pretty easy going lot!

Faye totally spoiled us with lots of lovely homecooked meals and hospitality the way that only Faye can....

so what did we do... well, di and i felted , there was scrapbooking, needlefelting and lots of hand stitching.

di decided she wanted to make a felted jacket [her coat of many colors!]she used prefelt which is a marvellous invention and we cut and layed out the gazillion colors she used. It was hard to get the size right as it didnt shrink as much as she wanted but with a bit of fiddling it worked out really well. i took a really video of the girls sing 'lets get physical' as they rolled the felt but cant get it to upload :( im sure theyll be very relieved!







...and i made felted soaps!!!!!!



i loved making these, so therapuetic but only use cheap soap because the 'good ' soap like dove does not felt.

Ive seen felted river stones too which look similar but i wouldnt be comfortable taking like that from the environment. our rivers are in a big enough mess as it is....



]

the destroyer pup decided that one might be tasty and chewed one up. it musnt have tasted very good as she left a hole in one end. ive been using it and for those who want to know, it does feel funny on your skin, sort of rough but smooth at the same time, and the felt must keep shrinking with the soap as its still tight.


some happy snaps....

needlefelted bag , this was gorgoeuos , i meant to take proper pics, it had lots of shiny and interesting fabrics and threads and just needed a chain to finish it....think i might have to make some....






Lets get physical......


no more WIPS.....


the look of concentration....


love this one , nice smiley face......


weve already booked for next oct as Faye gets booked out quickly and we all need that break away and a bit of spoiling....

nearly weened out.....

these are the last atcs i've made for Halloween swaps.......

think im officially weened out by now.

ive used this great new background tech that i saw while blog surfing......ive expanded it bit , but its so easy and the possibilities are endless.....



masking tape background....


cut your atcs from strong card and them lay strips of masking tape all over.



i ripped mine for uneven edges , joined it in odd parts and even layed strips vertically as well as the main horizontal ones.

then you could paint but i used oil pastels and smudged them about.

on the orange one i drew patterns in it with a needle and on the blue one i rubbed it back to expose the masking tape pattern more. Then i sealed and stuck my images on , but you could add more layers using stamps/stencils in ink or paint.......
i love the way the moon came out, a white oil pastel and a little bit of gesso...


the swirly bits are these new 'Fancies' [ spotlight, scrapbooking section for the aussie girls] which are atc size pieces of flocked transparencies. they came in black, red ,white, silver and gold......of course i couldnt decide so i bought a pack of each!! there a six different designs in each pack including frames and spots.......i gelled them on and they have dried really clear....

image from here thanks!

and these are some bracelets im making which i bought from spotlight again. havent finished the little one yet and im wearing the Halloween one into work :D
i think these would also look great covered with strips of paper or fabric and sealed.
im going to add more painty layers to the small one and then maybe a bit of crocheting
[very basic, cos its just something ive never been able to get!!]







little girl image from here, witch image from flikr and itkupilli.

Now if i could remember where the masking tape one was.....

more halloween not so goodness...

Uncle edward was such a cool dude....

Auntie Agnes' cookies always tasted funny....... i could just imagine her lacing them with things she shouldnt !

both traded...

Auntie Bertha had dreams of being a supermodel....

oh for legs like that and working knees!! lol

traded

the backgorund is the credit card technique.... i used aqua , then black and finally gold ... the paint was still a bit damp when i gelled it but its given a soft fuzzy effect as it picked up some of the paint.

its such a lot of fun to do...

images for itkupilli and someone on flickr , wish i could find the link...

some Halloween ATC's....

BOO !!!

Don't look if you dont like ghouly stuff, ive discovered my dark side......



Rockin' dolly 4 trade



Creepy dolly 4 trade



Bat Marie 4 trade




Scary Mumma traded



images from Itkupilli,[button on side] and Flickr
some also from another site on Flikr, i forget who , sorry...

wow...2 posts in one week....

what have you done to deserve this??!!

just wanted to show you lucy's new wallet she has made for her friends 18th tonight.

all recycled from a pair of her old jeans and the bib and braces from the top of a pinny that charlie cut off and turned into a skirt. she has modified this one with a magnetic clasp and stiffenned the two outside panels with cardboard.

looks amazing , i hope her friend likes it.

she has used the hems off everything for the tops of the card pockets.



the back has plastic pocket for her myki bus card so it can be scanned directly onto the bus without taking out, clever!!!

i said she shouldve pressed the red taffetta but she said that she liked it creased, 'it went with the look'







and heres 3 atc's i have made a little while ago using twinklings, not much of a 'watercolorer' but sometimes simple is good.
i think lately i have been a bit overwhelmed with all thats going on, rotary, debs and work that i am trying to cut the clutter from my life and simplify things. im probably also a bit frustrated because i havent made anything for a while and am getting itchy fingers.

i call these my 'shower designs' cos my inspiration came from a hair and blob of soap on the shower screen.

lol now you'll think im nuts!!!

for trade



lonely house traded


just traded

oh and theres a link to the side for itkupilli, she is having a giveaway, love her collage sheets....

from this to this.....

hard to believe i have gone from this





to this.....
















pretty nice Huh???

however it is a challenge to keep it clean and not have papers all over my desk....

i am not a tidy person by nature!

see the lovely stripey towel thrown over the bar at the top, for when the pipes in the roof leaked :( cant believe how grotty it looked......

when it quietens down, my desk will be shifted back a bit as its stuck right out in no mans land. i find it very distracting with people walking behind me all the time.
the grand opening was brilliant, long hours though, 7am start with a lovely brekky and finishing at 6.00
the customers were queueing up at 6 am down into the carpark Lol,[bit sad that i think!!] although the $99 sewing machines might have had someting to do with that.

we had the ribbon cutting, speeches, new uniforms and it was a good day, manic but good......

another week flown by.....

cant believe how quickly the year is flying by. i am particularly busy at work and its only going to get worse with the new shop opening and warmer weather.....

remember how the fires of last feb came up to the back door of my work?

well, we shifted out 7 container loads of stock, mainly fabrics,then moved into the vacant store next door as temporary premises while they refurbished the old shop.

in the last few weeks it has undergone a total transformation, the shopfitters came in and fitted it out like a big mechano set in two weeks. then the merchandisers, dispatch people and extra staff , flown in from stores all over the country, cairns, toowoomba and even new zealand had the shop nearly stocked in two weeks as well. ive been particularly interested in seeing how the shop displays go together, really interesting how they just put things together and twist and pin fabric onto the mannequins to make trendy outfits.
weve all been doing lots of o/t too although i havent had to do any 8-6 days.

my new area [custom made furnishings] is looking beautiful, it took 3 days to fit out and it will be a loverly place to work :D, ill get some before and after shots so you can see the hovel im working in at the moment. the big shift for me is thurs, and we open on Sat with brekky at 7am. no weekend off next weekend :(
the old store is now a clearance centre and we have a week to get rid of it. i have been buying sheets, doona covers and wool like a madwoman!!

so nothing made but lots of lovelies in the mail.... first of all from my fused plastic trades.

jeannie sent me this lovely one made from fp with copper foil tape. the foil and copper tape work really well together. its fascinating how diferent plastics react when they are fused too...




and debbi sent me these lovelies.... love how shes punched and stamped the shapes and used different types of stitching.



debbi also sent me this fab blog award which i am finally getting around to posting.



i feel very honored but always feel a bit funny about passing them on, especially when theree is huge list of requirements to fill in. we all spend far too much time on computers as it is!

there is however no presuure with this one so you can accept and leave it at that if you wish....

so i am listing 5 obsessions......

1, chocolate would have to be the top of the list, although i am trying very hard to cut back on that little obsession!

2, fabric, you can never have enough and i just love to touch and feel it...

3, my craft group, i get really antsy if i miss a week!!its so good to touch base and have laugh over coffee..

4,making stuff.....could be a bit more obsessed at the moment but i always love to be making something, always have....

5, the sea, i wish i lived by the sea, i can spend hours watching the waves, its sooo relaxing.

and 5 blogs in no particular order....

1, The loverly Les' blog Les and i met and started a yahoo atc group together. shes turned into a technique junkie and is always up to something interesting. she has some great tutes on her new blog too....

2/ the fabby Jan whose blog is new too and makes lovely atc's. check her mermaid ones out... beats me at scrabble quite frequently too ;)

3/patty's blog always has wonderful eye candy and she's such a beautiful person too....

4/ another one i lurve visiting is margarets blog, always great art, lovely pics and amusing stories...

5/ and finally jacky whom i havent met yet but would love to one day.....love her klimt dollies!

its very hard to narrow it down to 5 blogs because i have so many that i love visiting..

Also, i just wanted to thank you for your lovely comments on charlies deb too, we were so proud of her.....and 250.00 later the next morning the cars ignition was fixed too:)