Felted Birthday Cards

The beginnings of a  felted card for a one year old.

Some needle felting, some handstitching  a  slip of paper for a message

and a ribbon to finish it off.

A pretty card for a one year old.

Two more cards I made this morning.

The pink one has been sold.

Oh! I nearly forgot about the kiss on the back!

Wanaka Embroidery School

http://www.oegembroideryschool.co.nz/

This weekend I am travelling to Wanaka to be a part of the Wanaka Embroidery School.

It begins on Friday evening and finishes on Sunday afternoon.

There are 25 classes available, so I think it will be attracting many to participate in these.

I am looking forward to the whole experience.

I expect to:

Meet new people of a likemind.

Learn heaps.

Be inspired.
Have fun.

I am doing a stamping-layering-stitching class with Jan Gibb from Invercargill.

Here's to a great weekend for all of us
.(I'm hoping to take a number of photos throughout the weekend some will be posted on my blog)

                                                    

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A Floral Brooch

I finished this brooch recently.  I had done it in stages.  Knitted sweater strips

were zigzagged along the edges and gathered to form this flower shape.

A  piece of felted knitting was needle felted to form the center
and lastly beads were sewn on.

How Quaint Is This?

I have just come back from a short break away.
  A clear sunny day was the setting for a great flight from Christcurch to Nelson.
  My son, daughter-in-law and grandaughter live there so I was able to spend quite a bit of time with them.

I did a lot of walking, and when you are walking and you have a camera handy it is very interesting to see what is happening out there.  Here are a few of my 'Nelson moments.'

                ****  1946  Chevrolet  Delivery  Van   ****

I was amazed to see this well cared  for work truck/van.

I bet this man doesn't run short of work.

An excellent way to promote your business.

 

This is a well-loved work vehicle of

'Shillings Plumbing'  Nelson.
This mobile workshop has seen some action this morning.

........ and a great way to advertise your business too!

(I certainly noticed it)

My Hand Sewn Bag.

Some time ago my sewing machine sewed its last stitch.  It was old and tired.  I left it to rest in peace, and while I was making the decision about what I would purchase next, I worked on this, 'My hand sewn bag.'

It is heart shaped.  Inside are two pockets, one for a cellphone/glass case etc.
I have embellished the pretty flower print on the front and back with embroidery and beads.
 

The green and white striped lining  fabric is a 'happy' contrast.

 

 Some embroidery for outlining and a few beads keeps the

softness of the bag.

I  hope you enjoy!

A Beautiful Mohair Scarf.

I was op-shopping very recently and found this very soft and very beautiful  mohair scarf.
I washed it this morning and love how the fibres have freshened up.
It has had some use as it has two or three small holes in it.
I washed it this morning and it dried very quickly in the summer heat we are having.

Look at those ever so soft fibres, drying in the sun.

Now it is dried.  You can see that it is cream rather than white.

The garden rose is 'William Morris.'

The mohair fibres form a pattern giving a lovely softness.

(There's a rose behind there.)

The label says it all.  100% Mohair. Made in Great Britain  in the Scotch House by Ceakenhall. 

( I wonder where that is and how old this scarf might be?) 

A Fabric Heart

A heart created from black felted knitting.

The pinky-red velvet was machine stitched on.

The upper photo shows my not so neat stitching on the satiny fabric
on the back of the heart.

Some beads form a 'tail.'

I like the rugged look of this.

The Best Summer Photo of All!

My Grandaughter  was dedicated this Summer.  She was dressed in a very pretty pink and white dress.  Her pink and white shoes matched her dress.

(Couldn't resist taking this photo .)

Summer Photos.

Summer is coming to an end here.  Some nights are quite cool even though we are having very hot days.
Here is a poppy, a peonie, summer daisies, double delight rose.

 

A Chinese Proverb - I love this!

'Man who waits for Roast Duck to fly into

mouth, must wait very, very long time.'

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Sunday Afternoon Project

I found this 'throwover' in an op shop. The fabric is a pretty light green but it was very plain to look at. On Sunday afternoon I embroidered the two opposite corners with dragonflies.

One thing I have learnt is this....... its not about perfection!  These dragonflies are not perfect but I'm  happy with them. I also sewed a mother of pearl button in each corner.

Now I have a not so plain throwover which I have made my mark on and am happy to use.

What do you think of it?

( the photo does not show the pretty green colour that it is.)

My Art Journal - my first one ever!

I have always struggled with thinking I was an artist. I took art at secondary school for a while

and it didn't really flow for me. I think that was when I concluded that I wasn't an artist.

That of course is a very narrow perspective on being an 'artist.' Now I appreciate that there are many ways one can be considered to be an artist.

I see some of the lovely needlework that Mum did in younger days. It is truly a work of art. She also painted. Particularly flowers. Her handwritimg was a work of art. I don't think I have ever seen such beautiful writing as hers.

Since I am my mothers daughter, I'm hoping I have inherited some of Mum's talents. I am encouraged by this. Thankyou Mum.

I have been creating an art/inspirational journal this year. It is very therapeutic. It has given me much pleasure. Even though it is nearly falling apart, it has been most enjoyable .

I have never done one before. I hope you can see a little of what is in it.

Almost falling apart! Who said I wasn't an artist! I think it was me!

Anyway, its great to be free to do whatever you want. Be it some blanketstitch along

the page edges, adding fabric strips and tie on a shell or button, shade and colour with

crayons and pastels. Whatever I chose to do it was heaps of fun and I'm not finished yet!

A collage of magazine cutouts, duplicate pictures,

coloured with pastels along with inspirational wording.

Click on photos for larger view.

A Look Inside My Fabric Book

I have been asked to show a page or two from my fabric book as seen on my header. Creativity is my theme. I had a lot of fun with this. So, here we go a couple of photos..........

The top page shows some ribbon roses.
The lower photo shows a small piece of the page peeking through the machine wrapped chord.

Summer Delights - Freshly Picked Sweet Peas

An offering from my garden this morning.

Something Old, Something New

New and recycled fabric, machine wrapped chord and embroidery

and here is a drawstring bag which I enjoyed making recently.

A Guard Dog of many things!

We have a Labrador at our place who guards our property.

The only thing is... he also guards our peach tree.

That would be o.k. but he has been seen to help himself to a peach or two!

Therefore we considered it necessary to guard the tree from 'the dog.'

Here we see Dougal on guard duty as we secure the tree from peach loving Dougal!

Go Dougal?

This is what we are guarding!

Our peach harvest has started! Dougal has been kept away (mainly) and

now we enjoy the harvest.

Sweet, juicy freestone, Redhaven peaches.

How good is that!

I just love these....

These shells are a special find from a local beach.

The barnacles add a ruggedness to an otherwise delicate shell.

I have added another posting below so see another photo of these.

Beautiful Shells from Moeraki

I discovered these delightful shells on the Moeraki beach not far from

Fleurs Restaurant. They are delicate and range in colour from white through to orange.

Being a collector of shells for a long time, I was delighted with my find.

I think they are a small scallop shell. It is the first time I have seen

these in North Otago.

Fabric Book - 2009

A different look at my fabric book on the header at the top of my blog. I had a lot of enjoyment putting this together last year, although I continue to play and alter and add things! A womans work is never done???!!!. I love books, journals and journalling. It is my obsession at the moment.!

Felted Hearts

I love heart shapes. You can do so much with them. There are no hard lines to work with.

The strong symbolism of love is very needful in the true sense of the word.
I liked the colour combination of these hearts. Not your usual feminine colours!
There's a fabric bead in between the buttons at the bottom. Not easy to see in the photo.

Dansys Pass Lavender Pass

These purple/lavender gates are the spectacular entranceway to a delightful Lavender Farm at Danseys Pass in North Otago. Barry and Jo are very welcoming and apart from a beautiful garden with a number of varieties of lavenders,the enticing little shop is worth a look. We visited here prior to Christmas. Worth taking timeout to visit.

A Gift For A Friend

This is a gift made for a special friend.

It was a lot of of fun to make using recycled or upcycled fabrics whichever you prefer.

A lot of love went into this.

Pussy Willow and Ribbons

I love pussy willow. Not far from my home there is a pussy willow tree.

Every year in late winter I gather branches to place in a vase. They are

beginning to bud then and are an early sign that spring is near.
I enjoyed creating this wreath. It hangs on my kitchen wall.

Poppies in the Garden

Its very easy to rush past these pretty flowers.
I like to take the time and stop once in a while
to appreciate the colours, the ruffled edges and
the delicate petals of this beautiful poppy.

I love the brilliance of these Bright red Poppies

Fabric Tags

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I had a lot of fun making these fabric tags. A background of photocopied music with some 'happy words' added and I had my fabric to work with. A little fibrefill, stitching and background fabric and there they are.