Off to Broome

Everything is away(well sort of), the orders are up to date and the weather wet and cold in Perth (lovely really) so we are off to Broome for a few days of reading, swimming, stitching, knitting, etc etc. Well Ian will be doing the first 2 only....
Here is the swimming pool where we are staying - and we will swim here because I read in the paper this morning that Cable Beach was closed yesterday because a shark was seen. We will just go there to walk on the beach and watch the fabulous sunsets. Not to mention watching the rugby at the Divers Tavern on Saturday. Aust plays Wales and the ABs play France.


This is the entry to one of the villas - where we went last year. And I am going to have a foot massage as well. In readiness for standing for 5 days at Darling Harbour show at the end of June. When we get back we will be packaging and packing like crazy for that. Plus I have a lot of my art to wear to finish

A tiny picture but this is the outdoor shower- a mandi they call it. The temperature today - around 20 min to 30 max. We do our own cooking as there is an outside bbq and a place to sit, read and relax.

Back on Sunday.

the day after

a show means lots of stuff stacked everywhere. Thank goodness for Jaslyn helping us - you are a gem, mate. Bruce and Kazuko helped us pack up and that certainly eased the pain of carting stuff. We were out in just over an hour. Locked the van up the right of way and all went out to dinner at Spaghi's in South Perth. Because our fence is being rebuilt, the pickets are down so we were able to empty the van through the fence. We have this great new system for the books all neatly displayed in plastic tubs so I rushed off to Bunnings to buy some more and boy - is it tidy. Lots to put away properly though but when any one comes around they are sure to be impressed. Now comes all the sorting and counting and reordering. Then packaging and packing for Darling Harbour.

Ali sent me a parcel which I got today (the second one as the first one is somewhere out there in postal land) - a wonderful packet of pohutakawa napkins. Thanks so much - I have plans for them. The pohutakawa is the NZ christmas tree - it usually blooms around christmas time and always looks wonderful - makes us homesick to see them.

Tomorrow I shall start thinking about the 3 TAST I am behind with and get going. But also back to the garland which I thought a lot about over the period of the show and talked a lot about and actually started on.

little more rambling

I have made a cover for my sample book and managed a little digitizing for the top. Now that the book is done, I am planning to incorporate machine stitching with my embellisher work.

Lovely rain in Perth which the garden needs badly but I think anyone in Brisbane will be far more needy somehow.

Grant is off to London today for 6 months - sailing and working so we won't see him until we go in October. Just as well for the world of blogs and emails.....

Hilary - I have a Designer SE sewing machine and I digitized in Generations using the Jokerman font. I am not a great digitizer but I very much enjoy playing with fonts and fills and stuff.

Friday folly

it's not that the show is exhausting - actually the crowds have been small but then we haven't done a small show for some time. But we have had a very busy week - with the book arriving late on setup day (we have in fact finally sent out all the orders for it) and all the usual orders still flowing in. I have omitted to tell you that the latest Quilting Arts arrived in the midst of everything and we have started to send them out - they will all be in the post on Monday. This is Murphy's Law isn't it - things happen in big waves. Famine or Feast. I have been vegetating in front of the tv watching Murphy's Law but as it is up to episode 5 or 6 I am not certain what is actually happening. My TAST is well behind but I have made a cover for my Surface Tension book to hold my samples in. The promised rain has not and the hydrangeas have been sulking. Wanted to scan a piece of work but Ian has turned his computer off and the scanner links to that. It has been lovely to see so many people at the show but as usual I have many ideas whirling in my head and would like to try them.... Summary is that we are puddling along.

Champagne and excitements and...

What a day and a half it has been. First the printer decided to go on indefinite strike just when I needed to print out labels for wool tops and the like. It is going to go to the old printer yard but not until after the show....

Then we had to get the van and fill it up. They have given us a much bigger stand (same price) so then one has to decide how much else one can take. The usual awful lot if I may say so.

Came back to do the mail and voila! - the delivery man arrived with all of the books. This is the first time we have seen it all finished. After Ian has taken the mail he is going to bring back champagne before we go back to finish setting up the stand. I managed to get about 50 out tonight. I just wanna thank everyone who has ordered it and I hope you find it useful and inspirational. Your faith in me is very much appreciated.

If you are coming to the show I shall be demonstrating and happy to talk about the embellishers. I am thinking of running a workshop here on the 20th June - 6 people max.

I Have Been Tagged

I am not sure what this means really except that I have to write 7 things about myself and tag 7 other people. Well I wll write the 7 things but not bother with the tagging. Seems to me plenty of people have been tagged. It's a bit like chinese wispers? Maybe.

1 I live in Perth, Western Australia but not as long as I lived in my home country - yet

2 I am passionate about rugby (NZ naturally)

3 Wellington is my favourite city in the world

4 I love to travel

5 I am bad at relaxing and doing nothing

6 I am lucky to have Ian who keeps me on the straight and narrow - he is rational and I am not

7 I love what I do and happily crawl out of bed at 6am every morning

Have a good week everyone - I have so much to do and not enough time to do it all - once again

Saturday Stuff

Many thanks Debbi Baker for this wonderful postcard which I have given pride of place in my studio this weekend. And I only sent her a paper napkin... It is lovely.

I haven't posted for a few days - have been very busy preparing for the show next week and organising the many preorders we have received for the book. I hope it is worth it when you recieve your copy.

I am busy creating a few things for the display and sorting my embellisher samples to put on the walls at the show. They have offered us a larger stand (same price) which means we can take more stuff. Ian has hired a van as I am taking the tables from in the studio and the stands etc. After roaming to a few shops I finally found the plastic boxes for the books at Bunnings late on Thursday after we had been out for a meal with Val and Jim. Bunnings was looking pretty empty of people - poor staff having to hang around filling in time.

I went to a digitising seminar on Friday which was very good for me - I tend to keep going back and doing the things I know without extending myself. I am hoping this course will keep me on track. I have been playign with words - again - that's what I like doing.....

THANK YOU

We have been quite overwhelmed today with so many preorders for the book.
Thank you all very much. I can see we will be very busy next week.

I will post some pics tomorrow - I have finished colouring all of my rust book pages and I discovered that when you overflow a Moonshadow bottle because your mind is miles away, you can use your hand to collect all the colour and transfer it to your pages - nice effect actually.

If you visit Maggie's website
Embellish and Stitch

and go to New Stuff, you can see some interesting effects - worth following up - just give me a little time to play some more

Off to Luigi and Martien's for a bbq but I think that even I will be all wrapped up tonight!

Take a Stitch Tuesday 19

Here is my offering for TAST - Basque Stitch - I couldn't think where I would use it but stitching away pleasantly I have decided it is quite a good stitch.

I didn't post over the weekend - seemed to potter along achieving very little. I am rusting up the pages of my Rust book - mostly with Moonshadow Mist and walnut ink. It will be a bit of a shame to start working in it...

Bruce and Kazuko took me (us) to breakfast yesterday morning for mother's day - at Lincoln's - our new cafe - very nice too.

The 2 rubgy semi-finals were pretty dismal for the 2 kiwi teams - don't think we will be inspired enough to watch the finals. Roll on something else.

We managed to 'borrow'the book back again - Chris brought it round and watched while Ian scanned it so he could snatch it away again. The plates are made so the printing part is on its way. Very exciting. I have put a picture of the cover on my embellishment blog. Very subtle cover - not like the inside.

Never Too Old

I have loads of fabulous playgirls enrolled in my Playways course. Paula Nollen from The Netherlands, who is 81, has just finished - you can see one of her gorgeous pieces in our Playways Gallery on our website, Now she is making boxes she tells me so I thought I would share it. Isn't it fun? It seems to me that textiley people haven't time to be bored - never....

Our man from the printing people turned up today with our copy of the book and all the glossy large pages ready to roll through the printing machines once we signed on the dotted lines. Can you believe that Ian gave back our copy and it seems to have gone home with our man! So it will be Monday before Ian can load the cover and info onto the website. I can't even put it under my pillow or cart it around with me over the weekend to show anyone silly enough to ask what I might be carrying under my arm. That means I really will have to get to work on all of my other pressing activities.

Penny - just saw your message come in - Generations is a digitizing programme. I want to scan in my drawings and work them in bits and pieces and especially for my rust series. Keep watching this space....

Plus don't forget to keep your fingers crossed for the first of teh rugby semi finals - Auckland vs a SA team.....tonight

Oh - and the garland is forming in my mind in greens and purples - royal shiraz with gold. Start working on it soon as the deadline will come faster than you can imagine.

eating out

Last night I took Ian out to Star Anise - a restaurant we haven't been to before. Have always meant to go for a special occasion but have just not done so. It wasn't cheap by any means but well worth it and for a very good cause. Ian has worked so hard for me on the book - I think he is pretty pleased now but I am not really sure how excited he was when I first threw it at him. Probably a number of nights when he wasn't snoring but wide awake wondering. We chose a Montepulciano red which was glorious and brought back memories of the last time we stayed in Tuscany at Pietrifitta near San Gimignano and did a trip to Montepulciano.



This is Ian's dessert - licorice icecream with pavlova. A very different interpretation of the pav we know so well. (You know - the one invented in Christchurch). I had the three mandarins - well three different interpretations. Highly recommend.

The book isn't ready yet - the cover people are working on the cover. Tomorrow.....

I have decided to enrol in the Generations digititwise course and received the first modue today - I am pleased to say I worked through it easily and will stitch out my daisy tomorrow. I really don't like being so disciplined but it has been a good revision and I have learnt a few new tricks I had either ignored previously or forgotten. I want to use the programme more effectively as I like it.

I also managed to almost finish another little cushion/pillow for the Shiva stik article. Progress is being made. And the garland? Well I am gathering ideas.....

Wednesday stuff

I thought that our copy of the book would be here today but not so - never mind - we are now taking preorders (see my embellishment blog for details) and many thanks to all those of you who have placed your order. They will go out the minute they arrive which will be next week sometime.



I went out looking for something today - a new kettle to give myself for mother's day to save anyone else worrying - our other one is a bit rusty and I shall use it wisely for my rusting. In the shop I found some Marrakech paper napkins and as we are going to Marrakech for our week after Ally Pally, how could I resist them?




This is one of the two dear little stools I have bought for the corner of the studio - the other one has green flowers and will be here next week. It is leather and will be a good place for contemplation.

Tonight I am taking Ian to Star Anise - my shout but I might have to borrow some money from him. I don't want it all to go to his head. He is back to the real world now and has loaded some decent specials for the month and new products will start appearing again before too long. There is quite a pile up.

Tomorrow I will be back to working in the studio. I thought it would be lazy times once the book was finished but in fact I have a pile of stuff to do.

Take a Stitch Tuesday 18

Here is my effort for last week - lots of silk woven wheels. I did mean to fill it up but then I wouldn't get onto this week's stitch.

this and that on Tuesday

I got a huge pile of parcels this morning including this DVD from Cedar Canyon on Shiva Stiks. Since I am very busy using my paintstiks at present with the rubbing plates, I think I will enjoy having a read/look/listen of it. Cedar Canyon are very professional in what they do so I imagine it will be extremely good.

I have finished my TAST for last week and will post it later - I dare not bother Ian right now - he is busy doing the wrap around cover for the book. Everything else is on the roll.

Thanks for all the lovely comments - I shall not change my style of blog writing - just hope I can add to the tapestry of life. I know lots of my non-textiley friends have a read if only to find out if we are home or not and Serena - look forward to seeing you on Saturday night! My sister also reads my ramblings from time to time and prints off stuff for my 92 year old mother to read. I hope she has printed the new pic! It may give Mother a shock....

Off to think about creating a garland - here's another one for you to think about. Glad to see the wigwam brought some of you out of the woodwork - I basically have no idea what a wigwam is either but it was fun....

Ali - I meant to say I got your note but I still don't seem to be able to email you - I have searched hi and low for the goodies you sent but they do not seem to be there...

wigwam for a goose's bridle

This is my wigwam for a goose's bridle on the embellisher - that little long forgotten expression which Ian popped out with has created a little discussion. I don't know if it is from Tasmania but it was certainly part of my childhood whenever some adult didn't want to tell you the answer (or most likely didn't know the answer). Further research on google tells me it means 'mind your own business'. I had fun making these long beads.

Beautiful day in Perth - we had breakfast up at Lincoln's, our new lovely cafe - with Grant this morning. They make the best coffee (after Ian of course). They have some dear little stools in the cafe and I went off and bought one for my studio. I will take a pic when I get the second one which I have ordered. I was looking for something nice to finish off the last corner.

I will have the front cover pic of the book on my embellisher blog later on today - Ian says we can take preorders from Wed onwards. He just needs to confirm the price as we have added another 10 pages or so since the initial quote. It has been very satisfying to finish it - and an excuse to drink champagne.

I have been awarded a thinking blog award from fembellish - I am not sure what that means but I am honoured - I am sure there are a lot more blogs with a lot more thinking. A friend emailed me this week to say that her blog is a visual diary and not full of family pics and daily activities - I think was a dig but I will ignore it. From all the comments I get, I think people must enjoy reading about our comings and goings, rugby and sailing etc. Anyway, I think it all adds to the tapestry of my life. I come with grown-up children and interests outside textiles.

Jocelyn - thanks for your comments - apart from the fact the NZ doesn't start until south of the Bombay hills, Auckland is fabulous! And the World Cup will roll up soon. Fingers crossed this time round....

Moonshadow Inks - I got a new order of moonshadow mists and starburst stains on Friday and I brought in some of the moonshadow inks to try them. They are exactly the same as the mists but in jars - you fill them up with hot water but you can use a pen to write or sponge etc. I have been playing with them and might stock them if there is enough interest. We have had lots of interesting stuff in this week - Rae has been dyeing up all sorts of things for me - we have ravishing rayon in the Opulent colours, and fabric ends which are very textured. Ian has started putting some of the new stuff on the web and I think he is working on the May specials right now. I know we are always late but usually worth the wait.

The End of an Era

It's official - Tana Umaga has finally pulled the pin - what a wonderful rugby player and so great for the game. I shall miss him even if he was going a little slower and only managing half a game. It has been a whirly turly rugby weekend with both semi finals now in South Africa - what a shocker. Grant is over for the weekend so we all got together at Bruce and Kazuko's to watch the last few games. Bruce is going to miss our coming around to watch Fox with our wine and camembert etc. Maybe we will now be able to go to the concert we were thinking about for next Friday.

Bombshells was a good night out - it was originally written for Carolyn O'Connor and she would have been magnificent. We saw her in Chicago and were blown away. It took 3 people to play the 6 cameos she did on her own. They were pretty good though.

blogging and stuff

I think blogger must be having a few problems as I haven't been able to find either blog on the dashboard - just the offer to create a blog. I have finally got through. I find it frustrating as you can never email anyone for help and the group is not always very good. I do understand that it would take a month of Sundays to reply though and it is free so no more complaints.

No time for pics today. Ian is very pleased with the book and hopes to get it to the printers tomorrow but he discovered a blank page he wanted something for so I had to drop everything and get creating. It might be a wigwam for a goose's bridle but you will have to wait and see. I played a bit of solitaire while I thought about what I might do. Instant creation takes a wee bit of thought. Anyway it is all looking very good, if I may say so myself.

Tonight we are off to a play - Bombshells - tried to go to it in Sydney when it was on and I can't remember why we couldn't - might have been booked out.

Tuesday stuff

This new computer is so fast that even though I got up half an hour later (tut tut) I got online, checked the mail and read the newspaper in 10 minutes - instead of well over half and hour. I will be able to make good use of all of that extra time.... The only problem is that a lot of Word files have to rewritten so you never win. I am also trying to sort out the Outlook address book. I have lots of groups - and I will have to remake them. All that extra time is vanishing quickly.

Joan - only Bruce got the Mac but he is having problems with it and not much help at all from the people he bought it from. We are not giving this one back though. One of the reasons he wanted a Mac is because it is much better for Japanese and apparently the web cam is very good.

Ali - I couldn't email you 'cos I can't find your email but I didn't ever receive anything.

Mandy Ginsberg sent me pics of the work she did at Horsham forum with Ruth Issett. All worked in white and with procion dyes over. Isn't it great work? I thought you would like me to share it with everyone.

The two bottom pieces are details.

I am still getting so many emails from people about my new smiley photo. I hadn't realised how concerned you all were. When I check out my blog I still get a fright.