sunset in Perth

It's not absolutely like this but looking out of the computer room window the sunset I am watching is very similar. The rain has gone and today the sun was out - lovely day - just in time for Maggie and Doreen to arrive. I am afraid our kitchen is not able to be seen as we have stuff everywhere for the show - not to mention the Hot Spots! which arrived today - another thing to package. A long day tomorrow I can see so it was lovely to see the sunset.... I went off to have my birthday reflexology this afternoon - thanks Kaz and Bruce - very nice indeed. So my feet are all ready for standing at the show.

rugby report

In my excitement of the videos, I forgot my rugby report Gill. Sat up late - watched the Tour de France - we really enjoyed seeing Mont Ventoux - we have been up and down it a couple of times (no - not on bikes) but once when it was closed if you didn't have chains we simply pretended we couldn't read French and drove carefully. It is a wonderful mountain - like a moonscape. We were able to say many times - been there - driven through that town, looked in that church etc etc.

More importantly - the All Blacks lost last night in South Africa. Thought they were going to get there okay but then that silly throw which gave the Springbox another try, spoilt it all. Stephen Donald played very well. Next week, boys.... So if you come to the show on Sunday know that we will have stayed up until 1am....

Mango

Ian is still testing but here is next door cat Mango who spends all day at our place. Every morning she drinks water from the little waterlily pot before she settles on the front verandah chairs waiting for her mother to come home. Such an exhausting life.

a litle test

Ian has made his first little video so doing a test here
Just a little zoom around the studio

wee time for some play

I have been having fun playing with my new Hot Sheets whilst making up kits for the show next week. I have been painting with Opulence Paints and adding some foils and stitch. But I really need to tidy the studio up - urgently. Ian has set up his new garden shed inside to add to my chaos. Checking out various blogs, I see a few people have been playing with the couronne stick or buttonholing around toilet rolls. Hope you are all having fun! It will be interesting to see what things people come up with.

rain in the kitchen

We have a leadlight skylight in the kitchen which is quite lovely but all of this rain means it has decided to pour indoors as well. Ian has been up and tried to find just how it is getting in - one of life;s little mysteries but there is nothing like big drips falling on you when you are cooking... The rain does seem to have quietened down a bit today. Must be because it is Maggie's birthday. Hope you are having a good time in Sydney, Maggie....



A fabulous new book arrived today - Exploring African Themes in Fabric and Stitch by Mary Sleigh. If you have her African Inspirations which has just been reissued in paper back, you will appreciate this one. From my point of view, there is a superb image of eyelets. It will be on our website tomorrow. Ian jas been preoccupied with buying new hard drive so he can load the software he is planning to use with his new video camera and sorting out a sound system for Grant's house so we can listen to our music there too.

little more couronne stick stitch

I mounted my rings onto a frame and kinda threedeed them. Really enjoying playing with all of these holes - are they holes or rings or spaces or what? I found some interesting yarn I bought a while back - it has tiny holes as well.

Having to be very disciplined as I am packaging for the show here in Perth next week but I also want to play in the studio. Maggie phoned from Sydney where they are having a relaxing time. Told them to enjoy the good weather in case it doesn't improve here next week. I have a spare space in her workshop on Tuesday 4th August if anyone wants it - someone had to cancel.

Tuesday Stuff

We have been having fun on The Holey Moley Club playing with holes. Last night I spent some time with my couronne stick and sari twist making a series of holes - now I have to decide what how I shall use them. Wonderful texture.

I didn't realise that Ian had taken a photo of our back yard yesterday when it hailed. The butcher was telling me how lovely it would be (and a shock to the locals) if it snowed in Perth. Wishful thinking I would say.

.Some good news - after not being able to play any of our 7000 tunes through our Sonos system it is now working again - yeah. Listening to Leonard Cohen Live in London was our long awaisted choice this afternoon.

When we flew back from Melbourne last week we left a bag at security by mistake - it conatined 2 new jugs for Ian's hot milk to go with his coffee (one for here and 1 for Grant's), a new soup ladle, my precious hand knitted cardigan and a shirt of Ian's which was wet. We located our bag at left property and it duely arrived today for the princely sum of $65 minus the jugs and ladle. I do hope the thieves are enjoying using them. We don't usually have an extra bag and travel very organised but I think with having to take out the computer etc to go through the security stuff it is pretty easy to forget something. Lesson learnt..... Obviously our clothes didn't appeal. There was a plastic bag in the bag as well to protect my cardy from the wet shirt - this was probably used to carryt he jugs home in as that vanished too.....

wild weather

We have been having some pretty wild weather yesterday and today - this is not our garden but this morning our back yard was covered in hailstones. I had planned to decant metallic flakes in the garden today but abandoned that idea and took my deckchair to our lockup where I settled myself in and decanted 100 jars indoors instead. People going by usually look in to see what strange things are happening. it has been an unusual winter this year - do hope the dams are full.

O Wot a Night

A bit fearful for the first 20 minutes but then we never doubted them - the ABs won the first Bledislow Cup game - super stuff. Now go the Magic tomorrow...

Very pleased with myself because at last I have got PSP and the printer working properly again. The techie was here yesterday but told me it couldn't be fixed although he suggested I might see if there was a patch or two to be found. So I downloaded the patch and voila! Now I can start printing again. I have been playing with free eyelet stitching - takes a while after the comfort of the flower stitcher and an eyelet attachment but it does give you the freedom to play.

and on to Thursday

The week has rolled along and most of it we have looked like a receiving station for a large warehouse. Consequently we have taken to cooking and evening at Grant's rather than try to find the kitchen. Right now I have 5 huge boxes of Starburst Sprays, Moonshadow Mists and Glitz Spritz to unpack and sort through. Included in that huge shipment were a heap of the Moonglow Mica Powders - these are really lovely I have discovered not having played with them before. I have used my H20 water brushes filled with a little gum arabic so they will set nicely. They sparkle 2 ways so another lovely product from the Moonglow people. This set is Precious Metals. They come in sets of 6 or 10 - I have been a bit greedy and taken a few different sets. Apparently they are running out as they can't get all the necessary stuff for them and are not making any more - naturally I bought a pile. Just another little treat for my journals.

It has started raining again and been really cold for Perth - down to 2 degrees.

I am planning another challenge for next year - any suggestions for a title - I have been thinking Textile Tantrums or Experimental Textile Tantrums. What do people think? Same sort of size as this year but extending beyond just the embellisher.

Back home again in Perth

We had a wonderful weekend in Melbourne - very relaxing indeed. Helped by the business class flight over and back using up some of the frequent flyer points we have accumulated and never seem to be able to use. Here we are in Degraves Street for breakfast - Ian reading one of the many newspapers he buys. He seems to think each one will have different news in it.

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Lovely contrasts of old and new - I love all the old churches in Melbourne - Perth has successfully managed to get rid of almost all of its.
We enjoyed Federation Square this time.

Then, Holey Moley people, is this a hole or what?

We spend quite a few hours at the Dali exhibition - almost got Dali'd out. So much to see. It's not that all of his work grabs me but he was a clever guy.

Saturday night we went to Jersey Boys - what a fabulous show it was. We were up in the very back row but that didn't matter at all.

On Sunday there we were in Federation Square yet again - all those lines this time. We spent quite a while in the Art Gallery. When we go over for a show like the Quilt Show etc we don't have time to go see anything other than the inside of a building. It was lovely to sleep in and relax and wander. I went to the markets under the Arts Centre as well and bought up a heap of printing paper for my Polaroid Pogo so now I am back in business.

Back home, back to work. Today a very large shipment of tussah and mulberry silk arrived Very nice too. Just got to start packaging some of it. Tomorrow......

lovely rain some more

This morning it rained heavily - here is teh view form our back door. I run to the studio in between the drops. Can't catch the downpur but it is wet on the surface.

Thanks Sandy for the suggestion - I shall keep those three and create something extra and make my series 9 in all.

This afternoon we are off to Melbourne for the weekend. Using up our frequent flyers and going business class - back on Sunday. We are going to check out the Salvador Dali exhibition and go to Jersy Boys on Sat night. Looking forward to it. 2 small cases but of course stitching, reading and journal and my couronne stick.

back to the drawing board

remember Monday's picture of the eucalyptus pod? Well this is what happens if you heat it. I printed onto craft vilene using TAP for the back and then bonded my two pieces of craft vilene together using Gossamer Fuse (yes - it really does bond things together very well) using a hot iron and this is the result. Having now used up all my paper and not having any more as yet I am about to unpick all my stitching and start again. Keep watching this space.

The people enrolled in The Holey Moley Club are a wonderful bunch - so much sharing of info. I love it.

monday busy busy busy

Monday is always busy here but we were like a receiving station most of the day - receiving orders which we tried to wade through and receiving parcels and parcels. We reckon we grow rubbish at our place with all the boxes and packaging. Anyway - 4 new books - Maggie's, Carol and Lynda's, a very good free machine embroidery one from Carol Shim (I think I have the name correct) and Inspired to Quilt. Along with a shipment of Romeo, 4 fabulous moulding mats from Sarah Lawrence a very large box of Shiva stuff, lots of wool and silk from Jacinta and new packaging stuff. So kitchen is just starting to look like a kitchen once more at the end of the day.



I have had a lot of fun with my polaroid pogo photographing eucalyptus leaves and flowers and stitching them onto backgrounds - I am making a series of 6 and here is the beginnings of one - the last one in fact with the close up of the pod. If you are coming to Ally Pally you might have a chance to receive one of these with other goodies but more of that later on. I have more stitching and stuff to add and of course the backs but when I have finished I will show them as a set. from the leaves through to he close up of the pod on a eucalyptus background.

6 wins out of 11 races

Well they didn't win but 6 first places in 11 races is pretty good.You deserve it Grant - having to work hard at a real job to pay for it - not like being a professional sailor all the time. We are very proud of you! An opportunity to open the champagne tonight with some scallops on the bbq around at your house.

Friday report

Well because we stayed at Grant's house last night (it's just around the corner and like going off for a little holiday), we didn't get to see how the racing went on the computer. Woke at 3am to a text message - good news and bad news. They won the first race (that's 4 out of 5) but at the start of the 2nd race they had a collision and retired so now they have 2 races with max points and have to wait until after race 9 to be able to drop another race. Fingers etc crossed for tonight's races. We have decided to stay at Grant's again - he has a lovely shower and it's like being on holiday and after breakfast we can walk to work. Means I walk the wrong way to get the papers in the morning before breakfast though and the guy at the shop noticed I came from the wrong direction. Plus we forgot to put the phone on call divert so I hope no-one phoned.



Thanks to Maggie (and I have stolen her pic) I now have a wonderful new toy - a Poloroid Pogo which works a treat - take a photo from my camera - plug it in and print it out. I have taken one and had a play but not worth showing here. It means that when we go away next I will be able to do some instant journal pages while I am away. Paris roses instantly.

Sent out the newsletter yesterday and noticed 2 errors as soon as it went. I told Ian the first person to let me know would win a prize of something. Doreen, being the best internet policewoman we have, is the winner. I could say I did it on purpose but I won't. And this is the fastest that an newsletter special has sold. We have 1 style stone left after less than a day. Wow...

For all those of you in Australia who are interested, Enid has just told me of a show worth watching on the ABC The film, "Threaded Connections" follows the making of a large textile installation by members of the Lismore and District Embroiderer's Guild and featured in an exhibition in late 2007. This project portrays the social and geographic history of the area and the importance of women past and present. It involved countless hours of meetings and stitching during 2006 and 2007. It will be screened on ABC2 on July 5 at 21.25 and on ABC1 on July 12 at 15,54.

SLAM SLAM SLAM

You don't mind being woken with a text message at 3am when your son wins both races. Being wide awake of course I hopped up and watched the replays on my computer. Then I had a sleep in of sorts but of course the phone rang. Never mind. These photos were all taken by christophefavreau He even has a great video SLAM on his blog.







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