checking in back home

Just back from Broome and our feet have not quite touched the ground - had a small heap of have to go today orders to get out. Lots of parcels and lots of letters - the latest Embellish magazine is here and will go out tomorrow - I have an article on my four favourite vanishing fabrics.

Looks like a busy day tomorrow.....

Last day in Broome

We are off home again after a lovely relaxing time - where we stay there are loads of frangipani trees everywhere as you will find all over in Broome.




Ian enjoying his coffee in our little outdoor dining room where he has been king of the BBQ




An outdoor shower area




Good spot for a shower and I hear that Perth has had plenty so looking forward to the rain back home. Lots to do when we get back but we have had a wonderful wee break

Sunset at cable beach take 2

Yesterday's pix of the sunset wouldn't load and they were fabulous so I will try back at home but Ian got some wonderful ones with his real camera. Tonight we went to watch the sunset again - quite different


Like seeing a stairway to the sun - no cloud tonight





No cloud tonight so it was quite beautiful in a different sort of way




Here is Ian relaxing after my frustration at not being able to load my piccies




And a bowl of beautiful frangipanis - they are everywhere here.

Sadly for Ian the Crusaders lost but we are are still about to enjoy a BBQ and a red wine and having a lovely relaxing time - even been swimming as well. Life is hard at times - make the most of it.

I am stitching as well - doing a little experimental stitch too see if it works.....

familar sight but off we go

a familiar sight? Yes - we have been out to Sadleirs once again, this time loading up our stuff for Brisbane. Just two palettes this time. That is why I have been busy busy and the house has been a super shambles. But it's all neat and tidy once more - for the moment.

Here is one of the bins - this one has all my sari samples for wall display, the pockets for display and some paper yarn.

Here is the washing basket full of hand dyed gauze - I watched them bubble wrap everything. now it is all going a bit early because we are rewarding ourselves with a long weekend in Broome - we are off tomorrow morning and back on Tuesday - we did get all the orders done today before we left but we know we will be busy again when we get back because there are a couple of magazines due for starters about the time we return.

In the midst of all the van packing this morning, our big shipment of sari ribbon, silk loom waste and sari fabric pieces (haven't had these for a while) arrived and we opened them up, packed the new colours and sent plenty to Brisbane as well. The vanilla beans and old roses is slightly darker this time, and there is a wonderful yellow/orange and a magenta pink - as I said you never know what is coming because it is never quite what I think I have asked for. Always exciting though.

I bought Ian a new toy (show you another time) but becasue he never buys me roses, i had to stitch my own. The base is hand stitched and the embellisher has been used. not washed it out yet.

and this will be our swimming pool for the next few days.

Let's Play with Sari Ribbon

Yeah - my new book has arrived - not on the web yet but we have sent out copies to everyone whose name was on the list. Just a bit frantic here but getting there and the sari ribbon shipment will be here tomorrow - you never quite know what is going to be inside the many cartons (all covered with hessian as they do) because their idea and my idea are not always exactly the same but here's hoping the Vanilla Beans and Old Roses is included.

Something else which did arrive and is on the web is the Art Quilting Studio - it is fabulous to see this back again - it's a great magazine and I shall be reading my copy over the weekend.

I did put this on my facebook page but just had to share it again here - this little white kiwi was born in captivity in NZ - the first white one - isn't it gorgeous??


Somehow I think we might eat out tonight....

and where have I been?

well - nowhere actually - it's just that I have been busy and there is stuff eveywhere but I will tell you about it on Thursday. In the meantime I still can't get on the holey moley blog but the google man reckons it will be okay by tomorrow. He seems a bit perplexed - after all - I am the administrator!

I have been doing some more word play - making words, rolling up newspapers, playing with my versa tool and all those sorts of things - and collecting what I need for Textile Art Festival in Brisbane where lots of people have said they are coming to watch me at work (actually I prefer to call it at play). Deciding what to bringand what to leave behind is always a drama for me. Sorry about the particularly fuzzy photo - my phone was about to die.

saturday signing in

The piece I hand and machine stitched rows on the other day I have added a pile of hand stitching (thanks for the suggestion Shelagh) and stamped Silver deColourant Plus over the top -Valdani  cotton perle thread discharges very well plus there is a dimension you can't see here of course. I have washed it and you wouldn't know there was any paint on the surface - it melds into the fabric as a dye would. The fabric is silk noil. I have seen the truffa tag on a couple of other walls down the road as well as our post.

We had loads of rain yesterday which was wonderful indeed - I sound like a worn out record. Apparently in one area of Perth there was a mini tornado which wrecked havoc on a few homes. Nothing like that here although rain did come into our sunroom (our storage area) - it comes in underneath the long glass windows - Ian's little task was to venture out in the wet and remove all the leaves. the dryness we have had seems to have encouraged loads of tiny leaves etc to fall everywhere - looked a bit like snow before the rain came. All gone again now but we did enjoy it.

My next book is at the printers and we will have them on Wednesday. This pic is a bit dark but we are pleased with the proof and signed off the run on Thursday. It will be the same price as the other 2 - $11.90.

We had a delivery yesterday of these glorious ceramic buttons. They are so lovely - there are lots of different ones and they will get to the webshop pretty soon. This one is Paris and the card it sits on is beautiful too.

Here is another.

And one for New Zealand....

and another for Australia. They are all so different and so lovely. Very talented lady is the maker.

Rugby to watchthis afternoon and the Force to watch down at the oval tonight. Wonder if they will win - they are playing the Brumbies who were so dreadful last week so do hope so.

For my holey moleys - I can't get onto the blog to write anything or see what you are up  to - google man is looking at the problem so please don't think I am ignoring you. PDF number 3 is nearly up - I am just trying to remember how to digitize to add my words. Reading the manual and remembering how my sewing machine works since it has been away in hospital and out of action for some time indeed.

the rain came, the sun came back

Yes - it rained a lot yesterday - really lovely - lots of happy chatty birds everywhere. Today the sun came back out but do hope the rain comes back. I used some deColourant on some fabric I 'stole' from Dyed and Gone to Heaven yesterday - works well Lisa. Here it is drying in the sun. I bought some sponge alphabet stamps which arrived today so I tried them out. I like the fact that the image is incomplete. For the bottom two I used deColourant Plus - red and metallic silver and then I washed the sponges and thought I would just try the deColourant - you can see one of the 'T's has run a bit - this is water. I did wave my heat gun over it but then popped it out in the sun. I haven't washed it yet - once you do that the colour works in as a dye would and the handle of the fabric stays the same.

Fulvia - someone grafitted truffa on our front post in red so I decided to use it as part of my Writing on Walls  theme. According to my dictionary it means hoax or swindle - do you have a better meaning for me?

Three Sad Old Blokes are not having such a good series at Torbay this round, defending their winning title from 2010. I am pretty sure this is them. There are over 100 boats so it would be a great spectator place to be. for those who have asked, Grant didn't win the 2011 WA male sailor of the year - it was won by a couple of Tornado sailors who came 24th or similar in their worlds - not quite the same as a 1st but never mind - sailing isn't about winning awards in WA - it's about sailing itself, the competition, the people and all of that.

Tonight we are off to the ACO concert - we missed the last one because we were away so looking forward to it.

monday - rain/no rain

Thought it might rain but it did not. But I did sit outside to unpick my stitching (note to self - use a backing piece of felt if you are not prepared to hold the fabric firmly) and some rainlets fell on me for about 15 minutes. First I stitched on my silk noil (backed with felt)

Then I used de Colourant to add my truffa (I am becoming quite attached to this word painted on my front fence). I thought it might not work as it is silk and I used the de colourant Plus in silver and grey. I like the way it has allowed some of the fabric to show through as well.

Then the piece I unpicked I have stitched some rows with machine stitch using Valdani cotton and hand stitched rows using silk thread (this is Jacinta's poppy which I might rename truffa..... I am going to hand stitch  with a cotton for further play.

We have both had a very frustrating day today with several things to drive up potty - I went to the post office miles away where my long awaited parcel which should have been delivered on 5th was and am of to play with my purchase - yummy colour blocks not available in OZ yet so I am pretty excited about that. Before I can though, i have to unpack all the boxes of goodies which arrived. The parcel postie kept staggering in with more - some restock and some new stock. One thing we did get were rolls of Heat Distressable Tissue which Wendy Cotterill has in her new Spunbonded book. I have had it for a while but only hda a couple of pieces left so now it can go on the web. It's a tissue which distorts like tyvek when you apply heat but it stays soft unlike tyvek. Loves the Starburst Sprays of course (shoudln't everything?)

So off to unpack and then to play. Plus I have to get my 3rd pdf up for Holey Moley.

blogger withdrawal

 Been a bit of a tumultuous time with blogger being out of action! It's also been an interesting weekend rugby-wise. We watched the Brumbies get walloped by the Lions and then see the Crusaders lost overnight. interesting times as the contest soars on towards the finish. Not many people in the stands though. Too much, too long and a funny system this year - conferences indeed....

Here's my latest writing play - on Evolon - sprayed with Starburst Sprays (Evolon loves them)  , words stamped on with the new letter stamps for my versa tool, some stitch, image transferred onto TAP (don't forget to reverse your pics) - this is a notice on Nigel's window at his shop. Plus some little splattering of silver foil - easy to do but you don't want lots here. Edged with the versa tool.

What did I do when the rugby was on? Wound loads of STUFF - got the lot done and they only arrived on Friday so a good job well done if I may say so - and I also managed to drink my wine, watch and comment on the rugby. The blokes?........

Kazuko and Bruce are still cycling away - here is Kaz with a snowy background.

and her Dad drove up to see them - in comfort as you can see! It will be a holiday to remember I think.

And Grant is at Torbay for the SB3 World Championships which start tomorrow - they won last year so good luck for 2011

evoloning

I am having lots of fun nipping up to the studio and playing with the Evolon - just a bit at a time. I have been painting it different paints and sprays and stamping with Stazon and stitching and burning and tonight I played with the Transprint Inks - I haven't used my transfer paints for some time and they are so easy to use - no wonder we sell so many. Just paint on paper, dry and iron onto your fabric. Evolon is polyester and rather seems to like transfer dyes. But it also takes all sorts of colouring media. I shall be playing away with Evolon (and lots of other stuff) as a working textile artist at Textile Art Festival in Brisbane.

It carves up so quickly with Versa Tool too. Someone asked how it differed from Lutradur - It is more like a fabric then Lutradur and drapes well. I will be playing with both so if you come to the show you will be able to see the difference. It takes longer to break down with a heat gun  so you don;t get the lacey effects you get with Lutradur. I still have a list as long as my arm of things I want to try on it. Tomorrow.....

bonding and burning

It is always exciting when new stuff arrives and today came the alphabet and letters to attach to the versa tool - naturally in my excitement I wrecked my sheet and will need to pop them in a container instead. But I have tried them as you can see - lots of Ws and also a couple of the stamps which come with the tool itself. I have bonded a chiffon scarf to kunin felt and found that the pressure you use makes quite a bit of difference. Then of course I have rubbed over the top with silver Gleam. Very pleased with this lovely gilding wax and pleased to say another order of it arrived yesterday so we have plenty of stock again.

The letters and the numbers (different set) just screw into the tool so very easy to use. We have got the sets for sale and hopefully they will be on the web tomorrow or so. Ian's little pile is growing again.

The latest Studios arrived as well this afternoon and they will go out tomorrow. Still have a few left if anyone wants a copy.

And finally after waiting and waiting, the Batsford version of the new lutradur book by Wendy Cotterill arrived today - we have sent them to all the people on the waiting list and I have given one to myself. The US paperback version I had in Melbourne got sold to someone on the Sunday so I too have had to wait. i have been doing quite a bit of play with Evolon in particular and will be exploring all of these fabrics at Brisbane as a working textile artist. Today I have been invited to teach in 3 different places next year as well as our trip to Canada so it will be another exciting year I think - every year is exciting. There is a cicada in our garden - he is very noisy and seems to be rather settled in.

super mum

What can super mum do that super dad can't? Well she can cut up mountains and metres of hand dyed silk gauze, roll it up, wrap silk ribbon around it, drink her wine, watch and comment on the rugby all at once. Don't they look lovely? Just like a huge basket of my favourite roses.

Another busy super 15 rugby weekend with injuries everywhere. There will be no players left for the world cup at this rate. And a glorious day here today - very very warm and difficult to imagine that winter will ever arrive.

upside down Truffa graffiti piece - truffa I read means hoax, spoof or swindle, so I have stitched these words on black tuile and Romeo cold water soluble and hand stitched them onto my back ground. You just need to turn your head around. A lot of people have been asking how to stitch on soluble fabric (and more) so I am working on a new on-line workshop to hopefully satisfy those needs. It seems that there is a lot of gimmicky stuff around but not much substance.

Sailing Stuff and a bit more of the snow stuff

We are having a nice relaxing day today which is good. This photo is the view from Mounts Bay Sailing Club where Grant and Bruce started sailing at a very early age - first on Mudlarks -

and then on Flying Ants

and then Grant moved to a 420 and even went off to sail for Australia in Yugoslavia one year (lucky me went too)

Since then he has sailed in lots of yachts including of course his latest 18ft Skiff - SLAM

This is the only genuine Grant photo - the others are only to show some of the dinghies - and give you an idea of the many hours we have spent at various yacht clubs. Mounts Bay was a regular Sat/Sun gathering spot for us for a long time but of course we also drove over to the eastern states most summer holidays towing 1 or 2 dinghies. But Mounts Bay was a fabulous place to sail for the boys when they were young and sailing is a fabulous sport. In response Grant has remained loyal to MBSC and even though he sails around the world he sails as a Western Australian from MBSC with a black swan on his sails.

This year besides other events he has had a 1st in the Laser SB3 Worlds, a 3rd in the 18ft Skiff Worlds and a 2nd in the 18ft Skiff Europeans. It is wonderful for him that MBSC has nominated him for Male - Sailor of the Year 2011 in WA - the results to be announced on Friday night. We think he deserves it - let's see what happens. He has been instrumental in a fleet of 18ft Skiffs being able to sail at MBSC this season and is serious about giving something back to the sport he loves with respect to the club where he started out and is always welcome to sail at.

The bit more is that Bruce and Kazuko seem to be battling on through snow in Hokkaido where Bruce has noted it is only a month from Summer. Here are some of their pics

Kazuko looks a bit cold methinks...

Not my idea really of a bike ride!


Sad to say the Hurricanes lost last night but they played well until the sin bin incident and I am sure they would have won. Lots of those young players look very promising for the future.


Not sure why I have gone blue but there you go.