Paper Collage Fun & Fabric Box

When I saw the fabric box on Anneliese’s blog HERE I knew I had to make one for a friend for Christmas.
The tutorial is on Jane LaFazio’s blog.  Jane has a fabulous blog with a few little tutorials for us to try out and her art work is very inspirational.  Take a look HERE… and enjoy.
Firstly I collaged the fabrics to the stiffening (1)  and then I added a fern stamp in an off white colour using a handmade stamp I made from a polystyrene fruit tray. (2)

(1)

(2)
I added some embellishments and some free motion quilting. (3)

(3)
The finished box.


To finish the top off I hand sewed a silk sari strip around the top and added a little bead drop on each corner (4)

(4)
A couple of weeks ago I signed up to do a “Getting Started with Collage” online class with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  I am a great fan of Julie’s, and love looking at her videos and art work.  (Click on Julie’s badge in the side bar to visit her)
If you get a chance, visit Julie’s blog and be inspired, especially if you love journalling and collage. 
Because I love to make cards I used her techniques to make some greeting cards to have on hand.  It is a process that I got really engrossed in, and for a few days the dining table looked more like an art studio – a very, very, messy art studio with a mad wannabe artist at the helm!!!

Julie showed us four ways of designing a collage.
Using some monograms as a focal point I made these collage cards for friends’ birthdays (next year).  How is that for organized??

Front & Back of the M Card

Front & Back of the J Card.

The blue card is using the ‘grouping’ design and again I used a focal point on the pink card.
The pink card uses old dressmaking patterns and a stencil from a magazine cut out.

On the left a pictorial collage and on the right the ‘crossing’ design.
Most of the paper used in the collage has been created by me using acrylic paints, spray inks and various methods of surface treatments following some of the instruction on Julie’s video.
It has been soooooo much fun and I can’t wait to make another big mess and do some more collage.
Thanks to Julie Fei-Fan Balzer for making this online class for us to enjoy.
Until next time…….. Dianne.

Collaging, Sewing, Inspirations, Spring Fever and more…..

It is a while since I blogged but I have been busy behind the scenes.  Plenty of socializing and outings and a bit of creative sewing and of course the ordinary mundane stuff everyone has to do when they would rather be creating!!!
A funny type of Spring Fever has hit me in the way of a head cold.  It has been so very hot, and having a head cold in the heat is no fun, let me tell you.
 
This is one of our magnificent star jasmine plants.  I wish we had smell-a-blog so you could share the scent with me.  The smell reminds me that Melbourne Cup day is coming soon and that summer is fast approaching.

SEWING:

I made this block keeper for my dear friend, Shirley, to store her embroidery pieces in while they are awaiting to be put into her amazing embroidery book. 
The pattern is one I have used before, and is a tutorial my the lovely and delightful Teresa from All Things Vintage.  Pop over and see Teresa’s blog and be inspired to craft more.  She really gets things done!!  Thank you for your wonderful tutorial, Teresa.
COLLAGING:
In the past week I signed up for a fabric collage workshop with Deborah Boschert, “Branches, Buds and Blossoms”.  Things were going swimmingly until the sound jack decided not to work on my computer inside the house.  I have soldiered on and this is the piece so far – just fabric placement at this stage.  It is so much fun!  I can’t wait to embellish it and do some hand stitching on it.
 
The final layout before embellishing.

The feature fabric.

SOCIALIZING:
The Toowoomba Quilter’s retreat was held on Oct 11-13 and it was fabulous, as usual.  We don’t have to lift a finger, just sit, chat, sew and eat (in any order)… all in a bushland setting. 

L-R Debbie, Vicki, Sally and Dianne – yes, me.
The quilt group also ran a bus to the Queensland Quilt show in Brisbane. 

This quilt by Olive Claydon won the Viewer’s choice award and well deserved.  All tiny hexagons!!!!  Well done, Olive.  isn’t it amazing???
You can see more of the winners HERE on the Qld Quilters website.
I bought a few goodies but most of it is just card crafting and textile art stuff.  No fabric was purchased (for a change). 
‘
These really cool stencils.  A couple of them by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer whose journal work I love.

Hemp thread, Acrylic glazes, gold rubbing stuff, acrylic ink sprays, cog wheels stamp and a watercolour pad.  I just wanna PLAY.
In the past week, Shirley and I also visited a display by the local Toowoomba Embroiderer’s Guild and a display by ATASDA (Australian Textile and Surface Design Association). Both very inspiring.
After our visit to the ATASDA display, Shirley and I were inspired to do some botanical dyeing.
More on that later………………Until next time.........Dianne

Jam Making, Camp Oven Cookery & Scary Scraps

There is something very satisfying about making your own preserves.  My husband loves to cook and wanted to try his hand at jam making after being gifted 2 x grapefruit.  I don’t like grapefruit and he cannot eat them fresh because they may interact with his medication.  Grapefruit can react badly with some medications – this article outlines some of the dangers.

His marmalade has turned out rich and delicious.  I love it on wholemeal toast.

When we are out in the bush we love a good old cook up in the camp oven.  In this picture my husband is preparing the fire for a roast pork dinner for 6 people which will be cooked in the large camp oven. 

We also have a cast iron frying pan which is used over a special grill set over the fire as shown in this photo.  Beside it, the billy is boiling for a cup of tea or coffee.
The food seems to taste better when it is cooked in this way and it is so simple to prepare.

Lovely Sheila presented a few of us ladies at quilting with this book, knowing we all enjoy this type of cooking when we are travelling around.  Thanks heaps Sheila, it will be really fun to try some of the recipes.


(A few of my scrap boxes – there are many, many, more including a big box of selvedges – SCARY)
As I was cruising the blogs I came across this one which is encouraging people to use up their scraps and make useful items – 52 Week Scrap Challenge (Samelia’s Mum blog)  I soooo wish I could join in, but time doesn’t permit at the moment. I read about this on Teresa’s blog “All Things Vintage” and she has made some great things (as usual) with her scraps.
Nonetheless, I have bookmarked it for the future, because God knows, I have enough scraps to sink a battleship.

‘Luke’s Quilt’
My daughter has requested a scrap quilt for her partner and wanted it in blues and greens to depict the ocean which he loves.  She wanted one just like I had made her a couple of years ago. 

I call it a ‘random’ quilt and it is just square and rectangle scraps sewn together at random and then I use perle cotton No. 8 to herringbone over the seams. It is a great way to use up scraps. 
This needs to be finished by March next year for his 30th birthday.  It is very fun to do and easy to pick up and work on as I sew it in large sections and then sew it all together.
To finish this post – a photo of our darling granddaughter, Lilian.
She insists on wearing this pink tutu to pre-school every day stating her Mummy says she HAS to wear it. LOL. 

Until next time………………