Priorities and Committments Part 2

In 2009 I wrote a blog post about Priorites and Commitments.
In that post I said that as the AGM's of the many committees I was on came around I would not stand for office again.
It's only taken me 4 years to get there but I am blessedly committee free at the moment. I only belong to the SA Cloth Doll Club and the Embroiderers Guild of SA now.
Despite my love of a myriad of crafts I still work full time, I'm still a wife, mother and grandmother and that takes priority.
In that old blog post I said "I will do the things I like. I will have to study for work and as I still have to work for about another 20 years I need to do this. I will stop being the fix it person and if anybody doesn't like it tough. I am sorry if that sounds harsh but I feel that for my own mental health I should do this." I haven't stopped being the fix it person and I doubt I ever will but now most of that is at work and they pay me to do it.
It's hard to not put my hand up and say I'll go on a lot of committees but I have and I will limit myself to one at a time. As I said above I am on none at the moment but there is the whisper of one in the pipeline that I've tentatively said I'll do so we shall see.
I am getting things ready for several exhibitions I am involved in this year and I'm gathering things for the basket making workshop I'm doing in Ballarat so it's all about me. And I'm not sorry about that.

Salley Mavor

Sally Mavor is an amazing artist. I admire anyone who can finish a piece and she does some amazing stuff which is shared on her site Wee Folk Studio



detail from the last illustration from Sally's 2001 picture book, In the Heart.

Even the logo for her Etsy shop is gorgeous.

She describes hereself thus
"Today, I sew different materials together to create fanciful scenes in relief, much like miniature, shallow stage sets, with figures imposed on embellished fabric backgrounds. My work is decorative and detailed, full of patterns from nature and  found objects, all  sewn together by hand with a needle and thread. The original fabric relief sculptures have been photographed and used to illustrate 10 children’s books, including the award-winning Pocketful of Posies: A Treasury of Nursery Rhymes. Original illustrations from Pocketful of Posies are touring the country into 2014. My how-to book, Felt Wee Folk: Enchanting Projects is still being discovered, after almost 10 years in print."

Kumihimo

Alas I have discovered  new passion. I am overflowing with passions for textile works and this one is no exception. I undertook this workshop in kumihimo when the one I had signed up for was cancelled. The kit was only $3.50, perfect I thought. I didn't have to spend a fortune on anything as I have a plethora of threads.

Now I also have a beatiful sassafras maru dai like this one.

Several books, some of the hand held variety of disks - some of which are intended as gifts and a new passion.
Here are the samples I made in the class. Bev Bills from the SA Spinners and Weavers was an excellent teacher.

It's so good to be creating again.
Tomorrow I'll be creating a small stitched landscape with Glenys Leske.

Summer School and Mix it Up

The SA Embroiderers Guild Summer School starts tomorrow. Unfortunately the classes I really wanted to do didn't have enough sign ups and had to be cancelled which was very disappointing. Still I am going to learn a new skill - Kumihomo braiding. I chose this class because I only need to spend $3.50 on a disk and I had everything else.
I haven't done much on the embroidery front for some time cause I have to work for a living and I've had the chance to do lots of overtime. This is going to pay for my cruise in November.
I'll have more time for creating now though and I'll be starting on things for our Mix It Up exhibition and sale at Easter. More to come soon.

T'Arts Display

I spent yesterday setting up our display and sale at T'Arts.

T'Arts is an art collective in Gays Arcade which runs off Rundle Malls Adelaide Arcade.

My stitching friend Margaret Marsh is a member there and invited several of her fellow stitchers from the South Australian Embroiderers Guild No Limits group to join her for the month of October.
I was thrilled to be one of those involved.

I decided to remake a nuno felt vest I made some years ago that I'd never worn as it was to big and just didn't look right on me. Of course once I'd finished remaking it I fell in love with it and it looks great on me now. Isn't it always the way.

 

You can just see the buttons I agonized over which do look great. Below is a close up.

 I used this photo for some cards that are also for sale in addition to the books I made.

This one is my favourite

If you are in Adelaide and would like to see more of the amazing art works including wearables and some beatuiful bags, glass and wood please head along to T'Arts.

Books

I am making some books for our display at T'Arts in Gays Arcade Adelaide. A group of us have a display there for the month of October and I was thrilled to be invited to be involved. I am exhibiting (and maybe selling) the felt vest I have been fiddling with for so long and a group of hand stitched books. Here's a little taste of the books I made. this one is a page a day journal - that means there is a page to use every day for a little drawing or some words. I am thinking of making a little bag to store it in, what do you think?

Goolwa Beach Walk

I took a day off from the creating today and we went to the beach. It's been one of those amazingly perfect weekends weather wise. That was our reward for the horror weather we had all week. I did do some painting for another book cover before we went but the chance to walk on the beach and eat some delicious seafood was to great to resist. I found a lovely piece of driftwood and brought home some shells. In the photo you can just see the sea mist in the distance.
The boronia will be amazing in a week or so

If you'd like to see what we ate and some more photos pop over too my other blog Peta Eats