A Touch Of Venice - Gondola

The Gondola for the upcoming 'A Touch Of Venice" Exhibition at The Embroiderers Guild Of South Australia is going well.

I still have a couple of pieces to add to it as you can see and then that part of the work is done. After that I am going to make a back drop for it. Here is the first stage of that work.

I am going to draw, paint and embroider the back ground. I had thought of doing that straight onto the cloth but I chickened out and I'm going to draw a pattern on this piece of paper and then take it from there.

I haven't done much in the way of creating original pieces for some time as health problems killed my creative drive. I am improving though and being banned from driving for a few days has given me the impetus to start work on a piece that needs to be finished by the 15th of February.

I do work better with a deadline.

Making my Mask

Now that SALA is over I can concentrate on my pieces for our March Exhibition "A Touch of Venice". I am still trying not to buy anything and my mask filled that criteria. The mask was given to me by a friend and I used one of the old ties from my stash. I drew the pattern myself and the embroidery is stem stitch and fly stitch leaves stitched with perle 8 thread (from the stash). The little crystal flowers, hot fix jems and beads are leftovers from other projects and the ribbon is from the stash. For the bias binding I covered some piping cord with the ribbon and stitched it with gold thread. The ruffle at the top is a scrap of gold fabric and the milliners net is from my stash as well.
I have some other pieces in the works for this exhibition and I want to make another 2 masks. More photos to follow.

The Mad Hatter, the Dormouse and the Jabberwocky

I made this Jabberwocky, Mad Hatter and Dormouse for our SALA exhibition. The exhibition was a huge success.

Felt Berry Cake

I was inspired by this Chocolate Marscapone cake

from Call Me Cupcake when I needed to make a felt cake for The Embroiderers Guild of South Australia's SALA Exhibition.

Here it is my own 'Felt Berry Cake'

SALA is The South Australian Living Artists festival. This is a month long celebration of the original works of talented artists here in our South Australia.
Our members at the guild are keen to share with others that our work is "Anything But Old Hat".
We came up with that title after someone in the media said that "Craft work is Old Hat".
It is embarrassing some times how out of touch with reality some of the population is. In that eternal discussion of Art versus Craft people tend to forget the the term 'Masterpiece' is a craft term - this was the title guilds gave to the piece of work a 'craftsman' completed to make the transition from journeyman to master.
A craft was, and still is, not a hobby but a way of life for many who make their living with what they produce with their hands and heart. If not their primary source of income then the work we create with our hands is definitely a primary source of satisfaction that we are feeding our creative drive with the work of our hands. So wha tif I can go and buy a scarf for a few dollars, that won't give me the satisfaction of creating an original piece of art with my hands. If it also keeps my neck warm that is just a bonus.
I hope you'll join us in August at our SALA exhibition. You'll see a stitched version of a Mad Hatters Tea Party plus a lot more from the talented members of our guild.

Baby Mary Jane Booties

My darling granddaughter is a bit young for shoes. She is only 3 months old. Still every girl needs lots of footwear.
I've been laid up with the flu and it has worn off enough for me to want to do something easier than the lace vest I'm making. Favorite Daughter in Law mentioned to me the other day that Princess Sophie is growing out of her booties so like any good Nana I whipped out the laptop found a free pattern on Ravelry.com and made my first pair of booties in a long time.
The pattern is easy to follow and knits up quickly in 8 ply or DK for those non-aussies.
Ruthie's Mary Jane Shoes is a cute and easy pattern. I've started another pair in dark purple and then I might do a different pattern.

Leather Bags

Surely there is a legion of leather lovers out there, I am certainly one of them. There is something special about the smell of leather. In my world there is also something truly lucious about a new bag, especially a leather bag. Added to that is the satisfaction of making it myself.
I recently spent four fun filled days in a workshop with Rose-Anne Russell - a leather shoe and bag artist who lives in the Adelaide Hills. Rose-Anne lives in a converted stone building that used to be a carpenters workshop and now is a beautiful home and studio.
We learnt so much - designing our bag, how to make a pattern and then how to put it together.
The first  day we sewed some samples, drew up a pattern for and made a pencil case.

Then designed our tote bags and made the patterns.
On day 2 we selected the leather and started our bags. We learnt how to put in zipper pockets, line the bags with pigskin and by the end of day 4 we had our finished bags.

If you want to make your own bag or shoes contact Rosie - you can't go wrong.

Another Good Day to Dye

It was another hot hot hot day here in Southern Oz. Husband and I went out for breakfast and then home to put the studio to rights before I head into a marathon of book making for the exhibition I am having at the Leafy Sea Dragon Festival with Emanda Fretwell you can check out Re-Booked here.
Before that though there is our annual Easter Mix It Up - A collective of artists selling our work at the Yankalilla Show Ground little hall. It's never to early to stock up for Christmas. I have done skirts, fishermans pants and shirts both button up and t's again. They are so popular every year.

All I have to do now is iron and lable them.
The bigblack piece of fabric is for another exhibition later in the year. More info to come.