View from my kitchen window

Photographic Scavenger Hunt - linking up to Ramblings of a Square Peg in a Round Hole.

I'm no photographer but I never go anywhere without my little camera.  She's an Olympus digital baby camera and does a good job for the very amateur Miss Snap Happy. So drum roll please ~ we have here view from my kitchen windows taken on a very cold, wet and windy day.

Below is a bougainvillea plant not far off flowering and home to a pair of spotted doves whom I call Romeo and Juliet.

Yes, the sun did shine randomly throughout the day when I took these photos and this pool is very popular during summer.

Here's the happy couple enjoying some special time in the sun, they are always snuggling up to each other beside the pool when the sun comes out.  They've been living here for two seasons now but I'm yet to see any off-spring.

Thanks Deb for hosting this fantastic photo challenge, see you next week.

My Little Empathy Monster

This strange creature is a result of an on-line class I did with Tamara Laporte over at Willowing Love.  I'm enrolled in several of her classes and the Empathy Monster is part of her Art, Heart and Healing course which is free.  I gave little guy to a special friend and she named him Maximilian.  Max has lots of hugs to give and I'm sure he's happy in his new home.

Whilst sewing is not a new craft for me, drawing is and I love the challenges I face every time I pick up a pencil or paintbrush.  I just wish drawing and painting was as easy for me as pushing material through a sewing machine.

See what I mean ~ there's always room for improvement.  Whoever said that was very wise.

Frivolous Friday

Now that I'm all grown up and semi-retired I refuse to let guilt get in the way of taking advantage of a wet, cold and miserable day.  This is what I did on this very frivolous Friday and it's the most creative full day I've ever had.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I did do the ironing before I made a start, just because there was a little bit of guilt creeping in.

Do you ever get a full day to play?

Sukeshi Doll and other fun stuff

Sukeshi Doll - She's as light as a feather and she's my little treasure

Last month I attended a workshop in Tasmania as part of a trip to visit my in-laws.  It was hosted by Susie McMahon and this little treasure below is what I made.  If you go here and here you will see more of Susie's Sukeshi dolls and just how clever she truly is.

I had a lovely creative day at Susie's place snuggled in her warm and cosy studio on a very cold, wet and wintry day.  I went with my special friend Di who creates and makes the most wonderful art dolls. Quite a few ladies attended the workshop with everyone working on different projects and generally having a nice time away from the hustle and bustle of every day life.  I courageously showed Susie a couple of drawings I was working on and she helped me with the shading of the face which I have no clue how to do.  Basically it was a show and tell day and Susie was there to lend a helping hand and share her expertise in all things arty.

                         
She's a cloth doll, firmly stuffed with wadding then painted with a coat of Gesso.  Then she got a coat of favourite acrylic paint and then when the inspiration took hold I painted her with a whimsy design.

Percy Pig is other fun stuff

The evening before Susie's workshop, I stayed with Di and her husband Gerald who live in Westbury and we had a wonderful evening by the wood fire eating chocolate biscuits and watching videos.  It was here that Di introduced me to dry felting using the wool from her beautiful and precious sheep which she rescued as abandoned babes.  They've grown into miniature horses now and their home in Westbury, Tasmania should be called 'Sheep Heaven', really those sheep are so spoilt and Duke the cat, well let's just say he's the Boss, you know what I mean.........

Percy Pig

Dry felting is as close as I will ever get to sculpting and what I like about it is that you make it up as you go so every project will be a 'one of a kind' that's for sure. My first attempt was a very bad rabbit [too embarrassed to show rabbit here], but then later I  successfully made a pig called Percy [not too embarrassed to put Percy on display] and now I'm having a go at making a bear which will be another post for another day when said bear is finished.

Dry felting can be painful if you're not watching what you're doing.  The needle is super sharp and you can imagine the wake up call you get when one is dreamingly felting by a wood fire, drinking tea and eating chocolate biscuits.  It's always going to be tricky to keep chocolate off fingers whilst felting and making sure sticky fingers avoid the terrible pain from a sharp needle, but it's worth the pain because I can get my crafty self into a very nice reclining position on the couch with wool, needle, chocolate and video all happening at once.

Thanks Di and Susie for a wonderful weekend 

Photo taken at Evandale Tasmania - Sculpture of an artist

A Worthy Cause

I'm responding to this post here by Jenny at Amitie Textiles and this post here by Karen from Sew Well Maide and I'm making some star blocks which will be used by Jenny (owner over at Amitie Textiles - a patchwork shop in Melbourne, Australia) and her team to make a quilt to be auctioned or raffled off at Melbourne's official Somaly Mam Foundation launch party.  If you'd like to read more about this worthy cause, then I suggest you click on one of the links above.

This is my humble effort ~ some wonky bits 'cause I'm still learning!!

(The description below taken from http://www.somaly.org/)

The Somaly Mam Foundation is a nonprofit charity committed to ending modern day slavery and empowering its survivors as part of the solution. Human trafficking, a multi-billion dollar industry, is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. With over two million women and children sold into sexual slavery each year, it is a global crisis that must be stopped. More resources are critically needed to support the rescue and rehabilitation of these young victims.  Co-founded by sexual slavery survivor, Somaly Mam, the Foundation works to eradicate human trafficking, liberate its victims, and empower survivors so they can create and sustain lives of dignity. The Foundation supports survivor rescue, shelter, and rehabilitation programs in Southeast Asia, where the trafficking of women and girls, some as young as five, is widespread.

Since I'm on the subject of Quilting, I've not long ago finished my first single bed quilt using the crazy patchwork pattern and then I did the free motion machine stitching that never in my wildest dreams did I think I could do. This quilt has found a lovely home in Tasmania adorning my MIL's bed. 

Not the snappiest pic in the world but it does show the machine quilting.  It's so cold here in Melbourne today my fingers are about frozen to the keyboard.  Time to go.