Just A Little Bit Fancy

I was out walking Goldie and Lilly today and came across this beautiful toadstool,

I just couldn't pass it by without saying "Hi",
Then later in the evening I stared straight up into the sky,

And look what I spied with my little eye?

A beautiful Australian Autumn Sunset

Special Friends

My friend Carol came visiting and bearing gifts.  She's a wonderful cook and always innovative with her recipes, using fresh produce from her garden.  Today she left me with three gorgeous jars of homemade goodies.

From left to right we have Rhubarb and Ginger Jam, Cherry Plum Chutney and Curried Tomato Chutney.  I can hardly wait to taste them.  I'm so lucky to have friends like my best buddy Carol.  Oh and the oranges, lemons and tomatoes are from my garden.

My Favourite Photo Taken By Me in Hanoi - Vietnam

In March this year, I went on a 3 week holiday to Vietnam with my husband.  I took close to 500 photos over that time and this photo is one of my favourites and about the second one I took.  It's a view of the city lake, which unfortunately was quite polluted, but a central meeting place for the locals, young and old.  One of the days we visited the lake we saw about 20 couples in wedding attire [and they all looked so beautiful] having their photos taken.  It was strange to see so many young people tying the knot at the same time, at the same place.  I thought it might have been a photo shoot for a magazine at first glance. We asked someone about this and they told us that Vietnamese people seek guidance once they declare their love for each other and propose to marry, by establishing the luckiest day for the occasion.  I was told that this particular day was lucky for love.

This lake has quite a legendary history to it and the translation of Hoan Kiem literally means 'The Lake of the Restored Sword'.  I'm not going to go into the history, least to say that they once found a giant tortoise in it and it's on display in the Temple of the Tortoise in the middle of the lake. While we were there you would see locals looking intently into the murky water in the hope of sighting a tortoise as again this would bring good luck upon any who sighted this animal.  It was an interesting holiday.

Seductive Sabine - Cloth Art Doll

Today I want to share with you one of the first cloth doll projects I have ever made; and only recently I might add.  Her name is Seductive Sabine.  She was designed by Michelle Munzone of Bambole Designs and the project/pattern was made available in the Australian Dolls Bears and Collectables magazine Vol 17 No 2. 

Like I said she is my very first cloth doll and I had never had experience in turning fingers before.  Well,  I had to re-do her arms about three times before I came close to making something acceptable.  Thank goodness I could paint her nails, it helped to cover up some tiny frayed bits. 

I am disappointed in her face and I know that I really need a teacher to get this right if I want to continue with this craft.  In the absence of a teacher, I have purchased a book from Susie McMahon (a local Tasmanian artist) on painting faces so I guess if I apply her advice and lots of practice my next doll might be better looking.

My Sabine has pride of place sitting on my kitchen dresser.    I'm happy with her hands and clothes, but I need to work on the attention to detail that Michelle and other artists put into their sculptured dolls.

Have a great day and thanks for reading my blog

My First Blog

I feel a bit like a kid about to sit an exam.  I have no idea what to blog about and I guess no-one will see it.  But I have to make a start.  This is a photo of one of my projects in mosaics.  I was out walking my dogs and two days in a row I saw this chipboard table on the footpath looking for a new owner.  On the second day I decided that nobody wanted it so when I got home I jumped into my car and went and collected this little table.

I didn't think to take a before photo.  This is the finished result.  I spray painted it after first applying an undercoat.  That's unusual for me because I am always in a hurry and certainly when I was younger I always took shortcuts.  Usually the shortcuts backfired on me.  I'm learning a lot now that I'm older and I took my time with this.  Having said that it took me about two full days to complete because there was no real 'preping' of the table surface, it was in great condition.

This was the very first mosaic project I ever worked on and I didn't plan it or make a drawing, I just put it together sitting in the sunshine and working to my mood.  This plaque has stood the test of time outside in the garden.  It would be about 8 years old now and it adorns my beautiful, but past friends grave "Benji".

And "trala" just because I'm getting the hang of this, the photo above is another project.  I had a section of the path around the house that was just a muddy spot so I did this.  Again I just sat on the ground in the sun and position the tiles onto concrete pavers until I came up with this idea.  Obviously, this was in "my hurry" days when I wanted the project to be completed before I really started it because I just couldn't wait to see the final outcome.  Crazy but that's me.  I don't cut the tiles, because I don't know how, I've tried and it's too hard.  I just like to smash the tiles and then work with what I've got.  Obviously, the flowers are easy to do, but the table [first photo] does show that I have moved on a little bit with my designs. 

Well, doing this blog wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  If you do read this I hope that you will see heaps of improvement in my blogging style as time goes on. 

Have a great day to you and me.