Lutrador and Lumiere

 I have had some Lutrador in the stash for quite a while but have not been interested in using it; that is until I saw someone else working with it on Friday.

 Although Linda has often talked about this product with great enthusiasm I really needed to see it being used.


So tonight I cut a small piece and with it on a piece of copy paper I used some Lumiere paints to create a flower.  I was surprised at how much paint went through to the page underneath.  However, it is often these happy accidents that provide another resource for future projects.

I sprayed some Starburst Spray over the lot and then, using my soldering iron I cut out the flower shape.

So now I have a lutrador flower and another flower painted onto a piece of paper.  I can see another book cover in the next day or so.

Lutrador might just be my new favourite material for creative projects.  I will do a bit more experimenting  to find out how it can be used - that is always just a good excuse for spending time messing about! 

This link is a great starting point if you are interested in Lutrador .

Books and buttons

The weather here has been cold and went and windy for the last few days so it is not much good for painting the house or gardening.

This means, of course, that there is time to spend in the workroom. 

 I covered the front of this book with molding past and when it dried I added some paint and ink to create a bit of landscape at sunset.

The next step is to decide what to add to the picture.

 

Two new buttons have also been created.

These are very relaxing to work on while the television is on.

Lest we forget - and may we learn a better way.

Today we remember the soldiers who have served and still serve - may they come home safely.

Never forget the impact service has on these young men and women.

Imagine

vintage sewing cabinet at the op shop

Today I went op shopping at Vinnies at Tyabb Rd Mornington and I found this just waiting for me so I brought it straight home.

 

painting just for fun

One of the joys of my job minding the twin girls from next door is the opportunity to play.

Today's play time included painting.
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They weren't too keen on finger painting at first so we used brushes, foam rollers and anything else we could think of.

Then literally finger painting seemed like lots of fun.

Not so much on this little hand: much more on her sweet little face.

Lucky mummy wasn't here.

Once the playing was finished I decided to wrap the wet painted paper around a white covered book.

I smoothed some of the colour out with my hands (yes it was fun)
and then wrapped the second paper around.  It was hard to throw out their artwork so I am pleased to have the book to remember this first attempt at painting.


It just needs sealing I think.  

a new start and finishing touches.

I have had a truly lovely day today.  Not that I have many bad ones but today was really good.

First treat was a trip to the hairdresser for a cut and colour.   Going to the hairdresser is high on my list of pleasurable activities.  Young ladies bring me coffee and chocolate to enjoy while I sit and read magazines and catch up on some local news and they work their magic on my hair.

After that I popped into Paper2, which I have mentioned previously - I was hoping to buy some rub'n'buff for the book cover I am working on.

I used to dismiss the rise of scrapbooking and cardmaking as a bit of a fad but having looked at some of the supplies and goodies involved I see that it is as much an artform as any of the things we do with textiles and that in fact many of the materials used are suitable for lots of creative activities.

As well as the rub'n'buff gold leaf I picked up some in antique white and silver leaf (in case I need them).  As well as that there was the lumiere metallic acrylic super sparkle, a distress ink pad in bundled sage, some pigment ink and just for fun some webbing spray.  This is something I haven't seen before but I am sure it will be useful.


As if that wasn't enough fun for one day my dear husband took me to the pub for a quick lunch before I joined a textile art group in the local area.


All in all - lots to be thankful for.


 

decorative book

I have quite a number of "display" books: these have hard covers and blank pages which make them ideal for a bit of decoration and embellishment.

Most of them have white covers but I have a few with black covers as well.  

I decided to prepare one of the black ones with a light coat of white transparent gesso.  Once this was dry (overnight)  I applied a layer of  molding paste to the front of the book creating a fan like pattern.

I have not used this material before but I found it really easy to work with and have lots of plans for the future projects.

The paste takes quite a while to dry so I left it for a couple of days and then used some of my lumiere paints to add a little colour. 

Tomorrow I intend to add a bit more to it: I am not sure what yet.

In the meantime I have applied some paste to one of the white books - I will post some pics of that soon.

 

looking forward to spring

Although it is Autumn here I am thinking of spring.  Our garden is looking lovely but I am always planning ahead.  

While thinking about the garden I sketched out some ideas for my next stitching project.

I used my water colour pencils which are ideal for this kind of sketching.

Although the pastel pencils are great too I just prefer to work with these.

Once I am happy with the basic sketch I brush a little water over the surface to blend the colours and soften the effect.

Once it is damp I can add some more colour where I feel it is needed.

The next step is to decide on materials and embellishments.  This is the fun part.  I am thinking of using felt with wool and silk tops.

Felt is easy to work with and the wool and silk can give texture and depth of colour.

cockatoos in the garden

Shopping and creating

 The term holidays are almost over and I have my grandson Ben staying for a few days.
He is really competent with the felting/embellishing machine.
 

We found some grassy green felt which I bought some time ago at the op shop.  I knew it would come in handy some time


Foraging around in the scrap box revealed some lovely silk and wool tops as well as pieces of yarn and tulle.




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When I was in the city on Saturday I called in at Clegs in Elizabeth Street and bought some interesting yarn.  Of course the fact that I have bags of yarn in my
workroom didn't seem relevant at the time.

There are some amazing yarns available at present and although I don't knit I can always find something to use these for.

I noticed that there is an online service available from Clegs here.

While I was out with Ben today we called into
Paper2 in Mornington to buy some glue, and gel and crackle medium and clear sealer.

They have such a huge range of paper craft items that I could stay all day just browsing (well maybe a little shopping).  Take a look at their website here

So many items can be used with textiles as well as paper of course. 

Sorry this is a bit haphazard.  If I wasn't so tired I would edit it but I am sure you can find your way around it.

I hope everyone is managing to find time to relax and create something beautiful.

International Visitors to Melbourne

On Saturday I went into the city, Melbourne, to meet two needlewomen I "speak to' on the internet.  Mildred and Lyn, from Ireland and England respectively have come to Australia for the Beating Around the Bush conference in Adelaide and are visiting friends along the way.    This is the second time they have attended BATB but I was unable to meet them last time they were here.

We spent some time looking around the Queen Victoria Market which is quite a tourist attraction in Melbourne. check it out here

I couldn't finish this post earlier as I was babysitting the twin girls next door.  One kept touching the keys on the laptop while the other ran off with the mouse.  They thought it was really funny.  mmmm

Anyway I wanted to say that it is such a wonderful thing to be able to be in touch with like minded people the world over.  I have been lucky enough to meet some of these cyber friends and it is always a matter of old friends catching up with so much in common.

We should always be wary of  protecting our privacy and our designs etc but there is not doubt the technology we have at our fingertips can offer us so much.

shapely trees

Kananook Creek

4th April 2012

I took these pics on Wednesday evening before having dinner with my friend Jackie at the Riviera Hotel in Seaford.

collage finished at last - I think

 I think this project is finally finished.

It has turned out quite well and I think I could just keep tweeking it endlessly.

The last thing I did was to paint some watered down transparent white gesso, with a tiny amount of brown water colour paint mixed in, over the entire piece.  There was just too much glitter and glitz so this flattened some of it out.
 

 It is a bit hard to photograph but I think you can see some of the detail.

The pressed flowers are still clearly visible and the paper serviette birds have been overpainted with black acrylic paint.

 To create this I have used pressed flowers machine made lace, tyvek, ribbon, faces made from air dried clay and painted, fabric flowers and leaves, paper serviette birds, butterflies and flowers.

PVA glue, gesso, modge podge and watercolour and acrylic paints.

op shopping

This week's visit to the op shops revealed a definite wild animal theme.

Isn't this fellow adorable.

These gorgeous boxes would set a retro theme on the dressing table.  They are in perfect condition.

They are fitted and lined in satin. 

These shoes look like they are ready for a wild night on the town.













It really is amazing what you can find in an op shop - these items were still on the shelf when I left. 

  

2 little birds

Life is busy at present and there is not much time for creative work.  Last night I added a few more items to this ongoing piece.  Can you see two birds?  They are taken  from paper serviettes and glued to the background.

I hope to finish this tomorrow.

It is Autumn here now and the weather is absolutely beautiful.


Many of the trees are beginning to change colour although our native trees are evergreen.

lacemaking on the machine

I think making lace on my sewing machine is one of my favourite activities.  It is time consuming but it can be very relaxing -a  kind of meditation.  You have to feel completely in tune with the machine and the threads to achieve what you want. 

The pic on the left shows (not very clearly) a small piece of lace in orange thread with white flowers.  I made this piece some months (maybe years) ago as a practice piece and although I was pleased with it I couldn't think of how to use it.

Well it is now part of the collage I am working on and I think it works really well.

This second pic shows what can happen if you are not concentrating on locking all the areas together.

This is basic to making machine made lace and I have no idea what I was thinking about at the time.  Obviously not what I was working on.  Anyway I am not inclined to waste anything and although it didn't turn out well I know it can be used if I just set my mind to a little darning here and there.

It does look quite messy but I am sure I can make it work for the collage.

You can see clearly here that I have a bit of connecting to do.

  I deliberately worked on quite thick areas and that has turned out well.

  The threads I used were in Autumn colours with some metalics included.

 

The thread in the bobbin was green variegated so the back looks a bit different.

I will try to take a pic of the back when I have finished "fixing"  this.