roses

still boxing

The weather is warming up and the spring garden is vying with the weeds for some space.  It all looks gorgeous though.

This is the next stage of my box making.  

It seems to me that it looks a bit like a baddly iced cake. 

I do need to finish it by Friday - there is not much more to do.







I am just watching the news and the big storm in the US.  It is hard to imagine such a situation and I hope the damage wont be too bad.  Most important is that people are safe.
 

sunshiney days

Today the twins and I made the most of the glorious spring weather this morning and visited Fishermans Beach to watch the men launching their tinnies for a day out on the bay.  After that we went  to a playground for some climbing and sliding practice.

After a good long nap and a tasty lunch outside we went to the beach for a splash in the shallows.

A perfect way to spend a Monday. 

Crustaceans and encrustation

 I am having a bit of a creative binge at last.  

The stash has provided me with some boxes and gorgeous embellishments.

The stationery cupboard provides glue and paints and glitter. 

 My basket of hand dyed laces provided a wonderful trim for the bottom of this box,

and an old scarf provided a covering. 

 I am hoping to finish this box tomorrow night. As usual I am working my way through this piece.

The rockpool  box is nearly done.        The inside is looking good with tiny dolphins in the waves of blue and white silk paper.

Christmas Opping

 Today I have been thinking a lot about the upcoming shopping season.  That is the Christmas holiday season.

In view of that I thought I would show you some things I have bought at op (charity shops) during the past year.

 The little grouping of dogs is a real find.  They are collectable ceramics from Japan and I have added them to my own collection.

In the first collage there are various items that would be perfect gifts.  A piece of morano glass, a very pretty tea cup, a sweet little trinket box and a glass mushroom and dog.  The hall stand holds my silk jacket and beside that is a lamp and a mirror (all of these are from the salvos).  The tall up-lamp cost me $2 at the recycling centre.  Some wall art, cabinet knobs, a very pretty doily and a collectable ceramic spoon are in the other collage.

And finally here is another 
little ceramic piece for my collection. 

This is the most expensive item on this post being $39.95.  

Almost all other items cost less than $5.00.
 

If you possibly can  please consider the planet, the charities that benefit and the effect on your wallet when shopping this Christmas.

You can see more op shop stories here.

This is a collaborative blog about op shopping in and around Melbourner.

a walk in the garden

nature imagined and real

These are the other pieces I am thinking of showing.

The small framed piece is hand dyed fabric and some stitching  "remembering the fires".

The trees are a series I did some years ago as a kind of "stream of consciousness" goodness that does sound a bit pretentious.

I loved doing them and they hang on my wall above the freezer so I see them often.

This one has lots of beads and little button ducks.

The red turkey stitch on this one really stands out and the little sequin flowers just add a bit of bling.

And finally: this is the centre of an Iris from my garden.  Just love the colour and the detail.  Amazing.

Something old - something new.....

I have been trying to decide which items I can put in the art show at PAS during the Melbourne Cup Weekend.



We have a really small display space set aside for the textile art group and cannot set up until early on the Saturday morning: the show starts on the Friday evening and our little area is needed for the drinks!!

Anyway we have some wall space and
two tables to use.  Two of the members will be hanging beautiful quilts and wall hangings.  Another will display her woven tapestry alongside some large embroidery pieces.  I think there will be room for my small "Peninsula Dreaming" wall hanging:  because my pieces are quite small they can sit directly on the table or on little "table easels".



 










These are the pieces I am thinking about at present but I would really like to show my embroidered trees.  Perhaps I shall have time to photograph them tomorrow.  


They hang on my wall and combine embroidery, beading and are my own designs.

By the way I am sorry if my blog looks a bit odd.  I am trying to change it but it is not working out so well.  Never mind I shall try again tomorrow.

back on track

 It is so easy to let things like blogging slide......and slide.

I don't seem to have achieved a lot in the past two weeks but I seem to fill in each day just the same.

The photos I have selected

 are just a few of many I have taken recently: the most recent of the three is the sunset at Canadian Bay last night.  The clouds were in a strange formation - I have not done anything to alter the pic.  Just the way it was.

The second one is a close-up of a stick insect which was on our dining room door.  He (or she) looks just like some twigs.  I would never be able to see it in amongst the trees.  A rare treat indeed to see it so clearly.
And finally, one of the little twins decided to go exploring in the garden with her sandals on.  It didn't take long to spoil her lovely white socks.  Luckily it isn't up to me to clean them.

One of the special things about minding the twins is the fact that they love to be out in the garden.

In addition to taking pics I have been sorting out a few things to put in the exhibition at the Peninsula Arts Society Show at the beginning of November.  Our space is limited so I have to choose carefully.

starfish and other delights

I love to be beside the seaside

Time to create at last.

The past week has been busy with my dear grand children.  

We were lucky enough to have a really warm day on Thursday and a dip in the sea was on the agenda.  The youngsters stayed in the water for quite a while but it was too cold for me.  

As usual a visit to the beach will awaken all kinds of creative thoughts so I found a box that needed covering.  Soon enough the glue, paint, and texture medium were on the coffee table.  Some silk paper, gold tissue, machine made lace and beads and shells were added to the recipe and voila the lid is covered.  It needs some finishing off of course but I thought you might like to see what I have done so far.

 

Vintage Sheridan

Well, I don't know just where September went but here we are already into October and hardly any stitching done.

Yesterday I managed a bit of op shopping and discovered this fabulous piece of vintage sheridan fabric - polished cotton I think - it is about 3 metres in length and takes me right back to another era.   

 
I am way behind in reading blogs - sorry to be neglectful.  I find commenting on those ones that require me to prove I am not a robot to be more than I can manage.  The characters are so hard to decipher.  So once again I am sorry if I appear to be ignoring you.  

The school holidays are halfway through and at present I have all four of our grandchildren staying.  We have doonas and matresses all over the lounge/dining room floor and couches as well as various pieces of electronic equipment that they seem to be connected to most of the time.

We did go out for a lovely meal tonight though and had fun taking pics of the dessert course.

 The weather is improving with a real feel of spring in the air.  

I hope someone is managing to find time for arting and crafting - I do feel as though I need some time to just play.