More finished projects

Over the past couple of weeks I have been really busy trying to do projects that have been sitting around the plce for some time. The suitcases I have had for several years salvaging them from my sisters home when she moved houses they were destined for the rubbish dump. I felt they needed a breath of fresh air and so got to painting them in these pretty pastel colours with the help of my daughter Danielle (who loves painting). Now they look so great under the stairs with one of my very own bears sitting atop.



I have been looking for one of these laundry baskets for quite some time and was fortunate enough to find this one at the North Rocks markets for a bargain price of $40. Up until then had not seen anything under $80.-$100. There were multiple layers of paint which I patiently scraped away over a few days with a scraper and sander until I could then paint. The cane was in really good condition for its age and I am just so pleased at how it now looks with the new padded top and original handle.

New craft items I've made and finished

Recently I finished this Silk embroidery and had it framed. The embroidery came in a kit with threads and beads and was so enjoyable to do. I just love it.
Not the best of photos unfortunatly.

I attended a Quilt Camp earlier this year and I attended a class to do embroidery. I made this beautiful Hasif or Sewing Keeper. The blackberries were black glass beads. I also made the accessories a round pin holder and a thimble case.

The next item I have completed recently was this cute little sewing bag. I really do like doing embroidery I find it quite relaxing and doing smaller items I know I will get them finished.

Great day out

Well what a great day we had on Sunday. Firstly my 84 year old Dad had a ride on a Harley we gave this to him as a gift for Fathers Day. He used to ride bikes especially when he was in the Army in his younger days and I am sure this ride bought back lots of memories. After the ride I had organised a lunch cruise on Sydney Harbour. The weather was perfect and even my Mum enjoyed the cruise even though she confesses to not liking boats.

These were a few of the photos of our old biker Dad. Don't you agree he looks so cool in leather.

Mum and Dad on the Catamaran on the beautiful Sydney Harbour
My Dad and me and the Harbour Bridge

Postcards

Today I have been able to get my "School Days" postcards completed. With these cards I printed an old school photo onto fabric then added an abacass made with beads. I really enjoy doing these postcards for members of the artsnthemail online group. The photo in the background is my son Joshua in his Navy uniform

Another Padfolio Gift

I made a second padfolio also from my hand dyed fabric then embellished it with flower stitching and whispy threads. This is a gift for a friend of a friend who will be visiting Australia from England for a holiday.
I hope Barbara likes her handmade gift.

Making Gifts

During this week I have been making gifts. This is a padfolio I have made for my very dear friend Rhonda. I found the pattern for these on the Fibre & Stitch site and Sue Blieweis. The fabric I used I had hand dyed myself then I embellished the front with threads,wools and beads and lastly added the beautiful flower which I created. I was very happy with my efforts

Big Spiders

My Grand Daughter Kaitlyn was not too sure about sitting on the old outside dunny with these really large Red back spiders. They almost look real.

Budding Photographer

The weekend Josh was home we all went to the Australian Reptile park at Gosford. while we were waiting to see the extra large crocodile my Grandson Ryan decided to click some photos. Here he is with Sheree and his Mum Danielle. We had a great day at the park not often do we all get together for a lovely family day. Thats Ryan's Dad Matthew in the background.

Brotherly Love

My daughter Sheree and her loving younger brother Joshua. Josh is in the Royal Australian Navy and we don't get see him too often these days and this weekend he was home to go to a friends wedding. They very rarely have photos taken together I just happened to be ready with my trusty little camera.

Once a month I go to a class I call my "Arty Farty class" where we experiment with different textile mediums. Barbara my tutor comes up with some of the strangest things for us to try, we really do have great fun.

Some months ago after we had saved lots and lots of used teabags we emptied these and then glued them layer upon layer into sheets of teabags. I have finally created the teapot below from my teabags. Very fitting I thought. The handle and knob on the top were made using beads and wire. The little flower was created from fabric and washaway. I had so much fun making this I hope Barbara gets a giggle from my creation.

The second card is "Something beginning with J" I did "A jug of juice"
This card I ironed plastic cling wrap to the fabric and added beads to look like water drops

I really don't know where bloggers find the time to blog. These days seem to just fly by so fast and here we are in October already.

Over the last week I have made postcards to send overseas. I am in a Postcard swap group with Artsnthemail. These are some of my first cards
The first card is a "Sunflower" theme