All Things Arty Part Two

 This week I was very fortunate to attend a botanical eco dyeing workshop on paper with @kimherringe up in the beautiful township of Maleny.

Our family friend and fellow artist Alan came with me. He and his partner have a beautiful home overlooking the Samford Valley....and what a view! I was very spoilt with a delicious dinner as well.

And whilst not a good photo in reality it was gorgeous....as we had an early start this was the sunrise from my bed.....ahhhh so lovely!

Kim was such a lovely lady, so interesting and generous with her information. 

We did 4 different styles of printing using different dips and mediums, all cooked up in a big pot. 

Each bundle was wrapped in a different manner, to achieve a different outcome.

Here are my results.....

This last one was a mirror image using a special Japanese paper. I loved the unpredictability of the outcomes....it was so exciting unwrapping your bundles to see what would appear.....and some of the details from the botanicals was amazing.

In one of the bundles we used what are known as dye blankets. Which can be used over and over....but I discovered a wonderful side bonus to this process. An imprint on the cotton covers of what was under theblanket........and you can bet I shall be using them in stitching in some way....I fancy some accordion book covers!

And I have to say that I am completely hooked and my brain has been buzzing ever since. I had a throughly wonderful time.....thank you Kim x

THE END :)

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx 

All things Arty Part One

 Good morning. This post and the next are mostly art related so if it's not your thing I shall understand if you scroll on by. I thought firstly that I would share the process I went through from beginning to end with one of my drawings and then I shall share a wonderful experience I had with paper dyeing in the next post.

Well the first thing I do is work out my composition roughly to make sure its going to be pleasing to the eye.

Once I am happy and perhaps tweaked it a little I will refine my drawing.

Once done I select a piece of the paper that I have chosen for the project. I then lay down light coloured pencil as a basis for further pencil work. Slowly it begins to develop. 

I then often use a compressed pastel called Pan Pastel for the background....it gives a beautiful soft background and is repelled by Polychromos pencils so doesn't interfere with your pencil work apart from a bit of a tidy up in light areas. 

And after you've signed your work.  It's done!

This piece was gifted to a lovely friend who like myself loves our Splendid Fairy Wrens.

Recently circumstances afforded me the opportunity to spend time wandering around New Farm park and the Brisbane Powerhouse with my Daughter and Granddaughter.

They were there for a concert so I spent a little time sitting by the river and having a bit of a sketch.

I also did a bit of stitching too....

The river was looking beautiful! 

I love the street art surrounding the Powerhouse and Miss E and I had a bit of fun.

Some of the wall art.....

We had a visitor hoping for some fallout from the tables at lunch.

A lovely day with family.

Part 2 of my Arty post coming up next!

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx 

Easter Catchup and Extras

 Hello everyone. It's a bit late but I hope you all had a lovely Easter. 

Mine was spent with family and we had a very nice time together. Even though all these firsts are very difficult, we are determined to celebrate all these family times that my husband loved. So in light of that I dusted off all my Easter treasures and put them on display.

As my lovely family refused to let me prepare anything for our family get together I decided to put together an Easter cake....it was made with store bought everything....although I did grow the little orchids.....and it was a hit! I thought if it tastes ordinary at least it looks pretty lol! As my close friends and family know and you may have guessed I was in the next room when cooking prowess was distributed! 

How a chocolate coma hasn't eventuated with my delicious gifts is anyone's guess! My dear Daughter in Law gave me the cute mug and matching plate.

My Daughter has been teaching herself to crochet over the last little while and she made this cute little rabbit for me. Her interest is in the Amigurimi crochet animals. I think she is doing really well.

I also spent quiet time reading this interesting book. I am becoming a fan of this author. 

My stitching has consisted of lots of bits and pieces for both SALs and I also found a large pile of blocks from the Love and Hugs from Australia SAL. So I am only a few blocks from finishing them so they are now in the mix......the latest four of those.....

Two are my designs (some blocks didn't fit in with what I envisaged) and two from the SAL. I have 2 more left plus a label to stitch for this project. Thank you Lorel for the reminder that I had this project lol!

Gossip in the Garden stitching consists of Dresden Plates.....with one ring in.

A teapot full of weeds....

And the stitchery centres for the Dresden plates.....

Owl and Hare has been lots of prep work. I have sewn the Hare and Hexie block with a slightly wonky scrappy circle but after all the work it's staying! Also one of four hexie blocks. 

So that's it for the stitching side of things. 

My Daughter took this photo of me yesterday.....enjoying a much needed hit of caffiene and cake after yet another harrowing and time consuming interaction with one of our financial institutions! They like having your money but don't want to give you any service.....anyway we did eventually get a lovely helpful lady be as helpful as her position allowed so grateful and all that!

Well that's me all caught up. I  am off to clean up the mess this very naughty visitor is making on my paths......digging out all my leaf mulch looking for worms for breakfast! 

He's a juvenile Scrub Turkey. In 40 + years we have never had one in our garden. He is a right royal pain. My paths are strewn with leaf litter and soil every morning! As are some of my plants! They are protected....not that I would harm him but he did get a blast with the hose yesterday. For my overseas friends, the males gather leaf litter and make huge mounds for the females to lay their eggs in. She then exits the scene. Dad then keeps watch over the nest,  testing regularly to ensure the inside of the mound is the correct temperature to hatch the eggs. 

This bloke isn't mound making....thank goodness!  There is no room in my small garden to make one. But he is very messy looking for his breakfast....sigh *

Ok! Be kind to one another.

Namaste and Blessings Michelle xxx