New Class - Starting SOON!!

Dear Friends,
Isn't it funny that when you have an idea about something, someone else you know or read about or meet has had exactly the same thought as well.

A month or so ago I decided to run another journal class and lo and behold a couple of students asked me in the same week! Weird how thoughts float around in the air and just arrive in our hearts or minds simultaneously. Serindipity I guess.

Instead of a limited number of days or hours this will be an open ended time frame with an Wednesday evening class once every 2 weeks.

New techniques will be taught each session with many topics covered. Starting with inspiration and jumping off techniques we will progress through a myriad of tools and media.

As we work on backgrounds to add to a journal we will also make a Background Binder to record each tehnique as a great reference tool for the future. Often backgounds get so hidden by multilayering it is hard to analyze the original method or colourway. Keeping a record of each is a great way to keep track of this.

Starting next month in April and meeting once a fortnight will be the Wednesday night journal class. I only have space for 6 students so I look forward to hearing from you if you are interested!

Every best wish

Elizabeth

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Running with a project

Dear Friends,
Well as you can see still clowning around with paper mache and paper and glue and pens and having such a lovely time! I have always believed that when you get a bee in your bonnet about a project you need to run fast, run really fast until you wear yourself out with it.
When your excitment and enthusiasm are high you can really achieve an awful lot.

The funny thing is - I have been running for quite a while with this one!

I have been drawing with a little difficulty as a fluffy friend with a black tail seems to think that pencils and pens are fab and make a great noise when you push them onto the floor.

When you use newspaper for the top layer be certain that the things you can read are vaguely interesting and don't just advertise the local plumber.

Hopefuls on the desk.

Wishing everyone something great to run with this week
Love

Elizabeth
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Still here!

Hi friends!
Well at last I am getting my act together and writing again! A busy start to the year - painters are doing the outside of the house and I have been processing way too many plums and tomatoes and trying to find the studio.
On a creative note, I have been having loads of fun making paper mache figures for the wall, using painting and painted papers to enhamce. What exactly did we do before watercolour crayons???

In this closeup you can see that the face is done with a black fine liner and watercolours - the usual ones! So I have a couple of dozen faces ready to become figures and I am just loving seeing them come to life.

BUT - drumroll - nothing compares to the fun we have been having with our new arrival. As you may know I go out each morning with a cuppa and ,my camera just to see if there are new things growing in the garden. Lo and behold this is what we found!!! Sitting right here in a pot and just waiting for us - or so it seemed.

His name is Henry and he arrived a little over a month ago. I would have introduced him sooner but we have been enjoying fleas, really scary worms, vet visits and trying to see if anyone claimed him.

More importantly we have been waiting to see if our older girl Nelly would take to him. Well the answer is definitely no - she has taken to walking up the hall hissing loudly into each doorway just in case he is lurking somewhere. Quite funny really!

So this is Henry - 10 weeks old and deadly cute with 3 beauty spots on his nose. So wonderful to be able to cuddle a kitten again.

Hoping everyone is having a lovely week

Love

Elizabeth

New felt birds and new resolutions!

Dear friends
Well hello 2012! I have to confess right here and now that I just don't do new year resolutions. I am so bad at keeping them and then I get cross with myself. The ancient Romans started the popular trend although the Babylonians preceded them - making plans to own more livestock by the following year.
So although I don't need any livestock or extra sacks of grain by the end of the year I do intend to make little weeny steps of improvement and the first one is to put some work up on my etsy site often. It is SO covered in cobwebs I will need to do a clean!

These little handmade felt birds are the first to appear and will be up by the end of the week.

I have had such fun making the felt and constructing them and am just adding a bit of hand embroidery to them before they are ready.

Well every best wish for keeping new resolutions - apparently having a friend that you check in with each week is a good method for helping to stick to them. A great excuse for meeting each week for coffee - unless of course your New Year's Resolution is to give up coffee!!

Happy creating!

Elizabeth

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Last post for 2011!

Dear Friends
My last post for 2011 and a little to catch up on. We went for a great walk earlier in the week - somehow I always feel the need to take more photos of wild flowers and bark and little things by the walkway.


No clue what this gorgeous bush was. The changing shades on the berries were just lovely.


Just a beautiful day


Here at the top of Mt Macedon Mum taking a breather.


Summer has taken hold here with the colours in the landscape becoming more golden


About 5 minutes before we got back to the car we were lucky enough to see an echidna and he was just gorgeous! Beetling around we lots of purpose. His eyes were so tiny I think he thought we were a couple of logs.


Just a few little bits of Christmas that we are still enjoying. Decorations seem to grow each year and my sister and I spend days upon days arranging it all again!


Elvis turned out to be the perfect size on the silvery twinkly tree. We bought him in Chicago at Macy's and he is just the perfect fairy on the tree. Probably the white suit.


I don't buy many glass ornaments for very obvious reasons but this Santa was just lovely.



Isn't it amazing when the table is so beautifully set and then within an hour of the Christmas meal everything looks as if a 10 three year olds have been left in charge.



This is a hand made nativity that Mum made at least 20 years ago and goes into its own little suitcase for the rest of the year.




I think we have too many Christmas candles as it is taking nearly 15 minutes to light them all!
But gee I love them!





Don't you love the same shades appearing in fruit and flowers? That particular shade of pink I have found quite inspiring lately.



Here is the most recent felt with this shade of pink.



Well dear friends thankyou for tuning in this year and for taking the time to comment. I love reading your comments and look forward to chatting again in 2012.

So Happy New Year wishing you all a creative 2012

Lots of Love
Elizabeth
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Festive Cheer in the Studio!

Dear Friends,
Well the festive season is nearly upon us and so the studio is in the mood as well.
Every year I get out an ever expanding box of decorations and have a lovely time putting them up.

I never used to, but it is such a special place to go for me that I felt it needed to mark the occasion as well. I spent rather a lot of time hanging everthing up but it was such fun and I look forward to it every year now!

If you have a workplace or a studio - or even just a corner to call your own I hope you find some time to include it in the festive season as well. Not matter what your faith - marking these occasions does give shape and colour to our year and does make for a memorable time.

Have a gorgeous week

Love

Elizabeth

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Loads of fun!

Dear Friends
Thankyou for the excellent advice regarding the spam issues in the last post. I was a bit of a nitwit not to realize that blogger would have a solution. Righto moving along....................
This group of excellent ladies were in class with me about 2 weeks ago - some beginners some intermediate but all having a super time! Here are some of the results and I think you will agree they all worked very hard and should all be so proud.


A busy time - I kept losing things in boxes and tubs which did slow us down from time to time - it is often the way in class when I am talking non stop that I put something down and then cannot remember where it is. Either on the students tables or on mine!


Naturally the layout is often quite different to the finished result as colours sink and merge into one another and secondary shades evolve.





Only a couple of classes left now before the end of the year which always makes me a little sad somehow! Still January is open for bookings and it would appear that felters are not going to rest for too long!

Cheers for now I am off to put up more decorations in the studio - will post some pics soon
Hoping everyone is finding a little something to decorate their work area or studio at this festive time - don't forget it needs to mark the season in some way as well!
Love
Elizabeth
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