Summer is glowing!

Hi everyone!
Just wondering around the front garden today I wanted to share some of my favourites with you. I know that many of you are battling with wet and cold and snow but here in Australia we are just battling with keeping things alive!



Golden nasturtium are so beautiful



Tall Tigerlily



Creamy yellow



These lilys are so magnificent and their fragrance is reminiscent of very strong carnations. Such a shame I can't bottle it and send you all some.

Don't forget to enter my Random Act of Kindness - Surprise Draw! See Below

Hope everyone is finding time to be creative
Love
Elizabeth

Random Act of Kindness - Surprise Draw!

I was in our local hardware store this evening. You know the type - large, impersonal and run by an invisible team.
I was there to buy a couple of punnets of seedlings for mum. Just some humble parsley capsicums and red onions.

Well I discovered I didn't have enough cash and decided to leave one at the register.
Suddenly from behind came the voice of a lady "You've left one behind".
I informed her that I didn't have enough money and she promptly said: "Yes you do, I'm buying it for you!"

I was really taken aback and said "no...no....no...." Her reply: "This is a Random Act of Kindness"

I was really touched and promised her I would find an opportunity to do the same by the end of the week.

SO this is it:
If anyone would care to share their experience involving a random act of kindness or you would like to share your thoughts on this one, I would love to hear. So please level a message to this post.

On Saturday 9th
To all that reply, I will put their name/email into a hat (shoebox) and draw one out.

To this end I will post a handmade surprise to the person whose name is drawn on the following Monday (11th January)

I hope that if your name is not drawn, then you are the recipient of a Random Act of Kindness or decide to do one.

Good Luck Everyone!

New Silk Fibre!

Silk fibre - the queen of fibres, is really so glorious to work with - I just wanted to share these delicious colours that I was playing with today. Adding a thin veneer to the top layer of your wool will add such luxury and depth to hand made felt. I still have pieces I made years ago that I continue to marvel at the sheen and lustre that it holds.

Available on etsy tomorrow: www.frostfair.etsy.com



Sunset - SOLD


Lavender Mist



Coral Sea



Mixed Blues



Lavender Blues




Blueberry - SOLD


Hope everyone is enjoying the first weekend of the year!

Love
Elizabeth
XX

Just Start!

I must tell you about yesterday:
For much of my self employed life (14 years) I have been mystified by the days that work in the studio and those that are simply a waste of time.

Yesterday, being a wretchedly hot day here in Melbourne I must have been close minded. Out of sync, out of kilter, just out of it........
For nothing would go right. I didn't have the right felt, the right colours and definitely no ability to do a good layout. SO I stopped.
After stopping I realized that I had a sore neck and was quite cranky and decided to just leave it altogether. And so I walked out..............

There is a danger that you will abandon the project you are struggling with, but if you have the luxury of space ,I would recommend leaving it exactly where it is for a day or two.
The other alternative is to put all the elements together on a tray or pin them to a cork board or piece of foam core.

DON"T GIVE UP!

By collecting that piece of fabric and your fave crayons, maybe a lovely piece of paper or new journal with excitement that something wonderful was going to happen, you discover as you progress, that your souffle has gone flat. Just hang in there! That excitement will return - promise!

SO, Today I thought righto, just start. What made the difference this time was that I took each process one after the other without hesitation. Perhaps I had more impetus because of my washout the day before.
After the first step without any thinking I was enthralled at the rapidity of its' success which in turn fired my energy to race onto the next procedure.

Before I new it my felt was complete and ready for the handwork that I so enjoy doing in the evening.

So fellow artists - JUST START
Don't fret about the end result - you are doing this because you love to make art - not because it is essential to race to the end.
If your idea is half formed or just hinting at the edge of your mind, whispering something in your heart then just starting will help you to capture "it" before it escapes.

So at the end of this long post, I am sharing with you my New Year's Resolution. Just Start!
It might be your next masterpiece or at the very least just the prototype.

Sending every best wish for the New Year and decade
Elizabeth
XX

Beautiful Firenze

Hi Everyone,
Here I am in Florence - a really dreamy city. Everything was just so beautiful and I was just so lucky to have days like this. As I write Florence is under snow! I only got home last Wednesday so how amazing for the weather to flip completely and cover the city in white!

This first shot is probably what everyone imagines when they think of Florence. It was such a wonderful sight and I sat here with bread and cheese and olives and tomatoes. Yes it was cold so I sat on my bag!



Here you can see the Arno river and the bridges that cross it at regular intervals.




The famous Ponte Vecchio. this shot was taken from out of the window of the Uffizi Gallery




The river Arno in the evening light. Photos are bever quite the same as being there but this does revive memories of a lovely still evening.




I awoke early on my first morning in Florence and decided to climb the bell tower of the Duomo Cathedral known as Giotto's Tower. Small windows in the tower revealed little slices of the city that were just so inspiring.



The Duomo Cathedral, flanked by the tower and the building in front is the Baptistery - I was less than a minute walk from here and came to look at it at least once a day. The quality of the light would keep changing the hue of the marble and I, like thousands before me, was quite mesmerised by it.



Detail of the Duomo as I climbed the tower.



Walking around town there were 2 things I could do in abundance, shop and eat!



The Merry go Round at night.



Jewellery shops along the Ponte Vecchio at dusk.




Detail on the Baptistery doors.



Climbing up out of the city.




Sculptures abound in the city and these were located at the Duomo museum.



A beautiful day - I sat here for ages watching nothing and everything.

This is just a small sampling of the 982 photos I took over the week but if ever you get to go to Europe, be sure to make Florence the top of your list. I simply can hardly wait to return!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays dear friends,
I wish you all a creative 2010
Love Elizabeth

Grade 5 & 6 - mixed media dolls!

Mexican Boy

Mexican Boy ( detail )

Little Princess

Little Princess ( detail )

The Little Chef

Little Chef ( detail )

Blue Princess

Blue Princess ( detail )

The New Hat

The New Hat ( detail )

Hi everyone
Over the last few months I have been working as an Artist in Residence, again at MLC - Methodist Ladies College. I visit once a year and force the entire junior school to make felt.
I can hardly tell you how much fun I have - I learn so much from them all. From Prep to Grade 6 we make literally miles of felt and the Grade 5 and 6's girls have created these wonderful mixed media dolls.

I would really love to show you all 200!!!! dolls from the Grade 5 & 6's but..................... well..........................that may take some time to upload!

I have been making these mixed media dolls for a while now and can't seem to stop. Isn't it funny when your work takes a change. I just love it when a new vision arrives for a possible new look or range of work. You can never tell when a medium is going to entice you. For me, the last 12 months have been infiltrated by papier mache. I just LOVE it! I can remember doing it years ago but I did very little with it.

I have come to the realization that things come into your life just at the right time. When you have time and are ready for change. I just wish I could remember that when I am wishing desperately for something!

Hoping you have all had a wonderful weekend, dear friends

Love Elizabeth
X

Fab Students!

Hi everyone
Here is a class that happened a couple of weeks ago. This was a workshop in nuno feltmaking and some gorgeous scarves were made by all. For any of you who aren't felters - first of all, shame on you!! - Nuno, which means fabric in Japanese, refers to the fact that a fabric is integral to this type of felting. The fleece is laid on fabric and is felted until the two have combined to create the new "fabric". A glorious result!

As you can see these students have made some stunning pieces. I hope they will show them off for ages to come - believe me they looked better at first hand.



From left, Jo, Ro and Julia. They look so elegant and I really hope all the rolling will not put them off having another go soon!



Ro laying out her fleece on a purply tissue silk


The trials of design.................

Hope your weekend is full of fun
Love from
Elizabeth

PS: Nell fell asleep in a desk draw this evening -so cute - sadly my camera was flat so I missed taking a pic.