Lots of Art to Share

It has been a busy couple of weeks with an unexpected holiday and the start of the school holidays.


This months Mystery Muse on the INKRT Yahoo group matched me with my good friend Julie in Albany. Talk about pressure! I love the work Julie does and I wanted to make something extra special for her. I decided to use my newest favorite toy, my Clover Needle Felting tool. I found a lovely soft knitted hat at Coles (of all places) and got to work with some wool roving. Below is the result.

I couldn't stop at one gift though and decided to send this journal as well. It is the first thing I have made with the scrap aluminium I salvaged from my MIL's place that I mentioned in a previous post. It was a pain to cut but once I had the section ready I attacked it with some Alcohol inks and it was done. I even got to use my Bind It All for the first time. I also sent a bracelet but I didn't take a very good photo.

The canvas below is for Scrap It Flaunt It as part of the Design Team pack for this month. I got some lovely vintage papers, ribbons and embellishments. Once again I was inspired by the canvas I did in a class with Audrey Underwood. I really love this technique. I am working on two other projects but they still need some more work.

I had a lot of fun making this from PJ's Pandora's Box swap tin. It is an Eclispe mint tin rescued from my DH's desk drawer. I made it into a necklace with some ball chain.

Front

Back

Side

Side

Top

Inside Lid

Last of the pictures of the projects I have done lately is a spread from the Tag Board Book round robin on Arty Oz. The theme was Vintage Children.

Now to the unexpected holiday. My DH can still suprise me even after being married almost 15 years. Without any help from me he totally organised a trip to Beedelup in the south west of Western Australia. Just Chris and I. The last time we took a holiday without the kids I was pregnant with Josh and that was 8 years ago. We were to stay in some gorgeous cottages all themed around fairy tale characters. There is Hansel and Gretel, Robin Hood and Maid Marion and Romeo and Juliette. We stayed in Romeo. So cosy, with a HUGE spa and an open fire. How very romantic. We read, ate, slept, ate, watched DVDs and ate some more. I think we must have put on 10 kgs between us. We did actually leave the cottage and had a look at the wonderful Karri forest in the area. One of the places we stopped is called Big Brook Dam. As we approached the water we could see a rainbow through the trees. As we got closer we could see that it actually started in the water not far from where we were. Chris didn't think it would photograph very well but I was so pleased that it did. It was a lovely suprise holiday and I hope it won't take us another 8 years before we get to do it again.

Off to Mandurah to see Chris' Grandma tomorrow so I think I will settle in with my book (a Kathy Reichs novel) and get cosy in bed.

Have a safe and warm weekend,


Ky

Treasures

Earlier this month we here in WA had a public holiday long weekend. On the Monday we made the trip from Armadale to Toodyay (about and hour and a half) to see the MIL and her husband. She lives just out of the town on 5 lovely acres. They have recently done some renovations and that is where the treasure comes in. In the bathroom there was quite a bit of pressed aluminium which looked a bit much in such a small room so they removed it. It wasn't till I saw it in the rubbish heap that I found this out of course. Next to all this wonderful metal was the metal strapping from some wood which had rusted wonderfully and a lovely piece of verdigrised copper pipe that I know just what I am going to use it for. I am sure Ed (MILs' husband) thinks I am a complete lune hunting through his junk heap! What is worse is that now when we go my 7 year old son goes looking for treasure not only for me but for him too! DH just sighs, the girls can't wait to find out what I am going to do with what we find and the MIL is envious because I get to take it home and she isn't allowed to keep it! I have bought myself a pair of cheap tin snips and have alraedy set to cutting up the metal into pieces for later altering. I gave one piece a go with Alcohol Inks and it does look nice. I attached it to a piece of thick card board for what I hope will be a journal cover. I will post a pic when it is finished.


The next treasure is Harmony, the dog we are looking after for 5 weeks. She is just lovely. So affectionate and gentle, great with all the kids (13 -3) and likes nothing better than a snuggle in front of the fire. She gets on great with our boofy boy Woosha too which is great for both of them as they are usually 'only dogs'. Here is a pic.

Have a great weekend everyone,

Ky

Canvas Niche Swap & Dog Sitting

I finally finished the canvas I was doing for Nikki B, it is already two weeks overdue but she was running late too so that worked for me! The swap was run on Inkredibly RT (which is open for new members BTW! International as well as Australian - great place to do swaps and get inspiration). Here are some pix. It was hard going but I am happy with the end result. I decorated the front and back of the canvas.

I just found these buttons at an opp shop a few days ago and they seem perfect for the canvas.

When WA Salvage was closing down they had some Rub'n'Buff that was going cheap and this is one of the colours - Sapphire - it is done over good old texture paste and has some silver wax rub-on over the top.

At the beginning of the project I ran some silver shim through the Cuttlebug and rubbed the same colour paint as the canvas over the top. It looked quite nice and I really wanted to use it in the piece. It wasn't until the very end though that I found the right way to use it. This is the inside edge of the frame which was looking a little daggy compared to the rest of the canvas.
Just the right place for the remains of the shim. It also appears behind the silver buttons.

As usual with a piece of artwork that is a one off and I have put alot of effort into I will be sad to see it go. The consolation being that I know it is going to a loving and appreciative home.

If you live in the Armadale/Kelmscott area in Perth you will probably know of Cotton Wool, the local craft shop. I had opportunity to go in and have a good look around a couple of weeks ago and unintentionally overheard the owners talking to another customer about the Greyhound As Pets (GAP) program. As we are a dog loving family the conversation peaked my interest. The lady was talking about the fact that there are 20,000 greyhounds a year in Australia, put down because they are no longer race material. What a sad statistic. As we were going to look after a friends greyhound for 5 weeks I was also interested to hear what she said about their nature. They call them the ultimate coach potato. I had always had the impression that they were energetic dogs because they race but that couldn't have been further from the truth. I will post some photos as soon as I have some good ones.

Off to Agility training with Woosha and Jess now.

Have great weekend,

Ky

Technique Class

My first technique class at Scrap It Faunt It in Armadale went really well. The class was on Alcohol Inks and we made three ATCs to start our Technique Books. The girls all did a really good job. Below is the class set up before the ladies arrived and the next is with the tables occupied. Heaps of space to work and room to move.



The first two ATCs were what the ladies made in the class and the third was one that I had done as a sample.

Next month we have Distress Inks and coming up are classes on Beeswax, Melt Pot (UTEE) and Texture Paste.

Well, have a great week and I will hopefully post an update again soon.

Ky

Mystery Muse & Suze

The last week has flown by with so much happening. Friday was by far the busiest with a trip into Perth to the craft show and a trade night at Stamp It. Since I was going to be out for quite a bit of the day I decided to leave a bit later. 1pm saw me walk through the doors. A quick recon up and down the isles and I was set to find the bargains. Well, I didn't find much. It was the first time I had been to the fair since it moved from the Burswood venue to the Convention centre. I don't think I will be bothering again. Apart from the parking or lack there of, I really didn't find that much that interested me. I spent most of my time keeping Joyce company at the Paper Forest stand. It was fun though! While I was there I managed to meet Dawn (and her Mum) and pass on Dawn's Mystery Muse for this month. I was inspired by the canvas class I did with Audrey at Scraptivate to do a smaller version.

The evening found me at Stamp It in Vic Park filling in for one of the ladies from Scrap It Flaunt It who couldn't make it. As I am on the Design Team and teach a few classes they thought I might get the most out of the evening. We were there for a make and take with Suze of Schmooze With Suze fame. What a lovely lady! We learnt all about Melt Pots, UTEE and To Dye For. Below is a photo of the SIFI crew who went. L - R Amy, Bianca, Maureen, me, Jodie and Suze. It was a great night. I learnt heaps (including the fact that I now NEED to get a melt pot!), was taught by a wonderful teacher and has some yummy pizza to top it all off.

Thursday sees me doing the first in a series of technique classes at the shop. We are starting with a folder to keep samples in and Alcohol Inks. I will post the samples after the class has run.

Have a great week,

Kylie

The Funny Things Pets Do

Wow, two posts in as many days, must be a record. I was prompted to do this post after I read Julie H's most recent post. In it she says that Harvey was found in the bottom of her wardrobe, a place he considered safe from her little overnight visitor.

We have had a similar experience this last week with the MIL's dog, Jessamy. Mum had asked us to look after her for two weeks as she was going to Queensland to visit BIL Matt and his girlfriend Sarah and with her DH away there was no one else to look after the dog. Of course (being the suckers we are) we said 'No problem.' Last time we do that! She is a Shitzu cross, a little white fluffy thing. Our own dog is quite a bit bigger and is an outside dog, Jess is an inside dog, whole different kettle of fish! Always underfoot, whines when you shut her in for the night, jumps up on your leg when you are preparing dinner, not the big independant dog we are used to, not mention that Noah chased her round the house for most of the day which she wasn't impressed with.

On the day Mum is coming to pick her up we notice that she is very skittish, yelping (like a stuck pig!) everytime anyone goes within a foot of her. When we picked her up she screams like we are trying to murder her, something is definetly wrong. Off to the vet we go. $85 later, she has a slipped disk in the lower part of her spine, has had a cortisone injection and a course of tablets, 'If things don't improve within 24 hours take her for an xray.' I am happy to say that we haven't heard anything from Mum so she must be fine.

Now as to finding pets in strange places. DH went out for the morning so I used his office to give the poor girl some peace and quiet and to keep her confimed. Chris opens the door when he comes home and can't find her, I had warned him she was in there. We searched high and low, in every room, under couches, under beds, everywhere, we thought. The pix below are where we found her.

What a pityful sight! And how uncomfortable too! We took pity and left her there till Mum came. She was overjoyed to see Mum when they arrived to pick her up. poor girl, it must have been very stressful for her to go from a quiet house where you are the centre of attention to our noisey house where you are one of eight and last on the food chain. I wonder how she will react to us the next time we see her?

Have a great week everyone,

Ky

Where has the time gone?

It has been weeks since I last updated the blog but I don't seem to have much to show for it. School holidays came and went, DH had his second round of shoulder surgery in there somewhere and I started teaching a few clasess at the local scrap shop (yeah, I know scrapping, but I am trying to convince them that not ALL work you do has to have a purpose or have photos of your family in it). So far I have done a star book class, next up is a technique class where we are going to make a book to keep our work in. The first technique is Alcohol Inks so I had to have a quick refresher myself as it has been awhile since I used them. BTW, the shop is called Scrap It, Flaunt It, it is in Armadale (WA) on William St (same as Centrelink) so go long and have a look round. If there is a particular product or class you want to do just ask and I am sure they will be able to organise something. Along with that there have been swaps and more swaps. These first photos are of the Tag Board Book swap on arty_oz. The first theme is Women.

I searched some of the quote sites for a quote that said just what I wanted and this is what I came up with, I rather like it. ' A beautiful woman delights the eye, a wise woman, the understanding, a pure, the soul' Minna Antrim.

This theme is Birds of a Feather.






Soccer season is back so lots of cold early mornings to look forward to. This morning was no exception except that I had something more than soccer to look forward to. Several months ago Audrey from Scraptivate displayed a canvas in the shop which I just loved. I asked nicely, bugged her, pestered her and finally she put some dates up for the class. The first one was today and I, for one, had a ball. I wish I could have stayed for the whole thing but DH was in the car park with a car load of bored kids so had to leave before I was completely done. I just love it though. Thanks Audrey, it was a great class.

Jess is starting Agility training with Woosha so expect some action photos in posts to come. I think they will both have a great time. Now that Woosha has finished Obedience training with Gina he is 'in the zone' and ready to go to the next level. He had a great time at a recent doggy boot camp that Gina and her daughter Sarah had for him. He had decided that he was alpha dog and Jess' Knight Protector and became very hard to control around other dogs. Now he is much more relaxed and willing to listen to Jess.

Both girls did a beading class up at the Pioneer Village craft shop which I think they will keep up which is very good 'cause there are a couple of pieces on display that I really like, though I may just go do a few classes myself! Josh is going next week to start drawing classes which I hope he will enjoy as he is hard to find non-sport activities for. We just have to find a piano teacher that is willing to come to our house to teach the kids and we will be set.

Well, I have a lasagne to make for dinner tonight so I had better get to it.

Keep warm and dry this week,
Ky