What I Need Is..........

.......old cards. Anyone got some they don't want? They can be Chrissy cards, baby cards, wedding cards or anything... don't have to be this funky even though...

I'll swap. I'll pay postage. I'll buy if they're op-shopped or something. Top Secret idea but... you know I'll share later on, I can't help myself... but not yet.

???

Queenie & Rose

For Carolyn's new shop in Olinda (opening on Thursday), which I will report more about when I know more. It's a groovy, crafty, kiddies shop. I love making these dolls! I'd forgotten!

I 'Borrowed' This Off Daughter Number 1

It's too me to give back just yet. If I could find a knitting pattern to emulate it, I would. The Fair-Isle angle is easy...

Can you still buy that knitters graph paper? How easy would that make it!

More Sketches

And remember these pretty girls.

Well, I think they're pretty, but I can see what I mean.

The Original Rabbit's Cubby

I'll photograph the rest of Ruby's story soon. My favourite stitch, Ceylon Stitch. It's like Vandyke Stitch.

The belt is what I have come to call Fluffy Stitch.

Ruby used to write and write and write. Stories about lovliness and blood and sick and babies. I would scribble an interpretation on another bit of paper and send letters to her grandparents.

Claire's Man

I made the legs longer. Poetic Licence you see.

Ceylon Stitch pants man.

Written By Robert (Age 4 1/2) On Behalf Of His Sister Claire (Age 2)

Although, it's remarkably, exactly what Rob would say if he had nothing to say...

"Mum..."

"Hmmm..."

"It's a nice day..."

"Hmmm..."

"Mum..."

"Yes luvvy?"

"There's a BIG Truck!"

"Hmmm."

"It's a nice day Mum."

"Hmmm..."

Newspaper Article

Published here for the first time. Ruby again.

Happy Story About Something Or Other

Picture by Ruby Melia.

Applique and embroidery by me.

Note On A Little Scruffy Yellow Postit

Ruby Melia circa ?? S'pose she must have been about 8?

Postit's are fun.

Well... A Little Look

Preliminary sketch.

You can see they all have a different personality.

I Am So Happy La!

This is a portrait of ME (sans sewing machine)! I'm so fast, it looks like two people in the picture, playing like a little piggy in sloppy, steaming, stinky, squishy, yummy swill! Yes! I'm very busy, don't you worry about that.

Even though we have to move before March.

Those Nice Girls Again

I haven't been idle, in fact I've been busy, but not at the computer. I'm onto the border of this piece now... hence the need to go to Kazari yesterday... although I'm not entirely satisfied with the availability of the exact shades of brown I needed. Sometimes, usually, that's a good thing. It makes you think sideways and stops you being too predictable in your work. I think. The faces will lose their wrinkles magically when the piece is stretched.

Turns out I'm too busy to watch the SBS movie and I can't speak Khazikstani (spell?) so have no idea what's going on. The occasional look as I walk past tells me it's sweet and lovely.

P.S. The couched "golles" (girls) will be tidied up (get their ends clipped) just before it goes into a frame and not a moment before.

Working Drawing For The New Nice Girls

These guys are pretty happy too.

Onto The Next Nice Girls

The colours remind me of my own little red heads. Pink and orange. The fella says I always do the noses too big so I'm following his lead there as you might see.

They're pretty happy girls and that makes me happy too.

I can't show the others until they're finished. The embroidery is done but the surrounds are not.

The Nice Girls Are Getting There

I've drawn up the next design since this is nearly finished. The ears looked stupid so I'm bringing the hat out to cover them and making the halo come in as well. The hair that's sketched in isn't how I'm doing it after all... should have sketched on paper and not on the piece, but I always use a 4-8B pencil which washes off easily. Their shirt is all silk on silk fabric and is so nice to work. I love sewing with silk. I altered their noses too.

TIP: Use an old toothbrush, loaded up with pure soap, to gently was off lines and stubborn marks.

There's been a woman recently justly accused and found guilty of murder and she had an Indian skirt that shed little brass sequins, which I collected and sewed into the halo's. Ha ha ha!! My Mum didn't like the idea but I said to her, nobody's perfect.

Update On The Nice Girls

I've included a few pale green beads in the halo which brings it together with the flowers on the girl's top and breaks up the pink. The beads will solidly silhouette their heads.

Hmm... I'm enjoying this so very much. My love and I laugh at our cheap and simple capacity for happiness, entertainment and excitement. Ha says he'd be happy for hours with a packet of elastic bands and I believe him. He's now playing with another new fishing rod and it's associated parephenalia and I'm staring for hours and hours at piles of beads. My neck is sore and I've had a headache the last few mornings. My eyes hurt and there are little pink beads everywhere I go. But it's too much fun and I endure stoically like the Scot's of my ancestry.

I suppose every nation has had to endure.. yes yes of course! It goes without saying. But we do it Scot style around here.

Look here for the previous installment of the piece. Or check 'The Rabbits Cubby' label.

'The Nice Girls'

I saw an exhibition of Russian art some years ago, containing elaborate silver work, religious paintings, clothing etc. There were a few icon pieces that had halo's worked with the tiniest freshwater pearls I've ever seen. A solid mass of gorgeousness. I've always had it there in the back of my mind and so thought the nice girls deserved a lovely pink halo.

Again, I've no consideration and the photo is shocking. Silk is hard to photograph at the best of times and with my blatant disregard it's even worse. But there it is. Not finished by far, and the best fun I've had in ages.

I need to finishe the outlines and then wash the pencil off so I can see what needs doing.

You can tell how much they like each other. Best friends.

Finished Not Washed Not Mounted

And I do have to keep some mystery, so this is all you will see before it's transformed into a member of the group.

To describe this next step, as seen, I have finished outlining in fine Buttonhole, finished adding curly Bullions to the bars and when it's taken off the paper all of the little yellow or red couching will vanish.

Little secret. Any wrong colour, like bits of white showing underneath the black for example, go away with a touch of texta. Indelible of course. Little trick a framer friend of mine told me.

Progress Report On Death's Head Bunny

You can see that I've finished the 'colouring in' and am on to the outlines and the structural grid. I'll outline the leafy carrot tops in a more 3D manner, to make them look foliage-ish.

For the 'bars' I am using some exquisite, old, old silk my Grandma gave me when I was around 21-21years old... which is a fair time ago now. It appears creamy white on the skein and would too if you did a satin stitch or similar, but with the shadows involved in tight Buttonhole stitching, the colour appears more 'taupe' or greyed. Perfect, I think, as the bars are to be support for the central motif, both physically and in a design sense and therefore should sink into the background somewhat.

I've only worked the bottom left-hand corner thus, so far. The mercenised silk Bullion's up beautifully and I bothered to go find a Straw needle to work the Bullions, which makes a lot of difference in how easy they are to do.

I thought I'd show you the back, which is doodled on and an entreaty to return if lost plasters it all over. I'll probably file the paper when it's finished for fun and memory's sake.

The 'Death's Head' will jump out and be more defined when it's finished.

I don't think I said so before but when you put the contact over the paper, it is a good idea to tack around the edge so it won't peel off. Then, crumple it up to make it malleable and easy to manipulate.