A Walk In the Redwoods

Look at this gorgeous page that Gayle sent me. It is based on the redwoods near her home in Redding, California. She used a recycled crinkly skirt to make the bark, ribbon floss to make the ferns, Caron Watercolors for the path border and the rest in DMC. She included a poem on the back by Robert Louis Stevenson.

It is not so much for its beauty that the forest

makes a claim upon mens' hearts, as for that

subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation

from old trees, that so wonderfully

changes and renews a weary spirit.

I love it Gayle, thanks so much. And the poem is perfect. I absolutely agree that the quality of air in a forest is wonderful to behold! I can almost smell the fresh clean air in amongst the redwoods.

tree of life á là Klimt by Chris

A couple of days ago I received an envelope. The outside was exciting already with pretty drawing. When I opened it, this gorgeous page came out. I totally love this tree of life, thank you Chris. You've done a wonderful job. When I turned it around I discovered viewcards, a notecard and the pin. Thank you for everything. I feel totally spoiled.

Page For Liz- Hints!!

Well here it is Saturday January 30th and we, here in South eastern Virginia (around Fredericksburg) are being hammered by a winter storm, yet again!!!
We have an unprecedented 10 inches on the ground and it is still snowing!! This is all well and good for those of us who were brought up in New England and are used to driving in snow, but Southerners do NOT do well in snow. So we stay off the roads!!!!

This has been a very haphazard week for me and not at all what I had planned. I had not planned on coming down with Bronchitis but I did, I had not planned on being snowed in but we have been . I did not plan on being late getting my page in the mail, but here we are!!! SIGH!!!

Liz, your page will be in the mail ,winging it's way to you on Monday morning, assuming that it stops snowing by then!!!!

Here are a few hints, teasers if you will to let you know that I have been playing and creating and having wonderful fun crafting this for you!! What you may not know is that if you had not chosen Doors as your theme for your fabric book, I would have !! SO two Elizabeth' s with an interest in doors, portals, entrances and exits- very intrigueing!!! When is your Birthday? What other things do we have in common , I wonder!!!

I am thrilled to be involved in this swap and I love seeing everything that everyone else is creating and I look forward to getting to know each and every one of you!!!

Do let me know when the page arrives and I will post more pictures and tell all what I did with it!
Wherever you are I aope that it is warmer where you are than it is right now in snowey windy -10 degree F Virginia!!! As Ruth would say this is Wyoming weather not Virginia weather!!!!

Flowers are travelling.

I have just returned from posting off my first page. This was "Flowers" for Kath. The detail above is a piece I was free machine embroidering for the page. Fursther photos will follow as soon as I know the page has arrived safely.

A Walk in the Redwoods

I have mailed Ruth's page to her, and will post the complete scan when I know it has arrived. Here's a little piece.

Castles

This is my page for Carmen before any machine work was done on it, I have almost finished and will post Saturday.

Castles

I'm starting the page for February. This one is for Carmen and the theme is Castles.

Since I'm from India I'm trying to incorporate an Indian flavour to the pages I make. We don't have castles in India as far as I know but we do have fabulous palaces, forts and palaces within forts etc.

As you can see from the pictures I've collected for inspiration, arches are an important architectural feature in most Indian palaces and forts and the arched shape of the page is going to lend itself beautifully to the theme.

I've posted my first page of The Seashore out to Juliette. I think you should have it in your mail box by the end of next week.

window

I've started working on my page for this month. What do I need for a window?
A wall, check; wood, check; net curtain, check.
Let the building begin.

The sea - first page.

Oh thank you Trillian. My first page has arrived!



I just love the way Trillian has interpreted the fish and coral. There is a delightful starfish too!

It is so exciting seeing just how others depict the same theme. Now I must go and complete the first page I am making.

January page for Debi

Debi has received the page I made for her and I have posted pictures on my blog From the Basement.  Please go take a look!

That was so much fun that I am ready to start the next page right away!!  My next assignment is Gayle and All Creatures Great and Small.  Oooh.  I can think of a LOT of ideas for that one!  While I'm choosing, here is a cute picture of some critters from C&T Publishing:

The picture is from Mary Link's "100+ No-Sew Fabric Crafts for Kids."  One of these animals will make it onto my swap page.  Which one will it be?

Ready to roll

Here's a snippet of the page I'll be sending to Maya on Monday, hope she likes it!!

Finishing Up

Chris no pics yet. I have all my stitching done now it's to put on the back and bind. I think it looks good. LOL Dreaming Quilts : ) Carmen

OMG!!!! I Just Received My First Page!!!

Oh wow!  I'm so excited.  I got my first page today and it's from Ruth.  Thank you so much Ruth.  It's more perfect than you could ever imagine.

Ruth did the Tree Goddess for me.  I love her.  She's beautiful.  What can I say?

Ruth attached a poem to the back.

Think Like A Tree

Soak up the sun
Affirm life's magic
Be graceful in the wind
Stand tall after a storm
Feel refreshed after it rains
Grow strong without notice
Be prepared for each season
Provide shelter to strangers
Hang tough through a cold spell
Emerge renewed at the first sign of spring
Stay deeply rooted wile reaching for the sky
Be still long enough to hear your own leaves rustling
- by Karen Shragg

The sea

I finished my first book page. The theme is the sea. I used felt for the background. It is wet felted wool. The background is quilted and decorated. I hope Mandy will like it.

A Personal Update

I'm not sure if you know or not, but I am moving away from Orange, where I currently live.  There are lots of reasons for this, which I won't go into.  But let's just say....

I'M SO DARNED EXCITED!!!

Well, here's the short of it.  I'm moving up to a small place called Nimbin, small in name, small in population, BIG in character.  How big?

I hope that gives you some idea of the character of the town.

Nimbin is an artist and hippy community.  It is touted as the hippy capital of Australia.  I'm certainly looking forward to getting involved in the community.

I'll be camping indefinately.  I honestly don't know what's around the corner.  All I know is that this town is tugging on my heart strings, and has been for some time.

My travel plans are all arranged, and everything is now booked.  I'm leaving Orange on the 4th of February, staying overnight in Sydney, then continuing onto Nimbin (north of Lismore) on the 5th.  I'm catching buses and trains as I don't have a car.

So, most of you will get hand stitched and embellished books.  But that's fine, I often prefer handwork to machine work anyway.

Shall keep you all updated on my travels, and will upload pics to my profile on Ning as I can.

Fairytales

I honestly didn't realise there were so many different fairytales to choose from.  Hundreds, litterally!  Oh My!  What's a girl to do?  Pick my favourite of course.  I've had this one fairytale that I've always loved, and so that is the one I have chosen.  Ann, you will have to wait to get your page before you'll find out what it is.  But I do hope you like it.

Here is a small peek.  And yes, I've just finished it for you.  Shall wrap it up safely with a few little goodies for you.  It was fun to make.  Thank you for encouraging me to go back to my childhood to find inspiration.

The Seashore

Here's a little sneak peek of the page I'm creating for Juliette's book - The Seashore.

I hope to have it finished this week.Keeping my fingers crossed you'll like it Juliette.

Finished!

Johoanna, your page "The Goddess Within" is completed! I will be sending it out to you either tomorrow or Monday. So keep an eye out. Here's another little sneak peak for everybody. I know Chris is finished with her page for Cobi. Anyone else getting close to finished? I'd love to see a sneak peak from everyone if you can.

Liz Getting Started

My first page is for Debi - "Shabby Chic Vintage"  I'm not real sure what that is, so I did some web surfing:

I'm thinking lace and pastel colors . . .

. . . and buttons!

Will that work?

Flowers

For some reason I have been taken by the urge to make some lino cut blocks today. Not sure how this is going to help me make my page for Kath, but I tend to follow urges like this to find out where it is all going to lead. I wish I was more organised and could sketch everything else first, but that just doesn't usually work for me.

Just for now I have this fascination with the idea of mixing print with stitch. I shall let you know what happens next as soon as I have worked that out for myself.

Have fun!

A Beginning

This is a very small peak of what I started for Johoanna today. Her theme choice is "The Goddess Within" and I'm sure this doesn't look like a goddess at all. I made the background on my needle felting machine today and now I'm adding hand stitching. I should be done in a week or so Johoanna and then I'll send it off to you. How is everyone else doing? Have you started your pages yet? Do let us see a peak.