Page Arrived

Hi Trillian my page has arrived and I love it, you have done such a good job with the machine embroidery. I am a bit late this month still not finished mine on windows but getting there.

Slightly late Coastline

Sorry Chris, had a visitor and got a little bit behind. However you page is now finished, see a snippet here, but unfortunately I won't get to the post office until Tuesday and there's a strike on Wednesday..........................what can I say??? I hope the snippet whets your appetite and that you like the photo I took of the south coastline of Crete while we were away with our visitor. Regards Kath

Mystery of the Deep

My page for Mandy's book, "The Sea", is finished and will go in the mail tomorrow. What is that black thing? Hmmm........ Have to wait and find out. I hope it arrives quickly.

Castle

I'm afraid my castle page for Carmen is running a little late at the moment. A mere hint above. I love castles, especially one particular castle not too far from here. Built in 1225, it is now a ruin, but much loved by my own family. We spent many happy hours there when my daughters were young.
Unfortunately, that is probably why I ended up running late with this. I just could not decide how to depict this much loved structure.
I shall get this completed and into the post as soon as I can, but apologies for the delay.

Seashore

Good that you gave us a hint, Ruth. I have sent my April page a week ago to Juliette. The topic of the page is "Seashore". I hope the page will arrive soon and she will like it.

Flowers on the way to Greece

Kath - I mailed your flowers page this morning. I hope you like it!

How's everyone doing on their April pages? I have only heard about a few pages being mailed so far and we're getting close to the end of the month. I know a few of you are behind but I hope no one is getting discouraged.  I'd love to see some more previews of those April pages.

A Bit of a Tease For Ruth!!

I am really enjoying working on your page Ruth!! I should have it set to mail out by the middle of next week!!! The process for this page has all evolved almost on it's own. More to come as soon as it gets to you!!!

Art Nouveau in April

A look at what I'm working on this month. I'm creating an Art Nouveau inspired page for Cobi .

Much of April has been about the dramatics of Eyjafjallajokull and I've tried to pronounce this intriguing name Eyjafjallajokull with the help of a tutorial on YouTube but with little success.

I was expecting to find a page for March on my return from Kerala but I haven't recieved one as yet and I was wondering if Eyjafjallajokull has something to do with it.

I'm behind

A Quick post here I have not yet finished the Window page for April or started the Door page for May. Sorry. I am trying to catch up here. I did receive My Castle page. I'm keeping this short today Dreaming Quilts : ) Carmen

Dutch Doors

Cobi, your dutch door arrived today.  It is definitely worth waiting for! 

I placed the postcard that came with the page behind the door so you could all see what a wonderful piece this is.  The flowers are so pretty!   I loved the quote from Terry Pratchett.  He's one of my favorites, too!  It's fascinating to learn how much we all have in common through these pages.

I plan to post some more pictures on my blog this evening.  I hope you all take a minute to see some of the other pictures.  Thank you so much, Cobi.

landscape from Juliette

I've received this gorgeous landscape a la van Gogh from Juliette. It is felted and embroidered and its beautiful. I love van Gogh's paintings and I love these bright, springlike colors. Thank you Juliette.

April Flowers

Here's a peak of the page I'm working on for Kath for April. I thought it was great that my subject was flowers as I am pining for flowers here in Montana. The first daffodil is blooming in my yard today so it finally may be spring (it snowed twice last week).

Kath, your page is going slowly as I am doing all hand stitching which is not my usual routine. But I'm getting there and will hopefully have it done by the end of next week.

Thank you Johanna

Of course I didn't mind waiting a little for this sweet picture and flower-beaded page! The back has some lovely fabric - did you do the highlights on it, Johanna? And isn't the frog cute on the included card? Evidently he's a Green Tree Frog, I think we have them here on Crete but have never seen one.

Seashore

This is the page I sent at the end of March for Juliette, so I do hope that she won't mind my posting about it. I was so glad to hear that it had arrived.

The photo in the insert was taken on the island of Grand Turk in the Caribbean.

I included a description of the piece, which you can read about here. (Just click on the photo and it will enlarge.)

I had been lucky enough to travel to the Caribbean on a cruise earlier this year, and knew that this spot had to be used for Juliette's "Seashore page". The colours of the sea were truly amazing. Living in the UK, the sea always seems various shades of grey with some blues. This depends on the time of year, of course. In the region of the Caribbean, the colours were so intense, it really took my breath away. I took a number of photographs.

One shows the sand and a footprint left by the man I had seen sweeping the leaves from the beach a few hours earlier. I had woken very early just as dawn was rising and was able to watch activities to clean the beach ready for the passengers to disembark. It is truly surreal to see a huge cruise ship visit such a tiny island. It dwarfs everything around it. But life goes on as usual, calm and unhurried.

As I had mentioned to Juliette, I was reminded of a passage from a children's book much loved by my own daughters when they were younger. I was able to share the book with the classes I taught too. You can read it below. Margaret Mahy is a superb writer. I love her descriptions, they are so vivid. The photo is of a scan I made of the page in my battered, much read copy.

Should you wish to read it for yourselves, the ISBN number of my copy is this: 0-14-050624-1.

It is called "The man whose mother was a pirate."

THE UGLY DUCKLING

Ann let me know that The Ugly Duckling has arrived in Germany. This has always been one of my favorite fairy tales. The stumpwork swan was done with one strand of DMC, as that gave the smoothest look even though it took a while. The fabric for the water had swirls in it that I outlined with Krenick blending filament. I wanted to keep the background fairly simple so not to detract from the simplicity of the swan. On the back I put an illustration from the original publication of the tale. This was great fun to do.

Coastline

Here's the page I created in March for Chris. Its an aerial view of a stretch of coastline. The two blue ovals are swimming pools!!!
I'm glad you liked the page Chris.

All Creatures Page For March

I must apologize for not posting this sooner. We have been having Internet Access problems that we had no control over for a couple of days, then I ahve been off visiting colleges with my 18 yr old son. We have Internet back and my son has decided which college he will be attending in the fall, so things are getting back to a state resembling normal!!! PHEW!!!!
So back to the page that I created for Gayle! All of the fabric that I used in this page was painted or stamped by me. When I paint on fabric I use regular craft acrylic paints and medium weight white cotton fabric. With the paint the fabric takes on a canvas quality and it is not suitable for wearing or drapping unless you want stiff fabric, but it is great for fabric collage. The bird is from a rubber stamp that I carved from my own design and I used Staz-on ink to stamp onto the painted bit of fabric.

All of the stitching on this page was alos done by hand using regular embroidery floss. I really love putting things together by hand- I find it all very therapeutic and rewarding.

For the quote I used a Pitt permanent pen and wrote it by hand.



I am so glad that you like your page Gayle! I really enjoyed making it for you!!!

I just now scrolled down thru the posts taht I have missed!! Hope that you all don't mind seeing pictures of the same page twice!!!!

I have just read all of your comments about my Bird Stamp. You all sure know how to make a girl feel good!!!! I carved the stamp in soft rubber ( the kind used for pink erasers) it is available at most craft stores but if you want a really good deal on the carving tools and some rubber, I suggest you go to DICKBLIK.com and order thru them. It is very simple to do. The lino cutting is much more difficult. I am thinking about carving some more of these birds and selling them on my Etsy Site that I am about to re launch. If anyone is interested in purchasing one just send me a private e-mail. I would encourage all of you to give this process a try. There are many books out on the subject and I am willing to bet that you could go to your local library and find a couple of books taht would give you step by step insturctions. I know that there are sites on the web that have free tutorials and a quick google would be all that you would need to get you going!!! Give it a whirl girls, you won't be sorry that you did!! Painting and Dyeing your own fabric is really a lot of fun!!!!

Have a great weekend all!!!

Its arrived

Maya a huge thank you for a lovely page, ladies a photograph will not do this justice its beautiful and i even have two swimming pools, my very own swimming pools how good is that??????? I love this page Maya. I have an arial view of a beach with white breakers, footprints in the sand, trees and these two wonderful swimming pools. My mind is drifting there now. I can picture a hammock swinging in the trees and a lovely fruity ice cold cocktail in my hand. .........dreaming......... I think i will go for a dip.

Dutch doors

I finally finished Liz door page which was due in February.
After research I found out that the double door is typically Dutch and it even is referred to as the Dutch door. The original Dutch door is not the one you seem to be familiar with. See picture for how they really look. They are always painted in a special bright green color. I hope to mail out your door asap. Sorry for taking so long.

Page Finally Sent

Wow, I've been soooo busy here at Granny's Farm.  It was packed out over Easter.  Seems everyone wants to come to Nimbin.

I've sent of Kath's flower page.  I had lots of fun working on it.  I love doing handwork.  It's very relaxing.  I won't spoil the surprise.  I do hope you like it.

Now I need to save up for a new digital camera.  I can't take close up shots, nor turn off the flash otherwise it doesn't work at all.  Mind you, it is almost 6 years old now.

Blessings to you all.

Another Door!

Chris, your door arrived today.  I love it!    It has a wonderful medieval look to it.  I'll bet you all don't know that my front door is painted blue.  Pretty cool, huh?

Chris said she painted some bondaweb and I can see she did a lot of stitching, too.  The gesso on the walls really makes them look like stone.

In fact, I love all the textures on this piece.  Thank you so much, Chris.

I've started working on my April page, but it's too soon for a preview.  Soon, I hope.

Out of town for the weekend

Hi,

Just to let you all know I'm going out of town and won't be back until Sunday. I won't get much computer time while away but I'll check in if I can. Debi - I won't be able to post about receiving your page until I get back. I'm sure it will arrive while I'm away. Everyone's pages are wonderful - keep up the good work!

page for Debi

Debi I'm glad the page reached you this fast and that you like it. I love doing crazy quilting so I used that style to make this page. I thought that your initial would make the page more personal so I drew the D the fit into the space and I used colors that echo the ones in the silky. I enjoyed working on it.

From Elizabeth to Gayle

Isn't this just wonderful! According to Elizabeth's note, she painted and dyed all of the fabrics on the page. The bird stamp is one that she carved herself. I hope you will be able to read the Chinese Proverb at the bottom

"A bird does not sing becaus it has an answer. It sings because it has a song." This page just sings out of vibrant life and joy.

I obviously don't know how to upload picture in the right order, as these are backwards from what I intended. Grrrr.... The first pic is the lovely handmade card, the second the back and the third is the front. But you knew that didn't you.

Thank you so much for this Elizabeth. It is very special, and I will treasure it. Feel free to add any more comments.

Smiles, Gayle

Cobi~

Your lovely page arrived today.  It's beautiful and I love it very much!!!!!!  I hope you are feeling better now.  Sending warm and healing thoughts your way!  Also, thank you VERY much for the postcard of your little town.  It looks charming.
HuGGs!
Debi

Cobi

Hi Cobi your page is on it's way, sorry it is a little late but I chose to felt it and my hands are not so good so it took longer than I thought but hope you will like it.

Page arrived

Hi Mandy my page arrived safely a couple of days ago, I am thrilled with it, you are a very talented lady. Thankyou for the prints so kind of you, and I did enjoy the little excerpt of the story, made me want to read more.
Your calligraphy is amazing wish I could do it as well.
Many thanks again

A Peek at Trees

Here's a little sneak peek of your Tree page Ruth.  I'm sorry it's late, but I hope you'll think it's worth it.  I think it's one the best pieces of work that I've done in a long time.  It'll be sad to see it go on to it's new home.  It was comforting to work on during a couple of really rough days.
HuGGs!  Debi

Seashore

My next theme is "The Seashore". To get some ideas I drew some little charts (pictures (?)):

In our swap table I have seen, that Chris has the theme coastline. Now I'm asking myself: are these pictures more seashore or more coastline? Or are they good for both themes?
What do you think?

Yes! My page from Elizabeth has arrived!

Just to let you all know that my page from Elizabeth arrived today. It is all I expected and more. So colorful and so creative. You are one talented lady Elizabeth. I will let you post the picture so you can tell everyone about your handpainted fabric and the bird print. (Yes folks, I tell you that much. It is a lovely bird.) If you want me to post the picture I will be happy to.
Thank you so much.
Gayle

Preview peek for Carmen

Just Mom Checking Up On You Again

Hi all,

It's the first of April and it looks like there are a couple of pages that haven't been received for February and five that I haven't seen a mention of whether or not they have been mailed for March. I would appreciate it if everyone would blog when they mail their pages and the recipients please blog when they receive them. I know that life does get in the way sometimes but as we're only at the end of the first quarter of our year long swap, I hate to see people get behind. I love seeing all the pages and hearing about how they were made. Everybody can learn from each other the more information we post here. So please take a few minutes and post about pages sent and received.

Thanks,
Ruth

Ann's page on the way

Ann's page is heading for Germany today. Hope it gets there soon!

shabby chick vintage for Debi

Debi I've finised your page and dd promised to bring it to the PO this afternoon since I'm stuck at home being ill. I hope you'll like it. Here are 2 close-ups for you.