Wildflowers, Pastels and Lace

I'm sorry it's been such a long time since I've posted here.
I didn't intend to take a big break from blogging but my laptop was hit by a really nasty virus. I had to wipe my computer's hard drive and reinstall all my programs ~ which was very time consuming.
But now I'm back with lots (and I do mean lots) to show.

I have continued to doggedly crochet my Monroe Lacy Stole.
Despite all my mistakes,
I have almost finished the body.
Hooray!


Now I'm working on a beaded edging:





I've done a little travelling since I posted here last, spending a weekend in an historic town called York with my oldest friend. We were so busy catching up and having fun I mostly forgot to take pictures...but I did manage to photograph the pressed tin ceiling in the town hall:



(If you care to look, there are some fabulous photographs of York here.)


I've been attending a pastels course too, which I'm loving. I didn't realise how much I'd missed being in a studio...and I'm learning a lot technically and meeting some gorgeous people.
Here are some of my works in progress:


Still life with Lemons


Still Life with Pears


Nasturtiums at the Front Door




...and I've been out in the bush again.
It's wildflower season here in Western Australia so there are some exquisitely delicate little flowers blooming in the country. (It was only a couple of years ago, when I made an internet friend who happened to be a horticulturalist, that I realised I lived in a botanical wonder.)

These tiny beauties grace my sister's home and the bush block that's close to my parents' house:


Milk Maids



Flame Peas




Hibbertia



Grevillea




Hovea





Me!



I do adore wildflower season. I used to love playing in the bush at this time of the year when I was a little girl. I was a great fan of an Australian author called May Gibbs, and I firmly believed that bush babies and fairies lived amongst the flowers...and, you know, I'm still not totally convinced otherwise.

I'm going on a tour of the wheatbelt soon, in search of more flora. This time, I'm hoping to take lots of pictures so that I can draw from them, as well as post some here. Before I go, though, I'm planning on catching up on my blog reading ~ I've missed the good folk of Blogland!

Have a wonderful week.
x

Nuno Felting, Bushwalking and Frogging (sigh)

I've been to a nuno felting course at Fremantle Arts Centre. (Nuno's a technique which involves felting fibre into fabric with water, soap and agitation.) It was so much fun!
My tutor, Louise Snook, was lovely ~
enthusiastic, incredibly knowledgeable and generous with her skills,
the materials I got to use were glorious ~ richly coloured wool tops and hand~dyed silk tissue (from Treetops Colours),
I loved that there was an element of surprise to the process,
the method was very fast (I made a silk poncho in two hours flat),
and it can easily be done at home in the kitchen.
There's going to be more!!

Here's one of my samples:

The sample is made out of wool tops, scraps from an old nylon scarf and ribbon yarn. It didn't adhere together as well as it might (I should have put another fine layer of wool over the ribbon) but I like the colours and I love the possibilities!

And here's the silk poncho:
(It's the size of a scarf and, when I get the chance, I'll take some photos of what it looks like on.)

It's made out of silk georgette and fine merino tops.
I was really happy with how this turned out,
especially the colours:



its delicacy:






and the linear textures created by the felting process:

It was fun to photograph too!

And now on to my Monroe Lacy Stole.
Not such a happy story.
Here it is...

...just before I discovered that I'd made mistakes on some of the shells at the sides and had to frog it back to a fifth of its size...and I was going to wear it out to lunch this Saturday. Ho hum.

But I'm on holidays
so I haven't been staying down for long,
especially when I've been able to do things like go out bushwalking
through the beautiful Darling Ranges
with an old school friend (who didn't mind how many photos I took, bless her)
in sparkling Winter sunshine:




Nyaania Creek, Darlington

The Bee Tree. (Named so because it has a hive of native bees living in one of its branches.)

The Bee Tree close up.

Bark detail.

As well as glorious trees, my friend and I came across tiny blue wrens and a bubbling spring and jonquils...and we had a yummy vegetarian lunch at a little cafe in Glen Forest.
Days like that one make me feel glad to be alive.

And,
to close,
I wanted to share a few life affirming websites that I've found ~
the wishstudio
and, especially,
kind over matter and gratefulness.org

Wishing you all moments of glad~to~be~aliveness.
Have a wonderful week.
x