you can tell I've been having a lazy afternoon,
playing with my toys and special effects
The chronicles of Erica, a textile and mixed media artist living in Sydney, Australia, as she meanders her way through a life filled with fabric, clay, paper, glass and dolls ..... and dragons
Saturday, 26 January 2008
Your father I am not, young Luke
Friday, 25 January 2008
photography - the cup & the cat
you can call me all you like - I am NOT turning around to look at your silly cup, I KNOW it's not a real frog - and anyway, I have a nice profile....
photography - holidays
My big camera has gone on holidays to Vietnam without me or its little friend here. (just hope it comes home with some great photos or it will be in trouble!)
I think my little camera is jealous, I caught it dressing up and taking self portraits in the mirror.
the kitchen dresser
I've finally managed to rub back and varnish the doors on the old kitchen dresser I'm using for storage in my sewing room.
I started this little restoration project right in the middle of moving into my new sewing room back here
Still need to rub back the drawers, but at least for now all the mess is hidden.
whoops, did I say mess.....meant to say Vital Craft Supplies
I inherited this from my aunt.
It holds some very special memories of staying at her house as a child in the summer holidays, and setting the table for lunch with dishes from here.
Monday, 21 January 2008
photography - textile closeup
#20/366 A photo a day - textiles, originally uploaded by gramarye.
Getting back to textiles - this is a close up of a wall hanging I made last year.
I'm not even through January and this photo a day project is becoming harder - I think I need to work out a plan for monthly themes
photography - the Dutch shop
We took our Dutch friend to Sydney's Dutch shop, where there was (predictably) an abundance of blue and white delft china and wooden clogs
and lots of yummy Dutch food
photography - jungle scene
Grand daughter made a jungle scene which involved much chopping up of green crepe paper and frequent visits to the loo to empty the toilet rolls.
the hippo tried to warn the cows (in the jungle??)
but did they listen.....??
Thursday, 17 January 2008
Camping out indoors
Camping out in the living room.
We made a tent over a card table, the small person decorated the side and added the welcome sign - her intention was to sleep in it last night, but decided the living room was far too dark and spooky once the lights were out (even with the dog for company)
photography - iceblocks
The theme on the Project 365+1 flickr group this week is COLD which is easy for those in the northern hemisphere surrounded by snow but a little hard for us in Sydney.
We bought a tray of mangos, so I pureed some and made mango iceblocks, very yummy! so that's my 'cold' theme.
It was a toss up if I used the ice blocks or this next -- playing around with a little DOF (hah! don't I sound like I know what I'm doing!!)
Monday, 14 January 2008
"Inspired by May" collaborative banner
Our textiles group is making another banner for the next exhibition.
We were all given a section of a painting to interpret in textile and a piece of blanket to either work on or include. This section of the painting is a part of a banksia.
I used my needlefelt machine to work directly onto the blanketing - I had expected it to pull in and reduce the work area, but instead it stretched the wool, so it finished up a bit larger than I started, hopefully it will be able to be cut back to shape without losing the original design.
Miniature book
my photo a day shot for Jan 12, 2008
I've written about a previous visit to the museum here on my old gardening blog
my photo a day for Jan 13, 2008
aahhh, Sunday morning, nothing like curling up with coffee and a good book!
My friend Gail, from our miniatures group, makes these miniature books.
She writes the stories so she has no problem with copyrights, prints them, binds with hardcovers using a traditional bookbinding method, prints the end papers and dust jacket.
I've written about a previous visit to the museum here on my old gardening blog
my photo a day for Jan 13, 2008
aahhh, Sunday morning, nothing like curling up with coffee and a good book!
My friend Gail, from our miniatures group, makes these miniature books.
She writes the stories so she has no problem with copyrights, prints them, binds with hardcovers using a traditional bookbinding method, prints the end papers and dust jacket.
photography - toy penguins
#11/366 Jan 11, 2008
playing with penguins
what do you call a lot of penguins - a mob, a flock, a herd, a huddle, a parcel of penguins? - I like an infinity of penguins
we were having fun til the mirror fell over and squashed them
(no penguins were injured during the making of this entry)
Thursday, 10 January 2008
fabric fish round robin
#10/366 Jan 10, 2008
I'm taking part in a fabric fish round robin, this is one of the fish (not mine)
There's 7 of us in it, we all made a fish and they are passed around the group and we all work on them, we don't see our own til it is finished.
Tuesday, 8 January 2008
photography - cockatoos
At a friends place, she has been feeding the cockatoos, these two arrived expecting to have lunch with us
Monday, 7 January 2008
a photo a day
Not sure if I should move these daily photos to their own blog, and get this one back to being my craft work - what do you think, I guess someone is still reading???
oh how quickly the novelty wears off - day 6, 11.15 pm, still need todays photo and I'm just sitting, staring at the keyboard
....and grand-daughter is staying for two weeks
oh how quickly the novelty wears off - day 6, 11.15 pm, still need todays photo and I'm just sitting, staring at the keyboard
....and grand-daughter is staying for two weeks
Saturday, 5 January 2008
dracaena/cabinet
I wondered what the strong perfume was when I opened the front door - it was my poor long suffering dracaena (it grows so well that it keeps hitting the roof of the awning and I keep chopping it back)
Beats me how it found time in between the chopping and growing back to flower but it has.
I didn't even know they flowered but then I guess when you think about it, every plant must flower sometime, somehow.
A quick google search tells me it is a Dracaena fragrans *Synonym: Dracaena deremensis, so it pretty obvious why it has fragrans in the name - very overpoweringly sweet perfume.
We are cleaning out my father in law's shed - I haven't posted much about it here, but my mother in law passed away in November - father in law has been gone for about 20 years but the family weren't allowed to touch the shed, so now there is the heartbreaking job of sorting through tools and remembering all over again the lovely man and picturing him in here amongst them.
Today I helped SIL bottle up enough nuts and bolts, screws and washers to sink a ship, (or maybe build one!) and when it had been emptied look what I got to bring home...
Thursday, 3 January 2008
More Plastic
After my post about the plastic killing fields in the ocean, I stumbled just by chance, following links as you do (and a catchy name always gets me in) and found myself at Plastic Fish
How I followed this is one of those convoluted stories, I am in a fabric fish round robin....don’t ask....and I was getting desperate for some inspiration.
Instead I found an anti-plastic crusader, documenting each piece of plastic that comes into her house each week and actively finding ways to avoid using it.
She lists such things as:
Plastic blister packs
Wine bottle corks
plastic shipping label envelope from a Christmas gift delivery.
pieces of plastic packing tape, also from a Christmas package delivery
plastic cable ties
plastic lids on cleaning products
plastic wrapper from a packet of movie tickets bought as gifts
she also writes of separating the components of packaging so they can be recycled:
“...container is 100% recycled polypropylene except for the metal rim, which I had to cut off with a saw and metal cutters, in order to recycle the plastic. Containers made from mixed materials are not recyclable unless you can separate the components. Without the metal rim, I'm hoping the plastic container will be accepted by San Francisco's program. At least, it was not made from new plastic.”
Here’s her list of plastic free changes she has made so far to her life
one of the things she avoids is drinking straws which reminded me of this journal entry I made after going to the movies with my daughter years ago (ahead of her time, the child was!)
while we all think about the big things, could we be so dedicated to avoid the little things like this? I’d certainly like to try but not too sure I could keep it up.
(BTW - I’ll show some of the fish round robin next week when the swappers get together)
How I followed this is one of those convoluted stories, I am in a fabric fish round robin....don’t ask....and I was getting desperate for some inspiration.
Instead I found an anti-plastic crusader, documenting each piece of plastic that comes into her house each week and actively finding ways to avoid using it.
She lists such things as:
Plastic blister packs
Wine bottle corks
plastic shipping label envelope from a Christmas gift delivery.
pieces of plastic packing tape, also from a Christmas package delivery
plastic cable ties
plastic lids on cleaning products
plastic wrapper from a packet of movie tickets bought as gifts
she also writes of separating the components of packaging so they can be recycled:
“...container is 100% recycled polypropylene except for the metal rim, which I had to cut off with a saw and metal cutters, in order to recycle the plastic. Containers made from mixed materials are not recyclable unless you can separate the components. Without the metal rim, I'm hoping the plastic container will be accepted by San Francisco's program. At least, it was not made from new plastic.”
Here’s her list of plastic free changes she has made so far to her life
one of the things she avoids is drinking straws which reminded me of this journal entry I made after going to the movies with my daughter years ago (ahead of her time, the child was!)
while we all think about the big things, could we be so dedicated to avoid the little things like this? I’d certainly like to try but not too sure I could keep it up.
(BTW - I’ll show some of the fish round robin next week when the swappers get together)
Wednesday, 2 January 2008
finished a quilt
Finally finished my new bedspread, it's been hanging around for a few months waiting to have the binding attached.
I promised myself I wouldn't start any new projects this year until I finished off some of the old ones - not sure how long that little resolution will last, I have a problem staying away from new things.
My other resolution (yes, just two of them this year!) is NOT to buy new craft supplies but to work at making a large dent in the ones I have.
Tuesday, 1 January 2008
Our new years day outing
Happy New Year everyone,
(if I'd been a really dedicated blogger I would have posted that at midnight, but I'm afraid I slept through it - haven't got the stamina anymore)
My mum always believed that one should have a good time on new years day because it set the tone for the rest of the year, so we always went out for the day - usually resulted in everyone coming home hot, tired and grumpy - but we still keep up the tradition despite the result.
Today we decided on driving south so we could go across the new(ish) Sea Cliff Bridge at Stanwell Park.
It opened in December 2005, but until you've actually crossed it, it's still new, isn't it?
Here's the view from Bald Hill Lookout at Stanwell Tops, there is a memorial to Lawrence Hargrave who carried out his first flying experiments from here and this is also the launch pad of the local hang gliders.
Over on the last headland you can just see the curve of the bridge (or go to flickr and enlarge pic)
This is Stanwell Park - the beaches all along the coast have been closed to surfing because of the rough conditions this week, but there are still a few risking the surf here.
Here's a zoom in on the bridge - very hot, windy hazy conditions
We drove across and parked on the far side then walked part way back
This is the cliff that towered over the old road, the signs that said "Beware of falling rocks" weren't really much help, and eventually it had to be closed
...and this sign is probably as effective as the "falling rocks" signs - the whole area is riddled with old coal mines, so you can only hope the engineers who designed the bridge knew where they were putting it.
we came home hot, tired, but not a bit grumpy (although I'm getting there - typing this with a shaking wreck of a dog wedged under my feet while the kids over the road let off fireworks in the street)
(if I'd been a really dedicated blogger I would have posted that at midnight, but I'm afraid I slept through it - haven't got the stamina anymore)
My mum always believed that one should have a good time on new years day because it set the tone for the rest of the year, so we always went out for the day - usually resulted in everyone coming home hot, tired and grumpy - but we still keep up the tradition despite the result.
Today we decided on driving south so we could go across the new(ish) Sea Cliff Bridge at Stanwell Park.
It opened in December 2005, but until you've actually crossed it, it's still new, isn't it?
Here's the view from Bald Hill Lookout at Stanwell Tops, there is a memorial to Lawrence Hargrave who carried out his first flying experiments from here and this is also the launch pad of the local hang gliders.
Over on the last headland you can just see the curve of the bridge (or go to flickr and enlarge pic)
This is Stanwell Park - the beaches all along the coast have been closed to surfing because of the rough conditions this week, but there are still a few risking the surf here.
Here's a zoom in on the bridge - very hot, windy hazy conditions
We drove across and parked on the far side then walked part way back
This is the cliff that towered over the old road, the signs that said "Beware of falling rocks" weren't really much help, and eventually it had to be closed
...and this sign is probably as effective as the "falling rocks" signs - the whole area is riddled with old coal mines, so you can only hope the engineers who designed the bridge knew where they were putting it.
we came home hot, tired, but not a bit grumpy (although I'm getting there - typing this with a shaking wreck of a dog wedged under my feet while the kids over the road let off fireworks in the street)
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I thought it had a steam punk look about it