Road Trip and New Challenge at Lets Get Shabby

Hi all. I have just returned home after a wonderful 9 day driving holiday in beautiful Victoria. The Autumn country side was a picture, our accommodation was elegant, quaint and luxurious, we ate and drank probably way too much delicious food and wine, did lots and lots of walking, a little bit of shopping and best of all spent time with our daughter who lives in Melbourne.

The new challenge at Lets Get Shabby, challenge #24, is to create a project based on a favourite memory or photo from your childhood.This months sponsor is Lea from Little Bits Of Pretty. 100% of sales from Little Bits Of Pretty are donated to the Westmead Childrens Hospital. You are amazing Lea!

Here is my Design Team LO. This is me. I DO remember my dress, my doll, she was called Pixie and the car but I don't remember the photo being taken at all.

I so loved this challenge that I did a second page. A lot of the embellishments on both these pages was kindly given to us by Lea from Little Bits of Pretty. What a generous soul she is who is actually "making a difference". Please visit her blog, purchase some "pretties" and help this wonderful cause.

Also up on the Lets Get Shabby blog is Olgas' tutorial on how to make these beautiful crepe paper flowers.

Thanks so much to everyone who left wonderful comments on my last post; it really does mean a lot to me. I'm sorry I haven't been able to get back to you yet but will hop to it this week.

Stamps and Old Wives Tales.............

The challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp And Show is:-    An Old Wives Tale. I have made a page based on an old rhyme my mother taught me  ( hope it fits the criteria ). It is a childrens' clapping or skipping rhyme and there are several different versions. It apparently originated in America and was a clapping game played by black children.

The version I was taught is :-

                                                 Mary Mac

                                                 Dressed in black

                                                 Silver buttons all down her back

                                                 She likes coffee, she likes tea

                                                 She likes sitting on the Chinamans knee.

                                                 My mother said, I never should

                                                 Play with the Gypsies in the wood.

                                                 If I did, she would say

                                                 Naughty girl to disobey.

  

I have always loved the rhyme but, to me, it has a sense of foreboding about it..........Gypsies in the wood and strange Chinamen.......oooh. The stamp I have used in the top left corner I bought just because it was a bit quirky, I had no idea what I would ever use it on....till now. It so made me think of  Mary Mac. I had also only just purchased the tree stencil, after watching the very clever Louise Nelson create magic with it on the weekend, so then I had my scary 'wood'. I had so much fun doing this page, stamping and stencilling.......I don't think I have ever used so many stamps on one project before !

   

This is an American version of Mary Mac, played on a Bottleneck Slide Blues Guitar and the words have written sub-titles that have political, social, and historical references and it's kind of fun.....? You might need to turn my music off if you want to listen to this.

New May Challenge at WW1

The May challenge at WW1 is...........White + Orange + Scallops...............

A photo of my 2 girls ( when one of them had orange hair ! ) out and about,having a good time. Orange for me is not a favourite colour, but this particular orange paper is... I love the pattern and I love that it is flocked. I only have a small piece of it left now so I have used it frugally, I don't know if I can find any more ,but I have used it on so many things and it is on my 'profile' picture, so, it's sort of special. I really loved making this page........I have painted, stamped, misted and stitched. I have had those clear acrylic letters for years, sort of boring, so I stamped on them with StazOn and loved how they looked. Hope you have all had a great weekend and so good Blogger is behaving itself again.

A Little Bit Happy...........

Hi all. Today I'm really happy. Firstly, my niece has had her first baby, a boy...........welcome little Max. Now, I am not a card maker: there never seems to be enough room or space for me on a card..........I like a bigger stage, but, I have attempted a boy card for this beautiful and very happy occasion.

Secondly, the challenge blog, Our Vintage Affair loved my little "whimsical" egg creation and awarded me a prize for it. I was thrilled, and thank you very much. Also the very fun challenge blog, 123, liked my April entry: thanks girls and thanks also to Purple Pumpkin for sponsoring.

So that's why I am a little bit happy today. As artists, sometimes I'm sure we all have doubts, and question "is what we produce worthy ?...........is it even good ?.............and is it "good enough" to be "out there" where it will be publicly judged and scrutinised. So, every now and then it's nice to get that positive affirmation from other creative souls that say,"yes", your work is worthy and does have creative value.

Tea On Tuesday.........Yellow Quinces

According to Google, the quince was sacred to Aphrodite and Venus, the goddesses of love, and a symbol of love, happiness and fertility in Greek and Roman times. I just love every thing about them ! Their buttery yellow colour, their soft, furry film when first picked, their beautiful organic shape, but most of all their delicious aroma. 4 or 5 quinces left in the fruit bowl give off the most delicate perfume,  that for me, remind me of my childhood, of crisp autumn days and cosy warm kitchens.

Quinces are really hard and require long, gentle cooking. Their flesh is white, but after 2 hours of slow, poaching in the oven, they turn this gorgeous deep, ruby orange colour....where does this amazing colour come from ? !

My clever friend Gill made quince jelly this year and we did a swap:-- a jar of her quince jelly for a jar of my apricot jam. The jelly is the most beautifully coloured preserve and I love how the light shines through it.

We were given some quinces last week and so for tea today ( and desert tonight ) I have made a quince and chocolate tart. The recipe belongs to Maggie Beer, a much loved cook and food celebrity from South Australia's Barossa Valley. It's a little tricky to make, I don't think mine is quite cooked in the middle, ( notice I have put the cream where the gooiest bit is ) but definitely worth the effort. The tea is simple........English Breakfast. 

Thanks for visiting me today, and for more Tuesday tea parties visit here.

Matters of the Heart............

Heart:-    the seat of emotions and affections, feelings and sensibility. ( often in contrast to the head as the seat of the intellect )

After having so much fun with my "whimsical" egg , I have been playing again, with...........polystyrene hearts, paper serviettes, modge-podge, paint, ink, glimmermist, chipboard,embossing powders, Tim Holtz baubles and metal and pinkpaislee ephemera. This first heart is for a challenge at Sarah Hurley, where the theme is butterflies and things with wings.

 This second heart is for all the "Royalness" that has been going on this past weekend with "THE" Grand wedding in London.

Lets Get Shabby...New Challenge #23

The challenge this month at Lets Get Shabby is to create a page using the colours aqua and pink AND include some spots as well. Why these colours ?............because they are the site colours of this months generous sponsor Scrap Therapy. Please hop on over to the Lets Get Shabby blog for inspiration from the other DT girls and all the details you need to play along.

We would love you to join in at Lets Get Shabby this month using these gorgeous colours.

A Whimsical Egg.............

Whimsical:-    of an odd, quaint or fanciful notion.

I played with:-    a "cotton" egg,  7gypsies paper,  pinkpaislee ephemera,  prima flowers, gesso, modge-podge, paint, and Glimmermist.

I thought I would add my "egg" to the challenge at Our Vintage Affair, where you had to create an Easter decoration

Wishing every one a fun, safe and happy Easter.

Tea On Tuesday..........Green Apples

So much green lately ! Two recent projects were all about olive green and lime green and today I'm talking about apple green ! We have this old Granny Smith apple tree in our front yard, and this year with all the beautiful winter rain it has been loaded with big, green, juicy, " sour " apples. It does have the whitest,crispest flesh tho, and once picked lasts for ages and is fantastic for cooking with. This variety of apple was planted just by chance as a single seedling in 1860 by Maria Ann Smith in New South Wales. It is very common and popular in Australia, but most foreigners are wary of it, having serious doubts about eating a "not ripe" green apple.

So for tea today I have made a rum, raisin,walnut,apple cake..........dense, moist and delicious; and what am I drinking with it.........green tea of course, with Jasmine petals.

The other thing I wanted to share today was my warm glow of gratitude and appreciation

 I experienced yesterday. Don't you love it when someone surprises you with something special and thoughtful, some little unexpected thing. I purchased a small bundle of beautiful hand-dyed seam binding from an on line store called Tattered Inspirations, and it arrived in the post in the usual bubble envelope.......but !..........it was what was inside that was special. It was a brown paper package tied up with string, decorated beautifully with a doily, gorgeous vintage tags, pretty fabric flowers and soft pink seam binding................thank you so much Carol. xx 

So todays post has been a bit reminiscent of that Sound of Music song "My Favourite Things".........."brown paper packages tied up with string", and "crisp apple strudel"......only I had "moist apple cake".lol. Have a great day and if you would like to join us for Tea on Tuesday visit Art in Red Wagons.