Creative Awakening - Wee Jasper Journal Pages

this afternoon i have been putting together some pages for "the wee jasper journal"........my earliest memories of people who sowed the seeds of creativity for me: in the beginning my mother & all my grandmothers, & my great grandfather.

 

 my mum with three of her uncles.

 my great grandmother "Nell". a collaged page for the wee jasper  journal......

 the old wee jasper school where my school days began. here is an excerpt from today's journalling:
 " i  started school later than most kids, i was close to nine! it was 1963, i remember it well as it was the year president Kennedy was assassinated. that was the biggest news during my early childhood.
my older cousin went to the wee jasper school, so my aunty volunteered to take me too. i was not keen on the idea, anyway after a lot of sulking & tears i went with them.
it was a one class room , one teacher school. the ages of the pupils ranged from about six to sixteen.
most of the lessons were all jibberish to me. i had no idea what the teacher was talking about a lot of the time.
i learnt three things at that school,: i hated boiled egg sandwiches,
                                                    lunch time was the best part of the school day, we played rounders i think it's like softball?,
                                                    the third & best of all was the first time we were told to go outside for a lesson.
what a surprise when we were introduced to a pretty young blonde woman - Miss  Nancy Cathles.
Nancy changed my mind about school, she taught us to weave - just the simple kind with wool & a piece of cardboard. this was major for me, i had only seen sewing & knitting until that day.
this was new & exciting & easy. i could do it without help from an adult!, which wasn't the case with sewing & knitting.
from that day on i looked forward to school, well just the days that Nancy came to teach us crafty things."

                                                  

 some of the kids i went to school with.

 Nancy was a pupil at the school in 1950 (kneeling on the right side of photo).

  i have stitched this page from the journal onto an old doily. i have decided to make a paper & cloth journal using embroidered doilies, calico & cotton florals.

 the embroidered side of the doily is the back side of the page......

a close up of the machine & hand stitching with tabs at the side. each page will have three  tabs.
  when all the pages are completed the tabs will be placed one over the other & held together with  buttons.
(raylee).

365 Creative Challenge

a bit of a mixture this week.......crayon drawing of an eye on painted & stamped paper
vintage fabric, tea stained calico, string stitched with embroidery thread,
used envelopes painted with watercolour, torn & glued, gesso around the edge drawn into while still wet, & aquarelle pencil,
book page painted with turquoise ink, buttons & felt figures glued on, & glittery ink stencils,
collage on block printed butcher's paper, stencil text, star strips & picture from a book,
collage using the same grid patterned painted paper as the first page, painted tissue paper, i found five faces in the papers & highlighted them with ink, & a number five from a magazine,
writing in wet gesso, sloshy blue watercolour,
torn  magazine paper, old hand written lists, & the ladies courtesy of the graphicsfairy.blogspot.com,
a collage on watercolour paper, the paper was painted with red acrylic, when dry tissue paper glued on & then the image of the girl (from wrapping paper), & more paint added to blend in the image.
(raylee).

Purple Flower Mixed Media Art Collaboration

re posting some of my favourite mixed media art.........until i take some photos of my latest work.

 this one started out with torn pieces of old reject watercolours stuck onto another watercolour......

 & some more pieces from a pen & wash of gum leaves.......

 this didn't inspire me, so i painted over it with gesso......

 found a silk shirt Simonne had sent to me......ripped it up, stuck it down, arranged the pen & wash bits to form a flower shape......

 added some more silk &  some colour to the centre  of the flower.......framed it in the back of an old canvas with torn lace table cloth, also from Simonne, a doily, paper with stitching from a cat litter bag, sticks from beach walks, round metal cap, a spring from old secateurs & wrapped with rusty wire i rescued before it was put in the bin!

 so Simonne has participated in this art work, even though she doesn't know what i do with the bits & pieces she sends me until i complete something. without her input it just wouldn't be the same! thanks Simonne!!

if you like mixed media art....... have a look at  thealteredpage.
it is one of my favourite blogs!.....you will see some amazing stuff over there!!........check out the "5x5" project posted every sunday by Seth Apter. 
(raylee).

Wee Jasper Journal - "Nell"

Her name was Ellen Mary, but she was known as "Nell".. to me she was Nana Grace, my great grandmother. she lived in a house built by the men in her family. timber cut from the bush, dirt floors, walls papered with newspaper & magazine pages to keep the draughts out .no running water, it was carried from the river in  buckets made from kerosene tins. no electricity, there was a fuel stove but most of the cooking was done on an open fire. light was from  kerosene lamps or candles. there was always a garden......flowers, fruit trees & vegetables. she made jams, pickles & preserves in jars, sewed clothes & furnishings. her days were full of work but she found time to embroider.
 i found the images that relate to her life in magazines, the hollyhocks a photo from my sisters garden. a copy of one of her old pot holders she had made from old "cretonne" kitchen curtains. (if you click onto the photo you will see where i have added stitching over her original stitches on the pot holder).her "waste not, want not" ways have stayed with me.
i have used some soluble crayon to soften some of the images.tea chests were used as storage boxes. there was always a kettle boiling for a cup of tea. the butterflies represent the freedom to play outside without fear,(except for the turkeys that used to chase me every time i needed to use "the long drop" which was on the other side of the fence surrounding the house). the cat represents the animals that were always at her house......my first home on the Goodradigbee  river , Wee Jasper. (raylee).

"Horse Shoes" Bag

Machine stitched from hand block printed cotton previously curtain lining, cotton crochet doily, & cut cotton & linen embroidered doilies, pieces of printed leftovers, & some floral & plain linen. the pink shoes are brocade.the bag is fully lined with new fabric. it has a long strap for over the shoulder which can be placed inside the bag when not in use, & two handles for carrying by hand, if preferred. these bags are machine washable & may be tumble dried. (raylee).

Horse Shoe Bag Underway......

Do you get an idea of what you want to make but don't seem to have all the right bits?.....this happens to me every now & then......i have learnt to be patient.......wait & the right bits appear......on her last visit, simonne brought me some of her bits she had no use for......i found some embroidered "horse shoes", just the right thing for this new bag! I am making it for someone who loves horses..... so have combined the two different kinds of shoes keeping to the "shoes bag theme". (raylee).

Biscuit Cutters

Saturday morning i spent de -cluttering some kitchen drawers, you know the ones that end up with lots of odds & ends filling them. a few years ago i emptied my "third drawer" for ever, but pesky little things that don't have a real home found other drawers to live in..... so the time has come .......find a purpose or be gone!......i found some old biscuit cutters that i bought last year at "Yandina Markets".......decided the time had come to use them creatively.....

......so saturday afternoon i began to combine them with a few other "hangers on". the sides of an old wooden box, knobs from old cupboards, rusty wire, a doily that must have had a lot of use....it is so soft & thin & some new metal letters. more to come.......(raylee).

Blue Shoes Bag

Pink is pretty.....green is gorgeous .......but blue is the most beautiful of all!!

(raylee).

New Blue Shoes Bag

A new bag underway......

......more soon. What have you have you been making/doing? (raylee).

Pretty Bags In Pink & Green

Washed, dried & a little bit raggy, these bags are made from hand printed cotton, with doilies, fabric bits & pieces, crocheted flowers, velvet appliqued shoes, buttons & sometimes other found bits eg. old jewellery. the bags are lined which gives a much neater finish & makes the bag stronger. all the fabrics used are recycled. the yarn used for the crochet flowers is leftover from other projects. (raylee).

Sew Many Shoes.....

......i have sore fingers from all the stitching & poking pins into them as well, ah well they are almost done, its all machine stitching now..... ......the bags are sewn, the lining is in & the band has been stitched around the top, & the labels are on ......

......the handles are next , then two lovely ladies will receive a bag each.

Getting right off the bag track now.......it's nice to unexpectedly run into someone you haven't seen for a long time. But what do you say when they tell you they "were just talking about you the other day" ......&....."actually i was writing about you too"...... Who were they talking to? .....what were they saying......& what did they write about me?
Do you ask the question?....... or do you let sleeping dogs lie? (raylee).

Green Shoes

Another bag in the making......hand block printed cotton sheeting, old doilies, roses cut from a piece of fabric, bits of a linen tablecloth & some green velvet, all op- shop finds. All pinned & ready to be stitched together. (raylee).

Birthday Surprise Gift

Thank you all for participating , we do appreciate all your input.......hope you like this one.

Congratulations to Lindy!!!........you all come back now..... ......(raylee).

Pretty in Pink Bag

How pretty & spring like this bag turned out..... this one was commissioned, the request was for something pink. ... ... i posted the beginnings of this bag on the 3rd. & 19th. of march........ it has a long strap for over the shoulder. the strap can be tucked inside the bag if you just want to carry it by the two handles.

It is made from a cotton sheet that i have block printed, i like to vary the colour as i am not a perfect kind of person, i want the handmade look ...... because it is......there are threads still hanging too!......3 crochet flowers with "op shop" buttons stitched on the back.....

....doilies & fabric stitched on the front with extra running stitches ........ the shoes are upholstery velvet with some embroidery & same buttons as the back , it is fully lined with a cotton fabric which makes the bag much neater & stronger & very useful.

I like making these bags occasionly as they are one-offs, so dont become repetitive, .... hope someone else likes it too. (raylee).