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).

Sketch Book Challenge

October's theme was "Cabinet of Curiosities",........ i don't have a cabinet of curiosities ......but you will find dead butterflies & bits of dragonflies in a square glass jar, several feathers stuck here & there around the house, or in the car, also  old door handles, buttons, old tape measures, bobbins, thimbles just to name a few things.....i won't mention the things that end up in the freezer!!!!....... 

i know it's november already, .......better late than never!.... (raylee).

Blog School

How did i come to be a blogger?........i read an article in a magazine about,pip was inspired by her encouraging words, so decided to give it a try.
not so easy for me though......i only knew how to google things i wanted to know about, i didn't even email!
so ran the idea past my sister-in law simonne, who is  much more knowledgeable in the computer department, she liked the idea ......so our blog ess-arr began. thanks to simonne, who set up the blog & my email & taught me how to begin.
i have progressed but feel there is a lot more to learn, so when i saw pip's "blog school" i joined up quick smart.

so today i am happy to say i have been learning lots since signing up to these blog lessons, & as my collage says i am growing daily, making  decisions about the things that scare me & trying new ways to bridge the gaps in our blog to make positive progress.
i have included part of lesson two........."blog post ideas". very helpful for  when the brain is on a "go slow".
i really appreciate all the help i have received from simonne & pip & all the other bloggers who share their ideas, tips & how-to's.
(raylee).

Acrylic Collage

Ideas for paintings come from different sources............my inspiration for this one came from a piece of old dry palm bark that was falling apart revealing a criss cross pattern of stringy fibres.

 (detail)

 the canvas was covered with tissue paper, gesso, used postage stamps & old maps. another wash of gesso to soften the colours.

 the patterns were painted with acrylic, some more stamps added, then a bit more paint.

a lead pencil outline around the stamps to bring them out & a light dry brush of acrylic in some places to finish off....... the painting size is 80x80 cms.

 i thought the quote was appropriate for this painting.......

"creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected" - William Plomer.

 (raylee).

Blue, Sunny, Deep!!.........

"I find myself at the extremity of a long beach. How gladly does the spirit leap forth, & suddenly enlarge its sense of being to the full extent of the broad, blue, sunny deep! A greeting & a homage to the Sea! I descend over its margin,& dip my hand into the wave that meets me, & bathe my brow. That far-resounding roar is the ocean's voice of welcome. His salt breath brings a blessing along with it." .......Nathaniel Hawthorne.
(raylee).

Beach/Swimming Bag.......

.......made from used plastic shopping bags .i saw this on the Better Homes & Garden show. it's a very quick & easy project........choose your bags & iron them between sheets of  baking paper to fuse them together.

for this beach inspired bag which is strong enough to hold a wet towel & swimmers,  i used two thicker plastic bags.........set the iron to synthetic & dry.......put a sheet of baking paper on the ironing board.......then two pieces of plastic (cut off the handles before you start), another piece of baking paper on top covering all the plastic then iron over the paper, turn over & iron the underside, now you have a sheet of material to cut & stitch into whatever kind of bag  you would like to make.

 if using thinner plastic you need about four bags to make it durable. when the plastic is fused it becomes crinkly, adding texture to the finish, colour & text make for some interesting combinations.

you could make pencil cases, make up bags, coin purses even new shopping bags etc. (raylee).

Red White and Blue Crochet

here is a creation sent to me...

lovely red white and blue fluffy wool...

most had been knitted...

but was in a state of coming apart...

 

I spent some time pulling it out..

and rolling it into balls for a new thing...

a large granny square was the idea...

this wool can be difficult to crochet...in my opinion..

but a granny square...easy..

 

 

setting up for photos...

Miss2 couldn't keep her hands off...

its so soft she decided it was a bed for the dollies...

I had a job removing them for the photo...

they kept jumping back on...

 

the square is now twice the size...

still only a knee rug...

but I may find more wool to extend the edge...

maybe...



A Gift Arrived ......

..........From Stacey .........i made a comment on her blog a while back not realising she was even having a give away, so it was a big surprise to get an email from her to say i had won.

 the package contained a bright colourful tie dyed cotton back pack  bag with two key rings & a sticker. all very much appreciated!

 if you would like to have a look at Stacey's blog you will find her at www.ArtSnark.blogspot.com.......if you click onto  the last photo you will get a close up of her sticker card . (raylee).

Robot dollies

during the recent school holidays....

Miss6 requested to make more dollies..,

after much discussion and drawing we decided...

robots...

 

I decided to continue with simple shapes...

so we drew circles...triangles and rectangles...

 

 

again Miss6 couldnt wait for a face...

so she drew her own...

Miss 2 scored the rectangle one...

who still has no face...



Painted Note Book Covers

Always finding ways to reuse the painted paper that i sometimes use as a paint palette, & the leftover paint.

 then what to do with all these colourful creations? 

some of them go straight to a stack of painted paper for future collages.

 but as i have been trying to cut down on keeping too much stuff & becoming overwhelmed with too many projects & ideas i have decided to only keep the bits i really like & know i will use.

 these two i used to cover some notebooks for the office.

in the photo at the top i have collaged & printed various pieces of paper. i used a brown paper bag,    a window envelope & tissue paper.

 plastic mesh & bottle tops for the printed shapes & lines.

 the pink one was made using  leftover paint which i just pressed onto a piece of paper & then pulled it down the page......... looks like a bird to me. (raylee).

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