Hand made cards

Hello my friends,

It's been quite a while since my last post here. Sometimes life takes you away from the screen. My partner has been in hospital but is now recovering well and we are catching up on all the balls we let fall...

I haven't done much creating, but I have painted our deck and stairs which were sadly in need of repair. These cards are ones I did a while ago...

 The bird's egg and nest is a serviette which I tore. I added an egg tag which fits into the front pocket, and finished with a paper flower and a netting piece of a lace doiley. Very quick and simple, it was a last minute rush.

This image of Maud Fealy is stitched onto hand-made paper layers over a scrapbooking paper, embellished with a lace scrap, daisies and pink butterfly.

The cardboard frame was perfect for this beautiful baby, layered over hand made paper, an embossed texture, stamped script and a snippet of lace, and finished with a satin ribbon.

Next, a baby card suitable for a boy. Over a grey-blue scrapbook paper background I added a leafy wreath, white butterfly wings, a tiny flower and seam binding bow, an embossed gold crown and some buttons.

I like this cheeky boy's smile.

I have been doing some photography when I can, and I edited this image of Willow in photoshop. She has the most beautiful eye colour.

Here's Willow again...

Here are pictures of our deck before and after I painted it... what a huge job! It took about two weeks to do three sets of stairs, two small decks and the main deck.

I think I'm just in time - a couple of boards will need to be replaced, but when T is quite recovered...

What a sucker for punishment I am - no sooner did I finish painting the deck, I started the next garden project - putting in rocks to hold back the soil and mulch... luckily I just finished these projects before the cold change hit us. Now I can be cosy and do indoor stuff.

Despite the lack of rain since January, my roses are still blooming in June, along with hibiscuses...

I wish you a happy Summer if that's where you are. We are now in Winter, having our first rain in months and our first cold weather. Here, we are cold when it gets down to below 15 degrees Celcius during the day. I love the cosiness of being indoors during wind and cold rain. No excuses for creative output now! And time to catch up and be inspired by my blogging friends too.

Vintage Baby Clothes and Lace

Hello again friends,

Vintage baby clothes have always tugged on my heart-strings - especially gentle whites and creams, even those yellowed with age. I've been collecting since I got my first job as a teenager. I could only afford charity shop prices - back then 50 cents or $1 was the norm. My Hope Chest gradually filled with little items that I hoped to see on my own babies one day. 

I had to wait at least 20 years for it to happen, so that's a lot of collecting!!! Below is a cotton petticoat on which I embroidered a pink bow and some rosebuds. 'Sugar Britches' is the model here, a porcelain ad cloth life-sized baby doll I made in my twenties.

I can't believe how people could throw out beautiful heirloom items. This pure wool blanket is light and warm and soft, tastefully embroidered with cream flowers.

And yes, I did use it, as a pram blanket in the old cream cane pram I bought from a shop called 'No Horse, No Wife, No Moustache' about 30 years ago, which served my three beautiful babies.

Here's the old pram - it was a Summer and too hot for a woolen rug...

And another Summer baby! 

Here is a detail of the flowers:

This dress below is superb - in a soft, light wool crepe, in a golden creamy tone with fine white cotton lace. What a glorious find!

Here are some lace details:

And here is my daughter Roisin wearing it years ago!

Next is a 50's or 60's synthetic and lace dress in white with a bonnet to match. I do prefer natural fibres, but it's sweet. You don't see them much any more, even in opportunity shops. 

This dress is also synthetic, but beautifully hand made, smocked and embroidered.

These baby shoes are modern leather in a vintage style. I altered them (not permanently!) by putting some lace held in by pictures of vintage babies... a fun decoration.

Below is a card I made a while ago using a stamped image, a feather and some lace pieces.

And a wedding collage...

I'm joining Wen for Simply Neutrals #49 at her blog AppleApricot. Come over and join us in celebrating neutral beauty of all kinds.

Stay well, and I'll see you soon.

Butterflies and Babies

Hello Friends,

With Spring awakening here in Australia, I'm looking forward to the butterflies, roses and new life happening.  

I had some fun decorating the lid of this pretty yellow box which I am using to store cut out butterflies ready for some projects...

Here's a close up of the lid. I used script paper, a label and a gorgeous image of Maude Feely with an embroidered rose embellishment.

Fascinated by butterflies, I picked up this vintage preserved butterfly under glass...

Speaking of butterflies, here's an unusual one! My kitten, Jasper, was a great model for me, and I used Photoshop to give him fairy wings.

 

He's grown up so quickly - here he is as a small kitten with gorgeous blue eyes, with his cute cheeky brother. So hard to choose!

I was won over by his pretty face!

He was a rescue kitten - he's still in his cage  here, too young to leave his mum yet.

At 10 weeks old, he quickly settled in to his new home. He loves to sleep next to my computer as I work.

He now has yellow eyes - a pity to lose those sweet blue eyes, but he is still gorgeous. Now 10 months old, he's been a great photography inspiration for me...

Of course, he loves lace and fabrics, and always chooses to park himself in the middle of whatever I am doing!

 

A couple of months ago I attended a Doll and Bear Show in Wyong. I was stunned at the artistry of many of the 'reborn' dolls there. I had a cuddle with one of them... so sweet!

You'd easily be tricked into thinking it was a real baby!!!

A paddock full of lambs attracted my attention on a trip to Oberon. I only had my phone as a camera...

The drought is awful, and everywhere farmers are hand feeding and desperate for rain. This looks green after a shower, but there's not much to graze on. And this is usually pretty good land...

Lastly, here's a sweet mother and baby encounter on a trip to Pebbly Beach in the Murramarang National Park...

I'm joining Wen at AppleApricot for Simply Neutrals # 48. Join us there for a feast of neutral beauty... Wishing you a Happy Spring or Fall, wherever you are.

Hugs,