Bears and Roses for Simply Neutrals # 14

Happy New Year! I wish you loads of creativity and time to enjoy arty expression and just 'be' in the present moment... that's my New Year's resolution - to be where I am in each present moment and enjoy it.

Here's a little hat I made recently for one of my bears using scraps of doylies, lace, flowers and beading. The band was cut from an op shop top, and the embellishments were hand-stitched in place.

Here's Edwina in her new hat. The frame is from Angela Wolf of JoesSistah.

Now for some of my glorious Spring roses. They are mauve, but I've 'neutralised' them with a textured background I purchased from 2 LilOwls.

I then added a frame from The Coffeeshop Blog. 

I added another texture as a frame, too.

I'll showcase more of my rose photos from this year soon, but for Simply Neutrals, I've played in Photoshop to 'neutralise' the vibrance of their colours, which is subtly beautiful, too. I've used the same Coffee Shop frame with a texture from Jerry Jones. The rose is called 'Climbing Cinderella', one of my favourites.

This next rose is 'Champagner', textured with a texture from Jerry Jones.

Now for a little mobile phone fun using an app called Kaleidoscope. Watch out, it's addictive! It's a great activity when you are waiting around somewhere or on public transport with kids in tow... It uses a photo on your phone or you can take a shot to play around with.

An inspiring quote for the New Year...
The background texture is from http://farfarhill.blogspot.com.au/

Happy creating!
hugs,

Jesse

Thanks Wen for hosting the Simply Neutrals party. You can see more neutral beauty at AppleApricot .

P.S. A little hint for those new to blogging (like me!), I've noticed that when I return to past Simply Neutrals posts, some of my links didn't link back to the actual #post on Wen's blog, or to my own #post, so make sure you click on the post title to get the specific link address to use, rather than the main address of the blog. Otherwise you have to search manually for it and others who may be browsing our blogs can't easily find the posts.

A Birthday Wall Hanging and Other Neutrals

It's Simply Neutrals Tuesday # 11. It's about time I created something! Here is a wall hanging I made for my mum's birthday last week. You can see Suzy's influence here, but I have always loved these muted colours and 'beautiful ladies'.

I had to get some images printed at a printer as mine had died. I am waiting for my new printer to come by mail soon. I much prefer having control over the images. This one was printed on a canvas, which is a lovely texture, but a little shiny up close. I found the fringe on a roll at Vinnies last week, too. It's always fun going in to see what treasure may be discarded by someone else!

Here's a closeup. The berries at the top were a Vinnies find, too - an old Christmas wreath decoration which I spray-painted white. There's a tiny scrap of wedding dress pearls in the corner. 

Here is a bear I made from an old fur coat from an op shop. It was a leather base, so sadly it must have been a young goat or something similar. The hair is so soft. It was very fine and brittle and hard to sew without tearing.

A closeup of Henrietta with one of my quilts behind.

 

Here's a couple of quilt blocks from that quilt -not really neutral, but all together the quilt reads as neutral on the wall :)

Here's the quilt on the wall:

I took this photo years ago with my Olympus OM2-N SLR (not a digital camera).

Gypsy our cheeky cat loves sleeping in cosy places... the doll pram.

A bunch of my Spring roses for you all.

Have a lovely week, and check out all the wonderful Simply Neutrals blogposts at Wen's blog at http://www.appleapricot.blogspot.com.au/  Thank you Wen for hosting this party.

Oh, and some lovely news - our band Ballyhooley has been selected to take part in the 50th Anniversary national Folk Music Festival in Canberra at Easter. I posted some old photos on my facebook page if you are interested:

https://www.facebook.com/jesse.rowan1/posts/10153257352776045?pnref=story

Hugs,

Jesse

Simply Neutrals # 4 - Some Furry Friends

The Spring school holidays have flown past in a blur of visitors, taxi-driving children to fun activities, and gardening. And before I knew it, it was time for the next Simply Neutrals Party #4. 

I thought it would be nice to share some of the furry friends we have looked after for the RSPCA. Here's Nova: 

Here's Ebony asleep:

And awake...

The first two cats we looked after became our forever cats... Willow (grey) and Gypsy (ginger). We took in Willow forst, and she was very timid, having been mistreated and abandoned as a kitten. She still hides under the couch when visitors come. Then we minded Gypsy, who was a lovable and bold little hussy. We found that Willow relaxed and felt more comfortable with Gypsy around so we adopted them both. They are still with us after several happy years.

All the others also found forever homes.

We minded quite a few more cats, but Willow became upset with every new cat so we stopped taking in temporary orphans.

Now a couple of bears I made a few weeks ago. I dyed the dress with Parisian essence to age it and make it a more subtle hue. (Thanks, Suzy for that great tip!)

And lastly, a lovely rose fabric in muted tones which covers my lounge. My children think I have a grandmother's taste in home furnishings... and I do!

It's been hot here today - 35 degrees Celcius - and the same is predicted for tomorrow. A swim in the ocean will help us cool down, I'm sure. Ocean temperatures are still lagging behind by a season and it will be brisk! Have a lovely week of creating, playing and photographing. 

Don't forget to hop over to Wen's blog at AppleApricot to see more lovely neutrals and join the party. I think I'm last again!

Bye for now, 

Jesse