What happened in April ...

Snowy and the wolf hung around in my bag

Succulents grew in the garden....the pretty little pink flowers 

emerge from the edges of the leaves like little roses

Pretty, green and symmetrical, these are hardy

little bushes

The beach was wonderful...the school holidays

were amazing, the water was warm and the

waves were just right.  Two weeks of perfect weather. 

It was a shame to see the end of it, and the end

of the flags and the lifesavers till next summer.

With the beach this good, it is easy to see why my crafting 

disappeared...I have completely lost all my inspiration 

to embroider or paint....aaargh, I'm not sure where it's gone,

but it's beginning to be a bit of a worry.  I hope it returns

soon :(

The water temperature was like a warm bath!

Not looking forward to winter one bit.

I set up a little desk to try and get back into the spirit of things....

I got out my watercolours and my beautiful

coloured embroidery cottons....

and I did a small watercolour for a

birthday card.  They are meant to be

slices of orange but I fear they look 

more like tomatoes!

I had a little visitor for about an hour one day....

 

He was good company.  

His name is Schnitzel.  Dogs are

so comforting.  He did try to give

me lots of kisses, eek.

Then I took him back to his home.

I have swapped this view above......

...for this view.  I really love them both.  

City or country, they both have their wondeful points

and their drawbacks.  I suppose you just have to enjoy where

you are, no matter where that might be.

And seeing these little guys hanging around in the front yard

is pretty special.

In the shop....

I have finally added another pattern to my shop on big cartel.  It is the embroidery titled 'and I climbed on the back of a giant albatross' which I embroidered at the beginning of last year!  It found its way onto Pinterest and was featured on the Feeling Stitchy website here and it is now available as a pattern.

I have been missing in action whilst I have been in the middle of a huge move.  No time for crafting of any sort which is a bit sad!  Now hopefully it is finished and I will have time to get my head back into some sort of creative mood.  Time to swim, time to walk and time to daydream again.  

Three owls and three pussycats

Three different versions of the same thing...

Two have gone to new homes, and one is still living with me :)

January going going gone

A few swims

a few watercolours

a bit of stitching going on...

Life is but a dream

A little watercolour to start the new year.

Let's row gently down the stream.

I want to go wandering...

I was finally able to give my big sister the embroidered cushion I made for her!  It took a long time to finish because so much was happening the last few months.  It's only a few months late!

I embroidered a picture from the book "Off the Beaten Track" A Traveller's Anthology, by Laura Stoddart (Orion Books 2002).  It's a beautifully illustrated book full of quotes from travellers through the ages. 

I drew it onto calico first and coloured bits in with my Derwent colouring pencils before embroidering it.  I mostly used one strand of DMC cotton but there were a few places I used 2 strands, and stuck to the old trusty backstitch.

  The messy back of the embroidery!

 

Finished!

Embroidery patterns from wendalene at big cartel....

Just a reminder that if you purchase an embroidery pattern from my shop at big cartel, please check you have an up to date email address linked to it...sometimes the email address on paypal is an old one and doesn't work any more, and then I can't email you the PDF pattern!  :(

Markets again....Mums and Bubs

We had the December mums and bubs markets last Saturday and so I was busy sewing and drawing right up to midnight on the Friday.  Some pics from the markets ....

 

  

I drew some little people onto small dishes with the Pebeo pen for ceramics, and baked them in the oven....

 

I drew another owl in waterproof pen, then coloured him in and stitched around the outline and put some stitches inside as well ...

 and did a few new embroideries which I made into small cushions.....

November disappeared in a blur of hospital visits and trips to Sydney.  My youngest grandson underwent a huge operation on his skull to give him some more room, his third operation since he was born with craniostenosis.  He has bounced back remarkably well, he is such a little fighter!

And I still can't show my sister's birthday present as I have not been able to give it to her yet.  Hopefully soon.

Relaxing embroidery

This embroidery is something I can pick up when I just want to relax.  It is just for me and just for fun and so there is no pressure for it to be good or perfect. It's like reading a book, I look forward to going back to it to work on it a bit more each time.  It's nearly finished, but I have had other things to do.

This little pig went to market

Well September flew past too quickly with lots of things to do...embroidery, drawing, babysitting, trips up and down the highway, school holidays and getting ready for the October Mums and Bubs markets.  I didn't have a lot of time left for that, but managed to get a few things ready at last.

It was a windy day and the markets were held outside this time, and apart from a few things blowing off the table, it was good fun to be there.  We were near the sausage sizzle this time and the smell was too good to resist. 

I had some lovely comments and sold some more things.  I went with my friend Elga and we chatted and drank our coffee and the time went pretty quickly.  I will miss the next markets, which is a shame, I really enjoy going!  Hopefully everything will be good for the December markets.  And it will give me time to make some more detailed nursery rhyme cushions, which I love doing.

Here is the latest one.....This little pig went to market.......

I also made some little girl bags......

 

 

 

 

Now I have to make something for my sister's birthday.  I already have something planned.  I hope it will work out.  I have also been doing some embroidery for my own relaxation and I will post some photos soon.

I am also thinking of changing the embroidery pdf patterns in my little big cartel online shop soon, when I get time and brain space to think about it!