STOCKINGS

Yesterday morning I pulled myself into line ....

as I wanted to try the new things on a white stocking.

Simple but rather lovely...I thought

Once I began pulling the pieces I had painted toward me.... 

it was hard to call STOP 

Many fit so perfectly ....

I used some fine white woollen fabric I have ...felt, linen,calico etc would work but sewing up would be slightly altered...

I have a plan to do the stocking layout with a postcard of this picture and they each will have one of the buttons / decorations in the well what will be a big of a button stocking story.

I am sure so many of you will have stocking pattern layouts in your stash that will work...and so all you'd need is to buy one 2 buttons ....

The postcard is being done...I have the layout so will be about one week ...I need to think about the way I market this ...

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Then I went out to lunch to celebrate a friend's birthday....

we went to a lovely old pub called the Boundary Hotel...

Nice spot perched on a hill..

Today I have heard from an old  friend when we met in Canberra ..not far from where I was  recently..my friend is living in Bath for a while & she & her husband are meandering around..

What a life ......sounds so much fun.  So lovely to reconnect...

Reconnecting with people in my past is always such a pleasure ...

as I have been transient really since I was 19....one meets & forms wonderful friendships & we all move off someplace ....or our lives change 

but when we meet up again those wonderful friendship memories are alive & vibrant once again

Best get a wriggle on ....

Got to Decorate a tree !!

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Well last night I finally did get to decorate the little metal tree with the new designs last night.

Here it is !!!!

NEW DESIGNS have LANDED !!!!

These arrived in yesterday....after waiting anxiously for a delayed express parcel...

one always worries when it fails to arrive as should be...

Happily there were 2 bags of boxes

Just look what was inside & had been painted...

This is my thrilling time..

as

I unpack & see them for the very first time

mind racing

colours

have I got time..

I didn't yesterday as I had to go to an exercise class

BUT

once home I painted some parts of orders & these....

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copyright BJ Smith 2015

 These are fairly detailed in etching....

I call it drawing on wood.....

 as I mentioned in my newsletter last night... I did draw on the weatherboard panels on our front verandah once when I was quite young & got into some trouble.   

I was made to scrub it off & it really was so hard.....

such punishment for the creative spirit...LOL

 Stockings with a story of a robin, deer in trees , star & word Noel  I did 3 sizes 

15cm, 10cm & 5 cm....love them all but especially the tiny detailed 5cm one....

Robin bird has a tight design...which could be left without my painting any of it...

BUT

I painted details & it is a petite 3cm brooch or a 7cm decoration for all days

Santa faces are separate on a heart, candy cane & star....

I also tried them engraved on the piece I like them both but I must really decide which to do....

as so much of similar can confuse me...over time & the ordering gets tricky

 The Jardin Cat  has left the lady in another button & has been increased to 7cm right at that tail tip....

It's the big cat m

now

and somehow it suited blue....there has also been a red one painted but not on the web yet..

 Some houses for Christmas and one is 6 window sets for all days of the year..

2 trees come from this as well.... just a little more jaunty

Red Bird has come in for a Christmas migratory flight...larger for fun decorating in a project.

Making Sense of the Days

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Last night I got the fidgets late...

Before I went to bed

I needed to dress this table

Gathering what had been unpacked...

&

started with the central need to look at these wonderful flowers

Then just wandered a bit further

It feels good..this sort of display 

gives me a peaceful feelw hen I look at it.

A calmness 

making sense of life !

Yesterday....

Yesterday I decided it was pinterest day for me...

but as usual I get past the log in bit & the mystery begins...

Called in Julie & between us we got to the load in page..

So I did one page on Christmas Decorations

How you find it ....?

When you do let me know ...

I had a really fun time being inside the Christmas Time

These deer just reminded me of that sort of excitement...

is it the colours or the crowd

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I also had a day of more unpacking as it was getting to be irritating, cartons in garage..some empty needed packing down & some of course full.

One large packing linen box was full of clothes...

So they all were trotted indoors & into a corner of the bedroom...

where they did stay for some hours...

not self hanging or folding neatly into the shelves..

Happily to say it is all but put away now...

Today is back to proper work day....

Getting Ready ....

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Yesterday I found some sweet tiny lights..for my little tree.

They are so lovely

So I did a little decorating 

 This is the last order waiting to go out in this marathon round of painting

I love those white stockings & with the mix of red, blue & aqua...in the painting

It was a nice mix of colour.

I find the bright aqua & a peachy shades are drawing me to them...

cushions, bath towels....

Yesterday was lemon & orange glasses ...

so happy based on an old advert thing....so pleasing to have about !

Today I start over again with a lovely order that starts with Clara Cows....cats & rabbits...

Decorating

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Finally painted a couple of things to decorate a bare tree or 2 with last night...

I of course need some time to do more things for me....later LOL

I did take time out yesterday morning to visit one of my favourite spots

Daylesford.

I did enjoy a stroll in my special spots 

&

Saw a movie flyer that looks interesting ....

HARRY & ME has moved to larger premises

&

the store layout or better than to call it layout...the 

architecture of the store 

is just DIVINE

It is spacious...

It has a mirrored back wall that reflects all the wonderful things in the front of the store..

then there is a beautiful huge arched window that looks out into a structure garden

WOW it is something one wants to take home LOL

On the counter wall floor to ceiling is a set of panels of an old B& W garden photo.

No I didn't take out my camera... even asking if I could would have felt a little rude.

This is special go see !!!!

It does the soul a great amount of good nourishing being there for just a couple of hours..

I called at the nursery to get some small  lavender plants....

and

on the way home I weave through Maldon..of course !

Stopping off at Much Ado for another soap...I have favourites & the perfume has another way into my soul....that is the best bit of having a keen sense of smell.

I get to wallow in the best exquisite perfumes...

 as well as be totally at screeching point with an odour !!!

I also popped into the newsagent there....always a good stop off or a destination.

Driving in a cool day made me think of the other treat..

Dinner ...roast lamb 

So I nipped into the supermarket for some lamb 

Then I could work some more ....

&

cook the roast...

Nice time  

UNpacking

I am trying to use gaps in my time to unpack a box when I am in between stuff...30 minutes & I can make a good mess

Yesterday I added the first book Simple Things was it called to Travels with Millie Quilt on the bed 

added it to the work I did yesterday

and here it all is....

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Have a look at how Fiona from Designs by Fee has used the 

TAKE ME WITH YOU Santa Button & Tag by Marg Low's design where Marg used the big deer button on the original tag pattern.

It is always a versatile thing changing the button to change the view....

Wonder what else one could use.....

winter snowman button,

www.designsbyfee.com

www.marglowdesigns.typepad.com

I think it is Friday ?

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The days have been moving along so quickly...

I have finished much of what was started 

before I moved...

&

you know 

I am rather amazed how little one can function with...

How many cups, glasses, plates, pots & pans

is necessary...

It is rather good as I now carry the "essentials" for a big house move in the car

so one just does a demi unpack

&

the days become more fun...

A box unpacked in time snatches..

A sweet friend called in early in the week 

en route home from the city.

Yesterday was phone fix the line day...

it is always subject to some corrosion around this area.... so it is working.

Painting was moggy the cat, robins of different sorts...some santas 

Clearing the newest Christmas designs 

which will really be there for the next season and a little at this tail end...

I am just a month behind...things go so fast..

I am up early so it is time to make the most of that by starting to do work early....

****

Thanks Radke, my cold is all but gone..!

Might be working today !

Before I wander off into nice stuff.

I want to say

I have succumbed to a darn cold, sore throat whatever it thinks it is doing.

I thought at first it was some allergy food thing as my throat started burning after dinner Saturday night....

But now I find I was a bit mistaken.

So I am a bit sniffy, annoyed, determined that this is now going off the agenda & most of the moving stress is now gone...

See I feel so much better for sharing that already LOL

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More of the Christmas tree with a few other things propped about as I unpacked 

I needed to go into Provincial Decor Living for a new clock

I find these clocks are an anchor  ..

Things that haven't found a home yet but look quite good in this shelving

I went for a wander yesterday in the stores...

I was really going to buy printer ink....

&

something interesting from the Gluten Free Bakery

So parked near the bakery shop...

and strolled down to the inks via a gift shop

where I found this interesting

&

useful  christmas tree

to

I hope hang my wood decorations...

So I need to begin work today..

as I have some people waiting patiently

This is work station Theodora Cleave....

My NEW BEST TREE !!!

One of my dear Canberra friends gave me this last week & with instructions NOT to OPEN until I had moved...

It found different squeeze spots in the car in the following days wrapped in pink & white paper..

Yesterday after I had arrived back in Bendigo

I finally got to open it 

WOW

I LOVE IT 

IT IS DIVINE

This would have been bespoke, ie hand made by a Dave or another Dave ....

& the recycled painted bits of wood  & the finish I know so well as these pair made furniture for me once when I lived in Canberra.

I think one Dave goes to the Kingston markets ( ACT ) some Sundays

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I arrived in after an early start from Wodonga yesterday.

Had a lovely motel run by family ...not corporation 

this has hospitality

tastefully renovated

well stocked fridge

really good meals for room service dinners

a pool.

STAGECOACH MOTEL 

just off the freeway coming at edge of Wodonga on Melbourne Road

I have seen the decline in recent years of many motels I stop off at

This & the YarraValley Motel at Lilydale Vic are 2 that are breaking the mould & both are run by owners ...... 

I was met by my lovely neighbours who had opened up the house, supervising the removalists as I swanned in....

How absolutely wonderful.

STRESSLESS REMOVALS I have used a few times & they are Bendigo/ Castlemaine..but they came up to collect me for what was a great price...& so quick to pack up & off it all goes...

No work today though....

got to fossick in boxes for the viatl things like wood stock, bathmat ....

Very Sorry Paris

Oh what news I heard today as I drove down the freeway....

beautiful Paris....

Thoughts are with you

Dawdling along today

I have the dawdles this morning...

my last day...

the critical pack, toss & clean day

& 

what am I doing...???

Having a real go slow morning...urghhhhhh !!!

 I decided once more I was distracted... to pop in here 
& update your comments & well wishes...

Thank you all !!!

& 
then why stop there...I  decided to drag some collages from file to make a happy post....
It is a dull morning here after really soaking heavy rain around 4.30 am

Yes I woke & have been awake since...

I love the rain on the roof when I am tucked up in bed 

but 
I have cartons full of stuff in the garage 
so I fret maybe water will flow in & before long in my mind I am faced with soaked cardboard 
& 
what would I do ???

Anyway all is ok, except I have the dawdles.
*****************

The buttons & little felt things look so cheery in this first collage...

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A bit of a mix in this collage with the felt booklet, a felt santa

 & a couple of display boards

Little French rabbit sitting having a dawdle as well no doubt..

Funny mix this collage

pretty things including past times of me !!!

Time to get on with my day

IT"S ABOUT MOVING TIME

Hardly a thing left loose now ....

( except me of course LOL )

I hate this time........

But 2 more sleeps before it is all loaded & off we all go..

Shall be back soon no doubt...

OH watch for some new designs ..... I sent them off yesterday

It is a tad later for the Christmas ...

but one will be an all year rounder brooch...

A stocking is hopefully going to look fabulous with lots of things deeply etched into it...

I am trying this as a big decoration at I think 15 cm & then go down to 10 & 5 cm if it takes it on the wood......

So stay tuned

For stores 

who order from me it is a really good idea to enrol in my newsletter as this is the way I communicate for things like moves..work delays etc 

I am not sending out newsletters to only flog stuff ...it is a letter & I write !

I always do p[ut a small post on the front home page of the website when things change or are delays ..

au revoir

Barb

The last bit before I move

There they are all ready for the UK ..they have gone off into the post now.

I thought the thread keepers just looked so lovely...

one time when more is better......

***

The last pieces of the jigsaw are being pulled together....

Oh a bit of a screaming time....

au revoir for the moment

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These are the pleasures

Late yesterday I finally painted this batch of the big decorations....

They did look a happy bunch as they came to life under the colours on the brush.

These are things that give me so much pleasure ...especially if the design world gets a little bit grotty... as it does at times...

You work with someone who invites you in then leaves you and others high & dry with unprofessional conduct...

These sort of things are out of one's control but it sure does not ease the stress....for it being done...

I return to my work.....sorry for the one who has lost her way.....

and work silently towards my next goal....

This has been a 20 year apprenticeship in this industry...in October 2015

we celebrated very quitely that time I began to do business & change from being a hobby.

The world does take a different look once this transition begins....

From cloth dolls & my beloved cloth santas 

to

stitcheries & books

to

both Aust & an international distributership

to designed painted lady brooches  

with a couple of cats & dogs to keep them company

to

the designed painted buttons 

&

the Christmas decorations...

back to drawing the stitcheries ...to be worked into a quilt by another.....

in  a French Quilt Magazine ....

My first love is drawing ..just as I do it.....

I collect things in my travels...grateful to be given this key...

Talking with one of my friends over lunch the other day.....confirms again...we do this... 

a building for me with architecture from the past one little feature & 

she sees a fence while waiting at the lights & quickly sketches the rough design.....to use in her art work ,symbolic more than any directness...

Some do not ever understand what drives us to draw, paint & construct..& feel.

 .... some are far too afraid to go their real way..

I thought of Michelle Payne the rider of the winner of the Melbourne Cup as I wrote that,

She did go her own way...

brave, striving & she came through to be the

 first woman jockey  in Australia to win the Melbourne Cup 

a race that stops this nation.... 

& 

she has such graciousness 

including her brother the strapper on the stage beside her..

& tells her story

She is one amazing woman...

That is what I am talking of..doing it in one's own small way can take you down some well lit streets & some dark alleys LOL

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copyright bj Smith

In A Day's .....work

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I was doing a fair bit yesterday...

as I brought the trays in I got that quick chance to look them over.

How pretty...I said to myself..

As I was collaging the pictures this morning I pulled in more trays I had painted this week

Don't they just look so happy !

On saying that I will have a week's wait for any more orders in...

It is a bust week for this sort of stuff,

plus I finalise the moving & go.... 

I did these socks yesterday afternoon..

They are a very detailed paint with keeping in lines of holly & berryie & santa's clothing

& dot them & tack them

But

they sure are worth that individual effort ...

I have rarely seen this many at once & I am thinking ohhhhhh a little tree of divine 

white santas in socks 

Santa's Socks

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Packing I found some designs that are ready to be sewn

So ......

I played hooky and did a little stitching .

These stockings are so simple

&

Can look so different 

with different fabrics....

embellishments

buttons..

Christmas is near !!!!

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I thought this is saying what my anticipation for Christmas is !!!!

It is work over the last couple of weeks....

Snowmen

Santas

Angels

French Rabbits

Gingerbreads

Reindeers

Birds

Robins

Puddings

all

Painted & Stitched & Drawn

Experimenting

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You may gather I am still experimenting with that photo collage spot....frame ??? but just interesting to see what looks ?

I have been painting and about to venture to the post office...

How easy I am distracted.....

Today I have painted snowmen mini thread holders.... a big herd of white deer  & a few santas with tan reindeers & the bases of a lot of snowmen couples

Always love it when I have an array of colours ......

the red & white of Christmas ...

Best be on my way...

Having FUN

Yesterday....I nipped out in the morning to see a friend's Nell's art work on display with the flower show at Forrest in Canberra...

Wow some amazing watercolours...cows, chooks & roosters, iris's beach, farm cottages old trucks in farm paddocks, sheep...

The flowers were also amazing.....

Later in the afternoon I went by my old neighbourhood & knocked on one of my neighbour's doors & 

happily I was let in !

had a wonderful afternoon chatting & seeing both the girls who are now beautiful young women & the beauty goes with in too.

Thanks for this .....program 

too.

So I wa son my way to paint but here I am 

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Copyright bj smith

This is such magic !!