Swedish Treat !!!!

Gudrun sent me this photo from Sweden overnight 

of the Jillian Day in Paris design which she has made into a journal cover...

It is gorgeous !!!

Thank you Gudrun for allowing us all to see the work .

A little Mixed Up

Yesterday ...I worked on this sample thing for the workshop in July... need to add some hand embroidery for effect....

www.theodoracleave.com

Same sample making theme that I did the other week, but needed to paint the pieces to see how they looked....

This one is a frame ..same technique.

Cute ?

I watched the animals on Friday in the animal pen in the park for ages...

I love watching them 

One sheep missed the lens a bit LOL

 As I strolled along Bull St...

I looked up at this pretty building...

&

wondered ....

Ohh Boring Old Buttons again !

Sometimes I swear I am in a time warp

of 

Christmas !!

Not that I mind as it is a happy painting of santas, deers, angels & trees...

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I had an interesting dream early this morning

I was in a Paris arcade full of quilt shops..

Bit like going to a large quilt show I think..

I saw 2 designs of mine 

&

Thought oh wow that is a great way to do the design....

Then the phone woke me ...it was a local number which I didn't recognise...but thought best check it wasn't one of my elderly neighbours or my friend in the back blocks...

It was the emergency section of the hospital ..I was a bit stunned & then she checked with the Dr who had rung they were looking for some poor soul's next of kin.

ohhh I thought as I breathed it wasn't mine to deal with...but then felt sad for the people the call was intended for..

I went back to bed after walking about in circles for a while...

I so wanted to slip back to my quilt shops dream...

The doorbell woke me next time LOL

Easter Friday in Bendigo

Yesterday was full of colour and kids...in Bendigo for the Easter festivities

(This is all going on all weekend with the Easter parade on Sunday with the big dragon weaving his way about the streets...

Today he is woken up at the Chinese Museum in the city's edge)

I went to look at the art exhibition in the Town Hall 

& as I drove by the park...my plan was to walk to there & back via the exhibition.

 The Lion Dancers were in Hargreave's Mall..an open space in the older shopping centre..

I love this display ....drum beat is very strong & the way the lions move and it tells a story...which I never remember ..the colour is amazing

&

so are many young children who are the lions.

 In Rosalind Park a very bust Easter egg hunt was going on..

as well as many activities for the children to engage in

painting..... woodworking, .... belly dancing.... ping pong.....animal farm

then back over the other bridge to the rides and street market

One young painter... it was hard to take pictures without children in it..I always take as much of this out of a picture.... this young kid got up to get something...& had walked away from his work..

 The animal enclosure was hectic with goats & sheep & children & parents

 The bridge to the rides

bright Little things

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Well they are happy in sassy pink, sea aqua & sunshine yellow....

It is Easter tomorrow 

Enjoy,

 be safe....

 relax.... 

be a good person..

then Easter Bunny might just leave you a chocolate egg..!

Today I visited Cohuna Patchwork Group

Lorraine's quilt which is super detailed with many stitches, colouring in & none of the photos I did have done it justice.

This quilt won several prizes at the local show on the weekend.

It is a BOM from Faeries in My Garden 

 Lorraine & her finished work !

Norma's quilt is gorgeous in felt, stitching on each piece of felt & fabric.

Norma is a cousin of mine... so we had some snippets of conversation on relatives.... some she knew well & I had only read about...

 Norma also had found this brooch of one of my earlier designs

One of the ladies was stitching a design from Bless Them Stitchers

I love the flowers stitching...

Many of the ladies were stitching ....I love to see what people are working on....it is always interesting to see the diversity.

I was able to buy some glass jugs, bowls from the Historical Society Trash & Treasure   which is a great place to find interesting & very reasonable pieces...

I use these for storage & styling of my work.

Then I met another friend in the park by the creek across from the shops for an outdoor lunch...

I also ran into Lee who used to have a quilt shop in town & began the successful quilting retreat weekends in Cohuna.....some of you may recall those early days ...& that basis continues today with a shire Aust Day award this year with the group who now carry Cubby House Quilter's forward.

before I file this away again

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This is another free design for your personal use...from 2014

I did this for felt applique,  needleturn with be ok...stitching & needlepunch.

This was the entire piece but it can be broken up into more things...

 This centre piece of the design can be used on needlecases, journal covers, scissor keeps & a brooch ..pin cushion etc

 These make a great border as in the design, but it can be repeated ....along a long quilt border..
Many uses.......I like it a lot .....so please show me what you make if you take it for your use

Somethings on the tray

At last a COOL & RAINY morning

I have  the dawdling mode set to slow & steady today.

Gudrun asked in a recent comment did I really paint all the buttons myself. I do
( Gudrun some buttons left on Monday to your post box as a thank you for sharing your quilt from Bless Them Stitchers & A year in The Country designs )

It is what I do after I design...LOL

This is last 2 days work on these trays...

wonderful mix

snowmen, cats in flowers, birds with twigs or pears, santas, French ladies, Everyday angels, fleur signs etc etc

I like to be authentic, it is part of my moral compass....
if I say I did it ..I did...if someone else does samples for me I will also say it was someone else....

www.theodoracleave.com

Lady Buttons arrived today

UPDATE
These ladies have all sold out...
More will come in soon !!!
www.theodoracleave.com

Paige, Jillian & Jayne

In different colourways

These are on the web now for $5 each & I have a small amount in stock.

And 

3 Brown houses

Have come into the colour scheme

How different do these look painted in these colours !!!

Today is new computer proper time ....

Julie set it going for me yesterday of which I was very grateful...

Oscar cat also helped a bit !

I have just put the printer on & scanned these pics..bit daunting as every darn picture store is different....so irritating

This morning was wake up to an alarm as I needed to be at the car place on the other side of town early.....car was serviced & wheels in alignment now 

What a wait though !!! 

New Buttons

These arrived this morning, just as I was finishing up until after 5pm for paint work in hot days...that annoys me so much.....sun the heat....

I have made buttons from some of the Christmas decorations

&

I am so thrilled with them....

they will be so useful for more than the Christmas scene....

Robin in the pears is a new painting of the bird.

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Santas & Snowmen & I forgot to collage the holly

The French Rabbit & santa is about 5cm which is a good size for those tags of Marg Low's

The faces are so useful.....

& the snowman trio has now come back with out any borders & they just love that.

& the Holly...

which I was waiting for as I thing it is a great shape

They are all on the website...

Speaking of Marg Low's Tag my FAVOURITE is on her blog now...

pop to my side bar & have a look at the lovely Stardust Angel with 2 bendy trees 

or click

www.marglowdesigns.typepad.com

amazing how a cool breeze

I have been considering how amazing a cool breeze can bring on feelings of amnesia, that it has been constantly so hot for days & nights !

How does it make me feel then ??? 

Happy....hopeful that tomorrow will not be 39 as promised by the weather man.... 

My days have been split differently as the sun moves away from my window or before it reaches the window, 

I paint.....

in the heat of the afternoon..

I often waste ....

or go out, 

meet a friend, 

lunch, 

chat on the phone....

During this extended period of late hot summer I have managed to do a bit of work....

the collage says something !!!

Today I began to paint a batch for Noemie's shop in France ready for a display in Magic Patch magazine in France & Olivia from the magazine tells me this evening it will be May/June issue....

I am painting a lovely selection...

&

I always feel so very fortunate this is happening to me !!! LOL

Recently I have been painting lots of bees..I love the bees, so useful.

Tomorrow or the following day a new batch of buttons that were Christmas decorations arrive....

It will be a flurry of excitement, as I will want to paint them right away !

Today, I went to see the Marilyn Monroe exhibition... a wonderful display of her life.

I loved the way she worked the camera's she was amazing, 

there are movies rolling in different parts of the gallery, 

soft fabric gowns..one is an Australia designer's gown, delicately beaded....

Letters from movie houses & private pictures ....life, a life .  

It got me thinking that not too many people get to have an amazing display of their life after they have gone....

she was a young woman, when she left her life...but she had experienced so much....

Did you know she had been placed in foster care after she was born.... sometimes we do think a successful person has had a dream run, but often it is not the case is it ?

Now I have a little mirror of Marilyn to remind me to endeavour to be a little bit more glamorous each day 

.....

in the heat it is hard to find that LOL

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