Creating with Gifted Lace

 Hello Dear Readers

Well I really hope you are not getting

too bored with me by now

always talking about

lace, linen and doilies - receiving it, buying it,

 talking about it and creating with it

because I have even more to share with you 

today

This most beautiful stash of the finest vintage net lace

doilies, broderie englaise and an array of 

bits and pieces including these most gorgeous

 hand tatted and Vintage knitted lace pieces

arrived in the mail from my most generous friend

Judy McCarthy who recently suspended her blog

"Judy's Fabrications" 

for a break for the time being.

 Thank you Judy so very much for always thinking of me!

Some of these have already been included in my works!

♥♥♥♥♥

And, all the way from Bornholm, Denmark

came this most beautifully wrapped gift

from Dorthe of

 www.denlillelade.blogspot.com

Another bundle of the most beautiful lace pieces,

vintage curtain, beaded ribbon,

with this accompanying die cut and lace tag

with a stone angel and wings - isn't it beautiful?

 (The other wing is on the underside of the tag!)

with an assortment of precious cut lace, collars,

embroidered doiley, handkerchief and motifs'

 Dorthe included some of these

beautiful glittery stars.

See how they sparkle?

These beautiful pieces will be used

when I create my Christmas angels with their

 soft flowing dresses of vintage lace and silk.

Thank you so very much my very dear friend - 

it's priceless and precious  

when our blogging friends know us that well that

they know what makes our hearts sing!

Little jewells of beauty!

Please go and visit Dorthe's blog if you don't already

know her and her gorgeous doll and mixed media

creations.

♥♥♥♥♥ 

"Thoughts Far Away"

is the theme of this collage created

for another dear blogging friend (whom has not as yet received it).

I've always loved this image and 

I realize that very often these are the source

of what inspire me to create pieces that

will become endeared by others who also have

the same passion for laces, satin and sari ribbon and

embellishments like roses as I have!

Oh what beautiful textures!

This last collaged tag was a little

creation I came up with

this afternoon with some

French accents

it was made for a girlfriend's Birthday!

Hope she enjoys this little tresor!

Thank you everyone for enjoying 

your visits here and to all those

people who know how much I appreciate their

wonderful gifts of lace - the more they see

of these little creations - the more they

seem to want to offer and I am so

very grateful for that!

Thank you for your lovely comments - always!

I can feel another "Giveaway" mulling around in my head

for all of my faithful followers to enter

and know it won't be long before you see it posted here

so keep checking!

Love and blessings to you xox

Suzy

Buntings for Vicki's Birds Nests

I am sure many of you are familiar with

our wonderful blogging friend,

Vicki Boster from

2-bagsfull blog
who creates the most amazing "nests" from
her huge range of threads, fibres, laces etc.
Well Vicki also creates a range of
"Designer Nests"
 where the proceeds from the sale of these she donates
to a charity. How incredible a gesture is that from
one women?

Vicki loves to include the creativity of other people in these
Designer Nests and she approached me about being
a contributor! Well I just couldn't be more
honored and below is a picture
of her "Vintage Spring Nest"

which she has designed and created using the most
beautiful millinery flowers from her own 
personal collection and 
my own contribution
will be these teeny weeny little buntings
which will hang down the side
of these sweet nests!

These nests will not be available until May, 2014
because there is so much to organize for these
nests

but preparations are already
taking place now

 so that they will be available and on hand

for Vicki as she creates each one individually.

These little buntings are approx. 4 inches long

so that gives you an idea of the actual size.

I have used a variety of soft Spring cotton prints

and embellished them with ribbon, 

embroidered motifs, lace,

beads, buttons and

bling!

Vicky explained who would

benefit from the nests.

"The charitable donations from these nests

will be given to our brand new

Pediatric Addiction recovery center 

here in

Huntington, West Va. 

Lily's Place will be the new home of a regional and national leader in the care of babies suffering from Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or drug addiction."

I believe this is the only one of it's kind 

in the United States!

(maybe even in the world???!!!).

(Some of the beautiful millinery flowers Vicki will use).

No wonder this project is so near and dear to Vicki's heart

where everyday in her nursing career she witnesses

so many babies suffer from the complications

of maternal drug addiction

and

this new facility will forever change the way

that babies will be treated for addictions.

(Some vintage Jewellery Vicki has chosen for the nests).

So what better venture could I throw myself into

other than making a number of tiny buntings

which could benefit so many

dear little souls?

There are two other amazingly creative artists whom will also
be contributing to these Vintage Spring Nests

and they are

Karen Bailey of Todolwen Blogspot
and 
Deb Hembree of Mosaic Magpie Blog

so if you would like to go and check out their blogs
you will be able to view their contributions also.

For further reading about this magnificent
project go to Vicki's blog and read
about how you can order 
one of these
for yourself!

 Thank you so very much Vicki for choosing me
to be part of this wonderful project
created in your heart and mind!

♥♥♥♥♥

In the meantime I have been slowly plugging away at
creating a new Lace book

(I wish I wasn't so addicted!!!!!)





and so here is a sneak peek until I reach the end!
Linking this week to Becky at
Blissful Whites Wednesday  
and
ivyandelephants.blogspot.com "What's It Wednesday"

Sharing some words from Kahlil Gibran

"Your living is determined

not so much by what life brings to you

as by the attitude you bring to life;

not so much by what happens to you

 as by the way your mind 

looks at what happens."

And finally friends I'm just so grateful for all of your

wonderful words left over my "Birds Inspire"

Fabric and Lace book

and for always coming to visit - new and old

followers too!

"Sincere thanks from my heart to yours"

You are the best!!!

Love and hugs, Suzy xox

Another Nature Fabric and Lacebook "Birds Inspire"

This book was created by me some twelve months ago

and was inspired by a delightful calender I was

gifted from an old friend

for Christmas

last year.

Unfortunately I lost all of the images soon after

with one of those unfortunate computer

viruses

(The quilted and buttoned spine)

and I had to retrieve them from the same friend

in a different format so I do apologize

for the quality of the images. 

I remember how I just couldn't wait to start

creating this one because I really was

inspired so much by the

beautiful images.

I dyed much of the vintage lace

as well as the scrim and raw silk to complement

the theme of the work.

I incorporated some floral vintage

curtain fabric which I had

in my fabric stash

for many

years!

(which became more tattered and torn as I created  with it

and you know how easy that can happen when you

start to tear this precious woven stuff!).

Here you can see some machine embroidered

stitching over raw dyed silk

framing the pretty bird image which

sits over the layers of printed linen, lace fabric,

upcycled machine embroidered cotton

and doilies.

I have repeated some of the rose printed linen

and signature cottons to bring more

continuity to the pages too.

Back page here with scrim and burlap binding

which has been stippled quilted.

This book is now living with a dear blogging friend

in Holland, Yvonne. Go and take a look

at her gorgeous mixed media work!

Whether it is Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter

we can always see both birds and flowers 

to inspire us and fill our hearts

with the love of

mother nature!

I'm linking this post to Ivy and Elephants blog

for "What's It Wednesday"

♥♥♥

Thank you so much for your kind comments

that you leave here on my blog -

my world would be a lesser

place without your

input and support!

and

a warm welcome to all my new followers!

I hope you all get a chance to be in nature this week

to enjoy the beauty and quietness and to

feel what it gives us!

xxx Suzy

Vintage Lace and Linen in a Bag

I was thinking it might be time to create something

just a little different

using some

left over linen and laces combining them with

a beautiful old white cotton blouse

 to create this little bag to hold bits of ephemera,

laces, ribbons or whatever comes to mind!
Maybe even your secret dreams!

Isn't this such a pretty old piece of cut lace linen?

I had already used the other end of it on 

a journal page about a year ago.

 Somehow the addition of brown and black buttons

brings more vintage charm to these old

favourites!

 The back of the bag is made by combining

pieces into a crazy patchwork effect.

and more buttons on a rusty old safety pin

brings a bit of shabby charm

don't you think?

 and what better thing to create

with than those gorgeous little left over pieces

of precious lace?

- a tag to adorn this dear little image with!

Although we are about a month away from

the start of Winter here in Australia

I'm still picking these beautiful

blooms of "Just Joey"

to grace our kitchen window shelf with

and what a beautiful view it is from the kitchen window here

as the Autumn leaves rapidly fall and get blown away.

Did you know that Pink Roses represent
happiness, gentleness and sweetness?
May your days be filled with much of 
all of these!

I'm linking this post to Blissful Whites Wednesday!
so go and check out this beautiful blog!

♥♥♥

Love and blessings, Suzy  xox