Fabric and Lacebook re: Birds from Downunder

I know that birds are most often associated 

with Spring but I love them in any season

and

I wanted to share a book which I created

for Lisa of Tarnished and Tattered Blog

(as part of a swap we engaged in

several months ago)

about our native Australian birds here

- the "Honeyeaters".

The bird theme was a total surprise for Lisa!

I have also included a couple of other birds but it is mainly

focused on the Honeyeaters.

I took several pieces of fabric away with me on a short

holiday last year so that I could hand piece 

some fabrics together in the evening where we stayed

in a beautiful cabin on the beach.

This Wonga Pigeon graces the cover

and here are the first two pages inside.

I know how much Lisa loves birds and themes

related to nature but I doubt that she ever sees

any of these beautiful insect loving birds

in her garden!!!

Oh and popped in the left hand pocket on these

pages is a tag with one of our Kookaburras

on it!

You can clearly see this pocket displaying the Black Honeyeaters

was created from a rusted linen serviette.

In this pocket are a couple of vintage cigarette cards

from my collection of ephemera.

The Heron which is actually from a piece of fabric

I identified from my bird books as a Reef Heron!

I'm not quite sure where in the book this appears

but I simply loved that beautiful nest 

which I had to incorporate.

You can also see more rust dyed and blue silk fabrics

which have been collaged and hand stitched

with some vintage lace.

This photo on the back of the lacebook came from

 a dear friend, Ron.

See the little Blue Wren sitting on the fence post?

Now you can see how the many pages of fabrics

and lace look together to give it a

very rustic feel!

Last, but not least, is the spine adorned with a metal finding.

I can't tell you how much I enjoyed the creation of

this book with its many layered fabrics and laces of hand stitching

and I was very happy with the result

not to mention how thrilled Lisa 

was to receive it.

I will share what I received from Lisa in a future post seeing that

I have managed to take up so much of your precious time

in viewing this post already!

I'm joining the party at What's It Wednesday
Ivy and Elephants this week!

I do have at least two more lacebook journals that I will

share with you as we go along - one of which

relates to nature again!

Finally I'm just sending some Autumnal hugs

from our garden to all my friends and followers

in blogland with this beautiful

Windflower!

Enjoy♥♥♥

Have a lovely weekend!

Suzy xox

Changing of the Seasons

Well Autumn is now showing herself very discreetly

in our garden for another season!

It has been another incredibly dry Summer here again

so when this beautiful soft 25mls of rain landed I just had

to rush out and capture these magnificent rain drops

sitting on the Manchurian Pear Trees.

It takes very little before things

start greening up again!

It's such a different scenario this year than at the same time last year

when we were fighting off a huge bushfire dangerously 

close to our boundary fence so to see the soft

rain dappling our rocks and native grasses

is a pleasant relief!

Some ladders and garden tools are propped in readiness

for taming our very rambling garden.

You just see the very beginnings of the changing colors

from green to red on the grapevine.

I love this grapvine in every season - you can never tire

of it's beauty for shade, protection and shelter

for birds nesting too!

There is a different view around every corner

like this gnarled looking Ornamental Grapevine, a rusty garden gate,

 a few cast iron pots and rusty buckets

used for different jobs around the garden.

The sight of the girlie goats returning to their home paddock

walking in line besides the bubbling creek

with their drenched Angora fleeces

wishing they could get through that fence and into

the Belladonna Lillies

and even, better still, would be the last remaining 

Just Joey apricot roses in their last flowering before Winter sets in

or perhaps those pretty Hydrangeas which have almost

turned red.

This last bit of rain we hope will keep some life

in our garden until Winter returns once again!

Hope you all get a chance to spend just a wee bit of time
outdoors somewhere appreciating
the subtle changes of coolness, warmth, melting snows,
sunshine or rain wherever and whenever you can.

Thank you to all of my new followers - 
I hope there is enough to inspire your days here
in whatever you are doing!!!

Big hugs, Suzy xox

Sampling a Giveaway and Springtime Garden

 It is a very abundant time in our garden this time of year

(so I am warning you that this is quite a lengthy

and picturesque post if you enjoy garden

tours!)

in so many different ways especially

with the roses in bloom.

Popping up everywhere you will find forget-me-nots, granny's bonnets, grasses of all sorts,

hydranges, irises, roses - rambling and climbing

beautiful shade tress of Chinese Elms, Japanese Maples, Silver Birches,

Buddleas and places to just sit 

and take in all the fragrances, listen to the birds

and watch the Angora goats grazing!

Spectacular colour as in these irises!

And just around the corner is another garden of old world roses

and climbers like this Cecile Brunner and the soft apricot

shades of Crepiscule.

Now on one of the branches of this climber 

which happens to be outside my studio

 you might remember I mentioned that a Willy Wagtail

was creating a nest

and since then everyday as I have been creating

only metres from my table

I have witnessed the most amazing little miracle

of the entrance into the world

of these three baby Wagtails

and the emergence of each one

from the nest,

the testing, spreading and stretching of their little wings,

gaining strength in their little legs

in readiness for flight!

Now it's not every day that we are blessed with

such an amazing miracle 

within just a few feet of where we create just outside -

 that's for sure!

And what's more I feel so blessed for

living in such a special place indeed!

 Even with all this distraction I have managed to create

a little something ( yes - just a tad lacey!) 

for all of my wonderful

followers as a little

"Thank you"

which I will be sharing in a Giveaway very soon!

So do stay tuned to enter yourself!

Wishing you all a most relaxing and joyful weekend!

Love, Suzy xxx