A Brooche Holder

This is an idea I had for a friend of mine,

Vicki, who is turning 60

and

as she has a beautiful collection of vintage brooches

I thought this would be a neat idea for displaying them

and

 I just happen to know that she would really would love one of these anyway!!!!

I couldn't think of anything richer than black velvet on which to

display them all.

Some cotton coffee dyed lace and braid!

embellished with lace and buttons!



A special thankyou to all my new followers

and

to every dear blogging friend

who has left a comment!

It is truely appreciated!

and

I wish for you all a really peaceful weekend

sparing just a precious kind  and loving thought for everyone who has been so affected by the earthquake in

Japan.

xx Suzy

"Pandora's Box" Journal is Finished!!!

Many of you know that I have been working on my

Fabric Altered Book

now over the past short while

through an on-line workshop

with

Nellie Wortman

See all the details here:

and I can now share with you the result of this work.

The theme here is "Pandora's Box" where no one but the craeator

can know what lies within - a surprise to all!

The Journal comprises 3 signatures of 4 pages in each signature which ends in a total of

48 pages all up.  The signatures can contain any number of pages (roughly up to 6 pages)

but as I just love to work so much with fabrics I chose only 4.

I would have to say that most of the fabrics, braids, laces that I used

were recycled which is a very pleasing feeling to me!

The embroidered silk fabric on the right came from a very beautiful vintage silk camisole which I wore some 40 years ago -

boy that is really telling of my age!!!!

Some eco-dyed silk by me on the left used with some favourite linen embroidered recycled fabric and braid from my cushion collection from the 70's.  It is amazing how hard it is to part with those textured trims that you love so much! 

This next page on the right shows one of the most beautiful

leaves from an ornamental grapevine lining our verandah in front of our home.

And here a special heart card from a special friend (Jo) made with handmade paper.
.

A piece of a pink vintage cardigan with the most exquisite beading lies next to some

single and double feather stitching by yours truely!

And, of course, no journal would be complete without some of my crazy patchwork using vintage fabrics, silks, velvets, fancy stitching and a few beads

alongside some vintage sari braids and silk!

The whole journal measures approx. 9" x 5.5" x approx. 4" thick!

Front and back covers are from a recycled book using water colour paper for the pages.

There are many more pages but I could not fit them all in here!

The whole process has been just so inspiring to me and it has given me the opportunity to extend

myself into new mediums!

Thank you Nelly for sharing your skills

and

for your heartfelt encouragement!

xx Suzy

OWOH - Gifts of Kindness

The One World One Heart

must surely be

THE BLOGGING EVENT OF THE YEAR!

Huge Thanks go to Lisa Swifka for all the hard work she has put into this wonderful

 event over the past 5 years.

Lisa - thank you so much for bringing together so many like-minded artful souls

and for giving us the opportunity to share so much creativity and joy

along the whole journey

and for all the wonderful friendships that have been made.

I personally feel truely grateful for the whole experience

and for the most wonderful gifts I have received.

Among these include :

Viola from

http://www.shabbychicinspired.blogspot.com/

Her beautiful gift was wrapped in this large oval shaped dyed doily

and inside I found these:

How gorgeous is Viola's work!

A handmade fabric collage, tags and some beautiful lace.

Thank you so very much Viola - I will love and treasure these

and feel especially honoured to have recieved these.

And speaking of all things lacey came my second prize from

Liz of http://www.lululizinlalaland.blogspot.com/

A very beautiful white vintage laced cushion and oh just look at the beautiful image in the centre!

Not to mention the french influenced tag!

It is sitting perfectly happy on top of one of my vintage laced quilts.

And thought it looked quite at home on my bed! - What do you think?

Thank you sweet woman Liz for your gorgeous work

in putting this together!

Next from one truely special woman from

http://www.rustedwingsstudio.blogspot.com/

is Abigail with her truely special gift

of this painting called

"Little Bird"

bearing this message:

"Still voice within - Lead me and guide me."

Abigail is a rare and heartfelt artist and a true inspiration to any artist who is on the

path of soul searching!

Abigail I am in debt to you always.  I will love and treasure this piece and always be

reminded of the connection to you when I look at it.

From Palma Rea in Italy

http://www.athena-myfirstbloggy.blogspot.com/

came these beautiful draw prizes of

this delicate heart on a chain

plus a collaged card and some extra threads - just what we fibre artists need to create with!

Thanks heaps Palma - you are one incredible artist whose work is just so colourful

and vibrant!

And finally, as if all this wasn't enough, arrived in the mail was this:

from Diane at

http://www.dianesmixedart.blogspot.com/

Diane's mixed media art is very inventive.

This is an image which has been edited using Photoshop

and transferred onto canvas.

What a clever woman she is - a wonderful mixed media artist.

Thank you for your kindness Dian.

Well, all in all, I think I have received more than my fair share of such wonderful art coming

from, as far and wide as,

Germany, England, the United States and Italy

Thank you all so very much for making this OWOH event

so memorable!

The Many Ways of Creating a Heart

There are many ways to create a heart

and

this has been made using vintage fabrics, sari ribbon, Indian

braids, tapestry fabric and laces.

These are a couple more pages for my

Altered Fabric Book

and

now you can see how it grows and grows!