Something Blue - Pay It Forward

DUST is the ETSY "Down Under Street Team" - a group of Australian Artists, Craftspeople and Artisans who support ETSY and wish to promote independent handcrafted goods here is Australia and workwide. I am a proud member of DUST . Each month DUST has a sale with a theme. This month, the theme is "Something Blue". I had very few things in my shop which are "blue", so started to get out all the blue stuff I have.This Blue Beadie is one of the little pieces I created once I saw how many blue beads I actually had in my stash. I could probably make hundreds of blue beaded things with what I have collected over the years . Do I have Bower Bird syndrome? I also made another little blue Angel of Hope. This one is number 21, but will be sent as a gift to a friend

Do you believe in Pay It Forward ... doing a good deed with nothing asked in return except that the hope that the recipient would go and do another good deed for someone else to keep the cycle going. This is probably more of a 'paying it back" story, but a similar idea. Yesterday Jim and I were having a light lunch in a Japanese cafe "Kitami Kitchen", in Hamilton, Newcastle. A rather dishevelled man came into the cafe and asked the owner for some food for a friend but he had no money. This is a very small business with just the owner and a chef, with three tables in a small shop front - very unpretentious. I expected the owner to refuse and ask the man to leave the premises, but instead, he quietly packaged up some food in takeaway containers for him. I don't want the cycle to finish there, so besides leaving a huge tip for the cafe owner's kindness, I'd like to recommend this little cafe for a quick lunch or takeaway food. All this happened after a great Father's Day outing with our family. What a great Sunday...

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Too Precious to Waste

Stitched tea bags/ old doily "tea lights" - Wilma Simmons More than a year ago, a decision was made. The annual exhibition of NCEATA ( Newcastle Creative Embroiderers and Textile Artists) 2015-2016 will have the theme "Mottainai". Mottainai in Japanese refers to more than just physical waste (resources). It is even used to refer to thought patterns that give rise to wasteful action. Grammatically, it can be used in Japanese as an exclamation ("mottainai!") or as an adjective phrase ("it feels mottainai"). There is no plural form. The collection of mottainai things could be called mottainai koto ( もったいない事 ? ). As an exclamation ("mottainai!") it means roughly "what a waste!" or "Don't waste." [2] A simple English equivalent is the saying "waste not, want not." A more elaborate meaning conveys a sense of value and worthiness and may be translated as "do not destroy (or lay waste to) that

Fish and Sticks : Art Dolls

This week I've been working on fish and sticks .... The sticks are the message stick art dolls which were very popular, attracting some attention and a few orders at the Wise Women exhibition. Each of the message stick dolls are from the Wise Women series, each with her own personality and message of wisdom, handwritten on a handmade timber tag. I gather the sticks during my walks around my neighbourhood and the tags are made from special bits of timber, some collected by me or my husband or from off cuts gifted to us from another doll making friend whose husband makes bagpipes. These dolls start off very simply with a wrap around a stick, in the general shape of a body. 'Naked" message stick dolls - strips of wadding wrapped around found sticks. Then I usually wrap other layers of fabric, wool, and/or fibres, over which I do some simple embroidery. I sculpt or mould small face masks for these dolls. I really like using "sari ribbon" as wrapping str

May I Present Mrs Chalumeau...

Finally Mrs Chalumeau takes a bow …She is a Pearly Queen … 695 buttons on the doll and 10 on the journal.(I think – could be more). I would like to thank Paula from Antiques and Collectables here in Hamilton, Newcastle and Raku Buttons ETSY seller for supplying me with about 500 of the vintage mother of pearl buttons, and the rest I had in my stash. I think they look great on my pearly queen, but I am truly tired of sewing on buttons. It made me think however, how many buttons must be on the elaborate clothes of the real pearly Kings and Queens! I drew my inspiration from the lovely lady pictured here, and the following description from Wikipedia. ... A Pearly King ( feminine form Pearly Queen) is a person dressed in a traditional Cockney costume covered in mother-of-pearl buttons. These costumes were treasured heirlooms, hand made and sometimes representing much of a family's wealth. .... This doll is all cloth – a little different from most of my other dolls which generally h

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

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