Australian Admiral Butterfly.

Today the bees had to share their nectar with an Australian Admiral butterfly. It's amazing to see a butterfly in such pristine condition at this time of the year.

Protea in Maturity.

The Protea flower that I showed a few days ago is now well and truly open and indeed past its prime. However the insects, bees in particular love it.

Tall Toadstool.

An Oldie.

While searching for something else I came across this silk scarf that I altered to reflect a recent (at that time) trip to Turkey.
I free motion embroidered the design around the central motif and digitized the rooster. I've always loved the colours and the rooster, but I'm not sure about the rest of it. Anyway, it's gone back into hiding again!

Another Fine Old Tree.

Old Pine Tree.

Isn't this a huge old tree? It stands in a paddock with a few others, none as big as it is though. I would guess that the now empty paddock is the site of an old home which has vanished, apart from a cellar which is obviously used by rabbits and foxes. Pines like these were planted as wind breaks around homes, and in fact still are, as our own native Eucalypts tend not to be suitable as wind break trees. In season, lots of the poisonous red mushrooms with white spots grow under this tree and it looks amazing.

First Trial Stitching of the Fringe Lily Motif.

I'm stitching this first trial of a digitized Fringe Lily motif onto 3 layers of soluble fabric, having first cut out a hole from the surrounding cotton.

The design pinned out ready for the soluble fabric to be washed away. Having 3 layers might be a problem! I can see several errors in the design, but nothing too drastic.

Another Little Butterfly.

With the same procedure as before I have added a 'generic' white butterfly. It's only tiny so I haven't added any antennae, I hope that no-one notices their absence!

Now, what to call the piece.

Maybe Another Smaller Butterfly?

 I think this is going to be O.K. but perhaps it needs another smaller butterfly of a different species in the bottom left corner.

Recycling.

 This collection of fabric leaves was part of an old textile piece that didn't really work. I removed an image of a Mayan statue which left an open space that just cried out for some tropical butterflies. The leaves were all digitized and then stitched out onto various types of fabric, cut out individually and sewn to a felted backgound..

 I digitized these Rajah Brookes Birdwing butterflies on a double layer of black Lutradur, then 'cut' them out with a wood burning tool. Now to add antennae and add them to the leaf background.

Not a Photo!

This is a combination of stamps made in Photoshop, carved rubber stamps, digitized and stitched motifs and various other bits of technology. Not finished by a long way, but a good starting point.

Happy Birthday.

                                                             Icing a frog cake for Grandad.

End of the Season.

 As we come into Autumn down here in South Eastern Australia it is the end of the butterfly season.The Common Brown is one of the first to appear in Spring and one of the last to disappear in Autumn. These pictures are of the female Common Brown.  The males seem to have vanished without trace some time earlier.

This one at left is still alive, just.

Fungi Time Again.

Two very different looking fungi, one looking quite evil with its black fissures and cracked appearance. It almost looks as if it is charred, but it definitely hasn't been anywhere near a fire.

Almost Open.

                                 This gorgeous Protea is almost out, just a couple more days to go.

Open-Air Office!

This is the only way that I can access the Mobile Broadband Internet connection, with a plug in 4G device and a antennae stuck to the top of the gate. Lovely in good weather, apart from the difficulty in seeing the screen, but I'm not sure how I will go in Winter!

Beautifully Made Nest.

I spotted this beautifully made little nest in an Acacia tree. It may well be the work of a Yellow Robin, but I couldn't be sure. It's mostly made of finely shredded bark but there are all sorts of dried grasses and moss as well.

Unusual Visitor to the City Garden.

A beautiful Crimson Rosella decided to visit the city this week. Although we sometimes get Eastern Rosellas,  this is the first time that we have had the Crimson visit us. It was sitting in an Abelia shrub eating the flowers. The photos aren't quite in focus, but I took them with a 10x telephoto setting through a window, so I don't think it's too bad considering!

More Pink Flowers.

                                          A pink Camellia and a single pink Japanese Wind Flower.

Autumn Flowers in the Garden.

 We call this Gallipoli Heath and the pink one grows very well, flowering at a time when a lot of the other plants have finished. However, I have tried on 3 occasions to grow the white one, but it always dies.  Why?

 I have the common blue version of this Spur Plant and also the white, but this pink one is more unusual.
One of the Sedums (below) that flower at this time of the year.

Clematis Revisited.

With the deadline looming for an exhibition featuring Gold, I decided to rework my native Clematis imagery in tones of gold. It's a lot smaller than the original piece and generally darker in the background, but the light gold of the flowers and the darker gold in the foliage seems to work well.

Postcard based on the Art of Bronwyn Bancroft.

Another Challenge.

Some time ago a group of us from the Embroiderers Guild went to a workshop featuring the art of childrens' author and illustrator Bronwyn Bancroft. Of aboriginal descent, Bancroft writes delightful stories for young children, but it is her artwork that we had come to use as inspiration for work of our own. The book' Why I Love Australia' was to be our source book for the workshop, and we were all 'blown-away' by the wonderful multicoloured illustrations. Made up of dots and dashes, lines and circles, each page is illustrated in the colours of a particular land or seascape. Our challenge was to make our own collages using her work as inspiration, and then to translate part of the collage into textile pieces. Above is one of my pieces inspired by the book and below is the second one. I think that the I prefer the first one and will make my textile piece using it as a basis.

Success at Last!

Unbeknownst to the boy, someone buried a few old kangaroo bones in his diggings when he was asleep. He is just thrilled with the 'fossils' that he has unearthed!

Digging for Fossils.

He is sure that there are fossils buried somewhere down there and just keeps on digging down and down.

Mystery Spider.

Unfortunately I can't identify this rather handsome spider. It looks similar to the common St. Andrew's Cross spider, but the striped legs don't fit, and it doesn't have the very striking cross in the middle of the web. I hope I can find out exactly what it is some time soon, but in the mean time, it's a very nice spider!

Kangaroo Vertebra.

This interesting object, which would make a useful stamp if it were flatter, is actually looking down on the top of a kangaroo vertebra that has been lying out in the weather for some time. A fox has disturbed the bones of a dead kangaroo and the back bone has become separated into the individual vertebra.

More Digitizing.

 I decided that the previous flowers were too big, too dark and too purple! These are much smaller and paler.

I forgot to cut away the cotton backing after I sewed the stabilizing rectangle, so the top flowers are unable to be cut out with just the sheer fringe showing. They're too big anyway, so no harm done.

Artist Trading Cards from a Paper Serviette.

 A challenge for the Creative Group at the Embroiderers Guild, Artist Trading Cards on a leaf theme.
I painted a sheet of calico with a mixture of PVA glue and water, placed the paper serviette onto it and then painted over that with the dilute glue mixture.  I covered it with a piece of tissue paper and left it to dry thoroughly. Before cutting the cards out, I free motion embroidered all over the tissue, serviette and calico sheet. Then  with a backing of Pelmet Vilene stiffening, I cut all the cards out and satin stitched the edges with the same variegated thread that I had stitched the front of the cards. Some have better leaf designs on them than others, but they're all usable I reckon!

Digitizing a Fringe Lily.

My original digitized version of the fringe lily with odd colours for contrast.

Stitching the design to test the size and look of it.

With the soluble backing washed away.
The fine organza might work well to add to the fringing, but the white central stamens definitely need to be thicker.

Obviously there is a lot of adjustment needed !