Pasta From Scratch.

 Having bought a pasta cutting machine for use with polymer clay, and not actually using it for that purpose, I thought I might try to use it for it's real purpose, making pasta.
Here is the dough that I made from imported Italian pasta flour, eggs and water.

 I found that it was very difficult to feed the pasta into the machine at the same time as catching it as it emerged the other side, especially when cutting the fettuccini ribbons.

                                  Here is the finished product, not bad for a first go I reckon!
                                 The hanging rod is fittingly propped up on 2 cookery books.

Stamp Print.

This is the first print from my carved stamp using markers to colour the stamp. It didn't turn out all that well, as the markers, water based ones, still dried a bit too quickly. I must try with acrylic paints or stamp pads designed for fabric, they are very soft and the ink takes ages to dry.

Flowers at Last.

I  decided to grow some 'special' Nasturtiums from seed to see if I could get some of the more unusual colours. This one above is a softer orange than usual, but still orange.

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                                  This one above is more of an apricot colour, very pretty.

                   This one is really lovely, a soft creamy yellow with deep orange markings.

Fun with Nasturtiums.

                                             Here is the finished stamp with colour added.

                            Almost finished, a black try-out to see what more need to be done.

      Here I was having fun with a Kaleidoscope program and a picture of a nasturtium painting.

Stamp Carving.

                                                        I'm out of practise unfortunately!

                                           Some of the veins in the leaves are far too heavy!

Back to the Nasturtium Project.

It was raining this morning, but not too wet so I ventured out to pick some fresh nasturtiums.

                         Just a simple drawing to hopefully get started with a stamp carving.

Eucalypt Flowers.

Most people are familiar with the gorgeous pink and red flowering varieties of Eucalypt, but this fluffy cream species is just as gorgeous in it's understated way I think.

Chocolate Lilies.

                                           Part of a large field of flowering Chocolate Lilies.

                                               They really do smell faintly of chocolate too.

Bird Orchid.

This is a Common Bird Orchid growing at the base of a tree in the leaf litter. The flower resembles the open beak of a begging baby bird, hence the name.

Not Wanted!

 A cheeky Blackbird has moved into the area, an introduced bird that until recently had never been seen in this particular area.......... there must now be 2 of them I guess.

                                                  Pretty eggs, but we don't want them here!

Some Stamp Carving.

                             I'm a bit out of practise unfortunately, so there are a few blunders.

                               Some of the lines, like the veins in the leaves are much to heavy.

A Walk across the Paddock.

 Not a wild life park, but a very old race track that has been grazed by sheep for many years, but in recent times a large mob of kangaroos have taken over. They hadn't spotted us yet...........

But then they did, and hopped off into the bush.

A day at the Beach.

                 At this time of year, mid November, the weather should be warm, but it's not!

                                              I've never seen such a bright green sea weed.

                                              No one on the beach except us and the gulls.

Artist Trading Cards.

    One of the groups to which I belong has had an 18 month long challenge for selected topic ATCs.
We began with leaves in 2012. Images based on a design on a small perfume bottle and a pottery vase were followed by shells, flowers and driftwood.
In 2013 we have had, shoes, butterflies, teapots, trees, caterpillars, horse, armadillo (!), wheels, boxes and the number 13. All done !

Photoshop Fun.

  A little bit of filter fun using Photoshop and one of the gelatine daisy prints from a day or so ago.

A Bit of Art Play at Long Last.

 It's been a very busy few months and I have been longing to get back to some play in the workroom.

Nasturtium flowers don't print very well as they are so bulky, but I think that I can still get something out of this print.

                                    
                                    
                                These look like something from under a microscope I think.