Surprises in the Mail

Where to begin...I got two postcards in the mail, two siggy blocks, and two wonderful gifts from friends. The postman had a sour look on his face...poor dear!

Anyways, let's begin with the two postcards. Both came from members of the Artsnthemail Group that I belong to. The theme of the swap was "W is for ...." Pamela from the UK sent me a wonderful white lace and flower card with button embellishments...all pure white and beautiful! Then I received a white and blue windmill from Liz in Boise, ID. It reminded me of the windmill that Joe and I saw in Greece on the island of Santorini. Thanks to both! I then made a postcard for one of them, which was a white flower that I machine felted with roving and yarn. I am in the process of making the other one and will mail them out today.Then I received two lovely siggy blocks...One was from Janet in England, and it was a gorgeous block with yellow flowers. It brought a bit of spring to me, and I was very thankful for that. Then, Feys from Belgium sent me the cutest bear block, as she explained that she loves to make bears. The bear had such a joyful smile on its face.

I also received a consolation gift from Jan for a giveaway contest that she had on her blog. It was a great colorful notebook that she designed herself.

Last, but not least, I received a surprise package from Pam Brock. Nicola Brown organized the swap, and we were supposed to make something handmade, give the person a wonderful recipe, and buy them something that we thought they might like.

I am including the recipe here, as I thought you might like it. Pam swears by it, and I can't wait to try it for the holidays. Here it goes:

Ingredients:

one half cup butter or margarine, melted

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

4 large eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

one quarter teaspoon salt

one and one third cups pecan halves or one and a quarter cups coarsely chopped pecans

pastry for 9-inch pie

Directions:

Combine first 3 ingredients, cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar melts and dissolves. Cool slightly. Add eggs, vanilla, and salt to mixture, mix well.

Pour filling into unbaked pastry shell and top with pecan halves. Bake at 325 degrees for 55 minutes or until set.

Serve warm or cold.

Does that sound yummy or what?

Thanks to all!!!!!!!!!!

Autumn Scarf Finished

I cut out the final leaves for the other side of the scarf and have finished the scarf...I added some veins to the leaves using the yarn. I love the way it turned out...It is a very dramatic look with the black wool as the background. Well, now I will have to make myself a dark wool, three quarters length jacket to finish off the look and a cute hat to match. LOL

Autumn Leaf Scarf in Progress

Today, I began my Autumn Leaf Scarf. I first had to create the wool fabric, so I took wisps of wool roving and placed it horizontally and vertically onto Vilene, which is a water soluble stabilizer, and used several fall colours, such as yellow, orange, green, red, and brown. I then machine felted the wool roving onto the vilene . When I was throughly done felting the roving, I rinsed out the vilene and allowed the newly created wool fabric to dry. I have pictured the wool fabric that I produced. Then I cut leaves out of the fabric and punched them onto the wool scarf that I sewed today. The scarf is made of a lightweight wool and the edges finished with an overcast stitch. I then added some vines using yarn that I had that matched the colours that I had used, and completed one side of the scarf.

Tomorrow, I will do the other side with a similar arrangement. I will add veins to all of the leaves with a beautiful metallic green yarn that I have and complete the scarf with the embellishments that I want to use. I will post the final pic when I am done.

Sheba Bag Finished

Joe has dubbed my new cat bag "Sheba", after he saw the finished project. Sheba, of course, deserved only the best batiks, and purples seemed perfect for her. I put an outer pocket on the back and included an inside pocket. I love it, as it is very unique, and I don't think anyone will have a bag like this. Joe was amazed at how many colours that I had of the wool roving, but for the cat, I used silver, black, greys,white,red, and green roving. Cathy asked me where I get my roving and other fibres for the machine felting. I order from Twist Fibre Craft Studio in the UK...their website is http://www.twistfibrecraft.co.uk/

Sheba is indeed a tabby who is sophisticated looking, very much the lady and quite sassy.

Machine Felted Cat In Progress

I machine felted a cat with my Babylock EMB12 and used wool roving for the entire cat. I also embellished it a wee bit with yarn and used acryllic paints to add some highlights to the eyes. it is going to be the front panel of a bag. I will have to machine quilt the cat tomorrow, and then proceed to finish the bag. The fabric for the bag, as you can see, is a wonderful purple batik. What a fun bag it will be!

When I complete the project I will post the pic. It is amazing what you can do with machine felting and bit of imagination.

Lovers at Sunset Finished

I worked on completing the wall hanging all morning. I used embroidery threads to do the fancy machine stitching, and I decided to use the orange fabric as my first border to coordinate with the sunset and the black fabric for the binding to match with the darkness of the silhoette and the beach area. Both Joe and I love the ocean and the sunsets, so we are both enjoying looking at the wall hanging in our living room. Lovers at Sunset captured the romance that Joe and I feel for each other, so it is very special to both of us.

Lovers at Sunset in Progress

Someone in my Needle Felting Group asked me what the word "dote" means...It is a term of endearment that is a very loving term here in Ireland..meaning "darling". That is what Joe calls me, "his dote." It got me thinking of making a scene of the two of us, so I headed to the sewing room and went to work on my Babylock EMB12. I used mostly wonderful colours of wool roving, and a wee bit of yarn. I made the two of us as a silhouette looking at the sunset, the sea, and the hills...everything that Joe loves to see. Joe called it "Lovers at Sunset", so that is the name for my felted scene.

I am not done yet...I have to do some finishing touches, machine quilt it a bit, add the border and backing...we shall see if I can get it done before the weekend. I thought you might like to see it in progress.

I've Been Tagged

Nicola tagged me and gave me the challenge to follow through with it. I never back down from a challenge, so here it goes.

The rules are as follows:
1.Link to the person who tagged you.( which I did.)
2. Post the rules on your blog.( As you can see, I am doing that!)
3. Share 6 non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.( which I will do below)
4. Tag at least 3 people at the end of your post and link to their blogs and let the person know they have been tagged.( I have three victims in mind.LOL)

6 Things About Myself:
1. I love nature and taking walks in the hills.
2. As to a habit that I have... I always leave lights on to the dismay of my husband, who says that we own the Electric Company because of all we have paid to them...hahaha
3.I love fantasy things...books, fantasy movies, making fantasy dolls...Hmmm...that's a good item for analysis.LOL
4.My house is in order, but my sewing studio is another story...I blame that on needing a larger room....that is what I claim, anyway.
5. I get into my nightgown, robe and comfy teddy bear slippers each and every evening...God forbid someone drops by...Can you imagine the scurrying to our bedroom when that happens?
6. Last but not least, I will clean our home very well, but have given up on washing dishes to the dismay of my husband, who now does them all the time...An apron for him would be lovely! I will have to put that one on my list to dos.

I am now tagging Anna, Kath, and Carol. Yes, I know you are up to the challenge too.

PS:My friend Kath read my comment above about not doing dishes, so she sent me this very humorous little joke which her friend in NJ sent to her. It fits my comment perfectly, and I thought you might get a kick out of it, like I did.

Duties of Wives!

Three men were sitting together bragging about how they had given their new wives duties.
Terry had married a woman from America , and bragged that he had told his wife she needed to do all the dishes and housework.
He said that it took a couple days but on the third day he came home to a clean house and the dishes were all washed and put away.
Jimmie had married a woman from Canada . He bragged that he had given his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes, and the cooking. He told them that the first day he didn't see any results, but the next day it was better. By the third day, his house was clean, the dishes were done, and he had a huge dinner on the table.

Paddy married an Irish girl. He boasted that he told her that her duties were to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, laundry and ironing twice a week, lawns mowed, windows cleaned and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn't see anything, the second day he didn't see anything, but by the third day...... most of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, just enough to fix himself a bite to eat, load the dishwasher, and call a handyman.

God Bless Irish Women ......

Donegal Scene Finished

I finally completed the wee Donegal Scene, and it is sitting as you see on a stand on mantlepiece above the fireplace. I added another house in the distance and a road leading to it. This morning, I woke up early, and I put a Celtic label on the back and have included a picture. I chose a Celtic Design that represents eternal love, and used the Janome 350E to stitch it out. I had to merge the text with the image in Embird first. Finally, I used yarn around the edging of the back that I found in a store in Falcarragh.The scene is of the hills around our house, and I will enjoy sitting by the fire and seeing the scene that I love so much!

I used wool roving throughout with a wee bit of yarn, and as usual, I enjoyed adding the details with textile paints. I have used oils and pastels before, but I did feel that I had an artist's palette with the Merino wool. As you look at the scene, I say, "FAILTE, Go Dun Na NGAl", which means "Welcome to Donegal, as I hope one day you can see the scenes of my beautiful county in person.

Another Donegal Scene...Not Quite Finished... and Arrival of Wool Roving

I ordered a huge bag of wool roving in wonderful landscape colours. I bought them from Twist and Fibre Craft Studio and their website is http://www.twistfibrecraft.co.uk/.

For 32 sterling, I got a lot of wool!

Thank God, I didn't order it from the United States, as the shipping charge would have been terrible!

I was so enthralled with the wool that I decided to make another Donegal scene...I realized when I was using the wool roving that I was able to blend the colours so much more easily than when I used fabrics;therefore, I was able to achieve the look of a painting.I have not completed the picture yet...I still have to do the machine stitching, which will give it even more texture, and finally to put on the backing and border. I will try to do all of that tomorrow, and post the final pic. I am calling the picture "Donegal Scene."

I had the best time in my sewing studio today! The roving was so soft and luxurious, and when I mixed the wool colours, it was like having a palette of oil paints in front of me. It reminded me of the times that my mom taught me how to blend oil paints. As I was forming the Donegal picture, I could almost hear her telling me how to choose the colours and how to blend the colours to acheive the effects that I wanted . She would have enjoyed watching the process.

The Celtic Lady

I received the best surprise gift today...It was a gorgeous Celtic lady that Kath sent me, who to me is my Elfin Princess, but most of all a dear friend...She is beautiful both inside and outside. She wrote me a wonderful letter about the Celtic lady. She explained that she is a warrior queen with a heart of gold. In her youth, she was independent, strong, and determined. As time passed, she had come to know a peace and contentment, which Kath said that she hoped I saw in her face. Her face is indeed lovely, peaceful, and so simplistically beautiful. The Celtic Lady really represents the peace and contentment that I have found with Joe here in Donegal County. The Celtic material that she used for the body of the doll is exquisite, and the beading just added that special touch. The heart of gold on The Celtic Lady represents Kath of course. It is what I value most in a person.I can't begin to tell her how much I appreciated and loved that doll. At the end of the letter, Kath wrote that it was made and sent with love...I send her back that same love in return.

I have never met Kath...We will meet one day, as she is in the UK, and that is so near to Ireland. That is a given...we will meet. But oddly enough, we are the best of friends. It can happen, because that is how I met Joe, through the thousands of letters that we wrote each other..and we are soulmates. Kath is "my friend across the sea", as she said, but one day, we will walk Killahoey Beach together, and I will have the honour of showing her the place that I love so dearly.

Go raibh maith agat cara mo chroi!

I am thanking Kath with this Gaelic phrase which means: Thank you, friend of my heart!

PS: I called kath yesterday, and had a lovely talk with her...I thought I should add one thing that she said to me. She told me that I was The Celtic Lady. Well, as I dubbed her the Elfin Princess, so it is nice to be known now as The Celtic Lady.

New LG 32" TV

I had to post a pic of our new tv...We got it, as both of us have had quite a time trying to see the screen on our old 21" tv...that is a sign of getting older, I guess. Joe couldn't see it hardly at all, and I had a hard time seeing it and hearing it. A friend of mine recently said to me that "Getting older is not for sissies." I agree with that...I got on and off a bus two days ago and for some God forsaken reason injured my knee a bit, and now I am walking at snail's pace. Do we see a pattern here?LOL Pathetic, isn't it? Now, when I go to Letterkenny for food shopping, I will have to get a support bandage. Joe has aches and pains everywhere, so we are quite the pair. Well, the postive thing that resulted from all of this is that our new spiffy tv is sitting in our living room and we love it. It is a 32" LG widescreen tv, HD ready and with stereo sound...Need I say more? Yesterday, I watched the first show of the season of "Desperate Housevives" on our new tv...what a shocker that was!....and it was so wonderful to see the show on our new tv. Well, I don't know if anyone is into that show, but what happened to Gabby? The usually glamarous Gabby is looking rather frumpy five years down the line. She looks the way I have been feeling the last few days. Well, we got the first show here in Ireland rather late, but boy did I enjoy it.!

Yes, I Entered a Contest

I went to the Pigtails and Snails blog through a friend that I have and entered the contest. Liz is giving away a beautiful quilt from a Lizzy Anne Pattern, and because I love applique so much, I had to enter. It is wonderful that she is so generous in giving a quilt away in her giveaway. Go to http://pigtailsandsnails.blogspot.com/ Hope I win this one, as it is gorgeous!

Machine Embroidered Bag Ready to Show Off

I finished the bag finally!...I had a lot of work with it, but it has turned out so lovely! I will take it to the bee on Wednesday first of all to show off to my friends. I used the coordinating fabrics to complete the straps, and a wonderful aritsan pin that I found in my jewelry box that was perfect for the flap that I created. I used velcro to close the snap. I will be taking this bag with me to two wonderful workshops given by Sheila Smith that I am attending on April 25-26 in County Carlow. I just got myself booked for both workshops yesterday. Nicola Brown is organizing it. On April 25th, I am taking the course Felted Textures which is on nuno felting, and on April 26th, I am taking Express, Experiment, and Embellish, which will explore the potential of the machine embellisher. I will be bringing Sheila's two books that I have so she can sign them, my camera, my Netbook to keep in touch with Joe, my Babylock Embellisher EMB12 and clothes, etc. It will be such fun learning all the techniques. The trip will be a long one, but well worth it. Anyway, the courses that I am taking and some others are at Nicola's blog at http://clasheen.wordpress.com/workshops and Sheila's site is at http://www.feltbydesign.co.uk/

Killahoey Beach Fabric Postcard

I wanted to give my friend Kath a postcard, so I made one of Killahoey Beach..She said that she loves to walk on the beach, and so this one is perfect for her. I hope that one day she and her husband are able to visit, so we can walk on Killahoey Beach together. To make the postcard, I used batiks, wool roving, beautiful yarns, hand dyed Wensleydale Curls, and Anglenia fibres and punched happily away on my Babylock EMB12. The Wensleydale curls can also be used perfectly for doll's hair. I then added more details on the seashells and some of the landscape area with paints. I added seashells, because I love collecting them, and of course the hills are always in view in Dunfanaghy. Sometimes when I look at the sea... way in the distance... I imagine that America is far, far away, but then the magical scenery of Dunfanghy always pulls me back. I wouldn't want to live anywhere else but in Donegal County.

Killahoey Beach is such a special place. Joe and I both love the fact that whenever we go there, we generally have it all to ourselves, which makes it so much more magical. I was so happy to hear this morning that Kath put a pic of my postcard on her blog, and that she loved it.

Fancy Bag in the Works

I finished all of my swaps...Now, I decided to make another bag...a fancier one for the fall that will carry into the winter. I took three designs that I had and merged them into one to create this design. With Embird software, it is amazing what you can do. I also made some changes with the colours and stitch density, and then machine embroidered the front of the bag with my design. It took me hours to do the whole process, as setting up the colours takes a while, and of course it had 23,000 stitches. It really turned out well, and I have lovely Artisan Asian fabric to complete the bag. I will post the whole bag when it is completed. As they say, a woman never has enough bags. By the way, the "A" stands for my first name which is Anna...I was named after both of my grandmothers...My parents called me Annie, and I have used Anne when I was a teacher and department chair. Micki is my nickname, and is a shortened form of my middle name Michelle. I do love Mickey Mouse, so why not use that name?LOL Anyway, the bag front was such fun to create!!

KR's Fabric Postcard and Mine in Return

KR, from the Postcard Pizazz Group, sent me a surprise fabric postcard. It was a watermelon, and I was so happy to see it, as it was an unexpected delivery. I then decided to make her one and made a flower postcard...sort of impressionistic...with my Babylock EMB12. I used wool roving, yarn, batiks, and angelina fibres. I then used fancy stitches to finish it off and did the satin stitching around the edge. I used black fabric paint to add some details to the flowers. It is off to NY State to surprise her, unless she sees this post, and then she won't be surprised.LOL Anyways, her card brightened up a very cloudy, rainy day here in Dunfanaghy.

New Lake Postcard and Irish Convict Bonnet

I finished the New Lake Postcard. I used some decorative stitches and did the satin stitching around the border. I am mailing it to Pam who lives in NC for a swap that I am in that Nicola Brown set up. Nicola is a wonderful fibre artist. Her blog is at http://clasheen.wordpress.com/

She is organizing some workshops this year, and one of them, I am definitely attending....Sheila Smith is giving the workshop, and I wouldn't miss it for the world. I will have to take a bus to Dublin, which is a four and half hour trip, and then another bus to County Carlow, which is another hour and a half, but meeting Sheila is well worth the journey. Sheila Smith's latest book called Felt to Stitch is brilliant!

I also finished my bonnet for the Irish convict that I adopted named Judith Butler. I wrote about her in an earlier post. I sewed a bonnet from a pattern that was given to me by Christina Henri, who is organizing the Roses From the Heart Project which will help to remember all the Irish convicts who were transported to Australia. Judith died in 1831, and she was sentenced to 7 years in Australia for stealing a pig. I am hoping that my bonnet will honour her memory. You can visit Christina's site at http://www.christinahenri.com.au/Christina_01.swf

I used my machine embroidery for the bonnet, and chose to make a heart for her name and when she died, and placed a big red rose in the inset in the back of the bonnet. I added smaller pink roses which I hand sewed onto the bonnet. I am mailing it out tomorrow to Christina in Tasamania. She is coming to Ireland in 2010 to speak about the program. I gave her the names of local newspapers and suggested that she try to get on Pat Kenny's Late Show. I hope to meet her when she comes here.

New Lake Fabric Postcard

I have been working on a fabric postcard , but I am not finished yet. I still have to do the fancy stitches to set the design that I created, and of course do the satin stitching.

I used the Babylock Embellisher(EMB12), and it is turned out nicely. I used wool roving in several shades, batiks, angelina fibres, and also textile paints to add some details to the hills and the ground. The scene is of New Lake, with the hills in the distance. It is a beautiful scene, and Joe and I have climbed the dunes in the distance in order to get to Tramore Beach. I am trying to acheive a look of a painting, and I am enjoying the experimentation with the Babylock to achieve the results that I want.Tomorrow, I will finish it and post the completed scene.

Finished My Fall Bag

I landed up changing the fall bag as you can see...I removed the top gold ribbon, finished the bias and put the handles on. I have to admit that I love the fall colours, as I have always loved this season...the falling of the leaves, the changing colours, and the cooler temperatures. I will be making a Christmas bag next. That is always fun...pulling the holiday bag out to get you into the spirit of the holiday season....Santa Claus will have to be on the bag somewhere.LOL

Another Christmas Star Block and Fall Bag in Progress

I received another wonderful Christmas Star block ...I will soon be able to start my Christmas quilt. This star was from Nat, who is in my SBS Friendship Swap Group. It really was a lovely star, and I loved the fabric! Thanks so much!

I began my fall bag today. I did the picture on the front of the bag using my Babylock EMB12. I used batiks, wool roving and Angelina Fibres on a duck cloth base. As you can see, I have cardinals, leaves, and trees all representing my vision of fall. I added gold ribbon, and added a few butterfly embellishments. I used fancy decorative stitches to finish the picture, and it is fun finally using all the wonderful stitches that are available with my Pfaff 2048. I also picked batiks for the entire bag in the colours of fall. I am not done the bag, as I need to finish the top binding and the handles and do the finishing touches, but I wanted you to see the Fall Bag in Progess . The inside of the bag has a wonderful gold artisan print, and I will be using a black batik to finish the bias dinding at the top, and use wonderful deep red handles. I will post the bag when it is finished.

Fall is a wonderful time of year to see the beautiful reds, oranges, greens, browns and gold hues, and I enjoyed using all those colours in my bag.

ASUS Netbook

Well, Joe got an ASUS netbook for us. As you can see by the pic, it is ultra tiny next to our lap top which is small also. I will be lying in my lounge chair surfing the internet and writing email tonight. Also, when I head to Dublin once or twice a year to take some courses in felting, I will take it with me so I can use Skype to talk to Joe, as it also has a camera and mike built in. I just spoke to my friend Maggey in the United States, and it was lovely! I also sent an invite to my friend Marie in BC to get Skype. I am sure hoping she can set it up so we could talk and see each other. Anyway, it is amazing to be able to talk to someone who is so far away and see their pic and hear their voice so clearly. Technology is wonderful!

I found a great group which is based right outside of Dublin that gives workshops and courses in felting, so I will be taking advantage of that. I couldn't believe when I found it. It is called
Feltmakers of Ireland and their website is http://www.feltmakersireland.com/ It was definitely a find!

I finished the rest of my Christmas House Blocks...I will be mailing them all out today or tomorrow. Whew! It is good to have them all done. I am posting two of them, as the others are similar. I can't wait till I get my 12 house blocks in the mail.

Fabric Postcard and Siggy Arrive

I received a wonderful fabric postcard from Gilly who lives in Australia. She is a member of the Fiberart Postcard Group, and it was a lovely crazy patch postcard with butterfly and star embellishments. It was my first swap with her, and hopefully we will swap again soon.

Then, I received a siggy block from Lori who is a registered nurse residing in the central part of Maine. I love flowers, so of course, I adored her siggy. She is a member of the International Siggy Group.

Thanks so much!