Ruby Red and Black Schwarovsky....

Will you look at the Ruby redness of this gorgeous bird that my art buddy Dot gifted me last weekend....isnt she gorgeous!!! Click for a closer look at the luscious sari silks and beautiful beading. I just love the scrumptious fabrics....thank you Dotee. Another wonderful gift! I recently won a giveaway on the blog of the lovely Lisa. The packaging was so beautiful and elegant.... giving a hint to what is inside!

These amazing handcrafted sterling silver and black schwarovsky crystal earrings. The quality and craftmanship is truly amazing, such a clever woman. I have a new velvet/silk vintage jacket I recently purchased and these will go perfectly for an evening out. Beautiful, beautiful earrings....pop over to Lisa's blog to see more intricate jewellery she has been crafting.

And also with the package this beautiful velour/cotton yarn and a pattern for knitted face cloths...such a luxurious yarn. I will enjoy knitting this up. I have really rekindled my love of knitting (plain basic knitting is all I am capable of though). It will be lovely to have a hand knitted face cloth in my bathrooms.

Last Saturday was spent with my art buddy Dot at the farm. We decided rather than just lunch and chat.... we can spend hours that way, that we would actually make some more felt...we just love the process.

This jewel toned piece was my effort for the day. Dot supplied the lovely red silk backing fabric and between us we got together these rovings. I was happy with this spring coloured piece. It reminds me of the riot of colours in peoples gardens at the moment.

I've also been sketching and painting. The above sketch is awaiting some paint as it is part of an altered book round robin I'm part of. My pages have an asian theme and the theme of the book was still life. I am going to work on my perspective, but absolutely loving still life.

The Sark quote for this week.....

"All your dreams are already coming true."

Wishing you all a week where dreams come true.

Jacky xox

An October Owl .....

I have busy a stitching again..... I have missed it! This a little "October Owl" that I have just finished to send to a blogging friend overseas. As you can see, they are quite small these little fellows.....he sits atop a cotton reel. I do make a larger size too, but this is the little owlet. I love things in miniature. These are a few pages from my 10 minute collage journal... I like to share some of these with you all from time to time. I love these quick collages, I find them very satisfying, and I love to ponder why I might have chosen the images or words each day.

Page from 10 minute collage journal.

Another.....

The above were just a few images that I wanted to keep in my journal. Not exactly a 10 minute collage, but they were all appealing and I wanted to keep them for later reference.

I am enjoying Sark at the moment, so thought I would share some with you all.

Let's share outrageous stories and eat impossibly delicious cake.

- Sark-

I love this quote...it reminds me of the days I spend in the company of my girfriends .... fun and decadent! So lovely to sit with a girlfriend/girlfriends and share a coffee and some beautiful cake.

Jacky xox

Clear and sunny ......

Firstly some photos of pages I recently completed for an Altered Book Round Robin I am taking part in. The pages for this book are quite small, a little larger than ATC size. The theme was trees/forest/nature. This is the first page with a collaged image of a painted parrot (I'm sorry I dont know who the artist was....). We are being visited by many parrots of late so I thought it appropriate.
In this second spread I have used images of trees found in an agricultural newspaper with painted and collaged background.

Any my final page a Spring Spirit...imagining the buds opening and the leaves unfurling with the warmth of the Spring sunshine.

Today whilst checking out some of my favourite blogs I noticed the tree outside my kitchen window was full of grass parrots (thats what I call them). As I snuck up to the window most of them flew away, but I did catch this fellow for you before he took off too. You will have to click on the photo to get a closer look at him. They are very colourful.

The reason they are all around the house and in the trees is the Cape Weed (see pic. below). Our hills are covered in cape weed this year...this hasnt happened for nearly 20 years. It must be the season for it. Luckily the cattle dont mind the cape weed and will quite happily eat it...cant say the same for the horses though!

Close up of cape weed....all the parrots were ferreting around for hours out there today (so I kept the kitties inside for the day).

Meanwhile...whilst everyone was enjoying the sunshine I came in to find Leroy curled up snoozing on the couch. He very nearly takes up the whole couch all 40kg's of him. He's such a big sook.

I hope you are enjoying your weekend, having some quality time! I am going to work in another altered book and do a bit of journalling. I will leave you with this quote from Sark, and maybe you will want to journal too.

"The Book of your Life is rare and marvellous.

Write your life so that others may be illuminated."

- Sark -

Sending health and happiness to all.

Jacky xox