Full Moon, Owls Out.

The full moon was out last night and so were the Nords Wharf Brown Owls.

This week we did a number of creative things including lino printing, yo yo making, a bit of applique and bag making.

New member Judy brought along her carved lino and printed up this amazing Margaret Preston inspired print.

We finally worked out what all of those circles were for - yoyos.  Yes, lucky Caz bought these a while ago from an op shop already cut out and last night made a few yoyos herself. (Sorry I didn't get any pics!)

I've started work on another bag.  This time I'm after more of a satchel so I spent the evening matching fabric and doing some applique. 

Another great evening spent catching up with new and old 

friends AND of course creating and making.  Two hours is never enough.

Next meeting we'll be making hanging mobiles and bags. New members are always welcome.

Brown Owls Tomorrow Night!

Yes, you will find a number of Brown Owls tomorrow night at

the Nords Wharf Community Hall. 

There will be lots of creative things happening including lino printing, sewing, talking, and drinking (tea of course!). 

BYOC or start something new on the night.

Hope to see you there, 7-9pm. 

Saturday at work.

You know you've had a great day at work when you come

home (from working at the weekend) thinking "I love my job!". 

Today I spent the day with seven lovely ladies teaching them how to lino print at Newcastle WEA.

As you can see they were a very talented bunch of ladies.

And so productive.

All had little experience (only in high school) with lino so I was very happy with the results.  I think they were too!

All experimented with colour by using chincolle method (printing onto tissue paper).

 

 And as you can see there were lots of different designs and styles from birds, trees, flowers and fish.

The next class is on in May, so checkout the Newcastle WEA website.  Thanks ladies for a great day.

The Big Beach Bag

Here's my first foray into bag making and it's a whopper! 

If you're a regular follower you would already know that I made most of

the bag last week at Brown Owls.  All I had to do at home was make the lining, put a pocket on the inside and make and attach the handles.  You might also recognise the materials - some screen prints, some vintage materials and lots of chenille.

I sooo needed a new beach bag as our old bag was very ugly

but very useful because of its size. 

It's hard to get a bag large enough to fit up to 5 beach towels!  

(I could almost fit one of my children in here as well).

Good enough to eat.

Had a bit of an 'edible art' day today.  Pasta isn't one of my usual materials to create craft with but I was asked if I could help come up with some art & craft ideas for my local Primary School (grade one & two).

The theme is about 'wet & dry', what happens when you change something such as placing uncooked pasta into boiling water?  

So I took the most direct path and went with the pasta and did this quick and easy star.  Here's how you do it.

1. Cut out your cardboard star.

2. Add some food colouring to pva glue.

3. Glue the spaghetti on to the cardboard.

(It doesn't matter if it overlaps a little on the sides as these are easily cut off with scissors when dry.)

4. Let dry for a couple of hours. Then trim off edges with scissors.

I then put a hole in the top with a needle and threaded through the string.

Here's a spaghetti monster that Miss Beatie did for another variation.

No, wouldn't recommend eating it, but hopefully

easy enough for those little fingers to prepare.

Missing in March

Where have I been the last week?  Well I haven't been anywhere but my computer decided it needed a bit of a makeover and has been in the computer workshop all week. So it's good to have it back, yet a bit unnerving as to how much I missed it.

But life did go on and this week the Nords Wharf Brown Owls met

for a bit of a sew-a-thon. 

We worked flat out.  For me personally knowing that this was my window of opportunity to achieve something without having to stop and; make a sandwich, stop a squabble, wipe some unattractive body part, clean up mess, (I think you get my drift).

 Caree brought along her very nice sewing machine (which we all used) and she worked on her 'soon to be finished' quilt.

I brought along the beginnings of a quilt that I had started recently. I'm not a fan of following patterns so I did my own version, using chenille and vintage materials.

 On the night however, I decided that I didn't really need a quilt, but did need a new beach bag.  So I made roughly 90% of the bag with the help of Wendy.  She was super helpful and sent me home with the advice and know how to complete the job the next day. (I'll show you soon).

This is part of one of Wendy's bags.  As we all know a woman can never have too many handbags!  It was great to have another Brown Owl step in a lead the way on the night.  It was so productive and enjoyable.

Hello String Bikini!

Yeah baby!!

As usual I was rummaging at my local Vinnies and I found this 'Sew'n'Save' booklet. At first I had a bit of a laugh, but then I thought how cool they are.

I've photographed the pattern just in case you're interested in making it.

I did like the fact that the models actually looked normal.

If only I could follow crochet patterns, and if only I was

about 20 years younger!

Love to hear from anyone willing to have a go at making one.