Oops and WIPs

I picked up one of my recently made fabric postcards a little while ago and the backing started to tear away. Due to my haphazard, random way of putting them together I used stabiliser instead of interfacing, forgetting that the stabiliser is designed to tear away with the grain. OOPS. Will have to buy some iron-on interfacing and sew on the backings again.

Here are some more fabric cards I've been working on but unable to finish (due to lack of iron-on interfacing!);
EDIT - later in April - I got the interfacing and finished the cards which have now been sent off. I did a naughty thing with one of them which I will reveal later perhaps if my plan comes to fruition.....

EDIT - 29th April - this arrived intact in Canada with an international postcard stamp on it (fabric cards are supposed to be sent with a customs form stuck on for the cost of an airmail letter (i.e. more expensive than a postcard). Yay - I beat the stupid system!!!

Purple & Silver Themed ATCs Swap

Just mucking around - these might not be the ones I send in the swap. It's hard to find a true purple!

Lovely fabric postcard received.....

...from zanylady, in the HPC: Something Blue Swap. It is made from scraps of an Ocean Wave quilt she made, and it's wonderfully soft and subtle.

Cards received this week

This very groovy card from wackystuff was from the Eye-Popping Postcards Swap on Swap-bot:



And a RAS one for my birthday was from flower74-1 on Postcrossing:


And this rather ravishing one from nordbaer on Postcrossing:

Last in a set of five fabric postcards ready to go

Exciting first swap package received

What a great package to receive for my first-ever swap! Thank you OrigamiGrace, your thoughtfulness is much appreciated!

The pics are just a sample of all the wonderful things she sent....

Another two fabric postcards made

Garranane

I've just finished re-reading a childhood favourite of mine, "Garranane" by Tom Ingram. Wonderful, dramatic black & white illustrations by Bill Geldart throughout.

A couple of things ready for the Fabric Postcard Swap

Oh, these are fun! But I'm not sure whether I should send them through the mail in case the beads & buttons come off. The black and blue one might not quite be large enough either, but there's plenty of time before the swap starts, to make many more!

HPC - Something Blue Swap

I'm quite pleased with "Blue Wave" (top) and I decided to send my partner a bonus postcard (not handmade, but definitely blue) - she mentioned in her profile that she was interested in connecting with people, so I wrote a little story about me and Stonehenge on the back.



Not sure about this one, I think I messed up the composition with the stamped squares, but I do like the cold, moody, bruised feel of it.

Eye Popping Postcards Swap

Compared with the others in this swap, I fear my cards may be quite ordinary. Lindall posted hers on her blog and they are amazing. And oops, I should have had a theme. But I did attempt to tailor them to my partners' preferences.

This one was for someone who likes cute things, so I tried to make something I thought she would enjoy. It is a paper collage with a felt heart at the top. Plus I sent a short letter to go with it:


With these two I probably took the "eye popping" description too literally!

Paper Quilt Postcard Swap

Sent to someone who likes textures:


Sent to someone who likes the combination of orange and black, and skulls (although the skull on my hand carved stamp is rather disappointing):


Sent to someone who likes the colour blue:

Swap-bot - my new obsession!

I'm not yet established there, as only one of my items has been received and rated, but my new obsession is Swap-bot!

My first swap was a private swap with a lady in the USA and this is what I sent her (plus a chocolate bar, musk life savers and some lip balm which are not in the picture):




The first pic is the flipside of my note paper drawn when I was in a psychedelic mood. Second pic shows a tie-dyed silk scarf, a piece of pretty paper, six animal finger puppets and a glasses case made by me. I hope the package gets there okay; I sent it about ten days ago!

Happy birthday Angie!

Whilst I was visiting Mum today, she received a lovely birthday package from a Postcrosser in Singapore. Here she is with one of the presents, a beautiful shell wind chime. How did it ever get through Customs??

Rufus laughing

Haven't posted anything in ages since I've been so busy with piano practice, making postcards and sending them. Yesterday I stuck some cork tiles on my wall next to the computer to display all my postcards. They are not all from Postcrossing - I've been collecting them for years and I still have loads left in the box. There is room on the wall for quite a few more tiles so I will soon be extending upwards and out to the side.

Hat Frenzy

Had a lovely day today sewing with friends. A very productive session resulted in a number of hats being put together and embellished for the WA Cancer Council's Craft Fair on Sunday - modelled by C. on my Flickr site http://www.flickr.com/photos/sampler1000/sets/72157601953776880/

Some new furniture and friends to the rescue

I took a trip down to Ikea last Friday for a new shelving unit and four CD towers - I don't know how the warehouse boys managed to fit all the packs into my car - even had a little gap so that I could see to turn! Gerard came to the rescue to help me unload it all into the house. I spent most of Friday afternoon putting the large shelving unit together and in the evening had a little cry when I realised I couldn't push and pull at the same time to get the bloody thing together. But thankfully Lance and Tess arrived back from their holiday yesterday and came to the rescue, helping me to finish it off and move it into the hobby room.

















Somehow I managed to put two of the CD towers together incorrectly yesterday. One of them had the screws facing up on the middle shelf, and the other one had both shelves facing the wrong way. I thought I could take the second one apart, but the little metal doodads wouldn't come out. I tried helping them along with the hammer, and here's what happened....

















So off down the shop today for some superglue to try and repair the damage. I've glued some spare shelves to the two offending shelves so you can't see the screws. Hopefully when they're loaded with CDs and DVDs it won't be too noticeable. I'll keep them lying down on the floor until the glue has set. (Thank goodness for nail polish remover, otherwise I wouldn't be typing this...)






















I've moved the lovely bookcase which used to house my CD collection to the bedroom. Some of my books have been put away on the top shelf and I think it looks lovely!

Sonia's Kids

Here are two of the cutest kitties I've ever met: Amelia sitting pretty, and Silvie on a roll! LP didn't want her picture taken but I was privileged to give her a little stroke on the head. Thanks again Son!

A lovely holiday in Queensland!

Here are a few shots of my favourite niece and nephew and their gorgeous home on the Sunshine Coast......