3 Things....

Time for another miscellaneous post!
Thing 1 are the birds we are fostering...check these babies out!

The triplets. Charlotte, Clover and Coco. I have no idea which one is which but my girls reckon they can tell the difference!

Awwww....

This is Chipmunk. He's the only He and from a different nest. This photo was taken they day we bought him home and I was really worried about him. He doesn't have all his feathers (as you can see) and was so tiny and tired. I say was because now he's nearly as big as the girls were when we got them and he's perching and fluttering about. He eats the most too, I am amazed at how much he can eat! He doesn't even need this nest (woolly hat) now and the girls have all accepted him as one of them. YAY!

Awwww....again! A sleeping bird is just too cute!

Thing two is my studio shot for Seth Apter's studioscapes post. I don't have a studio as such, I have 1 area for the bulk of my storage and this area here which is in the family lounge. It's a place to keep the stuff I use often and it works as a kind of inspiration station. There's received art, my art and some of my kids art, a few nests and boxes with beads etc. I do most of my art in the lounge so it works well to have this there, another reason it works is because I can't hang things on walls where I live so I need a place to prop things up! You can see the other studios featured on Seth's blog.

Thing 3 is the paper (mostly) items that I recieved from my swap partner in Lawendula's paper swap. Thanks Eliza! I've also recieved word that the collage box #1 is on it's way to me as I type..
I havn't done any art this week but ideas are brewing so watch this space:)

Mini book and Mad for Colours Swap.

As you will all know by now I've been particiapting in LaWendula's monthly paper swaps. This month I was lucky enough to be paired up to swap with our host! Here's what I've sent to her...

The stenciled words say...

Life

evolution

breathe in

feel

embrace the miricle

live

(Oh no! I spelt miracle wrong and  I've just noticed now...what a bummer)

The theme was mad for colours so I put together so hand coloured papers togther with nature themed magazine pages. The binding down one side means my partner can cut the page away to use it.

Below are some other colourful paper's I put in with her book...

I particiapted in last months mini book swap and this is the fabulous book I got from my partner Amelia Critchlow. I love the handmade recyled-ness!

Book cover above and inside front cover and first page below:

Below are a few of my favorite pages..

The card in the pocket says the stamped word 'Love.'

What a great book!

A little while ago I also won a blog draw...here's what I won!

This fabulous postcard from Mary over at Joyfulploys. Thanks Mary, I love it!

Coming soon: Looking up trees- It's Autumn!

Dots and Circles- thanks to those who've shared there links or have said they will soon, I will be posting some of them here soon.

International Collage Exchange- My collages will be here soon! Wahoo!

Final posting for Alicia's book "The museum of forgotten things."

Handmade Mini Book

This months paper swap theme is 'mini books' and I was partnered up with Amelia Critchlow of 101 Bird Tales. Thanks LaWendula (of Woven Letters) for all that you do to organise these monthly swaps! My linky thing isn't working right now so I will have to come back with the links!

Here's the book I made...

The cover is made from recycled papers glued together with a watery mix of PVA, stained with some coffee and then sealed with a sheet or 2 of sewing pattern paper. I'd forgotten how much I love pattern paper! The colour, the markings, the texture, the quick drying time and the fact that it's recycled!

There are 20 pages in this book which are made up from old book pages like the ones shown and blank pages which my partner can use if she wants too.

The page above is made from a paper big and features a tradtional Maori Tiki and the Kiwi. I knew I'd saved this bag for a good reason! I also added a small board book to my parcel for my partner to alter and it's all on it's way to the UK today.

Using some more of my 'layer' paper I made these 16 inchies for a yahoo group swap. I'm pretty happy with the results and I love the layer paper which was inspired by Debrina's fabric paper. I wanted to make fabric paper but didn't have any muslin so I came up with a different version to suit the same purpose!

That's all from me folks! Hope your all well and enjoying the new season! 

Paper Swap # 3

Paper Swap # 3. Cards theme. Hosted by Lawendula of Woven Letters.

I decided to alter 3 playing cards for my swap partner "Moon Mama" Jen. I used paper from very old bridge scoring pads, painted paper scrap and thread to alter the cards and put them together with...

A library issue card and pocket, a Tiki playing card, Lord of the Rings playing card, some vintage ciggerette cards, a few mini playing cards and some old bridge scoring sheets. They'll be sent off tomorrow and this time I will be careful not to pack them parcel thickness instead of letter rate! Lesson learnt;)

These cards are late but as my partner and I both had technical issues  neither of us have posted yet. Word from 'the wise' if you send emails with the term 'swap partner' in the subject line the spam filter will give it an entirely different meaning! Haha!. Better late than never:)

Shades of inspiration

A little while back I took part in Lawendula's Paper Swap and my partner was Deb of Drydart. I recieved these great papers back from her and have already put some of them into use! Thanks Deb! I espcially like the colours of the papers shown in the bottom right hand cornder of the top photo and when you see where  get my inspiration from you can see why I like them!

You know it's a great day when you find not one but two nests! This close up shot really inspires me, birds are of course master layerists, weavers and recyclers!

The same nest from the close up, below is exactly how I found it- face down on the grass and just waiting for me! I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the clump on the grass and thinking I was being wishful I went and checked it out just incase it was actually a nest. I moved it onto some near by leaves to get the other photo of it. Had it been there I might not have spotted it!

Some more inspiring nature gifts that I spotted on my walk...

Last but not least...I  went back for the nest that I found with Thrush eggs in it about 9 weeks ago.You may remember that I had disturbed the nest not realising that it wasn't vacant and then I spent the rest of the day half excited at my find and half scared that I had done something terrible! Good news though! That nest was blessed and when I went back there were no cold eggs still inside. Wheeew!

Yesterday I 'stole' time to do some more on my Labyrinth book for the Pulp Redux Collaboration , I carved another lino print and did some more on one of the pages. I'm working with such talented ladies and I've had the odd 'what was I thinking? 'moment and little self doubt parties when I suddenly think that I'm not really up for this after all...but they're in passing and usually as a result of my being frustrated over something else!  I'm not about to give up on this don't you worry! It's the best collab ever and there's no way I'm missing out!

Paper Swap.

Badge designed by Egmont van Dyck.

Lawendula of Woven Letters organised a paper swap on her blog. Thanks Lawendula!

Here's 2 of the 4 envelope pages I did in a book for my swap partner Deb of Dryadart's Weblog.

I made the pages from old book pages. The thread is entirely decorative and I left the 'bad' side of the stitching exposed because I liked the rawness of the mark making. Each pocket of the book has something papery inside and I also tucked in a few things between each page. You can see pics of the contents below! The idea was to send 7-10 things in a regular sized letter envelope so that we didn't have to spend a small fortune on the swap. As it turned out I made mine too fat (by 3mm I kid you not!) and it became a small parcel instead of an envelope and that made it $5.30 more expensive to post and required a customs declaration form. Needless to say I came home and repacked it with the same stuff, just flatter!

The contents....French to English dictionary pages, colour plates from old encyclopedias, embossed leaf on handmade paper, bird image, nest print, gold serviette, NZ ephemera.

The ephemera includes some postal things, a Tiki playing card and a found shopping list.

Below: The book closed as my partner will first see it. The string reminds me of the parcels wrapped in brown paper and string that my Nana used to send. It took me a while to realise where the string binding 'thing' was coming from (you may remember my Disco postcards) and then one day it occurred to me! It was a connection with my Nana and my childhood. I am sure I won't be the only one to remember those parcels though!

Pulp Redux update and a very cool nest!

Photo Mandy Hauge, Whakatane, NZ

Look at this fabulous Plover's nest that Mandy Hauge posted on her blog for moi! I am seriously impressed and just a tad envious that she gets to find some wonderful treasures! Thankyou Mandy it made my day to see this on your blog! I really have to encourage everyone to go on over to Mandy's blog and check out her art. No kidding not only is this lady one seriously talented photographer she also does incredible paintings, bird cage sculptures and collects cool things like mummifyed rats and bird skulls. You've just got to visit!

I've also been busy working on my Labyrinth book for the Pulp Redux collaboration. I am really loving the way this is coming along although it is still very much a work in progress! If you havn't been over already then make sure you pop over to see the progress on everyone else's books too. We've also had Lisa of Mud Hound Primitives join the collab which is very good news for us! If you havn't already been by her blog I suggest you visit her too!

Hot off the press! My freshly complete Woven page. The photo below shows the pages 'bones' which are kebab sticks stitched onto the page. Below that you can see an 'entangled' page which is not yet finnished. I left the tails that tied the sticks long so that they would tangle. The beads that you can see on the photo above move along and I love the way it feels when you move the beads along and really interact with the page.

The two pages flow over the edges and into each other which may result in another 'entanglement' but that's ok with me!

And last but not least...the Paper Swap partners have been announced on the Woven Letter's blog so if you signed up make sure you go and see who your partner is!

ICE 2010 #3 Harmony

International Collage Exchange 2010
Series: Chain Reaction
Title: Harmony
Embossed leaf on handmade paper, coffee dyed paper, leaf lino print on serviette, thread, pencil, recycled papers.

It was layout number 2 that won me over! It was very nearly number 1 but I realised that I nearly always put the darker/bolder image on the left so I decided to do it the opposite way just for a change. I titled this 'Harmony' because while I was creating this piece the words "Harmony sustains life' kept replaying in my head. Given it's relevance to the meaning behind my work I knew the collage had just been named. I've been waiting to use that leaf for some time now, no project seemed right but I can see it belongs here, as it was meant to be.

A paper swap?? Yes it's true! This international paper swap is being hosted by "Woven Letters" so please drop by her blog and sign up if this sounds like you....which it does of course!