Autograph book

Hi beautiful,

Today i happened upon an autograph book from 1947-49. Remember those multicoloured paged booklets, usually with "Autographs" embossed on the front cover? I had at least one back in my youth, now buried in a box in a cupboard somewhere.....

It was too tempting to pass this book by. Every page has been written on by the owner's school friends. Many identify as being in Form 3A at a country High School in New South Wales. The owner has written her name and address very neatly inside the front cover. From that information, i know she was 13 in 1947 when the first entries were made. The majority of the entries are by girls. Some wish the owner "good luck" and are dated November or December 1949, no doubt they were finishing school.

Verses are a mix of both serious and silly, meant for a laugh! Some are very familiar to me. Here's a few for you to enjoy.

"1 1 was a racehorse
2 2 was 1 2
1 1 1 1 race
2 2 1 1 2."

"In your chain of friendship
Consider me a link."

"Little dabs of powder,
Little dabs of paint,
Make little {name}
Just what she ain't."

I love the personal touch of these autograph books; written by hand by friends and family at a moment in time.

The next junk journal I make will be an autograph book. I certainly have plenty of bright coloured copy pages just waiting to be used and written on!

Happy memories!
Cara

Matilda's Shed

Hi beautiful

Well the day has finally arrived! Matilda is so excited - her studio (affectionately known as The Shed) is now ready to move into. 

It's been a long wait - since November 2017, when Matilda first fell in love with the old shed on a back road outside town. She had longed for her own studio in the countryside for a long time. 

While the old building was being slowly restored, on the weekends, Matilda worked in the yard, pruning the trees, erecting a lovely wrought iron fence and lastly planting flowers in the front garden. The trellis is up and waiting for string beans and sweet peas to be planted. 

On this bright sunny day, Matilda and her furry friend, Cuddles are so happy to be in their new home. 

Flowers bloom along the fence

Matilda at the front door

Cuddles the cat being curious

 For those interested in the construction of Matilda's shed, here are a few notes. 
Inspiration: photo from a magazine - an old farm shed in country Victoria in autumn. 
Foundations laid: begun in a Ro Bruhn workshop in November 2017
Layers: Top of fabric pieces; muslin stabilised; wadding; calico backing.
Techniques: all hand stitched with the exception of securing the backing to the top. The wadding was added to give the stitched piece more substance. Transparent thread and small stitches secured the wadding. 
Size: 13" x 13.5" including binding.
Thanks to: friend Margaret gifting me the flowers (the tiniest yo-yos!); encouragement of embroidery friends. 

Happy stitching!
Cara

Back to papercraft

Hi beautiful

It's been nearly 6 months since my last post! Having a break from the world :-).

Life goes in circles. After a couple of years, I find myself returning to my love of making with paper. I've been exploring junk journaling - creating journals with a selection of everyday papers. I particularly love the scrappy aged look and recently played with tea stained papers and card leftovers to make this birthday card for a wonderful spunky lady.

Envelope card tied with a bow

Embossed greeting card withdrawn from front pocket

Back of envelope

New for me was using machine sewing as a feature and including a fabric scrap as an embellishment. (That's the textile influence of the last 2 years!) The tea staining gives the paper a gorgeous crackling sound as well as a warm aged look.

I'm loving being back with paper, glue, distress inks …..

Cara

It's a Wrap!!!

Hi beautiful!

It's been a while since my last post. That's not to say there hasn't been a lot going on in my crafting world. There has!

The one creation I want to share today is what I affectionately call "The Hoop". It has been my daily companion this year. 

My hoop journey began at the prompting of a Wild Woman. “A great challenge” Leona said, “for a year, stitch each day on a hoop.” Four Wild Women, me included, set forth with courage and a glint of determination in our eyes.

I had a 14” hoop sitting in my cupboard, picked up at a local op shop. A year is a long time so I figured a big hoop was just the ticket. An unfinished, or more truthfully, almost unstarted, cross stitch linen piece was asking to be used after 4 decades! On the first day of the challenge, I made a last minute decision and chose a green linen damask napkin loitering in the linen cupboard. And the rest they say is history!

The Completed Hoop

Over time, the hoop became known as "The Magic Kingdom" with a mix of scenes and characters. Each day saw me stitching, posting on Instagram and weekly on Facebook. As I progressed, a few kind folk began to like and then to engage with the posts. They were also participating in #1yearofstitches challenge. The year-long journey was so much fun as we shared and encouraged each other. Thank you to my Instagram friends. 

I've made 2 video clips - one of the weekly hoop progress and the other of the places.

I hope you enjoy the journey!  

The Places

The Weekly Progress

With love

Cara 

Dry felting fun

Hi beautiful

More wonderful winter weather today with warm sunshine to delight in.

This morning I enjoyed a creative burst, playing around with ideas for embroidering on felt. My inspiration came from a workshop I attended on Monday presented by Lyn of Palm Beach Creative Stitchers with her juicy colours and imaginative use of stitches on felt. She generously displayed many of her creations with the group.

My stash of wool roving had been idle for quite a while, along with the felting machine, so today was the day to get them busy.

Here's where I got to. Dry felted flowers, stems and leaves, ready for stitching.

Felt pieces laid out

Lots of fun! 

Cara

W.M.U Cookery Book

Hi beautiful

It's been a long time between blog posts! I've been posting daily on Instagram for the #1yearofstitches challenge. Yet here I am.

What's prompted me? Well it's this little charmer of a cookery book. A little the worse for wear, held together by an elastic band and masking tape!

Front Cover 

This is the 15th edition (1938) published by the Presbyterian Women's Missionary Union in Brisbane. Very popular in its day, a must for every self respecting housewife. This one belonged to my paternal grandmother. It's a real treasure, not just for the recipes and helpful hints but also because sprinkled throughout are scraps of paper with recipes jotted down by my grandmother, my mother and my paternal aunt. 

Here's a few gems. 

Household Hints p.262

Brief hints p.xxi

I can vouch for this pumpkin cake too! Here t'is in my mother's handwriting. It's time to bake this one.

Recipe

And what a mixed bag of advertisers! 

Advertisers - page xv

This book is a family heirloom I think. My sister is the cook of the family now, so this one is yours sis. 

It's time to start cooking! 

Cara

When we were young - special treats

Hi beautiful

I recently borrowed a book from the local library titled "When we were young: a compendium of childhood" compiled and illustrated by John Burningham, a celebrated author and illustrator of children's books.

After reading the first contribution by Andrew O'Hagan, a novelist and essayist, childhood memories began floating through my mind.

So I thought, why not write down my memories... in my blog. The first topic - Special Treats.

Special treats when I was young ...

- spending three pence on a pack of Fruit Tingles at interval time at the "pictures" and sucking them slowly all through the main feature movie. Fruit Tingles

- a Twin Pat ice block bought for 3d (?) at the corner store and sharing half with my younger sibling. They're not around anymore! Unique in that each ice block had 2 sticks and you broke it in half to eat or in my case to share.

- store bought brick of ice cream to have with the homemade apple pie / plum tart on an outing to the beach. This was special as we only ever had mum's homemade ice cream made from condensed milk at home! 

Obviously I liked my sweet things!

What were your special treats? 

Cara