Claremont This Week

Come and visit us we will be here Friday, Saturday and Sunday this week.  We will have left over stock from the shop at bargain prices, drop by and say hi ..

Your chance to buy unique Christmas presents, browse amongst amazing Antique and Collectable dealers and visit our Polka Dot Vintage Market. Date:Friday 18th Nov to Sunday 20th Nov Time:9.30am - 4.30pm Location:CLAREMONT SHOWGROUNDS   Lots of your favourite exhibitors plus many new ones   Our market offers quality hand-made crafts including jewellery, adults and children's clothing,bags and accessories, body products, country craft, fabric craft, woodwork, toys, pottery, homewares, patchwork, scrapbooking and many more. Our foodies bring you sauces, condiments, preserves, cakes, biscuits, chocolate and confectionary. We look forward to seeing you there! p.s. Don’t miss your chance at winning the $2000 door prize.	View the flyer on our website Entry Fee: $6 (Children under 12 FREE) Plenty of free parking. Trains stop in Showgrounds. Free Shuttle bus operating.   OVER 300 HUNDRED INDOOR STALLS ONE VENUE - THREE GREAT FAIRS Free Antique Valuations: Bring along your family heirlooms to see what they are worth!
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Visit our web site at www.treasuredcraftcreations.com.au

Miss Johnson's Vintage and Handmade Market

I have been busy with our upcoming Miss Johnson's market next weekend, come along and see us if you can, I know that Friday is a public holiday but it become one after we had settled our dates, it would be a nice way to enjoy your Friday night or Saturday if you are not going to the barbecue with the Queen or other CHOGM things.  Will get back to you after the market.  Just want to share you with a little something that I read at the Museum when John and I went several weekends ago on our discovering Perth forays.

We, each of us, have part of a star inside us,

The calcium in our bones, was made in a star

and distributed by the nuclear explosion

that ended it life

before our sun was lit

- R Hutchison 1983

Book of Gatherings

I have finally finished my book or should I say box, a box in a book.  After Dwellingup I had a clear idea of what I wanted to do but just didn't have the time.  I am really pleased with how it turned out, thanks to Mandy Herring who taught me how to make the boxes I created a group of boxes on the cover with found objects i.e. Gatherings.  Seed pods, honky nut, smooth white stone, bottles with seeds and a piece of bark with lichen attached. See the little nest with a tiny feather Mandy Woodham made that for me.

I could have glued the spine to the edge of the box but I kinda liked to show it and it sits better when open

 This little old battered leather bag not sure what it was used for but it makes a nice pocket for this little journal on butterflies, letters from home and photo's of wife and child complete the picture

a little sketch book to draw plant life with a pencil attached to inside cover can you see the little silver medallion that is one of Nina's earrings Mandy W has the other.

I had to do some major changes to the inside, there was a ring binder attached to the spine that would have got in the way of my box so it had to come out.  Just as well the look I wanted was old and battered because that is how it ended up. All closed up with a little brass padlock from my sister Phillipa to finish it off.  Nina is a really good reached and always inspires you to go beyond rather than just copy what she has done.  Some will say but what are you going to do with it, they can't see the point in making something you love, I have it out on display where I can enjoy it.

music

Recently while walking in the park, I usually try and walk for an hour, I heard a young man whistling a tune as he went to start up his motorbike, made me think how little we hear anyone whistling a tune.  John does from time to time, and I remember my maternal grandfather (who learnt at a young age to play musical instruments, not that I ever heard him play, photo's show he did) but he was always whistling as he went around gardening etc.                                                                                                                       I love music, but will not sing in front of anyone, when I am on my own though I love to break into song, I was so shy of singing in front of anyone that on one occasion when I was about 13 we had to get up in front of the music class and sing something, I was mortified and stood up but refused to open my mouth, hmm got detention but I still didn't sing, do you think I have a stubborn streak?

My dearest Dad above, I never heard him sing either I guess we where a bit anal about it.  When my dad died in 1997,  14 years ago, there was a song that was very popular at the time called 'Hold on" by R.E.M. first recorded in 1992 so it had been around for a while, it was on that day.  When we where sitting around talking way before this we discussed death and what happens and in conversation I asked my dad to leave a sign to let me know he was around.  Whenever I feel down this song pops up on the radio again, yep heard it the other day, just letting you know I am hear when you need me kid?
At the end he asked me if it was alright if he went, my heart broke, and all I could say was, whenever you are ready dad.  He told me Mum was waiting at the end of the bed the night before and that night he sat bolt upright in bed and exclaimed "Mum" and I knew he'd seen his mother as he never called my mum by that name it was always Darky.  I asked him if he'd like to hold on as my sisters where on there way, but he said he couldn't hold on any longer.  These are the words to that song
When the day is long and the night is yours alone                                                                                        when your sure you've had enough of this life, well, hang on                                                                       Don't let yourself go, cause everybody cries and everybody hurts sometimes                                               I hope you don't mind me sharing this with you, but I do believe this as does Jo who also hears the same song.  With my mum its the smell of a match being struck, but haven't smelt that for a long time.  I am grateful I had that time to say goodbye which my sisters didn't get and we didn't get with mum.                 PS this song was originally written for the experience of going through High School and was later taken up in Britain as the theme song for suicide.  It was voted the song that most affected men followed by Teardrops in Heaven.  Don't quote me on the R.E.M. dates etc, wrote it all down then lost the bit of paper.  Hmm
Live the dream
Jacky

Black Cockatoo's

This week while chucking laps around my local park, I heard things falling through the trees, thinking someone was up the tree, I stopped to look closer, the big gum trees had heaps of these big black cockatoos, I hadn't taken much notice of the noise until then, but it was quite a racket I presume there was young ones up there, they sounded like a rusty saw going non stop.  The black cockatoo are said to herald the coming of rain, they where accurate there, as the puddles will show you.

The noise of things falling through the trees I had heard where falling honky nuts, above you can see the mess they make and below you can see where they nibble around the tops, they must have very strong beaks.  When I hear and see them I am careful walking underneath as I don't fancy getting hit on the head by a falling honky nut.

 The first day I saw them they where down lower but the next day its was raining and they where higher up, below you can see them preening their wings out to dry, dumb birds it was still raining and dumber me standing under the trees taking photo's drenched through to my underwear, and i had a raincoat on, they don't seem to make proper raincoats here that keep you dry, only shower proof and this was more than a shower, but it was nice walking in the rain.

                    Hows this for green you kiwi's,bet you didn't think we got this green aye!

                     See those clouds, we have had a lot of them lately, bring it on, I say, I'll take it all!
In the weekend paper there was an article on how large tract's of native bush has died because of the extreme heat and the driest summer last in recorded history, and they say that it will not regenerate.  Signs of our climate in trouble?

 Recently I was asked to demonstrate Golden products for a group called ATASDA which is Australian Textile and Surface Design Assoc, hope I have that correct.  I looked up their website so I could demonstrate the products that where relevant to their media.  I also decided I would try to make a sample that showed the products in their media style and above is what I created.  I have applied Moulding Paste to the background on calico, I wanted something pliable and this met that criteria.  The image is a skin made from fluid iridescent gold which gave a lovely rich glow.  When the moulding paste had set, over 24 hours, I used moulding paste to glue the image to the background after painting the background in lovely oranges (vat orange) and rich yellow (cadmium yellow) dry brushing iridescent gold on the high peaks, and interference red over the circular peice.  I then used my sewing machine to go around the edges of the image, no problems there, then hand sewn bits of lace, buttons and some ribbon work.  I was quite pleased with the end result.  I will be making more of these, I think they will make great book covers of simply frame them.  I will be teaching this in class next week and carrying it over two weeks to allow drying time.

The past 3 or 4 weeks I have had one drama after another with my new iMac computer, in three months I have had 3 new hard drives, grrrr.  The first was a recall on the hard drive, the operating system I had when I bought the computer was Snow Leopard and they upgraded it to Lion which is only new out, untried enough I think.  Things went along alright for a few days then the keyboard wouldn't work, after many hours on the phone, their advise was to take keyboard into the Apple Store, now we only have one Apple Store in Perth, in the middle of the city on a busy one way street, parking a nightmare, so as the keyboard is not very big I decided to take the bus.  Keyboard worked fine on their computers but on safe side gave me a new one, off home go I, connect up, and guess what does not work, several more hours of try this and try that, decided I should trot back into city with computer to get them to work on it, luckily it didn't work for them either, found it was the operating system again............. so after all these dramas it seems to be working ok now, fingers crossed.  Sorry for the vent but I get so damn frustrated with modern technology.

Birthday wishes

Happy Birthday to these two spring chickens

Sorry I couldn't be there to celebrate with you

I believe it was a good one

I know how you lot like to party....