My Latest Creation

This is one of my new bags I'm making. I couldn't show you before as I made this one for my daughter's birthday and had to wait until she'd opened her parcel first, before I showed it on my blog.

 It's a small bag with a shoulder strap and pocket inside.

It's just big enough to hold your phone, keys, cards and some cash and maybe a few other small items.

I was really pleased with the way it turned out.

I've more of these in the pipeline and they should be available by mid-November.

I'm taking a break from my Etsy and blogging for a while, but will be back soon with new projects and ideas to share.

Until then, stay safe and well xxx Robyn

KC Willis

"I believe art can change people's lives. It is through the work of an artist's hands that hope and joy is spread to the hearts of those who stand in front of it and whisper under their breath..."Cool." by KC Willis  -    at http://kcwillis.blogspot.com/2010/10/imagination-congregation.html

I love this quote by KC Willis. She is a true artist in her own right. 

Click on the link above to read all about her ideas for her future art teaching.

I feel so grateful I was able to join her online Collage Camp and can visit there regularly for more ideas and inspiration. I'd recommend it to all interested in learning something new.

Here is the link for the Collage Camp http://collagecamp.ning.com/  Hope I may have inspired you to have a go at something, not only truly different and unique, but very simple to learn!! 
Have a lovely evening xx Robyn 

10/10/2010

Today being the 10/10/2010  the second week-end of the start of our Daylight Saving, was a different type of Sunday to the one we might expect this time of the year,the beginning of our spring


Some people headed off to the city for the brekkie on the  Sydney Harbour Bridge


Was a shame it was raining...

...and some chose today to tie the knot...

Compared to this our day was very simple...

Not having anything special planned hubby and I thought it would be nice to get out for a walk and some sunshine and fresh air, as you would expect this time of year

We woke to dark clouds and pouring rain, and cold, so decided we probably would just hang around home and potter for the day

But within an hour or so the wind picked up and the clouds blew away, so we ventured out and found a new local market that we hadn't been to before

Of course I couldn't resist buying a few treasures to put in my craft collection.

I found 2 lovely plates, one a limited edition bear painting to add to my collection and a small Royal Albert Rose plate that I really liked

Also this beautiful white doily, that I've lots of ideas for

Then we went for our walk and by this time the sunshine was in full swing and the jackets we had on in the morning had to be shed, really hot now

 We had a pleasant time and came across this family of ducks, such peaceful little creatures, they seemed very tame and let us get up close to them, I guess they hoped we had food for them....

... Now back home for lunch and an afternoon nap...

 The sun is going down the clouds are returning... 

Oh no, it's pouring again!!

How lucky were we to get out for that sunshine and fresh air today!
What did you get up to today?

Happy 10/10/2010 , hope your day was special!!!
 Robyn

Birthday Wishes to a Wonderful Daughter!!

Can't believe that 26 years ago today

our beautiful girl was born

how fast the years fly past

We miss you lots

but know you must continue

with your travel/work adventures

Happy Birthday Katharine

 Have a Wonderful Day!!

Sending lots of love and hugs from home xxxooo

Bearbits Giveaway!

Please pop over to Gingers' blog Bearbits by clicking on my button on the right.

She is having a giveaway of the sweetest little bear named Jillana.

Hope I'm the lucky one!!!

Back again!

Hi everyone. It's seems so long since my last post. My life has been running in lots of different directions. Taking on my new exercise sessions at the gym (3 sessions a week) has all been a bit overwhelming for a basically non exercise person like me. But I've found a really good trainer who specialises in people like me, with health issues, and has started me on a gentle strength training program, which will gradually increase over time.

Being one who usually finds it difficult to stick with exercising, as I'd rather be sitting crafting, I'm really determined this time to stick with this. I've survived my breast cancer, (5 years this year - yey!!), so I'm not going to let this osteoporosis thingy beat me, I'm determined that with diet, vitamins and exercise to get on top of it!

 But with the busyness of adapting to the new routine I haven't had time to put into my painting and crafting, also my painting table was a complete mess. Absolutely covered with no space to work - not good for motivation or inspiration!

Also I've started on some new little purses that I'm happy with and have supplies for this from one end of the house to the other.   Sooo have spent the last couple of days sorting out my craft room and painting table. Today the table is much clearer, so now I have space to work. So just have to sort all my laces, doilies, buttons, trims and fabrics now into lots of storage boxes that I bought today at the reject shop.

But I think I need to get back into some painting again, I find it very relaxing and enjoy the freedom of creating with the brushstrokes.   
                      Then I could paint something like this .....                                                                        

                                                              .....or something like this


These are just a few photos of some of my past works..sold on ebay...... things I really enjoyed painting and was pleased with the result...


....hope the inspiration and motivation will return soon....

 Wishing you all a wonderful and hopefully creative week-end,  ......Robyn.

Waiting to be Adopted

These three little cuties have just been added to my Etsy store where they'll wait patiently to be adopted. In the meantime they'll reside with me and enjoy the company of the variety of bears in my hug. The bears and me will be sad to see them go, as  they make great companions for larger bears.

Check out these new items in my Etsy Store!

Hi everyone, I've just added some new items to my Etsy store. Thought I'd better put more stock in after it being sold out last week!!

I've so enjoyed using the skills I learned while attending K.C. Willis Online Collage Camp http://collagecamp.ning.com/ . It's so much fun creating this fabric collage art.

I always like making things that are useful. I've purchased these 3 cotton bags and added the beautiful fabric collages to them. The small drawstring has an image from raggedyblessings on it. 

The 2 tote bags have images from my own original artworks of teddy paintings,making them truly unique and one of a kind. I also added fabric lining to the bags and pockets with doileys attached. 

I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed making them.  

Happy week-end to all!! Robyn.

So to the gym I go!!

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.        -Joshua J. Marine 

Well it's with apprehension and lack of enthusiasm I'm beginning a fitness program at the gym. Docs.' recommendation, due to my thinning bone density. 

Never having really been an exercise person, always enjoyed sitting with my painting or creative projects, I'm finding it all a bit overwhelming, and hard to picture myself "working out" at the gym. But underneath all this I really feel I must give it my best shot and try to build up my strength, so as hopefully to preserve myself for a better quality of life as I get older. 

So I'll just have to fit in my crafting around all this. Have half finished projects all over the house at present, so hoping to get to them soon when I get some sort of routine established.

The joys of getting older!!! Am sooo happy though, have just sold all items in my Etsy store!!! That made my week!! So looking forward to adding more items soon!!

Wishing you all a good week, filled with health, vitality and happiness!!! Hugs Robyn.

Waiting to be adopted

I've just added these 2 little cuties to my Etsy store, they're named Ella and Chloe, and would love to be adopted into a nice hug.  But in the mean time I'm quite happy to have them live with me.
They always bring a smile to my face.

A Little Snowed Under!!

I'm feeling rather snowed under today. Have been very busy setting up my new Etsy Store. Quite daunting to say the least, for someone like me, not very savvy when it comes to the computer world. But I've been plugging away at it for most of the afternoon and am slooowly getting there.
I've been really excited about my newly learned skills from http://collagecamp.ning.com/ and have been happily creating some new projects for my Etsy store. So far they are all teddy bear themed of course!!! For someone like me it's hard to create anything without a bear in it somewhere!!

 Anyway heres a little peek at some of the things I've been up to since I last posted. These are all going in my Etsy store, so just please be patient with me, thankyou :)
I've done 2 of these fabric collage boxes that I'm really pleased with. They were such fun to create. For the first one I've used and image from http://mylittleraggedyblessings.blogspot.com/
The second one I've used an image off a vintage postcard from my own personal collection.
These are both now available in my Etsy store.

I've also made some lovely collage hang tags, that would make wonderful gifts also. They are next on the list to go into Etsy. So good to be back in the land of blogging again thanks for stopping by and have a lovely evening. Robyn xx

A Big Job For Little Bears

A quote by Ted Menton from  "The Teddy Bear Lover's Companion"
"Giving bears to hospital patients has long been a tradition among teddy bear lovers. Many groups do this good work, but I guess the most famous is Good Bears of the World, which has bear dens worldwide. Today, inspired by the good deeds of others, I bring bears to hospitals to work with terminally ill children. The children come from across the country for treatment; their parents and friends are often thousands of miles away. The bears and I do our best to make the kids a little happier. I tell stories, but the bears do the real work - they watch over the children at difficult times. In these kids' lives lurks a very real boogeyman, and the children all know that his name is Death. It's a big job for little bears, but they manage because they are filled with love - the love they're endowed with by children."

This is a lovely story, it's good that bears are needed in so many different ways, and can be such a comfort to these suffering children.

Something New to Try

Well its been a while since my last post and I have something new to share with you. I've joined K.C. Willis online fabric Collage Camp http://collagecamp.ning.com/ and have been busily working with the new ideas I've learned from it. I've thoroughly enjoyed doing this online class and can recommend it to those of you who might be considering joining.

So I've had to put aside my other projects for a little while as the excitement of creating something new has taken over. I've made a couple of small collage pieces, but want to try a couple more out before I share them with you on my blog.

This is a great opportunity to use up lots of bits and pieces I've been storing and collecting for years, such as vintage laces, doilies, buttons, fabric etc., etc. I've had so much fun going through my stash and found lots of things I'd forgotten I had.

The vintage mirror and candlesticks in the previous tutorial are not far from being finished now.

So it's back to my fabric for the moment. Have a great week everyone, will talk again soon, Robyn.

Hello there!

Sorry I'll be away from my blogging for a few more days. I've had my dear Mum staying with us. We've had lots of fun, chatting, eating, lots of cake and teas and cappuchinos, more chatting and eating!! Oh dear will have to cut back again when she leaves. Lol!!

Not to mention shopping trips and making lots of purchases of those things you just have to have, even if you don't need it straight away, but might be useful one day.

 Scouring through all my craft books and mags. and getting ideas of the future projects we will make.

Catching up on watching dvds in the evening. Last night watched Mao's Last Dancer, just a wonderful movie! 

 Tonight we are going to watch Last Chance Harvey with Dustin Hoffman & Emma Thompson.

She's here to stay for one more day, then we will take her back to her retirement hostel, hopefully refreshed after her break away with us. So then I'll be back to my creative projects once again. See you soon Robyn! 

Shabby to Chic Painting Tutorial Step 6 - This is optional!

Hi again, well I just couldn't leave these lovely items without picking up my brush and decorating further with a touch of colour.
Firstly with the candles I've just painted the roses by adding Clear Glazing Medium to the paint and brushed the roses first with a pale pink and then the leaves with a soft green. Think that will do now,  they look much better and will just let them cure properly before varnishing . Just click on any of the photos to get a larger view.

With the mirror frame I've painted some small pink roses sprays with soft green trailing leaves and buds. I've also highlighted some of the existing sculptured flowers that were on the frame. That is the blue flowers and some of the green leaves. Those of you familiar with painting roses would be able to do this without difficulty. But even if you can't paint roses you could just highlight the existing sculptured flowers that come on the piece and it would still look good. I'm not finished this one yet though. More work needed on some of the leaves and a few more highlights on the roses.Then the varnishing. I'll have pics of both these items when they're completed and let you know when they'll be going on my ebay for sale. If you're interested in purchasing either one, please let me know.

Shabby to Chic Painting Tutorial Step 5

Well I've been able to find a bit of free time over the past couple of days to get on with these shabby to chic creations. Here they are now after I applied just one more coat. Yes I think that will do it. It just depends on the item you're making over as to how many coats you need and often it comes to what you like yourself. But I'm happy with this, plenty of white with only a little of the old dark areas showing through.  As you can see from the photos they look quite good now (even though I still need to replace the mirror).
So now all I need to do is finish them off with 2 coats of water based satin varnish to protect the paintwork. Whatever brand you like really, you can either use one from the art store designed for decorative painting or one from the hardware store. You could also use a gloss varnish if you prefer, but I prefer the satin.

So that's all there is to it really. Pretty easy isn't it? See I said you don't need any special skill to do this and the possibilites are endless with what can be given a make-over and the finished result is so fresh and easy on the eye.

I hope I've been of help to those of you out there who have been wanting to give this a try but didn't know where to start.      

Of course there is more to come though, you see the artist in me just can't leave it at that!! I just have to add a little touch of colour here and there so have a look at my next post for more pics!!




         

Shabby to Chic Tutorial Continues Step 4

Step Four: Allow your work to dry thoroughly and sand lightly all over again with the paper bag. Now you're ready to apply a second coat.

These are looking good now. I think probably one more coat is need. 

But as the weather is sooo damp and cold here, I think I'll leave it until tomorrow to do that.

So this tutorial will be continued.

Shabby to Chic Painting Tutorial

Hello everyone! We've had cold rainy weather in my part of the world this week. So I've been spending some time indoors sorting through my collection of "things to be painted". I came across a couple of pieces that I've collected in my travels, that definately needed a makeover. So while I was working on these little projects I thought, why not put a step-by-step tutorial for this on my blog.

Making something look "chic" from "shabby" is a fairly simple procedure and doesn't require any great skill, just time and patience really. There a probably lots of you out there who already are familiar with this technique and have their own way of achieving it. But I'd like to show you how I do it, step by step.

The pieces I'm using are an old style mirror on a stand and 3 candlesticks, that I really thought had potential for this with all the little sculptured roses around the bottom of each one. Also the frame around the mirror, as well as the stand has some lovely sculptured flowers, leaves, scrolls etc.

Step One: First you need to clean the pieces up before you prime them for painting. I used an old paintbrush dipped in metholated spirit, or depending on the surface you can just use warm soapy water. For some surfaces the spirit is too harsh. The brush is good for getting into all the crevices. You can just use a cloth on the smooth areas.

Step Two: Now you need to prime your pieces. I used Dulux 1step primer, sealer and undercoat prepcoat. This is a great product and makes an easy job of priming. If you already have a good quality all purpose sealer on hand, you can use this also.

Step 3: As these items are quite delicate they only need a very gentle sanding. I just used a scrunched up paper bag.  Now the fun part, applying the first coat of paint. I've used Matisse White Basecoat paint, but you could use any acrylic paint of your choice, in either white or cream, or a nice pastel colour. Just a tip; If you are new to this sort of painting just make sure that you coninually keep a look out for any drips and runs of paint and smooth them out before they dry and spoil your work.

These little Newborns are now also on ebay!

 Chloe

                                                                                            Ella

 Mum has just completed these adorable little bears that I've just finished listing on ebay.

 They've been crocheted from patterns by Berta Hesen-Minton. You can visit her website here http://www.threadteds.com/  where you'll see the lovely bears, patterns and books she has available. You can also purchase from her on ebay. One very talented lady!

New Items for sale on Ebay!

Hi there everyone

Well I've finally completed the collar box and it's now for sale on my ebay!

I'm pleased with the way it turned out, so hope someone else thinks so too!! Lol!! 

 

Top of Collar Box Lid

This is what I mean about the strap over the top of the collar box. I can only paint something on either side of it, so makes it tricky, but it definately needs something.

 

New Items for sale on Ebay!

Hi everyone, I've just finished listing these new items on ebay tonight. Just click on my ebay link button to pop over and take a look

 This is a beautiful vintage jewellery case.
 It has now been sold  - sorry - sometimes you have to be quick!!

Old leather bag, painted with old style bears.

Renae

Little Ted

 Milo

 I've almost finished painting on this old vintage collar box. Just some more work to be done on the little annie brooch I've added on ted's collar. Also I have to decide what to put on the front of the lid as it needs something, but I'm restricted with painting because of the strap coming over the top of the lid. Any suggestions??

Vintage collar box inside lid