More Colours of Autumn

I thought I would share a few shots, taken during this past week, of the vibrant colours in and around our home and along the driveway . I think the colours are near their peak. Although the yellows and golds may yet intensify, some of the trees, especially the reds and burgundies have lost half their leaves. Hope you enjoy.

I Won! I Won!

Judy and I have swapped postcards. But did you know she also has a second blog?  She has lovely giveaways! So I checked out Judy's Freebies and signed up for the August giveaway, and I won!

I won a Friendship Doll that Judy created, and it finally arrived !   Yay!

Isn't she beautiful?

Here's a close-up of her face. Judy creates the best faces! Fibre hair, gold beaded choker, hand-dyed laces, ribbon, machine embroidery, tulle, beads and buttons, gold dust, and fabrics galore! Wow!

You can see a bit more of the detail on the torso.

I shall be finding a special place in my 'studio' to hang my Friendship Doll where I can see her every time I look up from my work. It shall remind me of Judy's talents, and her generosity, and it shall hopefully inspire me to reach higher. Thank you, Judy!

Do you have a talisman that inspires you and sparks your creativity?
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Postcard Swap

Judy and I swapped a postcard not long ago, and we had so much fun, we decided to do it again!

I found this in my mailbox!

      Judy told me she'd been working on a 'Faces' theme. Now, who would have thought she'd create the face of the sun? How marvelous!


 Isn't this gorgeous? The scanner just can't capture the intensity of colour nor the sparkle of the beads she used to create this. There are fabric pieces, machine embroidery, decorative threads, organza, and tulle all woven together. I love it, Judy! Thank you so much!

Judy's theme was "Faces", but she said I could do anything I wished. I thought about it. Should I do something safe? Faces are not my forte, so I knew it would be a challenge. I decided to go for it! (After all, I reasoned, if it didn't work out, I could always scrap it and do something else, couldn't I? Who would know?)Here's what I sent her:  

I started with a found piece of fabric, which I think might be polished cotton, and sketched the head, painting it onto the fabric using small brushes and watercolour crayons. At first, the paint kept dispersing and disappearing into the fabric, but once I decreased the amount of water, it seemed to work better.
I created an off-the-shoulder dress from some of my Birthday fabric, tatted her jewelery, and styled her eyelash yarn hair. Isn't she cute?

While there are many flaws in her creation, I am still rather pleased with the over-all effect...sort of a stylized  pixie look perhaps.

 

I hope you find some lovely surprises in your mailbox.

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Pieces of the Rainbow!

Linda of Chalky's World was celebrating her 1st Blogiversary, and decided to have a little giveaway based on the colours of the rainbow. I found a delightful package waiting for me in my mailbox.
Having told her I loved fuschia, she sent me this:

Ribbons and raffia and buttons----oh! My!

I love them Linda!

I can see the ribbons and buttons as embellishments on several special Blush to Burgundy CQ's I'm planning.

 Four shades of hand-dyed raffia fill the package, and the 4 buttons attached are heart-shaped.

Thank you so much Linda for brightening my day with these pieces of the rainbow!

Am I lucky, or what?

I hope your day has some bright spots in it.

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Autumn Colours!!

It's now officially Autumn! I went for a walk today and marvelled over the fall colours. Won't you join me for a trek along the driveway, and into my garden?

First, the foyer table decorated for the season. Grab your jacket, and let's go!

Gold and orange leaves against the green. 

Chartreuse  and red leaves create shadows on the tree trunk.

Changing colours in the trees and shrubs along the driveway. 

Reds and golds and browns even in the weeds.... 

Look at those colours! 

So many different colours on one tree! I love those vibrant reds!

Even the shrubs are turning burgundy..... 

as are the peony leaves ....... 

 The Sentinel however, remains unmoved by the changes all around.











Thank you for joining me on my Autumn Walk! I hope you enjoyed the colour change. May this new season bring you much to enjoy. Happy Autumn!
Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Angel

Christmas is coming so I tatted an angel with two threads, a white and metallic silver,

which led to these. I see decorated cards and perhaps angel stockings, or angel hats, or maybe even more angels ahead.

Are you starting your Christmas gifts, yet? What are you making?

Have a wonderful day!

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Rusty Bits Sachet

The sachet is finished, and filled with fragrant lavender buds. Looking like a small purse, it has layers of rusted lace and tulle, muslin, a 'hidden' embroidered flower, french knots, tatting and beads. Not including the strap, it measures  a tiny 2 1/2" x 4 1/2", just the perfect size for hanging under a special blouse, or for fitting into a drawer  to scent the contents.

There's an oval of  tatting along one edge in brown button and carpet thread. It seems to echo the dark tones of the rust on the laces and fabric, and repeats the thread used to make the 'hidden' flower.

Then I added diagonal lines of  topaz bicone crystals following the pattern in the lace for a warm touch of bling. My friend loves bling! In the pic, it looks as though there is colour behind the lace, but there's only the rusted fabric underneath. It must be from blowing up the picture. I do, though, love the rust lines on the lace!

Here's the back--layers of tulle and two kinds of laces, and a 'V' stitched with cotton perle #5 in colour 436, a nice shade of rust. My friend arrives soon, and she'll find this little sachet wrapped and tied with a ribbon, sitting on her bedside table just waiting to be discovered. I sure hope she likes it!

I've had so much fun making this sachet, and have enjoyed using the rusted bits so much, that there is now another small bundle of laces and fabrics and tulle percolating outside in the yard, sitting on a rusty piece of old tin roofing. Can't wait to see what developes!

My friend will be staying for several days, and, although I have one or two posts ready for my blog, I may not be able to reply to your comments because we'll be busy visiting and creating and knitting and catching up. Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Forest Fungi

Cody-dog and I went for our daily walk, and I noticed that, popping through the forest floor here and there were these:

and these.....

and.....

and.....

orange, white, beige, yellow, bown.......

and frills

On our return, I spied something I hadn't seen before, even though I travel this same route to and from the house at least 4 times each week. Perhaps the lighting was just right that day, or perhaps I stood at a slightly diffeent angle from the norm, but this is what I spied:

Rock-Man smiling at me! It made my day!

Here's hoping your day is filled with smiles.

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz

Friend with Gardens

Friends with gardens share the abundance

giant zucchini

makes delicious zini zingers.....tasty squares with onion, garlic, cheeses, almost like a quiche. Would anyone like the recipe?

And more delicious zini bread, this time with dried cranberries and raisins, and walnuts.....

Yummy!!

I love my generous friends! I took them a loaf, too. But there's still more zucchini left. Back to more baking!




Thanks for visiting.
Hugs from Suz

Rusty Bits

With so many people creating rusty fabric, I thought I'd give it a try. So I bundled up some rusty bits with pieces of lace and fabric, and set them outside for several days, through rain and heat and sun. When I went to check on my bundle, it looked like this:

Hmmmmm, interesting.

Unwrapping...........

more unwrapping..........

Lace, and fabrics and thread, Oh my!

Washed and ironed and ready......

for a planned sachet, with gold thread, and tattings, and lavender flowers. I have someone special coming to visit soon, and I hope she'll like it! I'll post pics when it's done.

Thanks for visiting.

Hugs from Suz