Springtime Brings Lots of Flowers, Birds, Angels and Fairies

It was a good mail day - both my April and May art dolls arrived together!

April Sunflower doll was created by Dayle Clancy (USA). I love the way she put different parts together to form the doll. Dayle has also done a very pretty drawing on the envelope, which looked so well-integrated, I almost thought it was a purchased one!

May Garden Angel was the fabulous creation of Amelia Ruscoe (New Zealand). 2 little accompanying angels came together, and with a very colourful and artistic handmade card.

For my first ever button fairy swap, the first Springtime Button Fairy to arrive came from Hazel Roots (UK). Springtime sure evokes images of flowers and butterflies - common elements - but quite different effects each one of us came up with.

The second one from Sue Cox (US) with a polymer face.

I managed to finish the zebra! Modified from Jane Eborall's horse pattern, I tatted them in white and used a black fabric marker to draw the black stripes. You can call it cheating, but I just can't think of any better way to tat them up looking like a zebra in such a small size.

It's been a while since I joined the Stitchin Fingers' Textile ATC swap. The theme for May is "Birds, Nest or Feathers". Hummingbird is one of my favourite birds to tat! One piece is going to Hopscotch (Barbara) in UK.

I have been doing a lot more tatting - all small motifs - to embellish something I'm not revealing yet until the next post!

"Open House" - Singapore Biennale 2011

When I think of garden, butterflies and flowers always come to my mind. Thus, my Garden Angel has a pair of butterfly wings, and a rose for her skirt. More flowers adorned her. Pink rose will be on her way to Barb Glasier in USA.

I love flowers. Many pieces of my jewellery are either floral or butterfly in design. Working on the flower theme for the May Inchies Mingle, I almost couldn't stop!
These are done with tatted flowers. (1 set for the Mingle and 1 set I'm keeping in my own album.)

And these are colours (both watercolours and marker pens) built up on ad-hoc designs made up pounding real flowers on watercolour paper.

My boy is doing his 2nd year Japanese as a 3rd language in school. For the cover of his portfolio, we did this pair of Japanese dolls.

I have not done these paper dolls for a long, long time since my school days. So I had to try making some as bookmarks first.

As usual, my girls also want to follow what I do, and since exams were just over. Joey is good and managed 4, almost on her own. I helped them with the hair.
Kayenderes Green (Canada) sent a Garden Fabric Fairy ATC. It's a delightful one and definitely an unique one!

Singapore Biennale 2011 just ended on 15 May. This 3rd biennale, entitled "Open House", featured 63 artists from 30 countries, and presented at the Old Kallang Airport, Singapore Art Museum, National Museum of Singapore and The Merlion Park at Marina Bay. Having no intention to go, but at my boy's last-minute request to visit the exhibition, we went on the last afternoon before the exhibition closed. It was a bit of a rush and such a pity we didn't manage to visit the Merlion Hotel.

Personally, I was not too impressed with this year's exhibits, compared to the 2nd one held in 2008. However, one of them by Charles Labelle, "Corpis, 2010 - ongoing (from Buildings Entered 1997 - ongoing)" left the deepest impression. With gesso and pencil drawing on book pages, he drew all the buildings he has physically entered since Sep 1997. It is a valuable collection of drawings, which are all so well-drawn.

Some of the other exhibits:

Part of the "Office Orchitect" by Michael Lee (Singapore).

The field of ruined and scarred plinths in "La Cannibale" created by Mike Nelson (UK).

"What a Difference a Day Made" presented by Michael Lin (Japan) who purchased the entire contents of a local hardware store, and the store recreated in the exhibition space, along with the crates in which the work has been shipped to Singapore.

"Within", RMIT frost drawing performance on glass wall by Gosia Wlodarczak (Poland).

Gifts from New Zealand and Mother's Day Cards

Another one alphabet done, this time is M - M is for Mouse (fabric ATC with felt alphabet, tatted critter and hand-embroidered word).
The theme for the May ATC session was "Mother and Father". I'm not sure what to do for the theme, so this was done really last minute - simple paper cuttings I copied from those we bought in China, but I cut them much smaller, and they looked real cute!

We tried watercolour painting with crayon resist during the session. This piece of sunset by the sea is mine, but touched up by Pei Ling. Pei Ling is a final year student in NAFA (Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts), we learned much from her. The bluish 2nd piece is done by Pei Ling herself.

Here are some of the ATCs I received, some from last month swaps - E is for Elephant by Vicki, P is for Pig by Valerie, Baby Bear Misses Papa & Mama by Terence, and Colourful Shapes drawn by my girl, Joey.

My very first inchies swap was with Lynette McNamara (New Zealand). She has sent a lot of my favourite items - flowers and butterflies!
A BIG thank you to Lynette too, for sending all these goodies along for the prize I won! I couldn't cross-stitch well, so I especially treasure this cross-stitched bookmark. By the way, Tiki is the first man in Māori mythology.

My second inchies swap was also in, they are the April Mingle from Rae Ann (USA).
The children made me some cards for Mother's Day. They are so cute to include ATCs inside for me too.

X is for X-ray Fish

Things are sure moving slow but time passes fast. DH came back for a week, and the children are having their exams, so not much time to do anything.

I don't know why, but these X-ray fish seem to elude me, and only after numerous attempts did I managed to tat something decent enough to show. Hopefully with these X-ray fish done, Y and Z will be easier.

Love these J and K ATCs received from Sherry Drier (USA) the past week - J is for Jacket and K is for Knitting. They are cool!

These complete the J and K swaps.

My favourite tatted Jellyfish, Norma's Joker, Mari's Jackal and Sherry's Jacket.

My tatted Koala, Sherry's Knitting and Mari's Kangaroo.

Springtime Button Fairies

More of my tatted fabric Alphabet ATCs! These are the L's - L is for Lion. Tatting and sewing them made me reminisce the musical, The Lion King - magnificent and unparallel creativity!

Meanwhile, I have also received Mari Strydom's (South Africa) Alphabets - I is for Ice-Cream, J is for Jackal, and K is for Kangaroo. Mari remembers I collect stamps, and she has sent all the colourful South Africian stamps too. Big thank you, Mari!
The alphabet I swap is complete - my I is for Ibis, Ann's I is for inchies, Sherry's I is for Ice-cream (needle-punching), and Mari's I is for Ice-cream.

I signed up for a Springtime Button Fairy swap - my first button fairy swap. What are Button Fairies? They are fairies with buttons as bodies. Nenufar Blanco from Barcelona/Spain came up with the original button faerie. I have previously done a few small ones, small enough to fit on the ATCs. Now, these are about 7' to 8" tall from the end of the buttons to the loop at the top of the head. My version of Springtime Button Fairies is full of flowers and butterflies. Hope my swap partners can feel Spring in the air the fairies bring with them!