October Happenings

Oct is the month of examinations in Singapore.  Not that I'm sitting for any exams, my 3 children are.  I can't afford to take leave to stay at home, so I could only do some last minute revision with them (especially with Kristine) on weekends and evenings.  This year was worse without a maid :(  But we managed!!  And Joey come in top for Sec 1 in her school!  

I didn't find time to blog too often, but here's an update.

For the Prayer Flag-ATC swap, we have Bonnie Jean Larsen's (USA) flag of Love...

and Dina Greer's (USA) 3 different flags.  Bonnie also sent a very chic and artistic piece with her name, while Dina sent extra hand-drawn and painted cards.  The kokopelli is so cute!  

(A kokopelli is also known as a fertility god, prankster, healer and story teller,usually depicted as a humpbacked flute player, often with feathers or antenna -like protrusions on his head.)

The swap was completed and ATCs sent out to participants in mid-Oct.  Thank you for playing, Bonnie, Dina and Sarah!

For the Inchies-onexone group swaps, Debbie House is back on track from her house shifting, and we have received the Jun, Jul and Aug swaps.  Plus the 6 inchies missing from the Heart pocket-ATC from Debbie herself, and 4 choice inchies from the May swap (bottom right black card): Muffin from Marjorie Grace, You Take The Cake by Lynn Lipchak, Cheeky from Brooke G and the last one with button and ribbon from Polly.

For the Alphabet inchies (Jun-Aug):

Q, V, X - from Marjorie Grace

R, S, W - from Sandra Hanson

T, Y - from Polly

U, Z - from Debbie House

Rinchies (choice) for Jun swap:  Bird from Debbie H, Heart from Barb P, USA Flag from Marjorie Grace and Flower from Polly.

More May swaps: 

(Top left black card above)  Oriental inchies - 2 from Polly, 1 Japanese from Debbie H, 1 Japanese from Marjorie Grace.

(Top right black card above) Stamped images inchies: Striped cat & deer from Polly, Cat from Lynn Lipchak, Nest of eggs from Debbie H.

Jul swaps:

(Bottom left black card above) Happy - Dog & Rooster by Debbie H, Bride by Polly, Winnie The Pooh by C. Robin.

(Bottom right black card above) Inchies (choice) - Postcard/flowers and Rabbit book (in envelope) from Polly, Dream from Brooke G, Truck number plate from Marjorie Grace.

(Photo below) Inchies (choice) for Aug swap: Flower from Katherine, Halloween from Marjorie Grace, Clock from Polly, and Double from Brooke G.

We also swapped ATCs - Fused fibers (Bird) from Debbie H for Jun swap, Lavender fairy from Polly and Eat Cake inchies on ATC from Lynn Lipchak, both for Aug swaps.

I did some gifts for colleagues - 2 tatted bookmarks (my favourite oak leaf/acorn and zinnia patterns again) and a birthday card done with all die-cuts (birthday greetings from a few of us signed at the back of the flowers and butterflies).

I have just sent this pair of Flower doll-ATCs to Phyllis Boggs (USA) for Oct swap.

Think I have forgotten to show this Birthday ATC I did for Marja Maas (The Netherlands), whose birthday falls on 8 Oct.

Mid-Oct, I taught 2 big tatting classes at HCI to JC1 students, 25 students in all.  Very, very tiring, but a great sense of satisfaction. 5 of them were still struggling at the end of the class, but a good number of them were able to tat rings and chains and went on to simple motifs. 

I'll end again with this last flower arrangement Kristine did in school - her best scored arrangement.

And oh, Joey just managed to learn cycling this weekend!

October Green Paper Collage Challenge

Here's my last minute ATC entry for The Green Paper Collage Challenge for October - "To A Special Lady", with tatted coloured flowers and leaves against the black-and-white collaged pictures. 

I have received Sarah Pharr's (USA) ATCs for the prayer flag-ATC swap I'm hosting.  Don't you feel energised just looking at them?

I have done more ATCs but haven't taken the photo yet, so that's all for now!

What I Did This Whole Month!

Our annual ATC exhibition came to a close earlier Sep, and we ended it with an international ATC swap on the theme "I Am Hungry".  We balloted for our cards. I got these 3: McDonald (collage) from KESagers (USA), Don't Go Hungry - Teach Yourself to Cook from Ruth Kearney-Mawer (Australia) and I Am Hungry from Ali Breman (The Netherlands). 

Some swaps among ourselves during the ATC session on 13 Sep: "School Days" - "C" for Candle by Melissa and School Days (colour pencil dwg) by Geok Lan.   The last 2 ATCs are "I Am Hungry "(Iris-folding glass aquarium with cat watching) by Jennifer Lum and "Autumn" by Vicki Quek.

My school days ATCs: "Mark Thy Books" with embossed background, pages taken from a very old story book, die-cut paperstock in the shapes of clips. "Know Your Formulas" - all cut with die cuts, and I got my boy to write some Maths and Science formulas for me! 　 

I'm so pleased with these scarecrow paper dolls. The head and grass are cut with die-cuts, while the rest of the dolls are hand-cut and painted with water-soluable crayons.  One of them went to Phyllis Boggs in USA for the Sep Art Doll swap.


I like these scarecrows so much so that I decided to make another pair, this time small enough to go onto the ATCs.  Cute, right!?!

I have also sent out my Aug and Sep Inchies-onexone swaps to the host, Debbie House. Included in the Aug swaps are (1) Fairies in the Wood (collage) ATC, 

(2) ATC with inchies - (own choice): Lily Pond, with tatted dragonfly inchie (can't seem to do enough of these!), 

(3) 4 Inchies (own choice): "Lucky", (4) Y and Z inchies: Y is for Yellow, Z is for Zeros. 

And the Sep swaps: (1) Zoo theme ATC: Flamingo, (2) 4 Inchies (own choice): "Bloom", (3) 4 Inchies - One Each - Zentangle, Zetti, Graffiti, Geometric. 

Included as gifts for Debbie are Raggedy Ann doll-ATC and Olivia Notes (with tatted treble clef) - top right-hand corner.

  

I did more prayer flag ATCs with tatted motifs!

Ok, I'm ending off with another flower arrangement by my girl, Kristine, from her school flower arrangement class.  This scored the best for her so far!

Prayer Flag-ATC, Anyone?

Have you heard of prayer flags?


If you have not, you might want to read this article in the Cloth Paper Scissors magazine on Prayer Flags
(http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/blogs/clothpaperscissorstoday/archive/2012/03/28/how-to-make-a-fabric-collage-for-blowin-in-the-wind.aspx).

Since this article appeared, I noticed a few prayer flag swaps been hosted in various groups.  I love the idea of prayer flags, but don't fancy making them so big (5" by 8") and hanging these flags around, partly because I don't have such luxury of space to hang them out.  Why not make them into ATCs?  Reduce the flag size to 2" by 3" and tie it with ribbon on an ATC backing.  You can leave them as that and store them with your other ATCs, or remove them from the ATC backing and hang them out, perhaps around your computer.  Get the idea?

Here's how I make my Prayer Flag- ATC:

1. Cut pieces of paper/fabric to 2" x 4". 
2. Fold the top down and glue/stitch in place to create a 1" sleeve, making the flag surface 2" x 3".
3. Use any technique to embellish your flag - paint, collage, stitch, embroider, appliqué, etc. 
4. Add words, journaling, or symbols as desired - collage/appliqué letters, add hand stitching, stencil, or just write with a permanent marker.
5. Thread the flags using a ribbon and anchor them on the ATC backing by cutting a V-notch (just a shallow one, less than 1/4" 1/8" deep) on both sides of the ATC. 

That's how I did my first prayer flag ATC - "Love from the heart".

The back of the flag with a saying from Lao-Tzu.

And the ribbon tied at the back of the ATC.

What do you think of prayer flag-ATCs?  Well, I'm definitely doing more!

September Green Paper Collage Challenge

It's time for The Green Paper Collage Challenge again!  Although it might be more appropriate to tat aster since it is one of September birth flowers, I prefer tatting golden-rod.  So, my September entry is a black-and-white ATC adorned with tatted yellow golden-rod.  I must admit I didn't quite know what I should do with the picture of the coupon, so I cut just a word from it for the parcel the girl is carrying.

Do you know aster flowers symbolize love, faith, wisdom and valor, and also the element of patience. Goldenrod flowers hold many symbols too – from caution to encouragement, luck to good fortune.  Don't you think the quote is pretty meaningful?

Remember the Postage Stamp ATCs I did in my last post? The swap came in with a good variety of cards.  Although I'm not an avid stamp collector, I do keep stamps as I come across them since my teen years. Using them on the ATC gives a new life to the cancelled stamps, and it's sure amazing how they become integrated with the whole piece of work, isn't it?   

Well, going clockwise from the top left corner: (1) "USA First-Class Forever" by Jennifer Johnson, (2) "Aloha" by Kirsten Lovercheck, (3) "Annee du Tiger" by Bonnie J. Ray, (4) "Thomas Jefferson" by MaryAnn Arnold, (5) "Henry VIII" by Andrea Vaughan, (6) "Egyptian Art" by Jocelyn.

Tracy Shave's Ma'at, Goddess of Truth & Justice, managed to come in good time! Ancient Egypt history is sure interesting, wish I have the time to explore more. 

I made a quick count of the paper dolls in my collection - 28 which I made and 22 which I received from swaps, 50 in total!  Not really a lot for the 2 plus years since I made the first ones, but good enough for someone like me who is doing them only now and then.  

August Is The Month For Rushing ...

For those with schooling children, you will probably know - August is the month for rushing out ...  Teachers' Day presents!  Although I always tell myself to start earlier, the children just couldn't decide on what to make, and we always end up rushing.  Not an easy task with 3 children and making around 40 items.  I try to go for something we can do together. Finally, we decided on these felt magnetic photo frames based on this tutorial at "Lines Across". 

The first batch completed.

 Everything done only the night before the children would need to give them out (all except 1 given out earlier, 40 in total!)

Alright, I did manage to squeeze some time to do a bit on my art doll and ATC swaps. The theme for the art doll for Aug is Ancient Egypt.  I came across a very colourful picture book on Ancient Egypt in the library and couldn't resist borrowing it to draw and paint up Ra, the Shining One, the first god to stand on the land of Egypt.    The right one was on its way to Tracy Shave in UK.

August Challenge doll was "Movies".   I could only come up with these.  

The Boy who loves Science fiction movies.

The Man who tries to sneak in for a movie (concept by Golden Village, I just redo the man). 

After doing a postage stamp ATC during our July ATC session in the Bishan Library, MaryAnn (USA) organised a Postage Stamp ATC swap.  Too much of a coincidence! I followed my original idea of a lily pond and developed it into a watercoloured piece, adding a tatted dragonfly on a transparent inchie tile.

Couldn't stop at that, I went on to the sea of fishes with real tiny seashells I picked up from our Singapore shores!

Now, to wait for my swaps to arrive.

I'm ending off with a flower arrangement Kristine did in school for her 2nd lesson.  I quite like this one - simple yet bold!

August and September ATCs

My birthday ATC for Sharon McGrath (Australia) is slightly late. I made use of a part of a bigger tatted square motif for the background.

This is the corresponding August ATC.

And the full square motif I tatted as a model for Georgia Seitz.

I had to tat and sew up the September 2012 ATC too, so that I have 9 pieces for our current ATC exhibition in the Bishan Library.

Here is my fabric ATC calendar I did so far, dedicated to the birthday gals in the StitchinFingers Birthday ATC swap.  A blogsite has been set up for the exhibition (18 Aug - 12 Sep 2012).