Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Very Merry Christmas and a safe, happy, healthy, fun filled, creative year in 2011!

 I received a lovely gift in the mail this week from

Vicki at Tozz's Corner  an, oh so sweet purse and a hand stitched with love Christmas decoration for my tree. Thank you Vicki.

 Here is one of the reasons I've been a bit quiet in blogland-I'm trying to finish personalised place mats for my dining table.   Quite a bit of playing around with my photos on the computer and then printing the photos onto fabric.  Let dry for one hour {depends on the brand of print fabric} then wash, dry, iron and sew on borders, add batting and backing or cheat and use padded calico, 'stitch in the ditch' around each photo and hand sew the binding on.  I have an eight seater dining table and I'm up to number 5 place mat.
This is just a brief run down. I was going to do a small tutorial but time is running out... If you're interested in making some for yourself, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Here is something else I've recently stitched for a special friend's 40 th birthday.  There was a 'no gift' rule, however I know how much Kaz appreciates hand made gifts and I couldn't resist making this special cushion with a photo of her children.

Yeah, that's a couple to add to my OPAM challenge this month.

Now, I'm going to have a bit of a gripe~I heard a statement the other day that

"blogging is just bragging about your achievements"

I was a bit upset by this statement as I blog quite a bit, love sharing my works and receiving comments I also make lots of comments when visiting other bloggers and l Love the way we share information, tutorials and advice. 

A few good examples are: 

Kerryanne from Shabby Art Boutique and all her special guest artists that have been so giving in tutorials, hints, tips and expert advice.

There are also lots of artists

 Purple Palette,

Violette's CreativeJuices, 

Lee at http://artfulleedesigned.blogspot.com/ 

and fabric queens that share BOM and tutorials like

Jenny from Elefantz, 

http://tozzscorner.blogspot.com/,

Clare from  Clare's Craftroom and

Vikki from Sew Useful Designs

then for the paper crafter's there's

 Tim Holtz   and 

Creative Carmelina who does a bit of everything,

June @ http://artfreebies.blogspot.com/

and Karen @ Graphic Fairy

These are just to name a few of sharing, caring bloggers {there are plenty more}~I could go on and on and on.

My point is please use kind words, you don't have to join in with our fun, creative world!

Buon Natale,
Baci e Abbracci,
Hugs~Anna

Published again

Hello blogging buddies,
I know two posts in one week.  I've just received a copy of  'Fine Art & Decorative Painting' magazine and I've had a piece published in this months edition of Vol 18 No 4

 If you click on this link, you can check out a few pages of this latest edition;http://craftlovers.com/magazines/621-essential-fine-arts-decorative-painting/11453-essential-fine-arts-decorative-painting

 I'd like to take this opportunity to thank 'Chroma Australia' for supporting me as an artist and teacher.
Check out the link to see the latest in products, artists and the lots of other interesting information on these great quality paints.

Only 23 days until Christmas, I hope you're nearly organised.  I still have some important gifts to buy and pull out the Christmas tree and decorations.
Enjoy the countdown,
Hugs,
Anna