The Wisdom Of A By-gone Flower OR Heck That Is Pink

Well I know I like colour but I don't think I have ever created a piece with mainly pink as its colour LOL.The words have a pearl blue and pearl pink wash on them and so are hard to read in the photo but it says "Being a Woman is a terribly difficult task, since it consists principally in dealing with men".I'm experimenting some more with my Opals paper and this time instead of just ironing in bits of Fantasy Film into the Opals on the Vilene I used two 13cm lengths of the Fantasy Film and ironed them and Franklin Opals together to make a sheet of shimmery Fantasy Film Opals paper.I ran it thru the Cuttlebug in different directions and changed the embossing folder each time...the result was a gorgeous shimmery textured base that the camera does not catch.

The Vintage image was done using Lazertran water slide decal paper for Inkjet printers.It adhers wonderfully to the Opals paper.I used an Angelina fibre piece at the bottom that had been ironed while the fibres were sitting on an After midnight art stamp floral boarder stamp as it ties in with the shimmery background.To make this you lay Angelina fibres across a stamp sitting image side up on some baking parchment.Place more baking parchment on top and iron over the top with iron set on a hot dry setting.The Angelina fibres melt and press into the stamp.When cool peel the fibres up and the image of the stamp will be on the Angelina fibres.Lastly I added some fluffy and beaded ribbon trim,hand sewed on some beads to the trim all the way round and added "Le Fleur" page pebble.Here is the view from the top side

and from the bottom up

I only had today off so on my next day off on Tuesday I am going to play with the brand new Opals embossing enamel colour that came in the mail for me yesterday.It is called Abalone and it has a beeswax look but has irridscent effects(so it has blues, greens, reds andviolets in it), it is transparent and silky smooth according toNiamh and Sue.Think weddings,Christenings,Christmas and vinatge works

Textured Cuttlebug Card Made With Opals

My niece has just had a birthday and I forgot to make her a card so I quickly made her one today.I had some of my thinner Opals embossing enamel paper that I made in the past on my desk so I put it thru the Cuttlebug several times changing the embossing folders each time as I moved them around the Opals paper.The base size was wider then the Cuttlebug feeding slot so once I had the Opals paper inside the embossing folder I bent the excess over the top,hold in place and fed it thru the Cuttlebug.It pops and cracks but comes out the other side with no great problem.At times when I do this there will be a white fold line showing so I just match the colour of Opals I have used with Luminarte Polished Pigments,add simple solution for plastic into the Polished Pigment and paint it over the Opals paper mark to repair it
This will give you the textured Cuttlebug card effect without having to tear and glue the Cuttlebug embossed card back down and cuts out the need to then paint over it with gesso to make it seamless.On the card below I worked out what stamp I wanted to use and it's approx size and then painted over the centre area on the textured Opals Cuttlebug base with pearl white acrylic paint so the painted area was about the same size as the stamp I wanted to use.The After Midnight art stamps Annette face stamp was stamped on white tissue with Brilliance Graphite black ink,heat set with the heat gun and then stuck in place with watered down PVA glue.I painted more pearl white paint around the face,coloured the lips and eyes with Polished Pigments,highlighted the lips and eyes with Plaid Dimensional Magic,added some Polished Pigment painted flowers and some Collections words to finish it off

Opals Paper Question...or why did I use the fabric mid way thru the video LOL

Sorry to confuse some folks but I changed to using the PRE attached to thin Vilene fabric piece(it is not paper behind it)part way thru merely to show the use of a fabric piece for the process of applying the Opals and melting them using the iron but it is the same process(melting the Opals using the iron) whether I had used the Vilene attached to the white tissue piece I made first in the video or not.SSoo it does not matter if you use the heavyweight Vilene attached to white tissue or fabric OR the thin Vilene attached to white tissue or fabric.The heavyweight ones will make pages that are more sturdy,wont run thru my Cuttlebug and are not as see thru and the thinner ones are much more transparent,easy to run thru a Cuttlebug and much thinner .Here I can ONLY get the heavyweight Vilene that is non bondable so I use the fusible webbing to attach the white tissue or fabric.If you can get heavy weight Vilene that is bondable on one or both sides WAHOO to you and of course then you wont need the fusible webbing part

The light weight thin Vilene here I can get it bondable on one side so it has a thin heat sensitive adhesive side already on it so you just place the tissue or fabric on top of the shinny side of thin Vilene and iron between the baking parchment to melt the adhesive and adhere the fabric or tissue to it.Hope it all makes more sense now for those who wondered why I changed to fabric piece mid video.The choice of using white tissue or fabric(or anything else you may want to try) is yours.Neet has let me know that in the UK they have Vilene like we do here in Oz and that Vliesofix is sold as Bondaweb over there :o).I prefer to get my heavyweight craft Vilene from Dale at The Thread Studio .It is better to use for this then the one I have been able to get a Spotlight here so far.Just in case the link does not take you straight there it is in the catalogue under fab bits and then miscellaneous tab

OH and yes you can just use plain heavy weight Vilene without tissue or fabric attached but it is quite porous and you use a lot more Opals to get coverage this way then you do with attaching tissue or fabric on it.Mind you some of my fav Opals paper pieces were plain heavyweight vilene that I sprayed with Radiant Rain sprays and then just ironed in Franklin(clear) Opals on top of

Annette in Oz

VIDEO: How To Make Opals Embossing Enamel "Paper"

At last I have this video uploaded...it shows how I make my thin sheets of Opals Embossing Enamel subtrate sheets that I use alot in my art/craft work.Many people e-mailed asking me to make a video of the process even though I have done few step by step posts with photos about it in the past.I have to confess I prefer to watch something being done to reading about it myself LOL.As usual I have not listened to myself on the video so if there is something I say that does not make sense just e-mail me for a clarification..For those that use UTEE I'm sure this would work just the same with that but I just don't own any myself.
NOTE-the fabric bit that I switch too part way thru in the Video was already pre-attached to thin Vilene that was bondable on one side...that is why it is so easy to see thru.Sprinkling Opals on the fabric alone doesn't seem to make the pages sturdy enough and hence I use heavy weight Vilene on its' own or heavy weight Vilene with tissue attached or light weight Vilene that I attach fabric too.
Give it a go and let your imagination run wild...iron in glitter,Fantasy Film,adhesive foils,foil flakes,frozen Opals,Jo Sonja's Opal Dust or Gold Dust,mesh,micro beads etc etc.The pages will be sturdy yet pliable to a degree so you can cut them,run them thru a sewing machine,emboss them in a Cuttlebug,punch shapes with them and anything else you can think of .Don't forget you can leave the end result matt like after ironing on the Opals or hit it with your heat gun to make it shiny...take care though if you have used sheer material here as it may burn off and shrink/distort.Back to my 31 never ending pages for my collab book swap

Amazing Blog I Found and Uploading videos Is a Pain!!

Hi All
I was blurfing(blog surfing)and found this gorgeous artist's blog from Brazil site here....love her work.Paulo if you check in here do you know this lady???I have been busy making 31 A6 sized pages for a book swap so in the mean time I have been quiet on the net and have been trying to upload a how to video for the way I make Opals embossing enamel pages for over a week...it keeps saying the upload is complete(after a day and a half of it loading sheesh)but when I view it there is only a half or three quarters of it there....so I delete it(wish I could do that to rude obnoxious people LOL...would make being a nurse easier....oh oh or my hormonal teenage daughter from hell !).Today I retryed again but I changed the upload name for it and it has almost loaded now YEHA!!!!...will see if I get the whole thing up there and then post the link here for you all :o)

Piccaninny Creek lookout walk video

AAAggghhh...this doesn't seem to want to work in the post below so I shall leave it here all on it's own.It is just a little video as I turned around along the Piccaninny Creek lookout walk.One thing though as per my previous "how too" do Opals embossing enamel and inkjet water transfers videos and posts here,I hate hearing myself talk and I did turn the sound down when I uploaded this one.Anyway after loading this I was checking something and I say the Purnululu National Park is just East of The Kimberley's when in fact it IS in the East Kimberley area.

Kimberley Trip Photos

Finally I got time to upload these pictures from our quick trip to the Kimberley's in Western Australia.It takes two days to drive to where we went and back.Again there were a zillion Kangaroos on the road at and after dusk so driving at night is a NO NO.As we only had 7 days leave we really only had three days to sight see.We took Tim with us as leaving him with his cranky teenage older sisters was not an option LOL.It is truly beautiful over there and we saw just a glimpse of what there is too see.We hope to go back next year for three weeks,head straight to Broome and then drive slowly back home stopping at lots of places on the way back.Our first stop was Kununurra.We got there just in time to climb up Kelly's nob for the sunset.We climbed beyond where all the tourists where to an old steep walk to the left of car park and up the far side.The huffing a puffing was worth it. First view is from there looking down over Kununurra

and behind looking over Hidden Valley.Even here you can see the mountain range is eroding similar to the Bungle Bungle's and people call it a Mini Bungle Bungle range

Minutes later there was another gorgeous sunset

The next day we drove down to the Bungle Bungle ranges.They are in Purnululu National Park and are World Heritage listed.The area has only been known about by the general public since the 1980's when a documentary was done here.Most people just fly over this amazing range from Warmun(Turkey Creek) for views of huge eroded sandstone domes.The domes have gorgeous bands of black and deep ochres.I first did that in August 2000 and was blown away then by the visual sites here but this time we drove into the campgrounds at the base of a small section of the range.You have to take all your own water,cooking gear,tents and food as there is limited facilities here.Drop toilets are the norm and no showers at all.
There are only two small areas open to the Public at the moment.The road in is very rough and 4wheel drive only...takes about 2 hrs to drive 53km's so you can see why.You have to sign in at the Rangers station and pay camp or day trip fees.These are the first domes that we saw up close on the road to the camp area.

After setting up our tent at the camp grounds to the left of the Rangers station we had just enough time to go for a few walks.The trademark stone domes are not greatly evident in this part but there are some pretty Gorges to explore.First we went on the Mini Palms Gorge Walk.As you pass the entrance the high sandstone walls part to reveal a rocky palm dotted pathway.Here is Grant and Tim in a cool leafy section of the walk.Judging by how steep the walls are the water MUST rage thru here in the Wet season(we do not have the regular four seasons here...just two...the WET where is rains alot and the DRY where it doesn't LOL).

looking back toward the entrance over the palms

At the end you climb over huge boulders(that have thankfully had steps and a viewing point built on them)to see a lovely mini palm lined chasm below.

The afternoon light was fast fading but we still had time to go on Echidna Chasm Walk.On this one you felt you were being engulfed by the steep sides of the walk.It goes for ages thru numerous tight walled areas that spill into open areas.Toward the end it opens into a large circular area.Tim had a hoot here making his voice bounce of the walls and it was so cool and peaceful.This next photo is taken from there looking toward the next tight walled section to walk thru just before the end.

Night quickly fell and after a restless sleep in the noisy packed camp grounds we headed off to other walking tracks and Gorges to the right of the Rangers station.As you drive there the domes start to appear more and more.We were all transfixed by these stone structures and there coloured bands and kept stopping and taking photos of them.On one stop I walked away from the road to get better pictures and discovered Wild flowers and emu tracks in the red sand.

In the distance you can see the dome range that we are driving toward.

Getting closer the white bull dust road we are on goes over a rise and gives you a wonderful view of the domes

Once you are in the car park there are three walks here to do.The first we went on was The Domes Walk which also branches off to Cathedral Gorge.The Domes walk gets you up close to these unique looking rock formations

and closer

closer

AAAhhh what a perfect backdrop for a photo of Grant and Tim

We did go to Cathedral Gorge which I think was the best Gorge walk there but my photos there were crap as it is so large they do not do it justice at all.Grant had this one though.It shows about a quarter of the HUGE circular area that has been eroded by water.You can see where the water comes in the roof at the top in the Wet season.In the centre you can see part of the stagnant still pond that has remained well into the Dry season.That is Tim and Me beside the pond.

The last walk we did was to Piccaninny Creek lookout.There is a Piccaninny Creek Gorge walk here too but it takes a day to walk there,sleep in the tent overnight and a day to walk back so we did not do that one...this time *grin*. Below is a section of the creek walk domes and a cone.

Looking up the domes as you pass them

View from the Piccaninny Creek lookout

That afternoon we drove to Hall's Creek and stayed in a hotel.Man that shower there was sssooo good after being coated in sweat and dust for two days LOL. As our time was limited we decided to not drive on to Broome but did a day trip down to Fitzroy Crossing and back.Grant had seen a documentary on Tunnel Creek in the 60's and had always wanted to go there to see it for himself so off we went.It's on a good dirt road not far from Fitzroy Crossing and is a creek that has tunnelled it's way thru a mountain that you can walk thru.In the car park you are met with the step sandstone mountain walls.

As you approach the creek tunnel mouth there is Aboriginal rock art to be seen.

View in at the entrance.This creek must have been tunnelling under the mountain for thousands of years.You easily walk upright and it's really quite wide and is about 750meters long inside.Make sure you have a torch(No artifical light at all but there are sections where the sun comes in)and good shoes that you don't mind getting wet.That's Tim in there with the head torch on.

Some sections of the roof have broken off to let sunlight stream thru and you can see stalactites and stalagmites everywhere.In the dark unlit areas they are very hard to photograph as you can't see well to focus.The roof and walls have heaps of small bats on them.Even fruit bats come inside from the hot mid-day sun which is really unusual to see.They are just outside hanging on the trees and intermitantly one flies down and up to the cool roof.

some of the formations inside

Fresh water crocodiles live in the tunnel and we spied this one against a back wall.We got up quite close to him and I don't think he was too happy about that either.

The creek exists here to a still pond and there is Grant the conductor. LOL

some more rock art at the exit where you can see the bottom half has been washed away from the water running thru in the Wet Season.

On the way back we saw some iconic Boab tree.These trees have bottle shaped trunks and many are ancient as they are really slow growing.Here is a typical one.

and a huge old one with Tim in the middle and Grant bottom left.

Our last night we stayed at Hall's Creek again and then headed back home.On a section we took a rest at,there was a huge dried up creek bed that Tim and Grant went exploring in for rocks.I just loved the patterns of this dried up mud there.

Another funny thing for me was the length of the Aboriginal community names that we drove past signs for.Here is one of the many that easily tongue tied me.

I'm not sure what it is with me and holidays but again on the last days drive home we had an interesting thing going on above us with this ring appearing around the early morning sun!!!WAHOO and thanks to Paulo the great rehab Dr from Brazil, who let me know that it is a 22 degree circular halo caused by ice crystals in the skies...and YES they occur even in hot areas like here.You can read about them at this site.Thanks Paulo :o).It was an amazing sight to see.