my creative space- watercolours

The Boy loves the Tigers football team, his whole family follow them (and now me too). Before the game last week I was mucking around drawing things, and drew him wishing he was a tiger. His best friend was over too, he goes for St George Dragons, so I drew him too.

I was thinking of putting these in my shop as a custom order watercolour- I think I'd like the challenge, I just need a photo, name and what sporting team they go for. Do you think people might like them for their friends or partners?

vegetarian week and my 2 cents

It's National Vegetarian Week over here, you can read all about it on their website, as well as take a longevity test. If I keep it up, I'll should live 'til I'm 86yrs old. Unfortunately, the last 14 years of that I may have cancer/disease/diabetes. Damn.

It's always a good time to do stuff to make you healthier/happier (good lord I hope my high school English teacher doesn't see that sentence. Grammar, anyone?) there's a lot of tips on the site, and they seem reasonable sensible ones, not faddy ones (remember acai berries? goji juice?) and I have reminded myself of some stuff I should do more, and some stuff I ought to do less.

Did you know that you can live a big ol' 10 years longer by eating meat only once or twice a week (or none at all)? I've gone vegetarian before, but that darn bacon got me back. It always gets me back. I like lots of vegetarian meals and remind myself that a meal doesn't have to be built around a piece of animal flesh (eeeew, flesh).

(I also think that if you eat meat you should really have the courage of your convictions and be willing to kill the animal yourself, or at least know where it comes from and how it is 'harvested', and maybe also be willing to eat the whole thing, waste not want not. But that's a whole other post, and I gotta say if I had to kill a cow, I certainly wouldn't be eating it. Yes, I'm a convenient hypocrite.)

Then there's pictures like this. Hrrmmm. It's enough to stop me eating meat for a good week before I forget. Or smell bacon.

get well soon

Funny Card- Get Well/ Stop Puking, That Shit's Gross, Deeply cynical...I mean sympathetic get well greeting cards - set of 6, Get Well Soon Card - Cone Head, Get Well - You Wimp





Band Aid Get Well Card, Soap - H. influenzae on Chocolate Agar , Get Well Soon Button Ponytail Holder Set, Set of 5 double blanc cards - Nurses, Ambulance Earrings, Cut Out Get Well Soon Card



I am feeling under the weather (what a funny saying. Aren't we usually under the weather? When are you on top of the weather?) I have a rash, itchy swell-y unattractive rash, that looks like an allergic reaction, to what I don't know.





So I'm killing time until my doc appointment and looking at 'get well' stuff on etsy. I don't remember the last time I sent a get well card, but they're nice to get, aren't they. I think I will stock up and be prepared for the next peep who sneezes.



(UPDATE) Yep, my rash is most likely an allergic reaction thats making me all red and lumpy and itchier than a cactus in a wool jumper covered in bitey ants. So far likeliest suspect is Ibroprufen, which at least lets me know what to avoid. Otherwise back to square one. Anyone have any tips?

hooray hooray, it's shop update day!

All of these things are in my shop now (etsy, madeit, blue caravan) and some more too.

Every order this week comes with a free cute hair bow. Lovely!
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that is one famous cat

My cat Six was featured on Freckled Nest for 'Fuzzy Friday'. If you haven't already seen this ace blog by the lovely Leigh-Anne, go check it out.

I showed Six her post, and she looked suitably unimpressed and went into the corner to lick herself. Ah, fame.

giveaway winner!

The winner of the vintage weaving loom is... Lisette from TV and Book Addict!

Email me your postal address, and I will get this baby to you asap!

blog love- junkculture

(from Kindra Murphy via Junkculture)

Junkculture is an ace blog. really ace. if you like old things, and kitch-y things, and classic design things, and arty things, and graphic design things, and collections of all these things, well then; you will think it's ace too.

They have a shop too, full of cute and retro things. Please don't buy the whale salt and pepper shakers though. They're mine.

I wanted to show you some more pictures of my favourite things, so I popped over there to choose some. An hour later I haven't decided, so you'll just have to go over there yourself and choose your own, k?

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Go Junkculture. You rock my blog world.

Speed Creating

Day 10: Mirror rorriM

Day 13: Bath Fountain


Day 15: Football Smoothie Maker



Day 2: Pop up Train Tray Surprise
(Some of my favourite projects so far)

I came across Dominic Wilcox by chance, he's undertaken a Speed Creating Challenge; he will make a new object, installation or creative intervention every day while going about his daily life.
At home, in the studio, on the train or wherever my day takes me, I will attempt to make something that interests me creatively and then quickly document it via photographs, drawings or video. Each day I will receive a small budget of £10 for materials.

And he explains a bit more;

I believe that this self-imposed project with it’s constraints on time and money will force me to take an instinctive and experimental approach. The fear of failure and the usual time spent thinking through the potential pitfalls of a project will not be an option and I will need to react swiftly to my thoughts, observations and experimental outcomes discovered along the way. I am not focused solely on the final objects or images but on the creative journey I take. Complete failures are expected and embraced.

I particularly like his last sentence there. Complete failures are expected and embraced.
I think it's easy to freak out about failures, but by forcing yourself to be creative no-matter-what and embracing mistakes, you can create all kinds of things you wouldn't have otherwise attempted.

You can see Dominic's other projects and ongoing works at his blog, and also photos of his work in an exhibition as part of the Anti-Design Festival's Mistakes and Manifestos events.

flea market finds - giveaway!

I’ve decided not to sell vintage-y things in my etsy store, as I was getting way too distracted and forgetting to sew! So here is a giveaway instead! You can make oh-so-many lovely things with this working loom, and it comes with instructions for projects too. Like; egg cosies, serviette case, coathanger cover, mittens, belt, bag, scarf, cushion, oven cloth, tea cosy, tea-pot holder, doll’s skirt. Party bag and baby bonnet.

Spear’s Weaving Loom; box contains weaving loom, 2 shuttles, heddle, instructions on box and a booklet with 12 projects.

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To enter simply leave a comment, and reblog or tweet for extra entries (please leave a comment to let me know if you do the last two!). The winners will be drawn next Sunday 26th September.

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Yay!

Gretel & Lucy, custom chickens

I just made these custom chickens and popped them in my etsy shop for pickup. I was a bit stumped for a while, figuring how to go about making chickens, but I think I did okay in the end! They have little details to match the descriptions too, like the brown chest ruffles on Gretel and the white patch on Lucy.

This is the real Gretel and Lucy (cute names, huh!) I have made a pattern now, so will keep custom chickens as a made to order item in my etsy shop. It might be good for friends or little ones who have pet chickens. I like chickens.

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This was my chicken, Henny Penny, who mysteriously fell off the back of a truck near my work. I took her home and fed her up until she was fat and sleek. I like watching chickens, it's very calming. I had a duck too.

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To go with the plush chickens I might make eggs- does anyone know a simple egg pattern?

Nothing New Month

The Salvation Army (a charity organisation with thrift stores throughout Australia) has started a Nothing New Month for October, encouraging people to buy nothing new all month. From the website:

Get on board for more money in your pockets, time on your hands and a lighter carbon
footprint.

Buying nothing new doesn't mean going without. Make a Buy Nothing New Month pledge
and you can buy, barter and swap for whatever you need, as long as it is pre-loved, but with the exceptions of necessities you can't buy anything new.


I think it's a top idea, one that's been going around the interwebs, blogland and peoples for a while (remember 'The compact' in San Fransico? Mark Boyle who lives without money, this guy, the girl who bought nothing for a year?) but too much is never enough I say.

See the Nothing New blog here.

my week in pictures

I am holding a pineapple. Don't look at the pineapple, look at the pretty yellow dress the Boy bought me for-no-reason-at-all. Isn't he lovely. It's lovely too.

I wore it to a picnic in the botanic gardens, and drank white wine in the sun with friends.

Leaving notes with shoes.

Oh! Remember when my house was broken into and they stole my stuff, including Sue? The good folk at Dubbo police found her and have returned her to me. So now I have Sue, and Sue II. Two identical cameras. I think I will keep one for spares, in case (when) I lose this one.

First mango of the season. Delicious.

The studio bathrooms needed some magic, so Andy the magical bathroom gnome moved in, and brought toilet paper, soap and towels.

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This week I've been struggling again with slooow internet connections, so blogging has been sidelined a wee bit. Annoying that one of my favourite things is the first to go when I get busy. So I'm posting retrospectivelly again. It makes me feel a bit naughty, like the blog-police might bust in and ask me questions under a bright lamp.

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Hope your week was ace too!

Dress-up Bears

These bears are influenced by Rudolf Steiner, and have intentionally simplistic features to encourage creativity and imagination. They’re made from woollen blankets (brown or pink), so are not only extra soft but have a lovely loved look already, and come with a choice of three dress-ups! There’s a cape, a pirate patch, a crown or a tutu.

They remind me of my first bear, whose name was Teddy (I know, imaginative, huh?) and who I would refuse to go to sleep without, and search the house for (he was usually behind the couch). I used to dress him up, him and my dolls and occasionally a very obliging cat. My school had a fair with a ‘best-dressed teddy bear’ competition every year, and although I came very close, I never-quite-won. (I suspect someone had their nana help, I mean some were very intricate, and we were 10. Am I bitter?) Anyway, the cool thing about making kids toys is how fun they are, and I have played with these little guys already (call it ‘product testing’), and they are as fun as they look.

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In my shop soon!

my spring picnic

Eternally neighboring spring Print, Green Leaf Dangles, Bloom Where You're Planted Card
outdoor cushions , Tiger on a Bike T Shirt , Portrait original
Orange Farrago Mini-Pouch , Green Mini Celebration Painting , marimekko picnic blanket

blog love- start something new

Laura at start something new writes with an honesty about important inner-self stuff in a sweet, refreshing way. Like sparkly ginger ale.

Her posts often make me tilt my head sideways and stare into the distance a little bit, and think. Or hold my shoulders back, and stride off into the world. The quotes she uses do too.

Laura is doing a creative writing course, which shows in the quality of her writing, and she is optimistic too, so even in a down-a-bit bit she still manages to be sunny and quite funny, and her posts about romance.. *sigh*... well. Plus she has an ace to-do list on the side bar there. There're all things I'd quite like to do, too.

Do go visit. Pour a cup of tea (or coffee, is coffee is your cup of tea) and go for a wander over there.

Go Laura. You rock my blog world.

flea market finds- children's illustration

In my rummaging this week I came across some lovely old picture books, crisp and untorn/scribbled/worn.

I doubt these were ever owned by a child (or maybe a obsessive compulsive clean one). For the princely sum of $6 I brought home ‘Aladdin and the magic lamp’, ‘The Lion and the Mouse’, and ‘Jack and the beanstalk’.

The illustrations are lovely and rich with a simplicity I adore. Now the question is; do I pass these on with my other vintage-y finds, or do I hang on to them for my children one day to love?