Posts filed under 'home and family'
Ahhh, Sundays…
…what would we do without them!
I am attacking my 2010 resolution list and taking time out for AHHHHHH!
I can plainly see that if I am going to live the happily balanced life I crave, Sunday Slobbing is crucial. And completely obvious to the rest of the sane population that are not trying to squeeze every extra second out of every day to work.
The perfect Sunday brekkie has to be home made New York banana pancakes oozing with maple syrup and butter and served with slices of nectarine. These were made using a Domestic Goddess recipe… gotta love Nigella she is definitely the ‘go to gal’ for all things yum. They turned out just as I remembered; whisking me back to a freezing February morning spent exploring snowy Central Park and then stumbling on a cozy diner. I was very pregnant, completely ravenous and the pancakes were sublime. Needless to say, Mark and I weren’t the only ones to enjoy them, I felt fluttering bub kicks for a good 20 minutes afterward.
Eat these and then spend all morning and a good part of the afternoon in your pjs, perusing your favourite magazines and generally lounging about and I promise your soul will be restored and your belly, happily round. Hope your weekend was gorgeously decadent.
5 comments March 1, 2010
Twas the Day Before Christmas…
… and all through the flat…
‘Santa’was very quietly going nuts keeping small monsters amused whilst smuggling-in some last minute wrapping i.e. desperate snipping, rustling and mad taping in the bathroom, in the laundry, in the wardrobe… you get the picture.
Yes it is cloak and dagger, but the prize, if I pull it off, is a gorgeous Christmas Eve curled up on the couch next to a pile of waiting pressies with my Mr… and not a poppet stirring. Oh I can see it now; me, him, bubbles in hand and a satisfied smirk on my face. Well worth the dramatics!
Wishing you all a beautiful Christmas full of sparkle and laughter. Thank you so much for coming to read my little blog. I get such a thrill out of reading every lovely comment left here. I adore being part of the blogging community and have made some gorgeous friendships since I started that I’ll always be grateful for. I’m also really looking forward to the New Year. Can’t wait to attack my loooong list of resolutions, show you some new work and make some yummy blog changes.
Much love to you and yours. Hope you have a lovely, chilled break and see you full of va va voom in Jan.
x Alisa
10 comments December 24, 2009
A Peachy Party
Hello, hope your weekend was lovely and relaxed. Ours was completely chockers with poppet parties. What is it with all the December birthdays? Sheesh!
Television and the weather must be woeful in March.
Our littlest turned a big three on Sunday. Wow! I still can’t get my head around where that time’s gone, anyway, thought I’d share some pics. It was a very small family affair but she had a ball.
The ‘baby’ and the little quilt were a huge hit as was a pint sized stroller from a clever aunt. Needless to say, baby doll Ruby was cuddled, fed, taken out, wrapped, fed, changed, undressed, fed, wrapped, unwrapped, dressed, fed… etc. All day!
Hurray for me! Can’t say Ruby shares my joy.
I had great fun playing ‘event’ co-ordinator, with the quilt’s colour scheme in mind. I didn’t make any invitations for this one but I’m itching to do it for the next. I’d love to put together a party with the style of this über talented gal. Maybe basing a party around a favourite book or toy could be fun and helpful for game, invitation and food ideas. Hmm, perhaps a Slinky Malinki party in the future… Aaaaaw too cute!
As luck would have it, chocolate was in my scheme and it’s ‘her favourite and her best’. I used a Nigella recipe to make Choc Cherry Birthday Cupcakes. Oooh! They were so, so rich and every inch a guilty pleasure. I heartily recommend them.
Every last cupcake morsel was scoffed in appreciation.
And when all the sweets had been gobbled,
the presents had been ransacked
and the guests had set sail…
… the wild rumpus began.
Red food colouring will do that!
7 comments December 9, 2009
Happily Crumpled
I can’t believe it. It’s finished. My first teensy quilt is done and dusted; crossing the finish line before the littlest poppet’s birthday. Oh so totally chuffed with that!
If I’m dreaming please don’t pinch me.
I can’t stop staring at it’s rumply, crumply surface amazed that we, my walking foot and I, actually created something that looks like the real deal. Imagine that?!
I’m happy to report there were no tears to speak of thanks to Denyse’s book, Liesl’s sanity saving info, and Fii’s fab binding tutorial. And the freeform approach inspired by this clever gal and this yummy book worked like a dream. In fact I found that playing with the colours and textures of the prints was hugely enlightening. I’m sure the discoveries made there will start showing up in my drawings as well, some how.
But at the end of the day it’s a doll’s quilt for a doll, so I had to try it out on a test subject. There were a few nail biting moments…
But what-do-ya-know, Foxy, who can be surprisingly hard to please, loves it.
Who’s the Mummy!
Head on over to Kirsty’s to peek into many, many more creative spaces.
You’ll be so glad you did.
17 comments November 26, 2009
In the jungle you must wait…
Not that I’m prone to exaggeration at all *cough* but as Mark and I sat slumped on the couch after another sleepless night with sick kids, I couldn’t help thinking that we were living in some kind of illness edition of Jumanji.
‘In the jungle you must wait, till the dice reads five or eight’
For the last couple of months it’s been one earth shattering stampede after another; asthma, influenza, misadventure, gastroenteritis… etc. etc. Each bug, in turn, has turned our lives upside down and left us sitting punch-drunk in the wreckage.
It’s true, two children projectile vomiting at the same time can be easily as challenging as rampaging monkeys!
These pulp fiction images capture the drama to perfection.
Having said all of that, the last roll of the dice must have been a good one;
the bugs have fled, our flat has been drowned in disinfectant and a huge health kick is underway. To say I’m relieved is the understatement of the entire millenium …
No exaggeration!
If you too have a penchant for melodrama and have your tongue firmly planted in your cheek, you’ll love the fantastic pulp fiction images in the Flickr streams of Micky the Pixel and Pop Kulture; two passionate collectors with wonderfully fat libraries.
And if you’re looking for more insight into the artists themselves try pulpartists.com. David Saunders, is the son of illustrator Norman Saunders, and knows the territory inside out. The images are as extraordinary as some of the action mag. buy lines, well worth a look and a chuckle. David has also written a wonderful book on Norman Saunders which is available in the shop.
Image Credits left to right: Tom Prox 198, Billy Jenkins 284, Tarzan 038 and
Tarzan 050 ~ Micky the Pixel. Tarzan by Roy G Krenkel ~ Pulpartists.com
All copyrights of the images are reserved by the publishers.
1 comment October 28, 2009
An unscheduled stop
Hi! I didn’t mean to go AWOL like that but we’re in quarantine, big time… again! Urrgh! So over that! Hopefully will be back soon. If I owe you a reply, I haven’t forgotten you. I’ll try to swing by when the germy germs are kaput to say hi.
Anyhoo, hope you have a fab weekend whatever you are doing. Right, better go see if the gastro-pops are frozen yet…
Image credit: ‘When I first looked up I thought it was floating’ by Brother O’Mara. Love this image, very Magritte-esque. It’d stop you even without the red light.
6 comments October 16, 2009
Manual Schmanual!
Today I picked up the latest iPhoto software. Yee har, it’s fab! It’ll make tweaking shots quicker and help me use my Flickr photostream properly. Who knows, I might even add a groovy Flickr badge to my sparse sidebar. Go girl, go girl…
… BUT, when I started to open my shots in this sparkling new version, I came to one sobering conclusion. I just can’t wing this photography thing any more. Every thing opens up big, bright and crisp. The nasty will only get nastier. It’s obvious, I’ve been snapping on borrowed time. I have to open the camera manual.
So I get it out and Whooosh, just like magic, right under my nose is a very determined small person waving a page of stickers and fixing me with a steely gaze. They can smell intention.
“Yes, yes, OK, I’ll just be one sec…” click!
“The pink one Mummy… no here Mummy…”
“OK, there you go… alright, just three.” click! click!
“… now blue … yes Mummy… put it on Mummy…”
“OK. Hold them still… like this … Have you got ants in your pants?”
“it fell off Mummy… the purple one Mummy…”
“Sheesh, how many are there?! Alright, that’s enough… No… Nooo!…”
And so it went till I gave up and put the camera and the manual down.
Cut to later that day. Hmmm!
So what do you think? Diversionary tactics? Or child genius who knew the pics would be way more interesting with a good dose of pestering and constant wriggling? Either way they turned out kinda groovy.
I’m with her, manual shmanual!
Pop in to crafty Kirsty’s for more creative space shenanigans. There are such clever people there.
12 comments October 1, 2009
Sniff! Cough!!
Sheesh! One whole week has disappeared and so have two huuuuge boxes of tissues. Please don’t get too close, I have a cold. A nasty snotty ‘whoa is me’ kinda cold. A ‘please let me stay in bed and moan’ kinda cold. And saddest of all, one that gives you a fuzzy head that feels twice it’s size and makes blogging very tricky…
And this is all I want to do; hide under the covers and read. To be honest I don’t even need a cold, this looks perfect for anytime.
Hope you had a lovely snot free weekend and stole a moment to do your favourite thing.
Image credit: ‘Judy and the dream of horses’ by Margolove.
2 comments September 20, 2009
To arrive where we started
We shall not cease from exploration
and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started…
and know the place for the first time.
~ T.S. Elliott
Well so much for posting on Sunday! Please forgive me, I was conspired against! And let me tell you the conspirators are formidable to say the least!!
OK, YES they are very short and YES they still have their baby teeth …
BUT they’re armed with a list of demands that would have any self-respecting despot taking notes… and worse still, they are ridiculously cute!
Needless to say, no blogging was possible. But I can today…
The interesting thing about post-rationalisation is that whilst you’re explaining your choices, any gaping holes in your illustration light up like neon. An ugly business! So this is where I decide that ‘Apron Strings’ might improve with a second look.
So off I go exploring again, retracing my footsteps.
Returning to the heat and constant dust of thirties Dust Bowl America. Indulging in eps of ‘Carnivale’ and one of my favourite Cohen Brothers films ’Brother Where Art Thou’. Just for the gritty atmosphere and the worn quality that pervades everything.
And then jumping to my Nanna’s heyday with all it’s homemaker spirit. Admiring all the cheery patterns and colour schemes found in vintage home linens. And thinking of aprons as an icon symbolising the warmth and nurturing of home itself.
What was it like to be a Mum back then?
What is the true purpose of the bond between mother and child? And how do I capture that? Could it be about a basic human need to explore…?
My littlest poppet is an explorer. She likes to know exactly where I am before she goes on another toddler expedition and makes many, many return journeys to check I’m still there. So I guess I am not only her guide, but her base camp. When base camp is secure and safe she can regroup and find enough courage to venture a little further.
Aaaaww! What an amazing role to play in a persons life! What a sweet discovery and one that maybe I wouldn’t have made unless, like my little girl, I’d gone back.
Right, can’t hang around here gabbing all day! I’ve got a camp fire to tend, tents to pitch, sleeping bags to make and adventure stories to tell…
… not to mention lots and lots more drawing!
Image credits: Plainsong by Robb North, Yellow, Orange Floral by Liquid Paper and White, Yellow Floral by Craftapalooza, Vintage Tablecloth by Leslie Keating and White Floral by Craftapalooza, and Me and Mum by Melinnis.
Please click on the image title for licence details.
3 comments August 31, 2009
Thursday Theatre – My Creative Space
Too wet to go out too cold to play ball
So we sat in the house we did nothing at all…
… Scoff! Don’t believe a word of it! Just like Dr Suez’s ‘Cat in the hat’ our day
(ie a rainy day stuck inside with one grownup and two preschoolers) had bucket loads of drama and performance as I’m sure you can well imagine. Yessiree, one minute the dark clouds gathered and the next the sun shone .
Anticipating restless natives, I took on the dramatic (and highly creative) roll of revered pastry chef. I donned the much coveted, voluptuous chef’s hat and strutted and gestured about my kitchen like a complete nutter, just so I could keep a weather eye on my two little monsters angels.
They loved it! And really, what’s not to love!? A show and refreshments in a relaxed atmosphere, sure sounds perfect to me.
My standing ovation was played out in ‘licking the bowl’ squabbles. And tickets for the next show (ie two seats at the end of the kitchen bench) are already dibs’d.
So all in all our soggy day in was a big success. The reviewers said:
the cookies were yummy… Mummy you should be a real chef… (and my favourite)… I’m changing my name to Dora Olivier Lauren Cat
Contented sigh!
Pop over to Kirsty’s to find My Creative Spacers aplenty. Fun, fun!
9 comments July 9, 2009
