A Celebration of Bears
August 2, 2012 § 23 Comments
Our ‘big’ girl just turned seven - Wow, where did that time go! Surely it was only yesterday that they let me take home this beautiful fragile little bundle. I remember feeling shocked at how irresponsible that seemed – At the time I had no idea how to look after a new born baby. Not a clue. But you wake up one morning and there she is, gorgeous, getting taller by the minute, sporting shoes almost the same size as your own. Amazing!
She had a ‘Build-a-Bear’ party this year. Maybe it’ll kerb the dramatic sighs we hear everytime we walk past the shop (Here’s hoping!). I have to say, watching seven little girls ‘making’ their own furry friends together is seriously sweet stuff – such natural Mums. So I’m very glad I added a good dollop of the same into the invitations and the party bags. If there’d been a smidge more time some fabric party hats in sweet vintage florals would have made a pretty fab girly trifecta. Nevermind, there were sprinkles of holepunch confetti in every envelope thanks to my punch-happy assistants. And despite the lack of ‘fancy pants’ hats, the bear shindig was a big success. Everyone went home happy with a new furry buddy, a tummy full of cake and a party bag. Life’s good at seven!
ps. Interestingly neither of my girls actually chose a bear – we now have a rabbit called Floppy and a Pony called Salt.
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A Lifting of Spirits
June 27, 2012 § 6 Comments
Just popping in to say after an exhausting few weeks of near constant ‘nasty-winter-virus’ attack we are going country. Looking forward to seeing my Dad, roasting marshmallows over a campfire and just generally taking a little time out sketching in the winter sun. And very much looking forward to coming home happy and much healthier. See you soon!
ps. Just like everybody else I have succumbed to Instagram. I have to say I do love it’s immediacy and it’s lovely old world feel. The above shot was taken on our last flight out of Hobart. The atmosphere was the most gobsmackingly intense blue that I was convinced no camera could do justice… still, Instagram got pretty close.
Holiday Tales
April 17, 2012 § 10 Comments
I love the Easter holidays, they force me to get out from behind my desk and into the the sunshine with my little buddies.
I’m not sure who enjoys it more, me or them. Although I have my suspicions.
Our days have been beautiful, crisp, clear and packed with mini adventures.
We’ve discovered Silkie chickens have wild hairdos
It is possible to sneak up on a peacock.
A pony’s nose is lovely and soft in the palm of your hand, but their teeth are not.
And the most beautiful green field in the entire world is in Collingwood.
Hope your Easter break was full of lovely surprises too.
A Little Rabbit Lost, and a Rosie Monkey Found
December 16, 2011 § 12 Comments
What do you do when the littlest loses their special friend?
When she loses her special friend and his body double (oh yes, we bought two)…?
Search high and low for the strangely absent seller.
Find out the company is in receivership.
Hyperventilate.
Find a brown paper bag.
Ring hands. Pace.
Consider making a look alike.
Remember amateur toymaker status.
Ring hands. Pace…
Email Fiona at Hop Skip Jump (aka the cavalry)!
Bless Fiona, she makes the sweetest special friends (and gorgeous books). And she very kindly sent a little extra fabric so I could make Rosie her own matching travellers bag to carry her Belizean passport, tickets, letter from her new friend ‘Little Rabbit’, photo of Sienna (to help recognize her) and an all important snack.
The look on the birthday girl’s face when she answered the door was priceless!
The last shots show another birthday pressie, ‘Toot and Puddle’, a gorgeous book about best friends with different loves – One little pig who loves to go on adventures and see the world and one who celebrates staying at home. The illustrations by Hollie Hobby are beautiful and the sentiment just right. Who knows maybe Little Rabbit will decide to come home one day.
Post Halloween Hocus-Pocus
November 3, 2011 § 13 Comments
I’ve been turning three toddler dresses into preschooler skirts, all without eye of newt or a slippery toad – much to the disappointment of our budding zoologists who’d be more than happy to help me find either.
Feeling pretty chuffed at how well they all turned out and how you can’t tell that the bodice of each dress, which had been well dribbled and gooped on, was ever there at all. Love that! … Is that a wart on the end of my nose!?
In other news – just like magic my stitchy mojo has returned strangely coinciding with the arrival of some gorgeous fabric from Belinda. Part of a stunningly beautiful parcel of Gretchen Mist goodies she sent me just before my blog break. I can’t stop looking at it. It’s so much better in real life than I can capture through the lens. All those sketchy details are lovely and the cloth itself is buttery soft. I’m going to have tough time cutting into it for sure. Hmm … wonder if Belinda has a wart on her nose?! ; )
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Wintery wanderings
August 3, 2011 § 14 Comments
Just a few pics of our wanderings of late. Sniffles and sore throats have kept us close to home but that’s ok, it’s nice to have the time to breath in your surroundings and winter is more of a snuggly indoors sort of season anyway.
The creek has well and truly taken on it’s winter look. All the lush green has moved from the branches to the ground in wonderful carpets of emerald moss. I still wish I lived somewhere snowy in the winter, but I love the distinct change in seasons here. The light is softer and the shadows bluer. I love smelling woodburning fires in the evening and seeing my breath in the morning. And there really is nothing better than the crisp air of a clear wintery day, especially if you find a sunny spot to curl up in like a cat. I would have made a good cat.
In other news:
- I’ve been really enjoying the Pinterest community lately and the wonderful new links it has thrown my way. Especially this, this and this.
- Over the weekend I showed my little chickens this cute clip from ‘Ride’em Cowboy’ and have had to play it again and again and again. Good job I’m a huge Ella fan!
- Watched Garden State and Black Swan back-to-back and loved them both. Now I’m addicted to this song and have listened to it again and again and again and again. Sadly, it didn’t go unnoticed, comparisons were made and I was forced by sheer whining to remedy the shortfall quick smart! I fear my Mummy swindling days are over, either that or my cons have to get much craftier.
Water Paper Paint… Play!
July 21, 2011 § 16 Comments
I’ve been following the work of Heather Smith Jones over at her lovely blog for quite a while, having fallen in love with the delicacy of her watercolor works and her wonderful compositions. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when she brought out a book. I couldn’t get my copy fast enough.
Now that I have it, and have greedily consumed every word on every page, I have to gush… This book is fantastic! It’s not just a dry (haha!) how-to, it offers a bunch of projects to unleash your experimental side and makes you feel like a kid with your first paint set. It’s liberating!
I also love the gallery section which showcases the work of eleven other fab artists. Some, like Geninne, are firm favorites and some are new to me; like Andy Farkas. I have a passion for hand printing and Andy uses watercolor pigments mixed with rice paste instead of the usual oil-based inks to achieve stunning watery woodblock prints. Ooooh (rubs hands together) I’d love to give that a try! – And that, and that… and that! Seems like the perfect mantra for the entire book.
I’m really enjoying Heather’s exercises, being generally inspired and working with some new challenges. I love the natural loose texture that watercolor has. But finding just the right amount to use in a composition is a bit of a balancing act. What you leave out can often be more powerful than what you leave in. So I’ve been playing with the idea of just capturing the essence of something. Leaving out everything other than the essential. Revelling in one element rather than all. Sounds like a good life mantra too.
Pop on over to Our Creative Spaces for tonnes more inspired peeps.
Credits | Top four images from ‘Water Paper Paint’ by Heather Smith Jones. Published by Quarry Books. |
Pgs 140-141 : September Pages and Three Little Birds by Geninne D. Zlatkis | Pgs 134- 135 : Refresh, River Study 5 and River Study 6 by Andy Farkas | Pg 155 : Layers by Heather Smith Jones | Pg 50 : Painting for Using a Colour System by Heather Smith Jones. | Images from ‘Water Paper Paint’ are used with kind permission and are subject to copyright. Thank you Heather | Bottom two images by Alisa Coburn.
Smuggling
July 5, 2011 § 9 Comments
It’s school holidays… again… where did that term go. It’s all systems go on the home front but sadly not much on the creative. We’ve started the holidays in wonderful mid-winter style, timing a couple of kid-seeking lergys with being one parent short. So until the jetsetting Mr returns and Daddy Daycare reopens I’m on a mission to get as many vitamins into our systems as possible. I’m taking on the ‘Getting a Fussy Four Year Old to Eat Greens’ Challenge. Which is the height of creativity in it’s own right.
A while ago when I saw this recipe on Morrgan’s sweet blog I swear the heavens parted and angels sang. It was bookmarked at the speed of light. It’s got heaps, literally heaps, of zucchinis smuggled within it’s moist cake body and it’s got gooey cream cheese icing on top. I figured she’ll love it, it’s a winner for sure.
I did all the grating on the sly and the littlest was sniffing the yummy baking smells and helping smooth on the icing in no time. All the while I’m thinking if we pull this off it could be the smoothest con of all time. I sprinkled on some flaked almonds and served it up trying not to drool all the while. And then we waited, perched on the edge of our seats as she took a nibble … smiled … inhaled the icing and …
… tossed the rest.
Needless to say the zucchinis are jubilant. Cheeky sods!
Leafy Shenanigans
May 24, 2011 § 2 Comments
This weekend whilst on a mission to find leaves, we headed for the biggest fattest park in our neck of the woods. We needed big trees and lots and lots of leaves. We’re talking mountains of leaves. At the gates of Edinburgh Gardens we knew we’d hit the jackpot. Under all those big beautiful trees it was positively raining leaves.
We threw ourselves in. We crunched through them, kicked them and lay in them… then all of a sudden a leaf battle broke out. A frenzy of scooping and hurling. No one knows who started it and no one knows who won but all agree it was wild. They were in our hair, down our necks and in our pockets. I laughed till my cheeks ached.
Oh yeh, I had to include this shot. This is my little inventor’s way of transporting her collection, hands-free. Hope your weekend was fun too.
Swallowed up by the holidays
April 28, 2011 § 9 Comments
We’ve been momentarily swallowed up by the holidays. Swept away on the smell of warm Hot cross buns, crisp sea breezes and freshly sharpened coloring pencils. All over a bit too soon. Hope your Easter break was gorgeous too.
A Beach Story
April 6, 2011 § 10 Comments
I love the beach! I grew up there. My Dad was a surfer and I was a very proud ‘Nipperette’. With all the wading races, the flags races, the yellow and black nipper cap and matching cossies; sand between your toes and filling the gusset in your cossies (apparently the younger you are the more sand you can get in there… !)
So you can imagine how important it was that my small people be part-mermaid. OK, I should quickly add that I’m not a ‘hot-housing’ type Mum. No, not at all. But teaching my kids how to play in the waves safely is pretty important. So we chose a pretty, calm beach and away we went. I’d hoped they ‘d love it but had no idea that the unbridled enthusiasm of the eldest would instantly eclipse mine the moment her foot fell on sand.
From the moment we arrived it was sheer chaos. Like an overwound wind-up toy she was off; an insanely happy three year old magnetically drawn to churning water, marooned stingy jellyfish, broken glass, you name it… drawn to them at stomach churning speed. A blur up and down the beach. The seagulls never stood a chance. Our relaxed walk along the waters edge, our magnificent sandcastles, our yummy picnic… none of it stood a chance. The most relaxing part of the trip was the moment we strapped her back into her car seat. Whereupon she instantly ‘crashed’, still smiling.
We live and learn. : )
A New Chapter
March 7, 2011 § 11 Comments
Howdy stranger, hard to believe it’s been a year already. I hope life has treated you ridiculously well and 2011 is looking good.
Since my last post change has been the order of the day around here; lots of change and new beginnings. Sprucing, selling, exploring, finding, renting. In fact a big rethink. The caravan has hitched the ponies, pulled up stumps and moved south to Melbourne. And we’re loving it. This place is chock-full of surprises.
What can I tell you about the leafy green suburb of Northcote… we are only 8 minutes from the city centre and yet have whisper quiet nights. So long flight path! We have found sweet weatherboard cottages, environmentally-minded peeps, a gurgling muddy creek, amazing street art, a grand old picture theatre and a wonderful mish-mash high street. We have seen hot air balloons in the skies at dawn and vast fruit bat flocks at dusk. The coffee is pure perfection and everywhere you look people travel by bicycle.
We have a new city, new projects and new adventures to blog about. It’s a brand new chapter.
