Making Hay
… is what I’ve been doing.
The whole family is well and happy so I’m nudging projects forward…
… and trying, but failing dismally, to resist starting a new one…
The apple pie above is from a newly discovered village bakery and was wickedly good with vanilla yoghurt. So good in fact that I couldn’t help taking several pics, and taunting Mark with them when he arrived home, apple pie is his favourite, hehe.
I enjoyed every crumb whilst contemplating these freud-esque ink blots that I make when I’m testing new inks. So there I sat… I wondered, I thought, I dreamed a little and voila! An idea, a cunning plan, a wicked scheme sprang to mind on how to use them. Gotta love when that happens!
…or two.
It’s ‘christmas on a stick’ when all your books arrive from Amazon and the postie actually waits at the gate to give them to you rather than flicking a card at your letterbox and legging it like an Olympic sprinter. Fantastic! Ok time to get cracking on that teeny quilt.
For lots more crafty peeps throw yourself into the creative space mosh pit over at Kirsty’s. It’s *awesome!*
16 comments November 5, 2009
Oh Constance!
The first time I laid eyes on ‘Constance’ it was love at first sight. What a babe!
It’s true, I’ve fallen for the whole vintage van story, hook line and sinker.
But I ask you, what red-blooded woman wouldn’t want to run away with their beau for a quirky, romantic escape. Letting the road take you wherever it will; stopping wherever you please.
Only I wouldn’t want to take ‘Constance’ anywhere. I’d want to tuck her at the bottom of my beautiful wild garden and have her all to myself. Sorry beau!
Just look at her, she’d make the perfect little retreat and a fab creative space. I’d be in fine company too; Roald Dahl had a ‘writers hut’ at the bottom of his garden, as did George Bernard Shaw.
I could see myself happily scribbling away at this table, my work bathed in light, hearing birds flit in and out of the foliage just outside my window and enjoying freshly brewed coffee and home made cookies from the sweet kitchenette.
A picnic blanket could be thrown onto the grass outside when the day sparkles and beckons, or when the poppets are home. And when fortune smiles, there is even a spot to have an indulgent cat nap.
There’d be so many lovely places to photograph that I’d be in blogger heaven. And even though I am a city slicker, a wild garden would help make believe ‘Constance’ and I were nestled in the country. But best of all, when I wanted a change of pace, I could be back in the bustle in an instant. Oh, where do I sign!!
‘Constance’ is a 1957 Sprite caravan, owned by the lovely Lucy and Steven Lord of Snail Trail Campervans. Sadly she doesn’t do the holiday scene anymore, but she can be hired for wonderful photo shoots. If you pine for the gorgeous retro holiday, Snail Trail have a family of shiny VW Campers in mint condition. Beautifully furnished with retro fabrics and accessories and with names like Betty, Pearl and Gracie what’s not to love!
Image Credits: ‘Mini tarts’ ~ QuintanaRoo and ‘Flowers and sunshine’ ~ Darin.
All other shots courtesy of snailtrail.co.uk campervan hire
(Blankets made by Helen Fisher)
11 comments November 4, 2009
Little jobs
In my creative space this week:
A pile of prints ~ Destined to be my very first teeny weeny quilt for the smallest poppet’s December birthday. It’ll go with a little dolls cradle that I’m repainting.
I think these fabrics made up in this style will be so cute. I’m just waiting for my copy of Patchwork Style (ie: moral support in a book ) and I’ll dive right in. Yikes, did I say December?!
Yummy catalogues ~ They’re underneath the acorn munching squirrels and are the yummiest I’ve seen in forever. Freshly delivered… actually forget the ‘freshly’; I’m pretty sure if something is posted 2nd class from the UK it has spent time trudging over the Himalayas on the back of a disgruntled yak. Anyway, it finally arrived. The styling and photography is gorgeous! One quick flick through the pages and all yak spit on the packaging was forgiven. Ahh Toast! Contented sigh!
Plans and schemes. ~ We are planning a move in six months and the whole flat has to be tarted up. I love this palette. The grey background in these shots is our couch and I’m thinking that zingy mustard could be the perfecto cushion colour. Cushions don’t scare me. I’ve made them before but now Lara has posted this, it should be a total cinch.
And sketchy birds. ~ I haven’t made up my mind on what to put on the cradle ends; but birds have been the frontrunner so far… although butterflies may be making a come back, unless of course dinosaurs burst forward from the back of the pack… Oh, lets face it, it’s still anyone’s race!
Be sure to head on over to Kirsty’s for gazillions more fabulous creative spaces and crafty people.
12 comments October 29, 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
Love a bit of tentacle thrashing
Susan, from one of my fav blogs, Art Spark Theatre, has set this fun illustration challenge to any that dare. So I’ve eagerly leapt into the fray. You start with the lovely little lady above, which you download from her site, and basically do what you will with her. Haha!…
I came up with this; an unlikely tale of wild passion in the park. I thought it would be perfect to post it on a Sunday since you never know your luck in the relaxed atmosphere of a weekend. And if you’re lucky you may not have to eat plankton!
12 comments October 4, 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
Of fairy tales and fashion
I admit it, I am a dreamer. I have a huge soft spot for fairy tales and all things fantastical. I mean, I settled on a career as an animator at ten, I collect children’s books and can’t stop and my ideal atelier would have to be a tree house hidden in an apple orchard. So naturally the fifties and sixties are my fashion nivarna.
It was my nana’s heyday. A time when war-weary ordinary women craved a little glamour for themselves. They wanted all the elegance and uniqueness of their favourite screen sirens, Marilyn, Audrey and Grace. In 1947 Christian Dior gave them a beautiful ‘New Look’ and for the first time, mass production placed it within reach. Suddenly everyone could be a movie star.
I’ve shared some fab times with my nana watching Bill Collins : ‘The Golden Years of Hollywood’ films; admiring all the sassy heroines with their teeny tiny waists and voluminous skirts. Watching them dance in winklepickers, gloves and flower pot hats. Loving the bubble lamps above their heads and marshmallow sofas on which they were perched. Adoring the mid-century fashion fairy tale.
The best news is I’ve discovered another place to indulge. These gorgeous images are just a fraction of the gems at My Vintage Vogue. Jessica’s wonderful collection spans the twenties through to the sixties, and includes vintage magazine covers, fashion illustrations and advertising. I can’t wait to show nana. Do take a look, it’s truly fab!
You can buy wonderful vintage images from Vogue, Glamour, Mademoiselle and Charm magazines. Check the Conde Nast store for availability.
And if you want to know more about this era, try here, here, here and here.
6 comments September 30, 2009
Into the blue
This week I’ve had a couple of projects in mind. And incredibly, amidst the colossal muddle of domestic distractions, plans and dalliances my brain managed to forge a link and find inspiration to serve both. It’s amazing how the mind does that!
Anyhoo, these are the projects:
Project One: A thrifted dolls crib needs repainting and decorating for the smallest poppets birthday. Show and tell to come.
Project Two: A new illustration for the theme, ‘INFINITE’. Actually, it was last week’s IF theme thwarted by my nasty head cold, which sadly did the rounds here.
And the lovely inspiration?…
Beautiful deep blues. Blues that you find in endless summer skies.
Blues that you can fall into.
Dark indigo blues teamed with crisp white and woven in intricate patterns.
The hypnotic indigo swirls of hand painted Vietnamese ceramics.
And birds, because they’re return in Spring signals the start of nature’s cycle.
And they have the wonderful gift of freedom in flight.
Aside from all that, my blog was thirsty after that big red dust storm.
Poor blog!
4 comments September 26, 2009
Breakfast on Mars
This morning we awoke to find our Sydney neighbourhood completely engulfed in what looked like a thick, blood-red fog. As it grew lighter, every window filtered in an unearthly glow so eerie that it was easy to imagine a whole foaming herd of apocalyptic horses.
I absolutely love these images captured by Tom Hide because they are so true to the intense colour and pea soup nature of the dust storm. It’s like the atmosphere of another world.
Hooray for cameras because it is only hours since and it has all blown away.
Even now, but for these shots, it could just be a tall tale or an urban myth.
I’d say it’s proof that truth truly is stranger than fiction.
Image credits: Sydney dust storm images from Tom Hind’s Flickr Photostream
(you can find more shots, taken all over Sydney, at The Red Sydney Project.)
The Mars image is from NASA’s Viking Orbiter Image Archive found on Wikipedia ~ It’s the atmosphere of Mars taken from low orbit. The Galle ‘Smiley’ Crater can be seen to the left.
6 comments September 23, 2009
