Making Making Making

Tomorrow I go into town to meet Sam Jinks (Yay). I will be stopping off at a few of my shops to drop off some Xmas stock. I have been so busy trying to complete the orders I almost forgot to blog!

Busy Weekend

I am so glad it is Monday. What a crazy time we had this weekend. Darren was away on his alternative photography course (more about his adventures later this week) and so I was a single mum. The boys were very good but I was pleased to see Darren return Sat night. Then on Sunday we went to stay with our lovely neighbors who were house  pool sitting for their sister who runs a swim school on Philip Island. It was great to splash around in the warmest environments (indoor, heated pool) on the coldest of days. Darren has pics of the rest of our little excursion which I will post later in the week.

They Draw and Cook

I am probably the last person in the world to find this amazing blog They Draw and Cook, but I am glad that I finally have. Happy cooking, that is about all this miserable Aussie spring weather is good for. 
This little excerpt is from the ABOUT section on their blog:

Nate Padavick and Salli Swindell are a brother and sister design and illustration team who have been working together for over 10 years. 
Nate and Salli came up with the idea of They Draw & Cook while on a family vacation. Nate was trying to recreate a favorite dish - fettucine with figs in a balsamic butter sauce - while Salli sat at the counter with her watercolors painting the crate of figs. This led them to realize how fun it was to illustrate food. They then started talking about creating a little recipe book for friends, family, and clients. They asked some of their artist pals to help, but never got enough recipes to justify printing a book, so Nate built a quick blog and Salli started to spread the word - it spread fast! They Draw & Cook now contains the biggest and best collection of illustrated recipes anywhere.

Egg-quisite Eloise

I am doing a portrait of my little niece Eloise. I got Darren to take some pics the other day. These are not the ones I am using but rather pics for the family album. Isn't she sweet?

Monkeys

I finally installed the software to get photos off my phone. I know,  I know, I am useless with these things. I found these two pics of the boys monkeying around.

The Little Things

More and more I am trying to enjoy the little things because the big things are a tad stressful. Two lovely little things from my weekend were:
1) A little reminder that love is all we need.

2) It's OK to let things slip a little - they are funnier that way.

Jinksed!

In such a good way. I have recently gotten hold of Sam Jinks and he has agreed to sit for a portrait for the Archibald Prize. I can not believe my luck. I will meet with him next week to take the pictures and begin painting ASAP! This is a little intro to him taken from Australian Edge.
"Sam Jinks currently lives and works in Melbourne where he spends his time creating hyper-realistic Sculptures out of Silicon. With a background in Film and Television effects, he has been a commercial sculptor for 11 years, the last 8 working on his own art full time."

Only A Test

My lovely friend Deane's quote for the day:

I Never Promised Me A Rose Garden

But I always wanted one. These beauties are from my very own garden, I saved them from the howling wind so we can enjoy them a little longer. Happy weekend everyone.

I am sorry I got so down yesterday. I drank a few tequilas, had an afternoon nap at 5.00 pm woke up at 7.00 pm watched "Magic City" and felt much better. I had a brief slump at 9.00 pm when I found out that I didn't win the lotto and then felt better again when I discovered this lovely, crazy blog by a wee English lass call Eco Ethel.

Truth Be Told

I am a bit miserable of late. It has been hard relocating to a new country. The hardest thing has been our extreme poverty and the stress that goes with that, wondering where you are going to find the money to pay this month's bills and the next month etc.... it is wearing me down. Here are some little words of inspiration to myself, some of which are easier said than done and then others, like the ones about love, which thanks to Darren and the boys, I can believe in.

And just for luck a pic of two crows kissing.

Christmas Stockings

My lovely friend Sam made the kids beautiful Xmas stockings a few years ago, unfortunately they stayed at our holiday home in Kenton, the place we have spent Christmas every year for the past fifteen years. This is the first Christmas we will not be there. I have never really had to do anything Christmassy to our own house as all the decorations and traditions were already in place at Kenton. This is the first year we are having Christmas at our own home so I am going to make an extra special effort to make it fun and festive. I have started sewing Xmas stockings (one for each member of our Aussie family - 12 in total). Good thing I have started early because they are a bit of a mission to make. Here are some pics of my first two stockings. I have had the names of the family member embroidered on little banners that will be ironed onto the felt circles. I love the one on the left, it is made from a beautiful velvety fabric.

So Sew

I don't know if it ever happens to you but I often start projects with this great idea in mind and after hours of work, the item I produce is nothing like its ideological seed, instead it is this strange mutated thing. This was the fate of my denim apron. I wear aprons everyday in my studio so I like me a good looking apron. I had one once. It was denim and just like a pair of old jeans. It was the most perfect apron. Ever since then I have been trying to find a replacement and so I thought I would make one. Here is a pic of my Sunday morning making.

Luckily Sunday afternoon's efforts were more rewarding. I made myself a new bag and at least I like this creation.

WOW!

Thanks to Kim from The Painted Blackbird for this heads-up. Is the work of Billy und Hells not just too beautiful for words?

99 Problems

Indecisive Trees, Train Trips with the Pook and Tim Minchin's Guilty Pleasures

These are the things that I have liked in the past few days.

1) There is a pear tree in my garden that is hedging its bets on spring. Only half of it is going for it, the other half is lurking around going "well, um, maybe".

2) I took Kian on the train to meet Dad and "Brudder" at the Camberwell Market on Sunday. He was really looking forward to it, as you can see in the pic he was thrilled... for the first few stops, then things descended into whining and for the next 20 stops or so he asked if this was our stop, moaned that he was thirsty and generally jumped and fiddled around restlessly.

3) I love Tim Minchin. If he didn't threaten to give his wife away all the time I would apply for the job. Here is a great clip on "Guilty Pleasures" (If you dig political correctness I don't think you should watch any of his stuff).

Vikings!

We are loving the TV series "Vikings". It is great mindless entertainment. "Vikings" follows the adventures of Ragnar Lothbrok the greatest hero of his age. The series tells the sagas of Ragnar's band of Viking brothers and his family. Aussie born and raised Travis Fimmel is pretty hot too. 

Shop Sui

I am very excited to say I have another stockist. This little Shop Sui is an absolute delight. The lovely Sylvia has great taste and stocks a range of eclectic goodies from clothing to home-wares with a wonderful focus on Australiana. The shop is at 63 Smith Street South on the boarder of  Fitzroy  and Collingwood, so pop along if you are in the area.

shots of the new shop with the sign going up

Re - Cast

A little while back, when I was still in SA, I had three ceramic molds made of little "deers" I found along the way. I only had a few made of these guys. Does anyone know where I can have things slip-cast in Melbourne? I still have the molds and would like to make more of these fellows. I have about ten of each left, so if you would like one pop along to Page 8 and grab it.

large ceramic deer

small swan planter (there is a drainage hole in the bottom)

medium deer

Growing to Love Grey

Everything goes with the grey of raw concrete don't you think?  Especially pink! This is a pic of a pink version of my little dolly wall plaque. It is cast from a plastic figurine which is used by the Youruba people of North Africa for fertility and protection of babas. Originally these little fertility symbols were carved from wood, but this little girl displays the colonial influence in Africa and may originally have been an English porcelain dolly.

And then yesterday my sweet Mum gave me this lovely orchid from her garden for my little grey vase, and yellow and grey seem to be pretty good friends too.

It is a good thing we all like grey because the weather doesn't seem to be able to muster anything but.

Stormy Afternoon

Who makes up the names of colours on paint chips? I want the job. There would definitely be a stormy afternoon range of colours if I was in charge. Here are some of my new weird weather guys.

Not My Beautiful Life

This is NOT how things in my world look at the moment. Sigh.

However, I did feel a bit better today after listening to Tim Minchin's great graduation speech.

Two Kind Sirs

Annie Leibovitz photographs Sir Patrick Stewart & Sir Ian McKellen ahead of their Broadway performances. From Vanity Fair.

I Bags That!

I have been making new Tie Tote bags. I love making these, as it is fun to match / contrast the inside and outside fabrics with the ties. They are mostly made from vintage fabrics, but occasionally I mix in a newer fabric from my material cupboard. I have been trying to figure out how to identify the individual bags and have decided to name them (the first few are named after some of my close friends who I miss very much).

Catherine and Jess

Christine and Frances

Rike and Penelope

Samantha and Audrey