tsk tsk

not off to a good start

Was I talking about spending this week working and being quiet in blog land?? Today Mr A was meant to start kindy for the year, but woke with a tummy bug. He is sleeping the morning away now after a rough start to things. Between cleaning up and cuddling I thought I would post probably the last artwork for my month of red exploration. A little more rosy. I haven't been able to bring myself to exploring pink. I'm just not a pink girl.
These are small prints on watercolour which will be are available in my etsy shop. as soon as I can post them up there.

days drifting by

Work and house chores have been dominating my life right now. Renovating and the heat have left little enthusiasm for any sewing or art. Aplologies for my lack of communictaion to those who have emailed me or left comments, but sometimes blogging can become pushed aside for many other reasons.

Today was the first day we had together as a family in awhile. So we ventured down to my favourite delicatessen, bought some cold meats and cheese, mozied to New Farm Park and just did family stuff.

As you can see below, Miss M was very excited when we told her yesterday that she could now sleep in a bed. We took the sides off her cot last night. I have never seen her so willing to go to sleep. She was so proud, but I was a little sad. Just one more of those last time baby things I will never have again. My children are growing so quickly, and as much as I am looking forward to kindy starting tomorrow, I always feel sad knowing that my babies are no longer babies.

I must make mention of two blogging related projects. The first is this a quilt project organised through Amitie fabrics in Melbourne. They are looking for people to help make a block to make a quilt for MS.
All the details are here. Time isn't on my side for this one, but it does look like fun.

And secondly, I've been invited to participate in another quilt project, but one made of paper. Dawbis has organised this one and it will be running all year with 12 artists per month. Check it out. I cannot  wait until the posty delivers my papers.

I will be concentrating on updating my tsktsk website this week, so things will be quieter on the blogging front for awhile. The site is so clunky and driving me mad.

Australia Day

It is Australia Day today.

"The richer possibility is that Australia can actually embrace and enjoy its glorious detail and diversity, and see that an inclusive and holistic culture is the best chance for an intelligent and peaceful future." Michael Leunig read more here and check out his amazing artwork.

not for me

i bought 2 mags from YesAsia recently. When looking for interesting Japanese Crafting books I get overwhelmed by the websites. I've tried a few, but YesAsia works for me. I can spend ages looking and still not be any clearer as to what it is I am buying. I know that Crafting Japanese has some great links to other sites giving some details on various mags. Anyway, I received them both yesterday and one of the mags I bought just doesn't do it for me. Oh well, you win some and you lose some. That is the risk you take when ordering somthing on line.
It is called Embroidery Patchwork Quilt. ISBN4-89396-918-8. There are over a dozen patchwork bag designs, appliqued blocks, stitching and needlework techniques,a few quilts and a few other household items such as coasters and tea cozies.

So, there is no point in me keeping it. Do you want to buy it? It is in perfect condition I haven't even bent the spine. I bought it for US $18.25. AUD $23.10.  I'll ship anywhere for free.
If you are interested, then contact me via my email. Or maybe we could do some other kind of crafty deal?

tagging

Still sick in this household with colds so my enthusiasm for anything that lasts longer than 10 minutes is defunct. Also dealing with a bored 4 year old. Kindy starts back next week so I only have to entertain an almost 3 year old!

OK this is the last tag I will do for the year! If you are sick of me close this window now. I tagged the talented Julie last year and so now she is getting me back.

Here are the rules:
1. someone tags you,
2. you post five things about yourself that you haven’t already mentioned on your blog,
3. you tag people you’d like to know more about. I'd like to know more about all of you, but I'll officially let you off the hook.

1. I'm 5 foot and 3 inches. I have to think how tall (or not tall) that is in metric...no I still don't know. Why is that when I live in a country where we have used metric for decades? I have a small foot and dress size which makes buying the occasional shoes or t-shirts in kids sizes great. I bought a pair of knee length boots last winter that were expensive for kids, but cheap compared to adult sizes. And no they weren't covered in the Barbie logo.
I often get ignored in busy places because of my size. Moshing to The Living End wasn't my best memory, but I have built a lot of confidence over the years and am happy to stand up for myself.

2. I enjoy moving furniture around in rooms. As a child my mother would hear me late at night moving my bed or chest of drawers to the opposite walls.

3. I can shake my eyeballs side to side and wiggle my ears without touching them.

4. I love tuna sashimi, but hate, i mean HATE, tuna in a tin or cooked.

5. I speak some Italian, and can understand enough to get me by.

Regular programme will resume when the sniffles have gone.

little creatures

very little happening here on the craft/design front. Work on the house is going slowly but steadily. Little summer colds about in our house which always means croup attacks for Mr A. Don't you hate having a cold when it is 30+ degree C outside?

A couple of photos that have made me smile today. Miss M reading an interior design magazine to me whilst I work. And a nightly visitor. Possums rank 4th on my list as nightly pests.

#1 are fruit bats, they stink and screech.

#2 are cane toads, especially when you go to refill the dog's water bowl late at night without turning the lights on and realise that there is one inside having a drink! YUK! Plus they are destroying our natural habitat.

#3 are scrub turkeys. They are ugly and make the most hideous squeal in the wee hours of the morning, and good luck getting rid of one if it decides to nest in your backyard!

Geckos rank #5 only if they get into the house and make a mess.

And you may think this little furry creature is as cute as a button, but let me tell you, they wear hob-nail boots and enjoy line dancing on my corrugated iron roof at 1am whilst impersonating Darth Vader. Now wouldn't that make an interesting illustration?

cards for sale

I'm still thinking in terms of red. I'm finding it challenging at times and a very draining colour, but on other hand it is also intense and refreshing.  I have added these to my shop. Australian buyers can contact me directly if you would like to buy some.

catch up post

the first thing i need to catch up on is the international ingredient fest. this week the ingredient is cheese.

about a week ago i ate the most delicious food in a local restaurant. I took my husband out for a belated birthday meal. My entree was fresh figs stuffed with goats cheese and wrapped in prosciutto.  It also had some other ingredients which I can't remember now...it was the gin and tonic I had before that made me forget! Anyway, I decided to give it a go. So here is my version...sans photos.

cut a fresh fig vertically down the middle, but not all the way. place a large teaspoon on goat's cheese in the middle..or a blue cheese would be nice too. Squish it together, then wrap a slice of prosciutto around the fig. Place it in the oven for about 10 minutes on about...I don't know?? maybe 180 degrees C. Just keep on checking to see if it looks ready. Don't burn the prosciutto. I then drizzled the fig with balsamic vinegar.

I never liked cheese as a child, but quite happily eat most types all the time now.

Secondly I've been tagged by Kate for another meme. This one is about how weird I am! well, 6 things at least. I don't want to sound like I'm the perfect woman, but I am having trouble finding 6 things. i am sure if I phoned my family and friends, they could each name a dozen. After reading a few of other peoples weird things, I began to recognise some similarity. Perhaps we are not so weird after all. So here are a few.

9 out of 10 times when I walk up or down stairs, I have to count them...even in my own house.
If I walk somewhere on a path regularly, I will start to count things on the way.

I like eating vegemite and honey on toast. I don't know of anyone else who eats this combination. But there is a nice sweet and savoury flavour about it.

I only like drinking super cold milk. If a glass has been poured for me and left on the table for more than a few minutes, I don't enjoy it.

I get really annoyed when lights are left on in the house for no reason. I go through stages where I try to enter a room and not use the lights. Especially if I just need to grab something and leave. i say to myself, people who lived before electricity were able to do it so why can't I? But then I will leave my computer on for several hours throughout the day and don't see it as a problem even though it is wasting electricity.

I always have to wash my hands after going grocery shopping and now make my children do the same thing. Its like I can feel the dirt on my hands from the trolley. But I can go to other shops and not feel the same.

I love colour coding my books. As you look at the spines they are mostly colour coded. So I can have a book about quilting next to a book about typography. It is really difficult to find something when I'm in a hurry but i like the look of it.

there you go..that was 6. I did it.

Thirdly, I also wanted to thank Paula again for sending my a Marie Claire idees mag and the most beautiful soap. Both of which I adore but I am having trouble getting here in Australia.

And lastly I drove 3.5 hours yesterday to pick up my kids from their grandparents house. Here are a few images from the drive. We laughed to Charlie and Lola the entire trip home.

sorting is so much fun

Our house is a mess. It really looks like we have just moved in and emptied a dozen boxes. I'm surrounded by piles and piles of stuff. My linen cupboard is no more. Currently the linen lives on the kitchen table and the kitchen counter. I have work piled around my computer and hope that over these next couple of weeks, it will not disappear into oblivion. So what do you do when everything is a mess and you have 3 blokey builders in your house who seem to talk cricket and rugby all day?
Go to IKEA of course. Can someone tell me on what magestic island the owners of IKEA are currently sun bathing on? I only tend to do a trip there twice a year, but every time I go my mouth drops at the register. And I'm always amazed at the amount of people there. Do they visit regularly or are they like me? Anyway, I won't tell you about everything I bought, BUT I did manage to spy these and thought they would be a great storage units for my fabrics and sewing bits and pieces.

So I've been assembling IKEA furniture and sorting this afternoon. But alas, dinner is underway and I still have no kitchen space. I really must go and do this even though I have no idea where I am going to put it all.

The top unit has four drawers. I have colour coded my fabrics and will store it under my table.

works in progress

I'm in the middle of shifting rooms at the moment. I have relocated my studio into the lounge. Finally we are getting some shelving put into this house. None of the wardrobes have shelves. It has been driving me insane. No matter how hard I try to keep on top of things, it is always messy. This also includes the wardrobes in the bedrooms.It will be so nice to be able to put clothes in a shelf/drawer and close the door...especially kid's clothes. Currently there is a mess of 51 little socks, 13 little pants and 12 singlets all in the one pile. And of course, It doesn't help that the kids play in the wardrobes.

Below is how my studio looks every other day. I am converting the wardrobe into my computer desk. Ripping the doors up, increasing the height of the architrave, placing a nice timber bench inside with shelving and drawers. I'm painting the green wall too. I'm thinking of magnetic paint, but not sure what colour. I hope to have unsightly cords hidden away..if we can get a electrician in this year.  This will allow me to have a free standing desk for illustrating. NO computers, or printers out in the way. And no folders to be seen. Fingers crossed it will look good. The kids are away for a couple of days while the builder makes a start.

I've also been busy making some red slippers. I found this crocheted pattern here. They are very quick and easy to make. I sewed the right band on a little lower than the left, but already I have family orders to make more, so I'm sure I will improve. This is a cotton thread which is lovely for our climate.