tsk tsk

yes please

I want all of these. But I was good and only bought one.
I've been very tempted to buy another for some time. maybe I just should.

top to bottom :: left to right

Milk Teeth by Julia Morstad
China and foreign countries paper-cutting nonsuch by Chen Jing
Maps by Nigel Peaks
Days by  Minae Kato and Kaori Kumura
Tico and the Golden Wings by Leo Lionni

I sourced most of these books from Book by its cover  which I love!

standing in line at Spotlight

You can meet the most amazing people in queues. Today whilst standing in line at Spotlight, (I was #8, and they were serving #19), I struck up a conversation with a lovely lady who showed me all her bits and pieces.

 There was the bunny outfit for her granddaughter which she was lengthening, and the bunny hat she was going to wear at Easter. She told me all about her children, how her daughter had married an Italian/Australian boy who wore a kilt on his wedding day which was in an Anglican church with a Catholic priest. Her son in law's brothers' names were Rino (which just happens to me my brother in law's name) and Nino. But then her number was called. And I'll probably never see that lady again.

Isn't life funny the way strangers can talk intimately about common things for minutes of our lives and then whooosh....gone.

I only spent 20 minutes in line because numbers 22-29 had disappeared (probably given up in disgust) and #30 is the highest. Did I ever tell how much I hate that place? I only went to buy some poly stuffing and some plain chartreuse cotton. They were out of poly stuffing. So I bought a cushion insert instead.

I saw these from retro-mama the other day and decided that it was about time I got myself back into a little me time sewing. These hand sewn Easter eggs are so easy to make and look so good. Except mine aren't as neat. Anyhow she has a free tutorial if you want to try. I decided that Autumn eggs were needed. I've never understood why we follow suit to the northern hemisphere and make all our Easter projects in Spring colours, as sweet as they are.

Apart from indulging in a little sewing, we have been are usual busy selves.

Making gnocchi.

Dancing to Christmas music in March.

Planting some succulents.

And hanging out with the munchkins using up our craft supplies.

(for all those who aren't aware of Spotlight. It is a big, messy, overstocked shed, full of fabrics, notions, crafting supplies and junk. You are liable to injure yourself walking through the aisles and you need to take a packed lunch if you want fabric cut)

jungles, pirates and knitting

I have two new prints in my shop. One for the boys and one for the girls.
Also I have been working on a new image for a friend's son. He loves jungles. I'll get this printed onto a canvas once I finish the details and play around with the colours. this is just a cropped section for now.

inspired

I'm feeling really ready to move forward with some ideas that have been buzzing around in my head.

At the moment I'm loving shape and colour.

mustard
grey
teal
black
rust
olive
triangles
circles
rocks
pebbles
leaves
agate slices

I cleaned my desk, (OK I just moved some piles onto the other table) and pinned up some new images on my board ... I am ready to begin.

100 paper planes

Since the beginning of the year Mr A has made over 100 paper planes. I find them in obscure places like my cutlery drawer. He insists on a competition every second day or so. However my paper plane making skills are very basic and he always wins. So he tried to show me how to make a really fast and powerful plane.

These were his instructions. You can't read anything when the video is placed in the post. Apologies, I'll try to get to it later and make it better.

My movie making skills are very rusty. Once upon a time I had hours to waste during the days and nights creating animations like this.
Making sure everything was tweaked together, frames viewed at the right speed. But the rushed feeling of this just captures the moment of how he explained it to me and expected me to understand and design something as equal to his creations.

little monsters

On Saturdays my two little monsters will wake at their usual early sparrow time and watch cartoons on TV.

And they craft.

With the crafting comes mess. I always walk out to the living areas to see pens, paper, glue, scissors and sticky tape spread from one end to the other.

It delights and irritates me at the same time.
Why can't children just craft or draw in one specified zone?....like the craft table we bought you!!!!!!

This morning they were making monsters and trying to scare me with their crazy drawings. So I brought out two books neither of them have seen yet. You see I keep some children's books just for me. Mythological Monsters by Sara Fanelli, (which I think I bought before having children) is a visual delight. Aren't all her books? And the other  is  called Monstres Cheris by Ramona Badescu and Benjamin Chaud.
I bought this book in Belgium last year and it is about a monster family. It even has these lovely stickers inside that you can peel out to create your very own monsters.
Of course my kids wanted to use them....but I told them to make their own stickers and share each other's monster body parts to make some crazy creatures.

Now if I can only get my little monsters to help clean up the mess!

pulling my hair out

Do you ever have those days where...
How often do you have the days where everything is too much..the day goes too quickly....and you can't seem to finish one thing? And all you want to do is stop and breathe.

Last week I bought some art supplies. Yesterday I discovered that I couldn't find a ream of printing paper that was apart of the purchase.  Some very expensive archival, printing paper. So I panicked a little and frantically searched my very messy studio and house and car. I then rang the shop to see if I had left it on the counter and of course I had. I just needed to find the receipt to prove that I had actually paid for it.

I looked in all of my handbags. nothing.

I then looked under piles of organised mayhem. nothing.

I then realised that my clutch purse that I often place receipts in was no where to be found.
I panicked some more. I had all my cards and my money pouch at hand so it must have fallen out somewhere yesterday.
15 minutes later I found it. But there was no receipt inside.

I repeated all my steps. nothing.

Until it dawned on me that I should look in my receipts tray that sits above my head at my desk.

And yes, there it was. And yes I had paid for it.

Each day I have a moment like this. It is usually my car keys that get lost. I honestly try to keep organised but it's just not a skill I excel at.

Right now I'm off to find the school photos form that is due in tomorrow...I guess I better check the school paper work tray before pulling more of my hair out.

FEVER

what does the bottom image have to do with the top two images you ask?
Nothing.
I've been nursing a fever and sore throat for the last few days and when I am like this I start to see a pattern emerge in my work. I start doing things that are totally unrelated. I work in one colour scheme and within the hour I'm painting in another. But I seem to be more passionate about making things and I often feel like I could work in my studio for hours on end....and then maybe fall into a heap and collapse.
So with the help of some paracetamol, vitamins and some colustrum tablets (don't ask!) I'm fighting my way through this flu and having some fun painting and playing with colour.

 I love playing around with shape and tone and I have some ideas busting to get out of me..except it is 1.30pm. School pick up is just around the corner, I haven't cleaned the kitchen from this morning, I need to start designing some graphics for a customer, finish some illustrations for a very exciting job coming up and I have some bills to pay. And here I am blogging away like there is nothing to be done!!!!

BTW. The top right bird is a work in progress. A new canvas commission. This is just a wee little peek.

wilted

summer is wilting me. The humidity, is constant and I have had enough. I feel like I'm stuck in a sauna some days. I need to make the effort to drink more water so I don't get that end of the day headache.
And just when the heat gets to me, croup springs its ugly head with Mr A. We are taking it slow around here....quite a different feeling to this time last year when I was packing my bags for France!