tsk tsk

Deep in the Jungle

Today I collected a new canvas print for my friend's boy. Yes I was commissioned by a 6 year old!!

"can I have turtles, a snake, bugs and I would really like a leopard, a monkey, an opossum and maybe a toucan?"
I also wanted to create a feeling of depth by hiding some of the animals behind trees and rock. Some animals take longer to find as they camouflage with the jungle surrounds.
 
I'll give it to him this afternoon, and hope that he and his parents like it. 
I'll be selling this print in my shop soon.
If you are interested in having jungle artwork for your very own or your children it is now for sale in the shop.
International orders are available but to save on shipping costs, the print is sent unstretched. Email me for more details on price

not much to say

so I'll just leave you with some images.

who wants to go for a walk?

first of all you need walking boots. (gum boots will be fine).
You need dogs and grandparents.
If you are lucky you might get to see lots of animals on the way.
Like....
Ponies. Who demand to be fed fresh grass.
A willy wagtail who fluttered his way in front of us whilst chasing crickets.
A bleating goat, tethered to a post.
And lots and lots of kangaroos in front yards grazing happily and oblivious to us all.

Make sure you throw lots of rocks into the creek on the way.

Who is your Norah?

where have I been? What have I been up to?

I don't even know where to start.

Back to the realities of school and working from home.
Catching up on emails.
Working on some freelance designs.
Wedding anniversaries....well just one. I'm monogamous.
Starting and finishing commissions.
Saying, "I will bath the dog today".
Dealing with cranky kids who are dealing with their own realities of easing back into school life.
Balancing family warfare.
Thinking about birthdays.
Cleaning toothpaste off my walls.
Finishing new works for new stationery soon to be released by this company.

Wondering why I do what I do.

Reading funny books to one child whilst the other spends way too long in the toilet at the local bookshop. (I discovered that the toilet wall was covered with posters, including a Where's Wally poster) 25 minutes later!!!!!

Listening to Norah Jones.

Thank GOD for Norah. Honestly I haven't listened to her for ages. I saw her live a few years ago, but even then, my Norah days were long gone. Infact, 7 years ago is when I really remember Norah. I was pregnant at the time with Mr A and her first album was everywhere. After he was born I found that Norah soothed him. You know the theory. Watch  'Days Of Our Lives' whilst pregnant means that your newborn will more likely be calmer when they hear that familiar tune or voices each day.

Well I really think it works. (Not with Days. Never watched a full episode in my life. And proud of that.)

My two have been very cranky and cheeky this week. School is back, routines are expected and tiredness has sunk in. So on Tuesday when the household was about to explode with anger, I stopped. I calmed myself and turned on Norah. Before the first track had finished the house was peaceful, both monkeys were happier and more responsive to my requests.

It worked again today.

Who/What is your Norah?

little stitches

introducing some new little people. There are some new faces in the studio. Meet two of them.

Annie Stitches and Bridgette Stitches.
 More of 'little stitches' will be introduced soon and would love to find a home one day.

you can do it little machine....

Since the release of the Meet Me at Mikes book I have been using my sewing machine at any given moment. The poor thing is out of time and desperately needs a service, but I'm flogging it at any spare second I get. There has been no housework in this house all week, I have fabric, paper and paint brushes from one end of the house to the other. I know what I'll be doing tomorrow before the kids get back. Soon I will have to put my mummy suit back on and hang up the artist suit for another time.

One idea I have been working on is the combining inks and paper and fabric then sewing them all together using my free motion foot. I've been hanging my bits and pieces all around the house. I do that quite a bit and Mr N never says a thing about the mess. He is so good and patient with my crazy creative days. I like to place my art in various places for a day or so, just so I can look at it for awhile. I don't mean that in a big headed way.....but like to analyse how it looks.

The little birdy is something I made for a friend, but I can't quite capture the details. It happens every time I photo the colour red. Couldn't possibly be my photographing skills!!!

new works

I'm working madly at the moment.
6am - 9pm days and trying to get so much completed before the end of April.

New Greeting cards are now available in the shop and new works will be there very soon.

bridges, dogs, noodles and eggs

Lots of good things happening this weekend. Visitors, sewing, painting, cleaning, gardening, bridges being installed (that's Mr N) and even washing the smelly dog!

I'm planning meals.

chicken pie
Moroccan lamb cutlets and garden salads
prawns with asian greens, chinese roast pork, basil and noodles
tomato bruschetta
home made tortellini


I'm wanting to visit Melbourne so I can visit Ziguzagu and buy some more kimono fabric for a quilt I would like to make for the spare room....like that is going to happen! Matching colours is proving to be really difficult.

Enjoy your Easter weekend if you are celebrating this time of year. Here's to chocolate and champagne.

mish mash

I'm trying to make the most of my wee, small hours this week before Good Friday and school holidays arrive. So many things to do, so little time to do them in.

Right now, I have new greeting cards for sale. Ideal for small kids' birthdays, esp the dressup/superhero variety. This of course has come about from someone here who will be entering the birthday zone this month.

And the fish?

Well do you ever lie in bed and visualize an idea that you must try and make before you forget it, but have no idea why you are really doing it in the first place and really know that you should be working on other projects?
Well I had one of those moments and had to try making fish.
There are beautiful handmade fabric fish out there, two locals that come to mind have made some wonderful creations which I admire very much.

I'm still battling with my idea. It isn't how I truly imagined it to be and I hope I have the time and determination to continue getting it right. That is the way 3D works for me. I lose patience and usually move onto a 2D concept in the same theme.

Time will tell.

open studio on monday

This is what my desk looked like this morning. It was cleaned last night and I get a great sense of satisfaction laying out some of my work ready to go. I'll try and show you what it looks like as the week progresses.