Walkies!

A delicious sunny day today prompted me to get off my ever-expanding butt and head outdoors. It felt good to abandon the studio for a while! I haven't walked around my neighbourhood for ages and it was great to revisit some of my favourite backyards - yes, I guess I am a bit of a snoop! This place has a fantastically productive backyard - in Summer it is chock-a-block full of vegies. They have a great composting area too. Looks like preparations for Spring are underway!


This mailbox belongs to a house occupied by an elderly couple who recycle all sorts of things into fabo garden stuff - some practical, others purely decorative. I love it. Sometimes they sell seasonal fruit and veg from their backyard too!

Colour my world ...

I think it was Petula Clarke who sang "...you can colour my world with sunshine yellow each day..." and today I decided to fill my world with yellow. The lovely Melissa at http://mogsdesigns.blogspot.com/ inspired me to do this after a lovely catch up and chat a while back. Yellow is a happy colour and it is good to see it in the middle of Winter - a little bit of sunshine indeed.

Some see junk ...

... but I see great raw materials for making jewellery! These trays were all thrifted or gifted and have provided me with a great resource for jewellery making. I love that they have taken on a new life as something wearable and are no longer stuck in an oppie collecting dust. It really is great to work with materials like this although it can be a bit of a challenge as not every tray behaves the same way ... In some ways the choice of these objects as materials makes me a bit more adventurous - a bit more likely to push myself in terms of my current skill-set because if I make a complete hash of something I know I haven't wasted an expensive piece of sterling silver that has been produced using heaps of energy. How cool is it that great adornments are only as far away as the local op shop or landfill?!

Exhibition over.

The Brisbane exhibition is finished and I have had some great feedback about my pieces! These were among my favourite pieces to make - I loved the etching process - which I actually learned as a printmaking technique! Clearly there are cross-overs in all areas of arts practice! They are all made from recycled materials. It was a learning curve because they did all respond differently to the process! The butterfly has skulls etched on it and I called it "Fragile Planet" . The butterfly is such a universal symbol for the natural world whilst the skull always represents death or danger. I hope this piece draws attention to the perilous place that we have brought our planet to.

.The bird is probably my favourite of this series - I called it "Harbinger of Hope". I made it with optimisim!

The girl brooch is a celebration of the little girls inside us all. She is etched with images of little girls in Victorian garb. You have to look carefully though!

Bye Bye Birdy!

Well 40 years ago it was

" one small step for man ..." and today it was one giant leap for our eldest as she embarked on her first international trip! As we waved her off at the airport, I thought about how, as our children are growing up,we invest so much time teaching them to be strong and independent so that one day they will step confidently into the big, wide world. And then,they do. Surely it was just a few moments ago that I was waving her off to kindy? Sometimes being a parent seems to be mostly about learning to let go. Given that you get so much practice at it as your kids get older, you would think it would get easier. Apparently not! I am dead delighted that she is going and will be seeing her younger sister (a whole other leave-taking earlier this year!) and I am proud as punch that this independent young person is brave enough to seek the adventure but that didn't stop my heart doing a flip-flop as she went through the departure gates ... Still, what fun they will have - two sisters, in Europe, in Summer. With a Visa card. Yay for giant leaps!

FRESH MINTY FLAVOUR!

I loved the shape of this mint tin and just knew it could be repurposed into something wearable. I undertook a Book Arts elective at Uni last Sememster so it seemed natural to make it into a wearable book. I think books are sometimes Talismans - I always read Agatha Christie when I have a lot going on - so I wanted to make this a bit of an amulet so I included lots of charms and amulets on the tassle. The book inside has affirming words that I stamped onto pieces of paper that had been decorated - mostly for other projects, and the front decoration is a domino. This was so much fun to make - I am planning another one for the SALA exhibition!

It's a hard, hard life ...!

This little darling is the latest addition to the family and she is too cute for words! She plays like a maniac and then crashes for a while - then she starts up again! We are convinced she is part Hobbit 'cos she has several "breakfasts" throughout the day! This is one of her fave places to sleep - won't be long and she will be too big for it I think. She is great company and the boy adores her! Sadly our other cat is less than enthusiastic about the kitten -not surprising really as the older one is pretty grumpy - in fact, I have nicknamed her "Bitch-Cat from Hell !

It is too, too easy to fall in love with kittens!

A gull's gotta do what a gull's gotta do!

Fish and chips by the ocean just wouldn't be the same without the noisy squabbling of the seagulls arguing over the leftovers!

Here they are waiting, waiting ...

Getting up close and personal !Chips all gone - off to harass someone else!

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside ...

As it was a bit of a trek south to take the boy to a soccer match we decided to make a day of it - the menfolk went fishing after the game and I mooched around an antique store and the beach. It was really cold but fisherpeople seem impervious to the weather and were out in force!

No fish caught but we had terrific fish in batter for lunch anyway! How come fish and chips always taste better at the beach?

No joy in the oppie today - yikes perhaps I have lost my mojo! Or maybe I was unsuccessful today because I found this gorgeous tea set on Tuesday. It is a Johnson Brothers set - 7 pieces, so not complete but oh so pretty! And yes, I do need more teacups. Naturally. I mean, can you ever really have enough?

Ah the pastoral life ...

Today I took myself off for a poke about our nearest regional centre. It was so sunny and bright I decided to take the scenic route. We haven't had rain for a bit so the roads were reasonable and the views just gorgeous!

Despite the sun it was chilly and the sheep were doing their best to keep warm!

A nice little meander and I found myself at this lovely bend in the road.

A perfect Winters day - crisp and cold but clear and sunny! Bet Jack Frost pays a visit tonight though!

It used to be a tea tray ...

Now it is something gorgeous to wear! Currently in an exhibition in Brisbane - I wouldn't be sad if it came home ...
Exhibitions can be a bit daunting but I am sharing with some seriously talented people so I kinda feel pretty safe. Nigel Parsons is one of my co-exhibitors - check out his amazing photos.http://www.nigelparsons.com.au/index.php