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this is what our world looks like outside right now...
winter, i have been extremely patient with you but i'm not sure how much more i can handle!
i was told today that march normally brings the most snowfall of the year - this is a joke, right?
burning questions in my mind right now: will we ever see our mailbox again? and, will the shade of our skin return to levels above ghost-like, or are we to be pasty forever?
and yes, i know it is stinking hot in perth right now - stop rubbing it in!
ivy and her friend were hanging out painting with me yesterday while i finished this collage sample for 'got paint?' (the class started today, but you can still sign up until march 4th). ivy's friend wanted to know what i was doing, and so i tried to explain to a 7 year old how i am 'teaching' a painting class on the computer! she looked puzzled, and then burst out laughing saying "who doesn't know how to PAINT?!! it's like the easiest thing in the world! you just dip your brush into paint and go like this *slaps paint onto the paper*!!"
if only we could stay 7 forever :)
i'm still working on the giant text mystery. sounds like only those with internet explorer see it? i'm going to re-set the font and everything tonight, i promise i'm not shouting at you!
in other mischievious-toddler news i found banjo this afternoon sucking on a soggy painty foambrush like it was a lollipop, and this morning i heard screeching in the bathroom to discover yindi had applied nail polish to her lips which was then burning like nothing else.
paint-therapy, i need you!
so my wool obsession has really evolved this winter (this long, hard winter) - really, creating from those piles of felted wool of mine give me thrills like nothing else. sad, i know - but who doesn't love a cheap thrill?!! i'm a long-time lover of turning old clothes into new clothes (remember the pants, skirts & nappy covers?) and i literally never, ever buy new clothes for my children (or myself for that matter) - everything is handed down or thrifted, and then altered accordingly!
the girls love to be in the 'studio' with me and snip up scraps of fabric then sew them together to make little flowers to pin or sew onto their clothing. they LOVE IT when i make them something, and come up with fabulous little ideas for me to do. i really need to chase them down and take pictures of them all.
it's my dream to one day have some kind of repurposed clothing business, taking used wares from around the world instead of producing new fabric...and turning them into cool clothing. i'm thinking recycled saris, vintage kimonos, old faded tshirts...it would be so great to have local people involved...create work and support for small communites in different countries. a dream! one that i might have energy for when my littles are grown! for now though - slow and steady upcycling is happening in the basement! now that my three are fully outfitted in wooly warm pants, skirts, re-styled cardys etc, over the past month i've been making a few things for my etsy shop. tonight i listed some things in 'ivy size' as she was the only co-operative model i could arrange for the photo shoot ;)
soon to come, smaller and unisex/mini-man clothes!
just as soon as my spotty babes are up for the brown braided catwalk ;)
i've been going a bit batty with all the cooped-up-with-chicken-pox and tending to every whine and whim lately. yesterday i was just desparate for some crafty time. i set up the two littles with some fun in the playroom, and snuck into my 'studio' (ie tiny dark basement room) to enjoy my green smoothie and some recycled sari-silk knitting.
i think i managed about 4 stitches before my solitude was over!
yindi, who in normal life is far less dramatic than her older sister - is not taking the pox thing well. crying-turned-sobbing erupts every 5 minutes or so, over some small matter. i set up a cosy nest for her beside my desk. she was happy for a few minutes until banjo came and clonked her on the head.
i really was itching to sew something with my big pile of thrifted-then-felted woolies...
mr banjo found some mischief to make. oh wherever this boy goes, there is mischief found!
yes, my floor does always look like this. sometimes worse. (think days old squashed banana)
thrifted granny-coat i'm working on for myself...so far have patched up some holes and made the sleeves longer. next up, a hood and change those awful buttons.
more mischief! a giant box of matches was found (safety first people!) and flung around the room.
up to his latest trick, banjo climbed up onto my table as i was sewing.
he then toppled backwards, but his fall was broken by a chair and that giant pile of woolies. (again, safety first!)
finally! a couple of organic lollipops later (they're sick, and i was desparate) they snuggled and sucked happily beside me for a good five minutes!
i made yindi a pair of wooly armwamers.
i got my craft-high.
all was well.
(too afraid to go in there today and deal with the mess though!)
'got paint?' - was the first online workshop i did - is being offered again over at big picture scrapbooking! it was such a fun and interactive experience for me a couple of years ago, so i was very happy when they asked me to run it a second time. looking through all the materials (that i had completely forgotten about of course!) got me all excited to get out the paints and play again - it's been so long since i just had fun slapping down paint onto paper for no reason.
the 4 week workshop covers my favourite paint-on-paper techniches and tricks (eg, don't throw away that hideous cardstock, turn it into something new!) which can be used for art journal, collage or scrapbook backgrounds. i've also added an extra lesson on how to create a collage/painting on wood for those who are wanting to jump off the page and onto the wall! i've taught this 'in real life' many times and love love love seeing all the different styles and vibes everyone brings to their artwork. anyone can make one of these!
(if you took the workshop when it first ran, BPS are offering it to you this time for half price, to access this bonus part of the course)
the class starts at the end of next week and i am excited to have some time (mick, remember that time you promised me?!!) to play with fellow painters...i hope if you are interested, you will join me! more details here, along with a picture of me looking young and well rested. was that really only 2 years ago?...
valentine's day brings back those awkward teenage-crush days and the sending of a highly-annonymous card (typed out in school typewriter classroom) to a certain someone. then to come home from school and find an annonymous valentine's card in my mailbox (sans stamp) IN MY DAD'S HANDWRITING. thanks, dad. you almost had me fooled.
well - i did marry my teenage crush, so that is good enough! (and he is shaming his own daughter today by collecting her from school in above attire - i also filled her lunch basket with heart shaped sandwiches and confetti, wondering if that was cool or not?)
our valentines gift is two little red-spotty toddlers...poor yindi and banjo have both broken out with the chicken pox today! ivy had them a few weeks ago and we were hoping the littles would catch them too...better to have it all over and done with now! so far they are taking it like little champions...although that may have something do so with all the heart-shaped cakes (chocolate zucchini), the watching of play-school dvd and mumma cuddles on the couch...lots of love, love, love today!
(and hopefully a very early bedtime!)
our living space has been transformed into a happy, love-y scene thanks to a hormonal rage the other morning that had me rearranging rugs, draping random pieces of fabric, cutting and sewing paper shopping bags, stapling doilies and playing cards to make strings and strings of happy things for valentines day. i've never 'decorated' for valentines day before, and i love it so much! i think these will probably stay up for a long time (at least until the next hormonal rage has me ripping them down). it's amazing what swapping rugs and pillows from bedroom to living room can do to my emotional state. it's so cosy and colourful and 'ME' now :)
we don't own fancy things, nor do i have any kind of budget to buy home decor/fancy things - but these homemade and randomly hung bits and pieces will do just fine. my girls think it is the most wonderful, magical room in the world - and i want to make that kind of home for them...one scrap of paper at a time!
i'm so inspired by a friend of mine who every night after her children go to bed tidies and makes her home so beautiful, creating little scenes with the children's dolls and animals for them to wake and discover the next morning, her home is her canvas. homemaking can be our art, i want to focus on this more, instead of feeling frustrated that i never have any 'creative time'. nicole, my dear friend and one of the most inspiring women i know, wrote a lovely post on the zen of homemaking here. and she is so right.
a story i've carried with me from another dear friend is of her mother creating a colourful and lovely home despite being a single mother with very little money. she would 'decorate' and cover the mould that was growing on their ceiling with colourful paper. my friend didn't know they were poor because their home was so cosy and lovely to her.
these are the things that matter to me. happy, colourful, liveable homes. happy children.
cosy, LOVE :)
ps garlands were made by cutting then stapling paper bits over string, and also by continuously stitching with the sewing machine through lots of cut-out hearts.
felt snowflakes a gift sent from my auntie in england. love them on that twig! (thanks auntie pete!)
pps speaking of valentines my friend jaz has some free downloadable ones here!
ppps twinkly lights make everything good.
i've been meaning to blog, but i'm just so tired! is the lack of sunlight draining the life out of me? whatever it is (no, not pregnant), i find myself crawling into bed after the nightly circus that is putting children to sleep - with every intention to catch up on emails and write on this blog...
but the truth is, by 8pm my brain is about as functional as all the bits of mushed up banana stuck all over the house.
i'll try again tomorrow!
