*e*

back from cactus land

i think cactuses (cacti?) are so beautiful! i felt happy every time we drove past one, and i never even knew i liked them before this trip! it's amazing what a detour from your normal life can do. i'm so glad i got to do this little trip, and see some lovely friends, fall madly in love with my baby boy again (who has been driving me nuts lately with all his whining. turns out he was just wanting some alone time with me, he was a yummy ball of bliss all weekend!), soak up the vitamin D and not have to cook a single meal for 4 days straight.

banjo was in little boy heaven with liz's boys and all their toys.

the back door would stay open all day allowing him to run in and out. oh, what heaven! after waking up each morning he would run to the door and say "siiide? siiide?". i can't believe what a treat it is to just be outside (especially barefoot). we did as much of that as possible.

the mama market was a lot of fun, but crazy -  manning my stall and chasing banjo who kept trying to escape out the front door! lots of people came and i sold enough stuff to cover my airfare so phew! all good. i'll be uploading the rest of it to etsy soon...

we have snow due again this weekend so i will go to bed now dreaming of that perfect 1/2 hour i spent alone in the backyard, lying on my scarf and the soft grass with a book and feeing hot under the suns rays...

bliss!

liz and her boys

(eaton family + my boy who joined the family photo!)

it's been SO NICE to be with old friends again. people who know me. and the SUN! oh...how i took it for granted for the past 31 years...to be outside barefoot on the soft grass, and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. driving with the windows down, and naked babies playing in the sandpit. it's heaven, and so so good for my soul.

we've been busy with our market and these 4 little boys running around, but i just wanted to pop in and say hello before i head home. i'll share some more pictures in the next few days - for now, i'm off to soak up my last day of all this loveliness!

well, someone likes to clean!

i failed to share pictures of the worst room in the house - sparing the faint-hearted of you from the ugly truth! i emerged from my trashed studio the other afternoon to find the mick had been crafty ('playschool' style!) and fashioned a toy vaccum cleaner from a twig, cardboard box, empty oat container and a pair of training wheels! it is by far the funniest thing i have seen all week...and here is banjo, making up for all the mess he scatters around this room by vaccuming! bless his heart!

i've been madly finishing off these baby quilts (just looking these fabrics together makes me all squealy inside) ready for the mama market this weekend - will you be in mesa, az? please come!

creative mess is the best kind of mess. wishing you a happy weekend...sun & burritos, here i come!

(am secretly hoping to return to a tidy house. mick? anyone?)

today, i thought about my blog

and picked up my camera (moths may or may not have flown out of it, it's been so unused lately!)

on other blogs, you might get peeks into a gorgeously decorated home, or recipes made with fancy ingredients. or a showcase of craft projects that have actually been completed!

here, today, you're getting nothing but the ugly truth of my house. come...see how we live!

food: demolish and abandon.

shelves? why, everything looks much better pulled out and onto the floor!

i live in hope that the pixies will come and take care of these dishes.

i teach my girls the importance of making art, not putting their clothes away!

banjo's 'stuff'. a place for everything and everything in it's place!

my wardrobe. and dirty washing basket. (gimme a break -  i've got a toddler with a shoe fetish and no door on that wardrobe!)

bathtub. do you know how much it hurts to stand on a teapot spout? i do, and so does mick, and so does banjo who sat on it once.

sometimes, i get asked "how do you do it all?"

well, i hope this post clears up that little matter...

a childhood favourite

our weekend adventure led us to the eric carle museum. if you didn't grow up reading the very hungry caterpillar - go and buy it now! it is such a cheery, lovely book that i adored as a child and was one of the first books i ever bought for ivy when she was a baby. i remember watching a show about eric carle when i was in primary school, and LOVING the way he so freely used and played with colours and shapes - totally inspired me at a young age.

seeing his collages in person was really fun! i also knew little about him as a person and artist so ivy and i enjoyed reading his story.

after looking at the artwork on the walls, and reading many, many books in the cosy reading room they had, we discovered a gorgeous, big, light-filled studio with tables set up with goodies to play with! there were oil crayons, glue sticks, and paper in circles, squares and strips. the challenge set was to see what you could create with these 3 materials. while mick chased mr banjo around, the girls and i had a lot of fun playing...

we were completely lost i our little world of ripping and sticking and scribbling - such a lovely afternoon and i am all inspired to set up little creative stations around the house for the girls (and me!) to create together in a simple way like this.

we might just have to go back in august when mr carle himself shows up for booksignings!

yip yip!

LOOK! THE SNOW IS STARTING TO MELT! i can hardly believe it myself after so many months of living in narnia-whiteness! we can actually see bits of the ground around our house these past few days - and part of our mailbox too!

banjo, who has been so miserable all winter long due to the fact that his fiercely independant self couldn't manage walking in all that thick fluffy stuff can actually put on his boots (obsessed with boots! remember those little boots? yindi refused to wear any other shoes when she was teeny) and stomp around outside. this makes him well pleased indeed!

don't worry though, there is still plenty of snow to be found! here they piled it all up in the city for some free tubing for the kiddies.

and we saw some ice sculpting being done on the weekend. amazing stuff! unfortunately we had yet to inform yindi of the #1 ice sculpture rule: DO NOT LICK!

sew helpful

oh, hi mumma...whatcha doing there? sewing me some pants? cool.

but you know you've got the tension all wrong...and i actually prefer this stitch for the pocket.

actually, maybe this one. more manly i reckon.

what would you do without my help?!!
hey, look at me standing on a stick, i mean thanks for the new comfy pants!

(pants inspired by this and my ever growing pile of tshirt scraps)

baby inspired by anything he can press, dump out, tip over, climb on, pull down, or bite!

arizona

(liz, me, emily - 2008 i think)

in a few weeks, banjo and i are heading to phoenix!  so looking forward to having a break from everyday life (debbie downer no more!), and a break from this snow - gah! i am longing, longing, longing to just HANG OUT OUTSIDE - i have never in my life gone this long without windows open, lunches on the grass, sitting on a bench at the playground! so hooray for some warmer weather, and hooray to get to stay a few days with my friends - sisters liz and emily.

i've timed my trip to join in the 'mama market' - it will be like a day of etsy shopping in the flesh! i have been making and planning all sorts of fun things to sell. i really love making and selling things, and i have so many random bits and pieces made and saved over the last few years that i'm just too lazy to upload onto etsy! you see - i have a problem...and that is after the 'creative' work is done, i have no motivation for the 'work' work. ie the uploading, the shipping, the sending of invoices. i'm too ashamed to admit how much money i haven't collected on for various projects and publications over the years - eek!

anyway - if you are in the mesa area...please come! there will be tons of really yummy things to see and buy. and i would love to meet you! saturday march 26th from 3-9pm. more details with a map here.

i've got big piles of crafty kits made up, lots of clothing (upcycled wrap skirts, teeskirts, tops, kid pants), gorgeous big sheets of nepalese paper, colourful felt dingle dangles, ipod cosies, hair clips, bags, quilts and more...yes more! mick has had a few weeks home from work so i have been shutting myself away making and packing - with earphones in to ignore the whining and screaming coming from upstairs! oh, how i love when the roles get reversed for a little while....hee!

i'll also be holding a small wet felting workshop in liz's studio (mesa) for her and her friends...and there is room for a few more if anyone is interested. it will be on tuesday night - march 29 at 7pm. we will be making beads and an ipod or glasses pouch, cost is $30 which includes materials and snacks! email me if you would like to come.

and i'll get off my lazy bum and upload whatever i don't sell at the market to my etsy shop when i get back ok! i'm trying to break my bad habits...

so sun, sun, sun here we come! i WILL wear sandals. fluorescent white feet say hello!

coming along...

oooh this new blog banner makes me so smiley! big love and thanks to my dear friend jaz and her fella for taking snippets of my artwork and turning it into THIS! i've been wanting to re-organise and makeover my blog for um, years?!! but have been putting it in the 'too hard basket' (along with lots of other things!), so i'm happy to have finally made the first step. all my scrapbooks and art and articles and makies seem to be scattered all over the place so i'm working on bringing them all here...slowly...one banjo nap at a time!

i'm in no way a professional blogger! i don't plan blog posts, i can go for days without even remembering i have a blog - i get tired at night, and don't go on the computer when my kids are around. i have also been feeling blah and twisty for the past...hmm...year? and not had much motivation to write/take photos/make things. i'm working on that changing. it feels good to be finding myself again creatively. i've made a new facebook page for connecting and sharing what craftiness i may or may not be up to! more online classes are in the works...

i will continue to offer 'blogverts' as a way to advertise your small business and offer giveways. rates are affordable and i am open to trades! i would also like to offer one free space a month to those who cannot afford to pay for an ad. email me to express your interest.

thanks, and love to all of you. connecting and sharing via this blog has enabled me to stay semi-sane through all the moving and changing and lonely! i appreciate all of you and thank you for your comments and love :)

 

one more thing...i am really useless at replying to emails. i get to them, eventually. sometimes 8 months after receiving! i let emails pile up, like dirty washing and dishes. it's a bad habit. anyway - i often get emailed the same questions and would like to have faq's in one spot here. so if you have a burning question about my hair/sewing machine/vegemite etc ask away here, and i will try to put them all somewhere lovely :)

learning to skate

look at these two go!

so apart from the cosying down by the window to watch a snowstorm - my favourite bit of winter has been the ice-skating. the free ice-skating on a big frozen pond in the woods! if the sun is shining, and it's above freezing...well, thats about as happy as i can be! i'm amazed at how speedily kids can learn something. ivy - having never been on an ice skate or rollerskate ever before was wobbly and awkward for about 20 minutes the first time she tried - and then hey! next time we hit the ice she's off! yindi spent many trips to the ice in her boots, or being pulled in a sled by ivy...but this time we strapped on those hand-me-down skates and brought along her dolly-trolley and she was off too! couldn't wipe the grin off her face!

after using the 'banjo needs me' excuse for weeks, i finally had a go myself...didn't i do this plenty in the 90's, when mirrabooka ice-rink birthday parties were all the rage? i'm pretty sure i looked a lot cooler then, but it also could have been the disco lighting playing tricks on my mind. here, in broad daylight - i looked like a damn fool, and my feet really hurt, but the girls and i were all cracking up and having a great time together and i think this memory will stick around forever. hopefully the bruised bum cheeks will not ;)

 

ps blog under contruction! things may look wonky over the next few days...