A Catch Up

It has been a long 3 months.
Long because I haven't felt like I have had the time to do the things that I want to do let alone the things that I need to do.
Never mind though, I am crawling out of the slump and may just get a couple of posts in before I slip back in or come out into the sunshine.
So here's a bit of a catch up. A collection of evidence that creativity does not cease just cos you can't see it on my blog!


In no particular order and with little explanation ... here goes.


Susannah's Grid Art - inspired at art class with P.O.P.
It was a matter of which looks better, white or black? So, as I do, I suggested taking a photo first.
You decide? It's permanently black now. Another way to do it is to colour it in digitally and decide then make the final marks if you like it.
I like it either way.

Then there are Susannah's Manga 12"x12" posters.

While we were in Armidale at the beginning of the year Caitlin starting sewing this little Cushion at Grace's place. She was very pleased with the finished piece with a cute little button sewn on for good measure. Thank you, Fay :)

Every so often a Lego creation emerges that just needs to be captured on camera - that's what I thought when I saw this cute robot. It's nearly as cute as the smile!

Soph started it. I found these pieces of fabric and wondered where they were from what they were for - Soph bought them to make a bag. Eventually, with a deadline, we (the royal) knuckled down and got a bag made. And we (the royal) were quite pleased with it.


A hurried couple of photos before Soph headed off to Summer Camp show you a bag with legs!!!!
It is a roomy, completely reversible, multi-functional bag. The only problem is... the red ran all over the shop and now the inside, which was the white cherry fabric, is pink and not so photogenic. But it has these cute neat seams showing and all. And it's supposed to have buttons on it. Maybe they are on the inside.

I'm not sure if you've seen this before. You may have see the photo. James Day (it's there in the gallery of wedding photos) took it at Alex and Danika's wedding. Well Soph decided to draw it in art a couple of years ago now. This is a case of take a photo of it and throw it away. So we took a photo of it but then couldn't really part with it so it is sitting in a portfolio under a wardrobe ready to be carted from place to place for years to come. :)

How cute are these Fire Engines that Declan has drawn. Made all the more special after just reading this post about the uniqueness of drawing.  (You wouldn't believe the trouble I went to to get these drawings here - mysteriously annoying! They're in now, thankfully!)

Here's another case of take a photo and get over it. This time we did and the Lego has been pulled apart so that others can use all the pieces. Also by Declan. Made in early January, sat high up on a shelf for no one to see or touch and finally brought down, photographed and dismantled. We printed out a photo of it so that Declan could stick it on his wall, at his request. :)

And last but not least, a construction made by Malachi out of K'nex. I quite like the photo too, even if I say so myself! It kinda reminds me of a hairy caterpillar. :)

I asked around a number of times to see if anyone else (like Reuben and Hudson) have made anything that needs to be photographed but, no.

Reuben has been creating in Blender, which is, and I quote, "... the open source, cross platform suite of tools for 3D creation." If your eyes glaze over at this point, I completely understand. But wait til you see what he can do with Blender. One day.

Hudson on the other hand has been creating fashion statements that revolve around soccer and should not be seen in public. For instance, pajamas with a World Cup Soccer design for Germany, Bexley North FC soccer socks that come up to his thighs, soccer boots (that actually fit him now) and his soccer ball. Or yesterday, Just some normal clothes - t-shirt and shorts - but then some normal socks pulled up to the knees covering the shin pads, and normal shoes. Such great looks. I will have to capture some of these "high fashions".

That's all for now.


:D

Another Love Post

We made a concertina card for Daddy to say "I love you".

We took our inspiration from Crayola.

Here's another video.


:D

Who do you love?

Jesus said, '"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.'" Luke 10:27

I have this song in my head this morning :)



I love God.
I love my husband.
I love my family - immediate and extended.
I love my friends.
I love people.
I could go on....

Lots of love
:D

A couple of layouts and an explanation

I have done 2 layouts this year. This is my leanest year so far since I started scrapbooking in 2003. By this stage last year I had produced at least 12 layouts and other projects as well. And other years I have produced nearly 50 by the end of February.
Well not this year. Besides moving, other things have taken their toll on my time and motivation and creativity.

And then, as I mentioned last post, my camera stopped working.
I have now borrowed a camera (a Canon 5D) and have managed to work out how to at least get a photo of the two layouts I have done so far. That's a good start, eh?!

The first layout: I started doing this layout the day after Declan's birthday. I think I finished it about 10 days later.

It's called 8 candles but really Declan had one candle and we lit it and he blew it out 8 times. That was fun - different. Inspiration came from a variety of sources - most predominantly this one and another one by this one by Kathie Link.

The second layout was inspired by Nicole Pomeroy's layout and then combined the kind of ideas that Kathie and others use. I really would have liked to doodle up a little yellow bicycle matching the cuteness of Julie's Yellow Taxi but I also wanted to use the Crate Paper bicycle that was in the kit that I won (unknowlingly for 10 days) from the Blue Bazaar Blog.

Here's the result - a happy combination of products and inspiration. That's Declan and Hudson on their new bikes.

That's all for today.
:D

She Sells Sea Shells...

More appropriately and equally as tongue twisting - She sees sea shells by the sea shore - maybe not equally as, but close.

There is a certain fascination that I have with shells. There is a mystery about them. Something special. I think the children find this so as well.
When we first arrived at Brighton Beach we could hardly get ourselves into the water for the sheer addictive delight of finding so many wonderful shells. We collected, we sorted, we collected some more (we swam) and collected, into the twilight.

The other day I decided to take some photos to show you the kinds of sea houses we have found. All was going along flowingly (trying to allude to the movement of the sea) until my camera crashed. It just stopped right in the middle of me taking photos. End of story.

Well not really, but I'm being dramatic. My camera is away for repairs (oh how I want it back) and I have been left feeling like there is an empty space - a camera-shaped space - in my life. Fortunately for me, DH is a photographer and he has lent me a camera to tide me over.

Here are the photos I took before my camera dumped me. Sorry there is no size reference, except the one with my index finger pointing at the tiny shell. After that photo I found a teensy weensy shell about a quarter of the size of that one.

One day I might look up Sea Shells of NSW and see what these beauties are called.

Project 30

Project 365 has become quite a popular challenge over the past few years. I've followed various friends and artists as they eagerly set out on their attempt to take a  photo every day for a year and I've been there as the stragglers are still clicking away at the end of the year.
Me? Tempted? No.
I'm happy to do a photo a day for a month - Project 30, if you will.
I've done that for 3 years now. I usually do September or November - the 30-day months.
Last year I did November and they have been sitting in a file waiting for my attention.

So without further ado... (click on the collage to see a bigger version.)

So, what can you see in my 30 photos?
A pretty weed
Moses and Mamachi
Mal with a macho towel arrangement
The kids on Caitlin's birthday
My paints arranged in rainbow order ready to be catalogued (Gosh, that was fun!!!)
A collection of garlic stalks!!!
The reproductive part of an hibiscus flower
A sketch of Soph at piano lessons
Kelly's hand with her new nailpolish
Graffiti at Kingsgrove Station
The contents of a fun parcel from Glenda
Hudson in his favourite get-up - soccer pajamas, soccer socks, soccer shoes - has been known to wear in public :)
Knotted Slinky -  Caitlin still has hers in perfect condition. Guess who doesn't.
My ironed ironing pile - that was in November 2010. Since then I have decided not to iron - a decision of epic proportions! ( Just to clarify - I've decided not to iron and to put the t-shirts straight into the kids' draws cos they look the same when they come out anyway.)
A background made to be chopped up to make decorations etc. I'll show you some cards that I made some time.
Part of a page I did in Dina Wakley's AJ103 - LOVE her classes.
The tip of my new found Posca Paint Pen - Australia's substitute for Shaprie Paint Markers and a fine substitue they are too - they're awesome!
Young Nick, awkwardly posed, on Waffle Day (our new Sunday tradition - still going strong)
The cutest chookie ever - can't remember her name - so calm and placid.
Selfie - Me and Kelly
Hudson being a bunny at the P.O.P. (People of Praise - homeschool drama, dance and art) performance.
Happy Little Vegemites with rosy cheeks
Collection of found things while packing my art room
Jacaranda skies - words cannot describe the sheer delight I have in the pretty purple carpet made with jacaranda flowers and now we have one in the back yard. I can't wait 'til November 2011.
Drop sheet for my inking projects
Caitlin - first swim of the season
Soph sitting by the pool
A photo of a reflection of our van in a window in... you guessed it... Earlwood! I take photos of the reflection of our van. No, seriously. I do!
Inky fingers
The kids LOVED P.O.P.

That'll do ya.
:D

It has been a long, long time.

It has been a long, long time. I'm sorry :(
Since the 13th November (my last post) we have moved house - that's no small feat from any perspective.
Unlike the last time we moved where my art room was the first room set up, this time my art room is the last room to be sorted - it's nearly ready to roll though and I can't wait to do a bit of scrapbooking, art, or craft.
While I am/you are waiting here are a few of my favourite creations from the past year (in no particular order)..
Interestingly, 2010 was light on as far as creating was concerned - probably (what's the term??? - oppositely proportional????) to the amount of stress.

I'm looking forward to 2011.
Some say that what you spend New Year's Day doing is the theme for the year.
I'm good with that!

Playing with Paint and Ink and Stencils

There was a time when I could not bear to get ink and paint on my fingers. I'm over it. :)
Yesterday afternoon the kids played in the pool and I played with a friend in the cool.
We made the most of an opportunity to whip out the stencils, ink, paint and go for it.
It's amazing how much you learn as you experiment.
Here's a sample of what I did with my fave stencil - Mary Beth Shaw's River Rocks stencil - Tim Holtz Adirondack Color Wash Inks, and a bit of black acrylic paint.

So, a great Color Wash back ground...

Gotta love those Posca Paint Pens!

I made a print with the black paint left on the stencil and while the stencil was on the page I sprayed the colour in. Oh how I love the result!!!

I wanted to see what the whole thing would look like with a black background so I purposefully took this photo with the intent of Photoshopping in the black.

Then without an ounce of agonising I filled in most of the background to see what it looked like. I like. :)

And then after my friend went home and I was packing up I got all arty with my administrative duties and sprayed some envelopes and added a layer to my Art Journal page and then printed the excess on a spare sheet of paper. Mmmmmm. I love those colours.

All in all... very satisfying.

That's all for now.

:D

After Andy Goldsworthy

Clover flowers
beheaded
arranged in a spiral
patch of dirt
back yard



Onion weed and rambling rose
hot sun beating down
green grass
back yard



Mandala
wet-the-beds, clover flowers
wind whipping up the gardenia leaves
sun drying the flowers
back yard

Message from Malachi
onion weed and elephant ear
hot sun
back yard









As you are probably already aware, I am a HUGE fan of Andy Goldsworthy. And again I have been inspired by him when I watched this video yesterday.





And now I wish I could find the After Andy Goldsworthy creation that Annelise and I made many, many years ago. I really have no idea where it is, although I know I saw it not that long ago.

:D

Yes! I am alive!!!

And I have been squeezing in a bit of art journalling here and there (with the help of Art Journaling 103 at Get It Scrapped with Dina Wakley) just so that I don't go completely insane.

Here is a pictorial catch up.

I was trying to do watercolour technique with inks that didn't respond in a watercolour way and happed upon a different and very fun (also addictive at the time) technique.

Then I was working with Tim Holtz's Adirondack (I love that word!!!) Color Wash - they are AWESOME. Remind me to show you what Soph did to her boring t-shirt.

This one says 'OME is where the ART is, but in my zeal for layers I have managed to make it so that the first word I see is VOMIT!!! Sorry if you didn't see that - you'll see it now - maybe.

Testing out my Posca Paint Pens, Australia's substitute for Sharpie Paint Markers and a fine substitute they are too - they're awesome!

That's all for now.
:D