This is from last year but the words are still lovely :) After a year of family drama and harsh words, this is something we should all say to our loved ones. Put harsh words aside and just wish the best for each other. Good stuff, Mr Gaiman.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Softies for Mirabel 2010
I just sent off my handmade donations to Softies for Mirabel 2010. Here they are!
If you've got time, make a lovely softie and send it to Pip at Meet me at Mikes by December 7th. Help out kids affected by substance abuse this Christmas. It's a super cause! You can check out all the other softies being made at the Softies for Mirabel Flickr group here.
* I need to point out that the kitty design is not my own (even though I made it) but the fluffy white softie is!
If you've got time, make a lovely softie and send it to Pip at Meet me at Mikes by December 7th. Help out kids affected by substance abuse this Christmas. It's a super cause! You can check out all the other softies being made at the Softies for Mirabel Flickr group here.
* I need to point out that the kitty design is not my own (even though I made it) but the fluffy white softie is!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Work in Progress!
New Babushkas. These ladies are tiny and super cute. They will be smelling sweet too :)
Softies for Mirabel donations! I can't take credit for the design of this kitty. I found the free pattern online and now can't remember where I found it (naughty me!). Will post a link when I come across it. The fabric I used is a lovely linen cotton blend with Snow White images printed across it. It's one of my favourites. I'm thinking of some kind of nice dolly for the next softie.
New Christmas decorations! I've tried making these more "all season" so I can still reuse them for the rest of the year. These will be for sale in my madeit.com and Etsy shops very soon.
Tea Lovers
Bird and Bunny (I'll be embroidering little feet on the bird and a face on the bunny)
Squirrel and Randy the Red Nose Octopus
Zombie Cupcake Plush Raaaaarrrrrhhhh! BRAINS!!! (or in this case maybe he should say ICING!!)
Because everyone should always be a little PUNK ROCK!
Softies for Mirabel donations! I can't take credit for the design of this kitty. I found the free pattern online and now can't remember where I found it (naughty me!). Will post a link when I come across it. The fabric I used is a lovely linen cotton blend with Snow White images printed across it. It's one of my favourites. I'm thinking of some kind of nice dolly for the next softie.
New Christmas decorations! I've tried making these more "all season" so I can still reuse them for the rest of the year. These will be for sale in my madeit.com and Etsy shops very soon.
Tea Lovers
Bird and Bunny (I'll be embroidering little feet on the bird and a face on the bunny)
Squirrel and Randy the Red Nose Octopus
Zombie Cupcake Plush Raaaaarrrrrhhhh! BRAINS!!! (or in this case maybe he should say ICING!!)
Because everyone should always be a little PUNK ROCK!
Friday, September 17, 2010
Feeling reflective...
It’s a fact that C and I are getting older. We’ve got wrinkles. I’m moving closer to my mid thirties and C is warming up to 40. WHERE does the time go? Even with all the ups and downs, life has been a good journey so far and maybe that’s why things have gone so fast. Time flies. Yes it does. So I guess it’s no surprise to admit we’ve had kids on our mind for the last year. And it’s been tough. Tough to realise that it’s not easy to get pregnant. Our society puts so much focus on a woman’s role as mother and there’s not a day that goes by when I don’t see a magazine yelling about someone’s BABY JOY or IS THAT A BABY BUMP? No, it’s just a little tummy from eating yummy cake.
Not getting pregnant has given us a lot of time to really think through what it means to be a parent. And to talk about how we want to bring up our kids. Naturally, there have also been fears of things going wrong with pregnancy, birth and kids. Miscarriages, still born babies and kids with disabilities are not issues those glossy mags readily address (although here's a lovely blog post about dealing with miscarriage by Owlet). And sometimes, they’re issues that not even our families want to talk about. All is well when everything goes right but it can be easier (definitely not better) to ignore sadness and grief when it happens. Not something I think is good at all.
The main thing we’ve had to realise is that kids may not be destined for us. The expense of IVF and adoption make these options far from our reach so if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. When we first decided to try and get pregnant, people told us how easy it would be. I went into the whole thing thinking it would take two months or so. Nope. It’s 16 months and counting. Over time we’ve learned to slowly let go of wishing too hard. It’s been made easier knowing we have full lives as they currently are. A kid would be a lovely addition and we would not say no but we have so many other nice things to focus on. We love travel. We love to be creative. We love to collect designer toys. We love our music. We love our cat (and are fully prepared to continue adopting RSPCA pets for the rest of our lives). I know so many awesome ladies who have decided not to have kids at all. Life is truly good the way it is.
So I guess I’d like to end with something I wish I had been told from the get go - if you don’t get pregnant or have chosen not to have kids, there is NOTHING wrong with you. You are lovely and perfect as you are. This world is huge and there are so many other things to explore. Don’t stress about feeling inadequate for not being like that young girl you see in the street with the baby. Sometimes things don’t work out the way we expect and underneath all the disappointment there can be good. LOTS of good. Trust me!
ADOPT A PET!
BE CREATIVE!
COLLECT COOL TOYS!
x
Not getting pregnant has given us a lot of time to really think through what it means to be a parent. And to talk about how we want to bring up our kids. Naturally, there have also been fears of things going wrong with pregnancy, birth and kids. Miscarriages, still born babies and kids with disabilities are not issues those glossy mags readily address (although here's a lovely blog post about dealing with miscarriage by Owlet). And sometimes, they’re issues that not even our families want to talk about. All is well when everything goes right but it can be easier (definitely not better) to ignore sadness and grief when it happens. Not something I think is good at all.
The main thing we’ve had to realise is that kids may not be destined for us. The expense of IVF and adoption make these options far from our reach so if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen. When we first decided to try and get pregnant, people told us how easy it would be. I went into the whole thing thinking it would take two months or so. Nope. It’s 16 months and counting. Over time we’ve learned to slowly let go of wishing too hard. It’s been made easier knowing we have full lives as they currently are. A kid would be a lovely addition and we would not say no but we have so many other nice things to focus on. We love travel. We love to be creative. We love to collect designer toys. We love our music. We love our cat (and are fully prepared to continue adopting RSPCA pets for the rest of our lives). I know so many awesome ladies who have decided not to have kids at all. Life is truly good the way it is.
So I guess I’d like to end with something I wish I had been told from the get go - if you don’t get pregnant or have chosen not to have kids, there is NOTHING wrong with you. You are lovely and perfect as you are. This world is huge and there are so many other things to explore. Don’t stress about feeling inadequate for not being like that young girl you see in the street with the baby. Sometimes things don’t work out the way we expect and underneath all the disappointment there can be good. LOTS of good. Trust me!
ADOPT A PET!
BE CREATIVE!
COLLECT COOL TOYS!
x
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Featured!
The lovely Alison at Hill and Vale Designs featured my Snow White Lavender Pillow on Tuesday's Treasures.
Check out her nifty blog here. Yay! Thanks Alison :)
Check out her nifty blog here. Yay! Thanks Alison :)
Monday, August 30, 2010
Eastside Makers Market, Spring Edition!
I have been SO busy sewing new things! All my spare time lately has been taken up with making stuff while watching Mad Men and BBC frock dramas. Not a bad way to spend my days off :) It's all for Eastside Maker's Market this weekend. Hurrah!
Spring things from Freckled Sparrow include -
Tea Time Table Runners (with hand dyed vintage doilies)
In progress...
Nine square Toy Quilts. Keep those teddies warm!
LOTS of lavender filled Babushkas
And lots of super cute lavender pillows
Come and see us at the PCYC on Scott Street, Bellerive from 10am - 3pm this Sunday. It's a really nifty little market and we're looking forward to it!
Spring things from Freckled Sparrow include -
Tea Time Table Runners (with hand dyed vintage doilies)
In progress...
Nine square Toy Quilts. Keep those teddies warm!
LOTS of lavender filled Babushkas
And lots of super cute lavender pillows
Come and see us at the PCYC on Scott Street, Bellerive from 10am - 3pm this Sunday. It's a really nifty little market and we're looking forward to it!
Friday, August 13, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
I Heart Autobio Comics
My awesome hub does comics. Yep. He does. And they are cool. He hasn't always made comics. No. He hasn't. He's been an illustrator for a loooong time and has done some pretty cool things. Like bookcovers (including this series for HarperCollins), character design, editorial illustrations and band posters. He has also been a lecturer at university. BUT, all those things have been eclipsed by comics. He is obsessed and has finally found his true calling. It's awesome.
The kinds of comics I'm talking about here are not your average superhero comics but autobiographical comics. These are comics about real life. They are often just small observations about a particular event that happened during the day. A quick insight into someone's life expressed through comics. They are amongst my favourite comics to read.
One thing that often comes up in these comics is that the artist wonders if documenting seemingly insignificant observations is worthwhile. I say hell yes! I can't get enough of autobiographical comics. Not only because I am inherently nosey and like spying on people but if they are done well, autobio comics help ground you a little. They remind you we're all in this together. We all have quirks and we all have times when there's not much going on. Life is like a seesaw, sometimes it's up, sometimes it's down. So much of our lives are spent trying to impress people, to make others believe we have it all together and we're so busy with fun, amazing things all the time. I love how a good autobio comic is not afraid to remind you that the little things (like having a good dance or listening to a friend laugh) are experiences worth sharing. These kinds of comics are awesome and very much an important part of contemporary comics.
Through his blog Chris has met some super cool people doing similar stuff. Comics have been swapped and sent across the globe. We feel like we know people we've never even met! It's COOL. Most recently, we got some stuff from Sam Spina (you have GOT to check out his daily comic here). His comics, as well as his envelopes, are most awesome.
Inside one of the envelopes was Sam's latest autobio collection. Go buy it.
We even got a print from Sam's lady Samantha (underneath our Tasmanian Devil Head - not a real head folks). How cool is that?!
Here are some of my current favourite comic artists you need to have a look at -
The godfather of daily comics James Kochalka
The awesome Chris Downes (go back to 2009 for the daily comics, there are over 300)
The aforementioned Sam Spina
Cool UK chick April Nash
Lucy Knisley
Jeffrey Brown
Hope Larson
Who are your favourite comic artists right now? Leave me a comment so we can check them out!
The kinds of comics I'm talking about here are not your average superhero comics but autobiographical comics. These are comics about real life. They are often just small observations about a particular event that happened during the day. A quick insight into someone's life expressed through comics. They are amongst my favourite comics to read.
One thing that often comes up in these comics is that the artist wonders if documenting seemingly insignificant observations is worthwhile. I say hell yes! I can't get enough of autobiographical comics. Not only because I am inherently nosey and like spying on people but if they are done well, autobio comics help ground you a little. They remind you we're all in this together. We all have quirks and we all have times when there's not much going on. Life is like a seesaw, sometimes it's up, sometimes it's down. So much of our lives are spent trying to impress people, to make others believe we have it all together and we're so busy with fun, amazing things all the time. I love how a good autobio comic is not afraid to remind you that the little things (like having a good dance or listening to a friend laugh) are experiences worth sharing. These kinds of comics are awesome and very much an important part of contemporary comics.
Through his blog Chris has met some super cool people doing similar stuff. Comics have been swapped and sent across the globe. We feel like we know people we've never even met! It's COOL. Most recently, we got some stuff from Sam Spina (you have GOT to check out his daily comic here). His comics, as well as his envelopes, are most awesome.
Inside one of the envelopes was Sam's latest autobio collection. Go buy it.
We even got a print from Sam's lady Samantha (underneath our Tasmanian Devil Head - not a real head folks). How cool is that?!
Here are some of my current favourite comic artists you need to have a look at -
The godfather of daily comics James Kochalka
The awesome Chris Downes (go back to 2009 for the daily comics, there are over 300)
The aforementioned Sam Spina
Cool UK chick April Nash
Lucy Knisley
Jeffrey Brown
Hope Larson
Who are your favourite comic artists right now? Leave me a comment so we can check them out!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Click click!
Hurray! It's time for the RSPCA's Cupcake Day again! The RSPCA are an awesome charity devoted to looking after the well being of animals all around the world. They work tirelessly to make sure our furry friends are treated nicely. We love them for that. They gave us our lovely kitty cat Pucca too!
So, normally you make lots of yummy cupcakes and sell them to your friends and workmates on Cupcake Day (August 16th this year). This will still be happening BUT they have now added online fund raising pages for all the participants! YAY! This is a super way to donate if you live far away and still want to support my efforts in Cupcake Day.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO MY PAGE
All donations over $2 (made online) are Tax Deductible.
Some of my 2009 cupcakes. Nom nom nom.
In other cupcake news, I just received word that my Zombie Cupcake brooch is all sewn up and nearly ready to sell. The lovely Candy Bandit stitched up my design (along with LOTS of other cool designs from Australian makers) as part of the heartFELT project. All proceeds will be going to the charity of the designer's choice. Double Complete Rainbow Happiness!
My prettied up page all set and ready to go on Leeloo (an ace online shop for crafty kids).
So, normally you make lots of yummy cupcakes and sell them to your friends and workmates on Cupcake Day (August 16th this year). This will still be happening BUT they have now added online fund raising pages for all the participants! YAY! This is a super way to donate if you live far away and still want to support my efforts in Cupcake Day.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO MY PAGE
All donations over $2 (made online) are Tax Deductible.
Some of my 2009 cupcakes. Nom nom nom.
In other cupcake news, I just received word that my Zombie Cupcake brooch is all sewn up and nearly ready to sell. The lovely Candy Bandit stitched up my design (along with LOTS of other cool designs from Australian makers) as part of the heartFELT project. All proceeds will be going to the charity of the designer's choice. Double Complete Rainbow Happiness!
My prettied up page all set and ready to go on Leeloo (an ace online shop for crafty kids).
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Special Things
I had a birthday a few weeks ago and turned a big 32. Only one year away from 33 (For some reason I've always looked forward to that age. Double numbers are cool.) Hurrah! We usually have a quiet celebration doing whatever we feel like. I got to have pancakes for breakfast, lunch at a favourite bakery, noodles for dinner and a nice ice cream cake for dessert. Yummo. It was fun.
Anyways, as birthdays sometimes go when you get older, I woke up thinking about my lovely grandfather who passed away ten years ago. He was such a driving force of goodness in my life and while I feel that in some way, he is still with me, every now and then I miss that goodness terribly. He always had a way of making me feel so incredibly special. I have countless books with little cut out book plates of teddy bears bearing my name. Daintily cut out with big hands and carpenter's fingers. He would write me long letters, even when I was a punked out teenager. He taped me the entire series of The Wonder Years from TV. He recorded Triple J off the radio because I couldn't get reception in my country town. I love him dearly for that. I love him dearly for so many things. There aren't many people in life who express love so selflessly. I hope that one day, I might express that kind of love to my kids. It is so needed, especially when you're young. But also when you're older, in a different way. To know you are loved unconditionally. Not for what you have or what you can give to someone else. Just for who you are. No strings attached.
So with tears in my eyes, I open my present. It is from Chris and is preceded by a card. I open that card and this is what I see -
It makes me laugh out loud. Then I see this -
I laugh a little more. And then I see this -
Needless to say, by the end of the card I was smiling again. How could I not be :) Especially realising that while I've lost someone very dear to me, I have another in my life right now, equally as special. Hehe. Poor smoldering Edward. And poor sparkly Chris. He's a keeper.
PS> While we're on the topic (kinda) of vampires, look what we got the other day! Tru Blood YEAH!!
Complete with Beaver mascot. He was the only thing I could find with big teeth...
Anyways, as birthdays sometimes go when you get older, I woke up thinking about my lovely grandfather who passed away ten years ago. He was such a driving force of goodness in my life and while I feel that in some way, he is still with me, every now and then I miss that goodness terribly. He always had a way of making me feel so incredibly special. I have countless books with little cut out book plates of teddy bears bearing my name. Daintily cut out with big hands and carpenter's fingers. He would write me long letters, even when I was a punked out teenager. He taped me the entire series of The Wonder Years from TV. He recorded Triple J off the radio because I couldn't get reception in my country town. I love him dearly for that. I love him dearly for so many things. There aren't many people in life who express love so selflessly. I hope that one day, I might express that kind of love to my kids. It is so needed, especially when you're young. But also when you're older, in a different way. To know you are loved unconditionally. Not for what you have or what you can give to someone else. Just for who you are. No strings attached.
So with tears in my eyes, I open my present. It is from Chris and is preceded by a card. I open that card and this is what I see -
It makes me laugh out loud. Then I see this -
I laugh a little more. And then I see this -
Needless to say, by the end of the card I was smiling again. How could I not be :) Especially realising that while I've lost someone very dear to me, I have another in my life right now, equally as special. Hehe. Poor smoldering Edward. And poor sparkly Chris. He's a keeper.
PS> While we're on the topic (kinda) of vampires, look what we got the other day! Tru Blood YEAH!!
Complete with Beaver mascot. He was the only thing I could find with big teeth...
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Tenth Anniversary of Arts Writing
I've been in the arts writing game for ten years now. It's never been something I talk about much as I'd rather keep my head down, tail up with work. But I've found that lately, when going to meetings and lunches etc with Chris and his comics, people wonder if I have any interest in writing (as my favourite thing to talk about these days is craft). Indeed, I do! Reviews, artist profiles and feature stories have had my sticky paws all over them. If you feel like it, you can check out a few online via these links -
The Dark Woods (exhibition of Australian comics) Review in RealTime
Infinite Empire Review (exhibition on Steampunk) in RealTime
Cool artist Matt Calvert's website
Design Island Profile for Craft Australia
My favourite magazines to write for have been Object, Eyeline, RealTime, Artlink and DQ. Eyeline gave me my first writing gig so I will always love them for that :)
Part of my collection of published stuff (complete with mascots). At last count there were 98 magazines and catalogues. Aw yeah.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Melbourne Delights
Awww, yeah. Melbourne. I love you.
The Dachshund U.N.
Macaroons at Lindt Chocolat Cafe (thanks Cat!)
Their version of Hot Chocolate was pour your own little jug of melted chocolate into frothy hot milk. Make it as sweet as you like. It was HEAVEN.
The finished version of my new tattoo! It's about 5 hours old here and still a bit red. Inked by Dave at Chapel Tattoo.
We worked with the tattoo artist to get a design (using C's original as a base) that would sit well on my arm and work with my other tattoo. I looooooove it! You can find out what it all means here.
Oh, and I made this scarf!
xox
The Dachshund U.N.
Macaroons at Lindt Chocolat Cafe (thanks Cat!)
Their version of Hot Chocolate was pour your own little jug of melted chocolate into frothy hot milk. Make it as sweet as you like. It was HEAVEN.
The finished version of my new tattoo! It's about 5 hours old here and still a bit red. Inked by Dave at Chapel Tattoo.
We worked with the tattoo artist to get a design (using C's original as a base) that would sit well on my arm and work with my other tattoo. I looooooove it! You can find out what it all means here.
Oh, and I made this scarf!
xox
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
