Craft Class

Well I knew it had been awhile but it seems three months have ticked over since I last wrote. It is only a week or two until our baby arrives and although I have been crafty it is all very domestic and probably not that interesting to read about.
Spring is coming, the vegetable garden is planted out with seeds, the chickens are laying and this Saturday I will be teaching a craft class at Mill and Mia 99 Auburn Road Hawthorn Victoria.
We will be making snow dome aquariums and underwater themed mobiles. It should be a lot of fun. I taught another class a few months ago and we made soft Matrioshka dolls. I forgot my camera which was a shame as the children came up with the sweetest designs, I will take my camera this weekend!

Busy times

It’s been a whirlwind of hectic times lately, too much working, not enough sleeping moving house, busy weekends and no craft activities to report. So all quiet on the writing front. In a month things will quieten down again. Last weekend we moved into a beautiful new place with lots of space and three chickens that laid us the best eggs I have had for years for breakfast. There is a big shed to make in to a studio and have some storage space for once, a lovely garden with lots of potential although it’s a bit unloved at the moment, I should take before and after photos. It is going to be just great. Here is what I saw the first morning when I woke up. Quite lovely.

Reasons to be Cheerful

I bought a new toolbox, well not a new one my first one. I love it. It is red and metal and has concertina hinges that open it out like a butterfly so you can see everything inside. I have a wonderful new job starting on Monday working on a film produced by Guillermo Del Toro who directed Pan’s Labyrinth, I am so excited and so is my toolbox which will come along and is filled with everything I think I will need including mini sachets of miso soup.

I have almost finished a new drawing for my alphabet book and am now up to the letter C for Crab. Still a while to go on that old project but I am loving it even if it is a slow process.

Today I also baked some passion fruit Melting Moment biscuits to take to my friend Dave’s tomorrow to thank him for passing his house on to us when he moves out in a month and we move in. I will have a shed and chickens and the new baby will have a bedroom and not have to live in the nook of the hallway like we were planning if we stayed in this cosy house.
Also my boyfriend gets home from Sydney tonight and he may have only been away one night but I am so glad he is coming home again.
Reasons to be cheerful indeed.

Jack Frost

Winter has come barrelling into town and it is absolutely freezing. I just can’t get used to it. Already we have pulled out the second duvet and now sleep under so many layers that the weight of feathers and wool presses you down and you can hardly roll over in the night. On the weekend it poured with rain and the wind whipped the drops against the window panes. I got under a blanket with the heater on and did some knitting. It was lovely.

Moonshine

The Still

The Quince

The Aftermath

We had a lovely Easter at the beach, it was perfect Autumn weather and we planted 1000 daffodils ready for spring and my sisters boyfriend dug up two huge patches in the over grown veggie garden and we planted potatoes, onions, beet root and spinach. We also harvested two washing baskets full of quince from our one fairly small tree. I chopped up lots of them until I got blisters and made quince jelly and stewed quince to last us for the year. On Sunday we went to our friend Chris’ house and put the rest of the quince through a juicer where it will sit for a month fermenting with some champagne yeast. Then we run it through the still and make our first batch of family quince moonshine. Sounds kind of exciting.

Good Oil

I did a prop making job recently for a Visa commercial which has come up looking pretty good, apparently it won ad of the week somewhere not that that is much credit to my contribution but still. I had to make all their portable pieces of technology like the T.V, Record player and fax bags it was a fun project. You can see the whole ad if you like by clicking here and looking up the director Michael Spiccia and clicking on the Visa Debit link.

Good Wives and Warriors

Making web sites has always felt like a process cloaked in magic codes and secrecy to me. I attempted to teach myself how to do it several times only to get tangled at the start and give up again. I thought I should be able to do it, I have a handle on many other computer programs but it wasn’t to be, so lonely and website less I have never had much of an Internet presence… until now!! Last night my dear friend Becky came over and ate won tons with me, and chocolate, and within a couple of hours had laid out all the formulas in such an easy and understandable way that now I think I can do it. Becky and her friend have made their own site for their company Good Wives and Warriors and you can also see their beautiful illustrations and paintings there.
So over the next few weeks I am going to chip away and learn as much as I can and fingers crossed at the end will be a gleaming web site with my name on it. How exciting.

Making and Doing

I have been doing a bit of sewing and made some little spring chicken toys like the one I made for the bush fire appeal and a bunch more boats in bottles. The Ships are on their way to be sent out as Birthday presents, House warming and Congratulations gifts for all my friends. The boats are a bit difficult to photograph but they look quite lovely in real life

Sailing away

I have got a little obsessed with making ships in bottles I don't know what the point of it is yet, maybe there is none. I found these beautiful tapered rubber stoppered ones and with a fair bit of finagling I worked out the best way of getting a tiny ship into it. One slipped out of my hand like a banana out of its skin and smashed into a thousand pieces on the kitchen tiles. Damn it! Although I have to say there was something quite poetic about the boat being released from its glass prison. One is for a birthday present. Happy Birthday Tom.

Rock and Roller

This week I feel like a stage mum as I have been busy sewing costumes for a rock and roll band i=it. They are pretty evil looking but apparently just what they wanted. You can see them in full flight this Friday night. It should be a great show.