wreathed...

I've had to enhance my wreath with some cyber sparkles as it's not particularly exciting. But with faux kookaburra leadlights I thought the simple approach would be best. Some things you just don't want to draw attention to now do you... Next year I hope to have a classic door with a gorgeously creative wreath like one of these.

1. Bossys Feltworks 2. Kitty Jones 3. Wruffled Wren 4. Susan Nightingale 5. The Mad Recycler 6. Another Special Occasion 7. Machupo 8. Whyte 9. Fairyscape 10. Crocheted Wreath Instructions by Esther Aliu 11. Cherubino Crafts 12. Jennifer Judd-McGee

It's a mystery but it's wonderful..this poetry

Collage by Garrie Stewart at Empty Is The Morning

There's trouble in the classroom
for two words have escaped
and cannot be found.
Are they over there
under the singing desk? No.
Do they lurk, perhaps, inside
the snowing cupboard? No.
All day we search:
on top of, under, inside.
We've given up and are leaving
when someone notices a movement
behind the heater in the corner.
Going over
we peer into the dusty space
and there, huddled like little-people,
holding each other in a desperate clutch
we find them -
two tender, lilting words: fur bravery.

Ltd Edn Lion Print from Jacqui Oakley

What could they mean lying there?
How did they ever find themselves together?
We shift uneasily,
not sure how to respond to this transgression,
knowing only that the sensual shape of them is real -
They are like children who have crossed the borders into physical love
and we do not know whether to disturb them.
But of course we do.

Lionheart linocut on papercut proof by Sonia Romero via She Rides the Lion

When at last we turn out the light -
the words returned safely to the dictionary -
we hear the rustling sound of language on the move
and know that no mere rule of syntax
will ever hold these words in thrall again.

The whole soaring lifting life of them jumps.

['Fur Bravery' in Thicknesses of the Heart: poems by Peter Hall]

Bronze by Art By Fabrice

Reusing lovely fabrics...

artist above: Beta Wilczek

above 1. Pillow from Cocoon Designs 2. Felted cardigan from Altered Wool 3. Maori dress from Toolgrrl 4. Girls overalls from Whispering Willows 5. Mens hooden jacket from La Tatine 6. Capelet from Peppermint Pink 7. Footstool from Unchanging Grace 8. Dolls from A Little Vintage Store
When I go into an op/thrift shop, other than finding a surprise treasure, the most wonderful thing for me is running my hands and eyes over the plethora of gorgeous fabrics. Yes the top will be too big; the dress too small; the skirt the wrong color for me; but the fabrics! Sometimes they make their way into my 'stash'. Sometimes they get made into a completely different article. Sometimes I just enjoy looking at them! Check out the artists' shops at the top of the post for lots of ideas for reclaiming fabrics. And what about these videos - each so different in tone but both equally inspiring.

Havin your dress n eating it too at the Salon du Chocolat Paris

[photo The Little Reporter]

The Salon du Chocolat is a yearly trade fair for the international chocolate industry. The 17th Salon du Chocolat was held in Paris 20th-24th October 2011. The event kicked off in style with the annual chocolate fashion show. Each year, fashion designers and chocolatiers from around the world come together to create chocolate covered outfits for a fashion show featuring French models and celebrities. Let's get a group tour organised for the 2012 event!

Why are endings always indigo?

Beginnings are lacquer red
fired hard in the kiln
of hot hope;
Middles, copper yellow
in sunshine,
sometimes oxidize green
with tears; but
Endings are always indigo
before we step
on the other shore.

['Life's Rainbow' by Sheila Banani]

In my meditation group we reflected on Banani's poem and the stages of life that it represents. And we had a long discussion about the word 'indigo'- the color of the stemen in the flower above. These were some of our thoughts -
It's where night and day meet.
Indigo is the quiet space between a breath.
I could lay down on indigo and it would support me; I'd be held safely.
I'm reminded of the complete quiet and stillness at Golden Bay, New Zealand in those few seconds just prior to sunrise.
What do you think?

Oops, forgot the credits for the photos. The first is by Andrew Boyd, the second had no credit, and the third by Joaquim Simoes. All came via Pixdaus.

I could become one of THOSE women...

You know…one of those women who surround themselves with cats and cat themed objects. It could happen. Easily. Pictured above is Princess, my ‘claytons’ cat. She visits me every morning for around half an hour, flirts, cuddles, chats away, and them disappears in a northerly direction only to appear again around 24 hours later. I think I may be addicted - there's craving, especially in that last half hour of waiting. Will she arrive, or heaven forbid, will this be one of those rare days when there's no sight of her? The day will not be quite as shiney. And always the whispering voice 'why not get one of your own?' followed quickly by 'a pet's a big committment...yes I know I've done it before...but...'. For, as we get older, we realise that to love is to agree to grieve, and we get that little bit more tentative about giving our heart away. It's as if we start to grieve the day we start to love as the thought of losing this precious being is uncomprehensible. It's the same as loving people. And who would want to do without that?

l to r 1. wabiMYsabi 2. Eyedeas 3. Radically Retro 4. plausive 5. Matou En Peluche 6. Keepsake Clocks 7. Dusty Dolls Vintage 8. See Spot Sew 9. Peachy Chic Boutique 10. Georgies Warehouse 11. Just Smashing Darling 12. The Bohemian Cats

Fabulous fibres...

above - Designer Don Pezzano - shop, web, blog

above left to right 1. Rob Jan 2. Knit Motorcycle 3. Hopscotch 4. The 7th Magpie 5. Pink Monkey Flower 6. Benconservato

Papier Mache Magic

Check out Papier Mache Magazine, with its arty inspiration for big and little people. Each new edition is available free to download for a couple of months or it’s only $3AUS to download earlier editions. And the craft of Papier Mache (or Paper Mache) is an art form in the hands of those artists featured below.

1. San Souci Studios 2. Rachael DiRenna 3. Artisan Maskers 4. Etco 5. grrlandog 6. Art Spell 7. Firuzan Goker 8. Woodyloo 9. Micapeeka

Can't live without em...

Library Interiors 1. Classic-décor 2.Home Decor 3. DPA Furniture 4. Lola Serrano
Vintage Leather Books and Library Furniture from Etsy Sellers left to right 1. Lawrence Antiquities Inc 2. Cottage to Castle 3.The Vintage Laundry 4. Antique Addictions 5. Devon Renee Atelier 6. Pandoras Box 7. Ivy Creek Collectibles

Birdie Birdie Num Num

1. Unusual Fascinators 2. Bonds of Steel 3. Apple Art 4. Karols Dingden 5. Miss Be Designs 6. Pathos 12 7. Poem by Richard LeGallienne 8. Nora Karen

This moment...no this moment...no this one...

‘Process’ is an art work I made for an exhibition currently running at Made Gallery. Artists were given identical journals to use as a basis for an art piece. I took the pages out of mine and attached three pieces of organza embroidered with the words ‘By the time you finish reading this you are not the same person as the one who began’. It’s a comment on everything in the universe, including ourselves, being a process. Nothing stays the same. All things change. Nothing is fixed. Acknowledging this is a relief when things are crappy…we know that they’ll pass. But when things are wonderful there can be a sadness knowing that this will also pass. I hope I can keep focusing on how beautiful how precious each moment is (good or bad) because I know it will slip away.

The piece fits in well with this weeks Three Muses Challenge for a piece of art that incorporates words. Head over to their place and see the others.

More dreams of an Italian villa here...

As promised above is a pic of my home. The little shot shows it as it was when I purchased it earlier this year and the larger shot shows it after an exterior makeover. The roof was cleaned, the brickwork rendered, the other bits painted, and a large gate has been added at the side. I’m very pleased with the finished product. Somehow I was led to a group of young tradespeople who were honest and hardworking and lovely people as well. If you’re in Toowoomba and want any contact details just let me know. Well it certainly looks better doesn’t it. I think we’ve managed to bring the whole place together as a whole as opposed to a bitsey look. The balustrades (which also run down the side and around the back, top and bottom) now blend in with the house. To enhance the villa look I’ve started planting more pencil pines, box hedges, red geraniums and red bougainvillea. There’s already a very old wisteria growing on the lower front pergola. It had to be cut back for painting but is starting to shoot again. The house is on quite a large plot of land with lots of planting down each side and out the back. Below I’ve included some photos taken today of flowers in the garden. They look quite lovely in the pics as you can’t see all the weeds! Considering that it’s the end of winter here it’s not a bad show though.

My Italian Garden

Well, no, not mine but hopefully, in time, ‘inspired by’ these google pics. I moved into my house in late January this year. It’s a big 1980s brick place with 300 cement balustrades that were often added in that era to give that Italianesque look – so what choice did I have? An Italian villa it is. The house has now been rendered and painting of the balustrades to help them ‘blend in’ is nearly finished. I’ll post some before and after pics in my next post. And I’ve started the garden makeover but it could (optimistically) take a few years…

Forgetting how gorgeous we are...

Ummm, wish I could paint like this. Inexpensive custom portraits top down from 1. Phunk Lab 2. Katlandia 3. Artman757 4. Omniportraits 5. Portraitpaint

Yikes, it’s been so long since I’ve posted. An illness, now a distant bad dream, has kept me away. Here’s to the rest of this year bein healthy and happy!

Ocean Cleft of the Universe

I've been at the ocean, a wondrous thing, beyond words for me but I do enjoy reading poetry that taps into my own experience - such as Walt Whitman's On the Beach at Night, Alone below after these lovely aquarium pics. They're little pieces of the ocean that I'd like to stare at every day. Not with large fish though, like those in the coffee table, but with tiny fish in their own big world.

1. Aquatic Forest Aqarium by Pinheiro Manso via Aqua Scaping World 2. via Spler 3.& 4. via Opulent Items

ON the beach at night alone,
As the old mother sways her to and fro, singing her husky song,
As I watch the bright stars shining—I think a thought of the clef of the universes, and of
the future.

A VAST SIMILITUDE interlocks all,
All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons, planets, comets, asteroids,
All the substances of the same, and all that is spiritual upon the same,
All distances of place, however wide,
All distances of time—all inanimate forms,
All Souls—all living bodies, though they be ever so different, or in different worlds,
All gaseous, watery, vegetable, mineral processes—the fishes, the brutes,
All men and women—me also;
All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations, languages;
All identities that have existed, or may exist, on this globe, or any globe;
All lives and deaths—all of the past, present, future;
This vast similitude spans them, and always has spann’d, and shall forever span them, and
compactly hold them, and enclose them.