I am so pleased with this picture and it took not an ounce of skill to take, there was the Mama cat resting in the shadows just waiting to be photographed for our pleasure.

But I am ahead of myself. Today was a day to relax and I headed up the highway to spend the afternoon chatting with dear friends, and admiring a lovely baby. The sky was blue, the heat dry and I drove with the windows down, singing badly. After a luscious lunch (I need the souffle recipe please) and lots of chat we set off to wander around the garden and to feed the pigs.

The pup rolled playfully under a fruit tree, as we wandered passed swatting flies and swapping stories.

The pigs, next years sausages for those with stronger stomachs than mine, were delighted with their afternoon feed, and seemed to enjoy the company too.

I enjoyed the texture and colour of old buildings such as this grain shed, and the old tin stalls below.

As I clicked off a few pictures, enjoying the contrast of rusty metal, green leaves and blue sky I did not realise the prettiest picture of all was just inside.

Between cobwebs and dust, one paw hanging down lazily, the other tucked under to lean on; a beautiful mother cat, at peace.

I drove home reflecting on friendship, the season and glorious sunshine and felt some of the year's tension ebb away; my body beginning to relax.

I am not sure these sheep appreciated my musical talents, or lack there of, as I belted out country tunes, window once again down, breeze in my air and a happier girl (when do I have to call myself a woman?) heading home.

This 200km stretch of road, which often frustrates and bores me, flew by without a single speed limit being challenged; a happy day.

Have you had a happy day? I hope so.

Practical Creativitity

I needed a handful of thank you cards and was very tempted to go out an buy some, but common sense prevailed. On my desk was a stack of card, embossed on my friends' brand new Cuttlebug, and plenty of bits and pieces. I painted some of the card with verdigris paint, and activator, then lightly sanded it back.

These corrugated iron and number backgrounds are the result. I have a container of rusted and verdigrised shapes on my desk - just in case. The birds were once metallic red and the rectangle shaped piece a cheap plastic. So a few laps with the sewing machine, some scraps of fabric and the top four were complete.

Another few sheets of embossed card were painted with cream paint and sanded back, then a light wash of paint applied. It was good to finally use some of these pre-cut window cards (I am sure I had the small ones for a decade), even if I did decide to completely paint over most of them.

A lovely local salesman has organised a new car for me, it should arrive in the next week. It will be soooooooooo good to have my own wheels again, I had not realised how dependent I am on that freedom.

My friend got married and I got rust

so we're both happy. K married a farmer with a shiny new tractor, clean new ute and lots of modern stuff (I had to put that in because F will probably read this). On the farm there is also lots of beautiful rust and F has quickly become an expert at bringing special pieces in and asking K if I would like them. I do. I hear the neighbours have joined the fun and are contributing as well. These two lots are the result of our last two visits - the shearing combs are for a design I have had in my head for almost a year, the rest could become anything, or I might just keep looking at the stash, enjoying the colours and textures.

The pin above has an old rusty lid as it's base and is my comment on landmines. If you would like to buy it drop by my Etsy store.

Take one background....

What a blissful day it has been, sunshine after four days of rain, coffee with friends, sleep and nothing, that is right,nothing I 'had to"... time to be...

sold

A couple of weeks ago I did the background for two address books, a set of Altered Book pages and five ATC's, I finally finished the projects this week. The first of the ATC's flew the nest this afternoon and the AB was posted weeks ago. If you need a new address book I put them both on my Etsy, along with some plain ones so you can make your own.

I do like Etsy and I must confess I am shopping there more and more. In a world full of packaging and a thousand items made the same - too often in sweatshop conditions - it is a pleasure to buy the handmade and home made. I like using the search by location function and finding other artists in my area and I like the personal contact with both sellers and buyers.

I didn't actually set off to do a promotion, but I have been reflecting on my appreciation of this site as I shopped and listed items today.Where do you shop for gifts?
Whatever you are doing today I wish you peace within and soul food to rest your eyes on.

Art for and from the heart.

Eheactl

Grrrr.... all the photo's are in the wrong order and I am not sure why...

My visit to Perth was pure bliss and emotionally stretched. Driving along the freeway my heart (as always) swelled with that amazing feeling of coming home; cars racing along, horns blazing, yachts on the water and the city skyline. This country girl lived in the city for almost a decade and still feels a strange sense of pride and ownership when she conquers the lanes of traffic to reach destinations old and new. This beautiful city is growing and changing so many cranes among the buildings and new housing estates, and yet the city still feels the same. There are still tree lined streets, parks, water views and glorious shopping opportunities.

Dawn, and her children, were the hosts to beat all hosts – nope they didn’t cook 5 star meals or have the house bleached from top to toe – they made their home mine. What a privilege and joy it is to be able to relax in a friends home and to treat it as your own. Archer loved the extra cuddles and spending time with his good friend Billy the cocker spaniel.

I recently bought a couple of Dotee Doll kits from Dot’s Etsy and made this one up while I was away. My first ever attempt at a Dotee Doll and I am pleased with this cute little ‘Flying Dog’ doll. My second one is very retro and should be finished in the next day or so.

Eheactl is the beaded doll I made in a class taught by the very talented and patient Kelsey at Scraptivate. Dawn and I were delighted to find our friends Shirley and Gen (who I had not met face-to-face before) in the same class. We laughed and groaned occasionally as we learnt beading techniques and shared stories. We even made plans for Shirley and Dawn to travel south to my home together, Woo Hoo!

I caught up with so many arty friends, and met some I only knew from swapping art on line - as usual I was spoilt rotten. The rust and fork are from my friend Kerry's farm, the tins and shirt from Dawn.

The shirt does not come with designer creases - you have to pack very badly to achieve those; however, it does remind me of Harvey's old home. I took a lot of dog and cat photo's at APS (Animal Protection Society) and will post about the wonderful work (and needs) of this organisation later in the week.

This tin is my March Mystery Muse from Paula, the tin is just the right size for 'moo cards' so now I can keep safe all the beautiful ones I have received from friends. The dichroic glass pendant was made by Jen J - I mentioned I liked it and the next thing I knew it was mine, thank you so much! Ev made me this fabulous journal (with the tiniest sequins in the world, hand stitched) as a PIF gift for a give-away she recently held on her blog.

I am back home, and happy to be here, still basking in the warmth and good times from the past few days.

Fun and Frustration

I recently purchased both address and guest books in bulk and I had a lot of fun decorating one of each, and a notebook over the past few days. I've popped these ones on my ETSY, but Mum and a friend have already commissioned four as gifts so I guess I will be playing with these for a while. The picture below shows the books before altering ( I have put a few of them on Etsy too) and some of the treasures Dad had for me today. I can't show you the rest yet as they are to make a gift for my brother.

The frustration is my jewellery, I have made a few gift pieces lately and will be able to share in a week or two, but my hands are not obeying my head. I have a lot of designs floating through my grey matter and am lacking the skill/training to execute them. From The Cave (as I call my creative zone) come a lot of screams and thumps then rustles; no not hitting my head on the table yet - the sound of failed attempts hitting the bin. Oh and the rustle, me rescuing said failed attempts to recycle parts.

It has been bliss to have a long weekend and I have so enjoyed sleeping, creating and chatting. What a difference one extra day makes.

A little bit of rust...

...because I love it. The door hanger is core board covered in number die-cuts and layer after layer of paint. Followed by some of my buckles - I love these! Did I tell you I bought 10kg in a sale a while back? The centre of the giant washer is a vintage typewriter key and I have added some of the 7 Gypsies rub-ons I like so very much.

Another cat food tin lid necklace, this one a posy of used horseshoe nails and a butterfly. What a contrast between the life of horses used for racing and the freedom of nature.

The house is clean, the shopping done and I am organised to go out tonight. Harvey is asleep on the floor and Archer beside me on the bed, I think I will join them for a Saturday afternoon snooze. How was your day?

This Week's Creations

House Journal - on Etsy
Cat Notepad - Winging its way home soon.

Despite being back at work full time my nights are still fairly free - no marking yet! I have had a wonderful time playing and meeting a New Years Resolution; to use up some of my stash and to make some of the many kits I have been given. The books used some of my chipboard and other bits and pieces.

This little green pincushion was to be an apple in it's original kit form and had one orange segment. I decided I wanted a more traditional look and went all green with cute little patches and buttons. The pincushion is just for me - for some reason I have never had one.

Enjoy the rest of your week!

Rusty Experiences

Address Book on Etsy

I had not created a thing for over a week between my trip away and waiting for my fingers to heal. Last night I headed into the art room and sat and stared at my desk a little hesitant at first, lots of ideas in my head, in the end I played with what was there - some papers and buckles I had rusted over the last few weeks.

Hanging Note Pad - Going home later in the week.

I have had a few people ask me how I achieve my rusty colour and wondered how to answer. I seem to use a lot of different methods to achieve the same shades of colour on different surfaces. For example, paint, shellac, bleach and vinegar, salt, Haymes Paint Effects, water pastels and coffee. Sometimes I combine multiple techniques. Often I am surprised by the colours that result.
ATC: But thousands die, without or this or that. Die and endow a college or a cat

~Alexander Pope~
Harvey is doing as well as can be expected. He spends most of his social time with Archer so perhaps I will let Archer fill you in later in the week. I don't think he is sad but he is still very serious and and bewildered by each new experience. Today I vacuumed for the first time since he arrived ... he is still under my desk recovering.

ATC: One of the most striking differences between a cat and a lie is that the cat only has nine lives.

~Mark Twain~

The Shellac Story Continues..

Working Away

on Etsy

Dare to be Happy

Winging it's way to a new home.

The last of the journals I started before Christmas are now ready for new homes. I have loved playing with paper again. Tonight however, my fingers itched to twist wire and I guess the next things to emerge will be jewellery.

Goodnight.

Meet Rachel - A Woman

This is Rachel. This piece has been sitting on my desk for months. My inner self was at war, try for the simple, understated minimalist look, or add, add, add - my usual style. In the end I let my muse have it's way and my head and my heart met in the middle. The skirt with its variety of circles within circles mirrors life and talks of all that is hidden under clothing. The simple torso (an old pair of pliers forms the heart shaped body) and brings the eye to the spark plug - which has the word champion showing through the rust. People are wonderful; women are heroes; so few realise it.

Some of the washers were built up with wonderful layers of rust, others were worn to paper thin layers and then there were the new. Thank you to Michael deMeng for teaching me to make paint layers look like rust (in the wonderful class I took in March). I left one segment open at the back of Rachel's skirt just so I could slide a small candle in should I wish.

The name you ask? She needed a name, and as I glued and painted and layered I thought of the women of Avonlea, of Anne of Green Gables, and the way the shoulders sit had me thinking about the character Rachel ...

It is a blissful to be in the middle of a sunny winter's weekend, enjoy yours -wherever you are.

Swap - to die, or at least suffer, for ...

well a girl only has one life. My fellow rust lover, and artist extraordinaire, Leighanna and I recently swapped art AND rust. I came home last night to this fabulous canvas - Leighanna let me choose and I chose this because if seemed to combine her quirky and natural art themes. There are so many layers on this and the texture is wonderful. Love it!

As to the rust, look at these goodies - spiky cogs, an old 'J' key and a nail. But not just any nail - this one has the number '27' on top (one of my lucky numbers) and I know how much Leighanna loved these when she found a small set recently.

What a joy the art world is, I so appreciate the generosity of Leighanna and all the other beautiful people I swap with.