I'm Celebrating Julia...

Warning Politics! The below entry contains absolutely nothing to do with Craft.

Wow! A history making day for Australia as our first ever female Prime Minister is sworn in by our first female Governor-General.  What an amazing day. It is with happiness that I celebrate not only the fact that she is a woman- but that she sits to the left of the labour party, is clearly intelligent and handles herself better than any other politician I can speak of.  

When an unmarried, childless woman who speaks straight from the heart and holds genuine care for the health and education of ordinary Australians steps up to such a high position- I'm thinking that is quite a feat unto itself and is something to truly celebrate indeed. 

Go Julia.

(Now if we could just get rid of Tony Abbott and let Julie Bishop lead the opposition then the next election will become a Julie and Julia battle and I think that sounds like a much more interesting contest.)

Mr Abernathy and Co...

I really love checking out the art of Matte Stephens on Etsy.

Are they not splendidly clever characters?

Sigmund Abernathy taking a ride through Central Park On Thunder Bolt On his first Trip to the United States

The Duke Of NY 

The Duke Of NY riding his bike

Vivienne riding her bike

I love a smoking fox, I truly do!

You can visit Matte's blog here..

Creative Space XVI...

Today I am playing along with Kirsty's Creative Space and revealing to you all my Knitting project for my friend Katarina using this divine mohair from Wool Baa in Albert Park.

The only problem is- my knitting keeps magically, frustratingly, camouflagingly disappearing!

Let me show you how...

Mon evening 9.55 pm.

We all know that it is extremely difficult to prise a Birman off knitting.

However did you know that it is next to impossible to even FIND your knitting when it is hiding beneath a Birman?

Wed evening 8.49 pm.

It took me an entire 20 minutes of hair pulling searching last night to locate my knitting when it had magically morphed into my flokati rug.

Thurs morning 9. 46 am

And as recently as a few minutes ago my knitting was swallowed up by this seemingly innocent fluffy stool.

If only I had known how much adversary everyday household items would pose to my knitting.

Would I have still chosen cream coloured Mohair at such peril?

Be sure to check out Kootoyoo for more Creative Spaces.

The Selling of the Dolls....

It is official, my dolls have all sold.  I never really knew if they would or not, but they have and I am very pleased.  Especially because they have gone to wonderful loving homes.  And that is important.  I like to think of my little cloth friends tucked up somewhere warm and cosy, being admired and looked after well.

Otherwise I may not have been able to part with them at all.
They are being sold almost exclusively through Thread Den right now, but this blog has helped of course.  I have been tentatively thinking about having an Etsy store or a Made It perhaps, but I must confess to you all that I don't love sitting at a computer for hours working things out.  I know many clever people that can do this with ease.  But it is just not my bag.

Perhaps you creative computer people out there can send me some positive internetishness brainwaves?

So now I guess I shall begin creating some new ones. I have become a little obsessed with the Pussycat Dolls, which were so admired. (Below) And as always there would have to be a Red Riding Hood in there.  I thought it may be interesting to work in porcelain again, which I have not done for 10 years.  Maybe a porcelain sailor girl with tattoos????

Anyway just a thought.  In the meantime I am planting out my veggie garden and adding some more to my herb garden (chamomile, peppermint and echinacea).

Hopefully the garden and the dolls will flourish all at once. :)

Days of Cake and Tea...

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Just in case you are wondering what I have been up to, it is not really very much at all!

I can say this without the slightest amount of guilt because in all seriousness I really deserve a chance to do nothing but sit and relax and have cake and tea.  

It was orange cake one day, chocolate another.  On more than one occasion I came home to discover something delicious like a cinnamon cake, just waiting for me.  

I've been drinking a lot too. Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Lapsang Souchong....The odd Chai.

It could really go on and on.  

Just so you know.

 

I must confess I have read 4 more of the Sookie Stackhouse books and I'm not sure I should confess how many movies? 

(5 Including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang which deserves a whole post to itself.  Truly Scrumptious indeed)

I predict there will be a little more of this for a few days or so.....And then Hopefully something Wonderful will arise from my restful hybernation.

I will be sure to let you know. Either way.

Creative Space XV...

Recently I have started making personalized make-up cases and pencil cases using a heap of linen I bought from Spotlight.  I like to sit and embroider whenever I watch T.V.  (Except for when watching Glee which always requires a spectacular amount of focus).  This one is for my sister, who loves to be called by her initials.  It will eventually become a padded make-up case with red and natural linen on the outside and the lovely Ginkgo Biloba cotton lining the inside. I will machine a button hole there at the V under the embroidery and I have a cute button covered in an undyed cotton knit.

What I love about embroidery is that it's so very relaxing and if my stitches look uneven (they often do) I can easily pull them out, re-thread and continue on.  Much better than quick-unpicking machine stitching.

Other than that it is off to the Stitches and Craft fair this afternoon.  My 3 year old little Jim is home sick from day care today so he will make the event interesting I'm sure :)

For more Creative Spaces head to Kootoyoo.

Friday's Film: Bunny and the Bull...

For lovers of  wildly offbeat comedy and inventive visual design- the makers of The Mighty Boosh deliver this incredibly eccentric film about a man called Stephen Turnbull (played by Edward Hogg) who relives a European adventure he took with his best friend Bunny the year before, entirely from within the confines of his flat.  Using snapshots, paper sets, replica landmarks like snow domes and deeply clever use of stop motion, his memories and the characters of the past are beautifully imagined from one side of the room to the other.


The Mighty Boosh comedians Noel fielding (who I love, what with that hair and all) and Julian Barratt appear briefly in the film, the latter in what can only be described as one of  the most grotesquely hilarious scenes I've seen in some time. I saw Noel Fielding at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival many years ago and found him unforgettably brilliant and I just really 'get' his surreal humor. This film is worth seeing for its art direction alone, but definitely an appreciation of absurd, off the wall humor will greatly add to ones enjoyment. Check it out if you dare :)

www.bunnyandthebull.com