show off time

Katie from May the Cloth be with You has chosen the This Is topic this week, and for me it's super well timed as I have some new treasures I'm dying to show off!

This is: show off time.

I went right ahead and spoilt myself yesterday, check out my new loot!!!!


That's a handmade and painted mug, a tin mirror (to go above our bed), and a tiny turtle, who's shell lifts off so you can keep your rings inside him.

These goodies are all handmade in Mexico. While the Americans among you this may not seem so amazing, for us Australians let me tell you it IS. Mexico to me is so far off, and so exotic, and a complete fantasy. I would LOVE to go there one day. Finding real Mexican things here is not at all common, and in fact I have a friend from San Francisco who outright refuses to eat Mexican food here because he says it's far from how it's suppose to be.

I'm not sure if all this contributes to my fondness for all that is Mexican, but either way, when I stumbled into a tiny shop filled with things collected by the owner from overseas (mainly central america and Haiti) I was smitten. I had to go have a coffee and freshly baked scones over the road while I decided how I was going to spend my pocket-money. I would have bought 90% of the stuff in that shop if I could have, but what I came away with makes me very happy.

So where did I find all this stuff you ask? Well imagine a bustling marketplace in Mexico, THEN imagine the exact opposite of that...



This is where I found it. A very tiny, very country, riverside village (on the way back from visiting Mr You's brand new baby nephew in hospital), with a big old pub, a cafe, an art gallery, an antique shop and my new favourite place "THE shop". Now all I have to do is keep myself away before I adopt a poker-machine like addiction to the colours in that little shop and send myself well and truly broke. (I suspect I paid a hell of a lot more than I would have if I was actually in a bustling marketplace in Mexico, ahhh nevermind).



Kat Coyle sometimes reveals lovely Mexican things from her house, and when she shares pics of here Mum's house I very nearly froth at the mouth!

bountiful mailbox

When we returned home on Monday (after the feinting) I was greeted with a bounty of beauties. These gorgeous handcrafted earrings from Nicole of Theft of Thursday arrived, after I WON THEM in a give-away!!! :)



I got to select my favourite shape and colours, and Nicole graciously created my very own custom made gift. They're beautiful quality, perfect size and weight, and I can't wait to spend Summer in them. Plus they came so professionally packaged, along with care instructions for your jewellery (a lot of which I didn't know), and also a little swab to keep everything nice and sterile :)

If you'd like a pair of your own, she has an etsy store brimming with these lovelies right here.

Thank-you so much Nicole!


Then...


Not that I need another excuse to fall more in love with Pikaland, but here's yet another feather in the Pikaland cap... When you contribute to PikaPackage, you are automatically sent a PikaPackage of your own. This is my second PikaPackage, and they just seem to get better and more abundant each time.

This one came with:
- A Swallowfield botanical print. My my her work is lovely! (check out her little houses)
- A Flummeries notepad and pencil set; so sweet and sleek looking,
- Rebecca of Hoorah included an original watercolour mini painting of a gorgeous stone chimney,
- Matte Art's bright and quirky 'Sea Monkey' gocco print,
- Julia Pott's 'So Soft' zine, (which I think some clever person must have known I was lusting after - thankyou so very much),
AND
a bonus 'Worry' gocco print from Amy Ng (the Queen of Pikaland herself), which just happens to be my favourite work of hers.

Every PikaPackage also comes with a thank-you card and the PikaPackage zine, which you can download free (via the link in the 1st paragraph of that page).

It really is an outstanding package! I must say I feel very well looked after.

Tempted? You can still nab yourself an August PikaPackage right here!

p.s. It's a great idea for collecting a bunch of unique gifts for friends and family too.

you may now call me floppy

Over the past 2 weeks I thought I'd been doing a pretty good job of playing nursemaid for Mr You. Cleaning and cooking, fetching pillows, tea, medications, snacks, books, remote controls, doing up shoelaces, putting on socks, bathing, applying deodorant, chauffeuring, answering the phone, cutting food into tiny pieces, tidying up the yard, keeping the relatives updated on progress...

But today my care-taker credibility all vanished in single sunken moment...

I took Mr You back into hospital today to an appointment where he had to have his cast off, x-rays examined, his surgery wound checked, arm bent and stretched to check for mobility, and a new cast put on.

Mr You did very well. Everything was looking good, and HE remained conscious throughout the whole appointment. It was all going swimmingly, until I started to get the sweats, got that prickly hot/cold feeling, and started getting dizzy. I tried to get up and slip out of the ward before anyone noticed, got as far as the door and completely blacked out... And like a corset-constricted victorian dame, I damn well feinted.

A male nurse held me upright, while another nurse dashed and brought me a chair, yet another rushed for a glass of water, and another buzzed about fetching me a cool face washer, and ANOTHER rummaged for the jelly beans. It was a well rehearsed operation. They said it happens fairly often... but usually to the PATIENTS!!!! Not to the companions!

Oh, and there I was, plopped on a chair in the middle of the doorway between the waiting room and the ward for all to see, head most unglamourously wedged between my legs, eyes wide open but unable to see, hearing all this go on around me, while the 6 or 7 patients were instantaneously abandoned by their nurses and doctors, all because I got squeamish.
Oh Lordy... The embarrassment! The shame! The heckling I will cop from Mr You for the rest of my days!

I'm not normally so lame. I don't know what happened.

I may very well have to rename myself floppy-p.

note: that odd shape in his x-ray is his shiny new inner bling: a new elbow knob, titanium of course.

when I grow up

This is: what I want to be when I grow up.

First it was a medieval princess (with the tall cone hat of course),
Then it was a prima ballerina (but that was going to take too long),
My Boy George stage had me dying to be a make-up artist,
Then all I wanted for years and years was to be a hairdresser,
Eventually I decided I wanted to live in a mountain cottage and make paintings for the rest of my days...

This was all before I had my first job.

I'm not sure what I do now... or what I want to be next, I might start the cycle all over again...
Medieval is coming back in I hear ;)
(kidding)

winners are grinners

At 4pm my standard time, the random draw for my happy card give-away took place on my back veranda. This is how it played out...







Thank-you to everyone who played along, and congratulations to the winners: Potty Mouth Mama, Lil Kim, Emerald Arts, Jennifer, and Love Squalor. You shall each be receiving a tiny parcel from me very soon. Please send your postal address to me at: flossyp [at] gmail.com

Hooray!

on my walls

I've been tagged by esti to play along with a great meme "on my walls". So here goes...

Big windows dominate the wall space in our house, and the view demands attention...



Sometimes the outside shines inside and the shapes from the garden share the walls...



Because we live in a rented house, with freshly painted walls, I haven't been game to hammer in hooks to my hearts content just yet. I've been adding 1 picture at a time inbetween each rental inspections, hoping they won't notice if I do it gradually, hehehe. In the meantime we have lots of shelves, and that's how we decorate our walls at the moment.


Ceramic lady head by Wendy Littlewood. Cherry tree print by Rania from Gosh Darn Knit. Resigned Drummer original by Troglodyte Mignon. Clear Thoughts print by Beth Berst. Cosby Sweater Man original by Leah Felicity Budin. Quiet Forest print by Ashley Goldberg.

I find the house itself, and the tree soaked surroundings dictates the earthy woody style within. Don't you think each house decides its own decorating style? I do...


This is the picture in our bedroom, the first thing I see each morning. Yes, that makes me VERY happy. This is an original painting called "tea time" by Amy Huddleston.


Tiny picture by Del Kathryn Barton.




My print by Matty8080 sits in the music room. I think he likes it there :)


We have a huge set of square shelves that hold SO much stuff. Books, trinkets and art or course. These 2 squares feature a gorgeously detailed original called "White Flags" by Abigail Halpin. And also a lovely print by Dan-ah Kim

My front room/studio/office is a little different. Cleaner, lighter, more breezy...




Dandelions print by Penelope Dullaghan.



And if I look up from my computer screen, this is what I see...


If you've ever sent me something it's probably there (look closely). Mind you there's quite a few nooks I have not shown here. So if you know I have a piece of your art, never fear, it is framed and sitting in some pretty corner of my house. And I thank-you for that :)

As you can probably tell I really have to restrain myself when it comes to buying other peoples art. I would have hundreds if I could. I do not have any of my own work hanging on my walls. I'm still considering it though.

_ _ _

So, I now tag:
- Bec from The Small Stuff
- Sarah from Geek+Nerd
- Hila from the newly renamed Lumiere

_ _ _

p.s. Only one more day to sign up for the give-away. I'll be announcing the winners tomorrow afternoon.

nurture

A huge thank-you to everyone's favourite Potty Mouth Mama, for dashing over here, all puffy and panty, to let me know some of my flower-heart ladies from the Affirmations exhibition were shown on Bloesem! :)

I haven't had a chance to do any internet browsing for well over a week, so I would have missed it entirely.

This lady picture is called Nurture. She's for sale here for $50. She has a little sister, Radiate, for $25 too.

Thanks to everyone so far for jumping on and joining in on the give-away! It's so nice hearing about the amazing aspects of where everyone lives. It makes me want to pack my bags and go traveling to see all these lovely places.
There's still the rest of the week to join in, the draw will be done on Friday.

Thanks also to Bloesem!

(p.s. Just for the record, when I mentioned Potty Mouth Mama was "puffy and panty" earlier, I did not mean she's retaining fluid and gets about wearing nothing but frilly knickers... okay?)

this is a give-away

This is: what I do with a spare 10 minutes.

Oh Lordy how I have been pining for a spare 10 minutes this week! The mums among you out there will want to slap me till I'm all sorts of red when I say this, but I never knew how much time it takes when you're looking after someone. Since Mr You smashed his elbow this time last week, we've had a week of back and forth from the hospital, x-rays, catscans, hours and hours of waiting, surgery, recovery, and now all the homecare. His surgery didn't go to plan; I won't go into all the details, but a 1hr surgery turned into 5hrs all up. But he's safely back at home now, and all is well and slowly on the mend. He's still really dozy, and fragile, and being his right arm, he needs help with almost everything. I also feel compelled to keep the house as sterile as possible, so I've been doing more chores than I thought I was capable of. This elusive notion of a "spare 10 minutes" has become quite mythical this week.

In normal life, a spare 10 minutes would buy me a quiet cup of tea while flipping through the local paper, or catching up on news from my favourite fellow bloggers.

This week however, I've been dying to get a spare 10 minutes just so I could get to the computer to announce my give-away!

So here it is:


Paper Anniversary Give-Away

To celebrate our first year in our new town, I wanted to tip my hat a little to how much this new environment has inspired and fulfilled me. I developed a little set of paper tags, (that I've had in my mind for years now), for the August Pikapackage, and I've kept 5 sets for this give-away.

I won't tell too much about the cards themselves just yet, other than to say they're very small, there's 5 in each set, you give them away, they're require you to notice the beauty around you, and then reward it. They are a type of encouragement card and random act of kindness all rolled into one.

So, tell me what inspires you about the suburb/town where you live, what makes you feel good about being there.

All comments on this post will be included in a random draw, and I'll announce the 5 winners on Friday 19th Sept (this Friday).

our titanium anniversary

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of when we left Sydney and arrived here to our new life. Normally the 1st Anniversary is traditionally marked with gifts of paper. But even if we got creative with paper mache it just wouldn't do... you see we shall be celebrating tomorrow by having titanium parts inserted into Mr You's elbow to replace the bits that got all smashed up on Sunday.

Before you ask...
- skateboarding
- no, this was not his first time (either skating or breaking, he's been doing both forever)
- right arm
- yes, he's right handed
- yes, while it's been quiet on this blog, in the background there's been a right flurry


I will, however, be attemping to celebrate the anniversary in the more traditional (and somewhat safer) "paper" way, and plan to announce a little give-away here before the week is through. Stay tuned.

Now excuse me, I'm off to shop for some man-sized hospital PJ's.

affirmations, virtual exhibition opening

Hi :D
You made it, it's so nice to see you.
Did you find your way here okay?... Great!
Well, thanks so much for coming along. :)

Please help yourself to a drink...



Would you care for a champagne? Or we have mineral water with lime down the end there...
Help yourself to some yummy snacks too, go on, you know you want to. ;)

Well, welcome to "Affirmations", the new show here.



There are four artists featured in this exhibition:
- Amy Rice makes these beautiful vibrant stencil artworks, often directly onto found objects, making each work unique.
- flossy-p is from Australia, and has sent a range of watercolour paintings inspired by her local environment.
- Penelope Dullaghan needs very little introduction as a well loved, award winning illustration artist. Her works for the show combine figurative works with text based affirmation works.
and...
- Sian Keegan fills the centre of the gallery with her stunning soft sculpture works of animals made from unique and vintage fabrics.

As you can see all these ladies have utilized various forms of nature when interpreting their ideas of what affirmations are for them, and where they find their positivity. As far as I know this was not an organised plan between them, which I think says alot in itself. And don't you think it brings a gorgeous unity to the show as a whole?

Well, I'll let you be the judge.
Please go and have a gander, take your time...

Have a look at all the work that make up the show here:
- Slideshow or
- Images on Flickr

And remember it is all for sale online here:
- Online Shop
(My works range from $25 to $200)

Call out if you have any questions, and by all means come back and tell me what you thought of it once you've had a good look. Enjoy the show! :D

* Credit to artstream for photos of their gallery above

i invite you

All the work I've been showing in my sneak-peeks over the past few months are being hung as we speak, alongside works by Penelope Dullaghan, Amy Rice and Sian Keegan, for the Affirmations exhibition at artstream.

The exhibition opening is on tonight at 5pm to coincide with the art stroll in Rochester. So if you're in the area; North Main St, Rochester, New Hampshire, go along!

For those, like me, who are nowhere near the action, I'll be hosting a wee virtual opening of my own here tomorrow during the day. Join me if you like. Bring your spectacles and your best art critique banter. Of course there'll be nibbles and wine.

See you then :)

in response

Thanks for all your nice understanding comments from my last post. The leaking actually didn't dry up till yesterday (despite stuffing the holes with chocolate, hehehe). I'll never get round to replying to everyone, so I'm doing this here response post.
Thusly...



- Everyone seems to agree that Persepolis is a thing of great beauty and wonder. I intend to include the books in my letter to Santa this year, thanks for the tips :D
- Anastasia, I believe (along with crowds of others) the best felafel in Sydney is to be found at Rowda Ya Habibi. Get the felafel roll to take away, it's amazing, but I'd pass on the chili if I were you, it's bloody hot.
- Katie, I used to live in Sydney. Now I live tucked between the beach and the bush 20 mins north of Coffs Harbour. We moved here almost a year ago, it's very pretty, but I miss my friends terribly as you could probably summate from my last post.
- Rayne, good lord woman! Jump on a bus and get yourself to an Ikea soon. Pack a sleeping bag and take a sherpa though, it takes months to get through the store.
- Photo of dress, for those who asked, is squeezed in above (bravely). Pretty, but totally rock'n'roll if worn with boots and coloured tights. I almost talked myself into getting it incase I ever get married, so I can wear it as a wedding dress, but then I thought it'd be a bit constricting if I end up as a 8 month shotgun bride. ;) I eventually decided I should be taking my hemlines a bit more age-appropriately these days. Damn getting older, damn it!
- Requested photo's of new fringe under consideration... I think I need to get more used to it myself first. Just imagine, it used to go discreetly to the side, now it's all full and forward, and requires heavily mascara'd eyelashes to make it look cool.
- Thanks again for all the shared joy and sorrow. It's reassuring to know others with far-away friends are going through the same thing I am.
- I'm feeling a bit more cheery today... This weekend marks the long anticipated launch of the exhibition. More news on that tomorrow!! weeeeeeee.

a week in sydney

It started with a stroll up and down King St, Newtown. Followed by chai tea, laksa, a funk band that night, which we blew off for a MUCH cooler rockabilly gig (with people dressed up in the full 50's get-up, and rock and roll dancing and everything!). And that was all on the first night after a 7.5hr drive! I feinted you know? Yup, on the very first night I had a feinting spell. I'd only had one beer... The only thing I can put it down to is pure over-stimulation.

The rest of the trip was filled with:
- visits with our favourite children, who proudly showed off their new fairy costumes, computer game scores, dance skills, and drawing abilities
- visits with friends who have moved into new houses (including my sister sparkle)
- meeting up with friends at markets
- catching the ferry to Cockatoo Island to see the Sydney Biennale... with friends
- going to friends places for dinner, and having friends over for dinner
- meeting up with friends for lunch
- having great conversations with friends who pushed aside their busy schedules to spend time with us
- drinking coffee with friends in the park...

...Are you picking up any kind of theme here? Yes, this rip was ALL about friends!


But, it was also about the food, let's not forget the food:
- Laksa
- Gozleme
- A very fancy modern Asian lunch at Longrain shouted by the wonderful woman I work with. (can't say I've ever started the week with champagne before)
- Gooooood sushi
- Home cooked roast, risotto, and chicken thingy. Plus a home cooked breakfast from friends
- Very fancy expensive Japanese restaurant dinner shouted by Mr You's clients
- Best felafel in Sydney
- Yum Cha
- And finished it all off with Greek

Then of course there was shopping, actual shopping at the beginning of the week, which turned into restrained window shopping towards the end of the week. There were clothes, more clothes, fabric, things for my desk, and a trip to IKEA. There was one dress I tried on twice over the week. I LOVED it, but knew I'd never wear it back in this wee town, so instead I took a photo of myself trying it on in the change room, hehehehe!

Thrown in there was a bit of work, a few meetings, music, a new haircut, catching a movie, lots of laughing and of course a few tears at the end there. Plus a warm, understanding, supportive, "I'm not letting you go" BFF hug when emotions ran high.

As I mentioned, I had a brilliant time though! Brilliant!

The last couple of months especially have been really hard, being here with no friends, so far away from my friends and family, trying really hard to find a niche for me to feel part-of, unsuccessfully, with all that loneliness. This trip came at a really good time. But boy it was hard leaving... and coming back here.

As beautiful as is it here, it's definitely a trade-off. I haven't really mentioned the struggle much, instead I've been reveling in my painting and keeping myself busy (hmmm, I must keep a watch on that habit).
Maybe I'll talk about it more from now on... maybe.

Anyway, getting back to the funliness of the past week. With all that I could see, and taste, and touch, and smell, and hear, I loved it.

There were many highlights, but one of them that will linger was seeing Persepolis. A friend and I saw the French speaking version. Have you seen it yet? I can recommend it highly. I loved loved loved it.



And there I shall end this post; there on that love-love-love note. No better place to end.

.

either or

We got back last night.
We had a brilliant week.
I have a new fringe.
I also have stretch marks on my stomach from eating too much good food.
It was really hard leaving this time.
I started crying on Friday night and still haven't stopped yet.
Once the leaking dries up I'll do a show and tell.
It was such great fun!