oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree

Merry Christmas!
Wishing all your hugs be warm, families be happy, presents be good, and bellies be filled.


(Our low-tech Christmas tree)

so bad it's good

This year, spooked by losing my job and running out of money, I splashed out a whole 49 cents for a 10 pack of Christmas cards!

Naively coerced into a false sense of achievement by the "promising" card on the front of the pack, with it's fine vintage appeal...
Only to discover this kind of thing inside! >>



AND THESE ARE THE GOOD ONES!!!! You should see the others... Radioactive Santa, cropped across the head. A pigeon-toed teddy with a lapfull of gifts floating off centre in too much white space. And one with a font so wacky it looks to me like it reads "Johns Christmas Wishes".

May I be so bold as to suggest they are SO BAD THEY'RE GOOD!?

But I'm not sure I can send them. It has occurred to me others may not share in the "so bad it's good" joy.


Mr You and I have a long history of delighting in all things "bad". We often frequent gigs at a local club who's insides are designed to make you think you're on a cruise ship; complete with balcony decks and portholes! Then there was the time we drove over an hour deep into the western suburbs to watch the semi-finals of the Air Guitar championships.

And don't even start me on the genre of "so bad it's good" TV shows and music. I know I have touched on our admiration of Shakira before, but we'd be here all night!...


So anyway, keep your eyes peeled on the postbox. You may be the lucky one who gets the card with elves crawling out Santa's pants!

woolly wreath

Geek + Nerds dove has found a new nest. A lush bed of felty flowers and leaves. Our new woolly wreath.

ka ching

Another International Art Exchange goody arrived in the post last week.

This one made me a little giddy as it's from an Australian cartooning icon; Mandy Ord.
I have admired and chuckled at her work before. So when I saw who it was from I did nearly pop!



Thanks so much Mandy :D

those markets hurt me badly

Dear Finders Keepers Markets,

I won't ask how you are, because I know. I know you are wonderful beyond words! Bringing glee and near hysteria to myself and Eve, my market companion, for the 3 whole hours we were with you! The degree of anticipation, pure delight and satisfaction you gave us was reminiscent of 8 year old versions of ourselves upon Christmas morning.

Yes, it is true that there were hundreds and hundreds of other people to squeeze through, but since everyone was in the same "happy place", and what we saw was so good, it was ALL WORTH IT.

My only complaint is that everything you offer was SO good, my lack of money became a real issue. It didn't stop me from partaking in some of your loveliness mind you, but it did hurt very badly not to be able to buy more.
Very. Badly. Indeed.

One of the great joys of the evening was finally meeting my long time blog-buddy Emma Kidd of Benconservato fame. I saw her and was so shy and nervous about meeting her my heartbeat tripled in tempo, I broke into a light sweat and I blushed badly while talking to her. But I DID talk to her, and she was SO nice, friendly and candid. Her stall looked amazing, with what looked like hundreds of unique works on display.


Image from Emma's blog

And guess what?! She GAVE ME a copy of her brand new colouring book, Monsters Behaving Badly!!!! It's is SO SO great!





Something funny happened too. I snuck away from my friend Eve, back to Emma's stall, to buy Eve a thank-you-for-having-me gift; a little gocco print that she was eyeing off earlier. It was only a few days later when we surprised each other with a gift from the markets did I realise she had pulled swifty on me too, sneaking off during the evening to buy me this amazing Bonnie Poplar brooch!!! She out-sneaked me! Clever, trixy lovely friend!



I also bought this sweet card by Renee Seaman:


I would have loved the full sized print, but this was early in the evening when I was still fooling myself into thinking I could "budget". Pfff!

A set of pillowcases came home with me too. I can't show you yet because they are a Christmas present for me (from Mr You... I think, I hope, I'm still working on that part of the plan). Let me just say I handed over the remainder of my food money in exchange for them. And while I realise this is seriously irresponsible spending, all I can say is that I would have cried for 9 days straight if I had left without them. It seemed only right.

Eve did even better than me. She bought herself and her friend each a porcelain pendant necklace, a cool t-shirt for her man, a beautiful cushion by Kristen Doran (who incidentally was very friendly), and my brooch! (Was there something else I'm forgetting?)

We both could have bought much much more, it was all so love-worthy. I could go on and on...

So there you go Dear Finders Keepers, my love for you is undeniable, you are my favourite!
Lots of love,
flossy-p .xx.


P.S. Catkin and Teasel has more to say plus lots of excellent photo's.

big city art

I pretty much spent my whole time in Sydney visiting friends and seeing art. It was a busy but fulfilling schedule :)

In the town where I live there are lots of people that do art, but there are very few places for them to show it. So this time I hit the galleries and soaked in as much as I could...

Starting with a yummy brekkie at The Yellow House in Potts Point for sustenance:




Next door to the amazing Martin Browne Fine Art Gallery, with it's open roof and lilly pond, showing beautiful paintings of trees in eerie light and odd dreamy settings by Alexander McKenzie:




Onto the Art Gallery NSW, where there are two installations outside at the moment. Both fantastic and quite amusing:






Inside to revel in an exhibition I absolutely adored! Garden and Cosmos, Paintings from the royal courts of Jodhpur that flourished between the 17th and 19th centuries:



I loved it so much I wish I could go back RIGHT NOW!!!! Let me tell you why... Quirky concepts, bright colours, very fine detailed patterns, in cheerful compositions. This is work from 1739 and it's bright and pops, no murky brown dark candlelit scenes to be seen. I find it so validating to see art that is similar to this current illustration style we find ourselves immersed in, that is culturally and historically significant. Stuff that is considered art, and not pushed into an underground scene.




Still in the AGNSW, this time in the Dobell Prize for Drawing:




Another day, another gallery. The MCA:



"What's this" I hear you ask... Why it's my feet, swimming in corn of course.
A room of the gallery filled with corn where you were invited to remove your shoes, and walk through to look at photographs by Fiona Foley. The sensation was too great to miss, so I too off my shoes and swam on in.




And finally a bit of art in nature. I sat under the shade of this tree, people watching and admiring it's amazing bark:




So much art, so refilled with inspiration... and I haven't even started telling you about the Finders Keepers Markets yet!!!!!!

baby wolf quilt

The purpose of my trip to Sydney was to meet my friend's brand new baby! Their first.
And to deliver the quilt I made for him...



Cotton and linen, big squares and bright green edging...


Some of the fabric is recycled from the table runners I made for our wedding...


With a little pesonalised embroidery on the back...


Baby is so cute, only 4 weeks old, and trying very hard to focus his eyes. The quilt was well liked.

(News of the rest of my trip to follow shortly)

hiatus

Today I'm leaving for Sydney. Back to visit friends, meet a new baby, soak in the city, enjoy visiting the Finders Keepers Markets, absorbing lots of art and music if I can... And food absorption will be good too. Good food. Greek, Lebanese, Turkish, Portuguese... all the things we don't have here.

I did the same trip this time last year. A re-creation. A tradition. A boost of stimulation.

Back on Tuesday. See you then.

In the meantime, you may like to acquaint yourself with the diversity of Sydney via this great new site, 52 Suburbs. It's beautiful. Beautiful photo's, seen through a wonderful eye, to fulfill a great plan.

Enjoy!

karma comin'at cha

I was well and truly happy-slapped with some more good karma today when a surprise package arrived! A for-no-reason, not even a swap, surprise package. Completely out of the blue, straight from the goodness of a crafty heart.



Sweet sweet Geek+Nerd sent me a bag made from a thrifted t-shirt (from her home town) which will make a perfect beach bag this Summer. Also in the parcel was a handmade felt peace dove, and a card from one of my favourite arty gals Abigail Halpin.



Coincidentally, during my first time at Chunky Chooky's Sunday "Sew N' Sew" last weekend, I attempted to make a wooly Christmas wreath inspired entirely by one that Geek+Nerd made for herself. I saw it on her blog, fell in love, and made plans to make one for myself. So on Sunday I managed to get to the point of wrapping the wool, but hadn't progressed any further... Until...

A-LA-PeanutbutterSandwiches!!!!
This dove arrived today to fill the void!
Meant to be!

Please don't comment on my wreath yet, it's not finished. It needs some felty leaves and stuff yet. I'll show you again once it's done.

Anyway, I have no idea why you sent this to me Sweet Geek, but I love you for it!!!! Even more than before :D
Thank-you!!!!!!

it's working

The International Art Exchange I mentioned last week seems to be working!

In the past few days I have received another 3 parcels of lovely art.


From Helena Tay of Little Mo and Friends:



Helena is from Western Australia, and has sent me a print of one of her sweet homely gals. Mine is cookin' up a recipe of love! Thanks Helena, your work is so sweet, so detailed, and has such personality!

100 good swap karma points for you!



From Patricia Frisella of www.patriciafrisella.com/:



Patricia is from New Hamshire (US), and has constructed a lush romance-filled collage for me. Deep rich colours coupled with pops of detailed pattern, and 3D elements like a feathered horse tail. I think the poem may be one of hers too, but I'm not sure.

I love the line in the poem "She'll loose her hair and corset and bounding over hedgerows gallop to the glade..."

Thanks so much Patricia it's beautiful, 100 good swap karma points for you also!



From Pat Spiller of Pat Studio:



All the way from Maine (US), Pat has sent me 3 of her gorgeous cards. Based on her textile art, these cards look so real, you have to touch the fronts to grasp that they are prints. I can't look away because my brain keeps insisting I should be feeling texture. Either way they are incredibly alluring!

Thank-you so much Pat, I love them. 100 good swap karma points for you too!



Not only that, I actually received a really lovely thank-you email from my Art Exchange recipient, Alisa of Ink Caravan.

Good karma points flying all over the place this week people.
Grab one if you can.
They are worth their weight in gold!
******

did you win?

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! This is SO freakin' exciting. I love doing this.
Mr You has spent the better part of the week improving on his incredible lotto machine that randomly draws the winner of this Thanksgiving Giveaway... so he must love it too.

Before we begin I want to reiterate that the point of this annual giveaway is to show my thanks to you for your company and friendship. So thankyou each and everyone for taking part, showing your support, and coming back each year for more.
Happy Thanksgiving!

At 10pm we did the draw. It was great! And although I very much wanted each of you to win, when the actual winner's name was revealed I was thrilled! I know she is going to pee her pants when she realises it's her! I won't say anymore right now because I don't want to spoil the surprise.

So without further adieu, go ahead, PRESS START!!!!! :D

ending the drought

My Etsy store has lain barren, dry, and dusty for the past few months. But finally the rain has come, the sun is out, I'm turning the soil... And looky looky, some seedlings have sprouted!



Soon there may be a thriving new garden.


Only a few more hours to get your entries in for the Thanksgiving Giveaway!!!

art exchange

I've been lamenting of late with a couple of fellow bloggers about how great swaps used to be. Like REALLY great!!!!! People were so generous and creative and diligent! And when they got something from you you'd get a thank-you email, or a blog post, so you knew they received it safely and appreciated it.

These days more often than not you send something as part of a swap, and as my mum would put it, don't even get "a brass wazoo" in return. You rarely hear if people get your parcels or not, and I fear there's a pile of my work lying in a damp dark corner of a mailroom somewhere. But, even so, I keep being lured back by the excitement and prospect of more swaps. The concept is such a great thing, such lovely karma. I just can't resist the opportunity to surprise someone in a nice way.

Last week I was asked to participate in the International Art Exchange. Kind of like a big chain of art, where you send one piece of art, and are suppose to get (in theory) up to 36 pieces in return from all over the place. I knew that it was extremely unlikely to get 36 pieces, but I actually even doubted that I'd get one.

Still I excitedly sent off my parcel > > >

But yesterday I was both delighted and a little astounded to receive a piece myself!
Not only that, I feel like it's a customized piece especially for me. It's a mail-art collage from Punwit in New Hampshire USA. He wrote that he'd seen some of my work in the flesh at Artstream, an his favourite was my Tigerhug drawing. How sweet!



See he's put a tiger in there for me, and a stamp from New South Wales (my state). Along with lots of other elements that warm the very cockles of me' ol' heart. Yes, definitely personalised.

Anyway, It's so great. I'm so thrilled and remarkably appeased.

Thanks Punwit! It's brilliant. 100 good karma swap points for you!

(Punwit, or Larry Reynolds, is part of the Scrapiteria group.)

you don't win friends with syrup

While I may not enjoy chips of banana in my breakfast, I do expect, if I pay $5 for a banana smoothie, there to be some banana IN IT!

Syrup doesn't cut it I'm afraid. Without an actual banana I'm sorry to say it's not a smoothie folks. It's a milkshake!

A far inferior cousin.

(Image borrowed from here; Amigugmi Paradise.)

giveaways galore

A quick reminder that you only have until this Thursday morning to enter my Thanksgiving Illustration Giveaway.



Then to double your chances, ChunkyChooky is having a giveaway marathon. A draw each week for 4 weeks. Actually that's quadrupling your chances! Quick sticks, get on over there. :)

mountains of mess

It's only taken 5 days... 5 days to turn every surface of the entire house into my own factory:

My studio table is a pizza of drawing and painting stuff...

The spare room has been overtaken by a forest of sewing, complete with vines of fabric, shrubs of wadding, ironing board, balls of wool, etc...

The coffee table is spread thick with wedding thank-you notes in progress, stamps, envelopes, address book...

The dining room table has sunk under the weight of wedding photo's...

And thanks to my failed efforts to recreate the bircher muesli I became addicted to on our honeymoon, the kitchen is a little less than tidy too.

I pick Mr You up from the airport very early tomorrow morning.
What to do? What to do?

Spend the evening bouncing enthusiastically around the loungeroom to loud 80's pop, ending in an icecream stupor???
Or intensively de-flossy-fying the ridiculously messy house???

It IS Friday night.... Hmmmm....
Is it too soon to call "happy wife, happy life" on this one? heeee

turn of tides

Thank-you for enduring my grumpy post yesterday. It seems just by getting it out, I have cleared the way for all things fresh and new. I'm feeling so much better today. Pheeew.

Spending time out of the house with friends, brainstorming with someone who is really excited about a new venture, and a sudden flood of requests for commissions, has me all bubbly again.

One of the commission requests in the pipeline is for a wall mural inside a new boutique bakery. EEEEEEEEEEk! SO EXCITING!

Not since year 10 work experience have I done a full mural! (I work-experienced at a place I thought was a film editing company... Turned out to be a one-man video editor for Bikey Strip Video's... A bit too freaked out to stay in the edit suite, I spent my week painting a mural on the outside of his studio/shed instead.)

Anyway, this opportunity is way more sophisticated, and I've got my fingers crossed really tight that it actually eventuates.


Remembering the joy, today I am grateful for:
- Staying in close contact with dear old friends
- Finding such great new friends with so many things in common
- The beautiful weather
- The flood of new creative opportunities
- A generous thank-you gift from a friend I did a family photoshoot for
- Having cute flirty Skype chats with my absent hus... with Mr You



And because Mr You has been away working this week, this pic is for him. Just one of the girls at home missing his hugs.

Good luck with the exhibition opening tonight Mr.

Too bad you're going to miss your new favourite TV show. I'm sure P.M.M. will fill you in ;)

teeeeeeee heee heee heee heee hee hee he he he he

compassion

You know how you read those books (for me it's The Artists Way and The Alchemist), or come across those things that you think I need to read/see/listen to this every year as a reminder. Those things that inspire you to the best human you can be?

Well here's one of those things The Charter for Compassion.
(via Equipoise):(It's worth the visit)

It reminds me of many good things, at a time when I feel like I'm in need of the reminder.

At a time when I'm feeling ripped-off by someone I trusted.
At a time when I'm feeling my generosity is being taken advantage of.
At a time when I'm feeling like I can't quite find my feet.
At a time when certain aspects of my future have me terrified.
And when feeling all these things leaves me feeling angry, ungracious and petty with myself.

It reminds me that I strongly believe in being above pettiness. In hearing peoples situation over the top of their words. In trusting that people generally do the best they can with what they know. In trusting that there are ups as well as downs, and there are rewards in being patient. I strongly believe that life feels better when you concentrate on being a more generous, giving, loving, understanding, compassionate, motivated person. No matter what's going on around you.

(Watching the clip also reminds me how much I adore faces. I LOVE faces. I love them all.)

Of course the reason I'm banging on about this so hard is that I'm struggling with it right now...

Plus, living next to a "smart" man who decided to breed dogs for cash, bred them too young (just 8 months old), and now has 13 dogs that he can't sell (apparently it's against the law because the mother was too young), can't afford to worm or vaccinate any of them. Has no dog training ability (his last dog wasn't even house trained), and now we live next to a barking stinky-poo-pit.

I find it inconsiderate in so many aspects, and to so many creatures.

So with that, and other inconsiderate things going on right now, I need the reminder.
Compassion, understanding, rise above pettiness....
Compassion, understanding, rise above pettiness....

Now excuse me while I go close the doors and draw the curtains... It's usually when I'm in one of these "it's not fair" moods that the Jahova's Witness ladies come knocking on my door, ask for me by name, and inquire if I'm happy with my life. ;)

through the door

I've been wanting to join in Pip's "My Place and Yours" for a little while now, but this week I actually have something good to contribute... Stuff I've been wanting to show off ;)
This weeks theme (by Shelley from Femme De Montmartre) is "Through the Front Door".


Outside our front door we are now greeted by turtles. We didn't buy each other wedding gifts, instead we bought ourselves these adorable hand carved turtles on our honeymoon. See? Two turtles, swimming together, hanging onto each other... get it? Romantic eh? hehehehe.
Anyway, they give our house a new tropical beachy look, it's prefect to lead us into Summer.




And just inside the front door... the super cool retro buffet we got at a garage sale on the weekend! For $10! It's in excellent condition, and if we do end up updating the handle, and painting the inside a bright colour (as we had planned) its going to help Mr You's smaller instruments stand out very well, and look even more cool. (Although it's in such good condition I'm not sure I want to tamper with it... but a deep red inside would look pretty impressive).




Of course when a new piece of furniture comes into the house, it sparks rearranging, impromptu cupboard clean-outs, etc.
An unexpected mini Spring clean!

4th annual thanksgiving giveaway

Drumroll...
Spotlights...
Curtains Open...
Announcing the 4th Annual Thanksgiving Giveaway!
Yaaaaay!

Welcome.
Those of you who've been visiting for a while will know all about this, and probably have already decided what your prize will be. For those who don't know...

What It's All About
I really like the general idea of the Thanksgiving celebration, but we don't celebrate it here in Australia, so I have developed my own tradition, showing thanks by hosting a giveaway. The prize of the giveaway is an illustration by me that the winner gets to commission. It can be anything you like. Have a look see at the previous winners commissions, and others, in the commission section here.

Should you win you could request an illo of anything or anyone you like. It could be abstract, like your favourite song, or specific like a portrait of a loved one (or pet) from a photo. You should keep in mind the style of my work though, because you may be disappointed if you ask for a Rembrandt!

How To Enter
It's easy, just leave a comment on THIS post anytime between now and the morning (my time) of the 26th Nov. That's 2 weeks away. One comment is enough, as I'll remove duplicate entries before the draw so everyone gets an equal chance. The draw will be completely random, and I'll be drawing and announcing the winner on Thanksgiving Day (which according to my calendar is the 26th Nov).


Spread The Word
Seeing as this is such a big event in my blogging calendar year, I have created a button. If you'd like to help me spread the word, go for your life! Use the button all you like!

You can add it to a blog post by using this code:

• In your blog post entry window enter the following code:
  

<a href="http://flossy-p.blogspot.com/2009/11/4th-annual-thanksgiving-giveaway.html" title="Thanksgiving Giveaway 2009" target="_blank" ><img src="http://www.flossyparticles.com/images/ThanksgivingGiveaway_Bttn_Wht.gif" alt="Thanksgiving Giveaway 2009" /></a>

Or to add this graphic to your side bar...



Using this link: http://flossy-p.blogspot.com/2009/11/4th-annual-thanksgiving-giveaway.html


What's Next?
Well, enter your comment, and start thinking what you'd like me to paint if you win.
Good Luck!!!!! :D

supercute is my new favourite phrase

What comes with losing your job is much fantasizing about a dream job, moping around the house eating too many cookies, bouts of un-explained (and never before attempted) housework, to-do lists popping up on the walls like chicken pox on an itchy child, spurts of energy to grow your business into a booming empire, followed by a cranky and ravenous mission to retrieve money that's owed to you, and an ever-keen eye for a good bargain and general cost-cutting.

Exhibit A:



START WITH: Sweet but kinda boring new t-shirt nabbed for a measly $5
ADD: First attempt at homemade yo-yo's (thanks to a helpful tutorial by Heather Bailey)
PLUS: Post-wedding hair chop-off
ENDS WITH: Super-cute new top on somewhat cheered-up chick.


P.S. Tomorrow I plan to announce something exciting. Something that happens here this time each year. Something I think you might like. :)

and finally

The last of the honeymoon recap. Inahale... exhaaaallle... bask... aaahhhhh.

all in a day

If you've just tuned in, we're doing a honeymoon recap of Vanuatu here. :)