curvy 6, the book

It arrived!!!!!! :D

It's such a good one this year. I think it's my favourite one so far. There's much more original work in there this time, unfamiliar styles, and unique concepts. How exciting.

The books are now on sale online here, or at galleries, good bookshops, etc.

They are holding onto all the works from the exhibition as they arrange exhibition dates in Melbourne, and there are even rumours that it will travel to Toronto in Canada! I'll let you know if that turns out to be true. :)

aftermath

All the flooding I mentioned has be caused by crazy weather: wild storms, sideways rain, really strong winds, giant seas and super high tides.

These are photo's of the beach down our street a couple of months ago, compared with how the beach looks now after the storms, taken yesterday from around the same spot.
(Please excuse the badly exposed photo's. My little snappy camera is on it's last legs.)

BEFORE:

This is looking south, with the tree that has the rope swing on it. It's a landmark on our beach. Everyone likes to have a go.

AFTER:

There's the poor tree with the rope swing now!


BEFORE:

This is the other direction from the same spot, turned to face north.

AFTER:

And here it is now. I can't even describe the erosion. It's surreal! There's Mr You kindly modeling to give a better idea of the scale of those walls of sand. The beach and land has been eaten away so deeply, all the trees were left laying battered and bare on the beach.



EEEEEEEEEEK Climate Change!

wash out

There won’t be a Weddingy Wednesday this week in respect of the fact our wedding venue, more importantly Mr You’s parents place, has been hit with the biggest flood they’ve ever had.

His sister had around 65cm (that’s about 2 feet) of water through their house! They’ve been staying in town since last week. The roads to their houses were underwater, and one day when they tried to get back via boat along the flooded roads, they couldn’t because the current was too strong. In the last two days they’ve each managed to return to their houses (via canoe) to assess the damage.

Luckily Mr You’s sister and brother in law had time to lift most their stuff before they left. So it looks like a few bits of larger furniture, their fridge, washing machine and dryer are the only major things that have been damaged. The house is filled with mud though. Uuurghh. I bet they're glad their house has tiles instead of carpet all the way through.

Mr You’s parents were much luckier. While their grounds and garden were swallowed by the river, thankfully their house was high enough to be spared. They lost some garden furniture, their pile of firewood floated away, and their amazing veggie garden will be damaged. But they were in good spirits, joking that they’ve gained a stack of logs and outdoor furniture that washed down the river and ended up in their yard. Mr You’s Dad was positively jolly that the 4 inch thick layer of river mud, that has buried all of their lawns, has levelled out his yard! He says he’s scored $2000 worth of mineral rich soil for free! :D

Meanwhile Mr You’s brother in law was stocked to find air-tight packets of chips had floated down to their place, which from his account were “still good”! ICK! Hehehehe.

So although the news isn’t great, everyone is in much better spirits now they know the state of things. The pets are safe, and the chickens somehow made their way to shelter on the veranda’s. It was much more worrying over the weekend, when no-one could get back to their homes, and didn’t know what was happening.

It’s awful for them, but it’s not like a fire where there’s nothing left behind, at least with a little elbow grease it’s all fixable!

Once the roads resurface from the water, we hope to go and help with the clean-up. Time to buy some gum boots!

happy slanket

It was hard to sleep last night, what with the roar of the wind, trees banging against the house, and things being catapulted onto the roof. The weather here is WILD at the moment! Wild I tells ya!

Mr You's sister has evacuated their house because of flooding from the rain water, and his parents are expecting the river they live on to flood sometime tonight. It's crazy!

Thankfully we've had power most of today, after not having it most of yesterday. It's hard to entertain yourself without light or power, and the lack of cups of tea was nearly the end of me.

Anyway, it's been a good day to stay inside: staying as warm and dry as possible. Lucky for me, I was bestowed with the PERFECT thing for this very purpose from Mr You thismorning...



I laughed hysterically for at least 10 minutes, then we spent the next 10 in photoshoot mode, as I demonstrated all the handy aspects of living life in a blanket with sleeves!

This Winter there will be no more cold arms while trying to read in bed, no more tangles while freeing my arms from a blanket as I rush to answer the phone. No more cold tea drinking or mouse clicking hands. Nope, I'm'a gonna be warm and toasty from fingers to toes. All. Day. Long... :D

I told my friend about it on the phone, and after a chuckle she commented that I just need to hope no one pops by unexpectedly. After some thought on this, I realised it's perfect for that too. Underneath my slanket I can spend Winter dressed fantastically, so that when visitors (especially those Mormon women who keep catching me still in my pyjama's, which I think gives them the notion that I need their special and frequent attention) come by, I can merely let my slanket drop to the floor on my way to the door, revealing my new stylishly clad self. No more trackies and skivvies for me!

Oh, it's so perfect. Thanks so much Mr You. Thanks too for the yummy breakfast and happy, birthday themed music I awoke to.
A wet but cheery day. :)

weddingy wednesday 9

Hair Wear:
(A day late. Sorry)

I've been hunting around on Etsy looking for something to wear in my hair. I'm after something kinda subtle, but I'm just not sure what yet. My dress style doesn't lend well to a flower, so I'm looking for something else; something different, but subtle.
I'll keep looking.

On my quest I have discovered amazing hair wear. Stuff so cool I just had to share:
(Listen to me gettin' all Dr Zuess!)

I WISH I had an excuse to wear this somewhere, just for the sheer joy of it!

By Magenta Fabulous.


Or this follyful piece...

By Which Goose.


Feathers again, this time in a more structured fashion...

By Lov Mely.


Some wild flowery hair wear...

By Which Goose.


Or a more handcrafted felty piece...

By The Candy Thief.


While these are all incredible, they are a little too much on the BIG side of the scale for what I'm after.

At this stage I am inkling towards small feathers or a not-too-glitzy jewel. There is a risk with feathers of looking like someone has wedged a whole dismembered bird wing into your hair (which, let's face it, is NOT the effect anyone wants!), but I've noticed most the feather-craft folk on Etsy have design skills that avoid this sense altogether. Instead conjuring a scene of a happy lass collecting fallen feathers from the soft pine needle carpet of a forest floor, until there is a basket full. Bringing them home and crafting something sensational by on open fireplace of a woodland cottage. Hehehehe, let me dream people!

There are some truly amazing things on Etsy. A whole solar system of uber-creative talented people. Gosh I love Etsy!

greenish

"Eye Spy something green
(This week's theme by Trashalou.)

It's been aaaaaages since I've played eye-spy, and although I'm a little late, I'm welcoming it with open arms this week. It's come at a perfect time to break my blogging drought (I'm having one of those un-inspired nothing-to-write-about times).

Anyway, on with the green...



I would LOVE to spy this teal-green lounge in my house everyday... But right now I just look at it on Etsy instead, and dream of how it would brighten up our loungeroom. And then I dream of the cushions I'd make for it, and then I dream about the ways in which I would lounge upon it, and the books I would read to it, and the movies we would watch together.
Ahhhhh! Dreamy lounge, how I love thee.

Check out it's Etsy listing HERE.

weddingy wednesday 8

The Element of Surprise:

The last couple of my friends who have gotten married have showed us all their dresses and shoes and stuff before their wedding. This was super-fun at the time, but somehow diluted the sense of surprise of seeing them in their outfit on the wedding day. One of the things I love most about weddings is the surprise of it all; the impact of seeing it all presented together at once.

Well, my sister completely trumped that category when her engagement party (that we were also in Sydney for), turned out to be a surprise wedding!!!!!!!
I KNOOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!!!

So this weeks "Weddingy Wednesday" is care of my Sister Sparkle.

Here's how it played out:

• We were all asked to arrive on time on the invitations. When I asked why, she explained they only had the room for a few hours and the food would start right away.... Fooled me. ;)
  
• We arrived on time, and her best friend (quite nicely dressed) was ticking off everyone's names on our way in, and handed each if us a little card that welcomed us, told us to get a drink and have a nice time until the room was ready when we would be shown in. At this stage there was no sign of the happy couple, but we just thought they were in the room setting up.
  
• After everyone had arrived the friend told us all it was time to go in, and then asked for the parents to come through first. WELL, this was the first moment when I thought something was going on, and I raced in right behind the parents.
  
• We all went into the room and out onto a balcony where we were met by white chairs either side of an aisle, groom and celebrant waiting at the end!!!! Brilliant blue sky above, beach and sea behind.
  
• The groom made the announcement, and the guests spent the next 10 minutes in shock and giggles, amid pointing fingers and questions "Did you know?"... It was a clever ice breaker.
  
• Music started playing, my sister arrived at the end of the aisle, the groom went and collected her, and they walked in together. The wedding followed. I was called up to be one of the witnesses, by this stage red and puffy from all the happy tears (I spent half the time fishing for tissues in my bag... Note to all of you, if you're going to do this kind of thing, you need to provide a box of tissues for your sister and mum!)
  
• Afterwards, we had a very informal reception. Just a quick thanks speech from the bride, a few nibbles and drinks to music, some cupcakes and a quick dance, and after a few hours it was all over and they headed off to have photo's taken. The next morning they left for a 2 week honeymoon.
  

It was amazing! Just like eloping, but making sure your loved ones are there to see it. Very clever. The only thing I feel bad about is that my sister had spent the 2 weeks prior shopping with me for MY wedding attire. I felt so guilty. She assured me though that she loved it, giving her the opportunity to do the girly bonding thing together that she wouldn't have had otherwise.

Oooo, she's a sneaksy one, she is!

They both looked stunning, and very happy. And I'm sure they will for a long time to come. :)

loot, glorious loot

Tinniegirl has just finished her '7 Days of Loot'; a show and tell of all her lovely new wares. While I wasn't organised enough to join in at the time, here's my wrap-up of recent loot.

Speaking of Tinniegirl, she and I did a little swap, yes we did :)
I spied a tinnie of hers in her etsy shop that my heart could not deny. I was about to buy it then and there, when I had a thought... maybe she would like to do a swap instead. A few emails back and forth and each of us were delighted with our new goods.

I sent her 2 prints, and some other bits and pieces, and she sent me this!...



But not only that, I mentioned that I have been collecting little village shop tins (I have a little village along the tops of my kitchen cupboards), and she sent me a whole little street of shops for my village. Thanks to her generosity I now have a new Butcher Shop, Lobster Pot Cafe, Italian Restaurant, AND Mexican Cantina!!!!! It's awesome, and I ADORE them. Thank-you so much Cathy!

These new shops brings my tin collection count to 19, weeeee.




Next on the loot list is glassware. For our tables (at our upcoming wedding), we're going for a rustic/vintage/country cottage kinda thing. I've been keeping all my glass jars, and last weekend we went to the recycle centres at the local tips. OMG! It's my heaven! I got all these for under $10! (plus other stuff). I was so thrilled, they're just what I'm looking for!



Imagine these, if you will, with flowers and tea-light candles inside. :)


And finally, for my loot wrap-up, I have a gift from a friend. When I was in Sydney, hanging out with my friend for the day she went off for a quick rummage and returned with this!



It's a whole bag of fabric remnants that she got from the Akira Isogawa warehouse sale. And she got it all for ME!!!! I couldn't believe it! She said it was suppose to be my Christmas present, but stuff happened, and she held onto it for me anyway. How awesomely amazing and generous. You can't even see half of it in this pic, there's so much. No bits are large enough to make a full garment, but there's so many beautiful small, delicate silks, I'll have to think up something great for them to become.
Any ideas?

I'm sure you're drooling now (hey, it's fabric, we girls can't help it), so I'll leave it there. :)

the incredible print show

While in Sydney I was super eager to go see the Curvey Exhibition (and see my works hanging with such amazing others). Unfortunately for me, when I went to the gallery it was closed, it said it should have been open, and there was a sign outside saying it should have been, but it wasn't. So I missed out.

Oh well, never mind. I did go to the Art Gallery and restock my greeting cards! :D

In the meantime, this week The Incredible Print Show has opened at artstream studios in N.H. Susan from artstream has done it again, this time pulling together the most amazing, comprehensive, and ginormous collection of affordable art in the form of anything "printed".

There are some big names in this one too, Anke Weckmann, Penelope Dullaghan, Ashley G, Lisa Solomon, Kristen Doran...

These chubby little bluejays are my contribution.



- - -




You can take a virtual tour of all the works available here:The Incredible Print Show! Thanks Susan. It's such a pleasure to be part of something so great.

weddingy wednesday 7

Shopping:

After our friend's wedding, the next order of business during my time in Sydney was to shop for our own wedding. On the shopping list was a wedding dress and shoes for myself, and two weeks to find them. It was a bit like a physical challenge from a reality TV show.

Here's how it went...

• Mr You had left, my Mum came down to shop with me (for at least a few days of the two weeks)
  
• By the end of the two weeks my jeans were baggier (I think I walked off a kilo or two), and my feet were sore.
  
• I shopped in dimly light designer stores, department stores, and a few wedding stores.
  
• I must have tried on about 300 dresses. 
  
• I was asked about 300 times if I was planning on getting a spray tan!!!!!!
  
• I was asked about 150 times if Mr You would like me in this one or that one!!???? 
  
• A few scary moments, e.g. me in front of a huge mirror in a fancy dress, the shop lady whipping a bunch of silk flowers out of a nearby vase for me to hold... me getting a sudden dizzy spell and handing them back, muttering how I'm not quite ready for all that just yet.
  
• I went with an open mind... with the plan of trying stuff on even if I wasn't sure I liked it at first
  
• Having said that, I did secretly have an idea of what I was looking for...
  

I had gone with an idea of wanting a wedding dress of cotton eyelet fabric. Like the ones from The Cotton Bride...



Or with cotton lace, all with a floral motif...

This dress I saw in Alex Perry, and it's one of the only dresses I've seen before in a magazine and LOVED. I didn't dare try it on though because the price tag was WAY more than I could afford, I knew I'd want it bad, and I couldn't have bared the heartbreak.



It didn't pan out as I had expected but my mission was a success! I have bought a dress, and shoes!!!

The bad news is that the dress is not cotton or floral, and it's not at all what I would have thought I would have chosen before hand. The good news is that despite all that I love it!

I have to wait a few months to get the dress, by then I'm sure I will feel more at ease about looking "bridey". My shoes rock my world and I want to wear them NOW!

I'm so relieved that it all came together so effortlessly (if you can call 2 weeks of non-stop shopping effortless, hehe). I can't believe how well it worked out. Now it all feels much more real, and I now have a better idea where to start styling the event.

Before you ask, Mr You doesn't want me to tell him anything about what I'm wearing yet, so I can't tell you. Sorry. You'll have to wait.

a few more photo's

Because you asked here are a few more pics of our friend's wedding. :)

a misty mountain affair

The catalyst for us going on our trip initially was to go to our friend's wedding.

A whole weekend in the cool mist of the Blue Mountains, where we all stayed together in an old guesthouse, perusing the antique shops, and drinking tea (and a little champagne). We spent time with a bunch of friends preparing the house for the wedding, arranging the flowers, creating bouquets, and generally getting excited.

The day of the wedding was rainy, but inside was abuzz with activity. The rain stopped in time for the garden ceremony, and started again on cue at the end, giving everyone just enough time to rush inside undercover to start the party.

I took the photo's. I was a little rusty after not having done a wedding shoot for a few years now, and the lack of light was a little tricky, but there was lots to work with around the guest house, and I think/hope they'll be happy with them.

The couple looked fantastic. She wore a soft green gown and antique silver shoes, her hair filled with fresh white flowers. He wore a grey suit with a pinstriped peach and white shirt, swallow cufflinks, and black and white shoes. Both had their outfits made for them, including their shoes!

That was our first weekend in Sydney. It started with a bang. After that Mr You returned home and I stayed.
So there's more for me to tell...

returned

Outstanding is a word I don’t use much. It conjures distant memories of teacher’s stamps in my handwriting exercise book. But I’m back, and all I can do to describe my month away is to sing “outstanding”.

Where before I felt distant, I now feel reconnected. Where I felt trepidation toward planning our wedding, I’m now super excited. Where I felt disconnected with my family, I am now rekindled. Where I felt wedged in an unproductive daily pattern, I now feel revived. I feel re-energised, reconnected and re-sparked.

Lots to show and tell… But first I must get my work done and earn my keep. :)

See you soon.