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OooooWeeeee! Anybody still out there?
I was chatting with some new friends the other day about how our long cherished blogs had been dismissed due to the likes of that floosy Facebook, and I felt sad. So as little time as I have right now, I thought I'd pop back in and do a little show and tell.
My new Christmas tea-towels (hopefully up in my Etsy store by the end of the weekend).
As hinted, more updates are often on my facebook : http://flossy.p.art
I'm embarrassed to admit it, after what?... 6, 7 years of blogging, but sadly the truth is my albeit late involvement in Facebook has meant the demise of my blog. Sorry guys, sorry blog. :(
The good news is I'm here to let you know I'm doing a little giveaway on my facebook page this week:
flossy-p facebook page
Come check it out.
A portrait for a wedding, NOT a portrait of a wedding. Cool huh?
In 17 more sleeps this fine looking pair will be getting married!
They wanted a casual family portrait to have on display at their wedding; a rustic, country, vintage wedding. (Just the way I like 'em.)
Along with their beautiful little girl and their beloved dog, I placed them on the creek which runs through their wedding venue, set the backdrop to the one they will see from their wedding location, and wrapped them in a vintage doily, (like the ones they plan to have there).
Mel and her daughter came to my mothers group for a wee while before moving away to another state. So when she looked me up and asked me to do this for them I was so honoured. I feel so lucky to be able to have something I've painted for them as part of their special day.
PLUS, I'm giving them the lampshades we had hanging from the trees at our wedding, to hang at theirs.. so I feel like I'll be there in spirit in more ways than one. :)
It's going to be a veeeery beautiful wedding! Wishing them the most splendid day, and magical life beyond!
Every year I spend hours and hours online, searching high and low for just the right calendar. I’m lost without one, but I’m very very fussy about them, I mean you’re going to be looking at it for a whole year right?!
For me it’s not just about the pictures, though obviously that does play a big part. My scrupulous list includes:
• I like the pictures to be predominantly hand painted artworks, not photos, not digital.
• I like the theme to be original, not done to death a thousand times before
• It needs to be cheerful, not gloomy
• The whole calendar has to fit in my "spot" in the kitchen
• I like the days to be laid out in a grid, week by week, not a long list. I like to be able to identify a week in a very quick glance. (I LOVE LOVE LOVE Camilla Engman's calendars, but they fail in this point).
• The days each need a big spacious square/shape for me to write lots of stuff in.
Umm, I think that covers it. The secret is out, I'm cale-anal.
Last year I found a great free, customisable, printable one online at My Owl Barn.
The year prior to that I got it from Be Happy Now. (Actually I got one from her two years in a row because I loved them so much.)
Anyway, Lalaland have put together a 2013 calendar featuring lots of great illustrations. And upon first look it seems to tick all of my boxes. Good job Lalaland! And I'm not just saying that because one of my pictures is in there.
You can buy it online now for just shy of $20, right here!
Right now my Mum is on a 7 week trip around the United States. Arghhh. She's sending me daily updates of places they've been and sights they've seen. Mesa Verde, Rocky Mountains, Monument Valley, the Grand Canyon, Sedona... And next they're are off to N.Y.C and up the East coast.
My good friend just spent 2 weeks in San Francisco.
AND Mr You is, as I write this, on his way to work at an arts festival in Beijing, China.
Arhhhhhh, so so envious!!!!
Inspired by amazing crafty mums, I decided early on that I would like to create a tradition where I make something for Millipede for his birthday each year.
6 months late, but I've finally finished foxy for his first birthday.
Here's how it all started...
And here's where it is now...
I originally made pattern pieces as I went thinking at the end I would be able to offer a free pattern and tutorial. BUT I have since decided I have no intention of inflicting the torture upon anyone else. Let me just say, I learnt the hard way that there is a very very good reason why most softies have short limbs and wide bodies.
Regardless, I must say I'm quite pleased with my first softie attempt, and was VERY happy when upon first meeting, Millipede tucked him under his arm and merrily took him off to meet the rest of his soft toys.
Today I am lucky enough to be featured in the "interviews" section of Jodi's Art by Wiley site!
Why am I so excited by this? Well, for one Jodi is an amazing artist herself (I would JUMP on the opportunity to do an art swap with her if the opportunity ever arose), and secondly I've been a fan of her interviews for a while. She has interviewed some of my favourite illustrators and crafters, and I've gained new favourites from there too.
Here's a snippet of my interview:
"Nature is the biggest inspiration for me. I find it oddly alien, and that fascinates me! It's such great irony that the very stuff that makes up this planet can still seem so freakish and unreal. Show me one of those BBC nature documentaries and I'm all astonishment... take me into the backyard and hand me a teensy seedpod and I'm just as enamoured, sit me in front of a hyper-coloured sunset and well...you can imagine, I pretty much turn into the "double rainbow" guy."
For the rest click here!
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Last month I was also interviewed by Molly from Balancing the Tide.
Molly and I have "known" each other online for quite some time, she is a writer, poet, exquisite photographer, and she owns quite a few pieces of my art. Since we first encountered one another we've since both had our first babies. Now she runs " Balancing the Tide", a site dedicated to interviewing artistic mums, asking how their creative lives have changed since having children. "A LOT" is of course the answer... at least it is in my case.
Here's a snippet:
"My art-making used to occupy half of the studio we have out the back of our house, but as I tried to squeeze small moments of art into the calm moments of each day, I moved my computer inside onto the kitchen table. This made a big difference, I could be a mum, and answer an email on the way to change a nappy."
For the rest click here!
Many thanks to both Jodie and Molly.xx.
Millipede is 17 months old, but sometimes I swear he is actually 78... YEARS that is!
Mostly he spends his days pottering around the garden with the watering can, but l et me set the scene I came across yesterday...
(He has had a cold, so his voice is croaky and hoarse.)
I'm occupied tidying up some mess, he is playing in the loungeroom.
Then I hear the TV come on. I poke my head around the corner to check, and find...
Him sitting on the couch snuggled up next to our cat, he has pulled the slanket up over his lap, is patting the cat with one hand, has a book in the other (with TV remote nearby), and is entranced watching the early edition news on TV, "ahh-ing" and "hmmm-ing" in response with his croaky hoarse voice.
Such a little old man!
We laughed about it being the early edition news, giving him time to have dinner and get to bed before 7pm, just like real old men ;) Perhaps if I get him a car cleaning kit he can have our car sparkling and immaculate, up to " senior citizen vehicle" standards in no time!
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Please no Benjamin Button comments. It doesn't mater how hot you think Brad Pitt may be, the fact is it's just creepy.
Some of you may remember the wooden watch I gave Mr You for our anniversary last year. Well this year we clocked up 16 years together.
Traditionally anniversaries carry a theme; cotton, silver, diamond, etc… I'm not sure if the 16th anniversary has a theme, but this year I made one up all the same; "Game of Thrones" - whooot!!! (a-hem, exposing our nerdiness a little here -blush).
So last month I popped onto Etsy and got these for my tall good-lookin' man:
For those of you as addicted to the show as us, I know you're dying to know where I found these... Direwolves hoodie from Fencing N Archery and the cute Stark card from Sophie Blackhall Cain.
He loved them both!
Those of you who know me may have just spat coffee in shock. But it's true! I'm finally on facebook.
Come see for yourself : flossy-p on Facebook.
I was always a bit concerned that if I started a Facebook I'd have too many places online to keep updated. So we'll see, but the plan is for facebook to be about updates of products in my shop, and projects I'm working on... my portfolio site will still be a gallery of my work and what's happening in my work life... and this blog is more becoming a place where I talk about personal stuff.
If you have any tips or suggestions on keeping multiple web-spots updated and interesting, I'd love to hear them. In the meantime check out my facebook page, "thumbs-up" me if you please, and let me know your thoughts. :)
I'm quite proud of this one. I think it's one of my most swirly yet. :)
Last weekend a festival rolled into our town. Rolled in in cars with white wall tires, fins, and flames. Our town, with not much sub-culture, rocked with retro hipsters, as Wintersun (a festival of 30's, 40's, 50's, Rock'n'Roll and Rockabilly) came for the weekend. Mens hair combed high, ladies lips gleamed red, and double bass players balanced on their instruments as they thrummed out can't-stand-still tunes.
Sadly half of it was rained out, but the first half that we went to was so - much - fun!
Great idea for a show right?!
Acme et al is a gallery in Yarra Glen, VIC, who endlessly supports my work. A bunch of genuine, kind, art-wise people, who as you can see, come up with innovative ideas.
Though I'm not a scarf maker, I know lots of you out there are very talented with that kind of thing, so I thought you might like to know about this. Not only to see the show, but to submit your own work. Go on!
Entry details are here.
“Kepago specialises in products of great design, offered to members at discounted prices. No more wading through a multitude of categories – just plenty of designer products, all in one convenient place. It’s all quality hand-picked merchandise, showcased on one easy site.”
A range of my mini-prints are on sale on Kepago this week. Usually $12 each, Kepago are now offering them for $9, for designs including Wilderness, Sacrifice, Blue Whales, Strings, and Where Babies Come From.
All of Millipede's little friends have just celebrated their first birthdays. This gave me the opportunity to make a pretty little dress!!! Eeep!
Recycled from stuff from an op-shop, and based on a pattern that I made up as I went.
Can you tell I'm just a little bit proud? (blush)
Art Lab For Kids is a wonderful new book by my friend Susan Schwake, the mastermind behind artstream studios. It's a source of ideas and lessons for creating all manner of different art with children... mind you I learnt a couple of new things from it too.
Beautifully photographed and clearly laid out, it steps you through 52 different art styles, each relating to a particular artist; a type of "how to achieve their look" guide.
And I am delighted to be one of the artists! I'm on the watercolour and pencil page.
The book is lovely, meaty and inspiring. You can buy it online here, and find out more about it here.
Thanks so much Susan, and well done to you!!!
I knew when I wrote my previous post that I had left out some of the lessons I wanted to mention. Give me a month and my brain catches up (there's a lesson right there). So here are a couple more things I've learnt (or mantra's I try to hold on to) on my amble through parenthood so far:
- Tell them what you're about to do in advance, (don't spring it on them while they are in the middle of something). This gives them time to prepare themselves, and therefore learn.
- They learn FAST. You may think they're not listening or absorbing, but they ARE.
- Your job as a parent is to prepare them for the next stage in their life.
- Good old fashioned sunshine bleaches almost any stain out of laundry.
- And most children's books end in a good sleep...
A month ago my little Millipede turned 1!
A whole year, I can't believe it. Life has changed alot in that year. And then changed back again, and then changed once more, and on it went. As each day I filled with more and more adoration. Remember at first when I loved his little arms that could not reach beyond the top of his head? Now I love his perfectly formed micro-calves. I love that he pokes his little pointer finger into any little gap it fits, mostly at the moment they live in his earholes. And I love that he loves music, laughing, his dad, reclining on things for a little rest, and practicing swimming on the kitchen floor.
We've just discovered (after a couple of scary moments) he is anaphylactic to peanuts, and my heart lurches with worry about how to keep him safe. (Did you know peanuts/peanut oil can sometimes lurk in vegetable oil, nutmeg and shampoo??!!! Just to name a few!)
But mostly this year I have learnt new things about myself. I have learnt that I will do just about anything to hear him laugh. I have learnt that I absorb and cling onto bits of advice that I hope will help me be a better mum. Here are some from various sources:
- Let the love that's in your heart beam on your face each time they enter the room (not the critical "what the hell have you rubbed through your hair now?" face).
- Always ask what's wrong when he's crying or whinging, never just assume.
- Include him.
... There are more, but for now I am besotted.
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