My Birthday Creative Space..

I woke up today and peered outside to see the most glorious misty morning view. I rolled back over dreaming that perhaps I could just sleep the day away, until my lovely hubby reminded me, it was indeed my birthday. And what a delightful day I have had. To my Year Seven's delight I let them sing and yell happy birthday to me mid class and we even had a little party. I arrived home this afternoon to some beautiful surprises...

Some absolutely beautiful flowers from my family and the most delightful little tea set (complete with amazing floating lotus tea) for my dearest friend Tara. My amazing little fair trade tea set made the journey all the way from Cape York.

My creative space this week is in a state of delightful chaos! I'm still in the midst of exam marking and can't wait to be finished so I can clean up my mess from my mixed media adventures, reorganise my studio and continue working on my wholesale orders and and some exciting new collections.

Three of my mixed media artworks which were on display at Poetic Licence. The large middle piece, 'Cheshire on Collins St' is already off to its lovely new home tomorrow. In the foreground, swatches, fabric and brooches in the process of creation and headed for the Udessi gallery.

Well we are off to have a quick bite to eat before going to see the new Harry Potter film. Being a fan from way back, I'm delighted that they decided to release it just in time for my birthday. Hope you have enjoyed a lovely Thursday!

Much love
xxx

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Poetic Moments..

What an amazing start to the week! Our Poetic Licence event was held last night as part of the Mildura Writers' Festival and it was just an amazing night. With the beautiful Art Vault as our venue we performed to a packed crowd and enjoyed the wonderful company of friends, family and other local writers, musicians and artists.

image courtesy of The Art Vault
Our fabulous venue The Art Vault

Of all the ways I express myself creatively I find writing to be the most intimate and challenging but on nights when you are able to share your work with lovely people it is indeed very rewarding. The piece I read was titled 'The Tale of a Tumbleweed' a story about a the world of Shakespeare and Company, my favourite little bookshop in Paris.

Here is a little exert from my piece...

Perhaps she was a soul collecting dust,
A book only to be read once,
For all her secrets were given away in the first chapter.
She would wear a green coat lined with old brass buttons and her grey eyes would consume anyone who stole her glance.
A fragile creature placed on the highest shelf,
Never a prizewinner but somehow never bundled for a garage sale either.
She was a rare beauty who by night would wake to find herself longing for metaphors and ampersands.
Those who knew her called her Dinah, for down the rabbit hole with Alice was where she longed to be.
And she would tell stories of the places she had been and the people who had captured a moment between her covers.

Also I was so overwhelmed and excited by the press we received for the event I forgot to actually post the article from the newspaper in my blog on Sunday. So here it is... (with another photo of my cheesy grin!)

So now that our event is over for another few months, I finally landed back down to earth today after what has been an amazing few weeks. I has been lovely to just relax for a moment and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the Writers' Festival over the weekend, including the very exciting festival dinner on Saturday night.

In other news, it seems I just can't keep myself or my brooches out of the paper at the moment. The beautiful Liesa from Handmade Heaven had a fabulous editorial today in a local Queensland paper about her gorgeous shop and she was so sweet in featuring on of my brooches in photo.

Liesa is doing so many wonderful things at the moment with her shop and the Handmade Expo, so if you are in or near Ipswich you must pop in and see her.

Well I'm off to defrost my the fire and contemplate what to cook for dinner before embarking on exam marking with a little sewing in between. Hope you have had a wonderful Wednesday and I will see you tomorrow with my little 'birthday' creative space.

PS. Just a little note to let you know that my Etsy shop is currently set on vacation mode. With so many wonderful things happening at the moment, I have just been a little overwhelmed and will spend the next few weeks reorganising, making wholesale orders and creating some exciting new pieces for my own shop. I will be reopening at the beginning of August and will be having a big giveaway to celebrate so stay tuned!

Much love and poetic moments
xxx

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Weekends are for celebrating!

Some days you wake up without realising the effect the day will have on you. Saturday was one of those days for me. The little photo shoot I did for the paper for our Poetic Licence event somehow made the front page, which was not only exciting and slightly bizarre for me but also wonderful for our event which, after today's rehearsals is shaping up to be an amazing evening of enchanting songs and poetry.

My piece of combined poetry and prose has finally come together and I'm really delighted and totally nervous about reading in public on the night. My dear friends Monana, Clare and I will also have a little stall filled with all of our bits and pieces and I am busily finishing and framing a number of new mixed media works which will be on sale on the night.

I'm also totally ecstatic that the beautiful local gallery 'The Art Vault' which is hosting our event will now be stocking my brooches. The Art Vault houses some of Australia's most amazing and inspiring artists and it is such a joy for be selling a range of my signature and mixed media brooches within their art filled walls. Thanks so much to Mia and Julie for supporting local artists.

So after our rehearsals this afternoon I couldn't help but go out and celebrate with a few friends and had a wonderful night listening to Triple J's hottest 100 of all time, whilst catching up, laughing and dancing the night away.

What a wonderful weekend it has been and with Poetic Licence on Tuesday night and my birthday on Thursday I couldn't of asked for a better start to the week.

Much love and poetry
xxx

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Shopping List Saturday..

As I worked on a few new mixed media artworks last night, searching, tearing and cutting up old books, I began to think about the fragility of the written word, the page, the vast emptiness that is a single piece of paper. For one moment it exists and the next it is has disappeared, tangled in layers of fabric and lace.. its intended meaning no more but perhaps a new meaning created. My fascination for the written word, published and bound on soft cream pages leads me to this week's shopping list, an exploration the world of paper...

1. Les Fleurs du Mal numero 2 by MarcoLaGrenouille
2. ...sketch for showed you your air... by restlessthings
3. Out of silent ether- original vintage paper collage by littlebrownsparrow
4. Pg. 225 Limited Edition Print of Original Drawing by jaimers
5. The Poe Sisters by DearDodo

I often wonder what the author would think, their work stained with paint, glue and ink.. But I suppose we all draw inspiration from each other, each word and brushstroke adding to the eternally evolving world of art.

Take a moment to brew a fresh pot of tea and pop over to the fabulous Fancy Picnic to check out the other amazing Shopping Lists. The perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

As the words pour from my fingertips and onto the page, my mind is full of images, my soul souring on the tale I am writing. It has taken me hours to put together my shopping list as I have suddenly been inspired to finish my piece for the Writers' Festival, thanks to all of these beautiful artworks. So I'm off dance along the Seine a little longer, Paris seems to always be the perfect setting for my stories.

Much love and ink stained pages
xxx

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Surrounded by inspiration...

After a few hectic weeks it was lovely to spend the day at home today, catching up on blogs, drinking tea and writing the day away. I also had a bit of fun this morning posing in a photo for the local newspaper about the up and coming event Poetic Justice Publishing is holding as part of the Mildura Writers' Festival. More about that a little later...

Today was all about surrounding myself with all my favourite things and just taking a moment to be inspired, watch the world go by, listen the the beautiful sounds of hot tea being poured into china and ink seeping into crisp clean paper. My desk holds all my treasures and today the smell of lavender and dreams of Paris were my inspiration.

With my journal, a pot of tea, fresh lavender from my garden and a beautiful stash of magazines I spend the afternoon, writing and dreaming.

I am currently writing a piece to perform for our Poetic Licence event as a part of the Mildura Writers' Festival. As I weave between memories and dreams, I am writing about the world of Shakespeare and Co. the beautiful little bookstore on the banks of the Siene.

Inspriration - The beautiful Peppermint Magazine and a lovely new notebook I found at GoMA.

Tea and Lavender...

As the sun sets early on this lovely overcast day I'm off to settle in for the evening to begin a few new artworks to display at the Writers' festival and work on an exciting little idea that has been brewing within my journal. Wishing you a delightful Friday!

Much love and inspiration
xxx

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My Creative Space = Life

A whole week between posts seems like almost forever, my apologies for the long wait between posts, I'm back home after my wonderful adventures in Brisbane, had some computer troubles whilst I was there, my mum's laptop and I did not get along very well and with the internet only connecting for all of five minutes a day, I thought it best to save my blogging until I returned to my faithful old desktop.

What a amazing time I had in Brisbane, around every corner a fabulous day, wonderful places to explore and amazing people to meet. Of course there were plenty of brooches to create too! I am so delighted to be stocking with Udessi, the beautiful online gallery and stall at the Boutique Markets in Brisbane. I'm so delighted that Udessi will be stocking my brooches at the markets at Portside on Sunday the 12th of July. If you are in Brissie head down and check out this fabulous feast for the senses, it coincides with the annual coffee and chocolate affair! Art, craft, coffee and chocolate.. what more could a girl want!

Some of my scrap brooches for the Udessi market stall..

I'm also over the moon to be stocking my little brooches in the gorgeous hot pink botique Handmade Heaven! I was very excited to have the oppotunity to deliver my order in person to the beautiful Liesa at Handmade Heaven. Walking into this little shop is like meandering through a candy store of yummy handmade treats, she even stocks fudge! Not to mention meeting Liesa was like catching up with friend I have known for years. We are so alike, its crazy! If you are in Ipswich you must pop in to this lovely little shop tell Liesa I said hi!

Liesa and I in Handmade Heaven...

Well I've just pretty much just stepped off the plane, so I'm off to unpack and curl up on the couch with my hubby for the evening before I begin another exciting day of tomorrow with creating, writing and even a photoshoot for the newspaper in store. Stay tuned for more adventures!

Make sure you head over to the wonderful Kristy to join in the fun and show of your own creative space.

Much love and all things handmade
xxx

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My Creative Space...

What a busy few days! So this is what it's like not to have a day job, what fun! I've spent the last three days racing around Brisbane, finding fabric, felt and all the other bits and pieces I need to almost set up a studio from scratch. That was the easy bit, the interesting bit was finding a typerwriter. I do love a good second hand store and the Salvo's at Red Hill came up with the goods, a fabulous Brother 1980's electric typewriter and it works so well I almost want to drag it all the way home... if it didn't weigh 10kg. My first stop in Brisbane was Funky Fabrix and it did not disappoint! An amazing shop filled with all my favourite fabrics, I love it so much I'm off again for another stock up tomorrow. I have been very busily making stock for wholesale orders and for some fabulous new stockists which I am very excited about! My wonderful and very creative mum has been absolutely amazing, helping my navigate the Brissie streets, sourcing swivel bars and helping cut and sew.

My little world of brooches ready for the mail, lovely stripes and some delightful new fabric.

A custom brooch and one of my mum's beautiuful tea cups.

Tomorrow will bring another adventure filled day, of tea drinking, fabric searching, shopping, and plenty of laughing... and definately a whole lot more sewing! I just love being on holidays...

Make sure you head over to the wonderful Kristy to join in the fun and show of your own creative space.

Much love, fabric and buttons

xxx

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