Back again

Walnut ink and ruling pen with watercolour on Canson Mi Tientes

Okay so I haven't blogged for quite a while! I've just been out of control, overwhelmed and generally struggling a bit. So, sometimes something has to go, and it this case it was blogging, and art. But I'm starting to get a handle on it again and thought I would post this piece. I scanned it in a while ago and wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but now that I look at it it is quite interesting.

Currently working on a collage of words, paint and found items so will be interesting to see how that works given I haven't done anything like that before. Really what I'm trying to do is combine all of the things that I love and to express how I've been feeling and some of the things that have been floating through my brain.

Also been trying to get up-to-date with my MA thesis, which as of the moment has no words!! Still I have almost finished re-working my plan and hopefully will be cooking with gas from there.

If you have some time today and you're interesting in stamping I recommend that you head over to Jennifer McGuire's blog and check out the videos using Ranger Distress Ink. I found these to be really interesting since I have some of this ink and I've not been sure how to use it effectively. Jennifer is a fantastically creative stamper and card maker and I love checking out here blog on a regular basis. Enjoy!

Losin' it!

- - - Going! Going! Gone - - -
- - -WANT IT BACK NOW!!! - - -

I think there's a fair chance that I have lost my creative mojo. The boys are in kinder I have spare time, cards to make, no inspiration - nothin, nada. I'm hoping this is only a temporary affliction, because I am usually full to the brim and overflowing with ideas for stuff to make, stuff to draw, stuff to calligraphy. I USUALLY HAVE LOTS OF STUFF IN MY BRAIN - where, oh where has it gone.

Any ideas on how I can get my creative mojo back?

Sadly . .

. . . the death toll has now reached 108. May something good come out of this tragedy.

Hope: Prisma colour pencils on black cartridge paper

My heart goes out . . .

. . . to all of those families who have lost loved ones, pets and houses in these most devastating fires. It's almost as if our whole State is on fire. Yesterday was the most horrendous day, almost 47 degrees Celsius (thats 117 F for those reading overseas).

Most of my immediate family lives in high fire risk areas and my sister-in-law had a fire rip past her property in Devon North within 50 metres of the backdoor! Very scary!!! My sister and family are stranded in Eildon as there are fires in Alexandra and most of the roads have been closed. She tells me it's very black and if you go outside you breath smoke. A close friend of hers literally had to run for their lives as the fire came out of nowhere, they have lost everything but thankfully have their lives. DeBortoli Winery where Andrew and I got married has also been wiped out as it was in the same road.

36 lives lost (with it expected to rise) and over 650 homes burnt out. I can't comprehend that someone deliberately lit some of these fires, it's an abominable act.

Temperatures are much cooler now, although strong winds are still feeding the fires that yesterday were separate and have now joined up. Hopefully nature will have mercy on us and bring our CFA firefighters some relief.

Fly me to the moon . . .

This is my latest piece of artwork, acrylic on canvas. It was done for my friend Lisa's son Cooper who is obsessed with rocketships. I enjoyed painting this and am quite happy with the end result. I'm starting to become more confident in blending with acrylic and playing with the brush to produce different effects. I may not be a master, but Cooper certainly liked it!

Have my knee op tomorrow morning. I'm first on the list, which means Mum has to drive me to the hospital by 6.30am! It's only a small procedure so I should be home early afternoon, hopefully hobbling, but not on crutches.

My next project is a calligraphy piece that has been floating around in my brain. I'm trying to finish each project before starting another one (which means scrapbooking and cardmaking inbetweend). I'm also trying to create just for me, allowing myself to just go with the flow of what I feel like creating. As long as I'm creating something I'm happy.

Digi-scrapping

Since the start of 09 I've been downloading some freebie digital scrapbooking kits so that I could have a play with digital scrapbooking. This page is the first of my plan to document Bailey and Nathan's 10 week journey from hospital to home. I've used most of the papers and embellishments for the Echo's of Asia kit downloaded from Jessica Sprague's website [she is one cool digital scrapbooker!]

My plan is to do one page each for Bailey and Nathan, but I'm trying to work out now how to duplicate this as a right-hand album page. I think it's a matter of hiding some of the images and then playing around with them until it mirrors this page. I did try the obvious flip horizontal but that achieved nothing!

Overall I'm happy with the result. My first try was very boxy and I wanted to try and do the type of layout that I haven't done before. I can always add or delete elements as I wish.

Onto more mundane matters, my knee operation has been postponed a week - apparently the receptionist booking it forgot the Dr was still on holidays - my sister thinks that perhaps he extended his stay once the weather started to improve! Whatever the reason it's another week of sleeping on the couch, which at the moment is the only place where I can get some sort of sleep - otherwise it's a lot of pain and very little sleep, which makes for a very cranky Mummy the next day!!

Now, if a three-year-old calls you fat what do you say?

2009 is moving too fast!

I can't believe that it's already close to the middle of January - where does the time go and why does it only drag when I am doing something I don't want to do? This is my first blog for 09 and it's a recap of Christmas morning mayhem and laughter with the boys opening their presents.


The next recap are two canvasses I did for my goddaughter Taylah and her sister Casey. My girlfrient Michelle said they needed new name plaques for their doors and this is the result. I decided to construct the canvasses like I would a card and using the favourite colours of each girs this is what I came up with. Judging by the screams I heard when they opened their pressies I think they liked them!

I'm still not sure about the whole canvas thing. So far this year I have focussed on scrapbooking and have had lots of fun downloading stuff from Creating Keepsakes and Jessica Sprague to use with digital scrapbooking. One of the [many] projects I'm working on at the moment is a mini-album of Bailey and Nathan's first 10 weeks, which was spent in the special care nurseries of the Mercy hospital (6 weeks) and Mitcham hospital (4 weeks).

This was a very full on time for Andrew and I - new parents, teeny weeny babies, watching them in the humidicribs all hooked up to a myriad of machines. I want the album to be fairly simple focussing on pictures rather than words. While the mini-album will be paper I plan to do all the pages digitally and print them out and store them in 6 x 6 pockets. I've almost finished the template I'll be using, I just wanted to let it sit for a few days to see if it needed tweaking. I'll be using the American Crafts album and designing the cover myself, so when that's done I post it as well.

Until then I'm enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet while Andrew takes Bailey and Nathan to the ice-cream shop - gotta love slow summer evenings!!