Thank You for popping over... if I have gone AWL, again...
Please come a knocking over at this door... I am, no doubt, up to something, as per usual...



Monday 29 October 2007

Look What was Out to Greet me ...


When I got home my poor garden -that is so neglected with this dry we are having - was putting it's best foot forward with these lovely flowers ... my hippes and dieties. Even hubby's nasturtiums were in full bloom and the little blue fairy wren was waiting on the path ...

The garden should look lovely in a week or so as we have had some well needed rain in the last few days - sadly some people have experienced some very windy weather but all was OK with us, thankfully. This is a small canvas I did for a friend as a bit of a joke as I had given her an alphabet stamp set but somehow I had lots the capital 'A' so when I sent it on to her I also sent this canvas... so now you might understand why the 'A's' are all red... ha ha ..... ohh BTW she got it, too ... ha ha Well I'll be back with you all in a couple of days - hubby and I are going away overnight so we can catch-up with some old friends... be good now ...

Saturday 27 October 2007

Home again ...

I can't believe I've been home over a week already and not shown my photos and what I got to do while we were on our girlie roadtrip ... I think it might have something to do with all the life changing things that happened while we were on that roadtrip and things that have happened since ... sequence of coincidences - synchronicity= coincidence of events that seem to be meaningfully related... We took off on the Tues - had a few things to do at the border, on the way south, called into Crystal Castle for lunch - a place I would recommend everyone visit at least once in a lifetime. You now pay to go in but the money is being used to improve the gardens and I can assure you it is, as the gardens are so much bigger and so well kept since my last visit - I think this is the the 3rd or 4th time I've been there. It was a very hot day & I started to get a migriane so we stayed overnight at Sawtell - what a lovely seaside place to stay ... up next morning and on our way to visit with our friend Rob ... who just has the view to die for... in the country, nice and peaceful where we were made ever so welcome and we made art for two days. Here is Rob & me looking through the door of her studio and you can see Lucy there in the window reflection ... I think this is cool as it means we are all in the photo.Our art mainly consisted of paper collage along the lines of SoulCollage but onto canvas boards. Lucy got carried away finding word quote in her magazines she had and her collage was just that all saying that said & meant a lot to her and where she is/was heading in her life. [This is a very soul seaching/mind mapping/ mind blowing art form that we love.] Too many words so she then made a jigsaw of her most favourite saying for the day. Rob showed her how to do beeswax finish. Rob was working on a lovely purlpe collage when we left so I hope she shows it too us soon. I did three collages - 2x 8"x 10" and one small 5x7 which I've called Lucy's journey as it does tell what's happening in her life too. The beauty of these sorts of paper collages is that you don't realise what they mean until you have finished and look at them again through seeing/admiring eyes not art eyes.




Our time with Rob & Len was over all to quick and we had to head home again. Here is photo of Lucy with crystal light on her cheek from Rob's beautiful crystals that hang in her studio window.On the way Lucy took me into a little town called Bangalow to get fuel ... never knew the place existed but was soon to find out why I had to see it. We got back and all sorts of things had happened but all good ... Lucy is closing her business & finding something else in her life ... I will miss her as she is also moving away for where we live but not far ... I've also decided to do some new things in my life too .... We were home by Fri night and I turned my computer on to find that I was invited to a SoulCollage w/s - this is something I've been wanting to participate in for 18 months but haven't been able to organise to get to Melbourne to do so with Karen who is a facilitator of SoulCollage. Now where do you think this w/s is being held??? yes Bangalow on the Byron Bay road ... synchronicity again... This week I've been helping Lucy just a couple of days. I went to the movies on cheap Tues and saw the movie Almighty Heart with Angelina Jolie - gosh she is a good actor. Thurs. hubby & I celebrated 39 years of marriage which is unbelievable, we must of been such kids as we don't really feel old enough to be coming up to our 40th Ruby Anni next year. I'll tell you a funny little story ... during the week I was tiding up the pantry and could see a solid plastic carry-all in the very back of the top shelf so got it our thinking I could use this in my artShed - it also had another container in it that would be useful too. As I was getting it out I came across a packer of liquocrice that my hubby adores - it has fallen in the back & he has forgotten about it so pulled it out to the front again and there was a box of our favourite choccies Ferrero Rocher - now how long had they been there - must of fallen to the back too so pulled it to the front too ... thinking I bet hubby will see these and give them to me for our anni. - I wasn't worried as we both love them. Hubby came in later and when I came in I found my little chair I use to climb up to see into these cupboards gone and door shut, end of story... I thanked him for putting the chair away but told him I was looking for a particular lid for a glass bottle to use as an extra biscuit barrel - 'did he know where there was one' ... well as helpful as he is he found one for me - problem solved and I didn't think anymore about it. On the day of our anni he give me this box of Ferreros and I just smile to myself and he then proceeds to tell me ... he had actually bought them while I was away on my girlie roadtrip and hidden them in the back of the pantry as he knows with my arthritis I have problems getting up there and he couldn't believe it when he found the chair there and 'his' choccies in full view ...well what a laugh we both got when I relaid my thoughts on it ... just two old cronies that think alike I guess ... haha but it was still lovely of him to remember our anni plus give me one of his special lovey dovey cards he always finds for me - don't give up girls when we were first married he used to forget too not until I made a point of forgetting to get/make him a card one year did he do the turn-around. As a special treat we are off on our own roadtrip next week to visit friends and stay overnight up the northcoast. There are so many lovely people to catch-up with and I've lost a couple of old [not in age] girlfriends this year so think life is a bit too precious to miss an opportunity to visit.

Monday 15 October 2007

My ART ...

Here I am with some of my ART to show ...

This is the canvas I have finished tonight before I leave on my girlie roadtrip ... I've made it for a girlfriend who has a dream of a Seachange which will be a great 'leap of faith' for her... I hope she likes it ... it's only small at 12cm x 22cm canvas that I picked up in New Zealand when over there on a working/holiday this year.
This is the 5" X 7" canvas I made with the Grandies over the school holidays.
Thanks to MacDonalds Happy Meals - NO I'm not going there with the
what fors or where fors with if the meals are what you should give the kids - we do it each school holidays and see the movie advertised and then use the boxs etc to make a canvas and they all look so forward to making their canvas. I forgot to take photos of theirs but this is mine - they do their own background and cut-out their own pictures that they want to use. I think all kids enjoy some creativity in their lives just the same as they love to help cook too another school holiday treat with Marnie.

I did this one while ago but was waiting for the special punch I just 'had' to have ... ha ha thanks Jean. The dresses are made with another punch too. It is only a small 4" sq. canvas.

Doing OK

Well I'm still around but feeling ever so much
better after such a hectic few months. I'm now getting ready for a wee bit of a road trip with my Girlfriend - doing a Thelma & Louise ... we feel the need to get away from it all for a few days so should be fun ...
I made a lovely card this w/e for a friends 50th ... got my camera out to take a photo of it but got lost in the garden going back to my Gyrlie shed and then forgot ... drrr ... somedays I wonder why I get out of bed! I'll try and make another similar to show you all...
Here is what distracted me in my garden ... these little violas are the loveliest shade of purple and just pop up in my pot plants from time to time what a wonderful surprise.


I thought you might like to see my resting Angel too... who is just near by but with the drought we are in I have lost that lovely pink/red flower plant now.
Out the back I found our nasturtiums in full flower - they just grow wherever they think we need some happiness I think ...
I'm looking at showing some art stuff later ... have a great day ...

Saturday 6 October 2007

Back again ...

Well I'm back again after being away for a time plus having lots of family fun ... one of my daughters was home on holidays from o/s so we all made the best of it - getting together and having fun - making memories with all. When that daughter went home she took her younger sister with her so I had Grandie duties ... looking after her two littlies so we spent time with my eldest daughter and her family so we have been very very busy since Nanna has been here ...
While all together we spent a family day at Australia Zoo home of the Crocodile Man the late Steve Irwin - this man had so much vision and his work still goes on and the park is becoming bigger and bigger - it's been about five years since we last visited... The zoo is getting so big now
you nearly need more than one day to give it a good look-over.
After a big day we looked a rather mottly lot wandering into the new South East Asia area as we were all getting a tad tied.
I'm a great lover of the Elephant God and I was thrilled to find this very large Ganesh next to the Elephant enclosure.



The kids loved Cameron the Crocodile - all kids did, so we couldn't get a photo of his mouth as there were just too many people there .... Cameron is a replica of crocodiles that are believed to be still in existence from the edivence that has been found on crocodile expeditions. All had a wonderful day ...
Before they all went their seperate ways after spending a long w/e together we got to have a
photo shoot ... thanks to Lucy ...





While we were up bush with all the Grandies, the kids were thrilled with Jayden's guinea pig ,TJ or is that TeeJay, who loves to be brushed .... so everyone had to take turns ...


I did find time to do a bit of card making plus a small canvas 5" x 7" - the kids also liked to do some art on a canvas but I'll show you one later ... here is my motivational canvas ...
Well off to bed now as I've not been well - just too much excitiment no doubt ... ha ha