the menagerie

lately our resident family of butcher birds have been joined by an increasing number of kookaburras (we've had two hanging around for a while but suddenly there are two more), and sometimes they all come calling together asking for food. it's just beautiful to walk out onto the verandah and see a tree full of birds - especially the gorgeous voluptuousness of a collection of kookaburras. and their songs once appetites have been satisfied are so joyful they always make me and my heart smile...

'i will make something for you' - no 2

my creation for alex (yes, the cushion craze continues). i found myself making something that reminded me of the day i met her - at a friends blessingway...there were sumptuous cushions scattered throughout a beautifully set up tent with sides billowing in the breeze...somehow the purple seemed right too.
(and i'm still enjoying this way of breathing new life into old doilies)

'i will make something for you' - no 1

a while ago i promised to show you the little details of this bag when it reached its new home. now that it is safely in kate's arms (literally, at times, i guess) here you are...
(i know i mentioned this before but i was quite taken by the writing on the selvedge - so decided to make a feature of it rather than hiding it)

this became the first of my 'i will make something for you' projects - an idea i read about on a friend's facebook page earlier in the year and instantly knew i wanted to be part of. simply put, it is a version of 'pay it forward' in which you promise to make something (anything) for the first five people who respond and agree to do the same: the ripple effect. a lot of people seemed to find this intimidating but it's not that scary - really! your gifts can reach the intended targets anytime in the year and be as small or big as you feel inclined. i think it's the most gorgeous idea, a lovely excuse to make new things... and such a feel-good buzz sending parcels of handmade things off into the world.

my favourite things...

an ode to lettuce

one of my big joys at the moment is wandering

to the little courtyard,

to my community of lettuce pots

and picking leaves on demand...

fresh as fresh can be.

gardening for the soul

made some little presents for the babies today...just in case they ever forget who they are (and yes, before you ask, i am going ever so slightly around the bend at the moment).

24 hr handbag

no, unfortunately, not a bag completed in the space of one day - instead one that took me somewhere approaching 24 hrs to complete. (it's not supposed to take 1 1/2 hrs to cut out a pattern...surely?)

this is another fantastic free pattern from rae hoekstra. the main material had been lurking in the cupboard for close to 20 years (and apparently has something to do with a food company which i can't quite work out); the lining fabric was a an ebay purchase from someone who was downsizing their collection; and the buttons were repurposed from something or other once upon a time and were also found sitting unloved in the cupboard. i think the only new things used were the magnetic clasp and the threads.

will show you all the little details when it's arrived at its new home...wherever that may be. (i want the person it goes to live with to have the pleasure of discovering those herself - think that's half the fun).

babies!

been nurturing the gardening goddess within (deep within, if past efforts are anything to go by) today. now have some baby lettuces - for when we finally get through the current crop - plus spinach and fennel. also some dill and zucchini seeds donated by one of my helpful horticultural consultants, which i will attempt to grow into seedlings. wish me luck!

love the feeling of watching something become what it was always meant to be, growing, evolving...

a recent visitor

last month i spent a couple of weeks in the company of journal # 6 (shown here soaking up the queensland winter sun) as part of the very talented kirrily anderson's 'creative for a second or two' project...this follows on from the publication of the 'creative for a second' book a couple of years ago.

the 'second or two' version is a worldwide collaborative arts project specifically for people with ME/CFS, the idea being that each person has two weeks with one of the journals (there are currently seven) and then sends it on to the next person on the list. reading through the book that has already been published i was amazed at the creativity that exists within our community. and taking part in this project, while highly stressful (totally self-induced) for a perfectionist like me was also really interesting and rewarding. since i passed the journal on i've been able to follow what other people have been doing on the facebook page - and loved the sense of shared experience, support, understanding and enthusiastic encouragement i see every time i go back to see what is new. none of us would ever choose to be connected by this illness that binds us all but it's a lovely group of people to be bound to!

to tassel or not to tassel. that is the question.

so...first scarf completed. albeit a very very 'organic' individual little number. still tossing up whether or not to add tassels, but leaning toward not perhaps?

(for the last few weeks i've been enjoying the green next to acrylic on canvas attempt no 2, perched on my grandmother's old easel)