My little raincloud

I've been wanting to make a little fluffy raincloud for awhile now after watching something on either Nick Jr or Playhouse. I don't remember which kids program it was (I think it may have been Blue's Clues) but in it were two dimensional cartoon clouds which to me looked to be readily convertible to big puffy clouds.

I hadn't decided how big it was going to be and what it was going to be. On Wednesday night I decided to go ahead and go without a plan. I dug into my craft box and let the raincloud gather momentum organically. I ended up making this little fluffy yellow bejeweled raincloud brooch.

So Bella Blog's Pay It Forward

I am participating in So Bella Blog's Pay It Forward. Below is text taken from her post about it:

I am entering into the following agreement with the first 5 people who comment on this post and then commit to doing the same on their blog. Just read below and if you feel up to the task, copy the following into your blog and leave me a comment. I am willing to post overseas (I am in Australia), but remember you must commit on your blog to do the same for others.

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I send you. But you may be pleasantly surprised. It will definitely be sewing/craft related.
2. What I send will be made just for you, with love, by my own hands. See, I can go to your blog and read your posts and a really great idea will pop into my pretty little head.
3. I promise I will complete all 5 gifts this year - 2009.
4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be. It will be something made in the real world, that you can touch and feel, and not something cyber.
5. In return, all you need to do is post this text on your blog and make 5 things for the first 5 to respond to your blog post.

Oh, and remember to blog about your Pay It Forwards after you have received confirmation that they have received it!

Happy crafting!

Extraordinary Mondays - Resonating tune

Currently, this song really resonates with me.

I have a larger than life husband who absolutely adores me. He is the only one who willingly puts up with all my eccentricities and faults. He is also the only one who will ever think of my jelly belly as a symbol of the sacrifice I made for our kids.

I have my two lovely babies who love me with their entire little beings and have hugs and kisses for me everyday no matter how crabby I have been with them.

I have an extended family that surrounds me with love and support. My parents and my in-laws look after me in all the ways a girl like me needs.

I have friends who are oh so dear to me who have journeyed with me through my ups and downs (and still think that I'm not a looney tune) and who I know will drop everything to be there for me if I ever needed them.

Honestly, what more could a girl ask for? God has blessed me and continues to bless me.


I really do like the video too, clowns (scary) and all.

Do you like street art?

Well, if you do, you simply have to be at Condor Tower this Saturday (25 July) from 6pm-11pm. Condor Tower is on St George's Terrace and is currently under construction. It is the carpark that is of great interest. There is a total of five floors and graffiti artists have been hard at work painting the walls of the carpark to 5 themes - Core, Underwater, Land, Sky and Space.

Tomorrow will be the only time it will ever be open to the public so if you really truly like street art, you must be there at 22 St George's Terrace, alleyway off St George's Terrace, opposite the Perth Concert Hall. This biggest street art exhibition has been organised by the group known as Ololo. Check out their website for more information about the project.

A selection of my favs:

Extraordinary mondays - images in my head

I've been asked how long that last painting took me? The actual putting paintbrush to canvas totaled only about 6 hours. However, I've been carrying that image in my head for about 3 years now. Maybe more. I don't know why I do that. Carrying images in my head. I suppose I do that because I really don't get time to paint. In between two kids (babies, really), working full time, trying to hit the gym at least twice a week and now putting together the many pieces to start a 'hobby' business, the last few years have been hectic to say the least. I'd be happy if I could have an hour to myself to spend time painting per week. I've taken to carrying a little notebook around in my handbag hoping that it would encourage me to put pen to paper more often but that notebook is sadly empty. So, I carry images. And then in my head, I mull over them, turn them around, change the mood, alter the angle of the light, tell the story. I even dream about the image! Then, involuntarily the image matures and the urge to get paint on canvas is undeniable. And then when I finally see it on the canvas, there is such a sense of relieve.

Relieve that it came out right. That I translated the image exactly the way I have been seeing it and drawing it in my head. Relieve that it is one less image to carry around. The cacophony of images in my head can be deafening sometimes.

So, I wonder which image will ripen next? I think I know which one but since I still have it in my head, you'll have to wait and see.

Finished!

From this...
to this...
I just love watching layers of a painting come together. I have yet to find a wall space for it. Hope you like it.

Stereophonics - A Thousand Trees

Heard this streaming out of our living room this morning and was pleasantly surprised that Khoa added what he would call "my music" to his playlist. The song makes me smile. Really it shouldn't if you listen to the lyrics carefully but it's such a catchy little song.

Markets markets everywhere

Markets are popping up everywhere! I was passing by Guildford today and show a big huge banner advertising a market to be held at the town hall this Sunday. I also found the flyer below advertising it. I haven't been there and don't know the quality but hey, it would be as close to your old country town market I reckon. If anyone is heading that way, let me how how it is.

The other market is Sunday Best by Unwrapped to be held on 6 September as part of Perth Fashion Festival with applications for stalls closing on 31 July. Go here for more information. This should be feature loads of high quality crafters. Shouldn't be missed and don't miss the deadline for applications for those of you who want to have a stall.

Words and pictures - Joy

I'm playing with Meet me at Mikes's words and pictures today. I often just enjoy the posts but when I read this week's, the image below popped into my head immediately and I just had to play along.
This is Zach at his third birthday party. The sheer joy on his face says it all. He did melt into a mess at the end of the party because of the lack of solid food and the sugar gushing through his veins. I didn't really mind really. He had a wonderful time!

Digitizing embroidery designs using PE Design 7

So, I had a play with PE Design 7 on the weekend. I was trying to digitize Zachary's and Amelia's monograms. Let's just say that using the Auto Punch function that automatically converts the image to stitches isn't going to cut it for the perfectionist in me. I didn't even want to do a trial run on the machine which explains why there is no image to accompany today's post.

I'm going to have to do some manual manipulation. I'll save that for the next weekend to come as this coming one I'm keen to finish my painting which I posted about a few weeks ago now.

Happy mid-week, everybody!

Extraordinary mondays - white peacock

Albino Peacock, originally uploaded by darrenstone.

Still on the peacock theme, look what I found? Isn't this extraordinary? I never knew white peacocks existed. Doesn't it look just so elegant?

Extraordinary mondays - the laundry piles

I'm sorry this week's Extraordinary Mondays is on Tuesday. I've been battling a pile of laundry that is waiting to be folded and put away. So I decided that this week's Extraordinary Mondays post will be dedicated to the growing piles of clean laundry in our households.

I'm sure I am not the only one out there with this ever-present laundry pile that has the growth pattern that is as fast as mold. You know how it starts, you put the dirty laundry to wash and no matter what method of drying you use, line or machine, the clean laundry finally finds its place in the laundry basket waiting to be folded. And there it waits and waits and waits and grows and grows and grows as each new load is added to the pile.

I am envious of the homes of Crafties that have immaculate interiors. I'd love to have interiors like that but this ever-growing pile of laundry...*sigh*

Made on the Left market

Hot on the heels of Perth Upmarket is the Made on the Left market and this market runs over two days at the Hyde Park Hotel. Now the difficulty is: which day shall I go?

What is Made On The Left? I'll let them tell you. (Text below taken from their website)

Made on the Left is a not-for-profit organization that was founded in 2008 by independent designers with the intention of supporting Western Australian creative talent. Our aim is to support all creative designers and events showcasing independent labels. Being on the left hand side of Australia no longer means you'll be at a disadvantage. We'll bring you all the information you need to know to make things happen!

Starting out young and quick review on the Toshiba Protege R400

Zach drawing on the Toshiba Protege R400

Our young Zach is proving to be a young technogeek. He is not three and half yet and has already mastered the basics of the iPhone (a testament to its ease of use). He knows how to change the brightness of the screen, turning it off and on as well as volume control. Then, the other day, Khoa allowed him to draw on his laptop and we were amazed that he instinctively knew how to change the pen size and colour. The image above captures him as he is about to tap one of the icons on the toolbar to change the pen properties. Never underestimate your children!

In case you are wondering, the laptop is a Toshiba Protege R400. It is a computer tablet which allows you to flip the screen to enable you to use the pen stylus on the screen. Overall, the performance of the laptop is pretty good. We've had it for more than 2 years and its biggest downfall is Windows Vista, which came as its operating system.

These trees are in full bloom...

...but I have no idea what they are called. There is a whole row of them lining Riverside Drive in Perth and I simply love it when they are in bloom. I find these trees absolutely elegant. The trunk leans ever so slightly and the branches all grow out in a certain way. The red blooms just top it all off.

If you know what they are called, could you please tell me?