junk it up...

I have been working in my junk journal this week.  It's another journal I have constantly on the go.   This one I keep all kinds of ephemera, inspiration and anything that is just too cute to throw away.

I usually just sit stuff in it until I have enough to do quite a few pages at once then glue it all in.

After it's glued down I go back and add some colour to the pages with soluble oil crayons

and then just add any other bits and pieces I might have.  These pages below are made up of ephemera I kept after having a few days in Melbourne last year with my bestie.

It's a great way to keep things you like

and to have a play around with art supplies and paper without feeling like there has to be some kind of finished product at the end.

and you don't need a journal with drawing paper in it either.   Just a plain exercise book

would work just as well

It's what the word "scrapbook" used to mean way back in the day.....you literally just stuck in stuff you liked and wanted to keep......did you have one when you were a kid?  My girls did.  From about the age of 2 or so they would love to tear out things from the junk mail and glue in their books.  You know the stuff, all those pictures from toy sale catalogues full of Barbie etc.

Once they were old to enough to look at them and say "I want I want" then the junk mail went straight to the bin before they saw it!

Pop over to Kirsty's for a peek into some other creative goings on

hottie no. 2

This one is my Hottie.  I had a lot of fun making it.   It's got glitter, bling, charms and a rose ribbon trim plus the papers of course.

Thanks so much to Cam for all her organising.  I can't wait to see photos of the Exhibition at Open Drawer Gallery in Camberwell starting on July 1st.

It's on until July 24 so if you live in Melbourne or are visiting in that time pop along and check them all out......

happy weekend xx

ps Cindy it was so nice to bump into you at the shops today!!!

hottie no.1

I was so happy the other day when I was working on my Hottie and Bel said she wanted to make one too.  So she got everything she needed out and set herself up on the floor and whipped this up while watching a movie!!!

This is a character she had designed herself in her art journal some time ago so she decided to make him in felt.

I think it turned out wonderfully, I love it. 

I would of loved it too if  I whipped mine up that quickly instead of agonising over it first.  But it is finished and they are both in Cam's safe hands.   I will put mine up later today...So many fabulous Hotties on the Hottie Flickr page too.  Check them out

wips

getting through the pile of unfinished projects

it feels good to be getting on with things.  This project is so close to the end.  I am such a slow worker.  I have to fit in creating when I am feeling up to it and that is not everyday.

It's cold too which normally I love.  But do you remember a few posts ago I said I wasn't going to worry about the power bill that would be coming and I would stay in my happy place, well it came.  The price of power has gone up so much here in Tassie (and it was so expensive anyway I have friends in other states saying it's ludicrous what we pay) well our bill for the Autumn quarter was double what last year's was!! I cried.   A few people we have heard from have had bills for the Autumn quarter at around $1400.  One of those were away for 6 of the 12 weeks!!!

So my happy place is a hard place to find especially as we got another totally unexpected bill this week,  I know these things happen in 3s.......also power costs go up again next month.  How can this be allowed.  We (our city)were bullied into getting rid of our wood heaters because of such bad air quality in the valley we are in (and our woodheater was very old and sad) and now we are stuck with electric heating If we had the money I would put back in a wood heater in an instant.  I hope we can in the next year or so.

I just have to keep drawing, gluing,cutting,painting and spreading glitter everywhere to get back to that happy place except my fingers are so damned cold.....

journals

I always have a few journals going at once and one of them is my Wreck This Journal.   It is a lot of fun to follow the instructions on each page.    I have done quite a few of them so far but I still have a lot to go.

I have my postage page........

my ephemera page........

my circles page...

it's great to have different journals going at the same time because you can work in a different one according to what mood you are in, drawing full on detailed pieces, designs for sewing or artworks, playing, keeping ephemera etc

When I used to start a new journal I always had a feeling I had to fill it quickly.  Don't ask me why.  It's just silly.  So now I am chilling out and just taking my time with my journals and not worrying about filling them quickly.  Especially my Wreck This Journal.  I am definitely not rushing with that.  I think I have had it well over a year now....

do you have different  journals on the go at once?   Do you feel you have to fill them quickly?

create

It's been quite creative around here lately.  It's the second week of school holidays and Bel has been quite busy......she has been baking....

and candle making.....aren't these cute

and she draws every spare minute she has

her drawings are amazing I think.  She practices and practices so much and I have seen such a huge development over the last 12 months or so.

I wish I could be so dedicated to my drawing!

The Eldest has started back into her art journaling which makes me happy, and also, for someone who has always said she hated sewing, she is now making her own custom designed and made softies which has made me very happy....I KNEW she would come around one day to my way of thinking and love sewing.   I think "love" may be too strong a word but she's on her way...

I am getting some work done as well.    I  have started my Hottie  yay...and am slowly working away on another project which is getting there, almost done.

I have been working hard at supporting the Ban Live Exports Campaign, and that is taking a lot of my energy.   I am now keeping it in perspective though, trying to anyway.   The first week I really over did it and I think that's why I ended up in the hospital.   I became so stressed and upset that my health hit a crisis point.

The other night I was getting upset again over ALL cruelty to animals and factory farming and hubby said "you won't be able to save any animals at this rate because you will be dead if you don't put your health first".  I realised he had a point so that's why I am trying to stay in my "happy place" all the time!!
Pop over to Kirsty's to check out other creative spaces.....

If you want to help save the lives of thousands of animals from the cruelty of live export please click the link highlighted above and all you have to do is put in your email address and suburb and the video and letter will go straight to relevant  MP........easy peasy, even if you have already done it maybe do it again because this one actually sends a short film with the letter

With Diamonds

It's wonderful Julian Lennon has been getting behind Lupus awareness and also raising money to help find a cure.

He was inspired to help the Lupus Foundation of America raise awareness with the aid of his public profile, when his close friend Lucy died of Lupus recently.

Lucy was the inspiration for the song by the Beatles, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Julian and Lucy had been friends since kindergarten. He has been doing charity concerts and also has released a single and will be donating the proceeds for research.

Thanks Julian

butterflies and Besties....

A mixed media piece I created for my Bestie's birthday.  I had so much fun making this and was so happy to get it finished on time.....onto finishing more projects now....
drinking lots of tea....trying to keep warm but not over doing it on the heating as the cost of electricity in Tassie is out of control and just keeps going up.    
We are more sparing each winter with our heating yet last winter's bill was almost double the winter before because of price rises so I hate to think what this winter's will be.

Anyway can't worry about that now, I am trying to stay in my 'happy place' so I can be well and keep creating.....

creating at last...

Finally,  over this last week I have been able to find my mojo and get on with some projects.   It's been so satisfying getting all my mixed media supplies out and making a huge mess.  I can NEVER have too much glitter

One piece was finished, posted and opened last night yay... so I will share that one soon.   It felt so good to finally finish something after weeks of hardly any creating.     I am now rushing madly to finish 2 other projects which are part of the same present but just have to be late (this now seems to be my theme)

I just had to share the photos of some of my supplies.  I think supplies are just as lovely as the finished  project.  The next 2 photos are the top tray of an adorable work caddy Bel bought  me for Mother's Day.    Most of the goodies in the photos were in it too when she gave it to me.    I love it so much.  It's clear plastic and quite big with cute little pictures on it of cotton spools, scissors etc.  I am using it as my "current project" caddy so most stuff I need for that particular project is altogether.

Last night I was looking for a particular piece of fabric Zoe needed, and I found it so lovely to get reacquainted with the fabric stash, it has been a while.  It's so tactile,  like playing with my button collection.
  I found myself looking through it and was reminded of how much I had and beautiful it is.  This includes new stuff and vintage fabric by way of tablecloths, sheets and pillowcases.

I have spent years collecting it all thinking I would use it in sewing projects eventually,  and I now realise that is not going to happen.

I certainly will still be sewing, but just not as much as I had planned I would when I had to give up clay and took up fabric again.   So I think a little destashing is in order.......

With the mojo back maybe I will be able to get some baking done too, and making bread everyday has gone by the wayside of late, must get back into that too.  Even though it is not gluten free so I can't eat it,  I love to make it for the fam.

It's not worth making gluten free bread, it's rank.....

happy weekend xx

and a BIG BIG happy birthday to you Mrs M, miss you lots and I wish I could be at the big Shindig tonight.....love ya xx

Bob is the man...

Bob Brown has THE BEST things to say over the issue of banning live animals exports.     Go Bob....

such good news

News About Live Export, it's a great start

"The ban announced today will last up to six months, but the Government is facing demands for a complete end to the $700 million-a-year live export industry within three years.

Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig today refused to mention compensation despite a number of specific questions from reporters and would only discuss the "significant impact" of the current ban.

He made clear that the priority was on animal welfare issues but said the long-term sustainability of the industry was at stake."

source  The Australian Newspaper

I feel the gloom lifting, I feel I can get creative again.....

a little goes a long way

I have been really quite ill for the last week.  I have even endured a couple of visits to the hospital.  But now I am starting to pick up I must continue to help with the push to Ban Live Exports.

Please help in any way you can. Sign the petition and/or donate even just a tiny amount to RSPCA, ANIMALS AUSTRALIA or their joint website BAN LIVE EXPORT or GETUP so we can keep the ad made for TV on air for as long as possible and to help in many other ways.  We don't have cash to spare but I had to donate a little to Animals Australia and also bought some of their shopping bags.  They not are only really cute and useful too, but provide money to the organisation

Gillard now knows of this cruelty for sure yet last week ships of cattle were quickly sent to Indonesia and they just happen to be even bigger ships than normally are used. This week more ships of cattle are ready to leave for Indonesia right now and probably have already left.

Gillard already condones the cruelty of Live Export of sheep and goats to the Middle East by not stopping it and now she is condoning cruelty and torture by allowing Live Export of our cattle to Indonesia.
It is also now reported Australia exports cattle to many countries to be used as dairy cattle and they would go through just as much cruelty, not to mention the cruelty their Bobby Calves would endure.
As we already know, mainstream AUSTRALIAN Dairy Cattle are not treated well, so imagine how they are treated in countries like Turkey and the Middle East.

Even if  you want to help purely from a taxpayers point of view and no other reason,  you should know you tax is being spent on this practice by providing equipment to these sub-humans to be used in their slaughterhouses.

Please don't let Gillard and her Govt think we are going to go away on this which is what they are hoping for.

I definitely think Lyn White of ANIMALS AUSTRALIA should be Australian of the Year AND our next Prime Minister.  She has more balls and integrity than Gillard and all her cronies put together