Gettin' stitchy with it ...

The weekend saw us visiting our new 'Masters' store for a family fun day. Now we don't usually visit hardware stores for family fun, no...
A member of our family works there and before their official opening, they had a little silent opening just for family and friends to have a sticky beak.
It's huge and clean and orderly and will definitely give OTHER big hardware stores in the area some major competition. The lighting dept, ornamental garden area and wallpaper section were all very exciting to my crafty heart.

But this isn't an advertisement for the new hardware store on the block, 

rather a beginning to how this triptych of hearts came to be.

The course I'm doing called for us to bring an element of a place that helps us dream... into our home. Having quite a small home, that is overly cluttered with the products of my craft addiction i wasn't entirely sure where I could fit an ocean! Calm water, expanse of sand, nothing but nature...

So I parked the idea and figured something would present itself soon enough. And sure enough whilst shopping on family fun day...Go Masters...I found this set of 3 canvas prints. Ocean, sand, pebbles, hearts. Depicts all the things I wanted it to. My only hesitation was the lack of color. So I decided to add a splash of red by stitching a few elements on each canvas.

Now when I look at them I sense wide open spaces,

 my feet in the sand and my heart in craft.

 A little corner to dream in.

Perfect.

Jay. x

Things that make you smile ...

I'm doing a fun little e-course at present and today's mission was

 to go for a walk and take pics of things that make you smile.

Thought I'd share them with you too.

Making wishes...

Holding hands...

Hearts in nature...

 

Plant devouring house ...

 

Natures confetti ...

Our Broccoli doin' the right thing in the veggie patch

 by growing up big and strong.

Guess there is lots of things to smile about, when you go looking for them.

Jay xx

A little ray of sunshine...

A little ray of sunshine has entered my world in the way of some amazing new art for my bedroom.

This adorable custom piece was made by none other,

 then the lovely Cathy aka Tinniegirl.

It was delivered last week to my messy, disorganized and somewhat chaotic home and I just couldn't bare to put it up amidst the shambles. So it was perched upon a chair and waited so patiently for the perfect time to find a home.

In its waiting place was a big old petition. A Gothic/religious piece, very dark and ominous.
Not at all the sort of look I try to create these days, more a relic of the past.
So I was happy to move it on, which paved the way for my new artwork to bring life back into the room.

 Once the painting was up, I dug out my lanterns that were tucked away, waiting for a place to go. They were a present from kizzy that I got over a year ago and hadn't made time to hang yet. Together, they really change the space. I don't know if a painting can change the size of a room, but I'm sure it is bigger now.
More then anything, I think its about having something so bright and fun and freeing in my room that makes it feel bigger.

Each time I walk in I can't help but smile 

and each time I look at the painting I see something new.

It has such depth, joy and good energy and is such a perfect pick of colors, shapes and words to represent me. How lucky am I to know such a talented artist who was able to take a blank canvas, think what I might like on it and create something so spot on.

Gosh I loves it and how it has transformed my bedroom.
Cathy ... you is amazing xx.

Jay x

A little bit of magic...

A little out of my element, o.k 'A LOT'...
but spurred on by the amazing gardens up at my Mums,
we decided to spend these school holidays doing something a little different.

It started with some seedlings,

And a little help from some friends,

A good sprinkle of magic here and there...

and the necessary fire pit for toasting marshmallows.

A bit of paving beside the cubby for the cars to park,


Top of the list those ones were ...

and there you have it.

Our remodeled back yard

complete with veggie patches

that might even grow something we could eat one day!

Jay xx

Still here....

Has been a while, I know. But I is still makin' stuff,

New art canvas's

still hanging with the family,Little one turned 4 and big one started high school.

and majorly dealing with my health after an annoying little diagnosis of C.F.S and I.B.S shaking my world and making me focus on a life without my few true loves. Wheat, dairy and sugar...
Wish me luck, cause it aint gunna be easy to say goodbye to those babies.

A fun little painting I did while hanging' with the kids one weekend.

I'm sick of being sick and tired all the time, so something had to give and the idea of going a day without ending in sheer exhaustion or pain is an idea that makes it worthwhile.

Will keep you posted on my progress and know that any and all advice is welcome.
Very early days for me and somewhat drowning a little in the thought of how to tackle changing my 37 years of daily bread eating habits...
Jay xx

A little bit of grounding...

Gosh so much going on, but then not really much at all.

For me January is a holiday. A holiday from work and making anyway.

Gnomey in our herb patch.

Time to be with the kids over the holidays and reconnect with family and friends.

(Us with Grandma dot at X-mas)

After such a full on period of work from October to December it sorta feels like January is a jam packed month of making up for lost time.

Cooking, cleaning, de-cluttering and just hanging out.
We have gone through all the cupboards and bookshelves and donated bag upon bag of STUFF.
Stuff that just clutters up our little space and creates such and energy block.

We've been growing herbs, potatoes,

(Kizzy's first batch of potatoes churned out this awesome heart shaped potato. Guess it was grown with love)

lettuce,

and filling our home with fruit and veg.

I do fall into that cliche model of being... who hits January and starts fresh with diet, exercise and reconnecting with all the important things I need to balance my self and start the year with new vigour. Hopelessly predictable, but it works for me, so why not!

I just finished my first e-course in December on surface and pattern design, which absolutely blew my mind with the amazing amount of content. Activities and ideas that will take me another month to process.

Then I have another e-course starting in a few weeks. Hello soul, hello business. I'm very excited by this one.
Hoping to re-connect with my creative soul and start making things from the heart again.
It's far to easy to get caught up in making and re-making and filling orders e.t.c that you just lose your mojo and feel like it's ages since you sat in front of a blank canvas and took time...really took time, to make from the heart.

Image via here

So my January, as always is about finding my centre, finding balance again. Re-connecting and starting fresh.
Happy new year to you all, I hope you are finding yourself grounded and prepared for an awesome 2012.
Jay xx

From little things...

Seems not that long ago that I was stressing out about my little girl making friends on her first day of primary school and today as the bell rings for the last time, I'll be thinking about how sad it will be for her to say goodbye to all those friends she has made over the last seven years.

Today's last day of school not only marks the beginning of summer holidays for my girl, but the ending of Primary school. A time of transition into so many new things. High school...a whole new bunch of kids and teachers to meet, a whole new routine to greet each day... all whilst growing up from a child to a young adult.

She seems to be handling it all o.k. albeit with a touch of sadness in knowing, that only one other person she knows is going to the same high school as her. But with social media what it is today, mobiles and such it's so much easier to keep in touch with old friends, so we'll do our best to maintain old friendships whilst new ones are formed.

On Monday night the event was marked with graduation.

A night to reflect on old times, appreciate all they have achieved and receive there graduation certificates.

School had put together a touching video, showing footage of the kids as preppies interspersed with the class answering questions asked today about there highlights, challenges and hopes for the future.
So nice to see responses from 'I dunno' and 'I always wanted to be a garbage man' to 'I'll be a lawyer' or 'I want to go to university'

The children are our future ... and sometimes amidst making sure they are fed, clothed and arrive to school on time I sorta forget that they are growing up sooo quickly and forming there own opinions on the way this world works and there place in it. BIG STUFF.
Really big stuff.

So I'm so grateful for days like these, that bring it all home. Celebrate achievements and offer wishes for our kids future. Next year is gunna be huge and my little girl is sooo ready for it.

Me though, I sometimes think she's still such a little thing..

Jay xx

The doll house...

After a crazy two months of preparing stock for Christmas, December has been all about birthdays and making presents.

We have two birthdays this month. My niece and my father in law.
F.I.L was born on Christmas day, so I can't spoil the surprise by showing his gifts yet, but for our spunky little niece we have had a project on the go for months.

The 'doll house'

Completely made by hand, via the uber talented F.I.L, then a major group effort in painting and decorating.

Sorta felt like renovation rescue, when we were handed a shell on a Wednesday with a few days left to completely decorate and fit out, ready for gift giving.

From the check tiled kitchen complete with disco balls and flying ducks, to the couch upholstered with vintage tea towels, it certainly has turned out to be OOAK.

Let me give you a tour.

Bathroom complete with shower curtain, towels and even a grandpa on the toilet.

Kids room, with draws and handmade bed.

Master bedroom, so chic....

dining,


kitchen,

and lounge.

Such an amazing amount of work went into making it and I'm sure at some stage we all said...maybe we should have just bought one.

But the end result is something so much more then money could buy.

Yay, for hand made.

Jay xx

Ducks...

Just a little show n' tell of the pieces I came up with for the 'Flight of the ducks' exhibition over at Gleaners.

I went with jewellery as that's my thing...

and found an old Morgans street directory of Melbourne that I cut up.
I used page 44... the best bit of town of course.
It Covers the area from my house to Liz's lovely shop on Ballarat st.

Then I cut some duckies out of black card stock and embedded them in resin.

Too cute.
Jay xx

Calling all ducks...

When the lovely Liz put out the call for crafty peeps to make ducky things for her first Gleaners exhibition, I just couldn't refuse.

Didn't matter that it was my busiest making month of the year, that I was in the middle of an e-course, had an upcoming open studio and high school orientations to attend.

Nah... not too busy, She'll be right.

Well, in retrospect I did possibly over commit, but Somehow... god knows how...I managed to make the time to sit down and design/make some awesomeness for the first ever exhibition to be held at Gleaners.

I can't spoil the opening by showing you my offering, but I can invite you to come see for yourselves the duck extravaganza...

Sydney Rd has much to offer on opening night too...

After the opening of 'Flight of the ducks' why not head down to the late night 'Sisters Market' at Brunswick town hall and then on to Olive Grove studios for our late night shopping....shops open till 9 Yay.
A night positively jam packed with handmade delights.

Might see you there.
Jay xx

Open studio on Wednesday....

This year I'm lucky enough to be part of an open studio event over at Tinniegirl's.
The perfect opportunity to have a sticky beak at the artist studio and original works.

We'll have a mini market set up offering a range of goodies
from Curlypops, Tinniegirl and Moi.
Perfect for dropping in after work and
hopefully crossing a few things off those X-mas lists.

I'll mainly have clothes and cuddlies, so please do drop me a line
if you'd like to see something in particular from my range.


Original Artwork by Tinniegirl

Everyone is welcome
just check the details below to get the address.

Open Studio & End of Year Celebration

Wednesday 14th December 2011
4 – 9pm

Prints, Cards, Jewellery, Stationary, Clothes,
Original Artworks, Cushions & More
Special Guests, Camille Condon {CurlyPops}, Jaylene Juanita {Finki Handmade}

It's a great opportunity to celebrate the end of the year, get together for a glass of bubbles, have a peak into my studio and creative process, and do a little Christmas shopping if you feel so inclined.

If you'd like to come along
please email me at tinniegirl/at/optusnet.com.au
and I'll send you my street address.

All welcome.

Hope to see you there,
Jay xx