Murchison Magic

Time for sharing something with a bit more positive in the mix. I've put together a photo essay of our time up in Murchison. The montage at the top are just photo's that give an idea of the area. & what it has to offer .The individual photo's below are of some pretty special memories I have of my time there.....with the associated descriptions & stories of course!

A moment that really made my heart happy was watching Gabriela coming back from her first horse ride of any real duration, on Dash, with a huge smile on her face.

Meeting Indie  whom I promptly fell in love with. A wonderfully well behaved girl of mixed parentage (Mastiff/Staffy cross) only a year old & so intelligent & loving.

The next photo is really special. Driving into the horse paddocks my cousin, Mike, spotted a bird in the distance. Initially we thought it might have been a native parrot - Kakapo or Kea perhaps, but as we got closer we saw that it was a raptor as it had prey in it's claws. Mike drove slowly & I took some photo's...wishing more than any other time that I had a decent zoom lens!! I eventually got out of the vehicle to see if I could get in a bit closer still - but this was as close as I could get. (Click on the photo to view at full size)

A bit of an internet search when we got home revealed that this was almost certainly a  New Zealand Falcon -Karearea ( Falco novaeseelandiae)..... a rare & threatened species on the verge of extinction. Mike submitted the photo's to the websites "Wingspan"& "New Zealand Falcon" & both confirmed that it was indeed a young Karearea & asked for the geographical co-ordinates of where it was spotted. We were so privileged to be in the right place at the right time!!

Meet the non-spitty Alpaca. Some time back I mentioned to Mike that I'd love an Alpaca. He promptly assured me they were nasty, smelly things that spat at people. After watching a grown man try to provoke this particular alpaca into spitting by making spitty noises, saying some things that I'm sure would have hurt the alpacas feelings & just behave like a mischievous kid in general - I'm not so sure that I believe him. All the alpaca deigned to do was give him "the look"!

Follyfoot Farm (that's what the neighbours call Mike & his wife's  menagerie of animals) & that is just what they looked like following me in after I'd opened the gate to one of the upper paddocks! I love this photo!

Horses are amazing animals. These three knew that their dinner was on the way, they were waiting for us at the gate when arrived & had started following the car to the back paddock knowing that Kris comes in around this time with their feed. I was on gate duty & had told Kris to go ahead & I'd walk up after shutting the gate. When I turned around & looked up I was absolutely delighted to see these 3, Dash, Starlight & Abby just standing there looking at me as if to say "well hurry up , are you coming or not" instead of having trotted off quickly after the car as they usually do!

Gabriela enjoying Gidget & Jazz. One very contented kiddo & two very happy dogs! Yep - that made my heart happy too.

My last sight of the horses just before I left to come home. I'd offered to go up & take their covers off & let them into the big paddock while Kris was at work. What a perfect scene.

It was so difficult to leave... I procrastinated for as long as I could & left mid afternoon to drive home. By way of compensation on the way home I found a place to stop & take photo's of the magnificant West Coast bush.

Not Without Guilt

Last week I did what I thought I would never do & left town for a few days. As it turns out it was the best thing I could have done as it gave me time to think without being surrounded by constant scenes of damage, devastation & sadness.
Time to try & sort out the various emotions that seem part of this mess was something that was desperately needed although at the time of making the hasty arrangements to go, after an impromptu comment posted by my cousin to my facebook page, I wasn't consciously aware that I needed time to sort my feelings - all I knew was that I had to get myself & Gabriela away for a while.

 

As I drove out of the city & felt the utter relief at leaving I also realised that I felt a little guilty – as if I was deserting a sinking ship. That was the first time that the word 'guilt' had come to mind.

 

The next few days went by all too quickly. We spent time with my cousin & his family just relaxing & exploring the countryside surrounding Murchison. We enjoyed being around the dogs & horses while breathing in the fresh air & scents of the country. I spent time outside at nights star gazing in a place where there is very little light pollution & the many more stars that were visible shone brighter than they do when viewed from the city. In the mornings we'd awake to low mist clouding the surrounding mountains & watch as it lifted to reveal their splendour bathed in sunlight.

 

As I cleaned my teeth or grabbed a glass of water I thought how nice it was just to be able to run water straight from the tap without boiling it first. As I showered I realised that for the first time in over a week I didn't feel guilty for actually being able to have a shower...or for having the power available to heat the water in the first place. And therein lays the problem.

 

Ever since the February 22nd earthquake struck I'd known how blessed we were to be just outside the area that was hit so badly. I'd known how fortunate we were to get our power back on the same day & our water restored within 36 hours - & for the life of me I couldn't figure why, yet again, we were spared most of the damage. It didn't feel right that this little area I live in was relatively unaffected while there were varying degrees of damage so very close to it on every side. I felt bad that we had what we did, when others had lost their homes. It felt selfish to be so grateful that my family were all safe when others had lost their loved ones.

 

After the initial stunned disbelief at what had happened started to wear off & the new reality slowly settled in it still didn't feel right to worry about small issues. I thought about filling out insurance claims – & a little voice suggested how dare I be thinking of replacing 'things'!! The thought of my 13 year old now having to attend a different venue for school which involves her travelling home by bus from the other side of town in the dark (when daylight savings finishes soon) didn't exactly thrill me, but again it felt selfish to be worrying about that.

 

Feelings of guilt & selfishness are bad things when they start undermining what, at any other time, are quite normal emotions & reactions when presented with a problem or concern. They colour your every thought & move, they inhibit your ability to heal, to move forward or even be able to see a future that is better than the present.

 

Part of the problem is that we don't see those feelings as guilt until we can distance ourselves from the situation, take stock of what we have been going through & think about those feelings we have been experiencing. After I got back & started talking to others about what was happening in their lives I've realised that I wasn't alone in the way I was feeling. I've heard people say "I feel quite guilty at how lightly I have gotten off" many times now....amazingly enough in some cases by people that have suffered through hugely traumatic experiences in the city on the day of the quake & have only just managed to get away with their lives.

 

The trauma counsellors that are available for people to talk to suggest that one of the best things you can do is get together with the social groups that you are involved in, carry on doing the things you have always enjoyed & talk with others sharing your experiences. As it turned out that was extremely good advice. I'm pleased that a strong desire to do something normal over ruled the feelings of guilt that arose from going out & doing something as frivolous as dancing a week after such a destructive event!

 

Once again I find myself working through a whole heap of feelings & emotions. Knowing that some of them are normal doesn't help a whole heap at times.

 

What does help is knowing that a bit of time away can give insight & in turn heal....& believe me there is no place better to do it than in a small country town surrounded by magnificent scenery, open fields, lots of animals & great human company.

 

When it puts a smile on your child's face that is just a huge bonus!!

Copper Verdigris

You'll remember the February Artistic Challenge that Mallory & I blogged about - "Colo(u)r Me Copper" that we announced (late) a couple of weeks ago. Well this one was most surely a case of life getting in the way of art. 

The end of the month came & went & there was no reveal from me, not because I hadn't done anything but because my mind & life was in a different space. It still is - but I have decided to show you how far I got before the earth started wreaking havoc on land & lives here. I need some 'normal'.

Mallory had discovered this fabulous free downloadable tutorial on colouring copper (or brass & bronze) with ammonia & salt using a fuming method. There are other solutions such as vinegar, lemon juice, potassium (found in a lot of garden fertilisers)  that can be used to obtain different colours. Another option is, dare I say it, urine - although I'm not in any real hurry to play with that one!! Ammonia just by itself will do the job also. There are as many methods of applying the patina as there are substances to use to create a patina. For now

Being particularly drawn to the bright turquoise verdigris finish that appears naturally on copper, brass & bronze when exposed to air or seawater over time I began my play with the ammonia & salt fuming method. It was so quick & simple to do! 

As I watched the patina develop I recalled how some years ago I used lemon juice & salt mixed to a paste to clean a large brass coal bucket. After rubbing the solution on all over with a damp cloth  to remove the tarnish I had to rinse it off well before buffing the brass up to a shine. A few days  later, in the areas where the handle joined onto the body of the bucket, verdigris developed. It was obvious that I hadn't rinsed off the lemon & salt solution well enough where it had seeped in under the riveted plates that held the handle on.

The next experiments are going to be with lemon juice & salt ....& since as there is a wealth of information out there on the internet I expect I'll find a way to speed up the process along with other methods of applying it.

Day Whatever

It's difficult to believe that it was only just over a week ago I finally got back to the torch for a couple of hours after such a long hiatus. It seems so much longer ago than that. Last Sunday morning I unloaded the kiln with little expectation, knowing that essentially I'd played with scrap glass just getting a feel for things again & was pleasantly surprised that my uglies weren't quite as ugly as I imagined they would be.

The mailleman watched my surprise as I examined the beads & commented "You'll have to get torching again this afternoon" & I replied with "No, but I'll be back into it head on on Wednesday". I recall him asking why I was waiting until Wednesday & explaining that I had a few things I wanted to do on Monday, along with dancing (which makes every Monday something to look forward too!) & on Tuesday I was going out with my sister in law in the morning & had some loose ends to tie up in the afternoon.

The 'few things' were getting the house ship shape, thereby eliminating any excuses about not being able to focus on work when everything around me was untidy, & to tidy up the vege garden. Tuesdays 'loose ends' were to finish off a couple of small projects I had been working on & rearrange my workspace. The house got tidied, I know that much.  I recall that on Tuesday morning being so pleased with how the kitchen looked as I headed out the door with my sister in law, knowing I could come home after our outing & put another coat of sealer on my new workbench top, run a couple of errands & then finish off my copper patina experiments all before Gabriela got home.

We all know how that turned out. The house doesn't look so tidy any more either. But none of this is very important.

What I had planned on doing on Wednesday was the important thing. The wonderful girls at Ris'tretto had sold the last of the Haiti Hearts & I'd promised them I was going to make more. That was to be Wednesday task.

Amazingly enough the Haiti Hearts had continued selling locally even after our 7.1 mag Earthquake back in September. I'm thinking that our wee shake back then most likely raised awareness & a deeper understanding for what the Haitians had been through. It certainly added further dimension for me even though the plight of Haiti had been on my mind & heart from that day back in January 2010 when it happened.

How strange it was yesterday to hear Helen Clark, our ex Prime Minister & now based in the USA as  the Administrator of the United Nations Development Program, say that the devastation here was on a par with Haiti. She'd visited Haiti  right after their earthquake last year & now Christchurch. It's somehow added yet another layer to what already feels surreal.

It's also had a palliative effect. Perhaps it was a reminder that I needed at a time when it is so easy to get consumed by all that surrounds us.

When I start to feel a bit low & hopeless about everything that is unfolding around me or worry what to do about my girls whom I cant afford to send away out of it all,  & really don't know whether I would want to  be apart from them even if I could afford to send them to school else where in the country, I can't help but think that we have so many more options than Haiti did. We had so many options available to begin with than Haiti did.

I can't help but think of the systems already in place that allowed quick response times by emergency services locally & the speed in which international teams were able to arrive & get to work unhindered by red tape & politics.

Then it is not so difficult to see hope amidst this destruction.

Two Degrees of Seperation

As a city we've spent almost 6 months pulling ourselves, our lives & our city back together only to see it all destroyed in a matter of seconds.

5 3/4 months ago I called the first earthquake, not a tragedy, but an inconvenience. I got annoyed at friends that bemoaned breakages & damage. I told them that we were fortunate & so incredibly blessed because no lives had been lost. I wish beyond anything I could ever have imagined that I could say the same this time.

To go out among it is heartbreaking enough on it's own. It's a strange & heartbreaking sight, but then this city known for it's old Gothic revival buildings, beautiful parks, rivers & English beauty is now full of unimaginable sights.

Last time, after a short while of mourning the forever changed landscape, I could find the positive in what was left & be grateful for the old buildings & churches that have survived with little or no damage. Now I am struggling to do that.

How can you do that with a death toll that stands at 147 with 200 still missing?

On the afternoon of the 22nd February this city & the lives of everyone in it changed, irrevocably, for the worse. I knew without one iota of doubt when that sucker hit that this was going to be bad. I was shocked when I finally made contact with the outside world 30 minutes later to discover that it was only 6.3 magnitude as it had felt in every way so much bigger & more violent that the first one & I'd been sure in my mind that it was an 8-9 magnitude.

I can't really describe the hours that followed as just small bit's of information trickled in while I was out searching for a daughter that I knew had left school early only 20 minutes before the quake hit, then later trying to get to my Mothers over broken bridges & roads because I couldn't contact her. But later on that night when the power came on down at my Aunts place & we turned on TV the full shock & horror of just how bad it was hit home.

As I've said in many emails & messages over the past couple of days in a country that only has around two degree's of separation, instead of the usual six degree's, it was only a matter of time before we would be affected by the loss of someone we knew or knew of. The same will go for most in this city.

But this isn't just Christchurch's tragedy - it's international. Japan has 26 students missing, China 20, the Phillipines 14, 2 South Koreans & 6 from Thailand. It's thought that there are deceased & missing from over 20 countries. How on earth do you deal with that? Not just the people you know - but visitors that came to New Zealand, to Christchurch, by choice to study English perhaps or work in a country that was safer or the pay better. There are parents, children & families all around the world that are holding out hope that fades daily or already grieving. This all just breaks my heart.

I can find some tiny bit's of consolation in the stories that are coming to light, some extremely close to me, of near misses. A missed appointment in one of the buildings that collapsed or a detour that meant someone was late getting back to work in another, but they don't make the losses any less significant or heartbreaking.

To others the damage & loss of homes is a very real & immediate problem. Areas that escaped very lightly in the first Earthquake got hit hard this time & area's that got hit hard the first time have been hit again with even more velocity & damage.

With the September earthquake, because of where the fault line was, the hill suburbs avoided damage & most of the impact was felt by those to the South of the city,  in the city & the Eastern suburbs.

Five & 3/4 months of cleaning, making do, waiting & dealing with the EQC & insurance companies ensued, people got tired. Rules changed - so did what people had originally been told. The elderly especially wanted to know what was happening & how long it would take. Lets face it, some won't be around by the time their homes are replaced or repaired.

Now the suburbs that were hit the hardest last time have been hit hard again, roads damaged beyond belief & more homes damaged beyond repair. The hill suburbs have taken a huge hit with houses extensively damaged or destroyed by rock falls. Five days in & a lot of them  still have neither power or water. This also means that many of them have no real idea of the utter disaster in the Central Business District. They may have heard bits & pieces but that is completely different to actually seeing the devastation.

I have 49 years invested in this city, it may not be where I'd like to live the rest of my life, but it is as much a part of me as the blood that runs through my veins. The images I've seen stun me, each time it is like a physical blow to the chest - I can only imagine what they will do to the elderly that are perhaps ill prepared to deal with it.

I live in a little pocket that is seemingly untouched - yet I only have to walk as far as the end of my street to see the signs of liquefaction, a 5 minute walk up the road & around a corner & it is like a different planet, another 500 meters away in the opposite direction & the power is still out...in another subdivision around the age of this one that has suffered structural damage to many of it's homes. It beggars belief.

My family are all safe & well & I live in a small subdivision that is appears to be untouched.I've seen this referred to as luck - but do I feel lucky? No, I feel blessed, but also very conflicted. 

I see the hurt & the loss of others & feel so useless, it feels selfish to be happy about what I have got. Part of me wants to get in the car & drive as fast & far as I can away from here - but would I leave now if I could? No!! I want to reach out & help everyone that's hurting in some way, but all I can do is offer to share the safe haven & facilities we have here with whoever needs them or be supportive to people who need support in any way I can. But somehow it isn't enough. I want to do more & don't know what more to do.

It eases the heart a little to see the overwhelming International support. Teams of experts in all fields have flown in from  7 countries to do a job that few of us would want do, putting their lives at risk in the process. The 55 strong British search & rescue team, last deployed in Haiti, brought with them 11 tonnes of specialist equipment - mind boggling! Australia, the USA, China, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore have sent teams & support people to work alongside our NZ Police & Search & Rescue teams.

The NZ Military is putting every man it can on the job over & above the 1000 strong contingent that were already in the area from all around the country preparing  to leave on a Military exercise when the earthquake hit. It's humbling.

It's also reassuring to know that we have the best the world has to offer here at this time. Thank you world.

Please understand that the people of this city are bewildered & in some part scared. There are so many questions about the future that right now simply can't be answered. We have to get through the 'now'.Nothing in this city makes much sense any more. Soon enough the world will have other problems & media will move on & focus on the next news worthy issue. For those of us who live here, those that call Christchurch home, this is a luxury we don't have.

Broken lives, broken hearts, broken roads & broken homes - but not ever broken spirits. 

Kia Kaha - Forever Strong. That is Canterbury!

The UC Student Volunteer Army, organised by a University of Canterbury student to go out to the suburbs & help with cleaning up the silt & whatever needs doing.

Words Fail Me

I had a blog post planned in my head for tonight in order to try & describe what is happening here, but find now that I just can't pull up the right words.

For some reason this song has been on my mind so I'm posting this instead.

February Artistic Challenge - Well, Colo(u)r Me Copper!!

Valentines Day has now ended here in New Zealand & this months artistic challenge is already upon us....

Truth be told - we're late in announcing what we are up to.But oh my - didn't this month sneak up from behind & catch us both  unaware!! We are both a little pushed for time, with Mallory preparing for a show & me never knowing what the each day will bring energy & concentration wise, so we have decided to simplify things for February's Artistic Challenge.

You'll remember that Mallory, of  For the Love of Beads fame, & I said at the start that we would push ourselves to play with media that we hadn't before, or experiment with familiar media in new ways. This month we will be doing just that. We are going to explore copper further - this time in the form of using various patina's - hence "Well, colo(u)r me copper".

This one should certainly feed my artistic soul - as I adore colour!! Pop on over to Mallory's blog & check out her side of the story....

I don't have an image to use with this post - so am borrowing one from a local artist that works in recycled copper.

John Dory - by CopperWorkx

Check out Christchurch's CopperWorkx in particular their Marlin, it's amazing!! In fact have a browse all around their website & you can get a feel for just how many looks copper is capable of. I've been in love with their work for years & am  blessed to own a couple of their pieces - a  Gecko & a Piranha.

Thanks Jeremy - you know what your Mumma likes ;)

Life is too Short to be Conformist

to do what is standard or expected of me. Just because I have a perfectly good large, comfortable bed inside it doesn't mean that I have to sleep in it!

As kid's we'd set up a tent & sleep out in the garden, with the vast darkness of the golf course just over the fence....ok, maybe we'd last until it got really dark & quiet enough to hear the snuffling of hedgehogs & whatever else used to shuffle around under the pine tree's that edged the property before we crept back inside to where Mum & Dad were & the safety of our beds....

But the thought was there, the excitement of doing something out of the norm.... the sense of adventure. It was warmer here then too - the summers were hotter, the nights were balmy....a lot like this summer, which is the best we have had in many years. When do we lose that sense of adventure that such simple things can offer?

As I write this just before midnight it is still 28°c (82.4°f) with a balmy breeze & twinkling stars - with a chance of rain before morning. I'll take that chance! Two hours ago I decided that I was going to sleep under the stars one way or another.I'm going to just lie there & enjoy them with only the company of cats as they wander in & out & perhaps the odd spider.

Not quite the desert with the sound of camels making whatever noise camels make in the background - but an adventure none the less!

HaPpy New Year

No, I'm not a month late in saying that - I'm referring to the Chinese New Year.
Today, 3rd February, is the first day of the Chinese New Year; the year of the Rabbit.
A rabbit year is quiet, giving respite after the year of the tiger & that was certainly the feeling as I tagged along today with some of the Ladies from Line Dance Christchurch to the Buddhist Temple where our group were doing a couple of line dances as part of the multi cultural segment of the celebrations.

Before our group was scheduled to dance the Lion Dance troupe performed the cai ching.

Afterwards we were able to watch a demonstration of Aikido - a non aggressive Japanese martial art. It might not have been aggressive but it was effective & mightily impressive. I'd love to learn more about this.

 In the blink of an eye you can disarm an opponent with just some pressure in the right places!

In less than a second you can go from this......

... through to this....

 ....ending like this!

Somehow I don't think my back or shoulder would handle it <---- that is the voice of one who a couple of nights ago ended up flat on her back in the garden in about the same amount of time as the above sequence took ;)

The Holidays are Over too Quickly

I'm not so sure that I'm looking forward to my baby girl starting High School tomorrow as it represents the end of an era for all of us. That said it is exciting & I know that, regardless of age, Gabriela will always be my baby girl!

I wonder what the future holds for her over these next few years that will gently shape her into the adult she was always meant to become.
I pray that I'll have the vision to see what she needs even when she thinks she doesn't need it, the wisdom to keep my thoughts to myself when she doesn't want to hear them & the strength to set her free to fly unhindered along  her own path when the time comes.

Hello February !!

I have to admit that I am rather pleased to see this month. I have a feeling that good things are about to start happening around here & that there is much to look forward to.

One thing that I know I am absolutely looking forward to is the release of Teresa Laliberte of Lavender Creek Glass's new Mask tutorial in a few days. You have no idea how long I have been waiting for this & to say that I'm excited would be the understatement of the year (so far!).

For those not familiar with Teresa's work let me say this - it's distinctive, unique & absolutely stunning. Everything Teresa does from her Goddesses through to her Water Bearers, & everything in between, has an understated elegance & sense of timelessness about it. Take a look at her album on Facebook - you'll see what I mean.

Teresa's Introduction into Sculpting with Glass ~ Goddess tutorial was one of the very first tutorials I purchased. I wasn't even particularly good at just basic beads at that point, but the way the tutorial was written & the steps explained was so clear & concise that my first attempt resulted in a very recognisable Goddess. It helped me learn a lot about heat control & choosing the right glass for the type of piece you are working on. I learned a lot & added new skills to the few I already had. In short it was invaluable & I have no reason to expect that this upcoming tutorial will be any different.

Keep your eye's open over the next few days for the release of this one. I certainly will be!!

In the meantime Teresa's existing tutorials in the Sculpting in Glass series, along with her luscious beads & jewelry, can be purchased in her Etsy Store.

Saying Goodbye to the First Month of a New Decade

As I type this it is almost midnight on 31st of January.
Where the heck did the rest of the month go? All I know is that it seems to have gone by super fast!!

Right now I'm pretty much feeling that I've slept most of it away - or have been to tired to get out & enjoy it the way it should have been enjoyed. I had so much planned for the 5 1/2 weeks of summer holidays that follow after Christmas & yet here I am with the new school year starting in 2 more days & I've done none of what I intended to do beforehand.

What I have done though is pay a lot of attention to the sky & in particular the sunsets. So here, to bid farewell to January, is a montage of both the subtle & the spectacular sunsets it has provided me with.

The best things in life truly are free :)

Just click on the image to see the full size version.

To Reveal or Not to Reveal - that is the question...

As you can guess from the title my Artistic Challenge ~ Kumihimo project  is still not completed. It's almost there - but not quite to the point of how I pictured the end result when I was working on the Kumihimo braid.

Best I back up a bit & explain. When I started this I was a little ambitious for someone who had only done one 8 strand braid in her life before - I decided I wanted 16 strands & that the braid needed to have some sort of design to it. Then there were the beads.....
I don't have any seed beads that are a regular size & within an inch of braiding knew that this wasn't going to work for me - so I undid the lot & started again without beads. It seemed such a pity as the beads that I did have worked well with the colours of silk I'd used.

As I braided an idea formed in my mind... & then a plan. Of course I blithely overlooked the fact that the plan would involve yet another skill to learn - that of stitched beading. Braid finished I set about the task of learning some basic seed bead stitching.
 
I eventually settled on ladder stitch all in the same style beads as it seemed to compliment the Kumihimo braid without competing with it too much. It also allowed me to add different size beads every now & then for a bit of texture - without the need for me to try & figure how to make bridges around those beads. This step took me almost as long as the braid to complete... & I had bigger plans yet!!!

This is where I was up to on the 27th January - the intended reveal date. All was going well until I discovered that I'd used all of my 16 gauge copper wire to make the "Love Me Knots" for mine & Mallory's first Artistic Challenge.  So off I went out in search of some 16 gauge copper wire to pull it all together into a completed piece.
Perhaps you can imagine my disgust at finding that a 10' length of 16 gauge copper wire was going to cost me $18.00 locally. I decided that I wasn't that desperate & left the shop without it..... & then spent the rest of the day quietly fuming at how much we pay here for what few craft supplies we can actually get. In fact I was so wrapped up in my fuming that I forgot I was meant to be posting the results that night.

The next day things went marginally better & I did manage to get one other component I needed I also managed to source a short length of copper wire from a friend, which should be arriving any day now.

So there you have it - a semi-reveal, the completed braid & beading but not a finished piece. That you are going to have to wait for - but hopefully not for very much longer.

Unrevealing Reveal

Today was supposed to be the day that I revealed my Kumihimo project done as this months Artistic Challenge between Mallory aka Rosebud101 & myself.
This one has nurtured my somewhat battered creative soul & I have been enjoying the repetitive actions associated with doing Kumihimo finding that I don't need to concentrate too hard on them & because of that it is quite calming.

So how the heck could I forget from only this morning, when I went in search of  some copper wire as part of the project, that tonight was meant to be the reveal. Apparently quite easily!! Such is life at the moment - I know it will improve soon though.

I've left myself a note for tomorrow so I don't forget to finish my project off!

For now all I have to show is this -

~*~ImpressArt Metal Stamp Set Giveaway Alert~*~

Lori Anderson of Lori Anderson {Pretty Things} fame (as well as a whole heap of talent in the jewelry design & making department & creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party) has a fabulous ImpressArt Metal Stamp give away on, on her blog.

Now these are the coolest set of stamps & what is really fun is that not even a couple of days before this Giveaway came to light, a friend & I were talking on Skype while drooling & dreaming over the stamps sets on the PJ Tool & Supply website.

Check out Lori's Blog to see what you have to do to get in the draw for a chance to win this fabulous set of Stamps.

Almost There - A Teaser for this Months Artistic Challenge

Sneak peek of what is in store....
I'm just hoping I get it all together in time for the reveal...

Fun with Fabric a la Microwaved Mesh

Sewing before the wedding appears to have reawakened my fabric fetish.....

While shopping for fabric for Gabriela's dress I discovered that one could purchase plain old cheap as chips stretch mesh & crinkle, wrinkle or crush it  themselves at home so that it would hold it's crinkles pretty much permanantly. This appealed to my experimental nature.

That I discovered a pattern that I rather liked at the time which would work well with a crinkled mesh fabric seemed to me to be further indication that I should start doing a little sewing again.

Last week I got to play with step one of the process.

Essentially there are a couple of options for getting the çrinkle/wrinkle/crush look depending on how you want the finished look.

Either you pull the dampened fabric up into little bunches & put rubber bands around them - or you gather each end in, pull it into a long taut length & twist it until it twists back onto itself ....then you put your bundle in the microwave with a cup of water for 20 minutes, checking at 5 minute intervals.

I went for the little bunches in rubber bands method, figuring it would give me a random creased look that I quite like. It was certainly time intensive putting al those rubber bands on a 2 meter length of fabric.

After removing from the microwave you have to let the fabric remain bunched up over night. This wasn't the easiest part for me as I was dying to see what the effect looked like. Somehow I managed to resist though & waited until the next day to unfold it. I loved the overall effect, but unfortunately I had been a little too 'exact' in the banding up of  my bunches making sure the fabric was all tucked in & it had caused peaks in the fabric where the centre of each bunch had been.

I couldn't see me wanting little pointy bit's sticking out all over the top I intend making, especially if any of them ended up over the bust area,  so it was back to the drawing board.

Not being to thrilled at the prospect of  spending an hour or so putting rubber bands in again I just dampened the fabric & went for the twist method....& was far happier with the results. Next step is to sew it up into something wearable.

A Rebel in the Vege Garden

Way back at the end of October I planted my vege garden. It's not a huge patch, quite small in fact when  you consider that I was trying to plant around the well established artichoke plant, but I made room for some flower plants so I had a bit of colour since there is nowhere else in the garden to plant flowers. By the 31st of October all the seeds planted had germinated & everything was coming along nicely.

Not even 6 weeks later on the 12th December it was looking pretty darn established. We were already picking lettuces & the 'miniature' cabbages .

 By the 27th December we'd had a good feed of lettuce & were ready to plant the second crop. The cabbages weren't so miniature any more & nor was a small variety of something else I had planted...

A Rebel in the midst & this is it!!

In front of the beans I had planted some Moulin Rouge Sunflowers. Call me fanciful but I liked the idea of something flowering in front of the beans that would stay a bit lower. The packet said they grew from 75-90cm (30-35") tall. The packet lied!

The fence is 1.8m (6') high & as of a week ago the culprits were a good foot above the top if the fence. Currently they are providing support for the wayward beans ;)

Resuscitating Old Skills - Part 2

Remember this post "Resuscitating Old Skills" way back at the end of November last year?

It was an adventure that was for sure! Sewing is not like riding a bike after years of not having done so. Or perhaps it is in as much as you remember how to push the pedals but when it comes to the finer details such as changing gears on hills you have to stop & think about it.

All of the things that used to come naturally I had to stop & try to drag up through the fuzzy memory of time. The machine was the easy part, but all of those little tricks for a nice finish that once came so naturally eluded me. Shoot - a couple of times I even had to look at the pattern construction instructions & the last time did any garment sewing that was unheard of! Of course the instructions weren't a lot of help because some person had bought a pattern that was just the basic shape she needed & then gone & changed almost everything about it willy nilly, without a care in the world....and we'd bought chiffon. Slippery, slidey, super fine chiffon.

Very clever.

Still,  Gabriela's dress turned out fine in the end, even if I was hemming it in between everything else on the morning of the wedding. Unlike the pattern it was age appropriate & with a wee short sleeved bolero over it she looked super sweet.

I don't have any decent photo's of her wearing the dress yet, none that show the dress well anyway, but no doubt some will turn up at some point though. So for now here is one I snapped quickly.

This was the pattern I used as a base for the under dress. You can see why it was somewhat changed - she's 13, not 23!!. It seems there is a distinct lack of young teen patterns around & once girls start getting a bit of 'shape' you have to go straight for the adult patterns. I can see more pattern tampering in my future ;)

Silk - a teaser for this months Challenge

Beautiful raw 100% silk fibre. So much potential!

It's been sitting in my stash for some time so my mind went to it immediately when Mallory & I talked about fibre being used in the form of Kumihimo braiding for this months challenge.

My intention was to dye it - but you will have to wait & see whether I did...or not.

I Can Read His Mind....

Hercules rushed into the laundry thinking I was putting more food down only to discover that his 'sister' Bizkit had beaten him to the bowl. Hercules is a funny cat, so chilled out that he almost borders on stoopid at times....


"If I sit nonchalantly & pretend disinterest she'll hurry up & finish.... "

"OK, so that didn't work - I'll give her "the look" & maybe she will get the message..."

"ohhh look there's another handsome cat waiting too, Hello!" 

Around the garden in January

High temperatures, long hours of sunshine & plentiful watering has resulted in what flowers I have planted putting on a continuing show for me. The first thing I do every morning is take a wander around the garden & check on what is happening....it was with a huge whoop of joy that I saw the first runner beans were ready to harvest.

Guess what I had for dinner ;)

First Monthly Challenge of 2011 - Ms M & Deb Conspire

It's that time again & by gosh this one snuck up on me. Where on earth did December go? Was there a December? I seem to vaguely recall it & speaking with Mallory Hoffman ~Rosebud101 of what we were going to challenge ourselves with this month, but then this jolly New Year went & got all hot on me & fried my brain.....

Well that's my excuse & I am sticking to it!

In our mission to nurture our creative souls we are pushing ourselves to work outside of that with which we are most comfortable with ~ melting glass (quite frankly I think I have probably forgotten how to melt glass, & this just sounds better but don't tell Mallory that!!).

Seriously though, when a predominantly right brained (creative thinker) person tries a different technique or process to what they are used to it often stimulates the thought process into new ideas. Do you ever find yourself working on a project & while you are doing it your mind is racing ahead of you filling up with ideas for something totally unrelated to the task at hand? It happens to me all the time - but my biggest problem is that I don't stop what I am doing & write those idea's down (that can be a bit difficult at the torch) & I often lose them by the time I finish what I'm doing.

This months media should make it a little easier for me to stop & capture those technicolor images that play in my head! Mallory & I are going to work with fibre in the form of Kumihimo. This should be interesting - considering I have only played briefly with this once before & the unfinished result is,as you can see, still on the loom!

The reveal will be on 26th January. Be sure to check back in then & perhaps check in once or twice beforehand as this month I will finally have some time to post 'teasers'.

You can check out Mallorys twist on this challenge over on her blog here.

Summer Daze....

Time to just relax & enjoy the post Christmas winding down & think about the potential the year ahead brings.
Some days are ripe for going out & exploring around the city

Others for observing things closer to home

At yet others for just staying indoors & trying to keep cool, when it's been that hot during the day that at 7.30pm you find this a perfect temperature for it to have cooled down to....

Oh - oops!

After effects of after shocks saw the washing machine hose shake loose of the outlet pipe & a little after midnight on the 28th December we found ourselves with a substantial amount of water running into the house....

72 hours later, with the aid of two huge nosey industrial fans it was all dried out!
May I mention now that the white noise of fans running day & night for that long is enough to drive a person to distraction!

The First Day of 2011

My morning wander around the small patch that constitutes my garden revealed a lone bloom on one of the vines that germinated from seed sent to me by a friend. How apt!

On the second day of the new decade, today, two more buds bloomed.

There are many more buds waiting to follow suit & if the lovely Ipomea "Grandpa Ott" is indicative of the year 2011 it is going to be one to look forward to with great anticipation!