applehead

my rant on a little slice of utopia...

When you have a moment pop over to  Making time and have a look at Heather's post on ""craft blogs as a domestic fantasy." Then read the comments! Interesting reading indeed.
Craft mafia, ouch!

oh. oh. oh.
I'm a SAHM
I had an 'arts/design related career 'before choosing to stay at home.

Two big black crosses there already!

(Oh, and did I mention that I am a domestic goddess, with two perfect children,a house that runs like a finely tuned machine ,a dream marriage and I always find just a little time for myself to just be me. Hey,want to be my best friend??????)

My life is not picture perfect nor would I want it to be. I like to share some parts of my life through my blog - just not the "messy parts". I mean, we all know that they are there but do you really want to hear about the gritty details, those tissues in the black wash type days?
And I don't want to talk about them! Apart from the ones that make for a bit of a laugh or explain why something has turned out the way it has, I would rather as Eireann so succinctly put it, keep the "dignity of having my separate, ‘real’ life".

My blog is about my art/craft and that is inextricably linked with my life. Whatever is happening there, the good, the bad and the ugly, is generally is reflected in my work or sometimes in the lack of it!

I have no issues with the so called"popular blogs" - they are popular for a reason and it's not because they are giving away large sums of money.I don't believe for one moment that they have perfect lives and I'm sure that most of them would laugh at the idea that others imagine they do.
It was suggested ,more than once in the comment section of Heather's post,that the women behind these blogs must only be able to create all the things they do by having 'someone" to help out or by putting the kids in front of the TV for hours. Does it seem more reasonable to think that maybe,,just maybe they might do it the same way the rest of us do- in snatched moments while the baby is asleep or while waiting in the car at kindy pick up time. Then there are the wee hours when everyone else is asleep and at last you have a few hours to yourself...bliss! Of course you pay for it the next day, but hey, you got that new crocheted golf club cover finished! ( no offence to those of you who make golf club covers....they just make me laugh!)

Where do they find the time, you ask? Answer: like us,wherever they can. (Oh but having a maid really does make that little bit of a difference.Must ask D about getting me one of those...surely not too much to ask, is it?)

I love to read other craft blogs for inspiration . It is also a way for me to interact with other like minded people out in the world that I would otherwise not have access to.I get support,encouragement and feedback on my work,that I find invaluable. Let's face it, it's good to know that someone else besides your family, thinks that your two headed doll is a marvel. (And honey, believe me it is!)

I have met many amazing people since I started blogging, some whom I now proudly and happily refer to as friends.Lucky me! If I stop blogging tomorrow I will still keep in contact with them.Yes, there is a competitive undercurrent in the craft blog world - but that's just part of human nature. I found the few mother's group meetings that I went to far more competitive than the blog world!

Anyway that's my two cents worth on the topic!
Your blog, do what you want! And if someone else doesn't like it, do you really give a toss? ( lovely expression that one........)

Enjoy the long weekend.....

poetry in a box.....

You might remember a matchbox swap that I was working on a few posts back...the idea was to make using any craft/art method something small enough to fit in a matchbox. Originally I had started on a tiny doll that I was going to paint...I decided  midway,that she needed legs which meant that she no longer fitted into the matchbox! So that little doll has been saved for some other purpose.
Luckily I had another idea brewing ( actually I think I added the legs on purpose so that I could start my new idea!)
While putting together some paper packs, I found a lovely poem by T.S Eliot called "New Hampshire". Inspired by this, I made a small illustrated accordion book and tiny embroidered tree. And they fit! ( the tree only just but it does fit!) I am really satisfied with the result - it is exactly as I imagined it to be.
The matchbox was covered using a page of text from an old Yates Garden guide titled "beginning a garden".

New Hampshire
by T.S Eliot

Children's voices in the orchard
Between the blossom- and the fruit time:
Golden head,crimson head,
Between the green tip and the root.
Black wing,brown wing, hover over;
Twenty years and the spring is over;
To-day grieves,tomorrow grieves,
Cover me over, light in leaves;
Golden head,black wing,
Cling,swing,
Spring,sing,
Swing up to the apple tree.

I want to start another poem in a box right away......

up ,up and away......

Well, the dolls have hopefully made it safely to Adelaide for Morphe II . Last night was spent designing and printing some promotional stickers( a few of them shown above) that will go into the mail tonight. Now I just have to finish a couple of toys that will be up for sale in the appleseed shop in the next week and then its back to the drawing board.
Literally.
I  haven't done an drawing for Ilustration Friday in months and really feel the need to do a bit of scribbling. This should get me in the right frame of mind to start my pages for the Design a calender swap, which I'm really looking forward to. Not to mention a few swaps that have been put on hold until the Morphe dolls were completed.

These are the tags that went with my submission - I found an old typewriter on Ebay and it was perfect for making these. I think that the old typewriter and I are going to have a long and happy relationship.

A few people have asked about the knitwear that two of the dolls are wearing...did I knit these tiny garments???No, indeed I did not! I felted two old holey jumpers and did a cut and sew- still fiddly but not as time consuming as knitting them would have been!
After making these largish size dolls, I had a hankering to do something on a tiny scale.A swap to make something art or crafty that fits into a matchbox was exactly what I after. I have almost finished a tiny cloth doll about 3.5cm tall...... she is based on the circled drawing  and still needs some arms and legs. After that I'm thinking of painting her and going from there.

Found some new bits and pieces to go into the (mostly) old paper packs .....and what to do with these old bits of paper? Here's one use for the sheet music...

And its been so exciting to see the paper packs popping up on blogs....here  and here for instance... quite a thrill indeed!

under the old oak tree......

amazing what  one week of warm weather can do....

this is the huge old oak tree in our back yard.....an absolute godsend in summer as it provides a wonderful green dappled shaded place for us to play in. And in Autumn a pile of crunchy  leaves to jump into ( oh and rake up, I forgot about that....)

This spate of warm weather has meant that we have been able to spend afternoons down at Clontarf, a lovely harbourside beach. Surprisingly enough,nobody else has been about so we've had it mostly to ourselves, barring the odd dog and owner, or couple of walkers ( the beach is part of the foreshore walk from Manly to the Spit Bridge).
There have been lots of little jelly fish about and Rose has become quite brave, scooping them up in her hands ( gently, don't squeeze them!) and then letting them go. Her favourite thing is to "rescue" the jelly "blubs" that have become stranded on the beach. I haven't the heart to tell her that I think that they are a bit beyond the rescuing stage.

And happy, joy, joy, I  have almost, just about finished my toys for Morphe II ...they'll be packed up tonight and on their way to Adelaide in the morning. A sneak peek of the works in progress ( I will take the final photos this afternoon and show them off in all their glory in the next day or so...)

can't write...I'm sewing....

madly! Working on putting the finishing touches to my toys for Morphe II. Probably would have been finished if I hadn't decided that I needed to make another completely new toy as I wasn't happy with one of them late one night ( or early one morning depending how you look at it).
Now I look at it again I have no idea what what so awful about it???? Maybe too many late nights, one of them out seeing Hugh Jackman in the Boy from Oz. He was just amazing - singing, dancing and poncing up a storm. Oh, and he isn't too hard on the eyes either....
Really, anyone who can look that good in a pair of tight gold lame pants is fine by me!
See you all when my work is done......

This little gem was sent to me by my lovely Aunty Jane ( kisses from the girls to you both!) ..it was her Brownie card.

and inside....

A Brownie must know

the Brownie promise
the Law
the Motto
the Salute
the Smile
the Good Turn
the Fairy Ring
how to fold her own tie
how to wash up the tea things
(and the best one)
how to plait & part her hair straight.
Not a bad set of rules for life, I am thinking.

Now can any one enlighten me as to what the "Fairy ring " is?
I was a Sunbeam, not a Brownie and there were no Fairy rings at the good ol' Salvation Army!

back from the beach...

Family,beautiful beach, amazing accommodation , enough sunshine to keep everyone happy and warm enough ( although on a few days only just!) to swim every day! What more could a girl want ( apart from another few days...?)

This is one of my favourite photos from our holiday north...on the beach at Salt Village ( just near Kingscliff), just before sunset with the wind picking up. I'm usually the one pointing the camera so there aren't too many shots of me with the girls.....

This is the beach that the apartment overlooked...it was so wonderful to lie in bed at night and listen to the surf. We let the girls stay up late a few evenings to watch the spectacular moonrise's- Charlotte, in particular enjoyed the chance to see the moon. Rose was just happy to have a few more hours of talking time!

Rose took this one of Damian and I in the car we hired to drive down to Byron bay and Bangelow for the day ..we went opted for a  fun little convertible car  rather than a  practical  family car since it was only for a short drive . Rose enjoyed the novelty of not having a roof but poor little Charlie was over it in the first ten minutes. Partly, I think because we made her wear a hat but mostly because she was a little thrown by the missing roof!

The markets were on in Byron so we spent a few pleasant hours wandering and drinking fresh lemonade. I found a stall selling hand spun hemp and bought a few ball to try crocheting with.

Luckily I just happened to have packed a crochet hook ( after all, what beach holiday is complete without one) and made a tiny basket, which is destined to become a pincushion....

We arrived back home to a wet and blustery Sydney...still, its lovely to be back home ( now that everything is unpacked and the monster load of washing is done!). I always miss my bed!

Now, time  to finish those toys for Morphe II .......

in search of the sun.....

By the time you read this, I will (hopefully) be sitting on a sunny beach somewhere up past Byron Bay. The Horton clan have headed off in search of the sun and to explore a part of the beautiful North Coast that we haven't yet seen. I can't wait - I have a lovely trashy novel, my drawing things and my unfinished toys for Morphe II. Luckily there is no room to take my sewing machine or I most likely would have tried to pack that too. Not that it really matters, as after my slight panic and meltdown earlier in the week, I seem to have found a new source of creative energy. Or my old one has come back! Either way, I have progressed in leaps and bounds and am on the home stretch. Just some hand finishing and embroidery  to do and they'll be bound for Adelaide.
In the meantime I have a few more Japanese craft books to show........

ISBN 4-529-04229-4 This book is full of patchworked and appliqued goodies - bags, potholders, pouches and a knacky sewing kit, just to mention a few!
The way in which colour and pattern are combined are quite inspiring - much bolder and riotous than I tend towards but I think it's good to take a look at things from a different viewpoint once in a while.

Some cute pouches ( or "porches" as they have been called in the book)!

ISBN 4-277-43066-X  hemp no kagibari ami KOMONO
I only had to look at the cover to know that I would enjoy this one.
Lots of crochet inspiration- hats, jewelery, bags and even a drink bottle cover ( could you really be bothered?) There are some really odd little cacti in pots that would make a fun present....

and some beautifully simple hemp baskets...

I would like to make one of these with a pincushion insert.
When I get back from the beach , that is!

Talk to you all in 10 days.....sun & surf here I come! ( hmmm, not too keen on getting into the bikini though!)