rain is falling down.

It’s cold and wet. Winter is definately upon us. I sat down last night to do some work (and some painting shhh…) in my studio, which is located at the bedroom end of the house. The little people were well ensconced on the sleepy train, and in the silence, the light spilling from the studio door into the darkness of the formal lounge and beyond made me feel like I was a million miles from anywhere. And then the softest of soft tapping started up on the roof, so gentle I had to strain to decide if I really was hearing rain, or if my mind was playing tricks with me. But steadily it got heavier, and between 9pm and 9am, we ended up with just a touch under 25mm/1 inch of rain. Today has been more of the same. Cold. Wet. Lots of stories and singing. A movie for rest time, and some designing for mummy. An impromptu coffee date rounded out the morning nicely after Mini Minstrels and the news of a new baby. Everyone is back on board now, and happily playing in the studio with me. Bubba Boy is colouring in, coming to me regularly to show off his progress and check I “wike the pick-shures, mama?”. Butterfly is cruising around, playing with my old broken ipod, fabric and buttons. A girl after my own heart. I’m about to do a bit more on my painting I’m working on, and hopefully start up another practice piece. Trim the stars quilt so I can finish the binding tonight. And then it will be pickup time and the weekend can begin, with soccer and church and friends. I probably should think about tidying my desk at some point, it seems to be a mess magnet. Maybe I’ll just work around it. Let’s see how we go. What have you got planned? Friday’s at the tail end, the weekend beckons. Let’s do this!

playing.

I love playing with paint. Taking a blank fresh sheet of paper, or empty canvas, squeezing the paint from the tubes, and watching as each brushstroke brings me that much closer to the image in my mind. I adore the ephemeral nature of watercolours. I have a stash of acrylics, left from various projects and folk-art classes from my teenage years, but I struggle with them, making them do what I want. Oils have fascinated me for a long time, but I’ve avoided them. I mean, only REAL artists use oils. That’s for serious painters. People who know what they are doing. I went so far as to load up a cart over at Eckersleys, and then chickened out. Why bother spending $150+ when I was just going to be crap at it anyway. If I couldn’t make simple acrylics bend to my will, what hope would I have with oils.

But then we were on holidays, and we went shopping. And out the front of the newsagents, was a table. Art supplies 50%. A little set of oils called my name, the brushes joining in the chorus. I looked at them. I walked by. I came back. They were cheap to begin with, so I knew the quality wasn’t going to be brilliant. But now they were on sale. $1.75 for 16 brushes. $3.50 for 12 paints. What did I have to loose? A $1.50 canvas rounded out my little kit, and I walked out clutching them like the nerdy kid coming from the comic book store on pocket money day. I had oils.

I pondered, and wondered, and the perfect project can to mind. I pulled out a pad of canvas sheets that had been in a birthday present a couple of years back. I set up the children with their easel in the sun, and as they happily painted, I tentatively wiped a small blob of paint on to the plastic plate serving as a palette. Another, and another. I selected a brush, and started mixing, suddenly realising why a palette knife is included on the list of essentials for oil painting. That stuff is hard to mix with a brush! The consistency is so different from watercolours and acrylics. But it worked in my favour as I started laying in the not-quite-mixed colours. The texture and feel of the paint curled around the creative part of my soul, and I was lost. The smell of turps cloying in my nostrils, I stepped back, and started the cycle with the next colour. A new favourite has been found. I have requested art lessons for my birthday. A friend has requested a “LittleWhiteDove” original. I do hope she isn’t counting on using it as part of her super fund…

Today, as much as I would love to paint, it’s Friday, and Friday means admin day, especially since I am working tonight. A last minute invitation to afternoon tea with my grandmother tomorrow sees me scratching my head for a last minute DIY gift. Maybe a pin cushion? Or whip a charm pack or jelly roll into a lap quilt? I got one new fabric design nutted out in it’s basic form yesterday, and have set it aside while I work on the rest of the range, before coming back to flesh it out. I have a custom fabric design that I need to get out and ordered tomorrow. I’m stalking the postie for a bead order to complete a bracelet commission. I had hoped to get started on a collaborative project my mum suggested this morning, but as the day progresses it looks less and less likely. If I can get the commissions out the door, and the binding attached to the star quilt I’ll be happy. The weekend is promising to be busy as always. Soccer, parties, afternoon teas, visiting roadtripping. We’ll be looking for Monday for a break. Or maybe not. Four and a half hours to go. The downhill run starts now. Have an awesome weekend. Let’s do this!

beetle beetle

For the fifth time that day, I lean in and click the buckle of Butterfly’s car seat together. Repeat for Bubba Boy. Wearily, I pull back, softly push the door shut, and climb in my my seat, buckling my own seatbelt. “Big bridge big bridge big bridge” the chant emerges from the back seat, and we are off on the mad dash from preschool to school, with moments to spare. “I see the wady bettle, pwease, mummy,” he asks, but I shake my head, and soon we are reversing the process as I pull them from the car and race across the road to collect Little Bear. Everyone back in the car, seatbelt buckling number 6 completed, and we are homeward bound. “Mummy! WADY BETTLE PWWWEEEEAAAASSSSSEEEEE” Bubba Boy begs, and as Little Bear joins in, I take a right instead of a left, and the long way home. And then, they see the house. They start bouncing in their seats, and then we are passing by the lady-bettle mail boxes as two small boys yell “LADY BETTTTLLLEEE” and Butterfly squeals in delight, anxious not to be left out. Simple pleasures of a novelty mailbox.  Perfect to bring a smile to a tired mama’s face at the end of a long day.

The lady bettle mailbox is a favourite of our boys, and something I hold as a treasured memory. My fingers itched to paint, and I thought, what better starting point, than a lady bettle. Not a mailbox, just a little bug on a leaf. But enough that it shall always makes me smile thinking of their childish exuberance at a mailbox less ordinary.

Thursday has rolled around, with the promise of rain. Very inconsiderate considering the three loads of washing waiting to hang, and another two to wash. Little Bear has requested a quilt, with a big red aeroplane, for lego playing that will need designed. Bubba Boy has requested a dinosaur costume to make today. Some preschool “homework”. Tidying the disaster area AKA the toy room. A hot coffee with some fresh chocolate cake. I can feel a cubby house building session coming on. Studio tidying, bedroom tidying, general tidying. Moments and games and stories and cuddles. Hi Thursday, nearly rest time. Let’s do this!

Painting, baking and all that mummy stuff.

Thank you all for your lovely comments on my quiltinaday project! It was a lot of fun to make, and the recipient absolutely loves it! The tight deadline as I stitched down the binding was a bit much though!  So after my valiant effort, and my two little boys being very patient, today is all about being creative at a toddler’s level!

Baking is high on the “mutually-enjoyable-quality-time” activities in our house. (Much more fun than, say, repairing the train track for the 546th time because 1yo ChubbaBubba walked on it and sent 3yo Bear into floods of tears…). Admittedly, we tend to stick to our “old faithfuls”, because, in my mind, toddler+preschooler+mixmaster+hot oven is enough of a combination to juggle without adding “read-the-recipe-300-times-because-I’ve-never-done-it-before” to the mix. And of our four or five rotating recipe, there is one that is popular in our house that sticks out, in my mind, at least, as being one of the very few that scream “childhood”. 

Our version of honey crackles is modified oh-so-slightly – I crush the corn flakes so that it is easier to use the smaller paper cases. Ideal for tiny little 3 & 1 year olds, who like a special little sweet treat, but mean onld mummy won’t let them have too much. Bad, very very bad, for mummies who think that the small size means that two (or three, or four) are ok, because in total it’s the same as a full-sized one. Ok, so maybe I’m pushing my luck on that one! I’ve got to justify my overindulgence one way or another…

So, with the honey crackles crisping nicely in the oven, we had a quick pit stop for morning tea (them) and washing up (me), as the smell of the goldening (is that even a word?) honeyed flakes filled our nostrils. Soon enough, it was time to take the tray out and survey our handywork. Only problem was, small boys thought they needed to taste test. Now. RIGHT NOW.

Eeek. Panic sets in (me). Tears threaten (them). What to do? Diversionary tactics are needed. The adreneline kicks in and the survival instinct takes over.

“Who wants to do some painting?” It works. The crocodile tears vanish in an instant. “Me! Mummy, me, please! White paint today, I fink?” (Bear) “Ah ah dah duh” (Chubba Bubba) “Sounds good.” (me again).

With a door between the children and I, I rummage through the craft box, and come up trumps. Two small canvases, gifted to the boys for their birthdays. We retrace our steps to the toy room, and sitting on the timber floor, we surround ourselves with puddles of paint, trapped on layers of scrap paper. “Don’t forget the white, mummy” (Bear). “*squish, slide, wiggle*” (Chubba Bubba). “Sweetheart, please don’t paint your leg” (me, to Chubba Bubba). We sing silly little songs about the mixing colours. “Red and yellow make orrr-anggge, blue & yellow make greeeeen…” I know, my singing sucks, even in the cyber world. It was fun though. And the little canvases look so awesome, I’m thinking this might be the start of a longer-term project.

Bear’s masterpiece:

And little Chubba Bubba’s:

As I cleaned the paint off Chubba Bubba’s legs, I heard a chirpy little voice at my elbow. “We put them up on the wall now Mummy?” And why not indeed, my small boy. These little canvases are only 4″ across, so I plan to string some ribbon across one wall of the toy room, garland style, and attach the paintings. I am also planning a major assault on the local $2 for a bunch more of these to add to our garland, as well as a few to do just in Christmas colours for our loungeroom. Maybe one every year? Who’d have guessed there’d be so much potential in giving two small boys two small canvases?!

So after a lovely morning, both tiny boys are tuckered out and curled up in their beds. I have just opened a new pack of canvas sheets and am planning a materpiece of my own. Ok, so masterpiece is an overstatement. But if I can enjoy the process of painting with the same innocent abandon, I’ll consider it a success. Once again, they have reminded me that the doing is as good, if not better, than the “done-and-tick-it-off-the-list”. So I’m painting like no-one’s seeing the end result. Which might involve singing like no-one’s listening. And quite possibly a little hip-waggle-bust-a-move like no-one’s watching. Because life is more enjoyable when we do what makes us happy, not what others want to see. Wonderful Wednesday, you’ve been so good to me. Keep it up, k? Let’s do this!

watercolour wednesday

 

A quick little watercolour, inspired by the outlook from the deck of the villa we stayed in on a recent holiday.

 

Wednesday is shaping up to be as fun as yesterday. Lots on the agenda, not the least of which is a trip to the fabric shop if I can convince both boys that it sounds like a good idea. I have a few projects in mind – a couple of dolls quilts from my stash for a couple of special little girls. And a little gift each for my mum & sister. I’m hoping for a creative day. Some sewing, reading, relaxing in the sun with boys on swings. Playing in the back yard and soaking up some winter midday warmth. Laughs, cuddles, dancing, singing. It’s all happening here. Let’s do this!

Just a gentle reminder…

…to myself.

 

Mondayitis hit me over the head yesterday, and the wheels came off my “don’t think, just do” campaign. But I’m back on the bandwagon today, and thanks to several strong cups of coffee, I’ve found my groove!

The current favourite toddler activity is painting. Anything & everything. So what better way to enjoy the warm sunshine on a lovely autumn day, then to lay a ripped sheet on the back lawn, break out the paint bottles and let  little feet go nuts?

I have no idea what I’m going to do with it now – maybe just save it for cubby house building?

 

Another fun project was potato stamps.

Being a ‘seat-of-my-pants’ project, I just squirted paint direct on the stamp and swirled it with my finger. I think next time, I will use tray of paint to make it easier/messier/funner (is that a word?) for Bear.

 

It would appear that my children have conspired to hatch an evil plan to prevent their poor tired mama from doing anything fun, and are refusing to nap at the same time. *sigh* The quilt will just have to take a back seat to trains and Bubba’s favourite game of “eat the mama – or drown her in drool trying”. Eh, just a different kind of fun this Tuesday has in store for me! Loving it!

Art Journals

I’ve found myself a few times caught in the throes of an inspiration blitz, and wishing I had some art supplies to do some drawing, scribbling, writing or photography. A few months back, I treated myself to a cool little point and shoot camera that I could leave in the nappy bag, and not have to tote my big SLR around everywhere. One problem down. I’ve been planning since then to bind myself a little art journal that I could use for a similar purpose.

 

So over the holidays, I found the time to bind myself two little ACEO-sized art books:

I actually made two in a similar style, this one, “Create” has an acrylic painting on the front. The other, “Dream”, has a similar image on the front, drawn in pastels. Unfortunately, when I sprayed some ‘stuff’ on it to stop the pastels smudging on everything, it stained, so it’s my back-up book!

 

Inside, I used a mixture of drawing paper, watercolour paper, pastel paper & wrutung paper, to keep my options open!

 

 

I also made a little cover to protect it from getting a total trashing whilst floating around in my bag.

 

Not bad for an hour or so worth of ‘work’! Can’t wait for the opportunity to use it now.

 

Happy Monday everyone!

A flower from my toddler

hand-picked during a bushwalk yesterday, inspired a little watercolour. (I’m not overly thrilled with how it scanned, it isn’t as washed out in real-life – for instance, the background should be cream instead of white… I think I’ll have to practice with my scanner a bit more.)

 

I came across this blog the other day, and I just love, love, love the sweet watercolours by this talented artist, hence the abstract style I’m playing with in this painting. *sigh* One day I will be able to paint properly. Maybe.

Gift tags…

So I finished my gift tags, and now I can start wrapping the mountain of presents sitting in my office. I also knocked out a huge whack yesterday, all I have left to buy is a few scratchies, and something for my 3 BIL’s – I hate shopping for men!

The gift tags:

And I decided to scrap my previous card design, I wasn’t happy with it, so now my cards will be similar to the tags, in a Christmas tree shape. I’ve done a mock-up version, now I just need to paint the real thing, scan & print, and get those cards out!

Crossing over…

…from one medium to another. A while back I did a little pastel sketch of some purple flowers, and mentioned at te time that I might use it as a basis for a silk ribbon embroidery.

 

So when we went away a few weeks ago, I packed my embroidery box, slapped some paint on some fabric, and ended up with this:

The photo isn’t brilliant, the acrylic wash is more vivd in real life. If I were to do this again, I would use silk embroidery floss, rather than the heavy thread I used here, but it was all I had at the time! I’m quite happy with how the flowers turned out, using three different shades of purple ribbon.

 

I also used the drawing as a starting point for a little watercolour:

If I had my time over with this one, I would add more depth to the flowers, and possibly layer the sky & grass a bit more, for interest.