Cushions for the Couch!

Belbird by Melbomba

Mari by Kalla

Orla in lemon by Skinnylaminx

Cloud birds by Skinnylaminx

Karlstad lounge by ikea

Aah, this is the time in my week where I assess what I have achieved in the last 7 days; this week, I have to admit, there is no progress to share. It has been a week filled with an unforseeable chore that stole my work time but, instead of feeling bad about it, I am just going to focus on all that will get done next week.

And so I have decided to blog instead about my ongoing search for cushions for our lounge. When we moved here from Japan we shipped some of our furniture but in general we had to start from scratch and so, an impulse buy on a trip to ikea saw us ordering the Karlstad lounge with the removable covers which I thought would be very practical having two little ones who don't always have the cleanest of hands. We have had the lounge almost a year now but it is still in need of some cushions to make it really comfortable.

I keep spying great cushion covers or fabrics on etsy which I love but I have no idea what colours or patterns to choose or whether to just make an eclectic mix of my favourites.

On the top of my list are some of the designs by Heather Moore from her shop Skinnylaminx. And then there is another of my favourites called Mari from Kalla. Recently I also discovered Melbomba in Melbourne who makes some beautiful fabrics. All these shops have wonderful patterns and so many colours to choose from. Perhaps I will never be able to choose and may just keep on admiring and adding to my wish list!

A Celebration of Diversity

Last night, I finally finished my first drawing for the year. I sat down for almost two hours straight just inking in the circles at the bottom which were the last part to go. These are just a couple of snaps from my phone camera so not the best images but a record of sorts.

A Celebration of Diversity is something that has been sitting in my sketch book for a long time. It celebrates the fact that we are all different and yet live and grow side by side and learn from each other. Sometimes we try to make people more like ourselves when in fact we should just appreciate and celebrate our differences. I think this one came to mind recently when I was shocked by some very narrow views of a person who was unable to continue a relationship because the other person was from a different culture. How sad, I thought. How much that person has missed out on.

I can only speak from my experience as an 'Australian' married to a Japanese. I have been asked a number of times if I think international marriages are difficult. My answer to that question is that all marriages or partnerships can be difficult at times but more importantly they can be wonderful. I think how much richer my life is that I can share it with another being regardless of nationality; a person who is kind, warm, generous and loving. And how fantastic that I have been able to experience the beautiful culture that he is from and how that has influenced my life.

There are no doubt many differences between us all.

Let's celebrate that....

The Fun Part

This is the part I love. When all the sketching and rearranging of elements is finished; when all the pencil lines are in place and I all I need to do is ink in the black areas. It is tedious and time consuming and a bit nerve wracking when you only get one chance to create a single, permanent mark with that pen; But this is the part I enjoy the most.

My husband often tells me, "You know your style of drawing could be created in Illustrator and it would be really quick and accurate". "Aah yes," I reply, "but it is not the point". I go on to explain that it is the process that I love. I love that it takes a long time and that it really is not perfect - it is touched with a human hand and we are imperfect. It is the best part about creating when you get to the part where all the design is worked out and then you just have to go ahead and make it. That is my time to myself and takes me completely away from everything else I do in my day.

I guess that is the sort of person I am. There are many ways to get to work and many would choose to take a car or ride a train. For me, if I have a choice I would probably walk or cycle. If I were a bug or insect it would be romantic to picture myself as a butterfly or dragonfly but in reality I would be a snail. When a plane lands and the doors open and everyone rushes to exit, you will most likely find me at the back of the queue.

And so while I realize there are faster and more efficient ways to do things, this is the medium I choose at the moment and I love it!

Sketchy progress.

I have decided to make Friday or Saturday night 'blog night'. It is a chance for me to reflect on the week and by writing things down I can hopefully quantify what I have achieved rather than thinking of all the things that I haven't finished yet. I did spend some time this week on a new black and white drawing but most of the week was taken up with admin and computer stuff as I continue to work out how to reproduce my work and then package it. I narrowed down my choice of 12 kinds of paper to two that I really want to work with. Firstly, I have chosen a bamboo paper which is only 10% cotton and 90% bamboo and I think I will use this for colour prints. For the black and white prints I have chosen the Hahnemuhle Museum etching paper. In all honesty the prints probably look better than the originals.

So I ordered more paper and was strangely nervous doing so. I have spent thousands of dollars over the years buying silver and other materials to make jewellery and yet spending a couple of hundred dollars on paper felt very indulgent and for a minute or two the old doubt bug crept in and I wondered if I would end up with a stack of very expensive paper that I would end up having to cut into squares to write phone messages on.

Pushing that feeling of doubt aside, I have moved on to retouching the scanned images for the drawings I have from last year just to remove the odd specs of dust that sneak in; so soon, very soon I may have something new to put into my etsy shop. Next week I will have to work out postage costs and order supplies for packaging and hopefully above all else try and finish my first little black and white for the year. I will finish here and upload some of my sketchy progress.

Floating and thinking.

A good few years ago now, I was very devoted to attending yoga classes. At one stage I even had all the paperwork ready to begin the yoga teacher training course. But life got filled up with many other things and although I have practiced on and off it hasn't been consistent. I started this new year enthusiastically trying to do a little each morning and while it is often only 5 minutes and sometimes ends with a little one jumping on top of me, it feels good to stretch and begin to reverse my stiff and hunched posture that has started to set in after cradling babies and doing not much more than general household chores and strolls to the supermarket for the last 3 years.

When I first began doing yoga, I was purely interested in the physical benefits and didn't realize how good it would be for the mind as well. This is one of the things I have missed most I think. Today, I spent some time in my parent's swimming pool and after a few laps, discovering how very unfit I am, I simply lay back on the floating foam tubes that we had been playing with earlier and just gazed up at the big blue sky. There was a tall gum tree in the neighbours backyard and the sun was shining on the white branches and I was just looking at the shapes the leaves were making as they were clumped together. Later, my husband commented to me that floating had been good thinking time and it had been. And for me it was also a short time to quiten my mind from everything it is filled with. And it felt good. It reminded me we need to take that time out even if it is only short. So while the weather is warm I hope to do more floating and thinking and then thinking nothing at all...

Progress

What can I say? Progress is slow but there is progress at least and my goal is to achieve more than I did the previous week.

I am venturing into the 2D world. A few kind people (naturally family and friends) have said "make prints"! It feels like it should just be a case of pushing two buttons: scan and print. But it is not that simple. In creating a print I am trying to create something that is as close as possible to the original and maintains the same essence. So with the help of my husband I have spent my week photo scanning, document scanning, and photographing original drawings to compare the digital data and the subtle differences that each method produces. In addition, I have 12 different varieties of beautiful Hahnemuhle fine art paper to choose from to print on! I then need to consider how I will package these prints and the cost to ship to different countries. It all takes time.

I am not feeling extremely confident with the work I have done so far but I keep moving forward with the line in my head that , "everyone starts somewhere. There will be room for improvement. I have also managed a little time to work on a new drawing this week. IT has basically gone from a small thumbnail to pulling that apart and trying hard to work on each section. I hope to have more to show by next week.

And the loveliest progress of all this week: a little sale to a friend in Melbourne. I think it would be nice to keep a little world map pinpointed with all the places my jewellery has found homes.

And so one step at a time I keep on going....

2011!

Yes it is mid January already - about the time I realize that the new year has started and it is time to get moving on all the well intentioned goals I have for the year. I have begun the year with renewed enthusiasm, renewed inspiration and renewed motivation. About a week into the new year however I realized that in fact I have been given no extra time to work on all the things I want to achieve. In fact with all the out of the ordinary outings and visits plus the stretched evenings with daylight savings enticing us outdoors in the evening for a stroll or playground visit - the little ones have been going to bed way too late and I actually seem to have less time than usual. So I have decided I have to make more efficient use of the time I do have and remain focused on what I want to do.

One of the things than greatly inhibits the progress of my Etsy shop is the fact that almost every piece I have made is different or a very limited production so that requires me to photograph every single piece and write a different description for each. I did study photography at uni but it was neither my favourite or best subject and while I enjoy looking at other people's photos I find it a real chore to take them myself. I have been very lucky to be married to a professional photographer who helps me incredibly with this side of things but my etsy shop is something that I want to do without taking away his time for other things he needs to be doing.

So one of my favourite things to do is look through all the photos we have stored on the computer and sometimes I am lucky enough to come across one that I have forgotten that my husband has taken that I can use for my Etsy shop. Such was the case this week when I found my rather poor images of a moon pendant I had made a while ago and then came across an image shot with stars in the background that Hiro-san had taken for me which I could use to list a new item. Yay! My Etsy shop was barely breathing when I checked in on it at the start of the year but with continued effort I hope to bring it back to life.

Happy New Year. I hope it is a great year for all.

Life With You

In honour of Cathy Nichol's Found Art Friday, this is my small contribution. Her theme this month is Gratitude which is something I really struggled to imagine how I could present visually. And so in thinking about all the things I am grateful for I wanted to especially express my gratitude for my husband and the life we share together with our children. I think this one truly needs to be made in colour - I hope I will get there next year. Thank you Cathy again for the inspiration - check out her amazing piece here.

Bloom where you are planted!

I can't believe September snuck away from me so quickly and it is the 1st of October already. I managed to finish just one little drawing last month and although it wasn't what I had originally intended to submit for Cathy Nichol's Found Art Friday, it kind of related to her theme of "change" with the changing seasons upon us so I sent it anyway.

In actual fact this drawing is inspired by my friend Jacqui who is super-mum to two gorgeous boys and has an Etsy shop, selling very cute messenger bags, called Mee a Bee. The title of her blog is "Blooming in Japan" and so this is how I imagine Jacqui to be a beautiful blossoming tree by the sea in Osaka where she lives. I have never actually met Jacqui in person but since I follow her blog regularly and we have emailed eachother from time to time I feel as though I know her well and imagine that we will one day sit down over a cup of coffee and have quite a chat as though we have known eachother for years! I am always inspired by how much she achieves in a day; she is always busy with her boys but then will produce these fabulous bags at the end of the day when I am doing nothing more than flopping into bed or at best sitting down with a cup of tea and reading her blog.

So this is to remind us all to bloom where we are planted - and keep blooming so beautifully in Nihon Jacqui.

To the Sea

It is hard to believe that another month has almost slipped by and it is time for Cathy Nichols Found Art Friday once again. The theme for this month is "To the Sea". When I think of the sea it reminds me of one of my happiest memories - snorkeling on The Great Barrier Reef during my honeymoon. We went on a snorkeling tour which took us to the edge of the reef where we were able to swim amongst the most beautiful fish and coral. The guide told us it was a 6 day swim to the coast of Australia or a 6 month swim to the coast of South America!It felt like such a privilege to be amongst this amazing underwater world. Some people we met up in Cairns told us that 10 years earlier it had been even more beautiful. Perhaps we should never have been there at all but I am very grateful for the experience and will never forget it.

So for my contribution to FAF this week I began doodling all the things I could think of associated with the sea such as waves, fish, shells, seaweed etc and lined them up in rows. This then led to me drawing a grid pattern on the page and simplified my initial doodles down to just the waves and fish to see what repetitious shapes and patterns I could make. It was definitely a big step away from my usual obsession with leaves and plants but also lots of fun and I am looking forward to seeing Cathy's post at the end of this week.

Found!

Slowly, ever so slowly I have been putting pen to paper in my evenings when the little ones are sound alseep. I am neither happy or satisfied with any of the results yet but I think importantly it is a start! Without a beginning there can be no ending and so I hope with continued effort that something will grow from this.

Cathy Nichols has inspired a couple of my recent efforts with her themes for her Found Art Friday. I never seem to finish mine in time to participate but I thank her for giving me encouragement to pick up my pencils when I might otherwise happily opt for much needed sleep.

The top one is "found" which was inspired by our recent search to find a home for our little family to live in earlier this year.

The second is called (Extra)ordinary. The theme for this one was "ordinary" and so I thought about the flowers and small plants we walk past every time we go to the supermarket. They are I think very ordinary and yet extraordinary at the same time.

I'm looking forward to finding out what this months theme will be.

Beauty in the Backyard

Aah, it has been a while since I stopped by my blog to add anything. I will offer no excuses. But I took a couple of snaps a while back that I intended to post of something I found in the backyard. I was hanging out the washing one day when I looked down and saw a single bougainvillea flower on the ground. It had blown in from somehwere and completely captivated my attention. How beautiful this little thing is I thought to myself and scooped it up to photograph and sit on the window sill in the kitchen. I am always happy to find such things which highlight so perfectly the beauty of nature.

Everything Blooming

I am a big fan of Cathy Nichols art. I guess I am attracted to her wonderful use of colour and inspired by the fact that she manages to produce new pieces weekly even though she also has two young children of her own to take care of. Anyway, I also follow her blog and on the last Friday of the month she encourages readers of her blog to participate in her 'Found Art Friday'. The idea behind this is to create an artwork around a theme that is created freely without too much planning. It is not a way I usually like to work as I am one to sketch and doodle away making small changes to a design before I begin on the final piece. But having so little time these days for such luxury I decided to participate in last month's theme, 'everything blooming' and the results you can see above. Okay it is hardly Klee or Picasso but I think the important thing is that it was a start. Hopefully I can keep the scissors and paper out and find the time and energy to participate in next months found art friday too and improve upon this one!

The Family Treehouse

I spent Sunday morning reliving my childhood memories with my 2 year old as we played with the Family Treehouse. It was probably one of my favourite toys as a child and my mum has lovingly stored it for me over the years just waiting for a time when it might be enjoyed again.

Essentially it is a doll's house in the shape of a tree but the features would have to be the wind up and down lift, the outdoor swing and the car that holds the whole family and even the dog in the centre if you squash it inbetween.

I think I am having just as much fun as my little one as we arrange the furniture and put the little people up and down the elevator. I am loving the Miffy-like interior but am not sure about the mum dressed in an apron and the dad in a business suit - it is a toy of the 1970's so definitely a reference to that era.

It is nice to be able to take the time to play and go back to a time in my life where imagination was everything and to see the wonder and enjoyment of my own child at play.

Possibility

A couple of weeks ago I got out a selection of coloured paper I brought over with me from Japan with which I optimistically believed I would handmake all my Christmas cards. Gone are those days. With two little ones to occupy my time and an awful cold thrown into the picture I realistically only ended up making one card which I sent to my mother and father-in-law in Japan. But I did manage to make some Christmas gift tags for my family and after Christmas a wedding card for my cousin who married recently and was coming back to Adelaide to celebrate with family and friends.

I love choosing the colours and I love the delicious possibilities when I see the paper. I feel enthusiastic for the new year. 2010 is full of wonderful potential and possibility. I have not had so much time to create this year but I feel very hopeful of achieving much more in the year ahead.

Happy New Year. I hope anything is possible for you in 2010.

A Good Day

Today was a good day.

I baked. I sang. I laughed with my 2 year old.
My husband had a job to go to.
I ate dinner surrounded by these beautiful yellow flowers.
I visited a new friend.
I went to the supermarket with my 2 year old. He had a good time.
I sang Jingle Bells at bath time.
I sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star to my 7 month old.
I hugged and was hugged.
I saw rain and I saw sunshine.
I talked and laughed some more.
Yes, today was a good day.

Designing in my Dreams

It usually takes me a lot of time to design something I'm really happy with. It will start with an idea and a sketch that I may draw and re-draw numerous times to make changes until I am satisfied with the final result. And then the making process itself may determine that more things need to be altered or adjusted slightly. So it comes as a great surprise to me when I have these dreams where I see whole jewellery collections or exhibitions. As far as I can remember they are not pieces or designs that I have ever seen before but there they are as clear as anything in my dream as perfectly finished pieces of jewellery. Sometimes in the dream they are my pieces or sometimes they are pieces belonging to other people or friends - but strangely I must conjure up all the shapes myself.
The other night I had another of these kinds of dreams. This time it was not jewellery as such but an evening dress. Of course when I wake up I lose the details of the design but what I remember was a beautiful white evening gown with a strapless bodice and pleated and folded fabric. Around the waist was an obi like band with a big black bow. The bodice was then joined to a wide belt-like collar with coloured strips of fabric. Now as I'm typing this it sound really bad.
I have little interest in designing fashion but I love the way my brain dreamed this one up!

Back to Work!

Well, my littlest poppet is 6 months already. How time just passes so quickly! And while I blog in my head all the time its been 2 months since I have put letters to keyboard so to speak. If only there was a direct download cable available from my head to the computer. I guess there will be one day.

So the question amongst fellow playground and playgroup Mums is not, "Will you return to work?" but "WHEN will you return to work?" We are the mums who as children believed we could grow up to be and do anything and everything and now we are trying to prove it. Somehow it seems we not only have to be good little homemakers but have the other "real" job -ie the one that pays money! Someone asked me recently if I was working or JUST a stay-at-home mum. I know they didn't really mean it that way but there is sometimes this feeling that it is not enough to be doing the best job you can to raise your children to be the best that they can be.

My little ones are growing so quickly and I am trying to enjoy every moment with them. So I am choosing to work only in their nap time or at the end of the day when they are fast asleep. The last few weeks I have tried to make a bigger effort to spend some time on my Etsy shop in the evenings. It's not easy! When you have been up since 5.30am sometimes and are not likely to get any uninterrupted sleep anytime soon I am often tempted to go to sleep at the same time as my 2 year old.

But I love working on my Etsy shop and I will keep on trying to capture all the minutes I can in a day to keep doing that! I'm definitely moving at snail's pace but I am back at work!

Great Great Nanna's Blanket

My friend Tia has been crocheting a beautiful blanket for her little boy. It reminded me that when I was a baby my Great Nanna (my Mum's Dad's Mum!) had crocheted a blanket for me. Now I have been using it to cover my own baby girl at night and the first time I used it I was overwhelmed by a sense of its history and the love that had gone into making it. It felt as though I was blanketing my little baby in generations of love. My Great Nanna was very artistic and made lots of things that we still have in our family. Although I have photos of her holding me, I was too young to remember her. Now I have her blanket out again I wonder what she would be like if she were living in this generation - the things she would make and the conversations we would have...

The Best Things in Life are Free

We took our little ones down to the beach a few weeks back. It was a sunny Winter day and crowded with lots of people thinking that Summer had arrived already. What I saw that day reminded me of something important. What I saw that day was the happiest little face and the biggest smile on my little boy. It was the first time he had seen such a large congregation of sea gulls. He had such a good time playing amongst them and didn't want to leave. It reminded me that indeed often the best things in life are free

.