Grease Lightning!

Wow, what a day! Courtney had so much fun and everyone loved our backyard 'carnival'! The kids all got in to the spirit and dressed up. They were running from cut out to castle and back again. I got some great shots but have posted a few of my favourites.
Now I have some work to do and some 'play' time.
Have a great Sunday everyone!!

Birthday madness

My middle daughter turns 10 next Tuesday and is having her party tomorrow. As my kids only get parties on certain years, we tend to go the whole hog. This year Courtney decided on a 'Grease' theme. After much searching, we could not find any appropriate decorations, so Samara came up with the great idea of the doing the back yard as a carnival, as in the final scene on the movie Grease. We have already ordered a fancy bouncy castle, so thought we would make some life size cut-outs. Well, it took almost 36 hours straight working on them, but they are almost finished... Will take heaps of photos tomorrow at the party, the kids have all got costumes (and me too!). Its going to be great!!!!
Top pic is me working on the first one we made, wearing my faithful painting cardigan! Poor thing is covered in paint. I still need to get the faces cut out and have them braced so they are free standing, but that is a job for the man of the house!!

Just a quick note

I am feeling so excited about all the plans for the next 18 months, it is a time of growth and friendship and creativity and so much more! We don't see this as a financial thing, but as an opportunity to unite creative souls and creative expansion.

Bring it on... I AM READY

Oh, you have to read Misty Mawns blog, I am sure you can all relate to her latest post!

What a great Sunday

Rain was predicted but we have all heard that story before, haven't we??!
But guess what?
It rained!!
And I don't mean one shower and that is it, I mean a steady rain for hours and hours with the occasional really heavy shower. It was great, the lawns were soggy, the gutters overflowing (must get those cleaned out) and there were huge puddles everywhere. Great stuff, I hope it makes it to the wheatbelt and all our farmers.
So, a lovely wet day means no washing can get done (what a shame!!) and I have plenty of 'play' time. So, I got stuck into a 'Faerie Shrine' I have been trying to finish. Above are some progress pics, I got the inspiration the artwork of Debrina Pratt and Mary Halderman in the Jan/Feb '07 issue of Somerset Studio. It was great fun playing with paper and paint and some artchix images. The main box was just an improvisation as I ran out of foam core. I still have to add loads more but it gives you an idea of what I have been up to.
Also started working on pages for the Art Retreat website, so much information to sort, but it was great to relive it all again, makes me even more excited about all the retreats coming up...
More about that in the next post!!
Thats all for now, more soon....

How lucky are we??

so



Just check out the treasure box that the very generous Sunny bought in for us. First pic is of the whole lot and the second pic is of a few pieces I pulled out.
Also a shot of some of the bits I picked up at the Bead and Gem show. Am going to get my hands on some PMC (precious metal clay), as I thought that looked like fun stuff to play with. Can't wait to start playing with some jewellery pieces, been very inspired by Ro Bruhn and her gorgeous work!
Last pic is the beginning stage of a 'doodad doll' inspired by Michael De Meng. This is in the very raw stage, have just painted it all white recently and hope to start adding some colour and detail today.
Will upload some pics of pieces I have been working on inspired by the Bernie Berlin ATC book. If you don't have this, you have to get it!! So many fun techniques using materials you will already have...
Had a look at some Dremels yesterday, would love to know what Model you guys use. I though the 600 looked like the one I would need??

Shrines

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Our Wednesday morning girls have been making shrines over the past couple of weeks and I thought I would share some pics of the works in progress. At the moment I don't have any pics of completed shrines but it gives you an idea of what we have been up to.
Jacky has gone for the Judy Reisch/Nina Bagley look, which Sunny is doing also. I am doing mine ala DeMeng. Robyn insists she is going to repaint hers at it is 'too pink' for her!! tfl

Happy Easter

I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing Easter break and are all fired up for creating!
Have so much that has to be done right now, just don't know where to start. I have found a venue for the Melbourne retreat, will see what all the girls think about it's location and then can fire ahead and start booking tutors, venues airfares etc...
I am working on getting all the photos and write ups done on the Fremantle retreat. It is a huge job.... so much info to process!! Hoping to get this up and running in the next couple of days for all of you who have been so patiently waiting!!
I also have a whole heap of art work to complete. We have been creating shrines and mine are all half done. Sort of stalled a bit with the Easter preparations.
We spent Easter Monday at Burswood Park for a picnic with Anthonys family. Was a lovely day, not too hot but with the sun shining beautifully. A friendly black swan took a shine to my sister-in-law Tina, but his advances were got a little out of hand. The kids had a great time kicking the ball around and playing in the playground. My nephew Jordi is quite the character, he thought spin bowling meant running around in circles before throwing the ball! So cute to watch those little legs churning.
Well school holidays are in full swing and it is so nice to not have that early morning chaos. My house has just had a big 'Autumn' clean and smells so fresh and clean, don't know how long it will last with the kids being home all day but I am bribing them with a trip to the movies on Friday. Blackmail at its best.
Will put all my photos on the computer this afternoon and start posting some of the shrines, Jackys looks amazing!