Things I'm Diggin'

My fabulous destroyed cowl from Myrtle & Eunice.  Oh how I love it.  I don't want to take it off.  In fact I haven't really, apart from when I sleep.

My Vintage Button Scarflette from Sheeps Clothing.  This winter is going to be all about the scarflette and the cowl.

Mondo Beyondo.  I wrote a new Mondo Beyondo list the other day choc full of big dreams.  How I love to dream big dreams.  I think I'm going to sign up for the new Mondo Beyondo Dream Lab as well.

Flying Lessons with Kelly Rae Roberts.  It started today and I can already tell it's going to be great.  I'm going to create an e-course someday.  About writing the contents of your heart.

Exercise.  I'm learning how to run.  I know, it sounds a bit weird.  Like, what do you need to learn?  Don't you just do it (that's certainly what Nike suggested!)?  Maybe it's better to say I'm practicing running with the intent of being able to run for periods of time.  And I'm getting better at it too.

Seeing my incredible creative friends launch themselves into their creative dreams. It's inspiring in the very best kind of ways.

What about you?  What's on your radar today?  What are you diggin'?

Swippety Swappety

Do you like to make up words?  It's a favourite pastime at our place.  I know CurlyPops loves a made up word or two, too.

So, I'm thinking swippety swappety might just be my new favourite.

Anyway, now that I've exercised the demon I'm joining in some fun over at Beth's place.

I thought that some of you might be keen as mustard as well.  All the details are here.  You've got till Wednesday to sign up.

I've got visions of thread sketching, my newly learned french knot know-how, some painting and maybe even a little crochet.  OK, wonder pin towers ACTIVATE!!!

Where I've Been, Time And Time Again

Transformation

Work in progress

nemesis: an opponent or rival whom a person cannot best or overcome

inertia: inertness, especially with regard to effort, motion, action, and the like; inactivity; sluggishness
 
insidious: intended to entrap or beguile

despondency: depression of spirits from loss of courage or hope

Without warning, or evident cause I fell prey to a gradual decline in activity that rendered me almost completely still.  It's not the first time.  In fact I'm becoming increasingly aware of a pattern.

You might be thinking that this sounds like a good thing.  Some kind of natural rhythmic meditative kind of event. It's not.

I'm also not talking about being tired and needing a rest, or needing to take a little time out from things, or cutting myself some slack.  There's plenty of overachievers in this world who could do with easing up on themselves a little.  I'm not one on them.

Inertia is my nemesis.  It sneaks up on me every single time.  One day I wake up and I don't really want to get out of bed. There's a soul weariness that comes over me.  I don't want to paint, write, read, blog, go out or do anything much of anything at all.  Or in fact, I do want to do all those things but I haven't the slightest bit of energy or inspiration to give to any of it.  And so I find myself, often, just sitting.  Ever so still.  Motionless.  Awake and yet asleep.

It doesn't take long for inertia to become despondency.  I lose hope.  I start to suspect that my dreams are too big for me.  What does it matter anyway?  I'm not a person who goes out there and makes things happen.  I'm a person that's full of ideas but no action.  And nothing is ever going to change that.  Everything seems and feels so difficult, so insurmountable. The gremlins take hold and take over, and it's a downward spiral from there.

It's only recently that I've really come to recognise the beast for what it is, and to learn it's insidious nature.  And in seeing it clearly, I am realising that motion is it's undoing.  

So I walk, and ride, and run.  I walk for my hopes, for my dreams.  I ride for my sanity, for my salvation.  I run for my life, for my creativity, for my soul.  

That's where I've been.  Standing still and getting moving again.

Floored

Enjoying things from a different angle today.

A Special Message From The Universe

For my friends across the ponds. From me to you.  Muah!

Pop over to the {messages from the universe} Flickr group and check out all the good stuff people have shared.  Be sure to join and add your finds too.

I Still Can't Find Them

Heffernan Lane, Melbourne

I've looked under the bed,
in the pantry,
on the desk at work,
in amidst the piles of autumn leaves lying in the gutters.

On the streets as I ride along,
 in the neighbours chook shed,
and even deep within myself.
All to no avail.

I have no words
Not for you, not for me.

I Think Work Ate My Words

I don't seem to be able to string any sentences together.

Must Fly

After giving myself the gift of a week with no plans, the universe gave me casual work for the rest of this week, and most of next.  Go figure.  Can't complain about money in the bank.

I'll be hooking my heart out at the Northern Craft Bonanza tonight.  Maybe I'll see you there.

Dash off to Kootoyoo for more Creative Spaces.

Festive Goodness Continues

High Tea with Ms L and Mumsy

and back to things starting with P

I can't believe I forgot to add my pretty Pocket from Beccasaurus to yesterday's list.

I'm keeping my birthday pocket money from Mumsy in it.

Things Starting With P

Painting

Pomegranate

Pavlova with raspberry coulis, dark chocolate and pomegranate seeds.  

I made it myself.  A new birthday ritual.  I started last year with Lamingtons.  

And it tastes oh so good.

Phenomenal autumn weather

Presents.  Tickets to Sex and The City 2 at Gold Class from Ms L 

and gorgeous goodies from CurlyPops .

Pixies, Pink, Pat Benetar and Powderfinger on the iPod.

 Precious time to ponder and plan.

Pogo sticking - OK, not really but bike riding doesn't start with P.  

I did find the random letter P lying on the road on my ride.

Perfectly, brilliant birthday!

Festivals And Things Starting With F

Festival hair (that's what we call cute pony tails at our place): CHECK

Fabulous new painting apron gifted to me by CurlyPops: CHECK

Free day ahead of me to do with as I wish: CHECK

French onion soup with fresh baked bread for lunch: CHECK

Fine tunes on the iPod: CHECK

and a 

Friend below who needs a makeover:

CHECK

Let the Festival of Tinniegirl begin

The Gift Of Time

I like birthdays.  I like the opportunity they present to reflect on the passing of time and to set intent for the next year.  A personal new year of sorts.

I also like to get myself a gift each year.  Something a little bit special.

I've been so busy since I finished work a few weeks ago.  I was thinking about it last week and I realised that the very best birthday present I could ask for would be time.  Time to paint, to dream, to write, to enjoy my own company and to just be.

So that's what I gave myself.  A week just for me.  Only a couple of things on the calendar and all of them things that don't require me to organise or do anything.  Things where I can just arrive and be.  Good things at that too.  The Northern Craft Bonanza, and High Tea at the Windsor.

Tomorrow, on my birthday, I'm following Louise's lead. You'll find me in my studio, listening to tunes, paint brush in hand, big smile on my face.  Pop in and say Hi.

You're Going To Love Me...

Salted Peanut and Chocolate Toffee Tart
(via the new Master Chef Magazine)

...unless you're allergic to peanuts, or chocolate, or caramel, or the most amazing pastry on earth, that is.

or if you're not going to Nikki's Sew It Together Soiree tonight. You might not love me in that case.

Oh, and if you are going to Nikki's tonight but you're trying to lose weight. You might not love me then either.

Do you have any idea how hard it's been to have this made since Thursday evening and not cut into it? I might just have more self-control than I give myself credit for.

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Thanks for all the aqua v purple thoughts. I haven't made up my mind yet/still. I'll be sure to show the end result when I do.

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There's still a couple of books left from my second hand book sale, in case you're interested.

You Tell Me

I can't decide.

This painting needs a little something to finish it off.

Brilliant purple or bright aqua green?

What do you think?

Kootoyoo has all the goods at her place today, including something of mine.

Something For Me, And Perhaps Something For You

I arrived home today to find a little package on the doorstep. I couldn't remember expecting any parcels. Then I saw it was from Beth.


Beth got stranded in Geneva when the volcano hit, and instead of being grumpy and stuck, she embraced the moment and headed to Paris for the weekend. How very fabulous.

Not only did Beth share her wonderful weekend via her blog, she also shared some goodies. I was the lucky winner of one of her giveaways.


I know! How lucky am I to be the winner of a giveaway involving a tin. And a gorgeous French tin, all the way from Paris at that. Big thanks to you Beth. I love it. Now I just have to decide what treasure it shall keep safe.

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Now for the something for you bit. After the big studio clear out I have some books to sell. I thought I'd list them here before I head over to e-bay.

I've listed the price next to the book and you will need to pay the postage as well, or work out a way to pick them up. I'll get an accurate cost on the postage once I know where I'm sending them but you can assume it will be between $5-$10 Australia wide.

They're all in excellent condition. Things that I've enjoyed but no longer need. I'm refining and making room for new things at the moment.

I've also put a link to the Amazon listing so you can check them out a bit more.

• Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts - $15.00 - SOLD
• Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! (second edition) - $12.50 - SOLD
• Crochet Jewelry - $15.00
• Creative Collage - $10.00 - SOLD
• True Vision - Authentic Art Journaling - $12.50 - SOLD
• The Art of Personal Imagery:Expressing Your Life Through Collage - $15.00 - SOLD
• The Altered Book Scrapbook - $10.00 - SOLD
• Collage Unleashed - $12.50 - SOLD
• Golden Hands 14 & 15 - published early 70's - $5.00 each - SOLD

If you're interested shoot me an email at tinniegirl(at)optusnet(dot)com(dot)au. First in, best dressed for these.

Little Cat Liked It Too

I had such a fabulous time working at the Stitches and Craft Show. I'm pretty sure I had the best job of everyone there. I sat, crocheted, chatted, read back issues of Notebook, crocheted some more, chatted to some other people. Oh, and I signed people up for subscriptions, but really, that just sort of happened all of it's own accord.


Lots of people walked past and commented on what a great job I had. I just beamed at them and agreed wholeheartedly. A few times I had moments of guilt for having such an easy time of it, or found myself justifying to others why I wasn't working as hard as perhaps others were. Then I thought to myself why bother? It is what it is. It turned out to be an easy job, but it doesn't meant I didn't do it well. Why do we make ourselves feel guilty when the universe gives us a gift. So I went back to smiling, chatting, crocheting and signing people up for subscriptions.

The thing that really struck me over the 3 days I was there was the incredible diversity in our creative community. Young, old, kitsch, uber-cool, happy, grumpy, relaxed, stressed, down-right daggy, glitzy, contemporary, you name it, I saw it. And I liked it!

I realised as I watched the world go by how passionate I am about diversity, how important it is to me. I am so thankful to be part of such a diverse community. I am so thankful to the people before me who have kept the crafty fire burning, who have made it possible for me to enjoy the contemporary craft scene that I do. I wonder what craft will look like in 20 years. I wonder where I will sit within the spectrum of diversity.

So that was the show. Very different to the experience I had last year. I had lots of fun catching up with many, many lovely bloggers. Too many to even list. The show felt like a great big social gathering with all these familiar faces.

Then of course there was the goodies. I was pretty restrained this year. A couple of gorgeous tea towels from Yardage Girl, a lovely gift of paper goodies from Q Tea, some supplies for painting and a Stitches and Craft Tote bag.


A girl can never have too many totes. Little Cat seems to think so too.

Ode To Titanium White

How I love your crisp, stark coolness.

Head to Kootoyoo to see what's happening in other creative spaces.

It's pretty quiet around ole' Melbourne town blogs this week. We're all about the Stitches and Craft Show in this neck of the woods. Don't forget to pop in and say Hi to me at the Notebook stand if you're at the show on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Battening Down The Hatches

Wonderland
work in progress
Acrylics on Canvas
8 x 8 inch

Autumn is fully upon us here in ole' Melbourne town. My senses are filled with it.

Smelling - potato and leek soup and fresh baked bread, rhubarb and apple crumble. All made by me.

Looking - I'm mesmerised by the change of season, the colours, the early darkness in the sky, the gorgeous turning of the leaves.

Feeling - the coolness in the air, the fallen leaves crunching under my feet. I've been having fun kicking them about. Takes me right back to childhood.

Listening - to the birds. Magpies, Ravens, Parrots. The noisy ones are my favourites. They notice the change of season too.

Tasting - life at a different pace, the goodies from my kitchen, and a banana right this instant.

I wasn't thinking of a meme when I started this post, but it seems like a good one. Would you like to play along?

Synergy

Michael Street, Clifton Hill
Monday afternoon

Every now and then you find yourself in a place where the sun is shining at just the right angle to make a little magic happen.

All we have to do is keep our eyes open.

It's a metaphor, no?

Or maybe a {message from the universe}

The Space In Between

Bliss
Acrylics and gel pen on Canvas
10 x 10 inch

The space in between leaving a job, and getting to the point where you absolutely must find another one (you know, to pay the bills and all that jazz), may very well be the most wonderful space that exists.

In the space in between I

• stay up late and wake up early
• paint, write and catch up on emails
• take myself out to lunch
• ride my bike to run errands
• buy fresh coffee beans, and vegies for tonight's dinner
• plan to cook Moroccan lamb curry and rhubarb and apple crumble
• visit the art store for supplies
• dream about my future
• make plans for my creative future
• feel like my life is in balance
  

In the space in between I am living the life of my dreams, loving it, savouring every minute of it and remembering the taste. I am bringing it to life, and it is bringing me to life.

The space in between is BLISS.

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On a totally unrelated note, my very favourite person in the whole wide world started a blog. Please pop over and welcome her to blogland.