Red by three

I'm a little low on energy due to a lovely little headcold, and the best colour for giving energy is red!

Red is hot, red is strong. The cultural signifigance varies across the globe, but you can be guaranteed the meaning or emotion attributed to red is always a powerful one. Love, hate, passion and pain can all be conveyed with this feisty primary colour.

When I wear my favourite red scarf I feel more confident, and sometimes simply putting on red lipstick is all I need to do for a boost.

Red is considered a healing colour too. I'm hoping these little dashes of red will get me out of my slump!

My Tangled Hair

My tangled hair

I shall not cut:

Your hand, my dearest,

Touched it as a pillow.

ANONYMOUS Translated from the Japanese by G Bownes and A Thwaite

Have a heart, my love

Rome 2010

So, St Valentine's Day. Whether you love it or hate it, think it's a chance to be super-romantic or another way for Hallmark to take your money, Valentine's Day is kinda hard to ignore. If you work with other people in any kind of situation, there will be the squeals of glory and delight from the recipients of enormous bouquets, and there will be the grumbles and razzafrazzes of those not so lucky. I've been on both sides, but I'm an old married lady now, and I get to stamp my feet if I'm not gifted with something shiny or sweet smelling. (I'm mostly kidding!)

loveheart cookie mcwashere glogster

Personally, I like Valentine's Day as an idea. A day simply to express your true feelings of love and devotion, to make known your affections, to revel in the overuse of love hearts and eat a little chocolate? How can that be bad?

The issue that I take is the cookie-cutter feel of a dozen red roses and a heart-shaped box of chocolates. As with almost everything in my life, I want it different. I count myself lucky beyond measure to be married to my best friend, and to share with him many of the same tastes and opinions. (Except maybe when it comes to 80's music and sarsparilla) This means that I can be certain he'll never rely on the tried-and-tested Valentines favourites. One year it was a trip to a day spa (heaven!), once a voucher for a deep relaxation massage. There's usually a drawing or a painting, or a terribly mis-spelled and daggy poem. (He has a degree in fine arts, so his art should be better than his poetry)

I'm not bragging, I promise!

We can own our gift-giving, even on such clearly prescribed celebratory days as this, especially if the gift is a shared experience. I say no more red roses! Unless of course that's the one thing that your sweetie will swoon for.

These sound dreamy to me...

• A row on a lake with Django Reinhardt playing, and a nice bottle of red
• Make a bed picnic with a big tub of cookies and cream icecream
• Sit on your favourite beach and watch the sun come up
• Go out dancing together until your head is whirling

I'd love you to share your ideal St Valentine's day....

Summer giveaway

Have you entered my very first giveaway yet? All you have to do is tell me in the comments what summer means to you. Easy! And of course for all the folks on the other side of the world surrounded by snow and ice, it's a chance to really conjure up a little warmth.
So far there are some lovely entries, and I can't wait to read yours.

BrisStyle Valentine's Day Gift Guide

If you're a little stuck for gift ideas for your sweetheart, I recommend having a peek at the BrisStyle gift guide. There's lots of cute, romantic or anatomically correct ideas. I especially like the mixed metal 'Love Pendant' from Forever Inspired Jewellery by Liv, because we have an ongoing competition in our house to describe how much we love each other. "I love you to the moon and back" is a pretty good start!

My contribution to the whole smoochy St Valentine's Day scene is the St Valentine Scarlet Heart Garland, with nine crochet love hearts hanging on a line. I have them hanging above my bedside table, and I have to say, I'm growing very attached to them. But, I'll happily sell them to someone with stars in their eyes!

A photo, a poem

Drunk as drunk

Translated from Spanish by Christopher Logue

Drunk as drunk on turpentine
from your open kisses,
your wet body wedged
between my wet body and the strake
of the boat that is made of flowers,
feasted, we guide it - our fingers
like tallows adorned with yellow metal -
over the sky's hot rim
the days last breath in our sails.

Pinned by the sun between solstice
and equinox, drowsy and tangled together
we drifted for months and woke
with the bitter taste of land on our lips,
eyelids all sticky, and we longed for lime
and the sound of a rope
lowering a bucket down its well. Then,
we came by night to the Fortunate Isles,
and lay like fish
under the net of our kisses.

Pablo Neruda

Shopping high

Meet my latest Esty purchase. Alice in Wonderland by Fee Harding of Burntfeather. I'm a bit fixated on this artwork, which I purchased as an ACEO. Alice, like a lot of Fee's work, is brooding and maybe a little melancholy, and a welcome departure from the sugary (yet often adorable) images I see around the nets.

When I first read 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' by Lewis Carroll, I was about 11 years old, and even then I was struck by the delirious out-of-control-ness of the situation Alice found herself in, and the deep sense of being adrift in a strange world. I think Fee has captured some of this, and if you'd like to see more I recommend checking out Burntfeather.

Oh, and PS, don't forget to enter to win my sunshiney summer giveaway... we need all the sunshine we can get!

It's pink, punk.

  

                            

Once considered only a colour for boys, since it was close to the manly hue of red, pink is now firmly entrenched on the other side of the gender divide. I thought pink was horrid as a teenager (I'd give the former me an A for effort for wearing all that black in our hot and sweaty Queensland climate), but now I see there's a place for it, if it's done right.

Apparently in India, pink is like our navy blue. I'm not sure where I heard that, but according to my parents, who have travelled quite a bit in India, colour is big. Very big. Whether it's on your house or your sari, colour is the go.                                  
         

cupcake from deadmarch  

pink balloon legs from sweetvanillaavalanche 

eiffel balloons from nouveau soleil 

pink tree lane from clandestineprize

all found via happythings 



January giveaway...and a pinkie promise

Welcome to 2011 everybody! I hope you had a lovely Christmas, Hanukka, Festivus or whatever, and that your gifts were all thoughtful and handmade. I, frankly, had a shit time, and I'm really happy to be moving forward (as our glorious leader says) and getting on with the business of the new year.

Introducing my very first giveaway! I've had a blast putting this one together, with the idea of sunshine, relaxation and times when there is nothing at all on your mind but when your next Pina Colada will arrive.
So the lucky winner will receive...

• Size 12 (Miss) 'Style' Beach dress pattern from god-knows-when, it looks very 80's to me
• Sunshiney yellow button necklace with reclaimed hook closure (61cm or 24in)
• Pink crochet bowl, 3 gold buttons and a Japanese fabric gift bag
• Ombre palm tree brooch, made of plastic or lucite
• Vintage cotton fabric with old-timey beachside design (53cmx112cm or 21inx44in)
• Lolly pink cotton fabric (58cmx101cm or 23inx40in)



So here's the important bit. If you would like to win this parcel of summertime joy, complete with glitter, find me on Facebook, become a MiuAndUmi liker, and suggest to your best people that they like me too! Then just pop back here and tell me in the comments what summer is all about for you. Is it getting grass burns on the old slip-and-slide? Is it beers and silly hats around the barbie? Is it the hunt for the ultimate icypole flavour?

The lucky winner will be chosen at random when I reach 150 likers... so get clicking!

My wish is to drum up interest and energy, make lots of new friends in the online world and in the really real world too. With all the rain and the terrible flooding that has affected so much of our state, I feel it's only right to be pledging half of my sales from January to the flood relief appeal. Pinkie promise!

Bright lights, big city

Okay, if you've been trapped in a box for the last month or so, firstly, that must have been horrible for you, and secondly, you might not know about the grand finale BrisStyle Twilight Markets that will be lighting up King George Square and Burnett Lane in Brisbane TONIGHT!

That's right - starting from 5pm and kicking on until 9pm, this is the place to be.

Music, food and shopping... what more do you need?

 

Miu & Umi will be bringing an eclectic array of jewellery and accessories, including vintage and up-cycled hairbands and button rings. We are also super-dooper excited to share Burnett Lane with the sterling BrisStyle talent of Wicked Child Designs and Miss Dish, who feature in this months Peppermint mag!

 

This is the big one, ladies and gents, and the perfect opportunity to find some incredible handmade Christmas presents!

 

Come and say hello, because we love you!

Mental health day

I never worked in a place where 'mental health days' could be taken if you were feeling stressed, but I like the sound of it. So I'm taking one today. Giving myself permission to be a slacker. My body is telling me I'd be wise to listen sooner rather than later - stress-induced lock-jaw, anyone?

Prep for the Twilight market is coming along well, although I'm still waiting on a few parcels of supplies, which is a little worrisome. I've made more of my cute little heart earrings, which sold out last time, and some simple ribbon-tied fabric gift bags (adorable and re-usable - better than paper wrapping!)  I've had lots of fantastical ideas for my stall set-up, but keep reminding myself there'll be time for that next year. Focus!

Photos: family ramble around the lakes. I'm deeply in love with the Hipstamatic app for the iPhone. Instant vintage!

Coming soon: I'll tell you just how I fared in my mission to buy BrisStyle this Christmas.

Congrats Chrissy!

The winner of the BrisStyle Mega Giveaway is Chrissy Foreman, who just happens to be a member! I think it's lovely for a fellow member to scoop such a lovely swag of goodie - handmadies really appreciate handmade!

BiDM wrap up - or should it be 'wring out'?

My stuff got wet, my shoes were filled with muddy water, and I performed an impromtu version of Flashdance. You know the scene with the bucket of water? That was me. Minus the legwarmers.

After discovering my umbrella lacked in the waterproofing department, Helen whisked me to the relative dry of the promo tent (thank you a million times!), and Cass stuck with me and kept my impending freak out at bay. But it was still a lot of fun! There was good cheer and a bolstering sense of cameraderie that even the torrential downpour couldn't dampen. Even the stallholders inside showed a lot of support, Shelleyberelli using the phrase 'survivor guilt', which I thought was hilarious!

So, once again there are no photos from my day, but I have a good excuse. Now the prep begins for the big one, the grand-daddy of markets, the BrisStyle indie Twilight Market on Friday 17th December in King George Square. I'm very excited to be a part of this one!

It's all Latin to me

I have this little sister Kirsty, she is small and very funny. Often we trade words or phrases we have found, or grammatical errors in official documents. This morning we dabbled in a little Latin, as I'm sure many of you do from time to time.

Hers: 'Functus officio' - roughly means 'my work here is done'

Mine: 'Sic transit gloria mundi' - is kind of like 'all worldly things are fleeting' or 'thus passes the glory of the world'

Yes, we are nerds. We both agree that being a librarian is one of our dream jobs, and cannot abide poor spelling.

Mission: entirely possible

My mission is to do ALL my Christmas shopping this year with BrisStyle members. I want to stand by the handmade cause, as well as this quite suberb group of artists and crafters, and the best way I can see is to put my money where my mouth is!

There. I've said it and I can't take it back.

No jostling and ankle-crushing in soul-less department stores for me! Hurrah! Why not join my 'mission' - not only with BrisStyle, but with the greater world of creative expression and independant action? It's a win/win situation: your purchase supports a small business, keeping money local and using fewer resources, and you will have a unique, handmade piece of art or craft with a story behind it.

And it's not too late to enter the massive BrisStyle Christmas giveaway worth over $300! Just click on the link and leave a comment and your email address to be in the draw. If you win, you won't even have to worry about the Christmas shopping!

The road to where is paved with what?

I recently stated my intention to write everyday, and to post at least once a week, and while this sounds like an achievable goal, it isn't as easy as I thought it would be. There are a million reasons I could give, but that would be so boring!
Let's just say, I'm sticking with it. And with my 27 readers! I appreciate you all very much, and love it to bits when you comment.

Stop to catch my breath

What a whirlwind of a night!

Once again, the BrisStyle Twilight Market was a bustling, colourful night of gorgeous handmade creations, from food and body products to clothes, jewellery and accessories. The whole night seemed to fly by so rapidly, I missed my chance to do a little shopping! But I couldn't resist a trade with my neighbour Rondelle, who makes adorable canvas art. We also discovered a shared love of b-grade zombie movies and alone time.

Oh, and once again, I took no photos! Tisk tisk, I was so busy chatting with shoppers there just wasn't time!
Instead, here are my 'Charleston Diva' button brooches, don't they look swell all watching the skies together?

HUGE BrisStyle November Giveaway!

Voila! My contribution to the BrisStyle November Giveaway - the movement and sparkle of my
'Dear Prudence' glass and Swarovski crystal earrings on lux oversize silver hoops, as seen in my Etsy shop, Miu & Umi. This giveaway is going to be impressive, so I recommend popping over to check it out!

All hail! The queen of procrastina....

Image from lululetty

Remember that scene in Black Books where Bernard does just about everything to avoid doing his taxes, including calling his mother and asking some skinheads 'Which one of you bitches wants to dance?'

Well, that's me.

Apart from taunting skinheads. But it's still procrastination.

So, I'm playing tiggy with Pom Pom and poking the dog. I'm looking at pretty pictures, like the dreamy one above and reading a good blog or two, like Kimono Reincarnate, which is clever and inspiring. And ignoring the pink elephant in the room, which is market prep! Once again, each time I sit at the sewing machine or my desk, I'm filled with nerves and doubt. It's crazy, because I know what to expect, but real nonetheless.

Cool to be kind

image from infinite smiles via happy things

But I think you look beautiful every day.

Self image is something that keeps popping up in conversation lately, and it's always the same conclusion.

As young women, we are so hard on ourselves (I can't speak of young men - I haven't thought to ask any. Do men think about this stuff?) , but looking back on our lives, photographs that might have seemed so cringe-worthy at the time are now precious reminders of how we glowed in our youth, our innocence.

We're quite cruel to ourselves, and I think it's a dreadful waste of time. If I could go back, I'd shake myself by the shoulders and tell myself  "Stop it! This time you're wasting on self-critique - you'll never get it back!"

And I wonder if, when I am 80, I'll look back on the me of now, and think the same thing?

I'm going to save myself a little time, and quit the cruelty now. There's just too much cool stuff I could be doing instead.