Project 3 Chalkboard globe - Circumnavigation!

 

Well, project number 3 taught me one thing: I may come from a long line of globe-trotters, but I am no good at geography. Or is it cartography? Both?

I'm super pleased with the final result. When the original paper map finally disintegrated and fell off this old family hand-me-down, it was a pity. It's been sitting downstairs, all naked and neglected, for years.

Cue brain wave!

 

Chalkboard globe! Draw your own planet Earth! Or any planet, I guess...

 

Look how big Australia is!

 

Anyhoos, this project was fairly straightforward. Start with redundant globe-type-thing.

 

 

Clean it thoroughly and give it a good sanding. The globe is made of thick old-school plastic, and scuffed up quite well to hold the paint. Always wipe with a clean damp cloth after sanding to remove grit.

You need to have all your equipment ready and at hand. This, I have learned by NOT doing. Realising you don't have mineral turpentine when you're covered in enamel paint is not a good thing.

I was painting inside because of the horrible weather, but I made sure to have ventilation. The fumes from the paint are a little intense.

I roughly masked the areas I didn't want to get paint on, mixed the paint well and got to work! I followed the instructions on the paint tin, and had my fingers crossed the paint wouldn't just bead off the plastic.

Two coats and some horrible weather and flooding later, and it was all ready for chalk! And my dubious efforts at drawing our kooky wide brown land.

 

 

Photobomb! My little mate, being super cute and also seeing what was for dinner.

 

Coming next... Project 4!

Project 2 - Buffy cross stitch Parts A and B

 

Parts A and B. Essentially this means I bit off more than I could chew, and had to make it all sound OK. Which it is, because I make the rules here!

I know, right? Cheating, so early in the piece. But, as the kids say, "That's how I roll."

Anyhoos, TADAHHH! The characters from Buffy, made small and squarish, but nonetheless awesome. I found this pattern at Wee Little Stitches, and I can't wait to make another. It was fun, and a reminder to pay attention to what I'm doing.

And to never assume I know how long something will take! (I'm too shy to admit how long it took me - I've got no idea how long it's 'supposed' to take!!)

And now... Project 3!

Verbs are doing words

Leaking - out of my eyes while watching Seeking a friend for the end of the world. I didn't expect it to be so moving. Steve Carell manages to be both hilarious and a figure of pathos, and Keira almost hit a Clementine note with her 'quirky chick' character. Am I a loon because I think end-of-the-world movies are fun?

Over-committing - just maybe? My second 52 project, and I'm just a little (ahem) behind schedule. But hey, it's no biggie. I'll class this as a "to be continued". It's so much fun, but I made the rookie mistake of stitching like a fiend for a few hours straight, then wondering why my head was pounding. What a rube.

 

 

Hooking - for love. That's right! Valentine's Day is not too far away, and I'm listing my heart garlands in the shop. 

 

 

 



One way to beat the heat...

OK.
It's pretty clear by now, if you've listened to my carry-on at all, that I really can't deal with the heat. When the mercury rises, my coping abilities fall.

I become a pink-cheeked, frazzled and desperate thing. I stand in the freezer at work (don't tell anybody), I bemoan my lack of appropriate summer attire (why can't I do casual, ever?), and I simply can't think straight. I go to the shopping centre by choice, because, airconditioning. I shun crochet because even the thought of yarn against my skin makes me prickle with sweat.

It doesn't help that my workmates aren't bothered by the heat. I've been heard to wail, in the peak of a busy service "Do you not have blood in your veins? Look at you! Look! Cool as fuck!' while my hair goes frizzy and my very soul wilts.

And any thought of love squeezings go out the window. Summer is officially the least sexy season. Although, now that I think about it, there's this...

PHEW. AND YOU'RE WELCOME.

He's my main man

 

I made the husband a mountain of chocolate whoopie pies to celebrate his birthday. Actually, I spent the whole day cooking him various tasty meals (mostly seafood!) and chilling out watching Adventure Time. (Officially our new favourite - we can even {begrudgingly} share it with the kids) 

 

Yes, it was a couple of days ago, but I had to share the photo and the recipe because they were so damn tasty. And those chocolatey wheels of naughtiness herald the end of the xmas/new year feeding frenzy! Woo! Carrot sticks and skim milk again!

Get your 365 outta my face! Or, before and after - Door



So, I'm crazy with the goal setting and making things happen right now. The start of the year feels full of promise, and I guess part of that is this article I read recently from cracked.com, which really lit a fire under my butt. I blathered on about it until friends were rolling their eyes. Don't care!
You should read this thing and then come back to me.Go!

And now, all these awesome people in blogland aiming to kick out an incredible 365 project, I guess that makes me feel ... inadequate? And then I thought, the heck with that, I'd last 3 days. What about a 52 project? Mmmmm! Now you're talking!

 

I had a little paint left over from sprucing up an outdoor bench, and couldn't resist taking down the Amy Blackwell poster from the last Frankie mag and getting a bit dotty.

 

I started hesitantly. A few dots.

 

And before I knew it - bam! It was raining!

 

 

I love the way the door looks now. And I've got to say, it feels damn good just to be doing something. And more to the point, finishing something. Can I keep it up for 52 weeks?
Did you notice the Tavi on the wall?



 

Things and links and stuff

THINGS I want to make at Kollabora

THINGS I want to drink at This Bottle Of Vodka. A Dirty Girl Scout? Who told you?

LINK to the Orla Kiely sale...drool!

STUFF like this hilarious series of scotch tape faces by Wes Naman. Um, ow?

Resolutions are bound to fail

 

Allow me to clarify.

 

For me, resolutions are always bound to fail.

 

I say "I'm going to eat only healthy food and do yoga everyday" Bound to fail.

 

I say "I'm going do blah-di-blah that is proper going to make my life perfect! Happy New Year!"

 

Bound to FAIL.

 

Resolutions are harsh and backward-looking, kind of like a passive-aggressive aquaintance who tells you your hair looks so much better now than it did when you were blonde...

 

I prefer goals and plans, and I have a tonne of them. Just thinking about them excites me.When the time is right, I'll probably share a lot of them here.

 

And for now, as always, I just want flowers in my hair!

 

Au revoir 2012, it's been real.

 



Yeah, we call it 'Chritmas'

 

A plan for a fun family Chritmas.

 

Step 1 - come up with a plan. Mexican? Done.

 



 

 Step 2 - Make a big ass piñata, with many debates on geometry, physics and lolly choices.

 

 

Step 3 - Cover the piñata in a bunch of shiny stuff. Oh, and bake a truckload of delicious Mexican food like chimichangas, taco salads, chilli salads and cheesy corn bakes, and make a vat of pineapple infused tequila for daquiris.

 



 

Step 4 - Gather the fam (kids first, of course) and smack the everloving crap outta that bad boy. Hit him with a big stick, and don't stop until he gives up the goods!

 

 

Step 5 - Pool. Lazing. Veuve Clicquot. C.W. Stoneking. Aah.

 

 



 

Step 6 - Catch a Summer cold. Don't actually do this part, it's NOT recommended at all. The sniffling, and the coughing, not so good. But we were joking about this song today, so here it is.

 

Merry belated Chritmas to you and yours. Can you believe it's almost 2013?

 

A verb is a doing word

 

 

Reeling - just a little. Just quietly, on the the inside.

 

Having just devoured The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami, I'm detached from reality and adrift in a strange place. It's a place I only ever visit when I finish a very good book. I wouldn't say it's awful, but neither is it entirely pleasant. It's vague and lonely, and the phrases and impressions that struck chords sink in and seem to change my DNA.

 

I don't like the term 'head space', but I'm in a weird one. Do you ever feel this way? As though the book breathes through you even after the words are done?  

 

Ernest Hemingway said 'There is no friend as loyal as a book', and as an inveterate book hound I'd agree, but with this caveat: This book-friend, this loyal pal, may also take your open heart and squash it like a ripe fruit. 

Xmas decorations and I get a little personal

Paper cut garland from Nippykat on Etsy. Pretty, no?

It's December. Today, we make the decorations.

We have what is possibly the most rustic, yet well-intentioned advent 'calendar' EVER. (Made mostly by me) and some beautiful paper chains from the kids. The tree is yet to go up, because it is so hot that any movement that doesn't involve a cold beverage and my mouth makes me want to scream. My eyelashes are sweating, and it's only the second day of Summer.*

(And to get a little personal, I have the red devil in my belly**, so you'd better not even look at me without telling me I'm the empress of the universe or putting chocolates in my mouth or my eyes will shoot you with laserbeams made of bees and female rage. Just saying.)

A close-up of the advent calendar I made. It has lollies in it, so it's OK

*It's 31° in the shade.

**This genius bit of phrasing isn't mine, I stole it from New Girl. If you have a problem with that write it down and put it in your mum's tights.

Drama! Love! And a Hinagiku dress...

Oh boy, this dress is cute. Found at Summerland, a place that sounds really pleasant and always seems to have awesome vintage stuff that I want. And how cute is the model? Killer.

 

I just have to say how great issue 50 of Frankie is. From the incredibly tactile front cover (yes, I've done it an injustice here) which makes me think more than ever that I really need more embroidery in my life*, to the jam-packedness of the thing. Just heaps of rad stuff, recipes, interviews and those delicious essays on random subjects that always seem to mirror something that's happening in my life. (Cheers Marieke Hardy, like, all the time.) Oh, and more beautiful artwork from Mel Stringer, who I met in person a little while ago at a BrisStyle twilight market (and discovered she's so freaking nice!)

 



 

In light of the last couple of weeks, no, months, I present to you 'Anything, anything (I'll give you)' by Dramarama. Cinéma Vérité was a cassette (yep, I'm that old) that got such a work-out in my teenage years that it ended up all stretched out and wobbly sounding.

 

It's been a dramarama around here just today! I locked up my brakes on the rainy drive to work, and that seemed to spark a series of little dramas at work... all entertaining, and at least nobody got hurt. :)

*I learned to stop worrying and love my dorkiness. Why fight it? Amiright?

Broken old things, Rookie, Food up close and so on

An unexpected gift from my mother-in-law... beautiful old things!!!

 

 

I'm in diamante heaven, pretty pleased to be caretaker of an incredible collection of mid-century jewellery. They definitely deserve to be photographed and catalogued, and I'm wondering where I'd look to learn more about them...

 

So I stumbled across this essay, Outsider-Insider by Jenny Zhang, posted on Rookie, and immediately fell in love. Jenny writes lonely teenage weirdo from a really familiar place, and manages to make it both bitingly nostalgic and deliciously vindicating. 

 

And look at FOOD UP CLOSE! A series of amazing magnifications of eatables by Caren Alpert. Wow, and ew, and mmmmm. Amazing, and I am never eating prawns again. Vom.

 

 

And finally, this. Just watch it, dammit. I hollered until I cried when I first saw this clip... finally someone is as passionate (and dorky) about op-shopping as meeeeeeee! What what?





Sploosh, and some other stuff

This is awesome. Found at spiffingjewelry

 

Fans of 'Archer' will know what this is all about. If you don't, I'm sorry. (I'm not sorry)

 

And there's some other stuff coming up which might be really exciting but I can't share it yet!!! Can you tell that I'm excited? Or it could just be that I dyed my hair and the chemicals are affecting my brain... Nope, I'm excited.

 

By the way, when the box says 'light auburn' you don't think 'bright red', do you?

 

Oh well :)

 





Verbs are doing words

 

Adoring - the snapdragons on my verandah. I like the way they're so delicate and pretty, yet they have such a violent name.

Losing - my shit when Madonna comes in to the cafe and lets me say hi to her sweet little wards. This guy is apparently very naughty. I don't believe it for one second.

Sewing - A giant loveheart pillow for my beautiful friend Tina. Getting the shape right is not as easy as I thought it would be. I had to pull the stuffing out and start again!!!

Exhibit A

Sighing - Well, my sister Kirsty is in San Francisco, and she's having the best time. I wish so freakin' much I could be there too. She's a sterling travel partner. So, to be totally predictable, here's Scott McKenzie with the original "San Francisco (Be sure to wear flowers in your hair)"

Op shop heaven

 

Gorgeous melamine!

 

Gorgeous ceramics! (This was $1 - why would you ever chuck this?)

 

So, second week of the school holidays and I'm still officially sane. We laid a heavy ban on TV and it seemed that behaviour had improved... cue return of TV, cue return of infantis horribilis.

 

Sigh.

Verbs are doing words

Planting - in the veggie garden, hooray. Stay tuned for riveting details of my snowpeas, tomatoes and various herbage. Gardening just makes me feel so chilled. This enormous dandelion is not from my garden, I picked this on a little stop-over in Goomeri, Queensland. Right next to Cheeseworld. That's right. Cheeseworld.

 

 

(The real kick in the face is that, although the cheese selection was rather worldly, I did not buy a skerrick of cheese. Not a morsel. Not a crumb. Both the kids did the carsick thing, and I thought proximity to stinky cheese might make it even worse.)

 

 



 

Farewelling - Ok, is that even a word. Meh, I don't know. We said goodbye to GG, my grand-mother, after a long and exhausting illness. The service had a large turnout, with family coming from far and wide, and I couldn't help but think it was exactly the kind of get-together that GG and Papa really enjoyed. The weather in Yeppoon was too perfect, the visiting too brief and the occasion too sad.

 

Which is why I feel compelled now to share this:

 

 



 If you aren't sure why this is funny, then you probably never snuck a peek at a People magazine. This one is for all the dirty-minded folk. I know you're out there, sniggering into your moustaches.

Melting - Maybe I've shared this gem before, but it bears a second hearing, I'm sure. First heard at the very end of Heathers (all-time favourite eighties/high-school/black humour movie of all time, with a wickedly delicious Christian Slater and Winona Ryder when she was pure as the driven snow...)
So turn up the speakers, maybe close your eyes for a couple of minutes and drift away in quiet, soulful contemplation to the gorgeous 'Que Sera Sera' by Sly and The Family Stone.

You are welcome.

Soooo Blogger is being a shit tonight. Whatever. So am I. I wanted to share these little ones HERE and also mention my little sisters latest blog post which made me have a little cry.

Also I cried when I read this very eloquent and heart-breaking post from Her Library Adventures. I've followed for a while with great admiration and my heart goes out to Sophie and Ben.

I guess I'll be back when I have the patience to figure out Blogger.

Blue, white and a little more blue

Boy howdy, it's been a long and trying week. The husband is still out of commission.

That's a whole week! Since we work together, and he's been unable to do anything for himself, neither of us have been working. Of course, we work with some of the best peeps on the planet and they've covered our sorry arses, but this whole scene is getting really old.

I'm in a cranky, selfish mood and I want chocolate. Lots. Of. Chocolate.

Anyhoos, these blue and white glass bobby pins just went up in my shop. Perfect for your next woodland frolic!

The old grey mare, he ain't what he used to be...

I know, I know, a mare is a female horse.

But, ya know, after 3 very long days (and nights) of caring for a husband in intense pain after screwing up his back, I'm hardly compos mentis. In fact, I'm starting to think I've got grounds for justifiable homicide.

In other news, I put some new earrings in the shop, started some goal-making and ate pretty much everything in the house. And when that food was gone I baked some more. Awesome.