wednesday colour...

A little colour to brighten your week.

wednesday colour...

A little colour to brighten your week.

a boy & his brew...

The labels have been applied to the boys home brew, a little bit of midnight modge podge at the kitchen table.
They're currently winging their way to Mr Eastwood himself. We hope he likes them. The home brew & the labels that is.
I do love a little JV on the DL with my man. Joint venture on the down low that is for you hip folks out there. I love the expression, we've knicked it from a friend. He won't mind I'm sure.
Gotta run, Huckle has just discovered the cardboard box full of cardboard to be recycled. Huckle heaven! Uh oh, it's now all over the floor!

forget your troubles, come on get happy...

Today was hard. Woken at 4:30 by an unhappy boy, a grizzly boy who is very busy growing teeth. Six teeth, to be precise. All in one hit. Ouch!
This mama is exhausted & having trouble putting a positive spin on things. Tired, freezing (clearly summer has abandoned us), itchy (yep, cold = hives in kitty land), frazzled (so many things to do before sunday's flight) & just generally whingy. I'm sure you get the gist. So before I drown you all in my misery, I'll forget my troubles & get me some happy.

Today I stepped out of the madness & picked up the camera for the first time in a week. I was on a mission to make my glass half full. After encouragement from the lovely Kate, I set out to make my happy list.This gorgeous little man makes me happy.

Cherries from our tree, picked by my one & only. He makes me happy.

My new "oh my, I can fit everything in it plus the kitchen sink (and the all the dishes piled in it)!" bag. A replacement birthday gift after the departure of the hairy turnips. So very spoilt, I'll treasure it forever & ever.

This basket full of delicious bendigo cotton, waiting to be crocheted into something sweet. Bought during the sale... bonus happy.

Gifts wrapped & ready for gifting. These are the only two ready, but an achievement none the less. No paper this year, fabric bags are the new paper in our house. I even sewed them with french seams. So very chic. To think I've only just discovered the french seam... now everything is getting the french seaming treatment. And yes, the donkey does have a sign around his neck that says 'smart ass'. Too cheeky? Perhaps.

Aah, the clouds have parted & once again I can see the sunshine. I'm off to catch some zzzz's & dream of sleep-ins & summer days. Thanks for reading the whinge & ramble. Congratulations for getting to the bottom.

pieces of a puzzle...

Well it seems that they haven't yet turned off our internet, so I thought I'd sneak in this quick little post.
Remember this wallpaper I scored a while back? I have a very sweet product in mind that is slowly coming together. Another piece of the puzzle was delivered today.
Some beautiful metallic bookcloth. Is that enough of a hint as to what it will become?The third & vital piece of the puzzle arrived last week. Now I just need to get into the studio with my brush & glue & get very busy. Unfortunately I'll have to wait until we're back from our Queensland trip to do such things. I'll be sure to show you when they're finished.
I hope your end of year countdown isn't getting too manic. Mine is complete with a multitude of lists, trying in vain to get everything done before our trip. Huckle & I are flying up & Samuel will drive up a week later. So if anyone has tips for flying solo with a baby, they would be greatly appreciated.
Have a lovely week.

wednesday colour...

A little colour to brighten your week.

down & out...

Telstra has worked their wonder yet again & our modem has thrown in the towel.
This will be my last post until the new modem arrives.
My 'wednesday colour' posts will still pop up to keep things cheerful.
I'll be checking emails when I pop into town, so I'm still contactable for orders, or a chat if you miss me. Ha!
Have a happy week, I'll be back soon (I hope).

something to show...

I'm excited to say, that I've finally finished something! Really, I have..
These sweets below are the first listed in the Nest & Bindle store.

:: Honeybee Letterset ::
:: Hello's & Thank you's ::
& 3 different birthday card designs.
I'm currently working on some designs more suited to little girls, but I have a bit of creators block. All things boy are coming to me so easily. Maybe it's because of Huckle, I've just got boy stuff on the brain. Does anyone else get this problem? If so, how do you overcome it? We can't have the little ladies to feeling left out.
I hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Ours was spent in the big smoke (Melbourne), catching up with lots of friends & eating too much cheese. Aah, does such a thing exist? Cheese should definitely have it's own food group.
Have a great week!

this moment...

{this moment} - A Friday ritual.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

inspired by soulemama

wednesday colour...

A little colour to brighten your week.

here & there...

A little bit of crafting is happening here & there, during naps (not mine) & between other duties. The camera hasn't ventured out much this past week, so I haven't prepared full documentation.

Samuel has made 40 litres of home brew & had requested some special labels to be made up. I do like doing graphics for him. He comes to me with a sketch & I build it in photoshop, constantly going back to him with drafts. It's like having a client. This one's in honor of our mate Jim who helps to engineer race car engines, he also has a deep affection for beer. Luckily, he doesn't mix the two together.

I cheated & used a vector image for the pistons, no time for drawing car parts right now. I'm a very busy lady.
I've also been through my bookcloth samples, matching colours & choosing textures. A spot of bookbinding is on the horizon, I better dust off all my tools. I'm excited to be designing some albums & books again. Working with paper is quite soothing for me. Don't get me wrong, I love fabric, but paper was my first love.
For some reason I just likened that idea to owning dogs... no dog will ever live up to the greatness of my first dog. The memories of childhood, with a big black dog as my shadow are bittersweet. He was a good dog, old Bong.
Can you see how that came about, or am I just a mad woman rambling? You can say the latter, it's most likely true.
I'm off now to sneak in a few moments in the studio. I'm feeling productive.

finding rainbows...

With all the "tropical" storms we've been having, they had to appear sooner or later. Lucky for me, the husband just happened to be at his desk looking out the window. You can't see it in the photo, but they landed in the paddock next door. Tempted as I was to go & find the pot of gold, the thought of being up to my waist in mud & cow poo, with no shelter from the torrential downpour... yeah, not your thing either? Instead, I stayed within a skip, hop & a jump of the house & bottled them into my little black box.

7 months...

I really can't believe that our little Huckle is 7 months old. It's the biggest cliche, but time really does fly. I'm certain of it.
He is changing everyday, sometimes I feel like I'm trying to keep up with him.
Our dear little man, you are such the character.
Always smiling & laughing, intent on having a chat with whoever shall listen. You wake your dad-dad in the morning with a gentle pat on the arm, but more often than not it's a whack in the face. You holler your lungs out to let him know you are there & that it's high time that he wake.
You crawl about the room, hunting down all things forbidden... papers, mama's pencils, dad-dad's books. We try & distract you by building block towers, you knock them down & giggle away. We throw the ball & you throw it back. With good intentions of course, but most of the time it goes the other direction. You love that little ball (thanks Justine & Mike)!
This week you have learnt to sit from crawling position. A skill that makes you quite happy. You've also started to pull yourself up on things, such strong little arms. You love to stand & bounce, it's often quite difficult to get you to sit.
Dinner time is always a mess, as you insist on feeding yourself. Your favourite foods are cheese, pasta, banana, mama's homemade frozen yoghurt, cucumber sticks & avocado sandwiches... to name a few. Having some wee little teeth makes eating lot's of fun.
Day sleeping is on the agenda at the moment. You've decided that it is much more fun to roll over & crawl about the cot. This is making mama crazy, please sleep.

Dear little man, you make your mama & dad-dad so very happy.
Thank you for being our little guy.

P.S. Jess, Huckle absolutely adores his teddy.

making room...

Many moons ago, I made beautiful books & photo albums featuring japanese paper. In that time, I aquired many rolls of this lovely paper. Many, many rolls. I've thought about it long & hard & I've come to the conclusion that I will simply never use it all. My aesthetics have shifted & although beautiful, the paper is no longer 'me'. I will be keeping a little for myself, I couldn't part with it entirely.
I'm selling it in A4 size pieces for just $3 a pop, an absolute bargain compared to the $4.50 being asked elsewhere! So, if you have the desire to purchase some lovely paper & help me make some room in my studio... you can pop over here. I still have many designs to list, here's a few that are currently listed.

I've had such a busy week, flitting between tasks. Everything in my life at the moment seems to be a work in progress. I have nothing 'finished' to show, just lots of disorganised piles. My head feels a little like those piles too. I shall go back to my flitting now, in vain hope that some order will soon be restored.

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend, albeit a bit wet for the victorians.

If you're thinking of buying some fresh produce this weekend, please do our farmers a big favour & buy from a farmers market. Pop over to Daylesford Organics to read why & over here to find a market in Vic.

wednesday colour...

A little colour to brighten your week.
I'm still here, I've just been running around like a chook with no head. Doing lots, but not really getting anything done. I don't know how that happens, but it appears that I'm quite good at it. Hopefully when the week is out, I'll have lot's of ticks on my long list of "to do's".

our garden overhaul...

Last weekend we found ourselves some seedlings at the market. We spent the week umming & aahhing about where to put them... ok, so we may have just not thought about them at all.
After our huge & I mean HUGE weeding session (think waist high here), we decided to put them in a bed near the kitchen.
We squared it up, added a brick edging & then wrapped chicken wire around it to fend off naughty dogs & chooks. I planted potatoes, peas, a mix of beans, cucumber, lettuce, zuchinni, tomatoes & herbs.
Samuel even made me a little gate.
I planted out a row of sunflowers, fending off the chooks as they tried to scratch them out.
As the sun started to set, we decided to fence off that section of the yard. Soon we'll dig up the remaining lawn & plant some more. The gate will be moved to where the path is & we may even make a prettier fence with some ancient palings we have lying around.
Our established plants are thriving with all this rain of late. The rhubarb & mint have tripled in size, the passion fruit vines are starting to take & it looks like our tomatoes are starting to fruit.
Hooray for lovely gardening weather.

last night...

The sky was a big swirl of fairyfloss. Pink, orange, blue, purple & white.
We sat out til late admiring our achievements in the garden & marveling at the great sky.
Birds of all sorts were calling their evening songs. Magpies, crows, blackbirds, wattle birds, blue herons & kookaburras.
The alpacas stood on the hill by the dam, quietly mowing the grass.
Such a peaceful evening after a long day of gardening.
I'll show you some of our efforts tomorrow.
Have a fantastic weekend!

my creative space...

It feels like a bit of a whirlwind is happening at the moment. It's almost december, I'm mama to a 7 month old, trying to get organised for our trip to queensland, desperately trying to organise house/dog/poultry/alpaca/garden sitter for whilst we're away... the list goes on.
Amongst all this I'm crafting away, trying to get through my list of "to do's". At least I can tick shorts for Huckle off the list. The blue stripey pair were fashioned from an old men's shirt & the linen pair came from the stash. I think I'll be whipping a few more pairs up, as they were so easy & perfect for summer. Maybe I'll use some bright prints next time. Something garish to embarrass the poor boy when he's older. Ha, just kidding Huckle.
I'm playing around with these little felt rocks as well. They've flown all the way from Lithuania into my hot little hands. Customs felt the need to investigate them, suspicious little felty rocks. Hmmm. You can find your own here, if you too would like some.
I've been toying around with some old style kids clothes. Trying to get my head around how I would construct them. I think this is a project for the new year.
I'm also working on some Nest & Bindle products, however little obstacles keep popping up. My printer is playing 'silly buggers' & I'm still waiting for supplies to arrive to finish off a few pieces. But, I am a patient woman (ahem) & I am speaking the mantra "good things come to those who wait". They do don't they? Tell me it's true.
I haven't forgotten that I'm making stuff (which is surprising really, because that's what usually happens), I'm not holding out on you either. Promise.

Tropical Gippsland was in fine form today. Lovely muggy weather, with the gentle pitter patter of rain throughout the day. We spent the good part of it in a cloud. These pictures were taken just before midday. It looks quite magical, don't you think?

Well, that's all I know for today. Cheerio.
See more here.

wednesday colour...

A little colour to brighten your week.

other peoples trash...

Is my treasure!
Like this old roll of paper found in the paper recycling at the tip.

The first few layers are a bit ripped, but underneath is pure gold. I just couldn't leave it there.

I'm off today to have my first driving lesson. Hopefully the instructor will tell me I can go for my test. I have my full motorcycle license & I can drive, I've just never had the urge to get my car license. Wish me luck! Maybe I won't need any more lessons.

so long hairy cows...

The hairy cows have moved on to greener pastures. After many weeks of chasing them back into their paddocks, we made the decision to sell them. They had a total disregard for fences & when they weren't pushing through them, they were jumping them. It really was quite a sight to see a 400kg cow jump a 5 foot fence. No matter how many times the fences were fixed or improvements were made, they just kept escaping. Let me tell you now... herding 2 insolent cows up out of a steep gully with grass waist high & wombat holes everywhere, is not my cup of tea really. Especially not every week!

So there we go, I've had my little rant & peace has been restored on the farm.

Our two new replacement lawn mowers arrived today, let's hope they stay put. We got alpacas as they will act as guards for our chooks & ducks & they're fairly agreeable creatures. These boys are five years old & are yet to be named. Any ideas? We're thinking something spanish.
Did you know that alpacas only poo in the one spot. They'll also line up to take turns if more than one needs to go at once. Another interesting fact... when they feel threatened, they just sit down. They can also become very emotional, if upset or angry they may stomp back & forth across the paddock. What curious creatures.
We had a fantastic weekend of hanging out with my bestie, yummy food, treasure hunting at the market, lots of gardening & best of all, soaking up some much needed sun. I think my vitamin D levels are finally being restored.
Today was spent recovering from all the excitement, hopefully tomorrow I'll be back to normal programming.
Happy monday!

a little weeding...

A lot has been put on hold these past two days. I've given in to chaos & just gone with the flow. I'm trying not to think about all that is half done.

Huckle & I sat in the warm sun & did some necessary weeding. We didn't finish the job, but it's the thought that counts I guess. The wee man quite enjoyed throwing dirt around & did a taste test of what was on offer.

As you can see, he wasn't too impressed with the quality.

The three stooges supervised as usual & the chickens also joined in, scratching away at the weed piles.

My bestie Emma arrives in the morning, so I'm looking forward to a weekend of chatter & crafting. Maybe my arms will get a rest from carrying a certain heavy boy around too.

Hope you all had a great week. Here's to a magnificent weekend.