Redirect your eyes

over here going forward.

I have a new website that gives me a bit more potential to share what I'm working on and have produced in the past. Please drop by and say hi and also redirect any links you may have.

Very little is needed to make life happy

This weekend all I needed was some art time, seeing friends, good food and lots of relaxing.

The following are new works that were made while chatting and listening to the rain.

{all for sale}

Last Thursday was my brother's birthday. We went out for dinner at Garuva and had a really great night with family and a good friend of Al's. We did end up at Elephant and Wheelbarrow watching lots of drunk backpackers celebrate St Patrick's Day. Very entertaining.

I made this card for Alex - another of my new pop-ups inside an old book. This was a copy of King Arthur and the Knights of the round table.

Hope the rest of your Sunday's are enjoyable and relaxing. I'm off to Poppy Cakes with a friend this afternoon for a big catch up then dinner at another friend's at Windsor.

Happy Sunday!

All you need is love

The weekend before last we went to the engagement party for our good friends Yash and Chris. Yash went to high school with Tom's sister however they and the rest of their group have completely adopted us and for years now they have been some of our closest friends.

Yash and Chris are such a gorgeous couple. High school sweet-hearts, they have been together for a very long time but they are still so clearly in love and mad about each other. They are gentle and loving and you can tell they really care about each other.

I ran around like a nutter at the party with camera in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other and got in trouble several times from the security guard for standing on stools. I really think the photos captured what a happy, lovely night it was.

Here are just a few of my favourites.

Today is a good day

Well really it wasn't. I had a long, stressful day but I got some good advice; went for a run; listened to the Beatles; spoke to my mum and a friend and I'm feeling good.

Plus there's two baby birds in a nest right outside my window and you can't be stressed for too long when there's baby birds around.

I only have two new additions to my papercutting pile to share. I've been spending a lot of time editing photos from an engagement party for two of my wonderful friends. I'll share them soon.

I found an old Brisbane CBD map in my collection of ephemera. Anyone got a favourite suburb they would like to see in an artwork?

Travelling and maps are a few of my favourite inspirations at the moment. Could be because I'm a little bit obsessive about it at the moment. I do have one more completed papercutting but I can't share it just yet.
I can however, share the card I made for Yash and Chris' engagement party. I took a little, very old book and ripped all the pages out. I then made a pop-up papercutting to go inside. I have more little books that I have put aside specifically for this purpose and am more than happy to take custom orders. I think it makes such a cute card for a special occasion.

March Suitcase Rummage

Last Sunday was the March Suitcase Rummage.
Up outside the Casino again, it was a really great day. I had my mum on one side, Sarah on the other and lots of visitors throughout the day who dropped in and hung out.

Mum with her new goodies.

I sold 3 papercuttings which I was really happy with and a whole heap of clothes and second-hand stuff.

These two girls looked at my papercuttings and decided that they wanted one each but didn't want to buy them for themselves (one was 'You're pretty fucking fabulous'). So they bought them for each other then handed them over and said 'Act surprised!'
It's people like this that make my day.

Rummage is such a great spot to get rid of unwanted clothes or even find amazing new items. Last Sunday was the first rummage I went to and didn't buy anything! I was so proud of myself.


Meanwhile, tonight I tidied my frame pile and counted them. 42 frames ready and waiting for papercuttings. That should keep me very busy for awhile!

Made by hand

I had a wonderful and successful day at Suitcase Rummage yesterday - photos to come soon I promise!

I went out for dinner last night with Mum, Tom, Zoe and Kathleen and watched Alex play at a bar/restaurant in Oxford St. We went for wander to Mary Ryan and as soon as I spotted this book I knew I had to get it.

I've been reading Pia Jane Bijkerk's blog for awhile and gaining inspiration for the big move to the Netherlands and her book just has me more and more excited. While we are not planning on living in Amsterdam we will be only a train ride away and I'm sure there will be lots of time spent in this city.

I have been blog-hopping and finding more Dutch inspiration. Here are a few of my favourites:

Happy Red Fish
Bloesem
Puur Anders
Anne Eva Margriet

If you have any favourite Dutch blogs send them my way! I may even be able to read some of the bio's that aren't in English (the easy bits anyway).

Daydreaming

Of all the places Tom and I are going to visit in 5 months.

{Amsterdam}

{Barcelona}
{Valencia}

{Plitvice National Park - Croatia}
{Korcula}

{Berlin}
{London}
{Paris}
{Nice}
{St Tropez}

We have been talking and planning and reading Lonely Planet and I am getting more and more excited.

Rotterdam {will be our new home}

All images from WeHeartIt

My Wednesday night

Has involved Bikram Yoga, tacos, an awesome episode of Adam Hills in Gordon St tonight, a Dutch lesson and putting the finishing touch on a couple of pieces that I'm thinking might be headed for Bleeding Heart.

How was your Wednesday night?

Sunshine and mum love.

As Laura mentioned, the past weekend was exactly what the doctor ordered.
After my week of being awfully sick I took Sarah and Laura up with me for a weekend with my mum.

Mum and Don live in a townhouse in Buderim right at the top of the hill with lovely views of the ocean. Seeing my mum always makes me happy and I had a really wonderful weekend with her and the girls.

{Those eyes!}

We went opping, beaching and had lots of lazy time together. My mum is very amazing and the girls definitely appreciated her unique loveabillity.

Being apart for big chunks of time has really made me appreciate anytime I get to spend with her. She always makes me calm and happy and I can talk to her about absolutely anything. Mum and I have almost identical taste in everything and I love sharing creative ideas with her.
I am so very lucky to have such an amazing woman as my mum.

{Mum and I}

We had a wonderful time at the beach Saturday and had to go back Sunday before we came home. The beach at the Sunshine Coast is so lovely, it always makes me happy to be there.

{Beach Babe}