Feeling Grateful

So as I'm sure most people around the world are aware Brisbane has been through a pretty rough week.

We spent several days waiting for the river to rise, breathing a sigh of relief when it didn't reach it's predicted heights and shocked at the damage that still occurred. Tom and I are so glad it didn't reach our house, we spent Wednesday bringing everything upstairs from the garage and preparing for the power to go out. My two girlfriends had to evacuate (one to my place) and spent a few stressful nights waiting to see if their houses would go under. Thank God neither did.

Clean up is well and truly under way and people are heading to Bris from all over the place to pitch in. Some of the stories that are coming out are heartbreaking while many others make me feel so grateful that I am part of this community.

I have been feeling a bit useless and wanting to help but not knowing where to start, particularly without a car. This woman is co-ordinating baked relief to all the hard workers who are currently cleaning our city. I have started baking and will continue to do so tomorrow. Along with a friend we will bake our hearts out then deliver wherever the food is needed. If you are cleaning tomorrow please let me know and we will drop by with some sustenance.
I am thinking of everyone who has been affected by this disaster, this will be an event we remember for a long time.

No matter where we are

I promised a photo of the papercutting that I did for my mum for Christmas in a post last week. I took the train up to the Sunshine Coast Friday afternoon and spent the weekend with Mum and her husband so I took the chance to grab another photo.

My mum and I are very close and I find it very hard being away from her, (she spends half her life in Canada with her Canadian husband and the other half here) but we make it work by spending quality time together when we can and communicating a lot. I know when we go away later this year I will miss her a lot along with my dad and my brother (and so many other people).

We had such a nice weekend, I had two bubble baths, caught up with an old friend who I adore and had coffee and GF cake in Buderim with mum.

I managed to do some papercutting while I was there and I'll share those pieces soon (they are getting naughtier).
Mum and I went for a look in some shops and I saw a lace top that I really liked. Mum decided that she could make one for me so we went home, she pulled out an old lace tablecloth and she whipped me up a new top. She has so many talents.
Don decided on Saturday night to take us out to a SUPER fancy French restaurant. I had duck and creme brulee - this is why I NEED to go to France as part of our big trip. Most amazing food. The over the top, hilarious French chef and cute French waitress totally added to the night.

(wearing my new lace top)

While I was there I went through some old photos that Mum has of her side of the family. There are some amazing old photos and I photographed them (too lazy to make the scanner work) to share. I will upload soon. The ones from Papua New Guinea are especially awesome.

Friendship framed

A little while ago I did an impromptu photo shoot at a friend's house with two of my favourite girls. These two mean a lot to me and I really wanted to capture how lovely, happy and playful they are.


I clearly played with these a lot in Lightroom. I normally prefer sticking to the original photo as much as possible but I must admit it was a lot of fun to alter these like crazy. Sometimes I think we need to not take everything so seriously and just have fun with art; appreciate the tacky and the over the top!

Aren't they adorable?

All the time I was making this I was thinking of you

Now that Christmas is over I can finally share some of the pieces I made for commissioned Christmas presents and little gifts for loved ones.

I actually really enjoyed making this piece even though it was very fiddly.

This wall paper is my absolute favourite.

This amazing bakerlite frame was given to me by a lovely lady who commissioned a couple of pieces from me.

I made a very special piece for my mum but for the life of me I can't find the photo I took. I will take one when I visit her this weekend and share it next week.

Much love.

Christmas love

Merry Christmas everyone! I hope you all had a lovely weekend.
I had a relaxing 4 days off work with lots of family time, resting, food and cuddles. There was of course the obligatory accident. They call me clum for a reason. A knife in the foot took me off kitchen duty for awhile and is still giving me some grief.

We spent Christmas day at Tom's sisters house with almost all of our immediate families including a surprise visit from my brother and his girlfriend.
Only Tom's mum, his brother and his brothers girlfriend were missing as they stayed in Canberra. Lara is weeks away from having a baby so they spent Christmas together. New baby coming soon!

Mum made us play a game where we attached a word to ourselves that we weren't allowed to say and if someone else caught us saying it they got our chocolate. I was out pretty fast but not as fast as Mum.

I bought Mum a mug from T2 that she loved and posed for a few photos with.

It was really nice to spend the day with all our special people. Christmas isn't always easy for everyone and in no way are our families perfect but we make it work and there was definitely a lot of love in the air.

Edward and Lilly

My lovely friend Bec has a label called Edward and Lilly where she creates beautiful brooches, purses, soft toys and lots of other things.

I visited her at the BrisStyle Twilight Markets last night and finally bought on of her brooches.

My little sausage dog looked great on my pink top!

I first met Bec when I did work experience at Flying Arts back in Uni. Bec no longer works at Flying Arts but as an integral part of BrisStyle she is an adamant supporter of local artists.
Along with her BrisStyle work and booming business Bec also co-runs Eyeline magazine.

She has always been incredibly supportive and I find her a huge inspiration.

Last rummage of twenty-ten

{my stall}

Last Sunday was the final rummage for this year. While it was not the best I've had it was a really nice day of mum's, visitors, handmade dresses and cute teenage girls.

{my mum}

{mum's amazing handmade mermaids}

I definitely didn't make a lot of money (especially after I discovered the handmade vintage dresses a couple of stalls up) but I got some lovely comments on my art.

{Laura's handmade cake stands and delicious red velvet cupcakes}

Plus I got to sit next to my mum, the lovely Laura and eat display cupcakes.

{Laura's stall - that you and me in the gold frame is so freaking adorable!}

I'm looking forward to the first rummage of 2011 on February 6 at good old King George Square. I'll be there with lots of new goodies!

{the mums - Louise and Jan}

{possum and deer}