Little Books

Not as productive a weekend as I had hoped for.  Sometimes family life becomes all consuming and you just have to go along with it.  So I am being a positive thinker today and saying that I focused on quality, not quantity (which is what I always do anyway)  I started and finished 3 out of 5 books for an order, so I thought I would share 2 of them with you.

Above are what the books look like after all of the cutting, folding and artwork is done.  

And these are the finished books, once all of the gluing is done.

They measure 3.8cm x 3.8cm.  So when I call them little books, they really are little :)  

Rainy Brisbane

It is another rainy Brisbane weekend so I plan on getting some things finished and others started.  I have packed the polymer clay away for awhile so it will be back to some drawing for me.  I have 5 more little books to do for the lovely Sharyn.  But before waving goodbye to the polymer, here is one final picture (for now)  These little charms are done using two shades of the same colour clay and inlaying it into Tibetan silver and bronze frames.  

This little cuties are now available in my craftumi shop.  This is a great place to buy and sell craft supplies from Australian suppliers - check it out :)

Where to start?

Gosh, there is so much I want to share today that I don't really know where to start and what to post.....We went for another park visit yesterday and I got some great photos of lilies and birds, but I might leave them for another day.  I think this shot sums up our outing really well.  I have titled it "Happiness is.......climbing a tree with your kids.  

And then there was the flock of polymer clay birds that flew in and landed on my work bench the other day......

I am in the process of decorating them for an order for the lovely Sharyn.

5 down - 15 to go :)

I love the look of just the shaped birds, but I think the ink decoration makes them look really special.

Check it out!!!

The lovely and very creative Sassy of Saselven not only has a madeit shop and a blog, but now you can also see and purchase her beautiful creations at her new website .  She says it is still a work in progress, with more things to add, so check it out here.  The lovely fabrics she uses will just make your mouth water.  I especially love the pony and the large floral tote bag :) 

Tags.......more of them!!!!

In case you hadn't notice...I really really really enjoy making tags.  But this time, because I had the polymer clay out, I decided to make them out of clay.  Once they are baked I sand them, draw on them with the white pigment ink and then varnish them.  Fun fun fun.....and a nice quiet way to spend Sunday afternoon :)

Funky Birds

This is a new set of tags that I finished the other night.  They are based on a drawing that my 9 year old did for me on my birthday card.  She was really impressed that she could "help Mum with her work"  Got to love 'em!!

The birds are drawn onto scrapbooking paper with a brown fine line marker and the backing card is 100% recycled - I like that :)

The Park....rediscovered

I know it doesn't make me a bad Mum if I find taking my kids to the park rather boring (does it?)  Don't get me wrong, I have VERY frequently done it over the years and they have always had a good time - well now so do I!!!!!  Once I learnt how to use the digital camera - out of necessity not because I wanted to - I have discovered that I can take all sorts of interesting photos at any given park visit.  Of course there are the ones of the kids on the playground, the kids eating their picnic, the kids etc etc etc, but there are also other interesting photos to take.  Here are a few from last weekend's park visit.

More finished Doodle Cards

I finished the "earthier" coloured Doodle Cards and I think they turned out well.  It was a really challenge not to use pink and purple.  But it was also a lot of fun.  I find that sitting and colouring in is so relaxing.  As per usual, they now reside in my madeit shop.

Sketch Book

Actually I think sketch book is too grandiose a title for this post.  What happens is, I finish a project at night, when it is too late to start a new one and too early to go to bed.  I cant just sit and stare at the TV so  I grab a piece of paper and start scribbling.  I am not fussy about where the paper comes from.  This set of scribbles is on the back of one of the kids excursion notes - oops!!  

Who knows, you may one day see one or more of these ideas come to fruition and a real work of art (hehe)

Anyway dinner is over, the kids want the computer and I am off to make some polymer clay birds for the lovely Sharyn (hi Sharyn xxx).  Bye :-) 

Mouse Invasion

What do you do on a rainy Sunday in Brisbane?  Well, if you are me, you make mice!!!  We have been invaded by polymer clay mice.  They are rather time consuming with all of their hand drawn details but they are so much fun to make.

This is them before all the details were added

And this is them in all of their completed glory.  Now all I have to do is glue the magnets onto their little bottoms and they will be invading my madeit shop :)

And what do you do on a rainy Sunday in Brisbane while you are waiting for the varnish to dry on little mice..... You make magnets birds to go along with them!!

Meet Joey the Wonder Cat

I have been dabbling over the last couple of months with drawing cats, so I would like to introduce you to my inspiration.  This is the real Joey.  I know he doesn't really look like the drawings, but it was one night while he was sitting on my lap and I was thinking about what to draw apart from birds, that is dawned on me......cats.  We got him from an animal shelter as a kitten and he has such a quirky personality.  He loves sleeping on the top of the lounge.

These are some of the drawings that he has inspired so far.

Notebook and Pen Set

Notebook and Pen Set

Greeting Card

Greeting Card

How lucky am I

The lovely and very creative Leah from Leahspaperpassion sent me this absolutely adorable book and card for my birthday a couple of weeks ago and I wanted to share them with you.  They now have pride of place on a set of shelves on my work table.  How lucky am I!!!!  You can see more of her lovely work here and here.  She has a real eye for colour and composition and she is a wonderful friend  :)

Finished the doodles

And I think they almost look good enough to eats :)  As per usual these cards will be winging their way to my madeit shop very shortly.


And then of course, because I so enjoyed doing them, I had to make some more, but justified the urge by doing different designs in different colours.  Here they are so far.

Happy Wednesday everybody :-)

While sitting on the lounge....

While sitting on the lounge one night earlier this week and watching CSI (the original of course) my gaze swept across the coffee table and spotted yet another piece of paper left over from a previous project.  It was just sitting there begging to be drawn on.....so I picked up the trusty pen and white pigment ink and proceeded to do some doodling.  I did promise myself that it was just going to be some harmless doodling, not a creative project with an end result....but, as you can see for yourself....yet again...that is what I ended up with.  I think these tags make a nice change from the pink and purple girlie ones I have been doing lately and they are now going into my madeit shop.

The ongoing process

I hope you had a safe and enjoyable Easter. Ours was relatively quiet and relaxing.  After the Easter Egg hunt and the trips to various parks for picnics and swimming, I got time to finish some projects and start some new ones.  I try not to have to many on the go at once, but sometimes the brain creates faster than the hands do.......

I got my first family of little magnet mice finished and they were so much fun to make and decorate that I plan on doing some more.

With the left over purple polymer clay, I also made some  pendant charms and put them in my madeit shop.  The clay is inlaid into brass frames and they are a nice little size.

Then I started doodling on a piece of paper I was too lazy to put away.....and so far this is the end result.  I think I will make them up into greeting cards - stay tuned :)

Meet Fred the Fish

Fred here is an old friend of mine.  He has been hanging around my work area for about a year now.  So I thought I would introduce him to you :)  He is rather shy but has impeccable manners, as he has brought along a flower as a gift for you. 

I had fun drawing him and especially colouring him in.  I love how purple and orange really pop with each other.  I really enjoy doing the shading and colour graduation when I draw.

Please feel free to say hello to Fred, and leave a comment for him (or me)

Happy Easter

I would like to wish you all a happy and safe Easter.  At this time that we spend with family and friends, remember to....

Even if, like myself, you will be consuming copious quantities of Easter eggs and hot cross buns!!!!

Table Garden

This is my little table garden that sits on my front balcony.  It has herbs that the kids gave me last Mothers Day and hubbies parsley, for his favourite Sunday breakfast, scrambled eggs.

And as with most things around here, I have craftefied it with decorated stones and a wooden work of art.

The piece of wood was left over from when we replaced the balcony railing and the drawing is done,  once again, using the trusty white pigment ink.

Cute Mice

I finished turning the purple blob into a cute little mouse by adding his face and flower decorations with white and black pigment inku....then I thought he looked a bit lonely so I made a little pink friend for him :)

I also got a bit obsessed with bird making and ended up with a flock of eleven colourful new friends.  These are some of them.

tweet tweet and good night :)