I went into the City Botannic Gardens today to meet up with some SARK friends. Had a lovely lunch in beautiful surroundings with fantastic company. When I got home, some of Bob's family were here along with Nelly and her new baby Zayne (of the lime green bellycast ~ he was 3 weeks old yesterday). Today's pic is of a very tired looking me sore eyes n all, with Zayne. He's such a cutie and is ever so snuggly.
I finished painting one of the sample belly casts this morning. Or at least, I think it's finished. It's been difficult to get a decent pic of it though because the paint is a high gloss with shiny bits in it. It's a purple paint with gold through it. I've put the pattern and writing in gold, plus there's a little of some sparkly green and a rusty red type of colour on it too. Now to hang it!
Last night I finished the little tie dye project I had underway. The nappies came up beautifully! I dyed 12 nappies altogether, using 6 different colours ~ khaki, yellow, orange, red, sky blue and purple. I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed them out (by hand) to ensure the excess colour had all come out. Then this morning, I had the not so bright idea of putting them all in the washing machine on a rinse cycle with a little salt to help hold the colour plus a few drops of lavender oil to soften them and make them smell purty. But alas, the red ones ran! And we now have tie dyed pinkish nappies ~ can we say not happy Jan! Ah well, they're gonna have worse than pink dye on them in the not too distant future hey.
Well, I;ve decided to take a leap of faith and try to get a little sideline business up and running. I've done a few belly casts now, even been paid for my efforts with one of them and have two more orders! I've done a few to use as samples and to play with different styles, but it wasn't until Lisa suggested putting some flyers up at the hospital ante natal clinic, that I really started to think about the possibilities. So I had some business cards made up and I'll probably make a flyer up to leave at the ante-natal clinic initially, then just give the cards out when I hand back the completed casts. Anyways, today's pic is of my new business cards (front & back view).
Received an email from my rpl assessor at Tafe asking how I was going with my evidence ~ oops, time to get my butt into gear as time is ticking away. I also received a call from my pottery teacher tonight to say a vacancy had come up in my old class and I'd be able to rejoin the class that I'd had to give up when I started my tafe course. And it was back to work today after the long weekend. My how time flies! Those long weekends seem to go wayyyyy too fast. I managed to finish a work little early and in time to get to the craft shop before it closed. I have a project underway, a gift for my new grandbaby when he arrives, that requires some fabric dye. I'm about half way through the project and will take another pic when I'm all done, but this pic gives an idea of what I'm up to.
Not so humid today which is nice. Today was Australia Day and I've had a pretty quiet one. I've been busy doing some artwork for much of the day as part of an e-course on creativity. Bob's son & fiance came over this afternoon and stayed for dinner. Bob n Adam went out for a paddle, then Bob & I went out a little later. Bob wanted to show me something tucked up near the anchor of the big boat that's moored a little further down the canal. Today's pic is of the little something!
Very humid today, so we were in and out of the pool all day ~ sometimes when it was raining! Did some work on the belly casts today and being Sunday night, had all the lads over for dinner. Sheila also came over for a visit this afternoon. Pleasantly tired now, so hopefully will sleep well tonight.
A huge Saturday ~ a trip into the art shop in the city for some supplies, gotta love Eckersley's! Lisa's baby shower was this afternoon. Lotsa fun n games n good food and Lisa received some lovely baby gear. After the baby shower, we had Todd & Sarah's engagement party (Jon's mate) which was a very formal type of evening. Came home and had a swim cos it's been soooo freakin' humid and about to head off to bed soonish. A two pic post today :).
My prodigal son from another Mum returned to Australia last night, after 9 mths back in his native UK. Tonight we went out to celebrate his return and welcome Josh back to the land downunder.
Ta-daa! Today's creative effort ~ some painted glasses for an engagement gift. I've only just started playing around with glass painting. Painfully difficult stuff to work with (well at least I find it is), sticky as all get out and doesn't quite want to go on in one swipe, hence the extra simple design which was wiped off at least once on almost every glass during the painting process! I hope it proves to be one of those things that gets easier as you get the hang of it.
Had a humongeous day at work today, got home late and enjoyed some take away (chinese food) for dinner. Yummo! Went outside to enjoy some fresh air and who should be out there but our little mate Smudge from next door. He likes to visit and is always up for a smooch and a hug. Just a short blog tonight, heading off to bed.
Thought I'd post a little info about Project 365 for anyone who may be curious about it's origins. I liked the idea and thought I'd give it a go too. The link with more info about it is here:
http://photojojo.com/content/tutorials/project-365-take-a-photo-a-day/
Where did today go? It's flown! I'd great plans to clear away some of last night's plastering mess ready to create some more!! All the casts have a good shape but are a little thin and need some extra plaster. And then I'm going to play with some ideas. Must find some more bellies hehe. Today's pic is of last night's effort.
Lisa came over this evening so I could plaster her up again. She is so patient that girl!! We did three casts today, all just of the baby belly. I'm going to play around with some ideas for belly bowls. I think I'll paint one, mosaic one and maybe use one for a mold for pottery. I seem to have too many ideas going at the moment and not enough pregnant bodies to plaster! I've sent off for some business cards, so who knows? I may end up with plenty of pregnant bellies to plaster soon.
Bob, Kath & I went down to the Health Happiness & Soul Expo at the Gold Coast Exhibition Centre. Emelisa had a stall there too ~ it was great catching up with her!
I was at a Goddess stand and saw the calendars similar to the ones I got a few years ago. The artist who does the pictures for the calendar was there and she signed my calendar on my birthday for me. We were talking generally and it turns out we both know Tanishka who did the women's circles in Melb at Wenchfest. Tanishka will apparently be up here later in the year, so who knows? Maybe I'll get to catch up with her again.
Enjoyed some delicious sushi for lunch, checked out a book sale next door and stopped in at Yatala Pies on the way home to get some of their scrummy pies for dinner.
A loverly day!
I've decided, albeit a little late, to join Project 365 and document my life on a daily basis for the next year. Let's see how I go with that! Today's pic is of a canvas I did last weekend and kind of sums up my aims for this year. More creativity! More playing, more enjoying life to the fullest.
