Big Blog Browsing Butt

I have done it! I have visited all of the nearly 800 blogs that are participating in the One World One Heart International Blog Giveaway! I always used to call my butt "Browser Butt", but now I'm sure my butt size has increased due to my lack of physical activity through blog-hopping, my fingers may have lost some weight though! It is so amazing to see how many generous bloggers, worldwide, are participating in this amazing event. I have been blown away by the awesome talent that is out there, and the amazing giveaways they are offering.

I have been honoured with a blog award by Linda. It is the The Marie Antoinette, Real Person, A Real Award, thanks so much Linda.


The Marie Antoinette,
Real Person, A Real Award

Here are the rules for the award:

1. Put the picture of Marie Antoinette on your blog.
2. Link to the person from whom you received the award.
3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs.
4. Link to those blogs from your blog.
5. Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know you've shared the award with them.

Here are the wonderful bloggers I would like to nominate (in no particular order).

Kim - The Bodhi Chicklet
Fannie - Imagine, Create, Inspire
Martha - Martha Lever Lettering and Design
Vicki - Faint Heart Art
Annette - Annette in Oz
Jo - Art Heart Studio
Heather - Creative Solace

All these ladies, (and others) are a wonderful inspiration to me and have been very encouraging to me on my artistic journey. Thanks ladies. Even if you don't want to nominate 7 blogs, I hope you can accept this award from me with my heartfelt gratitude for who you are and all you do.

One World One Heart Blog Event and Giveaway

Sorry folks, comments are now closed for this giveaway. Stay tuned to find out the winners via random number generator. Good luck!

I've decided to hop on board the gypsy caravan and put up some giveaways for the One World One Heart worldwide blog giveaway.


I have six sets of these adorable little shelf sitters made from cotton spools, spelling out the word "peace". Leave a comment by February 11th and you will be entered into the draw to win a set. Good luck!

Fat Book Pages

Hi everyone, I know it has been a long time since my last post. I have been very busy in my new job and when I have been home I have been doing a lot of reading, to re-familiarise myself with the 0-2 year old age group (previously I taught 3-5 year olds). I am loving my new job role though, it is a pleasant change. Additionally, my sister and niece who are living with us at the moment, have taken over my art studio so it has been difficult to get in there, I like them to have their privacy. They have found a house that they like and are going to make an offer on it this week, so I should have my studio back within the month! Yay!

OK, today (Australia Day) I had no choice but to invade their personal space as I desperately needed to complete the 120 pages for the Fat Book Swap I am involved in. We needed to choose a technique that used recycled or cheap materials. I chose to use rubber band printing. I used cereal boxes as the basis for the 4x4 inch squares. I base coated these with acrylic paint (Payne's Grey). Using a brayer, I took off the handle and wound rubber bands of various widths around the brayer, overlapping them to get different sizes and effects. I rolled the brayer in another acrylic paint (Red Earth) and rolled the design across the fat book page. When that was dry (it didn't take long), I inked up the brayer on a gold Brilliance ink pad and again ran the design across the previously printed fat book page. It was a really fun technique to do, very speedy, very effective result. I found I could vary the design by curving the way I ran the brayer across the page, by criss-crossing, by shadowing, etc. Really there are so many options on how you can vary this technique. Give it a go. I have used it as backgrounds on my portraits for a different sort of effect. It would make a nice background for cards, ATC's, moos, etc.

CED Full Moon Dreaming

I feel better than I have in ages, I think the medication has really sorted me out, crossed fingers. I have started my new job role and my body definitely feels it. Lifting and lugging babies is great exercise, my muscles are testifying to this after only 2 days! Just goes to show how old and out of shape I am. Tonight, tired though I was, I decided enough was enough, it was time to play. My studio has been taken over by my sister and her niece, but undeterred I went down and retrieved my neocolor soluble crayons and some reservoir brushes and took them up to my bedroom where I had fun experimenting and messing around. It felt good! I was just using my sketchbook which doesn't hold up to wet media very well, but I wasn't really concerned about the buckling and the finished product, I was more focused on playing and exploring with no real goal in mind. Admittedly, these past few nights have seen my bedroom brightly lit by a full moon and I was wondering how I could capture the beauty with my meagre abilities. I keep reminding myself that I am a beginner, I have a long journey ahead of me and as long as I get some enjoyment, self satisfaction, and stress relief from my little creations, then life is good.

"Use what talent you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best" ~ Henry Van Dyke

Oh, and here is a little sketch of a heart shaped girl - I think she looks a bit alien-like, so I've called her alien girl, hehe.

World of Whimsy

Hi Bloggers, I'm back in the land of the living, well my mind is willing, my body is weak, but I need to get back to work to earn some money to pay some bills - which pour in at this time of the year. A new school year commences in just two weeks and that means school fees, stationery, updating outgrown uniforms, bus tickets, well you get the idea. It was $165 just for a calculator for eldest son's math class, eeek. I'm still a little dizzy, but hopefully I'll be OK. Guess what, I've signed up for another on line class, how exciting. It is called World of Whimsy being run by Willowing. Check it out here. I haven't done an on line class since Paulette's faces class and I enjoyed and learnt so much from that. It doesn't start for a while yet so I have plenty of time to finish my 120 fat book technique pages that I need to do by the end of January. I have nothing to show you, I haven't had the energy to even pick up a pencil, let alone do anything with it, but I am hopeful I will get back into the swing of things this week. Thanks for all your well wishes while I was sick.

Sick Chook

There was a reason for all that sleeping, I've been one very sick chook. Thought I'd better let you all know before I head back to bed again. I'm on double strength penicillin so I should be getting better really soon. I'll have a lot of blog reading to do but at the moment I am too weak to stay on the computer for any length of time. Talk to you all soon.

Tortillas to die for

I had a terrible day today, well it started off good. Went to church, (that was the good part), but when I came home I was so tired I went to bed and slept until 4pm. Woke up and prepared dinner. We had burritos, a family favourite. I make a yummy lentil filling - this time I added a tin of tomatoes that had chilli in it, which gave the burrito mixture an extra zing and a batch of tortillas. No, I do not buy my tortillas, I make them from scratch. My family refuse to eat bought tortillas any more after tasting this wonderful recipe. Here is the link. You have to try these, they are fantastic and so easy to make. OK, they are a little time consuming, rolling them out - and I double the recipe. There are never any left after my ravenous mob get stuck into them, but on the odd occasion there are some left, they freeze really well, then a quick zap in the microwave and they are fresh once again. Oh, after I had my two tortillas, one big juicy peach and 4 yummy apricots, I felt terrible and went back to bed. My daughter woke me up at 10pm and asked if she should go to be yet. Hmmmm, let me think about that - YES! I got up at 11pm, checked my emails, and then went back to bed. Very unlike me. Back to work tomorrow - then I'll really have an excuse to be tired. OK, so no art as such, my creative effort for the day (CED) is my cooking of the burritos with a bit of a twist on my recipe. Oh, if you want the burrito mixture recipe, just say so and I'll post that too.

Sun Kissed Girl

I had a very productive day today, though not really a creative one. My house is clean though and so is my computer after deleting lots of unnecessary files. For my creative efforts today, I made a cushion cover for my daughter, a batch of playdough for work and this quick sketch. I've called her a sun kissed girl because it reminds me a little of my daughter, who is blond with a beautiful olive skin at this time of the year. We had the most perfect day today weather wise - don't be jealous now! I never did make it to the studio to paint my New Beginnings lady, I remembered I didn't have any masking tape - the boys used it up masking a perimeter for their Warhammer game. Hope everyone is having a great day.

New Beginnings

This is a sketch I did during December with the intent of painting when I could. With going on holiday, Christmas preparations and New Year I haven't been very successful. I managed to prepare a background today and will transfer the sketch and commence painting tomorrow (that's if I remember how!)

Creative Every Day Challenge

I have joined the challenge of "Creative Every Day" run by Leah. I need to create something every day of the year, it doesn't matter what it is, as long as it is some form of creative endeavour. Today I made a card table play house/cubby. This is going to be used in the Baby Room where I will shortly be working - it will be a nice quiet space for any babies that want to get away from the crowd. It was fun to make - I made it up as I went along and I'm quite happy with the way it turned out. It is very simple, no windows, but the door flap can be rolled up. My 12 year old son couldn't resist getting inside, and I can't keep one of the cats out either! The great thing about it is when it isn't in use it can be stored very compactly - just fold up the card table and the cover until they're needed again. Now to get stuck into some painting.