My creative space...

Still playing with colours... over breakfast. I tend to gather up a bunch of colours and patterns that appeal to me and then see what combinations I can make with what I have. My challenge then is to make sure I use as much as I can before I go to the fabric store again... Its like a little challenge to use that extra bit of creativity to make do. Of course every now and then something special comes my way in between fabric shop visits...


Like this piece of vintage fabric, or a tip shop/op-shop find... and then I'm inspired to try something new...

Lots of creative things happening around here today. Creative in a different way, but very exciting anyhow. A front lawn full of ceiling batts to tuck in our house and make it all snuggly.


And while they work, a cuppa with Bec for some crafty natter, among other things...

More creative spaces at Kirsty's. I always find it inspiring to see how other people work/think/create. Go check it out!

Playing with colours...

I've been managing to make a skirt or two here and there...


Playing with colours and preparing for spring...


Looking at what I have for the markets and enjoying the endless combinations of print and colour and ribbons...

I'll be at the Spring Beach Market in Blackmans Bay on Saturday. If you are in Hobart, stop by! They're having a sausage sizzle and there's room for owlets to stretch and play. It should be fun!

Aside from skirts, I'll have my usual stuff... Silk play capes, jewelled felt crowns, apron decorating kits, hair accessories, fair trade organic cotton baby clothes, pants and bean bags kits...


These are made with different colours and textured fabrics and different textured stuff inside. Bean bags are great for gross motor skills and indoor play. They had them at school when I was an owlet. Fun times! They make a nice gift too ;)

Looking for spring...

We went for a wander at the gardens today, looking for signs of change, of new life, of sunshine and warmer weather.

We found daffodils in the spot where we crumbled leaves in April. The owlets call them trumpet flowers...

We found some space for a creative moment...


or two...


We followed our shadows and learned about sundials, then sat in the sun and ate lunch...


We were reminded again that the whole world is our classroom and there is so much to learn, so much to do... and we are so lucky to have sunny days ahead and the time to explore them together.

Hidden treasure

We're taking advantage of the Australian Government's Energy Efficient Homes Package and insulating our house. Yep. We live in Tasmania. In a weatherboard house. Without insulation. Its cold. This is exciting stuff. Anyway, amid the excitement we decided to have a peek in the ceiling to see what's up there and we found a kind of a time capsule... A cardboard box full of blue and cream paper flowers, an old canvas stretcher and much to the owlets delight, a dolls pram. What luck!

My Creative Space

My owlets are unschooled. They learn naturally at home, in an extremely organic way, following their own creative thoughts and wonderings. Its a lifestyle... It requires creativity and flexibility, two things I'm lucky to have lots of. It means that sometimes my own creative stuff is on the backburner as more energy is devoted to owlet activities. Much of our best work is done in pyjamas with that sudden burst of post-brekky inspiration...


Or on the fridge while dinner bubbles away on the stove...


Sometimes its very involved, like today's instant *need* to act... to stage a play based on the Very Hungry Caterpillar, using whatever's at hand but aiming for high-level professionalism at all costs...


Other times our best and most creative learning happens up a tree in the afternoon sun, looking at the river and listening to the birds... Just daydreaming.



More creative spaces at Kirsty's.

Where it began...

So in amongst the reshuffle I realised there's a heap of artwork belonging to the owlets and me. Years of stuff I've collected and never sorted through, so I shall begin the task, spurred on by Cindy of kiss the birdie, who I went to uni with all those years ago. We each have a BA in Textile Design from RMIT and she's, in fact, the very same woman who introduced me to Huz! So anyway, I'll post interesting bits as they surface...


This is where owlet began for me. It was one of my 3rd year contracts, based on a beautiful book I was given on my 10th birthday, an illustrated version of Hiawatha's Childhood. This story board was accompanied by a range of prints and children's clothing... somewhat dated now, but I like the concept. I suppose its just grown in a different direction, as have I. The children down the bottom there are Huz, my sister and me.

Feathering the nest

We've been in this house over two years now and its just starting to feel like we know where things fit. We've been playing musical rooms again. We've also reclaimed a little space from the owlets. How do two small people accumulate so much stuff and then leave it in every corner of the house?!! We needed to make it less of a kids space - a little less child-centred, a little more family centred... Little owlet is ok in her own room now - though I suspect she'll be wandering into mine in the wee hours for a while longer yet. So we gave the owlets the studio, which had the most floorspace. I'm quite happy with my emergency craft station, I just need some storage, so the room that belonged to big owlet is now a room for reading, music and fabric! Here's the clean bit...


The bunks finally have a home that they fit and the owlets have a room they can play in.


A space for them to just hang out if they need a quiet moment.


Little side bonus - Huz and I feel like we have some space from little bits and owlet pieces and things are more orderly. Ok, big bonus.

Mother Blessing

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Such a beautiful way to spend an afternoon... Drawn together to celebrate birth, life, blood, lineage and womanhood and bless the way for a lovely friend to welcome a new little woman into her arms. And so the circle continues....

Hello sunshine?

So its really hard to get a good picture of the roof... but doesn't it look lovely sporting its new whizz bang solar panels? Just a few to start us off - maybe one day we'll be able to afford to buy some friends for them... These were free through the government's solar panel scheme. Awesome. All we need now is some sun...

My creative space...

Some bright colours for a rainy day... I've been commissioned to make some bits and pieces, so I'm playing with these.


Big owlet was given some lovely books for her birthday, so I'm getting inspired and flicking through them.

You'll find some fantastic creative spaces at Kirsty's. Go look!

Now we are six...

What more could one want in life than a lovely new gap in one's teeth, a witches hat and a scooter?


How about a big box full of dress ups? My Mum added the finishing touch with a Marie Antoinette style dress that has become like a second skin... I'm sure it will feature in future posts. So that's big owlet for another year, standing in front of her blossom tree (Blossom is her middle name), planted two years ago on this day. Her tooth fell out just in time, but unfortunately got mixed up with a mouthful of rice cakes and disappeared somewhere. The tooth faerie was apparently happy to accept a tiny shell and letter of appology, but we are hoping that the next tooth will make it to the special tooth faerie box!

The great piratical rumbustification!

Flags were hoisted...


Jelly boats consumed...


...and with them treasure island cake.


They found all the treasure, decorated their loot bags, passed the parcel, and played musical statues. Then a moment to pause...


...and we breathe a sigh of relief and begin planning next year... Witches, I believe. *sigh* For those who were curious about the piratey clothes, I made the owlets a skirt each, using an old doona cover I found at the tip shop. Something for the dressups box too!

My creative space...

I work in snippets of time. I usually have a bunch of things on the go. I set up little project kits, ready to pull out in creative emergencies, waiting for dinner to finish cooking or something like that... So I have a studio space in one bedroom. It has a table and shelves bulging with piles of fabric and boxes of stuff. It is shared with my lovely Huz who uses it for music and work too. But its so, so cold. In all reality most of my creative stuff is done on the dining table or the couch, so it was necessary to set up the emergency craft station...


It sits next to the fireplace, so its handy and cosy and out of the way. It houses all the things I need for instant/emergency craft and there are a couple of projects ready to go in that tub. Its patron saint and muse is the Lady Lamp, who belonged to my Nana. She throws a beautiful golden light on chilly nights which is when most craft stuff happens round here... So what am I actually creating?


All things pirate for the big owlet's birthday on Sunday - goes perfectly with the new gap in her teeth!!


Finally finishing those PIF and giveaway gifts. They are on the way people, promise. :)

More creativity over at Kirsty's. Go be inspired!

Market day

Sunday's market was fantastic! So many lovely people and things! I was lucky to have lovely neighbours... Dance in My Garden who had such beautifully made babies things, Little Snoring with amazing colours, jewellery and pandas! Right next to me were hideyo whose gorgeous bamboo clothing and origami flowers and balls brought the crowds past. The crowds seemed to come out of winter hibernation... I think spring is coming!

My one little thing at this market was a perfume balm and some chocolate/mint lip balm from Gypsy Hill, for the owlets. Its made with real chocolate and I'm pretty sure not much of it is staying on those little lips!

More rainbow days...

When I first moved to Tasmania, I was surprised to find that at this time of year we see beautiful rainbows almost daily. We like to make our own too...

mmmm... rainbow pikelets...


...rainbow blocks...


...and a rainbow of colours in our weekly craft explosions... I love how my owlets just go for it with colour and although they don't seem to have a plan, they certainly know what they are doing. The confidence they have in their creativityis so inspiring. A reminder that often the process is the important bit.