back again!

Well, this year has been eventful so far. Very. Not entertaining though sadly, but made us busy bees running up and down freeways & highways of Victoria. Ahh well, the joys of family. Everybody is now on the way to recovery, recovered and oh, yes, D2 is about to have her D1 on New Years Eve. My parents are visiting in Jan/Feb and our house looks like it's been sold, so not sure yet when we have to move by, but they may have to sleep in their car. heh. ( I kid, I kid!)

Workwise, I have had to take breaks, due to illness, surgery, not being home much & limited in what I can lug around with me but I've had enough time in the last week to start work on a new project. It's taking a bit longer than I originally thought to get the basework done! Hopefully it turns out how I see it in my head.

Youngest is doing very well at school, especially in Art [ heh!] Youngest Daughter graduated & now lives with D2 in Melbourne. Very odd only having one kidlet at home & he's nearly 18, so I feel a bit empty nested now as he informs me he is completely independent now that he can microwave 2 min noodles :D

They found what was causing the weird ankle swelling, it's from my PSA flaring and affecting my achilles tendons, that's what the leg cramps were from at Superbikes, not dehydration. Physio hates me! not really.

Ok, well, now that I've rambled, I'll be off to get some sleep. It's very hard to get back into the swing of blogging but hopefully I'll be around a lot more now I've posted.

While I was away...

I've been doing a lot of research on surface analysis on a change of medium and technique to see if it would work and I wouldn't be so hampered by the weather when working. Apparently it might. or not. Depends on who you read. Only way to find out is to test it really, so everybody cross your fingers they don't crack! [please and anything else you might like to cross, unless you might get stuck like that!]  I also made the males in the house move my desks & cupboards around in my studio, so I have zones & more space. I've gotten quite a lot of ATC/ACEO's done as I kept finding inspiration as I fell down the rabbit hole and I've started using them as a kind of journal while I have my toe up in the air, they're a lot easier to juggle instead of a larger book.

All the new grandkids are doing well, along with their Mums. Gaining weight & becoming little people really quickly. 

One Sunday we hit the freeways at 4am to go gallivanting to Phillip Island to watch the Superbikes. Caught up with friends and had a great day although it was a bit hot. My favouritest motorbike rider, Max Biaggi was the star of the show, 1st and 2nd in an absolute cracker Race2 after he ran off the track and came back on in 21st place & then flew back up to 2nd. Was the best race I've watched. EVER! and added bonus he's now leading the championship & has the fastest lap record at PI. We were all standing on the tables cheering as he came down the straight to take 2nd. Big kids we are LOL

1st!!

I got severely dehydrated and had to go home earlier than we planned, so missed out on dinner with everyone but they all enjoyed dessert for me. Evil friends I have! I had to be rehydrated so much that I can now tell you where every public toilet is between Phillip Island and Bendigo, surprisingly there a lot. I didn't get sunburnt but did get windburn and no, have no idea why I dehydrated as I was drinking water the whole day. The only thing we [ inc the Dr] can think of is the pain medication I'm on requires me to drink a lot more fluids than normal & it was when we had the mini heatwaves. Apart from that...????

I've broken the same toe twice now, once a few weeks ago trying not to kill a cat by stepping on it, then yesterday I tried to avoid killing the other cat, stepped on to the kitchen mat, slid wildly across the floor and the cupboard kindly broke my slide with my previously broken toe. I swear the cat smirked before she sauntered over to rub sympathy all over my face & then demanded to be fed. And everyone wonders why they're called Terra and Khaos.

oh! I forgot, I also play Words with Friends and Draw Something, my username is antikva so if you play, shoot me a game :)

wearing cement shoes, swimming in treacle!

I don't think I've read this much in years :)  I have 1000+ emails in gmail and wading through them is like walking in a river of treacle with cement shoes! So many add notifications for g+ , youtube, twitter and pinterest that I've now temporarily turned them all off, combined with an art workshop I signed up for sending stupid emails every time someone coughs! If you sent me an add request for anything, sorry, but it's going to take me a few days to get through them all.

I've set up a folder, so if you do email me, make sure the title is mittens and I'll see it straight away instead of it languishing in my massive to cull pile. If you have emailed me via gmail and don't get a response it's because I've now resorted to scanning the list & deleting in bulk & may accidentally miss it.

Add that to the busy bloggers who last week went nuts with posting :) and wow. just wow. Blog Land was a barren desert late last year and now it's like Christmas was rain & everyone is blooming again. I think I'm going to just mark all read and start fresh with posts.

I've been working hard and also following up some family tree research that was on the backburner last year, like everything else. I did make headway on trove & discovered his funeral notice & found he was married 2 more times and ended up using his middle name instead. It's definite as all the kids are named in the funeral notice & via a WW1 record for his son. Such fun searching for a needle in a haystack of Johns[t]on[e]'s  so, if you have a Henry Vincent or Vincent or Henry Johns[t]on[e] born in Dunedin NZ in 1875 who moved to Sorell and Hobart Tas before 1896, I have some descendants for you :) He's also connected to the Johns[t]on[e]'s  in Scottsdale Tas and his 1st wife was Florence Edith Gill, which is the line we connect with. Other wives were Ellen [or Helen] and Elizabeth. They lived in Murray St and also Liverpool St Hobart later.

 The last of our daughters left home to make her way in the world, one kidlet to go...I can see freedom! LOL just kidding, sort of. Spent some time with the new grandchildrens, they are so cute and adorable, especially as I can give them to their mothers for the yucky stuff :) Both are happy chubby bubs doing all the right things before they should and keeping their Mothers on their toes and Nana in fits of laughter!

I'm waiting on a new phone to come in, it's worse than being a kid on Christmas morning! I usually use prepaid but this is a great deal and only a couple of $ more expensive than what I have now, so I will be joining the cool kid brigade :) Supposed to be here tomorrow, then I shall be app'ing away for a day or 2 :)

I can't promise I'll post every day but I hope to at least every couple of days again. Once I have my phone set up, I'll be posting pics of stuff that amuses me as well. I did go a bit nuts with family portraits over Christmas hehe, I was in their face trying for arty shots to put up on the wall. But, they all have to be similiar, the babies were easy, it was the grown up one's who were hard to get as they all kept pulling faces :) I should post those, they'd behave next time! LOL

Art Of Survival - Kerosene

Happy New Year, hope 2012 is a good one for you and your loved one's xx

so tired

Winter just will not go away. The minute you think it's gone, it sneaks back LOL

While I was gone, I have 2 more grandchildren, one of each :) ermmm, 2 weeks apart [give or take a couple of days] Both Mums, Dads and bubs are doing well. One more great nephew to make an appearance and then that's it until next year at least. I entered all their info into the family tree straight away. heh. otherwise in 20 yrs time I'd be trying to remember what day they were born. [j/k]

We also got another kitten and Tera is getting on well with her since the 2nd day, she's called Khaos. Is a fluffy tortoiseshell. Both thunder race around the house playing then eat and go to sleep & repeat. Tera has finally stopped coming in at 3am and biting my feet trying to get me to play, so YAY, I no longer have to wear ugg boots to bed and wrapping the doonah around me like mummy wrappings!

The boy is home for a day as he was playing a kinect?? game with his sister chopping fruit and his arms hurt really badly ROFL ohhh, I mean poor kid, but it was funny, flailing arms all over the place.  He can't even lift his arms up at all.

That reminds me, I have misplaced my fabric pens :( so need to rummage around and find them so I can finish off the bootees I've made. They're very simple but look wonderful & would make easy gifts, so once I've finished, I'll post a pic & pattern info. I have no clue where they are *sigh*

I'm working on some test crochet pieces for a workshop I'll be doing at the Kangaroo Flat Art Space and will post more info once I have it. One will be Christmas themed, inexpensive and make a nice present for yourself or someone who appreciates handcrafted gifts. You can also find more info on workshops and other happenings here at Handmade by the Flat 

Plus, Chris Moule,  another local Bendigo artist is hosting a workshop this week & next for ink rendering, so I'm going to those :) more info can be found here at Kangaroo Flat Arts Inc

And, now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have a Nana nap and might not wake up until tomorrow.

new blogger editor is interesting....

Oops. I had a post in draft that I've just managed to fling off into cyberspace. Anywaaaayyyyy....

So, you know how I make the doodlebutz buttons? No? if not, then Cyndi at Mixed Media Artist posted a tutorial on how to make the buttons, so, me being little Ms Helpful [ I know! right... I was surprised too! j/k :) ] sent her an email and shared some extra info that I had discovered. If you want to try it yourself, whip over there and have a go! Don't forget tohave a wander around her blog, she's been on my blogroll for ages as she always has heaps of great inspiration.
and, I've discovered she's a really nice person too. Sometimes you email bloggers and they're not so nice or ignore you. She also makes gorgeous jewellery & beaded jewellery that a couple of you should go drool over :)  Cyndi has made some great tutorials available as well.

You're back? So, onto the next news...
I have a joint exhibition from 17 Oct - Nov 1 with D3 but have decided to do something a little different than usual. Canvas is involved... eek! and acrylics rather than my favourite gouache. I don't even know if I can remember how to paint with acrylics...hee, just kidding. I'm also using my own concoction on the surface, so I'm hoping it works & makes the surface similiar to clayboard, if it does I'll post the recipe. I know it works with a board surface, just not sure if canvas has too much movement that it will end up cracking. Test piece in progress, keep your fingers crossed :)

Then, another one from 6 Feb - 20 Feb with 2 others [ not sure if they want me to say who at the moment] so I am flat out like a lizard. Luckily I've been researching both ideas, so really just had to flesh them out.
Possibly might look at another later next year that will be Illuminated manuscript based, depends on the weather over spring/summer.

Been concentrating on crocheting baby stuff as 2 daughters are almost at their due dates and I've been making some baby booties from material, which are so cute and tiny!  Hopefully everything will be done by the time they're born. Also, been making some more forged by fire flowers, some for someone in case she wants them for her wedding, so just in case, I've been making the bases ready to sew specific colour beads later aaaaand some to turn into brooches. Also, did another couple of crocheted necklaces.

Some of my handcrafted items and doodlebutz are available at Kangaroo Flat Arts Inc gallery shop and I should get moving and put some up on my facebook page as well.

Discovered that I can still move when required, LOL, running [ ok, waddling wildly!] from the end of the  platform Metro line at Southern Cross to the end of the platform VLine train home was interesting! 1 minute to switch trains saw both D3 and I thinking we should just catch the later train home, except for the fact it would have been crowded with football fans & race goers on their way home & probably standing room only. Luckily the wonderful lady conductor stood on the platform until we got on the train. Phew!

Off to eat my dinner before the cat does, chicken salad wraps.....YUM! chicken,celery,lettuce,tomato,cucumber,all chopped, add mayo, mix well, slap into wrap and roll...eat.