I was recently asked by the wonderful Marichelle over at Heart Handmade to be a House Guest over at her blog. If you love handmade (which I know you all do!) be sure to check it out if you haven't already!

Anyway, it was a lot of fun to write a post for someone else (and a little scary too!) and it was even more fun (but super hard!) to pick some of my all time favourite art of right now.

Go have a look here. I hope you enjoy!!



even those that are not necessarily made out of paper;

Set Free




I have one of these! 
I think it is going to be the start of 
my white porcelian collection;
found via Dose of Design




Not sure why I love them, maybe it was the story
I heard when I was young, maybe I like to show off and make them for friends.

addiction; porcelain


currently loving porcelain at the moment. but more so Studio Violet




I mean seriously. Just have a trawl around the website.

Could an artist get any more amazing?

(wait I believe it is two artists; Elisabeth Dunker Camilla Engman)




I want to post everything, but I shall let you wonder through the wonderfulness.



(thanks to; poppytalk for the sweet intro!)



Oh yes, I put my recipe following and cooking skills to the test last night and had a crack at this yummy looking salad from one of my favourite food blogs VeganYumYum. I chose the second version of the potato salad; Potato Salad with Herbed Dijon Vinaigrette



So why not review my own cooking??

Well I should have taken my own photo because the lovely featured image is from VeganYumYum's post (the main reason I love that blog is for the photos!), but in all seriousness, mine looked pretty close to that, without all the fancy lighting and sweet photography.

It was SUPER easy to cook, and fail-proof in my books, and I do fail quite a bit in my cooking experiments (must remind myself I am only learning!). It uses what I call cupboard staples, so you generally don't need to buy anything extra, and it was very quick to make.

The verdict?
Me; YUM! And YAY there was some left over because now I have a yummy lunch!
Boyfriend; Yeahh not bad, maybe a bit strong.

(ok yeah it was a TAD strong, and I don't know what the "strong" element was.. maybe the Dijon? Which was "Extra strong Dijon" because it was the cleanest Dijon I could find when shopping.)


But I shall try again and I will try the other version too!

I am always up for clean healthy natural recipe suggestions too if anyone has any fail-proofies!

Oh a relevant note, who watched Master Chef Australia?. I thought it was a tad over the top but I do love my reality shows that are "Idol" themed and I do love my cooking shows, so I think it will be a regular viewer!



Not feeling so super at the moment (thanks boyfriend for passing on the sickness!) Wishing very much that I was in bed with a steaming hot lemon drink.

(I love these colours; Image from Apartment Therapy.)


The worst part is, I don't get hungry when I am sick. And love food so much. I mean come on!! So I might be a bit neglectful around here, but I will try my best.








New original drawings; available in my Etsy shop.

I also love Leeloo




I am super excited to announce art4friends (that's me!) now has some more goodies for sale over at my most favourite indepentent online retailer Leeloo!


Leeloo is an online community and store where treasures from emerging Australian designers and artists can become yours!

My last little batch of pin back badges all sold, and now I have some sweet little pocket mirrors for sale, an essential for every ladies handbag!!







And if you don't like my mirrors (ohhh!) then be sure to check out the rest of the shop, beacuse Leeloo is all for supporting all those things that we all love and value highly; handmade; eco friendly; Australian designers; to name a few!

You can even grab yourself a copy of Peppermint Mag, which I believe are selling super fast so get yours today!!





Do you ever get that feeling that some things just have to be blogged about. Even if so many others already have?

This morning while reading Peppermint Mag, this blogging urge hit me.






I love the beautiful cover by bec winnel

I love the texture of the pages

I love reading every written word

I love that everything the editor wants to share is exactly want I want to read about

I love that my personal goals of wanting to buy local, handmade, eco-friendly, fairtrade, organic or vintage are made that little bit easier with all the wonderful advertising and information about people doing these exact things (these goals are hard to meet without such help!)


I love that I have only read 3 pages and it is already living up to the expectations I had and leaping right past them.

I don't love that I have only read 3 pages! I want more!

But I guess I don't want it to end either!
(hurray for magazines, it means there will be more!)

Survivor Dinners




Jeff Probst

Popular phrases that tend to get thrown around at dinner time with my family are "catch and kill", or "survivor dinner", with the idea that dinner is basically just a free for all, find whatever you can in the house and cook it and eat it. Sometimes when the money situation is particularly thin, we might even play "survivor week" where no food shopping is allowed to be done, as there is bound to be something eatable in the kitchen that can be prepared.

I think this concept has become particularly important and relevant during this wonderful economic crisis global recession or whatever we are calling it these days (surely there is an acronym going around, GEC sounds familiar).

Tonight I am planning on making a quiche, something I have never actually done before. I make plenty of frittata’s, but I thought it was time I extended the recipe to include a base. Realising that I didn't have any flour at home, I began writing a little list of the things I would need to complete some of the recipes I have been looking at. Flour, cream, butter, etc etc. Gosh the list was getting pretty big and I have already done the dedicated food shop for the week.

Then my survivor instinct kicked in. I had the thought that maybe there are quiche recipes that use potatoes as a base? After a quick google I came up with a few options. Obviously in the nature of survivor dinner I can only use things that I have so I have made up my own version of a recipe which I plan on test flying tonight.

We are looking at so far;

Potato
Tasty Cheese
Onion
Bacon
Eggplant
Asparagus
Cherry tomato
Eggs
Milk
Goats cheese


Hopefully I will be able to create something eatable out of this lovely collection. I just can't decide whether to mash the potato or thinly slice. Hmm any suggestions?

I shall let you know of the results!





I LOVE YOUR SPATULAS by dazeychic

...when you get excited shopping for tea towels and other homely homewares. I am actually a little obsessed with this form of shopping at the moment. And I just love it.







EVERYTHING from Materialistic is on my current wish list.










But seriously, look how easy it is become addicted with all the lovely options!





In relevant news; I am on a one week spending ban, sort of imposed by me with a strong influence from my boyfriend. It is not that I have been buying too much (maybe just a little), but I think just a one week break and that way I can organise my wants and needs. It is just there are so many wonderfuly amazing handmade items out there, just calling to be purchased!

I also blame eBay. And maybe twitter; both of which I am currently addicted to. (please follow me!)
I love that colour blue.

I think everyone has a secret stationery crush.



Satisfy your craving; available for purchase here





text-piration

So I am really liking the text at the moment.
I myself have been getting in touch
with my text based nature.
More to come.x

Test

Ultimate;




Edit: Sweet I can totally blog just by sending an email! If you are using blogger go to Settings>Email & Mobile and there should be an email address for you to send your posts to. This will be perfect for sneaky phone blogging, because while the iPhone is wonderfully amazing, it is a bit of a strain to completely log into blogger.



Above is my take on the ultimate breaky (sorry about the phone photo quality, but hey, maybe it is a thing of the future!)




---

pleasant-o'clock



"Be pleasant until ten o'clock in the morning,

and the rest of the day will take care of itself."






Just had to "re share" - from Kitty Genius;
quite possibly my favourite artist.
I think I am starting to like the idea of words and quotes
they seem to grab me more at the moment than images.
(strange for me, I know!)

You meet the nicest people on a Honda
You meet the nicest people on a Honda by gingerbeardman, on Flickr



So had to share some nice people moments I experienced today.
First moment; Farmer's Markets.
I have been buying my jam from the most loveliest of jam makers, and it is seriously the most wonderful jam I have ever tasted. Today I went to buy some more, and I always like to let the lovely creators know if I like their product (that is why farmer's markets are just so great, you can speak directly to the person responsible for the amazing food!), so I told them how amazing their jam is and how addicted I am to it, so I bought another jar for $10.

As I was walking away, one of the jam makers came up to me with another jar and said "have another one on us".

I mean, seriously. That made my day, week even. So sweet.

Thinking things could not possibly get any better, later when I was shopping in a home wares shop for some tins to store some things in my laundry, I asked the shop assistant for some help with what I was after.

She showed me a few options and they were not suitable and I pointed to something that was being used for a display and said, "something just like that is what I am after".

She said, "ahh they are not for sale sorry! They are just for our display"
I didn't mind, but as I turned to go she grabbed a few and said "look you can just have these, go on, take them, I know they are exactly what you want, and if they don't have a price then they must be free to take!"

I was so shocked. And so thankful!

My boyfriend said to me "What is WITH you and free stuff today!"

I don't know, but it was pretty super cool.
I love nice people.




---



lovely easter treat

super excited to be featured over here at The Design Order. It feel so nice inside when people say such lovely things. 


Thanks Melissa!

x

I just can't decide


if I love food more than I love art.



my favourite meal; peanut butter/honey/banana 
on bread/muffin/raisin toast/ricecakes


What is funny, is typing this post, I some how remembered this post. 

The Lion


she is a bit of a Lioness isn't she. 
I think I like this one.
but I can't be sure.
drawing by me.






yes please!!

Some pictures of some little parcels I made for my lovely friends and colleagues. My main reason for showing is not because I am rather proud at how cute they look, but to give you some information about what is inside.

The message on the tag reads;


Guilt Free Chocolate.
These little eggs are Fairtrade, so you can be sure your chocolate indulgence is completely guilt free! Your conscience will forgive the extra calories knowing that you’re supporting workers who are paid fairly for their work.


For more information visit; oxfam.org.au





I urge you to support Fairtrade
----

Necklaces 8April09



Necklaces 8April2009 worn and drawn by me



When I unpacked my jewellery, I wanted to make sure (like everything else) that I did it properly and practically. So I created a larger version of one of these, a DIY from Design*Sponge, and my jewellery selecting experience has never been better. [I might take some pictures one day, because I am pretty proud].
As a result today I am sporting 3 lovely necklaces (all that I had forgotten I had because they were impractically hidden away somewhere!). And as a result of my wearing of lovelies, I felt inspired to sketch them for me and for you.
Maybe I feel a habbit forming.
---

so sharing is caring

loving this.
and the funny
thing is that
he has totally
inspired me
to get out
some of my mum's
old drawings.
because she was
pretty nifty with
the old ink and pen.






last time I checked with myself I was liking triangles.
This week, most definitely circles. New work to come.

made it

BACALL now available over at made it.


I really do love etsy, and gained so much more than lovely possessions (but that is certainly plus!) by spending time on and in the etsy community.


What I really came to post about is that I also love made it, but I will admit, I do often forget about it.




One of my biggest shopping "rules" that I have sent myself this year is to not only buy handmade, but to try and buy local as well. Hence why made it is rather perfect for me.




ANYWAY my real point is that I am now slowly setting myself up over at made it, and so for those locals, you will be able to purchase some prints in good old Australian dollars.




So go check out the old (new) shop! shop art4friends
(oh and any feedback is always appreciated).




Any other made it sellers out there?
---

advanced appologies.

image by sooziebee

this past week, and I am sure for the next few weeks ahead, I have been super occupied with my lastest major life event ; moving out of home.


it is fun, exciting, scary, busy, tiring, stressful and wonderful all rolled into one. but at the moment the only downfall is my spare time is very limited and I haven't got all my things in the one place, hence less arting is taking place.


but organising my artness is next on the list. so never fear. all should be well and good soon. lets hope.
p.s. now that I have more than just one bedroom wall available for decorating I need lots of new art!! so while I do have a rather last little list of arty favourites saved somewhere to my computer, I really am always open for suggestions, now more than ever!!!
---

Curvy 6



Even thought I am sure you all already know all about it;
Curvy 6 - Mori Gallery - Tonight
I shall be there. Super excited. 

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