Love this ....

recycled grey doily rug

Papillons de Papier

I have always been drawn to butterflies, their ethereal beauty, in times past being a symbol of the goddess. This morning I stumbled upon the work of Australian artist, Catherine Swan, hand cut butterflies from vintage magazines, a perfect mix.

Catherine says, “I have always loved the old Kodachrome colours and paper quality that came about through a method of printing that just doesn’t exist anymore. Let someone flip through a copy of a magazine from over 50 years ago and you’ll find that they become very respectful and reverent because these publications are like a time capsule.

There’s something trapped and beautiful about the text and the illustrations and advertising that express with such gravity the details of products and events, which at the time were so important, but now seem so irrelevant. The butterfly metaphor, apart from being visually pleasing to me, seemed the perfect way to express this heartbreaking beauty”

Today

I am totally inspired by this amazing woman (aspiring Martha Stewart style domestic goddess without the jail sentance) and the women of Queensland who are making a difference. Good old fashioned baking, compassion and love. Simply beautiful.

Baked Relief is a movement started by Danielle aka Digella after severe flooding devastated parts of Queensland, Australia. Separated from her boys who were with her mum (whose property was affected by flooding) and needing to do something, she came up with the idea to start baking some relief for the State Emergency Services volunteers who were sandbagging around Brisbane.

She put the word out about what she was doing on her blog http://digella.blogspot.com and on Twitter and Facebook and offers of help and baking came rushing in. It has just grown beyond imagining since then and Baked Relief is now in the hands of hundreds of home cooks and bakers and is reaching people who are recovering from the floods and all of those thousands of volunteers helping them.

Baked Relief is providing food to people, to Volunteering QLD, the SES, QLD Police, Fire & Ambulance workers, the military helping clean up and just anyone who is out there doing what they can.

Baked Relief has evolved from the first plate of food Danielle brought to her local SES and is continuing to grow and progress through phases that will hopefully be long term support for those in need.

If you are like me and don't live in Brissie or the other parts of Queensland which are affected by floods you can donate here to make a difference.

Raising Hope

Like most Australians I have spent the last week glued to the tele watching in disbelief the floods which have consumed 75% of the state I live in. Seeing the devastation of the main streets in Toowoomba, the streets I have shopped with SQ in her uni days, the town I have spent many a girls weekend in, it breaks my heart, so many lives lost so much devastation. For the rest of January my etsy shop will be donating every sale to the Queensland Premiers Flood Relief Appeal. Shipping will be free and a packet of 10 vintage tickets will be sent with each order. So many wonderful women in the crafting community have led the way, its what makes me so proud to be Australian.

Accidental Caretakers

I love stories of discovery and caretaking such as this one found on Etsy this morning.

When real estate agent John Maloof bought a box of negatives at a furniture and antique auction on the North Side of Chicago three years ago, he considered the acquisition potential material for a book he was working on. Once he began scanning, he realized that he had instead stumbled upon the trove of perhaps one of the greatest street photographers of the mid-20th century. Maloof discovered that this wealth of work came from Vivian Maier, a nanny who worked in Chicago from the 1960s into the '90s, a woman who was known to be private, reserved, and never without her camera.





the blog can be found here and is a fabulous insight into Vivian's world.

Random Beauty No. 2

stamps and snapshots in the studio this morning

Creative Inspirations

In keeping with my new years res to create more, I have been looking for online courses to kick start the year. So many amazing talented women out there - here are my faves so far ....
suzi blu's petite dolls for beginners





hope wallace's nostalgic musings

and the Brave Girls Club (art + life retreats = life changing fun for women) are about to start their online course which looks purely inspirational. You can also sign up for their daily inspirations here





and if you are a vintage ephemera loving girl like me Hold Dear a new online shop is opening at 11.00am today Australia time the website is just so pretty x

love this! recycling jumpers via Apartment Therapy





I'll have the couch too please x

Fleamarket Journals

today I am going to spend the whole day in the studio organising my space and making fleamarket journals, old book covers filled with tattered pages, doilies and vintage lovely.

One for the fridge

can be downloaded from here

My List for 2011

The lovely Cathy aka Tinniegirl inspired this post. I love to make lists, I do it daily but have never done a list for the year, thanks Cathy such a great idea

My List for 2011

travel on planes
learn to sew
join Zumba
walk the dogs daily
learn Italian
roadtrip regularly
print some collages in card form
blog daily
take more photographs
meditate
be less anxious
create more art
read more books
write for a magazine
plant a vege garden
spend time gardening
plant a frangipani tree
volunteer for a charity
design a vintage inspired clothes label
organise my studio
collect amazing pieces for my vintage clothes market stall
go to each play at our local theatre
take a cookery class
get my tea leaves read at that cute house I drive past every week
be patient and learn the art of detachment when situations arise


Here's to lots of crossing things off that list and an absolutely fabulous 2011 x
images courtesy of weheartit

The Bees Knees

When I was about eight years old I tripped and ripped the knees out of my favourite jeans, my mother, an artist made two denim patches and painted bright yellow bees on each, sewed them on my jeans and declared that I was the BEES KNEES. My girls love this story.

Prints from one of my favourite stores here

Bloom Collage

2011 heralds many changes for our family, fresh starts and new adventures after what can only be described as a very challenging year last year. Suffice to say I was extremely excited to ring in the new year. There is magic in the air! The seeds have been sown, now its time to bloom.

Bloom collage created using vintage floral print, old dust cover from a trashy romance novel and vintage playing card. Frame is from a garage sale last year.

"Bloom where you are planted" proverb

"The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.”
Thich Nhat Hanh quotes (Vietnamese Monk, Activist and Writer. b.1926)

As long as we are persistence in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.”
Denis Waitley quotes (American motivational Speaker and Author of self-help books. b.1933)

Random Beauty aka my pretty mess

I've always been a messy girl. Chances are if you drop in for a coffee there will be a project spread across the dining room table and a pile of doilies in the kitchen waiting to be dyed. I put it down to a combination of being a Gemini who gets easily distracted and growing up in an artistic household. So for 2011 my new years res is to embrace it, photo journal random beauty that catches my eye. After all picnic dinners are way more fun. Happy New Year x



Photo: One of my favourite Chrissie decorations waiting to be wrapped in bubblewrap for next year sitting on a pile of vintage plates and platters on the kitchen dresser.