8 word mission

Summer Daze

2011-12-26T10:33:00.007+13:00

Karaweko

We went to a magical place on Christmas Eve, the day my grandmother would have been 110 years old if she'd lived. My brother, older than my four other brothers, (who are all older than I), was visiting from where he now lives (Noosa, Australia). So we spent a day at Akaroa, on the Banks Peninsular.

I took him to the Kaik of Onuku, and we admired the views and paid a visit to the tiniest church I have ever entered.

Onuku Church

view from a window inside the church

Spirals appear everywhere naturally in nature. They represent growth and development. The third intention in my 8 word mission is "Learn Abundantly" and when I draw the symbols, the third symbol is a spiral. So how apt, for a church, the place where the intention is worship and spiritual growth, the window latches are spiral-shaped.

We shut the door and left, and explored some other places in a wonderful village to spend some of the early days of summer: beautiful Akaroa.

Christmas is so close! Gift-making tutorial - not!

2011-12-12T20:13:00.007+13:00

Fig 1. Paisleys underway. Click to enlarge.

I don't know where the time has gone, but Christmas is just around the corner. And funnily enough, just as I did throughout last year's Christmas gift-making process, I am once again learning a language with Pimsleur as I work. Or should that be play. Because it's not work to me, Christmas is a wonderful excuse for doing what I love, dabbling with art materials and trying to turn a far-fetched idea into a work of art.

Luckily for me during this stressful, crowded and busy shopping season, I have lots to occupy myself with, here in my amazingly beautiful house, as my 31 paisleys in 31 days project is in full swing. I did say they were going to be A5 sized, but as you can see in the paintings, some are quite a bit smaller. I wonder what they could be for? As those are for my Christmas gifts, I can't offer any clues I'm afraid, lest some of my loved ones are reading this blog and cotton on to what mischief I am up to.

Fig 2. More work has been done on each paisley. Click to enlarge.

Anyway, I don't want to sound like I am offering a full-blown gift-making tutorial, heaven forbid, but I thought I would share my paisley painting process.

Fig 1. As you can see, I start off on the first day (of my 3 or 4 day process) with some very basic, soft, watercolour, paisley shapes on high-quality watercolour paper. You can see some of the edges of finished paisleys in Fig 1 too.

By Fig 2, you can see those paisleys after day 2 with a little bit more detail. I can't paint in that detail on the first day, because the background is still wet and could smudge or run in together. Day 3 and day 4, and those paisleys are finished and more started, probably with a different design than the one just finished from the previous group.

That's why I never get bored, because each one is unique, even if it is based on the same design. I hope you're not bored either, with my paisley indulgence - maybe there is something that you love to do (a sheer indulgence) that makes you wonder whether it is difficult occasionally for others to tolerate? Surely I am not the only fanatic with my creative ideas.

Art saves lives.

The lost art of letter writing

2011-11-24T18:55:00.009+13:00

a hand-painted card (paisley of course) from me to the beloved

We have been receiving handwritten letters in the post lately, and we like it a lot! So one of my A5 paisleys has developed itself into a gift card. We lightly taped it onto some paper which we had written our letters on. It should be able to be easily removed if the beloved recipient wishes to display it as art, or put back in its envelope with the letter and kept*.

It is so nice to write and receive hand-written letters, even though my writing is not as neat as my font of the same. (My day to day handwriting is of course jules-te-reo - as seen on picnik.com - and since I occasionally draw little pics into my letters, I guess my letters are a bit of julesgirltalk, which you can download for free from my work website). Anyway, enough of me, don't handwritten letters seem so old-fashioned and sweet?

*Or thrown away, whatever happens to it, one can't have expectations about these things. If the truth is to be known, I don't mind so much its destination, because I became used to my art not delighting others as much as it delighted me. It's because my art was not cherished by my mother when I was a child, and she still doesn't really get it, but is more likely to keep it now, because someone once admired something I made and so she didn't dispose of it. However, I am happy to say I have kept most of my daughter's art since an early age, some of which I wrote on as she explained what it was - it is fun to read/look at it now. I love it, cherish it and "get" it.

Paradise in a paisley project

2011-11-21T09:28:00.010+13:00

Unfinished paisley paintings, next step: details with my black Pitt pens

Meanwhile, in the real world, our roses are out. These are my first three from my highly scented rose bush, Aotearoa - beautiful. Which always makes me feel very summery and optimistic. And so does painting paisley, which I have been working on every morning on awakening, much to the chagrin of the dog, who does not like his morning routine changed.

I am mad for paisley, and it is my theme for this year's Christmas. In fact in December, I hope to complete thirty-one A5 sized paisley paintings in thirty-one days.

That's because my art materials, although greatly diminished by our move to Wellington, are now sorted and well stored, thanks to SHEDding and at the same time, Organising from the inside out by Julie Morgenstern. Everything is at my eager-to-make-art fingertips.

So what fun! Having an excuse to paint more paisley! As my giftmaking e-book is liberally illustrated with my own gifts, and so are some of the peripherals, I am creating more and documenting my processes (less for the e-book, which is more or less finished, more for the extras).

I intend for paisley to be on EVERYTHING this year. My creative juices are working overtime to figure out how to have paisley on the most unrelated items imaginable.

I am a sucker for paisley - if I find fabric or an item with paisley, naturally I will avoid passing it up where possible. I've even dreamed of paisley. And now I've started finding paisley everywhere, even in potatoes.

Potatoes grown by my good friend, Brian (who doesn't even know of my paisley obsession)

The one constant in paisley seems to be the swirly shape (see potatoes above), and even that can vary. Short and fat or long and thin. So paisley can be so different, and every item of paisley I create is definitely unique, even though at the beginning of the process I aim for them to be based on a standard design/colour range. Easier said than done - once I get started on one, my mind is wandering all over the place and so is my paintbrush or pen, and I just don't know how it will end up.

I have always been an artist who adapts to my circumstances, or rather refuses to let adverse conditions prevent me from creating. Even when my daughter was a baby, and as a family the three of us moved to Perth. I had been used to painting on large canvases, and suddenly I was not able to arrange those in my life, so I worked with what I had, which were A4 sheets of paper and black pens. I created little booklets with those, which could be folded into little pocket-sized artworks. Maybe unimportant in the larger scheme of things, but to me, that I could still make some form of art was significant.

So while I have always loved paisley, it wasn't until I found myself in Wellington, that my circumstances allowed for me to begin drawing them. Which I did. Lots and lots of them. Mainly just with black pen, but occasionally in colour. I had a set of best quality Pitt pens (smudge proof, waterproof, etc etc) in various sizes, which is perfect for paisley, with the exquisite little mysteries I like to draw in. How wonderful. "Art saves lives" is the statement of my own yahoogroup - amidst the post-earthquake disruption, there can still be art.

And now we're back, it is art indeed. In full-colour, as a celebration of life and scented roses, that's the life we are living right now. And all expressed in paisley. This is paradise, and isn't life endlessly fascinating?

The end is nigh

2011-11-17T19:36:00.007+13:00

in my garden, where I think best

The year is nearly over. At least it is in my world. I have decided to take the unusual step of officially finishing my work for the year at the end of November. This ties in with my daughter's last exam, and I think, given the strange year we have had, we deserve to put our feet up a little earlier than we would ordinarily. Unless of course I get work that urgently needs completing before the end of the year, I am looking forward to shutting up shop for 2011 and doing whatever I want till the end of January 2012, when New Zealand cranks back into life after their summer holidays end and the new school year begins.

This of course means that I will be able to do some of my "own" work, finishing off the e-book and related goodies in time for their roll-out in the new year. How exciting!

And since I have already started unwinding and tying up loose work ends, it means that I have time and energy for the fun job of getting the garden back to its productive state, especially now that the other owners don't wish to have their own plots this year, so it is back to being all mine. Bahahaha!

As well as that, I am still working on SHEDding, and for my wardrobe, I have taken it a little further than suggested. This involves a complete and thorough inventory of my wardrobe, which has been such fun. I have been taking photos every day and mixing and matching this with that. I wouldn't say I have a lot of clothes by some standards (it all fits in one small cupboard, including my few pairs of shoes) but what I do have are generally my absolute favourites, as I gave most of my belongings away after the earthquake before we moved away. But even with a small number of different items, it is amazing the number of different outfits can be created. I have been reading fashion blogs for the over-40s and becoming awfully inspired! So here are the details for this little get-up above:
Wrap top - from Jen Fashion at Etsy, she is a designer from Israel
Jeans - Barkin (I got them because they have cute little zips up the ankles, and they are a very comfy fit, seem to be made for me)
Shoes - by Prophecy (they are faves of mine, orange tartan, with wedge heels that are like rubber on sneakers)

I also have a very cool, orange retro coat made from crimpolene that I can wear with these orange sneaker wedges, but sadly the colour looks too strange next to my hair. But this is what happens when you take stock of your wardrobe and your life - you find what works, but you also find what has to go.

And this is the perfect metaphor for my learning curve of a year. The end is nigh. Some things have had to go.

Shedding my stuff - what was I thinking? Disclaimer: I am not a model.

2011-11-08T08:39:00.000+13:00

Disclaimer #2: my face doesn't really look like this. Or maybe it does and I don't know that.

My goal this summer is to work my way through my wardrobe. Every single item of clothing gets tried on and worn and I'm "feeling" through the process. (Guffaw). No, but seriously, why hang on to stuff if I can't wear it, or it doesn't fit, or I feel like rubbish every time I wear it? And I found a couple of groups on flickr where people do this and post pictures of what they wear every day. I love seeing what other people are wearing and how they have combined things. They describe where they got them from too, and sometimes the items are 100% secondhand. I think I love used clothing from the "stick it to the man" perspective (also a reason to love gardening), but on the other hand, I also love fashion and beautiful things, being an artist.

The thing is, it is fun to try on and photograph ones clothes in the privacy of ones home, not even just to work through ones wardrobe and decide what to keep. I am not a gambler, or likely to ever turn up at Cup Day (today) where one is seen, photographed and if you are up for it, judged in the best dressed competition. But I am participating in some of these flickr lists, for all to judge and comment on (not that I have been, except by my kind friend, Peter). And I have to say, photographing myself in what I am wearing is a great reality check when deciding what clothes need to go, photos don't lie.

I would have loved to have been born the beautiful and outrageously stylish Daphne Guiness, personal friend of the late Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow. By a quirk of birth, she happens to be an heiress with, I assume, nothing to spend her money on or do with her time but what she truly loves. And she loves fashion, buying and wearing. She's the same age as me, but different build, but if we lived in the same street, I'm sure we'd be best friends. One of the things I love is to sit on the beds of my best girl friends while they show me their favourite clothes, or latest buys. I did this on Saturday at my friend, Taryn's after we went to her friend's sculpture exhibition opening, (where I met a man in a very cool jacket, who told me it was made in Wellington in the 60s, which opened a conversation about style. He unbuttoned his jacket and showed me the amazing lining. I then admired his floral shirt. Well, I guess you had to be there.) Then after admiring Taryn's coat collection, she came over to my place and I showed her some of my favourite shoes. My other friend Monique is fabulous for shoes, she has some beauties. I just love looking at people's stuff.

So for you, dear reader, make yourself comfy against the huge pillows on my bed, and I'll tell you about this outfit which I am wearing today. I have to say, I would probably not wear it out. Particularly after watching a fashion segment on morning TV where the announcer, on seeing an Alexander McQueen dress with the same frilled split at the front as the one I'm wearing here, commented on it, "But just, also the cut up her leg there was a bit revealing". In defence of the dress, I am fairly sure I have never revealed anything while wearing it, although I have to say, it was a favourite of the last man I went out with, who apparently liked the revelation of my chubby knees. The thing is I really like this dress, because it is swirly and kind of feminine and playful and really comfy, and you just pull it on and go, and is so cool to wear in the kind of scorching weather we have had for the last week. However, I don't know if I would have the courage to wear it out anywhere, even though I tried it on with a jacket one would wear out, and of course my trusty hat. People might look at me when I was walking along the street (and think I was revealing a lot) which could make me feel uncomfortable. I know it sounds vain to think that people would be looking at me, but despite my blogging to the world (although my readership is small, the blog is still available to everyone) and posting these pics, it is not a narcissistic thing, honest! I do not like to be the centre of attention, or the subject of the male gaze, or for that matter the female gaze either, if the female happens to be bitchy. So I guess I do not choose to wear this dress out, because I suppose it is not very modest and I don't want to give anyone the wrong impression.

However even though this is not a dress I wear out, it is still one that I love for the comfort, coolness and joie de vivre I feel when I wear it. It's a keeper.

It's really cool this book, SHED by Julie Morgenstern which is consuming me right now. But it it has made me evaluate who I thought I was or who I was trying to please when I bought certain things or got involved with certain interests. However, I can safely say that when I bought this dress from an op shop a few years back, as dated as the style is (and it was out of fashion even when I bought it), I knew that it would let me feel happy and carefree when I wear it, which is good enough for me, even if it does not please any fashionistas out there.

I am interested to hear if there are items people have and still wear, even though they wouldn't wear them "out".

Handmade gifts as "limited editions"

2011-10-26T18:36:00.009+13:00

a little card I whipped up with watercolour (wash) and pen

The thing about handmade cards or gifts is that even if you make five or ten of them, if they are handmade, they are all unique, one-off "limited editions", and as much as you strive for perfection, each one is bound to have little mistakes here and there. But I don't stress if I make a wee mistake, even if I have to cross some writing out, it's all part of the beauty in wabi-sabi. (Although it seems that the idea that the Amish deliberately created imperfections in their quilts is a myth.)

Here is an old Persian proverb which best captures the essence of practicing imperfection: “A Persian Rug is perfectly imperfect, and precisely imprecise.” Just like the best of home made gifts.

I have found though, that over the years, and even in the course of making a particular homemade gift series (eg, a series of ten little books or something), I have had a marked improvement over time with what I create. In fact, I have been making home made gifts since I got the idea during midnight mass, on Christmas Eve, 1997, when a deaf priest (whose assistant "signed" his sermon for the deaf community in attendance, creating a beautiful shadow of her dancing hands from the candlelight on the wall behind, but that is another story) suggested that the true gifts we receive are God-given and to share them at Christmas is the ultimate in holy service, and all we need to give at Christmas. I took it on board, and spent the next year beavering away at some simple home made gift projects, things created with my own little god-given gifts and talents. To be honest, I got a mixed reaction, as my gifts were rather inferior to what is available in the shops*. But I didn't let it stop me, and my gifts got better and better as the years passed.

“He who hesitates because he feels inferior is being surpassed by those who are busy making mistakes and becoming superior.” –Henry Link

I think to worry about making mistakes ruins the fun in gift-making and stops one improving by just doing. It's not that I think what I produce is anything special or superior, but as I have said, there has been an obvious improvement. Most of all, I know I am blessed that I have the gifts, time and desire to keep at it, and maybe people get some joy out of my limited edition handmade gifts. I know I treasure something that has been made by the hand of another, whether it is an embroidery sampler, a handmade book, a piece of jewellery or a jar of pesto. To me it is like holding something in my own hand that has been touched by an angel.

* I actually feel guilty when I give shop-made goods, as I hear bad stories about Asian factory workers and their working conditions and wages. I worry that they are putting sad energy into the things which get sold in the shops. I may sound like a fruitcake here, but I worry in case I am passing that on.

SHEDding my past

2011-10-25T12:02:00.008+13:00

The book is finally here, SHED by Julie Morgenstern, and I am working my way through it.

It seems that I am able to reinvent myself, or get back to the essence of myself, by shedding stuff that is no longer me. Which is quite cool. Because having just moved home to Christchurch after my learning curve in Wellington, it is obvious that there is a lot I can shed. Also, my daughter is of an age where she will be leaving home before long (or not, which is also fine by me) and so I am already having more time to myself and my own interests and dreams.

I have to say my closet is looking amazing having organised it with the principles of Julie Morgenstern's other book, but I haven't actually properly shed yet. I have shed a couple of things, directly after attempting to wear them, when I realised they are not me anymore, or are just not right.

So it seems it is the E part of SHED - Embrace your identity from within- Who are you without all your stuff? - which I find most intriguing and exciting. I've always considered that it is a great richness to be able to easily adapt to change and not have painted oneself too much into a corner. And knowing oneself so well to be able to do this is very cool indeed.

So I am enjoying this process, even though I have just started.

And the other cool thing is that I'm here in Christchurch, we have had an earthquake, and buildings are being pulled down and then heaved, and we as a community need to embrace our identities from within, so we can have the courage to drive ourselves forward. Of course, the earthquake was not cool at all, but the whole community is in the same boat, and we can do it!

Homemade gifts: great gift ideas

2011-10-17T13:51:00.000+13:00

Part of a gift from my daughter

Everyone can make their own homemade gifts, and with a little bit of thought, most people can even come up with great gift ideas on their own. But it's alright for me to say, because I'm quite arty. However surely, without resorting to making something that turns into a chore to produce and gets finished through gritted teeth, and within our most fascinating interests, coupled with our heartfelt desires to share with our loved ones, we can produce an affordable and simple expression of ourselves to give as a gift.

I've always been suspicious of the idea that the Gross Domestic Product is a good indicator of a country's standard of living, because most of the best things in life are free or relatively cheap. For example, if more people gardened at home, then we wouldn't be buying as much produce and the GDP would be lower than it would if we all went out and only bought our fruit and vegetables.

And then there's the amount of money people spend on gifts (some people that is, not me). How about if we bucked that trend and thoughtfully bought second-hand goods for gifts, or second-hand goods that were upscaled and given away as gifts (think of the popularity of all things retro, or vintage) or thought of what we could produce ourselves from our own ideas to give as gifts. I should have called this post "How to adversely affect the GDP". Both of these activities, homemade gift-making and gardening (and home cooking too) cause a great deal of pleasure, yet supposedly indicate we have a lower standard of living. Whose standards exactly? Don't get me started...

So, back to topic, how does a person come up with some great gift ideas for homemade gifts?

This is how I do it.

I start with my list of recipients. Yes, it seems strange to start at the end, but if I have a list of loved ones, it provides a great deal of motivation. Someone great (who?) once said that the difference between the successful and others is that they can all hear great advice, but it is the successful that act on it. I often hear that quote nowadays, usually when I am attending a free webinar or something and just before they are trying to sell me something (after they have just given away a bunch of free information which was the hook to get you to attend the webinar.) But of course that is true. You can have an idea or hear some great advice, but if you don't act on it, it stays a fantasy, and never turns itself into matter. And that's why I write my list of loved ones who I want to make something for. It is great to have that there at every stage of the project, including at the end when I need one last push to get me to finish things.

As well as that, having a list of recipients helps me decide how big the project should be. For example, if I have 10 people on the list, it is not such a big deal to make a small book, such as my Every Leaf a Miracle project. Although, you would be surprised how tiring it can be to write even a small 16 page book ten times. And before I did the writing, I had to paint each page's water colour background one colour at a time, obviously one side at a time and when that had dried, paint the other side. Carrying out this process times ten is a lot! So having the list handy reminds you that it is worth it for each and every recipient on the list.

However, if you have a project where you have twenty recipients on the list, it may need to be scaled right back, or have part of it computerised, for example, I could have printed it out on the computer, then cut up the pages, and then gently created the page background images with a light crayon. Or you could choose a different project, like cookies wrapped up beautifully, or Julianne's Miracle Cream in little jars from Arthur Holmes or something which you can do for multiple recipients much more easily - these are great stocking fillers or little gifts suitable for teachers, or the postie, or mothers of your children's friends, the ones you've always liked but never really got to know except when dropping your child off here or there.

On the other hand, there are gifts which take a lot more effort and expense, such as a funky apron, which, if one was to make ten of them, would cause far too much stress than is warranted, although I am speaking for myself here. And to have to make ten of them in time for Christmas would cause me so much pain, that to give it to my loved ones would be such a transfer of negative energy that it would negate my reasons for giving to my list of loved ones in the first place. That's why the planning and advanced thinking of the gift starting with the list of recipients and then figuring out the effort and expense of materials is essential at the beginning.

So how can you come up with your own great gift ideas now that you have a list of recipients? The next bit in the process is to Know Thyself. This includes ones capabilities. After all, if you have difficulty sewing a straight line, own a machine from the middle ages which is stored at the top of your linen cupboard behind five winter duvets and you're not sure if you have spare needles, don't know how to adjust the tension, and your memories from school sewing class fill you with fear, rushing out and spending $200 on enough fabric for an apron project (no matter how amazing, as Olive Juice's all are) for ten people is not wise. Also, if this is your first homemade gift project and you are not sure if you will last the distance, it's best to start small and simple.

Could you start with a set of bookmarks made from beautiful card, with amazing quotes or poems on them, and with stunning photographs from a beautiful recycled calendar glued to the other side? Or your very favourite recipe, the one that everyone loves and could maybe even include the odd family secret (like my mum's to die for scone recipe, and her special trick of grating the butter into the flour instead of "cutting it in"), printed out beautifully with an amazing photo of the finished product and maybe even a short piece about how this recipe came into your hands or other fascinating historical information?

Then there are the old favourites (well, they were favourites in the 80s), "mix tapes", collections of your favourite music on CD. I still have one given to me by an old boyfriend - to this day, every time I hear any of those songs I think of him painstakingly compiling the "mix tape" for me and the strange cover art he photocopied for the CD. I like to think he put a lot of thought into it and that's why each song is special now. Maybe I wasn't even the only girl he gave that mix tape too. It makes no difference to me, I still love his selection.

Anyway, this post is already a bit long. I have another coming up soon on managing the cost of homemade gifts, particularly when I think one should invest in the best quality materials available.

I would love to hear what kind of homemade gift ideas others come up with, or have even tried yourself. Please leave your comments.

Zoning out on my interests (possibly a long and boring post)

2011-10-11T10:49:00.001+13:00

I am up to the part in Julie Morgenstern's book Organising from the Inside Out where you strategise and create a plan of action for sorting and putting away your things into areas where you will do these things.

And what it has made me realise is that I have many and varied interests as well as expectations of myself and responsibilities I have volunteered for.

For example, I love to sew. I love to recycle jeans and make bags, (also I love to weave flax into kete or bags, but that is another interest), and I also love sewing aprons by Olive Juice Co - I already have plenty so I give them away now to the most special of my special friends who love to cook. I also mend things and adapt clothes. Luckily I don't design my own clothes. I have a couple of projects in mind for the future too, specifically upholstering a chair and our 1960s daybed. I would also like to sew curtains to match. Plus I have some old sewing patterns from the 60s, womanly frocks similar to those from the wardrobe of a TV programme I have never actually seen called Mad Men. But those projects are for the future. First things first. Where to put away my sewing machine and related things.

There is also my Family History Project. Before my grandmother died, and my father's brothers and cousin, I interviewed them after I had attended an Oral History course with the Alexander Turnbull Library. I got a lot of invaluable material about where I came from, and discovered how interesting some of my family members were. Also, I have a collection of family photos, going back to my great grandparents' wedding in the 19th century, and a few strange things such as a book which belonged to my paternal grandfather, a pair of his braces, and a beautiful china teapot that my maternal grandparents brought with them from England. This needs to be tidily stored but not somewhere susceptible to damp. Actually I rarely need to access it as extended family never comes over (on account of them living in the North Island) and my daughter and I are not that interested any more. If it is all arranged neatly though, perhaps the responsibility for storing it can be offered to another family member.

I also have a lot of photos of myself and my family as I was growing up and as a young adult living overseas and various friends, and I have many also of my daughter as a baby and little girl. These are treasures that need to be stored carefully and cherished. One of our favourite things to do together is look at old photographs, and we have committed to sorting through the photos together over several weekends or however long it will take.

Then there are my mosaicing materials and tools (I have future mosaicing projects lined up for the courtyard) and my painting and drawing equipment and materials. I gave a lot of this away before we left for Wellington, but I still have my tools and a few very good quality materials.

I will need to keep a few moisturiser jars and beeswax etc tidy and handy, as I tend to make a new batch for my daughter and myself every 8 months or so. There is also my beautiful felting material: a small box worth of fuzzy, coloured wool which means so much to me - just looking through it inspires me because I find it so beautiful and tactile.

My children's literature study materials - will I ever complete my diploma? My own children's book illustrations and text I will keep until I have finished this work, or decide I won't.

My gift-making samples of previous gifts given (I give hand-made gifts selectively now - only to the select few who see value in or enjoy them, as not everyone has room in their houses or lives for them). However, as the topic of my ebook is gift-making, keeping the best of what I have produced has been an invaluable resource.

My film gear, tripod, lights and tapes, and DVDs of completed projects. As I plan to do some tutorials as part of my gift-making project currently underway, this needs to be accessible.

I have a small collection of publications and other samples of legal usage of my fonts.

My business records, manuals, client files. Work projects and study material, writing projects and current client work and project work. Nothing stays still in my area of work (maybe that's why I love it).

My gardening records, seeds and favourite hand tool that are kept inside for easy access. This needs to be accessible right now, because it is spring already.

I used to have a lot more bits and pieces to find places for: I got rid of a huge stack of renovation files and ideas as this is now completed (I am proud of this, for the wishlist was long, and I got almost everything I wanted), just about every wild idea I had for this place has been carried out, apart from the very wild indeed (that was the mezzanine floor idea - thank goodness I didn't follow through with that); Also landscape garden plans and permaculture notes, it's all checked off of my list as done; Steiner (Waldorf) doll making, I completed that project and no longer want to do any more like that as my daughter is now a teenager.

So the next things is to designate logical zones for where these activities are carried out and what equipment is needed. Already I can imagine myself sitting in the various nooks and crannies around the place enjoying these fun activities.

The benefits of friendships

2011-10-09T17:19:00.009+13:00

Tumnus dress from Max

Today was one heck of a day.

My daughter and I went to our new farmers' market, it is only the second time I have ever been to one although naturally I have heard of them before, and this one is near us. Last week I went by myself as my daughter was staying the weekend with one of her best friends, and I met a guy who sold me some apples suitable for juicing (organic apples, seconds, at a reduced price) but the juicing carrots were already sold out. I told him about our wonderful juicer and asked him if we could get his phone number to order some in advance the next week which was today, and he was very happy to supply. Last week was such a nice week at the farmers' market, I bumped into an old neighbourhood/work friend and her hubby, who welcomed me back to town, plus a biodynamic gardener friend of mine had a stall, so I got to chat with him too, although by the time I got there all his produce was sold out. It was all so lovely and relaxed though.

So today we went back to pick up our carrots and apples. So nice to have them all bagged and waiting for us. :) But we were shocking at spending money! We couldn't stop! It was nice to support my biodynamic friend, bought some of his beautiful salad veges, plus some seedlings and he even gave me one for free. We also couldn't resist some mushrooms, very reasonably priced (although everything seems cheap because we're still in the mindset of how expensive stuff was in Wellington) so it felt like we were getting a bargain, and everyone loves bargains. Plus we couldn't resist a green smoothie each, then we came across a table that has raw vegan stuff, yummy, and had to buy a cacao truffle each!!!

And the cool thing was, it was a gorgeous sunny day, and I got to wear my new dress, the Tumnus dress from Max, see photo on this post. I had to have it. I knew it was me the moment I laid eyes on it. It is kind of retro looking, and the material is beautifully soft, like silk, but not silk. They only had New Zealand size 10 left when I bought it, and I thought that would be too small, but it fitted so nicely. I swear it looked as fabby as it does on the model above. I would have got a photo but I forgot, plus I can't find my camera cable yet, (still unpacking remember).

Then my beautiful friend, Monique, who makes the most wonderful jewellery, rang about going to Crafty Sunday, at her friend's house. Her friend went to Collaberationz and now Monique wants to go too, although Crafty Sunday at his place was very cool too.

my one bike for two people

So after communicating about the afternoon's plans with Monique, Felicity and I thought we'd better hurry home but since we only brought one bike between us (as we planned to walk together but let the bike carry the groceries), we had to ride doubles rather than take a leisurely stroll home. Since she is the stronger one, I had to sit on the back while she pedalled, which did mean I had to hitch my dress up rather inelegantly, and the bike wobbled a few times scarily. We biked along the river which added to the drama. But we got there.

Then we all headed off to Crafty Sunday. But first we went to the Vegetarian Expo, where I bumped into another old friend of mine, who was a fellow subversive when we both used to go to church. How wonderful to see her! Unfortunately Lotus Heart was all sold out of their raw vegan tortillas, so on the way to Monique's friend's, we called in at their new cafe and got a couple of small raw vegan treats.

What a great day!

Then we arrived at Crafty Sunday. I bumped into two more friends, and it was so cool to be part of what everyone was doing, even if we were only watching and snacking on their snacks. Such amazing things people were working on. One woman had made a dragon out of wood and leather, which was about 18 inches long. She had mechanised it (by carving wood to make it turn into a cog inside the body of the dragon) which made the wings flap and tail swing, and then she put this special powder into its mouth, which, when the dragon was held in front of a lit candle, had the dragon breathing fire, as the ingenious wooden mechanism caused a bellow inside the dragon's body to blow this powder into the flame which is how he was able to breathe fire!!!!! You really had to see it. Some things are just too brilliant to put into words.

So these are some of the benefits of friendships: it is fun to see what creative friends are up to, not to mention their creative friends of friends. I have come home and am so inspired. So right now, I am going to act on the enthusiasm I have because, my energy levels are, as they say, through the roof!

Have I mentioned how good it is to be home lately?

It's the little things...

2011-10-08T14:31:00.004+13:00

It's the little things that really matter: I can't stop saying how nice it is to be home. While still in contact with loved ones from Wellington, (including the beautiful man), there is nothing like being back among your community. Our familiar friends, neighbours, shops, cafes (albeit in different locations), even dogs at the dog park.

And now I have my summer closet fully sorted (for now, waiting to get the SHED book by Julie Morgenstern) - it looks amazing, everything is in its place and I can't wait for the weather to fully warm up so I can wear these things. I have vowed to wear every single thing I've kept at least once this summer and note how it fits, feels, etc etc. Maybe I'll even photograph and blog about some of my favourite clothes now that I can see them again. I love clothes and checking out my own and other people's wardrobes, I often do that with friends.

Being home and getting unpacked is wonderful. "It's the little things. They really matter."

A new sense of organisation

2011-10-06T09:12:00.015+13:00

Julie Morgenstern is my new BFF. I read her book years ago and it really helped with my space. Right now, as you know, I am just back from Wellington, and although all the boxes are unpacked, nothing is yet properly put away in my bedroom or office. The kitchen, bathroom, my daughter's room and my closet are beautifully unpacked and organised, but there is all my stuff. And this is the stuff that I took with me to Wellington and brought back.

Personally I love being organised and productive. I always have lots of different projects on the go, and my life is normally well compartmentalised into the four areas of my 8 word mission: Home and Garden - includes food (live simply), Friends and Family - includes gift-making projects (love uniquely), Study and Change - non-work learning that is (learn abundantly) and Work and Creativity, which includes all manner of beautiful things I may be doing (create beauty). I even have all that colour-coded in case I need to have things filed in coloured folders and fileboxes. It is also handy for the gmail labs star system (green tick is home, red exclamation mark is family/friends, yellow star is learning/interests and blue star is work/art). I even have my book shelf organised like this, and it makes it so much easier to find anything - not the dewy decimal system, it's the 8 word mission system. That is the essence of my 8 word mission, to live my life around my own important things: live simply, love uniquely, learn abundantly, create beauty.

I am truly happiest when everything is organised in this way, as strange as it must be to other people, and maybe even a little obsessive? Oh well. It's just that my brain works in a way where I find so much in life endlessly fascinating, but unless I categorise it somehow, it is just a big confusing mess.

So before I put away the mountain of belongings which are unpacked but shoved any which way into my big cupboard, I am treating myself to a reread of Julie's book, Organising from the Inside Out, and have ordered her new one, SHED, although I don't have that much clutter left now. I thought that would be a great one to read, because I am in a place of transition. (I also have her book, Making Work Work, which I look forward to reading again as well.)

From Julie's site:
What is the difference between organizing and SHEDing?

Organizing works when you know where you want to go, but don't know how to get there. When you want or need to make a change, but are unsure of your destination, your don't need to organize, you need to SHED.

Think of it this way: if organizing is dropping anchor once you know what you want, SHEDing is lifting anchor so you can go some place new. Here are some additional distinctions:

You can be entirely organized and still need to SHED. A pristine closet filled with items you never use of an orderly calendar with commitments that only weight you down) can be cleared for something new.

Its possible to get organized without throwing anything away. It's impossible, however to SHED without letting things go.

While organizing has a clearly defined end point (e.g. you can organize your garage or home office in a weekend), SHEDing is an ongoing process that generates movement, and fuels transformation. SHED is another phase in the journey of living a rich and fulfilling life.

So, as you can tell, what with the impending birth, I need to be organised, and the whole post-earthquake/Wellington experience has involved shedding. I'm actually loving it. Decluttering my house to move all those months ago and now moving back and reorganising is a fantastic launching pad for my fun projects and work. Life is good at ArtMama, Org.

I'm giving birth*, and you're invited to attend!

2011-10-04T07:23:00.012+13:00

One of many paisley patterns I designed during our recent stay in Wellington

I am having a baby.

* Like this woman from Canada, I am inviting the world to attend.

I promise that my birthing experience will be a little more gentle and fun though. So why would you do it? Some people actually like giving birth, and why not?

So the baby that I am producing is not actually a human, but it is definitely the result of a long and at times difficult labour (of love). Yes, I am about to give birth to my wonderful e-book about gift-making, without a Martha Stewart project in sight. (Not that I have anything against Martha).

We just came back from Wellington and we are just about finished fully unpacking, and putting away things from the past (some are going straight in the bin, as we wondered why we went to the trouble to carry them back). Every box is empty, but things are not quite in their place, but getting there. It is very therapeutic, putting our little lives back in order again.

We liken our time in Wellington to the birth canal: difficult and stormy, but something great is coming. And I have to say despite everything, our time in Wellington was very productive and definitely a time of growth, you can't keep a dedicated artist down. Limited to what I had on hand, I did not stop making art. Instead I continued to work on my Paisley series - I created many, many paisley designs. And now I can not help being struck by how fetus-like paisleys are. They are like little creatures curled up in the womb.

And of course, the work website has been redone, with a whole new focus, the other work website fixed up, and the e-book is nearly ready, along with its related projects: website, tutorial videos, iphone app(s) etc. I am so excited and a little scared about the upcoming birth, as you would be. And I need to consider how natural all of this should be, or should I induce the release of the ebook before or after I finish the iphone app and related babies, exactly how much help should I call on from outside sources, will it be a multiple birth or a series of births one after the other?

So during the next few months I will be giving birth to this amazing project, which I had no idea I would be involved in this time 6 months ago. And I invite you to attend. Because hopefully I will be able to post every last detail right here, both the agony and the ecstacy.

Home sweet home

2011-09-27T11:58:00.002+13:00

My home has never seemed sweeter, my bedroom and lounge have never seemed sunnier.

The dog is happy moving from sunny spot to sunnier spot, following the sun all around the property. I am happy now that the kitchen and bathroom are totally unpacked and everything put away tidily. My daughter is happy unpacking and rediscovering things like music, books, favourite bedding etc etc etc.

I have already picked carrots and kale from the garden, and we have had a couple of 'freckled lettuce' salads. My lemon tree has finally come to life, and we have had hot lemon drinks for breakfast most mornings.

This morning I lay in bed and watched the sun rise, one of my favourite artist dates.

Life is simple, and very, very good.

Here, there be dragons

2011-09-15T22:33:00.007+12:00

Image courtesy of Web Gallery of Art

In Wellington sometimes, here be dragons. Oh my goodness, there have been bleak times. But every cloud has a silver lining.

It is so weird, we came to Wellington with fixed ideas about what we would be doing, where we would be staying, who would be supporting us. We were so vulnerable. Within two weeks, those "plans" changed.

We treaded water for a wee while, then gradually angels appeared to help slay the dragons. We found magic places, secret gardens, sanctuaries, safety.

I reconnected with so many people from my past. People I knew when I was a teenager, and now we're (almost) middle aged, with various journeys and stories behind us.

The people I thought I would be spending a lot of time with here in Wellington, we saw hide nor hair of. They became less important than I thought they would be. I have a pretty fatalistic attitude to friendships. 'Some people come into our lives for a reason, some for a season, and some for a lifetime', I read that somewhere. So I am okay when friendships come and go. You realise eventually some people should have no place in your life, and that's ok. Bless them, and let them go.

Yet people from my past, who I never thought I would see ever again, and didn't much care to, called and called and called. Each person had something valuable to share and maybe there is a little something I can give too. School friends and people I barely knew back then, some I knew reasonably well, how I appreciate the time they took to spend with me, the effort they went to, nothing was too hard. I have hung out with elegant Karori and Khandallah ladies, inspirational millionaire businessmen (yes, more than one), wise healers, loving brothers, interesting cousins and worldly French nationals, and that's not including that man with a heart of gold, who has never complained once when I have interrupted his work to help us in some way, I couldn't have got luckier meeting such an easy-going man. Farmers' daughters who I haven't seen for almost 30 years have invited us over for dinner in their beautiful homes and catered to our strange requirements in the most stylish ways without so much as an eyebrow raised. Men who I knew as school boys have entertained my daughter and I in fancy restaurants and trendy cafes all the while recounting events about me to my daughter which shine the kindest light on their memories. Beautiful French people have included us in their social occasions, opening us to a world of PhD and masters students working on such diverse topics as physics, a famous New Zealand writer, language, and privacy law. Our lives have been enriched.

But there have been dragons to be slayed. Agoraphobia and anxiety around buildings post earthquake have put limitations on my movements and ability to be in certain types of buildings, yet before the earthquake I had felt that that was behind me. (Yes, it is strange that the dragon, agoraphobia, seemed to have been worse since moving to Wellington, even where there are no earthquakes or aftershocks so far, and suggestions from the well-meaning to the outright thoughtless to change my perception of objective reality was never going to make everything ok.)

And then in Wellington a miracle happened. I showed up in the life of an old friend who introduced me to some new ideas. I won't blog about them now because I am still not clear on exactly what has happened. Have I had a spiritual awakening or some kind of spiritual experience? I'm not entirely sure, I'm still me, I haven't found religion or joined some strange cult. But in the last fortnight, my daughter and I have both had a shift about some of these issues since spending one of the most memorable nights of our time in Wellington with him. Since that night, I have gone to some places that I would have been unable to go to before without anxiety to such an extent that I could not breath, like a kind of blind terror. But the archangel Michael appeared in the flesh and life has changed! I feel like the agoraphobia dragon was conquered much to the relief of the people who love me in my little world.

When we leave it will have been exactly 7 months since the earthquake happened. The one that scared us away. We are returning home to Christchurch, older and wiser.

Life is good.

5 things I've learned about life since the earthquake

2011-07-29T10:22:00.004+12:00

It's been ages since I've blogged and I want to get back into it. So what better opportunity than to reflect on the last four months or so since we have been in Wellington. We have learned so much and appreciate our lives and each other and all our gifts and talents so much more now.

1. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger

My daughter and I have just become so close and opened up to each other so much this year. I feel that I am in a privileged position being her mum and connected to such a wonderful person. We are living in a tiny place and contrary to how that could have gone, it hasn't killed us but has instead made us so much stronger as a parent and child, or even two co-cohabiting adults. As well as that, we have knuckled down and really moved ahead with our work and our goals and dreams. We've reevaluated the paths society says we and especially she should take and feel that as individuals we know ourselves better too. Admittedly, my agoraphobia is back but that feels curable, I am positive. And when it is sorted, look out world!

2. We have helped people feel good about themselves and make money too

So many people offered to help us move to Wellington and we jumped at the opportunity. The whole of New Zealand was amazing, getting together and offering help and accommodation to complete strangers, it was so beautiful. People want to help, they feel good about helping, and also the Red Cross helped the person we stayed two weeks with to the tune of about $500 which was much needed, and I feel so pleased for her that she was able to benefit financially, because if anyone deserves it, she does. But isn't it interesting how it turns out to be a win-win for both the helpers and the helped. So that made us feel good. Not only were they helping us, but we were helping them big time too!

Not everyone has enough Margin in their lives to be able to follow through with the help they'd dearly love to give, but the world is a better place for them having opened their hearts to it.

However, those that helped us, in whatever way large or small, have our unending gratitude. We will never forget it. So as well as the buzz they got from helping us, they have our loving gratitude till the end of time.

3. The world is a beautiful place

We have so landed on our feet in Aro Valley. Every night about 10pm we walk the dog - unless the rain is horizontal but that hardly ever happens. We walk and admire the cute houses and talk and talk and talk. We know each other so well now. Opportunities have come to us, people have shown up in our lives just when we need them. My daughter doesn't even go to school (she is doing correspondence school for the rest of the year) yet she has managed to meet art students and make friends etc and when she can, enjoy Wellington's coffee bar culture, very cool. We have neighbourhood friends, a garden patch where we've made more friends, not to mention the reunions with family and old school friends, what a hoot! And did I ever mention I happen to be up-close and personal with the most beautiful man on the planet. Yes, he's here in Wellington, New Zealand!

But if you ever come to Wellington, check out the beautiful Aro Valley, by far Wellington's coolest suburban community.

4. We can design our own future

I guess I touched on this in point 1. Now that we know ourselves better, strengths and weaknesses, and feel strong enough to thumb our nose at society if we want, we can design our own future. So what if we have almost been on skid row early into the piece. It was a fantastic way to look at living creatively and figure out how we want it to be. Different opportunities have opened up to me this year which I am so happy about. I had a chance to be part of an iPhone App project, and in my enthusiasm to help (see, doesn't helping feel great?) I paid for a course and upskilled myself. As a result my plans for my future have a new dimension. I have nearly finished my own eBook for Kindle (although admittedly I do have a wee way to go on a related iPhone App, but I'm getting there). It has opened up so many more opportunities and paired with the other work I am plodding along on, could cause a completely different future to happen.

Although of course, either way, whose future does not change direction after reacting to an earthquake and moving towns?

But anyone can change direction and re-design their futures. We are lucky because we are so flexible with our work and study and where we live etc. I think the creative poor can redesign their paths easier than the supposedly better-off who may be tied into positions working for The Man or The Government, depending on a certain level of income to support their lifestyles, simply because the so-called poor have less to lose if it all turns to custard.

About a month after we got here, we realised that we had really got ourselves into a bad situation financially (my reference to skid row), but it took us only about two weeks to get beyond the fear and choose to squeeze out every wonderful experience we possibly could out of the situation and our time in Wellington. Now we realise how lucky we are that that happened. It is too easy to be numb and let time swallow you up. No matter how little money you have, every moment can be cherished and celebrated and ones soul can still fly. To be time rich is surely the real wealth of life, particularly if those moments are enjoyed with amazing and inspiring people who cross your path. And time can create fantastic chances to learn, grow and improve.

5. We have new identities

I call myself a writer now. I love my eBook (keep watching this space) and I'm sure others will too. My daughter has also discovered what she is passionate about and has found people who support her in some of her dreams. We feel so blessed.

Life is good.

We're here

2011-03-19T18:59:00.006+13:00

Life in Wellington is still not normal for us. But for now and the rest of 2011 at least, there is no turning back. We've signed a lease for a bedsit in a suburb we've fallen in love with. Yes, only a one roomed place with a separate kitchen and bathroom for the two of us. Why so small? Several reasons: the landlord was the only one who allowed us to have a dog, we can actually afford it, it is newly renovated with nice new whiteware etc, it is within walking distance of town and Felicity's future school, and we fell in love with the suburb of Aro Valley.

So the place is extremely small? I've always wanted to downsize and live simply. And since we've given away most of our belongings and left our furniture behind (you could say we were in a hurry to leave those aftershocks behind), this stint which will last at least 10 months will be a wonderful experiment.

View Larger Map

Don't get me wrong. There is nothing wrong with where we are living at the moment, and I have been blown away by the kindness of the wonderful people of Wellington, of New Zealand. But it will be easier to be in a proper routine in our own house. By a stroke of luck, after falling in love with Aro Valley and where it is, while out strolling through the cute Aro Street and that end of town, we bumped into the owner of our future home and asked him if he would let the house to us, and our dog. He agreed - as I have owned my own houses for the last 14 years, I have no tenancy references but he still took us on - I have promised to be the perfect tenant, and he said he'd try and be the perfect landlord.

I grieve for our beautiful Christchurch, the places in town we regularly dined at, and the shops we patronised. Our beautiful Piko Wholefoods is no more, although I am so happy no one was killed inside at least. See below the before photo from my gardening blog post and the after photo.

Piko from the side (my bike in foreground) before the 22/2/2011 earthquake

Piko from the front after the 22/2/2011 earthquake

I grieve for our not living in our own house: the little white townhouse with the chamomile lawn and my productive gardening spaces. However, as a consolation, I have since found out that there are three community gardens in Aro Valley, and the day after we move, there is an Aro Valley community fair. Near where we live is the park (for the dog) and between our place and town it is flat (great for bicycling). And of course I grieve for lives lost, while being grateful that we still have each other. I feel for Japan, knowing exactly what they are going through, although of course their difficulties are greatly multiplied.

And so our life in Wellington has begun.

"The next message you need is always right where you are." — Ram Dass

Stuff and nonsense

2011-03-03T20:11:00.002+13:00

Frenzy was one of the first albums I bought, when I was a teenager and the meep and deaningful Stuff and Nonsense was one of my favourite songs. I've lost count of how many times I saw Split Enz or Crowded House live in concert. Back in the day.

It's so hard moving. There is so much to do. So many loose ends to tie up before one goes. And the endless packing and sorting. Made worse because we are leaving the house fully furnished. Also we are giving most of our possessions away to people who really actually just might need it.

We are face to face with all our stuff and nonsense. And not just the physical. It's so sad and even a bit scary to go! If it wasn't for that damn earthquake!! Life - how can it change so suddenly like that on us?! I am looking forward to moving to Wellington, I just wish it wasn't like this. I feel so selfish. At least I still have my loved ones and here I am stamping my foot about having to pack.

I don't know about the future. That's all stuff and nonsense.

Should I stay or should I go?

2011-03-01T06:57:00.006+13:00

We're going. We're packing up and leaving Christchurch and heading home to the north island. Incredible. If someone had told me a week ago, on my daughter's second day at uni for the year, that our life was going to change so dramatically as to leave our home of 11 years because of a big earthquake and annoying aftershocks, I wouldn't have believed them. I still can't believe it, yet it is all falling into place. As sometimes happens when the decision is the right thing to do (I so hope it is).

The dog's confused, there are boxes everywhere, and the property manager is coming over today to take photos of our house so he can more easily let it, with my beloved garden, which my daughter and I have lovingly built up and developed to be just the way I want it over the last 11 years.

I've got to admit, our townhouse wasn't that crash hot when we first bought it but it has at least tripled in value now, even in this so-called recession. It had dingy carpet, no heating, thin curtains, apricot coloured walls. But now it is beautiful - light, creamy coloured walls, except for Felicity's room which has a deep blue painted wash over it, which I lovingly did when she was away one holiday to surprise her, she has loved her room ever since. The garden has my own mosiac paving, a chamomile lawn, a scented sitting area (wintersweet tree, jasmine, a fragrant rose, and of course the chamomile lawn smells divine) and very productive planter boxes which I have harvested so many delicious veges from this summer past. It has a pergola in front of the bifold doors which open to the courtyard which I hang my hammock from - there are also bifold doors which open out to the balcony upstairs - a delicious treat on a sunny weekend morning to have breakfast in bed with the bifolds opening the room up to the garden and birds a tweeting.

Life has been good in our "Little White Townhouse with the Chamomile Lawn" (reference: Milly Molly Mandy and her "Nice White Cottage With The Thatched Roof where Milly Molly Mandy lived"). This has been my 16 year old's home since she was 5. Together we read Milly Molly Mandy many times, as well as the complete Little House (on the Prairie) series, Narnia, Harry Potter, and then she moved on to her own chapter books: nearly everything written by Beverley Cleary, Jacqueline Wilson and beyond. It has been a "bookish" house.

Our little white townhouse is lovely and cosy now, all of the windows are double glazed and there is a heat pump for those chilly winter days. This house survived the earthquake with not even a crack in the walls. It's so different from when I bought it, now it's tailor-made for us. Sigh. So sad to leave. But the time has come.

Onwards and upwards. We are moving to Wellington, New Zealand's capital. I am giving away a lot of my things and putting this life behind us. My daughter will be starting at a new school as soon as we can arrange it rather than waiting around for the infrastructure in this ruined city to be rebuilt, our main reason for leaving. I loved this house, this city of Christchurch, New Zealand, this lifestyle so much, I thought I would live here forever. But I haven't and won't be selling the house for a while, so "dun dun dunnnn"...

te tangata te tangata te tangata

2011-02-23T10:15:00.008+13:00

a recent photo of my daughter, one of my favourite pictures of her

You realise what is really important when something major happens like an earthquake. We had an earthquake in September and since then have dealt with over 4000 aftershocks, but we were so proud, as if it was a mark of our cleverness, that there were no fatalities (as it happened at 4.35am). They have been tapering off, and apart from the odd jolt, we thought the worst was behind us. (At primary school I was told there was no such word as "worst", but it has been widely used in these parts lately.)

I was chatting with my daughter on gmail chat about some text books she needs for the year ahead. She is a high school student, but is lucky enough to be doing some university papers at Canterbury. And I thank God for that. Because the high school she attends is right in the middle of the city, which got the worst of the earthquake. There have been deaths, many of them. I wonder about people I work with occasionally in buildings in the zone.

There was no power, no water.

But anyway, back to the moment - it was just as we were discussing textbooks and where best to buy them from, at about 10 to 1, the quake struck. I immediately closed the laptop, grabbed the dog and stood in the doorway. Then there was another and another. My shaking hand did my best to text my daughter (on my badly designed Palm Treo with its shiny keys, impossible to tap out a message on as the stylus slips off each curved key and of course, far too small for even my thin fingers. Oh and the stylus that came with the phone which can be used for writing with on the screen? That's long gone, as to be expected when it fits in a hole on the underside of the phone where, naturally, it slips out and gets lost - I've lost the original plus the four replacements I have purchased, but that is another story.) So the frustration of my not very smart phone added to the stress, just had to voice that - WARNING ! DON'T BUY A PALM TREO PRO (obsolete now anyway) AS IT WILL ADD TO YOUR STRESS IN MOMENTS LIKE THESE. But rant aside, I finally did get a text out and managed to get it sent just before the phones went down, and I got a reply from my daughter saying it was terrifying but she was uninjured. I had a brief phone call, she'd found a friend and they were sticking together. She estimated it would take her 3 hours or so to walk home from the uni, (40 mins away by bus.) From then any texts I sent were unsent, with the dreaded red message: Your text was unable to be sent. Try again?

The plan we discussed after the last earthquake was that if one of us was caught away from home, they had to walk home and straight home. We live 8 minutes by bicycle from the centre of Christchurch, the Square, so we're never that far from anywhere. We don't own a car (which would have been useless anyway as the town was gridlocked as everyone tried to get out of the CBD). At around 3 o'clock (2 hours after the quake), the dog and I walked to the end of the street and beyond, then back to the other street my daughter could also have taken, hoping we'd meet her. Neighbours were outside, in the street, one had seen a crushed body and had had to take several back streets and wild detours to find his way home. Another neighbour had abandoned his car and walked. Another neighbour had sprinted straight home from the inner city. I wasn't the only one walking up and down the street waiting for a loved one.

By 4.30 I was starting to get frantic. I was still getting the red message to all of my outgoing texts Your text was unable to be sent. Try again? Worse, there were no incoming texts from my daughter to say where she was. If only she could tell me what route she was taking, me and the dog could walk up to meet her. Then I got a dreaded text: "I am going to stay at Hayley's. Love you so so much." What? Et tu, Brute? I need you here! Remember our earthquake plan? I really lost it then. Mainly because I didn't even know where this Hayley lived. Would we spend the night apart when our town is falling down around us? Would I see my daughter again? I tried phoning, texting for more information. Your text was unable to be sent. Try again?

I was beside myself. I hated not knowing where she was, what was going on. I tried ringing the school to see if they knew who this Hayley was, her full name, address, phone number. The school's phone had been disconnected, the dial tone indicated. I rang the police. I gave them her name. They said they couldn't help. I kind of knew that though.

Then I remembered Hayley's surname from seeing it on my daughter's facebook page. I looked it up in the phonebook, and miraculously the first lady I called was her grandmother. By then I was a blubbering wreck, desperate for information. She gave me Hayley's father's number. Apparently they were in Hagley Park, where newly homeless and other disoriented people were congregating.

Then a call came through from Felicity, my daughter. She was in the house of an elderly lady, she was unsure where, with some other students. She said she had a lot to tell me. She wasn't keen to come home by herself. Understandably she wanted to stick with the group, as we were still having aftershocks, she had seen a building collapse, happened upon a dead body, etc. But she said she had met some really kind people. That one phone call from her reassured me, and I snuggled up with the dog thinking that although we would be spending the night apart, she would call me when she could, and she was safe.

As I said we don't have a car, but when I got a call from her in Sumner, at her friend's mother's house, feeling safe but wanting to come home, I didn't hesitate to ask my neighbour for his help. He didn't hesitate to say yes. And so we set out to Sumner, not over the Ferrymead bridge, which is destroyed, but over the back way, via Heathcote. It was then that I came face to face with the state of the town. Roads buckled, cracked, liquifaction bubbling, our beautiful rivers grey and full and overflowing onto the road. The heritage mansions in Riverlaw Terrace near my house, huge houses on land enough for 10 houses, crumbled, twisted, unredeemable. Many a time I felt like saying to my neighbour, it's too dangerous, let's go home, when we came to a large crack in the road but couldn't bring myself to utter the words, I was just so desperate to retrieve my daughter. I feel that I owe my neighbour a huge debt, besides filling his car with petrol when the petrol stations reopen. He has no idea, or perhaps he does, how much it means to me to have my daughter back.

And so we finally got to where my daughter was. By then it was getting dark, and it was 7 hours since our online chat had been interrupted by the quake. What a great feeling to be all together. Our house is strong, and there is no damage, but there was smashed glass all over the floor. Kombucha brewing, olive oil, vinegar, cacao powder. I put on my super heavy duty gardening gloves and got it all cleaned up as best I could so that we could at least get into the kitchen. Not that we have running water or anything, but we do have stored water, which we are rationing. We won't be washing for a bit, so am not feeling particularly glamourous - huh, the least of my worries. I am grateful for a garden full of vegetables. The neighbours will find mysterious bags of fresh veges strung over their door handles. Raw sweetcorn anyone?

The police rang to check we were ok and Felicity was back. They crossed her name off the missing persons list. So happy she is with me. We are so lucky. At about 9pm the power came on.

I worry for people I know who work and live in the CBD, in particular, an organisation I have been working with over these past few months on the second floor of a building near Latimer Square. I hope with all my ability that they're safe. I hope the rescuers can recover people from debris. Buildings ruined. I don't care about buildings or things though.

An ancient Maori proverb says, ‘te tangata, te tangata, te tangata’ in answer to the question, What is the most important thing? "It is the people, it is the people, it is the people."

Why I'm lucky to be pale and interesting

2011-02-22T07:47:00.003+13:00

I was a young girl in the late 70s and early 80s, when nobody cared about or had heard of the dangers of the sun, and skin cancer was not yet to be feared. Everyone had tans, except me, the fragile redhead who avoided the sun on my head because I didn't want to collapse from sunstroke. White clothes were in, which had to be accompanied by rich bronze suntans. As a result of my laziness (not taking a hat with me whenever I went outside), I had unattractive and large blotchy looking freckles on my face. Rebelliously, at boarding school, I laid on the grass and pulled my skirt up, saturated my legs in baby oil and waited. A few of us girls found a private spot in the school, (in the horse paddocks, for my school had facilities for equestriennes, also the place where the bad girls hid away and smoked) where we revealed more of our flesh to the sun, some hoping for an all-over tan, although I knew deep down that that was far too much for me to aspire to. One summer I even tried gradually exposing my skin to the sun, in increasing increments of time, which I had heard guaranteed a development of a deep, brown and permanent tan. All to no avail.

It's not easy growing up pale in a community of people largely of Maori or part-Maori descent - a beautiful race of people, even the fairest among them tanning effortlessly at the merest hint of the sun. That was in the North Island, but now I live down in the South Island, where a lot of Scottish people settled many years ago so those of us with the melanocortin 1 receptor are more common, and the day we moved here I was shocked to see eight people in one day with red hair. (Yes, I was so shocked that after the third person I spotted I started counting.)

By the time I was 18, I had given up on the suntan dream. I had begun the long journey of accepting myself as I am, and most summers from then on found myself under the nearest tree, wearing a large hat, happily reading my book. (I did get through quite a bit of fiction, Janet Frame and Margaret Atwood becoming firm faves.) Although the blotchy freckles on my face have mostly long faded (possibly helped by the bleaching power of lemon juice in my early 20s), I find the freckles on my arms and hands a sign of a delicate and humble beauty, that can only be the prize of those of us blessed to be part of this minority. (Pffft, so there are a group who openly ridicule redheads I believe? I have not come across any in my orbit, and long may that last). Anyway, I began to embrace the unique look that was mine, pale and interesting, and it was from this point on that my love affair with hats was born.

The first hat I wore and loved, aside from the hideous things I had to wear for church which I wore but did not love, was an antique black hat which I purchased in the 80s from a store in Sydney. I wore that until it was nearly falling to bits, and then had another one made exactly like it by a milliner. Not exactly, but the same style, which I have found to be most flattering to me, and practical as far as keeping the sun off my face and decolletage. I have a number of other hats now as well, with various uses. One is good for the garden - it is broad and ties well, so that it will not come off even when bending to the strangest angle to pluck something stuck fast in the soil. Another is good for a trip to the park, even with a breeze, it will not come off and is able to be slung over my back if I am walking with the sun behind me, or have popped indoors or whatever.

Even when out of fashion, (actually hats are never in fashion, except for occasions like the races, which I never go to) I still wear my hat, and this is why I am lucky to be pale and interesting, because I always have an excuse to wear one. I wonder if one summer season there will ever be a big fashion for hats, or something odd but practical, like the bonnet. I can see the headline now "Holly Hobbie makes a resurgence" or "the Little House on the Prairie look is back"! I know, it will never happen, but if it does, us pale and interesting types are the ones the look will suit most, and we'll be ready, and able to stretch that trend out just a bit longer. Vivienne Westwood, what can you do with a bonnet?

The third and final of my daily drawings

2011-02-11T14:41:00.004+13:00

I have been having such fun drawing, and I posted this one on my gardening blog. My work has evolved over the three days, to become this.

It's been interesting. I found the first one, while it still looked whimsical, was a wee bit too scratchy looking.

By day two, I had the brilliant idea (I thought) of limiting myself to five colours, specifically five colours which I have named and created a palette for at colourlovers.com. The second one, according to my kind-hearted 16 year old, was grossly unflattering, apparently I am much more beautiful in reality. Well, it was distorted and exaggerated as Brett Whiteley suggested, and I don't mind looking old. But it wasn't the caricature that I felt could be improved on, I felt the light crayon work of the colouring in did not supply the oomph of the impact of colour that I crave.

So here we are in day three of my little drawing exercise, and after deciding to do a drawing of something in my domestic environment, killed two birds with one stone and created Tomato Salad, above. It is a celebration of my little world, an appreciation of my garden and its produce but above all, a display of life with colour amplified. Maybe I will turn it into a card for my mum's birthday, it is just what she would like.

Difficult pleasure - the beginning of yourself

2011-02-10T10:23:00.006+13:00

"that heralds the beginning of yourself"

In the 80s, when I had delusions of grandeur about being an artist, which funnily enough is what I do now but without any grandeur at all, I lived across the road from an Australian artist called Brett Whiteley. He was incredibly tolerant of my annoying pestering for advice and critiquing and was actually very kind about my art. The studio is still there and my cousin kindly took my daughter and I there a couple of years back and we got to wander around inside, even though Brett died a few years after I left Sydney.

Although those years were very dangerous times for me, luckily I emerged alive and wiser.

Anyway, I've come across a very short video clip from 1989, which was around the time I left Australia so this is the Brett I knew, and he is offering wonderful advice to young people wanting to be an artist. I recommend everyone watch this clip. It's just over a minute long and yet Brett offers such valuable advice so succinctly.

So with that, I have drawn literally what is in front of me, my own face. I have distorted it and exaggerated it just as Brett recommended: my crooked mouth is more crooked, my worried expression is more worried, my face is squarer.

I have used my two free fonts, juleslove, for the words SELF PORTRAIT and julesgirltalk for the palette information and the kiwifruit (since I am a kiwi) and they are free from urgentartwork. I have also included the colour palette I created at colourlovers.com, called Soft but strong girl.

I also created this self-portrait with my friend Julia Sant-Mire in mind, who told me she had lost one I had created for her a very long time ago.

Art saves lives!

Today I was drawing

2011-02-09T22:27:00.005+13:00

Today I did this sketchy things for fun for my garden blog. It is supposed to illustrate various uses for marigolds, eg, putting in a vase, making a moisturiser, or putting in a salad. I try to keep the colours down, but because for the background I used a light crayon, it looks a lot sketchier than it actually is. Also with the sketchy writing on it as well, which I want to look a bit girlish and breezy. I know the hand looks strange, you could almost fit another couple of fingers on a hand that wide! However, I am not letting myself worry about being perfect at all. Anyway, who knows, maybe her hubby is putting moisturiser on her face, lol. (Although it's very odd that he is wearing a big emerald ring. But hey, no need for me to bow down to gender stereotypes!)

Anyway, the reason I thought I would start doing some of these is because I am doing my daily practising (practise with an s because that is the verb form) because I want to do some simple illustrations for some apps. They will be a lot plainer and bolder than these. I don't know if anything will come of it or my work will be used, but it's good fun to do anyway.

It's nearly valentine's day, and that means that my juleslove font gets a lot of use. It is free from dafont and urgentartwork.com too of course. All I ask, is please don't look at the site in Chrome browser, for some reason it comes up horribly mangled - sheesh, it was only done at the beginning of last year and it already looks dated :( Oh well, onwards and upwards, at least the fonts can still be downloaded.

My life in an apron

2011-01-31T07:30:00.003+13:00

I have sewn three of Delilah so far (from Olive Juice & Co)

I'm an old-fashioned girl at heart, and besides knitted tea-cosies, one of the things I love in life is to find myself in the kitchen wearing a very fabulous and in its own way, rebellious, apron. In fact I collect them. I have friends far and wide looking out on my behalf in op shops for retro aprons, worn by women of my mother's generation and older, that necessary item of atire which was quickly removed when company arrived. Dull or colourful, there is something about aprons I am attracted to, maybe it's the idea of homeliness, the image of a caring, comforting mama, or the long-suffering yet uniquely creative woman indoors carrying out her duties super efficiently - whatever ... I just crave that scenario rather than having ambitions to dazzle outside the home or be that career-minded modern woman type. I'm just a simple wee thing.

My friend and fellow pug-mama Debra is the same when it comes to apron-love, and for the longest time, we kept our eyes on the nouvelle retro designer apron boutique at Olive Juice and Co for her latest designs, only to be disappointed when they were sold out within hours of release. Then one day we struck gold, and managed to score an apron kit for ourselves: the Delilah (above). We had one for each of us shipped to Debra's work - joy oh joy.

I used the pattern and made one up from different but equally fabulous fabric and sent it to my mother for her birthday, and she phoned, grateful but I suspect slightly unsure of what to do with it - as her aprons have never been this glamorous; I'm not sure if she ever got around to allowing herself to wear it. I also made another one in the same fabric for myself, because, well you can't have too many aprons.

I even was a member of the Olive Juice and Co kit club, and was lucky enough to get the Lizzy, the Stella and Grace.

But then sewing went by the by for a bit and I got out of the habit of handling and looking at textiles which were works of art on their own, and even better combined in all their clashing and mismatched splendour. However, now that I've I dropped facebook, I have found I have a lot more free time on my hands for such pursuits. I've begun to get back into the routine of getting up on a Sunday morning and pulling out the sewing machine. I finished another apron from my own fabric stash, and started another the last time I sewed, even funkier than the first. I'm not the world's neatest stitcher, but it is so lovely to be doing it again. It's hardly high fashion, but it is still glorious art.

With every leaf a miracle ... special edition (a gift I made for Felicity)

2011-01-27T13:11:00.007+13:00

the cover of my small chapbook - a special edition for my daughter which is on fine watercolour paper and attached is a painted, clay leaf I made from a real leaf in pottery class

Click to enlarge images

This is one of the chapbook of quotes about trees I made for Christmas. It is hand-written with .35mm Rotring art pen and has simply painted illustrations of watercolour (just three colours - yellow and blue to make the greens, and yellow, blue and red to make the brown). I found quotes about trees, including a nice Maori proverb next to my Acknowledgment page, and copied them into the book.

I made 10 copies, but Felicity's is special because it is on the expensive paper which I had very little of, and it has the clay leaf (a great idea which the teacher of the pottery class had) which I painted with acrylic paint and it was attached as a bookmark by a gold ribbon. Or not. Pretty impractical as a bookmark really, but c'est la vie. Sometimes beauty is impractical...

a page in the middle which I stapled the ribbon attaching the bookmark to

another page

When I was writing out all the quotes, I was listening at the same time to a Pimsleur Greek as my daughter and I study modern Greek, among other languages. However, as expert as I am at multi-tasking, concentrating on and repeating a foreign language while writing out quotes, is not something that is easy to do. So there were one or two errors in each chapbook. But I don't stress about that. I have heard that the Amish women make mistakes in their quilt-making deliberately, because only God creates perfectly. And mistakes just add to the authenticity of a handmade item, as far as I'm concerned.

For years I have made handmade gifts for my loved ones, and any literature I have produced has generally been marked with jubilant emerald press and my little drawing of a radiating emerald cut ring. I also generally record the number of editions, and the date. You will see that I have also written Font: jules-te-reo. So why did I do that, since it is handwritten book, and not typed out in a font? Well, that is a little in-house joke, because a font I designed is called jules-te-reo (also known as juleswriting) which is based on my handwriting. I sell it in my shop in my 8 font pack, and it also one of the fonts available to use at picnik.

I have quite a collection of my little handmade gifts and sometimes when guests come over I get them out and show them. Maybe they are just being polite, but they seem to enjoy them, and I enjoy looking at them all over again every time! The pleasure of making handmade gifts is all mine. Often people have said, why don't you sell them at etsy? But they take so long to produce that I would get paid so little for my work and that would not be fun to think of them in this way (and I like to have the recipient in mind as I work too). I would consider being paid to make one for someone to give to someone else, kind of like a commission, because then it would feel more like a loving gesture I was helping someone do and less like commerce. Quelle dilemma, eh?

Giving and receiving - a pleasure of living

2011-01-09T12:02:00.009+13:00

a hand made Christmas gift 2011

Sigh. Christmas has been and gone for another year, and I am blown away by the number of people I have spoken to who admit they no longer do Christmas. Jaded by the commercialisation of Christmas possibly, or a number of other reasons, and I have to admit, that in my family of two (my daughter and I) we no longer go to that much trouble. It has been years since I have bothered or tried to go the whole nine yards, and I have always been a fan of not imitating the northern hemisphere's Christmas carryon anyway with Christmas roasts and multiple courses, since on our Christmas days it is usually scorching hot - here in New Zealand it is summer. Even personal traditions have gone by the wayside for me, like having a dip in the sea on Christmas day. Instead we try to keep things simple and unique to us - we indulge in as much delicious summer fruit as comes our way (from friends popping in with a surplus from their trees or gardens) and stay as lazy as possible on the actual day.

cherries from Brian's trees

I very rarely shop for gifts, nor expect them as I have everything I need. But we do have a bit of a family tradition of making our own. To me it is an excuse for using the best quality art materials I can afford to create something which hopefully my loved ones will treasure. I am sure to write on it "Limited Edition" too :) and this Christmas, apart from a gift from my mother, I even received home-made gifts from a friend which were the most delicious treats ever - how lucky I am to have friends who also love making their own gifts, it is so enriching for ourselves and hopefully our recipients. And I am happy to say that apart from the gift from my daughter, that was it. On the day, my siblings and I catch up by phone, and we are all so happy to leave it at that without cluttering each other's houses.

Sometimes I think I have bitten off more than I can chew with my gift-making, and wonder if I will get them done in time, and posted out. But I can relax about that, I didn't get the one for my friend in Australia sent in time, but, oh well, she won't mind. And around this time before Christmas my daughter, now 16, is squirreled away in her bedroom, with panicked shouts of "don't come in!" if she hears any steps outside her door. So has she taken to dealing drugs or other secret activities she does not want me to know about? Not at all, she was working on her handmade gift. She outshines me every year, producing the most wonderful picture books on fine art paper, coloured in with Lyra pencils. I have a wee collection now, and they never cease to amaze me. This year, she did a Latin alphabet book, here are some of the pages. She completed a university paper called Image and Narrative at Canterbury when she was 14 as a special admissions student, and as you can see she has used a bit that she learned there, such as "breaking frame" and "rule of thirds" in some of her images. I just love it. Beware, the camera doesn't do these justice, but I'm posting them anyway. They are hand drawn with vivid quality pencils on high quality cotton-based fine art paper. In these photos you can't really tell that, although if you click on them you can see an enlargement.

Some of the pages from a home made Christmas gift created by my daughter, an enthusiastic student of Latin

In the next post, I will show you the gift I made and explain the steps of making it, so if you are interested, please watch this space.

Colours of a raw vegan summer in the garden

2010-12-28T11:54:00.002+13:00

click to enlarge and fully appreciate

Have you ever been to colourlovers.com? I have an account there where I go to play with colours, invent and name new ones, create palettes and patterns and generally have lots of fun mucking around.

This morning I went there and made a new palette called Raw Vegan Summer to celebrate this gorgeous summer we are having here in New Zealand, and all we are able to grow. It is very cool at colourlovers.com, you can name colours, and then create palettes, then make patterns up - the one above is called raw vegan gorgeously, and the palette it is from is called raw vegan summer, where I have named each colour according to which item in my garden it represents.

raw vegan summer

and raw radish.

The other cool thing about colourlovers.com is that you can download the palettes and use them in any of your graphics programmes, like Xara and Photoshop, or to get all the information to use them in web pages etc. You can read all about how to do that here.

Oh, and by the way, using colourlovers.com is totally free! Pretty cool, eh?

I deactivated my facebook account and survived...

2010-11-24T08:01:00.003+13:00

... and I feel so free!

It's not that I didn't love facebook, but I could get sidetracked for hours. It was great for keeping in touch/catching up with/getting to know faraway family and friends. But it really could suck away the hours.

No wonder I haven't blogged as much as I wanted to. Not that I want to, but that's beside the point. I may want to occasionally. And to think I may have frittered hours away looking through someone's facebook, or putting things up on mine is a (slight) worry.

So I've temporarily deactivated my account. And it wasn't easy to do either. I sent everyone my email address and asked them for their contact details. I didn't want people to notice I wasn't on their friends list anymore and think I'd unfriended them, so I made a point of contacting people and telling them. I mean it's not the end of the world that I'm not on someone's friends list, but I would hate to hurt someone's feelings. Or be rude. Aren't I a funny one?

It's only a temporary deactivation, but I said that a few years back when I got rid of that other time-sucker, the television, and it turned out I never missed it. We do have a small TV now, which I reluctantly purchased when I was making films, so I could see them on a TV. I admit weeks can go by without the TV being used.

I have some projects I want to do. I am looking around for other things to give the chop to also. Like reading the news online, which takes about an hour or more a day, (several online news services) - it is really interesting to see which news topics draw me in. Once I stopped listening to National Radio because I got so annoyed with the celebrity of it all, and even now I haven't really got back into switching it on again regularly. It sounds mean, but I don't like to support the egos of those who don't deserve it by giving them my time. I would rather devote my hearing/thinking to my own projects and creating, and they'll never know because they are in their own bubbles of celebrity and being the one that everyone tunes in to. But when I switched off National Radio and stopped having these other thoughts and on-air conversations entering my orbit, my own creating improved. But that is a different issue and reason from deactivating from FB. That was about avoiding the world's hype and nonsense. My deactivating from FB is about giving myself time free from distractions to focus on some projects which are important to me. The people on FB I actually care about. The guests and commentators in the media are those I don't want to care about.

Julia Cameron calls it going media-free.

It really does feel luxurious to have so much free time, like being on holiday.

Oops, I failed at NaBloPoMo ... or did I?

2010-11-16T07:18:00.000+13:00

The thing is, there just aren't enough hours in the day. And I don't really want to be coming on here waffling about how I am missing days and failing at NaBloPoMo just for the sake of it. So I've stayed away.

I work online and I have decided I need to get back to all the things I used to do away from the computer. I used to write in books and draw little pictures and find a lot of pleasure in that.

I used to make little things for people, and present them with pride, knowing that the pleasure had been all mine during the creation process.

But now I type on my computer.

I try and have Sundays off where no computer in the house gets switched on. I laze about with a book, or garden, or draw in my gardening record book. I sometimes feel a bit lost though, as in, that nagging feeling - "should I check my email?" or "what is happening on the news?". It used to be that Saturday was like my Sundays are today, and on Sunday, we would pack some delicious food and a book, and hang out at the arts centre or the botanical gardens all day, listening to live music and enjoying the weather.

Because of my computers and my laptop, I swear I work longer hours than I used to when I worked full-time, even though this work is supposedly not supposed to be like that.

So I am rising up! Rebelling! Reinventing my life to be less computer/online/virtually oriented. It is just a shame that this epiphany came half way into the month when I am supposed to be committed to blogging on a daily basis. Or maybe it's because of that that I have been asking myself meep and deaningful questions, like, how do I really want to live?

Oops, I missed a day

2010-11-10T18:01:00.005+13:00

Well it just goes to show I'm not perfect. Not that I ever pretended I was.

But that's a good thing because I have come across a wonderful picture book called Wabi-sabi which is a japanese concept of finding beauty in imperfection. As in, my beautiful but imperfect life.

Read a review here.

Thumb twiddling here in New Zealand

2010-11-10T07:46:00.001+13:00

Bret and Jemaine, from Flight of the Conchords

It's been kind of fun doing this NaBloPoMo for the last 9 days, but writing something every day is a big ask. Notice I didn't even say writing something interesting everyday is a big ask.

I'm sort of thumb twiddling a bit.

I mean, I personally think my life is fascinating, but I don't think some would find it so. I can remember a few years back being on a forum chatting with someone, and a complete stranger butted in and said that New Zealand was boring. I know, what a cheek! The height of rudeness!

Hadn't they seen Brett and Jemaine from The Flight of the Conchords, Bungy jumping, The Lord of the Rings (a film which eight New Zealanders won Oscars for), Narnia, or the Jules-Te-Reo font (at Picnik) which I personally designed? (In fact it's my actual hand-writing, and not famous or notable at all, but since it is widely used at picnik I thought I would throw it in anyway.)

So you can probably tell that there is oodles of general creativity in New Zealand, and therefore in my life right now by default. It's just that in this very moment, on this very morning, I'm not really feelin' it. However I'm sure that this, too, will pass.

A family fight

2010-11-09T07:02:00.005+13:00

My daughter has Maori ancestors on her father's side and we went to a spot called Onawe in Banks Peninsula on Sunday where many years ago there was some fighting between two tribes, both of which my daughter descends from.

View Larger MapWe'd been there once before and read about one particularly violent incident by the inhabitants of the spot we visited which was so nasty that I won't repeat it here - after I read it I could not get the particularly gruesome images from my mind. It is summarised here:
"In 1830 an English trader, Captain Stewart, and his crew on the brig Elizabeth exchanged a cargo of flax for transport to Akaroa for a party of North Island warriors led by the warlike chief, Te Rauparaha. The result of this action was terrible suffering for the Ngai Tahu. The local Maori were armed with traditional weapons which were no match for Te Rauparaha's muskets. Villages were destroyed, people killed and their chief captured. The Onawe Peninsula at the head of the harbour was the site of a fierce battle in 1832. Te Rauparaha won that battle but allied South Island forces stopped his further advance in the South Island."
Interestingly, down the track, there are many people alive today who are descendents of the two tribes who were fighting.
I wonder if countries at war today can imagine that in the future they could have common descendents. Would it change things perhaps?
Onawe today:

Is it safe to eat nasturtium sprouts? (And other pressing questions about life)

2010-11-08T07:48:00.005+13:00

I am a wonderer, which means that I often ask random questions. I've always done this, and while it may have been a real pain when I was a kid, (and I know it annoyed the heck out of my parents and other adults at times), life has taken a turn for the better for me, because now we have google.

So any pressing question I have is bound to have one or many answers out there, not always the truth, but what is truth anyway?

Here's how it works.

Rather reassuring, isn't it?

What would you do if you thought your world was about to end?

2010-11-07T16:27:00.005+13:00

Recently here in Christchurch, as many people are aware, we had a 7.1 earthquake, which was similar in many ways to the quake in Haiti, except that ours was a 4.35am and as a result not many people were out and about and our buildings were prepared for quakes, so we had no fatalities and only two people admitted to hospital with injuries. However, at the time, at my home, my daughter and I wondered whether or not our world was ending. The shaking was very strong, and the quake lasted 45 seconds but felt a lot longer. Also after the quake, we had lots of strong aftershocks. (We are still getting aftershocks, but they are not as strong now.)

I was very impressed with a calm pilot recently who helped the passengers in a smoking plane when he announced "I do apologise. I'm sure you are aware we have a technical issue with our No 2 engine ... I'm sure you are aware we are not proceeding to Sydney at this stage. The aircraft is flying safely at this stage. Thank you for your patience."

It is a strange thing to experience, that one might die (or have to leave a home you think is about to crumble). The end could come at any time and happen in any way. As we huddled in the doorways during and between earthquakes, my mind raced to what needed to be done. First of course was to get our torch, and find some clothes, because if we were going to be outside for any reason I wanted us to be dressed and warm, and it certainly did feel like we would be evacuating. Our power was out, and we could only drink bottled water for the first three days.

Over the next few days and weeks, with reports that we were likely to have another, even bigger earthquake, a lot of people were staying close to each other. As the city was in a state of emergency, workplaces, schools and universities were closed for the first week but nobody would have gone anyway. One father was on the news saying that he wouldn't be sending his children back to school, because nobody in the family wanted to be away from each other. We were the same: for the first two weeks we all slept in the same bed in our clothes, and during the day, stayed together or within earshot. Of all the important things in the world, the people of Christchurch realised that our loved ones were the most important. We suddenly were not too busy to spend time together. And we realised that life (being alive) is good.

Small talk and the weather

2010-11-06T09:58:00.000+13:00

I can always talk about the weather. It seems to be a great, non-threatening ice-breaker the world over.

Today is rainy and cold, even though it is spring. The sun seems to be wanting to peep through though. Luckily it is Saturday so I can do whatever I want, including staying indoors all day.

Anyway, I don't consider myself much of a people-person, so I thought I would write down some ideas for conversation starters and small talk, apart from the obvious, such as "What do you do for a living?" My very popular brother has a real knack for it, he can be seen chatting with strangers and having a laugh within minutes of introductions, I think because he finds people fascinating and genuinely wants to get to the bottom of how people "tick".

Q: What are you growing in your garden this season? (One of my favourites because I genuinely want to know, but I've been told that not many people have gardens, so I suspect this question may be greeted with a blank stare or horrified look.)

Q: What do you like most about your work? (I love hearing about where people find enjoyment particularly in something they spend a lot of time doing).

Q: What would your life look like in a perfect world? (I like this question - it's exciting!)

Q: How did you end up living in this place? (This is another great question to get one racking their brains, to consider how they got here, or which part of the story they want to share.)

Any others? What do super people-people ask when they meet people?

ooh, so handsome

2010-11-05T07:31:00.000+13:00

Every morning when I wake up and look over to the head of Hambley on the pillow next to me, it reminds me of how lucky I am to have such a handsome creature in my life. I am always sure to pay him lots of compliments, telling him over and over what a handsome boy he is. That this boy is a black pug does not make me any less happy.

Handsome is such an old fashioned word, I believe it was Monica Lewinsky's pet name for Bill Clinton, I can just imagine her saying "Hiya, Handsome!" Even women get called handsome, although I would not like to be called handsome myself.

From the Online Etymology Dictionary:
Handsome
c.1400, handsom "easy to handle, ready at hand," from hand (n.) + -some. Sense extended to "fair size, considerable" (1570s), then "having fine form, good-looking" (1580s). Meaning "generous" (in handsome reward, etc.) first recorded 1680s.

Life is about life

2010-11-04T07:35:00.005+13:00

The beginning of my day by Me
(no more rhetorical questions)

Today is a great day! I am up and at 'em and the sun is out but no wind, which is just how I like it. I thought I would do a run down on how I start my day, now that it is spring.

I awake to the soft sound of classical music around 6am usually, as my clock radio is on New Zealand's Concert radio station. So that's nice.

Then I listen to the birds twittering for a bit in my garden, and think about how I'd better water the garden. At this time of year I have seedlings going (I call them the babies, as in, I'd better bring the babies in now, or the wind will upset them.) so I take them outside and sit them next to all the pots and then sneak out the front and turn on the water. This bit is slightly embarrassing, because I don't have a tap out the back, and the front is right on the street. Luckily our street is not that busy so I can wait until there are no cars and whip out turn the tap twice and whip back in again. If anyone does walk or drive past at that moment and see me in my pyjamas or dressing gown, I just act like I don't really care anyway.

Anyway, then I check that the hose, which is strung up on an archway over the garden and set on spray mode, is gently sprinkling water all over my seedlings and food growing in pots. I like to give them a good water first thing so that when it gets really hot later on they are fine. Seedlings of course until they germinate have to be kept wet.

(Before my watering ritual is over, I have two other garden areas that also need to be watered. The whole process takes about 40 minutes or so, while I get breakfast and plan what work or other kind of fun I am going to do for the rest of the day.)

And that is how I start my day. If you are a gardener you may be interested in my gardening blog, but if you are not a gardener, it may have been a tad dull. However, I would like to justify this post by saying that noticing the little things in life (like a sprouting seed) and looking after things (a pet, a plant, a relative etc) can give real meaning to life. After all, life is about, well, life.

How did I get here?

2010-11-03T21:09:00.002+13:00

I know - another blog post with a rhetorical question. Getting boring yet?

I'm still wondering whether all this philosophy should be in such a public forum. I mean the thing is, I may be holding a public meeting that no one is presently attending, but that does not mean that people won't turn up in the future and find this, and put their spin on it and totally misrepresent what my naval-gazing intentions are.

BTW I especially like the above family photo because everyone can be read so easily (I'm the baby girl). I also like the retro christmas decorations in the window. Because that's how we did it back then.

What do I want?

2010-11-02T17:56:00.003+13:00

The thing is, I don't actually know what I want, otherwise I'd be able to go after it, according to the positive thought philosophy of the present day. And I'm starting to wonder if committing to this thing where I write every day isn't just going to make me look like a real dork. Or more of a dork, or whatever. Not that that has ever stopped me doing anything in the past :)

And the other thing is, my work blog and my twitter accounts are all connected to this. So people I may not actually want to read this may find it, although that is highly unlikely, because no one reads it after all, so any people I am hoping see me in a professional light, or haters or stalkers or whatever are hardly likely to suddenly appear.

I guess the issue is, do I want to open myself up and splatter my life and insecurities all over the page and MAKE MYSELF VULNERABLE? Or am I over-reacting? I suddenly feel like Woody Allen.

Have I lost my mojo?

2010-11-01T19:59:00.005+13:00

What is a mojo and have I lost mine? Is it a ridiculous idea to think that if I write about losing my mojo I might find it again? Like posting a Lost notice on a notice board at the mall, and hope that someone comes across it and phones me to let me know. How grateful I'd be. Or should I try and find, buy or make a new mojo? Where do you get them?

Sigh.

The thing is, it's the first of November and I've signed up for NaBloPoMo. Which is a bit scary because once I signed up for this thing called P52 where you were supposed to blog once a week 52 times a year. The whole thing flopped. I thought it would be a fun networking thing with other bloggers, and the guy that set it up said it was going to be really cool and we'd be able to follow all these other people's blogs and that, but he never did get around to publishing the list of bloggers, so we were all still out in limbo land, blogging on our own, for nothing, apart from them, of course - them being the clique of bloggers who all seem to know each other. When it flopped, I tried to make my own p52, but then I lost interest and stopped blogging for a bit. Not that I really mind, it's supposed to be my record just for me after all, that's why I started blogging way back when.

Then I started to give my gardening blog all this attention. That was around the time I decided I was sick of making arty freebies which only scrapbookers took, and never even bothered to say thanks mostly. I felt like I was forcing junk on people they didn't want, which is not nice. And if people hardly ever express appreciation, you realise that half the time you are just being wasteful and sort of bossy too, imposing your stuff and opinions of what they should have. Actually, most of the time. I've got some kind of a disorder where everything has to be in order because otherwise I get all confused (not that I'm a neat freak or anything), and manners and civility are important to me because they're, well, orderly, and part of the structure of life. I always make sure I do things in the way that I think is right - if I want someone to do something for me, I know it is going out of their way, so I say please; if someone does something nice to me, I realise they are kind and say thank you; if I do something mean to someone, even a little bit mean, I realise I could hurt them, and try and make up for that by being sorry and apologising. Gosh, that almost seems old-fashioned.

Anyway, so I've signed up for nablopomo. Luckily for me, the theme for November is that there is no theme for November. I just have to post daily! I know, what was I thinking. I will just plod along (my daughter hates it when I use that phrase) waffling on.

Maybe I'll talk about art, or what I am doing for work, or what I am eating, or thinking about, or making. And during that process, if I stick it out (and I'm not making promises), then maybe I'll figure out what my mojo really is.

So I'm 45 years old - is this a kind of mid-life crisis?

Favourite children's picture storybooks - The Princess & The Perfect Dish

2010-10-01T09:13:00.013+13:00

Please click on images to enlarge.

It's been ages since I posted here, I have had a break while I have been doing garden work: garden work and re designing my courtyard having been my main all-encompassing project for the last little while, rather than my art or anything I have to offer.

But I am still a lover of art, illustration and books. Now that my daughter is 15 and a fully independent reader, we don't often snuggle together and share a leisurely read of a beautiful picture book, although occasionally we'll reminisce over a favourite or two.

I have a Certificate in Children's Literature from Canterbury University, which I gradually worked at over four delightful years of pure indulgence, where I got to study, compare and analyse various illustrative devices in children's picture books - what fun. That was a Learn Abundantly part of my personal mission statement.

However, this post is less from an educated angle, than from the position of the joy of sharing some of my favourite picture books ever from a variety of worldwide authors. I may even throw in one of my own picture books.

So without further ado, here is one of my favourite books ever, The Princess and the Perfect Dish by Australian author, Libby Gleeson. Funny that one of my faves should be about food, since I spend so much time thinking about growing and using it. Here is the summary of the story from the author's website: A princess grows up with the powerful memory of a taste she enjoyed in her childhood. She determines to marry the one who can cook for her the most wonderful, taste tempting, mouthwatering dishes imaginable. A feminist fairy tale. Illustrated by Armin Greder.

The story starts with a lonely king and queen who eventually have a much loved daughter, who got to have everything she wanted.

One day she threw her golden ball too far and came across a beautiful fruit... Armin Greder the illustrator perfectly illustrates Libby Gleeson's narrative:

A single shimmering fruit hung, just within her reach.

She picked the fruit and it was warm and smooth to her touch. She lifted it and smelt its rich perfume. She bit into it and at once she sucked on all the wildest, sweetest flavours she had ever known. Excitement and wonder were hers and those feeling stayed with her until she could no longer feel the flesh and juices on her tongue.

I know. Isn't that just beautiful? Anyway, this ecstatic experience is similarly illustrated at other key times in the story.

But it had to happen. The perfect and blissful childhood had to end, and before long her parents were giving our now womanly heroine several coming of age talks.

Again and again her parents talked until finally the Princess gave in.

'If I am to marry,' she said, 'then it will be to someone that I choose.'

Anyway, to cut a long story short, they agreed to her having a marriage contest of sorts:

'I will marry the one who is able to prepare for me, the most wonderful, mouthwatering, taste-tempting dishes imaginable.' ...

As you can imagine, Princes from far and wide turned up with food. She gave them a try, but none provided an especially ecstatic experience, none worth marrying anyway. Then one day, a commoner saw her going past on her horse, and just had to meet her.

Before long, this nice young man was being kind to an elderly stranger, who showed him a vine which grew over the palace wall.

'There is your way to the Princess,' she said.

He plays his guitar for her from under her window, and, as you do, she let him in to her room.

Next thing, he's in her room, and having grabbed some fruit on the way, offers it to her. Imagine her surprise...

Next thing, they are lying together and having that same ecstatic experience, with doves and flowery fields.

At her first bite she smelt the rich perfume and tasted the wild sweetness, the freedom and wonder of her childhood.

At the second she was overwhelmed by warmth and love. By the third she was holding her arms out to the young man, sharing the fruit with him. She drew him to her, saying, 'You may feed, no, feast with me forever.'

Life is good. The search is over. She's found the perfect dish.

Thanks to Libby Gleeson for permission to use images and text.

Precious things and people

2010-09-12T08:13:00.000+12:00

One of the aspects of my life that I truly treasure are my creative and artistic friends. To be connected to them and get to enjoy their wonderful creations truly makes me feel rich.

I think I read in The Artist's Way that when we envy people it is because we want whatever it is about them we envy. But I don't know if that is always the case. I have so many creative friends with so many different styles and ways of creating that I treasure, and I don't think I envy them, I just love them and their work and consider myself lucky to know them.

I was told that in relationships, there is something equally as important as empathising and sympathising, and helping each other through difficulties. Equally as important as commiserating with loved ones is being able to celebrate with them and be pleased for their successes.

The jewellery above was created by my friend, Monique, and this year I went to her exhibition opening at a wonderful gallery shop attached to the main art gallery here in Christchurch. And what fun that was! My daughter and I got to catch a bus in, then a stroll through town, (lovely at that time of night) and just as we were walking up the steps, a fire alarm sounded which meant that everyone at the opening was piling out the door and no one was allowed back in for the rest of the night. But that was ok. It was still a nice night, and I got to meet some nice people on the steps.

Once my daughter had her art featured in a school calendar. It was beautiful and I was as proud as any mother would be. At the school fair, the principal was browsing through the calendar while I was there and I had to point out to him my daughter's art, which was there for the month of May, my birthday. He exclaimed to me how beautiful her work was, while I looked on proudly, so imagine my surprise when another parent also standing around near the calendar stand sarcastically said under his breath but loud enough for me and several others to hear:

What do you want - a medal?

Yeah, that would be nice, but in the meantime, I'll settle for the undeniable pleasure I have in sharing the joy of creation by other people. Life is good.

Is there a way to live simply and still have security? This Way of Life (a film)

2010-03-12T17:59:00.004+13:00

Yesterday we went to see an amazing film, called This Way of Life.

It really makes one think about the choices one can make about their life.

Is there a way to live simply and still have security?

Creativity, treasure, trends and freebies

2010-01-19T10:03:00.014+13:00

Please click on the above image to enlarge.

This post is kind of a continuation on the theme of hunting for treasure. But also about the human need to be creative. My friend Monique is a jeweller and I really admire her beautiful, whimsical creations. I am fortunate enough that she is helping me make a ring from some carefully found bits of colourful worn glass I have collected. I have found a beach in Little Akaloa, New Zealand where for some reason, worn glass is abundant. I don't know how long it takes for a piece of broken bottle to be tossed about among rocks and stones until it is worn enough, and then to be tossed up onto the beach, where I have come along with my bucket and collected it. I don't know why there is so much on Little Akaloa's beachfront, perhaps because the bay is U shaped? So my daughter and I took another road trip a week or so back in a borrowed car on another hunt with creating in mind, looking for free treasure.

People all over the world purchase her pieces, Monique is so lucky that she can make a living from her work. But even if she couldn't, I bet she would still do it. It is instinctive. We all want to create beauty in our world. Jewellers strive to make beautiful jewellery, scrapbookers to make beautiful memories, web designers to make beautiful websites etc etc.

I try to compile beautiful freebies. I make my art elements with an eye to how they will work for those that use them, web designers, print graphic artists, digital scrapbookers, or anyone else. I have used them myself in websites I have designed. I designed Monique's website and used the same torn wrinkled piece of paper as the one in the image above, and the photo frames in the City Mission website.

I get ideas from everywhere. Photos with shadows which make them look like the corners are bent are all over the place at the moment, in advertising, and in several websites including this one for gist create, although theirs are different from the ones I make. I'm also loving torn tabs and bits of paper as I've made them, and Jason Julien is another using these elements in his design. I love the look of doodles, twirly mindless drawing while waiting on the phone or something so I've made some of these for my work, and I see other people carrying this idea a bit around elsewhere too. Another thing I am loving right now is card which looks like it has been cut out and with a light shadow behind, I have two little pink disks in the image above, and in my last blog I made one which looks like a sunflower drawing on manilla paper which has been cut out carefully. I was delighted when I found a website recently with more elaborate cardboard cutouts here. I'm not sure what it is all about, as it is in German, but I just love their cutout images. So are these trends, people who care about creativity, websites with art to treasure or all of the above?

Please download this week's freebie, for personal use only, here. And a special hello to Kimmee and Shayna: if you are reading this, thanks for your comments and happy creating - I'm sure your work will be treasured. xx

A freebie from The Office

2009-10-19T11:36:00.008+13:00

Coming soon, from Urgent Artwork, a collection of stuff @ The Office: working hands, manilla folder cutouts with skewed shadow options (one of my favourites is the bird stapled above), paper clipped business cards, crumpled paper straight out of the bin, pencil doodles, papers, photos with crackles right through the image. These will be available soon in 300dpi for print and 96dpi for the web. But first, here is a freebie, a 6x4 sampler, a 300dpi png file with places for you to put your own images. And you can use any font to write whatever you want on it, although I have used the alphabet from JulesSecretary which is to be included with The Office when it is released ANY DAY NOW!!! (Estimated release date is early November 2009). The freebie is here, and it is for personal use only - commercial use terms are being worked out.

I know I've kept you waiting for ages, but I promise, it will be worth the wait. And watch this space, because there will be another freebie when The Office is released.

You can get the freebie here.

Follow me on Twitter for updates.

Watch this space!

2009-05-25T13:47:00.002+12:00

I have lots of news and exciting events happening, which I am just dying to share with you all.

I am just finishing lots of new artwork, not just for scrapbookers, but for anyone needing commercial use art.

So please, watch this space.

JulesScribble - New font from Art Mama

2009-04-10T13:51:00.009+12:00

At last, my new font is finished. It's called JulesScribble. I have designed it for use on digital paper, so you will be seeing a lot of it in some of my web graphics, because I am just loving the look of paper, especially ruled and crumpled, so this font and my typewriting font JulesSecretary is perfect for it.

The brag book 6"x4" I made for this preview uses elements from my latest collection, Art/Design. Note the pencilled paisleys, paper clip, bent photo frames and my crumpled paper and grungy, painted piece of cardboard. All originals of course.

Thanks, Gina (+ font freebies)

2009-03-04T18:15:00.016+13:00

Friendly little comments make me smile. I like manners, too. They are the rules society gives us to keep the world a nice place. And a step up from manners on the civility continuum is kindness.

Every now and then I get blown away by a thank you from someone that really makes me feel that doing my humble little art is making the world a better place in its own small way. Something that someone has put so much time, energy and even love into that it makes me feel really happy to be connected to them in that I have provided something useful for them to enjoy. And this happened to me a week or so back, after someone downloaded the first two fonts I ever designed, juleslove and julesgirltalk, from my font freebies. (Free for personal use only).

A lovely woman from Auckland (New Zealand) called Gina sent me the most beautiful two page letter which, when I took it out of the letter box, compelled me to rest my bike on the nearest bench and read it slowly. It was so positive and happy and looked so beautiful, I knew I would have to blog about it.

She had written a list, using my fonts, of the little things in life that make it all worthwhile, isn't that neat? And as I was reading her list I was agreeing with everything she wrote. Nearly all the things on the list were the little pleasurable, usually free things in life that give a wee thrill. Things to notice and appreciate.

So thankyou, Gina, you have made my day, my daughter read your letter too, and we have put it in our box of special things. I may be a stranger to you, but you have done a nice thing for me and I appreciate it.

I hope my blogging about Gina's kindness inspires someone else to spend a bit of time making someone's day.

Happy new year freebie

2009-01-01T16:06:00.003+13:00

Happy new year, what a great year 2009 will be. I hope to do a lot more designing and the freebie desktop above contains some of the elements that will be included in my next kit called Art/Design. It has lots of realistic design elements, where relevant they also have supporting images with drop shadows, and of course all images are 300dpi. I am just in the process of putting it together for you now, as well as my new font, JulesSecretary, the faulty typewriter font I have just created. You can see that above in the desktop calendar freebie.

The calendar freebie comes in two sizes and is available by clicking on the links below:

Click here if you have a desktop computer.

Click here if you have laptop (widescreen).

As you can see, there is a space for your own image, I have used my daughter and our pug, this photo was taken recently during our Christmas holiday at Little Akaloa (no internet connection or even cellphone coverage, bliss).

Enjoy the freebies, and any feedback is always appreciated.

Wee apology

2008-09-02T08:31:00.000+12:00

It has been brought to my attention that some people have been offended by my blog, and i feel super bad about that. Anyone who knows me knows I am a big softy and would never intentionally be mean to anyone, it is just not my style, and I have too much going on in my life that I just don't have the energy, plus I always look for the good in people, so I don't really feel the need to be vengeful or anything, and I hope that anyone I have hurt can forgive me and not keep anything awful close to their heart, as that is not good for you. So this is a sincere apology to anyone I have offended and some of my posts have been removed. So sorry :(

Create beauty - I have some fantastic news to share

2008-08-30T10:30:00.002+12:00

How to create fonts with a wacom
Uploaded by artmama

Can you believe I have had over 10,000 views on Sclipo of my how to create fonts video (which I won my second wacom for) and my fantastic news is that the makers of my most very favourite graphic design software, Xara, are my supporters now as well. This means that I have been offered some more free software which is being mailed to me as I write. I am so excited and can hardly wait, the creative juices are already flowing!!!? I will be able to create all sorts of beautiful goodies for you all, and intend to do some more tutorials too.

So why do I love Xara so much? Apart from the fact that it came highly recommended by my amazing, quirky artist friend, Quentin you mean? It is just so user-friendly, and you can do so much for such a wide variety of media. As well as that, it is completely affordable, and incredible value for money, (unlike cs3 which is rubbish in comparison, and so highly priced because adobe does nothing about pirating, so actually makes it easy to get illegal copies of their software which buyers then have to cover the cost of).

Thanks so much to all the people who watched my videos, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have received this offer from the wonderful Xara. And your interest in my work really means a lot.

So, watch this space, there is more from me to come.

Learn abundantly - I'm off to the conference

2008-07-30T12:36:00.003+12:00

Careful what you ask for, cos you might get it. I was saying how I want to keep up with web trends, how I need to in fact, then I found out about The Conference.

I'm in court on the 24th of September, so I can't go to the workshops on the 23rd and 24th, but I'm paid up to go to the conference on the Thursday and Friday. YAY!!!!!!!!! I can hardly wait, and I'll be spending Saturday in Sydney too, wandering around my favourite places and in the neighbourhood where we lived over 20 years ago, with an old friend or two, whose time I have already reserved.

It will be so strange.

Openings and closings

2008-07-11T16:47:00.001+12:00

Love uniquely.

Life is good. I have had some closures in the last couple of months, but also some openings. I don't have time to expand on this right now, but I am learning a lot and I'm really happy. I can see clearly now.

I just thought you'd like to know.

Don't be a fool! Check out the April desktop freebie.

2008-04-01T14:32:00.003+13:00

This month, because I am taking a break from digital scrap designing, I have used elements from the promo I did for paisleypugs.com - that is wee Olive modelling the beautiful Senorita Rosa pugwear, and the paisley background is the actual fabric, and the pink beads are the actual pink beads from the hem, and the pink rose is the actual satin rose from the doggie coat. It's a limited edition run, so will probably be sold out by the time you get to paisleypugs.com but go there and check it out anyway. It is gorgeous! And I am so proud to be involved in this small way.

Anyway, please download:

the 1024x768 desktop here and

the 1280x800 desktop (widescreen) here.

New freebie - March desktop, plus release of new font...

2008-03-01T12:42:00.011+13:00

Happy St David's Day! It's the first of March, and that means we need a new calendar... Lucky 4 leaf clovers from a kit not even released yet (called Lucky Pat) are all over the place, and Olive and Hambley are modelling adorable pugwear from paisleypugs.com - a special thankyou to Debra.

See the cute font I've used for the word "March" in the desktop above? That's my newest font, called jules-weeheart, which is made up of tiny wee hearts and dots.

This is already available at artmama.co.nz for ONLY $2 - yes, amazingly!! Commercial use is welcome.

To download the desktops, please see the links below:

1024 x 768 size desktop background for the month of March

1280 x 800 size desktop background for the month of March

Enjoy, and have a lucky month!

February's desktop is here

2008-02-01T14:11:00.000+13:00

Love uniquely. Yay, at last the romantic (in a non-sentimental kind of way) desktop for February is here, featuring of course, the two world famous pugs, Olive (the pretty one on the left) and her best boy, Hambley!

Download it here for the 1024x768 desktop

Download it here for the 1280x800 desktop

I have had a great month doing stuff around the house and in the garden, it's a glorious summer here in New Zealand, the puggies have been having such fun together, and the Paisley Pugs designer, Debra, has produced some stunning pugwear. I will see if I am allowed to put the promos up here featuring Hambley and Olive, so watch this space.

In the meantime, help yourself to the desktop backgrounds.

Happy new year - Olive and Hambley on the desk again!

2008-01-01T12:24:00.000+13:00

Love uniquely: This is the new desktop of Olive (in the foreground) and Hambley, the Paisley Pugs. Hambley is our pug and it is safe to say that Olive is his true love, and she belongs to our friend Debra. The pugs just adore each other.

You can download the

1024 x 768 desktop background here and the

1280 x 800 (widescreen) desktop background here.

I had such fun doing them with my new designs "sugarplum love" and "sugarplum paisley" which I haven't released yet, but watch this space.

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

Santa's wee helpers

2007-12-06T09:34:00.000+13:00

Love uniquely, create beauty. I had one of those days yesterday. Popped in to see my gorgeous mechanic, Neville, to do a wee while-you-wait job which turned out to take a couple of hours! Luckily I had my laptop and trusty Bamboo pen tablet (put a link here so you can enjoy the v. cool intro) which I won (see the I won! I won! post after this) and whipped up a wee something while I waited. Here is what I created: a desktop background I made for my widescreen laptop, featuring our pug Hambley (on the right) and his girlfriend, Olive. I made everything on the page (papers, glitteries, sunflower stickers etc) except the staples. I make stuff from scratch, I never use actions or anything. Although it is slightly Christmassy, being December, the sunflowers are supposed to represent a southern hemisphere summer Christmas. I just can't relate to snowy Christmas scenes. All I know is a traditional swim in the sea on Christmas day, enjoying the sun, feeling free, celebrating life and the gift of Christ. The calendar is circled at the last day of school on the 14th December and Felicity's birthday, on January 2nd. If you want it, you can download my desktop here.

I won! I won!

2007-10-10T10:27:00.000+13:00

Learn Abundantly - I created a tutorial about creating fonts, ages ago, at sclipo.com for the wacom challenge, and I was one of the runners up. I am so excited about it and also, I can hardly wait to receive my prize, a fabulous new Bamboo pen tablet, which does all sorts of wonderful things according to the promo. It's so strange being a winner, it's not like I don't think I'm *worthy*, that would be very un-new age... but one often thinks that one will be excluded when considering the standard of the other entries. I mean, mine was pretty simple in comparison. But we're not supposed to compare ourselves to others anyway - it can cause us to either become vain, or despairing depending on how favourably we compare.

I just love using my wacom, I use it all the time, every day, and now the laptop will be able to have the Bamboo wacom exclusively for it, while my other wacom, the Intuos3, can be kept on the desktop computer!

Technology is such fun.

Art Mama is here

2007-08-26T20:01:00.000+12:00

Learn Abundantly. I have a new persona now, I'm Art Mama. This ties in with my learning curve, as I create products for my artmama.co.nz shop. What am I selling? Fonts mainly, but also one or two stickers. And I think I'm on a roll because I have a whole lot of other stuff I am about to release.

Just slowly. Since last month I have learned how to create an e-shop, where people can process payment through paypal, then download my digital files.

Digital scrapping is a whole new world, and I'm loving it. I've learned how to make papers, and have some beauties about to be uploaded. I confess, I find a lot of digital scrap stuff a wee bit twee, so I have to promise, I will never create any buttons or bows. I've made some funky stickers, and delighted in making previews. I know my stuff isn't like much of the other stuff out there, but I'm hoping people will see some beautiful uniqueness in it.

I have also created a quick video demo about the process of creating my fonts. You can see it here.

And could someone please give me some generous votes??? Love you too!

So what have I been doing in the last year or so since I last posted? Lots. Actually it was an up and down year, but even the bad bits didn't stifle my creativity. I consider myself lucky because of that.

Enjoying Regina Spektor

2006-07-15T12:18:00.000+12:00

Create Beauty - Well it's not any beauty that I've created, but check out the beautiful work of Regina Spektor (Russian living in New York since she was a child) in her music videos below:

Fighting spam from Rolf Skyberg

2006-06-23T09:19:00.000+12:00

Help! Rolf Skyberg keeps sending me spam and I am at the end of my tether! Rolf Skyberg is an american computer whizz who is a techie at Ebay or somewhere and he has been bombarding me with spam under his username "rolfsky" for months now. I don't know why. I have contacted him, he "can't" do anything. Xtra (my New Zealand ISP) apparently can't do anything either. Of course I can use Outlook to filter it out there, but why can't I filter it out before it gets to me? I read my mail online so that I don't have all this stuff downloaded to my computer. I wonder if spammer Rolfsky is bombarding anyone else with spam. Rolf Skyberg - STOP YOUR SPAM!

I keep getting an email from:
Mail Delivery Subsystem MAILER-DAEMON@bigfoot.com
The subject line always says:
Returned mail: Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable
The text of the message is always:
----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors -----

----- Transcript of session follows -----
>>> DATA

<<< 550 5.7.1 Blocked by SpamAssassin

Reporting-MTA: dns; bflitemail-kr3.bigfoot.com
Arrival-Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 11:55:56 -0400 EST

Final-Recipient: RFC822;
Action: failed
Status: 5.1.1
Remote-MTA: DNS; xprt.net
Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 5.7.1 Blocked by SpamAssassin
Last-Attempt-Date: Thu, 22 Jun 2006 11:55:56 -0400 EST

Download Attachment: attachment21

Download Attachment: attachment32

See these movies!

2006-06-14T15:13:00.000+12:00

Hambley the Hero Pug

Our film, starring Hambley. Check out rural New Zealand with the strong South Island accents. Very sweet.

Hambley the Handsome Pug

Hambley at home modelling doggy fashion. Check out his special catwalk style with his robe and slippers on.

What I have been doing with my life

2006-06-14T14:26:00.002+12:00

Live Simply. Our garden is in the process of being rearranged. A landscape architect guy came and did a plan, which is very nice, and so now it's up to us to implement it. It's fun. Life is good. We are also in the process of talking to architects and a structural engineer about some major changes I want to do to the house. I'm talking pulling down the kitchen walls so that area will be open plan. I hope to have all the work done in October while we move out for a few weeks.

Love Uniquely. Well, we have the baby pug. Our whole life has changed. Like having a baby except they grow more quickly. He is wonderful. Pugs are perfect. We have already made a movie about him called Hambley the Hero Pug. That was fun.

Now that we have Hambley the pug we can't really go on holiday anywhere as every place is dog-free. So we have taken matters into our own hands and bought a campervan. Actually it's just a Toyota Hiace which has been converted very well into a camper by a builder who owned it previously. It is fantastic. So we intend to drive around the South Island at our leisure stopping here and there where we feel like. Starting this July, even though it's winter here in New Zealand. We have a gas heater. I bought a lantern from a guy on trademe too. He was so so so cute, I couldn't help flirting, and he made my heart flutter when he left me feedback which said: "What a great girl! Funny and really caring, thankyou." And all I did was buy his lantern. He can't have been older than 29, cool, we could have been like Demi and Ashton...

Learn Abundantly. Okay, so I now have a Certificate in Childrens Literature. There was even a graduation ceremony where I could've dressed up in a black gown, but I would be too scared to walk up and get my certificate on the stage in front of everyone so I gave it a miss.

Create Beauty. Can you believe it, the Daily Scrap want to use me as a fontographer and sell my fonts for me! I am now selling my fonts with macrons for Māori use as well. Felicity also makes a bit of dosh from some fonts she created too, called FelicityAged10, and FelicityAged10pics (dingbat font). It is very cool living here in Christchurch with her and we just love working on our wacoms and also doing films.

The three stooges

2006-06-14T14:18:00.000+12:00

Love uniquely. This is a recent photo of us with Hambley. He's our baby pug. Aren't we lucky!

Long time, no e

2006-06-14T14:12:00.000+12:00

Learn abundantly. It's been so long. Over a year, I am now 41. I do hope this is the way to blog. I've forgotten everything. I had to take a stab at my username and password, but I seem to have got through. I think. I will publish this and then put down some more news if it works. And a recent pic.

2005-04-30T21:09:00.000+12:00

Legacy

What's my purpose?

2005-04-30T20:41:00.000+12:00

Learn abundantly. Can you believe, I will be 40 in 22-23 days, depending where you are in the world. So I have got my head clear and I'm eating on a food plan. As a gift to me for my 40th, my 10 year old is working through with me, the book: The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. Hmmm, I thought I swore that I would never do another self-help book again? But this is different. We timed it so that we would finish the book a few days before the big day. This has to do with turning the big 4-0. I don't feel bad about it or anything. Mum said, "you know, life begins at forty," and I thought that was so sweet of her.

Anyway, every night after dinner we read a chapter, then draw a picture, which we keep in a display folder with plastic pages that you slip A4 size paper into it. Today, we're up to Day 21.

Love uniquely. Last night we had visitors for dinner and we read The Purpose Driven Life with them and they even drew some pictures too.

Then we played Legacy, the board game we invented. It is such a funny game. We were in stitches. My life in the game went something like this:
Ages 0 - 10: Grew up with lots of opportunities but was idle.
10 - 19: Hung out with the wannabes.
20 - 29: Became a plastic surgeon.
30 - 39: Married a stay-at-home spouse, and we had lots of children. Then we went to marriage counselling, but he became a criminal, and I lived in fear. Then our house burned down, and I became a single mum with two kids.
40 - 49: I drew the card which said I'd raised my teenagers to be dependent. (Great)
50 - 59: I had a 9 - 5 job but no savings and lived for Friday nights. Then I met a famous philanthropist, which was supposed to inspire me, but instead I drew the card which said I had chosen to be a fraudster with a gambling problem.
60 - 69: Then, I drew the card which said I spent my retirement partying at the casino, "occasionally generous but mostly broke and a worry to my family."

It was so funny how I just kept drawing all the bad cards. But I still got enough points to leave a Legacy. So, among the Legacy cards I chose, there was me, who solved a difficult mathematical theorum that had puzzled people for centuries. The other players laughed because they said I did it so that I could figure out how to beat the odds while I was gambling. It was such a hilarious game, and such an O.T.T life.

But in reality, I am *just* a single mum from Christchurch.

And the Oscar goes to...

2005-03-14T08:11:00.001+13:00

Me getting an Oscar (sort of)

Love uniquely. I do find it difficult socialising in crowds. My most enjoyable way of being with my friends is being with one or two at a time. Or at least, no more than, say eight. It has been said though that one really only needs six good friends, one to hold each handle of ones coffin when one dies. So it was kind of cool to sit with seven of my friends on Saturday, eat yummy food, and listen to a close personal friend of mine sing jazz. I so love creative people. It was nice to catch up with friends, old and new, put on a frock, and be a woman for a change, instead of a mum. Not that being a mum is not being a woman, but it is nice to be a woman without being a mum, occasionally, if only to sharpen other aspects of ones repertoire of behaviours.

The Oscar thing. Well, as everyone in New Zealand knows each other being such a small place, most of us know at least a couple of the guys who won Lord of the Rings oscars. ;) It so happens that one of the guys (who won one) brought along a genuine Oscar on Saturday and we ogled it and passed it around, and I happened to have my PDA (Zire 71) and got some pics. So I thought this post, with me holding the gorgeously firm and surprisingly heavy, gold-plated, serial-numbered Oscar statuette should aptly follow my other post about my Fun with Film-making.

Ten Million Changes Everything

2005-02-17T18:19:00.000+13:00

Learn abundantly: This film-making lark is addictive. Like my fellow learner, Raffa, I go home and go over scenes and shots in my head all night. I have successfully edited my first very short film, nearly 4 minutes long, with two of my fellow learners, Raffa (from Italy) and Damian (from Scotland) acting, and with myself as well playing a very small role, and two others we dragged in as actors. The three of us, (Raffa, Damian and I) separately edited the footage, so we have three separate films with the same story. It is so much fun! My edition of the movie is called Ten Million Changes Everything. I love it!! I have converted it to DVD and watched it on the upstairs DVD player and it works. Fantastic. If I could find a way to upload it somewhere, I would, but it is possibly too large a file. But no doubt an idea about how to do it will come from somewhere.

New giftmaking in progress

2005-02-05T17:25:00.000+13:00

Love uniquely: We're making calendars for our loved ones this year. They are very groovy. They are for getting organised and are similar to the ones that Flylady (www.flylady.net) sells but are designed for us in the southern hemisphere. We're not making them all in one go, that would tire us out and detract from the pleasure. Instead we are making them in three months at a time and will feature my fonts, our drawings, and our own recipes (yum, Taryn's zucchini Chocolate cake) and also garden reminders suitable for our seasons. We can put in quotes, drawings, proverbs and anecdotes relating to the season as we'll be in that season when we are working on it. Fantastic. I so love these ideas we have, and we have all year to get pleasure from our unique Christmas gift-making and giving rituals.

Below is a recipe we will include for the month of January, which will help use the surplus zucchinis in everyone's gardens. Beautiful summer. (We are also having something chocolatey for February being the month of lurve.)
Taryn's Zucchini Chocolate cake
125g butter
1 1/2 c sugar
3 eggs
2 1/2 c flour
1 t vanilla
1/2 c milk
1/4 c cocoa
2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
350g grated zucchini

Line a 25cm cake tin with butter paper. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and creamy with a mixer or food processor. Add one egg one at a time, with a spoonful of the measured flour to prevent the mixture curdling. Add the vanilla and milk, mixing well. Sift the dry ingredients together. Stir in, with the grated zucchini. Bake at 170°C 45 mins.

2005-01-29T10:44:00.000+13:00

Create beauty: I am working on my new julesart font with macrons which can be used for Maori and am toying with the idea of offering them for sale. Watch this space or leave your e-address in the comment.

2005-01-27T17:19:00.000+13:00

Dance with me, Lethbridge.

Film course starting soon!!!

2005-01-27T17:04:00.000+13:00

Learn Abundantly: Yay! See below pic, grinning with thoughts in process ... and the thought is, that, soon, on Monday, in fact, the film course starts. I get to make a training DVD, then, the next project is Lethbridge, Imaginary Friend in film form. I already have the cast sorted, I just have to ask them. Aah, I love this creative life. Go Lethbridge!

2005-01-27T17:01:00.000+13:00

Jan 05

Life is good!

2005-01-27T16:40:00.000+13:00

Live simply: These are the first strawberries we ate after we returned from our beautiful trip up north. As soon as we got home from the airport, I wandered through my wee garden of course, and these were the first I found. It is small pleasures like this that make life beautiful...

2005-01-27T16:37:00.000+13:00

first strawberries since our return from the north island

2005-01-21T13:56:00.000+13:00

Michael and me - what a groupie!

2005-01-21T13:42:00.000+13:00

Michael drawing

An inspiration from last year...

2005-01-21T13:30:00.000+13:00

Learn abundantly: I was lucky enough to get to go to a day listening to Australian political cartoonist (Melbourne Age) and illustrator Michael Leunig (see pictures.) You can't really see what he is drawing but it was good. Wow, what an amazing person, and I just love his philosophies about life, and what is important etc etc. I think besides traveling and working for The Age, and illustrating his books, he said he homeschools his children too, no wonder he is such a down to earth man. Anyway, I considered it a real privelidge meeting him and came away feeling really inspired.