The Little Things

click to enlarge the purple jacaranda

"Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world." Desmond Tutu

I liked this quote, it tumbled around for the last few days and seemed to fit well with the jacaranda's coming into flower. First you see the odd pop of purple but in no time at all the whole tree starts to burst out in spring colours.  Happy Sky Watch Friday my friends, click the link to see what 100s of bloggers from all over have found in their sky to share with us this week.

Whatevers is a new challenge site hosted by 3 creative friends Cat Scanlon, Vicki Chrisman, Nat Kalbach, to celebrate found photos and the stories that could be told.

Found photos are often for sale at jumble stalls and antique centres. Do you ever wonder, who are these people and what is their story?   Sadly their story is lost but the images are rich with details of fashion or landscapes that have changed and vintage automobiles.

The Whatever theme reminded me of Nick Bantock’s mail art books where the characters wrote to each other in decorated correspondence and inspired me to create a journal for Charles and Chelsea. With their families moving away the two young friends are documenting adventures in their journals and letters to each other......

Mirambeena from Melbourne, the city of trams

The journey to Australia is a long one my friend but what an adventure! I have spent some time in the remote communities to meet the local indigenous artists.  So many fascinating styles and stories and things to learn about this environment. Montsalvat is a new artist community that is being built outside of the city of Melbourne. Lots of fascinating people are pitching in to set aside a beautiful space for artists to learn in a beautiful setting with a real sense of community. ding,ding must run to catch the tram!

 

p.s. thank you to the lovely folks at Collections Elements for their kind sponsorship of chipoard and tissue papers.  

 

"Happiness is a state of mind, it's just according to the way you look at things” Walt Disney

Photography and Sky Watching has become a great exercise in focusing the view finder, finding interesting skys in random moments.  Happy Sky Watch Friday, click the link to see what hundreds of bloggers from all over have found in their sky to share this week.

"Memories are simply moments that refuse to be ordinary" Diane Keaton

click to enlarge a colourful morning sky





Life is full of moments but some stick in the memory banks.  One of the things I like about Sky Watch Friday is appreciating the little everyday moments that are sometimes quiet and simple  or when Mother Nature decides to toss the whole paint box across the sky for us to enjoy. Click the link to see what bloggers from all over have found in their view of the sky to share this week.

Really excited this week that Australian Simply Cards magazine featured my interview with Stacey Caron of Spellbinders. What a treat to talk with a female entrepreneur who enjoys what she is doing and creating a great life for herself.

Seeing the familiar in new ways

"Most of us lead far more meaningful lives than we know. Often finding meaning is not about doing things differently; it is about seeing familiar things in new ways." Rachel Naomi Remen

click to enlarge a quite morning at the beach

Love that idea of looking at things with new eyes.  Happy Sky Watch Friday my friends, click the link to see what bloggers from all over have found in their sky to share this week. 

Whatevers is a new challenge site hosted by 3 creative friends Cat Scanlon, Vicki Chrisman, Nat Kalbach, to celebrate found photos and the stories that could be told.

Found photos are often for sale at jumble stalls and antique centres. Sadly their story is lost but the images are rich with details of fashion or landscapes that have changed and vintage automobiles. Do you ever wonder, who are these people and what is their story?

The Whatever theme reminded me of Nick Bantock’s mail art books where the characters wrote to each other in decorated correspondence and inspired me to create a journal for Charles and Chelsea. With their families moving away the two young friends are documenting adventures in their journals and letters to each other......

Konnichiwa from Japan!

Did you recognise me in the pretty kimono?  We have been in Japan for a few weeks now, mother and father are fascinated with the culture and enrolled me in a local school to learn some of the fine arts. Their calligraphy is just as beautiful as their water colour paintings and I practice every day in my sketch journal. You know me and my love of the great outdoors, learning about the industrious silk worms that produce the fibres for the pretty kimonos are fascinating. Sadly it seems our modern world might kill them off with the invention of pesticides which have lots of great properties but some have negative effects on the environment. At school we are working on a petition to the powers that be to do something before it is too late. Oopps there goes another butterfly I want to try and capture the vibrant colours!

 

On the My Creative Classroom web site I teach a workshop on the theme of mail art, how to incoporate letters and postage stamps into decorated envelopes.