more hibiscus

I'm definitely having a run on hibiscus at the moment. I'll get these paintings properly scanned and upload the results to my website - taking happy snaps doesn't do a lot for the colours.

Have a happy new year everyone and a very creative 2009.

radishes

More pink things.

Nothing says summer than a couple of hot radishes.

catch them before they fade

Hibiscus flowers don't last very long. After two days the large apricot and red blooms had withered. There was one pink bloom left so I painted that one.

hibiscus

I picked these flowers on Christmas day and started painting them today.

If you see a strange woman around Sydney picking flowers from bushes on the side of the road she may be painting them instead of just putting them on top of the telly....

Boxing day beach bracelet

It's Boxing day in Sydney and where do you go if you're not going to the sales?

To the beach of course.

Here is a simple pearl bracelet - wrap the strands three times around your wrist for an elegantly casual little bracelet.

Could also double as a necklace.

pastel bead charm bracelet

Season's greetings all.

A slightly different take on the charm bracelet theme. Made of gemstone beads and quartz 'points', interspersed with silver charms and bead drops.

something to sparkle along with the tinsel

gingerbread house

I thought I'd attempt to make a decorate gingerbread house for a family gathering tomorrow (children present). I used a cardboard template made out of a crispbread packet for the house... and of course the bits didn't fit together properly but it's amazing what you can do with a whole bowlful of royal icing!

The first attempt ended in collapse but with a little perseverance and the icing talents of the resident 18 year old we have a centrepiece worthy of Christmas.

Hurrah.

peonies

Oh yes....

I finished the peonies

earrings for a Tuesday

I've been so caught up in the whole Christmas palava I haven't had time to post.

Apologies.

Here is a selection of dangly earrings to counterbalance those festive numbers I've seen dangling from ears at office parties.... I like to call them 'chandeliers for the ears'.




Rose quartz, labradorite, swarovski crystal and amethyst: To enhance wisdom, intuition and truthfulness. For happiness in love.


Turquoise nuggets and coral: To cool tempers and promote friendship.


Amethyst and clear quartz: To promote wisdom, intuition and truthfulness. For balance.


Vintage crystal, amethyst, garnet & cloisonne beads: To increase self confidence, promote wisdom and truthfulness. For luck.



And I'm very proud of these: Indian silver 'tassel' earring fixtures (from Hyderabad), rose quartz, amethyst and swarovski crystal: To promote wisdom, intuition and happiness in love.

Mango frooty spicy tea

To drink with all those cupcakes and gingerbread cookies.

Ingredients: Hibiscus (Rosella), ginger, citrus peel, green tea and cloves. If I'm feeling adventurous I'll add pineapple shavings as well. Him indoors insists on cloves in the mix....

watercolour work in progress

After a bit of a slow-up in the painting department, I've started again.

It really does take me a while to get into the swing of it and pictures have to get built up after days. I bit problematic when trying to capture flowers - by the time I got around to some beautiful peonies him indoors bought me, they'd mostly blown and started to lose their petals and stamens.

Here is a picture of the one remaining peony in full bloom after a week and work in progress.

batik beach bag

So I took note of the feedback from friends asking for a shoulder version of the batik and denim bag.

Here is a prototype.

The handles keep their shape by way of nifty plastic tubing. Him indoors put in the holes - makes it look less 'handmade'.

I haven't gotten around to addressing the zipper in the pocket request yet... I'm thinking about a button fastening rather than a zip.

mango frooty party

Another mango frooty craft fair was held yesterday. More cupcakes and gingerbread cookies, cups of tea, glasses of wine...

There were two of us selling our crafts. Not the stress of a public market but probably not the profitability either. But I had a nice day and I hope the others did too.

Him indoors is most happy about the mountain of leftover cakes and goodies....

Christmas bush

Yesterday I had a craft fair at my house. More cupcakes and ginger cookies amongst other things were made, the place cleaned and materials put away for the day.

Some of my lovely friends brought flowers.

The tiny pinky flowery bush is called 'Christmas bush' because it flowers right on Christmas time and is apparently everywhere in the Australian bush (Aussies don't mince words). It really is fantastic to look at en masse - and compliments those bright yellow gerberas very well.

silk brocade handbag

The leather handles are from Bali, the Chinese dragon brocade is from a market in a temple near Patan, Nepal.

I bought the turquoise and gold brocade silk sari from a wedding merchant in Bangalore. Who knew the IT hub of India would yield such a wealth of rainbow silks?

Of course not all of these were bought at once - but they have been languishing in a cupboard until now.

Dimensions:
Height: 25 cm
Width: 33 cm
Base depth: 10 cm

tiny silk bags

And more bags. These are silk brocade, lined with sari fabric and are decorated with gemstone beads and mother of pearl ornaments. Maybe these shouldn't go through the wash....

They'll fit a phone, keys and maybe a small wallet. You fasten them with the ribbon ties.

They have long stiff ribbon straps to wear over the shoulder.

dimensions - roughly:
height: 10cm - 12cm
width: 12 cm
base depth: 6 cm across

Summer bag - please rate my bag

OK. Here is a work in progress bag - please rate it.
Would you be seen with this bag at the beach?

This is a cotton and cotton mix floppy beach bag
It's made to go through the wash - in fact I'm hoping a few washes will fade the denim and make it look softer.

It will hold a couple of books, a snack, water bottle, beach towel, cossies, thongs and other stuff. The brownish panel inside is a pocket for your keys, wallet and sunnies.

Dimensions:
length: approx 49 cm
height: approx 33 cm
Depth: approx 22 cm (the bottom is squared off for more room)
Handles: 33cm - definitely a tote bag rather than a shoulder bag.

colours of Indonesian batiks

I haven't made these up yet and I've just got back. Trying to shop from the back of a scooter is not very productive so I went off for a couple of hours to explore the local market for fabric.

The top image shows silk batik fabric - I can feel a whole new batch of scarves coming on.....

The heavier cotton fabric in the bottom photo is for bags. I'll mix these with other asian fabrics that have been languishing on the cupboard for the last 5 years.

Be sure to check back and see the results.

simple dimple

I'm off on hols tomorrow so won't post for a while.

I'll leave you with a silver wire bracelet with two dangles.

dingle dangle

today's offering is a charm bracelet with red coral, black onyx and snowflake obsidian beads. A little bit flirty for a Saturday night.

marigolds

watercolour on paper with splashes of silver. It's the first time I'd painted marigolds - the foliage took over the picture a little bit...

red veg: beet, chilli, radish

Red veg in dark shades of pink.

I think it's funny the way sometimes red things are labelled 'pink' - ie: hunting pink.

Odd

in the night garden: strelitzia

it's the moon again

this time in a bunch of strelitzias

turquoise - hippy luxe

I went away for the weekend. It rained a lot so I wasn't able to see much or go bush riding like I'd planned but there'll be other times.


How about these?
Some turquoise statement necklaces. The chunky pieces of turquoise came from a bead dealer in a street I stumbled on in Kathmandu.

Necklace and bracelets for Friday

Another longish necklace. The Agate slice at the end is quite an end piece for the tigereye and blue enamel beads along the chain. The little orange accents are carnelians. I had a loose kurta top in mind when making this one.


Here are a couple of hippy inspired bracelets for a casual Friday. The tiny turquoise beads on the left are a bit bigger than seed beads - I've graduated the colours so the blue softly works its way into brown.
The coral bracelet uses beads from an old necklace and a bright blue turquoise nugget I bought in Kathmandu.
Just right for the beach.

necklaces

Dark green freshwater pearls and a long butterfly pendant in lighter shades of green, mauve and pink. For a shorter necklace you could wrap the pearls around your neck twice.




This one made up of carnelian and turquoise beads and silver wire. I like the colour combinations: orange and blue and the orange gradient thing going on with the surprise of pink and purple at the end.

I'm thinking these two would be most effective against a simple black top...

stacked canvases

These are stacked in my cupboard... I thought the edges and colours looked good so I took a photo.

It's Monday....

not a lot today

A hot Sydney day and no time to make anything... plus after yesterday I'm a bit tired.

Here are some flowers instead.

the party

Today's party went well. My jewellery parties are mostly about girls getting together and having a bit of a laugh and a chat with gorgeous food and jewellery to look at and try on.

Thought you might like to look at cupcakes and gingerbread I made - the food takes as long as the jewellery to make but everyone likes it and I hope some of the cakes and cookies make their way to kiddies later on.