bird love

I've just had a visit from this special girl.




I heard a very loud sqawking and when I followed the sound to my bedroom window, I saw her sitting there looking in.

I knew her mate wouldn't be far away, and it wasn't long before he joined her.

He was very curious, and bobbed up and down for a while (as they do) looking as though he was just about to fly over to me to see if I had something for him to eat. But that was just a little bit too scary, even for a really brave guy like him.

So instead they sat together on a branch, and preened themselves so sweetly, so in love.






I wonder what they've got planned for Valentines Day.

busy busy busy

It's been such a busy week - and yes, I realise it's only Tuesday, but Monday was FULL ON, with lots of little things needing to be done urgently. I got through a lot of the items on my list, just leaving the big ones - things like 1.make website, 2.do business activity statement (AAAHHH!!!) etc etc.

It hasn't taken long to lose the chilled out feeling from couple of days in the Blue Mountains on the weekend. It was misty and rainy and cold - just how I love it. And there was lots of rugging up in wet weather gear and heading out into the day. (And also lots of curling up with hot drinks too)

One hour later........

Well another thing on my list was to get some photos organised on flickr (isn't that a horse?) I can see it's got lots of advantages, with ways to organise photos, fun groups to join, things to do, people to see. So I thought I'd like a piece of that. I think I'm a bit thick though - it's taken me hours to get these photos off my camera, resized, and onto flickr.

But here they are - pics from the weekend in the mountains:



and of this incredibly great toy shop which specialises in old style toys:



My very very favourite thing was the tin kaleidescope.

So now that I've been very nicely diverted for the first half of the day........

the coming year

Well the sale is almost over. Thank you to everyone who bought prints and made it a great week. There is just one short day left so if you hurry you can beat the deadline. See here for the details.

I'm very busily trying to get ahead of my lists and GET ORGANISED for the coming year. My lists are long, and I have to admit that instead of getting shorter they are getting longer. How do organised people do it? Any tips will be gratefully received!

One of the biggest items on my list will be setting up a website. I'd really like to have a central place to show my portfolio, and also to link to the places where my work is sold. Ultimately I'd like to have a shop section in the website too. I'd kinda like to make the site myself, so that I can update it as I go, but am not sure how difficult that is to do. So if anyone has any info about DIY websites, don't go keeping it a secret!

And apart from all the things nagging at me on my lists, I'd really like to make some time to do a few projects. For example, I've had this gorgeous fabric which I bought on a trip to Japan last year, sitting and waiting for the right ideas to come along.....

january sale

After much thought, I have decided to increase my print prices in the yellow monday shop. I've been putting it off for a few months now, but realise that it is actually necessary to cover costs and to be able to continue doing this.

So why am I calling this post "January sale" I hear you ask? Well, as a way of easing into the new prices, I am offering readers of this blog a special discount on all yellow monday prints for a short time. Here are the details:

**The sale is buy-one-get-one-free (for prints of equal value)

**Simply buy one print, and in the Message To Seller, write "blog sale" and say which print you'd like as your freebie.

THE SALE WILL END AT MIDDAY FRIDAY 18TH JANUARY- AUSTRALIAN EASTERN TIME (SYDNEY), so make sure you get your orders in before this time.

Hope you enjoy this sale!

I'd also like to say an extra special thank you to everyone who has visited my blog and shop, and also to those people who have bought yellow monday prints over the past 6 months. Your support has made this a wonderful and enjoyable beginning for yellow monday. So thank you, dear visitors and customers!!

a shortcut

through the botanic gardens



Amazing artist David Ruhlman

Furniture and lighting by New Zealand based David Trubridge

little trinkets

I was recently reunited with these little salt and pepper shakers. I had completely forgotten about them. They'd been stored by a friend for me when I last moved house. Now several years later she's moving house, and so I had one of those delicious experiences of unpacking forgotten treasures. I've had these guys for years and years and have always been fond of them. I love the way the man's foot is broken but the broken bit is completely smooth from years of wear - just like a piece of glass is worn smooth in the ocean. I also like how crude the functionality is - the salt and pepper are meant to flow from those rather large mouth holes.

The other tiny treasure to come into our household recently are these tiny weeny antique kokeshi dolls from totedesigns. So sweet.




And finally some vintage wallpaper to cool the senses.

the wall on the floor

Happy new year!!

I'm surprised to see how long it is since my last post, which just goes to show how busy things can get leading up to Christmas. The holiday has been a blurr of all the travel, family, friends, presents, cake, seafood (it's australia after all), and fireworks that christmas and new year bring. I love the christmas holidays.

But now it's back to work....

I posted a while back about a commission that I'm doing for the large entry hall of a house - 24 panels on a big wall (beside a staircase leading up to a mezzanine). The plan looks roughly like this:



Well I've made a big start. I'm painting onto wood panels for this project, so I've had them all cut to the exact size, sanded them all on every side, and have undercoated twice - all sides. This has been a real juggle for a girl in a small apartment. I'm lucky that I have a big back yard which was where I sanded, but the painting had to be done inside. Luckily my partner David is used to living around various art projects in progress, so as long as the kitchen can be made accessible by dinner time the system seems to work.





I'm going to do one more thin coat on the fronts and sides before I begin the artwork.

But before I begin that I'll just have one last cup of tea.