Toot toot toot!

That would be the sound of me tooting my own horn, as I have successfully managed to customise my blog format from two columns to three... AND this included adding, deleting and writing new coding (scary, un-chartered territory from my perspective!). So now that I have mastered this, I am going to be attempting more changes in the weeks to come, so my blog may look a little piecemeal for a wee while, never fear I am still around, still blogging, still reading, it's just a work in progress... like everything in my life!

Sweet Fan Finds

Hello sweet little fan shaped leaves, I found you on my lovely Sunday afternoon walk yesterday. I don't know what you're called or what tree you're from, but I just had to draw you, I hope you don't mind.

Today

It's raining in Perth today, which is a bit of a novelty for me as I can still count on my fingers the amount of times it has rained in the whole 6 months we have been here.

I have succumbed to the nasty winter hooglies, rather badly this time I must say, so I am stoked up on cold and flu drugs and rugged up on the couch with the laptop, making my way through blog land. The best way to spend a snuffly, drizzly day.

It was going to be made even better by some hot toast drizzled in butter and honey, except that I popped it in the oven (we have no toaster) only to get distracted with my blog reading, and I well and truely burnt that toast to charcoal like smitherines, setting off the smoke alarm in the process, and then discovering that those two pieces were the last bits of bread in the house.

So gelato it was for breakfast, (to sooth the sore throat of course), only to discover the hooglies have taken over my taste buds and I didn't get to appreciate the sweet strawberry sorbet goodness one little bit.

When all else fails, some trashy day time soaps and chat shows may just do the trick!

One Guy Starts a Dance Party

I was a bit bummed this morning about having to go to work on a Saturday, but I then saw this video over at Gala Darling's iCiNG and suddenly my day was a lot brighter... try watching this without at least smiling! Happy weekend everyone :)

Just a Little Bit More Music: Zee Avi

Yes yes, I've been posting a lot of music clips lately, but I've found another goodie (yea I'm a bit behind the 8-ball, she's plastered all over the net at the moment) but either way, I'd still like to mention the cute as a button talents of Zee Avi, 23 year old singer song writer, and creator of good ear love to make the mornings that little bit easier. Enjoy :)

Noted

An interesting thing happened the other day... During my lunch break, I was working away on a particular drawing that I am intending to send to a friend. The general idea of the drawing is as if a whole lot of bits and bobs have been tipped out of a bag and scattered around, and these are the things I have drawn. Each item relates to my friend in some way or another, so though to the average person it might look like a strange subject for a piece of artwork, it is has a lot of meaning to him. One of my managers came over, and, seeing what I was working on, said, 'What's this for?'. 'It's a gift for a friend of mine,' I replied, to which he responded with a rude snigger, 'Geez, what a waste of time, wouldn't it be quicker just to photoshop it or something?'. I was totally stunned, and as he abruptly walked away, I was lost for words. At first, I was admittedly a little offended, I have spent hours and hours on this drawing, and to have that kind of reaction towards it felt terrible. Slowly however, as I've thought about it more and more, I've managed to realise something very special (and I don't want to get all mushy here but it will probably come out that way). I realised that I have a gift, just like all of my fellow design and crafty bloggers out there, and the fact that we can find peace, passion, excitement, delight and so many more emotions through the daily processes that make us happy, is super fantastic. Design, art and general hands on craftiness is such a huge part of what my life is about, it is what makes me tick, and I'm sure it is the same for a lot of you out there too. So in the end, I thought, wow, I really do feel sorry for my manager, who obviously cannot see the merit in making/designing/creating something just for the pure wonderful feeling you get from just doing it, and not necessarily needing an outcome. He cannot see that the thought that goes into that sort of thing often means a lot more then the thing itself, and if he cannot measure the success of something, or produce it in a way that proves he has cut down time/costs/energy then it's not worth doing. What a dull, uninspiring life that must be! I feel so blessed to have my artistic talents, and you all should too. Not everyone has the ability to create the things we do, or appreciate the things we do. But we all know how great it is, so let's be thankful, and long may it continue!