GIFT OF THE WEEK

scrapbook

It's really strange and quite lovely to have one of my dearest friends share an exact birthday with me. We've had some lovely joint parties, breakfasts and afternoon teas to celebrate in the past but this year the wheels fell off my normally cheerful birthday caravan and we only managed text messages.

So I put in a little effort this week to make Miss S a little notebook that she can use at work to jot things down. I inlisted the help of my trusty Martha circle cutter, some crazy machine stitching, my long arm stapler and some scrap book papers...

It took me a couple of goes to get it right (I now have some very dodgy notebooks myself, and let me tell you lining up that stapler is not for the faint hearted) but I was really happy with the end result.

And nothing can surpass my love of wrapping...Happy belated birthday Miss S - to both of us.

SHOW OF THE WEEK

There's no place like home

The ladies of HML have been fans of Djurdjica Kesic's work since we first spotted it at a Box Hill metalsmith graduate show and then Fresh at Craft Victoria a couple of years back. We are really excited by the sneak peeks we've seen of her new show Nomad at Pieces of Eight.  using the home as motif  Kesic uses an armful of belongings  (reclaimed timber, silver and linen thread) to explore the notion of migration and place.

by the way listeners - Ramona will be talking up this show and other crafty things this morning at 10am on RRR. Hopefully  this necklace will have migrated to her home sometime this week...

FESTIVUS OF THE WEEK

High as a kite

Those at a lost end today can make their way to the 9th annual High Vibes festival in Northcote... it's always fun, full of food, music and of course young people attempting to outdo eachother in their "hey it's not like i'm trying" festival outfits strolling up and down the street in a slouchy, meandering parade... An excellent people watching and dining opportunity with a fairly decent soundtrack thrown in and all for a gold coin donation to keep the thing going next year. There's even a kids program for anyone looking to entertain bored toddlers...although we can't promise you parents won't be bored stupid after the first wacky hat hyper colour outfit performs their own version of "dancey dance time". It was Max's first festival last year, he was only a month old, but he loved it... at least he gurgled appropriately and gave us a smile or two as we passed the dancing hippies. Over the years this has turned from a very local event we could turn up to in our pj's to a super hip festival reminiscent of the old Brunswick Street festival (those as old as me will remember that festival's transformation into a lumbering trance infested behemouth full of tourists from franga) Anyways this will be our first year NOT living above the street, the downside will be less easy access to the loo, but the upside will be less constant bongo playing and and the probability of sleep before the 3am doof doof party finishes (good luck Shula i'll be thinking of you!) Ah just one more reason to love the new house.

This year the music promises to be especially good, with hml's default in house band and RRR darlings, Black Cab playing 9-9.30 at the Northcote Social Club... we assure you it will be well worth the price of admission, which of course is FREE, no really they are very good. So put on your high heel sneakers and have yourselves a very happy festivus people.

CHRISTMAS FRIDAY

shake'n'bake

I'm nowhere near the Martha devotee that Ramona is, but I must admit her seasonal crafting prowess (or that of her team of crafters and stylists) gets me EVERY time. This year is going to be all about the gingerbread, so when I came upon these gingerbread bird ornaments I gave out a hoopla! and thought you beaut I'll get right onto them this week. I also think Martha deserves some props for being so generous with the free clip art she provides for each project. So you really can make em look just like they do in the mag, or if you're a little more creatively inclined you can use the ideas and technique to make your own version. I'm thinking a little glitter monster covered tree might excite Max more than the birds, but you never know, by Christmas he could be completely besotted by the Blue Footed Booby... 

                             

Anyway as much as I had planned my free afternoon yesterday to be full of gingerbread ornaments lovingly baked and shaken all over with my new armoury of Martha glitter, all I got around to baking was this Banana Bread.

Oh well, we still have 97 days to go.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

snap!

It would seem that this week young Maxwell decided he's a mini Testino. Yesterday he got behind the lens and gave me a run for my money in the arty portrait stakes with these shots of his Dad and his Dog. He also managed the very avant garde combination of both (below) which we like to call "Still Life with Grass, Blue Toy, Ball and Sneaker" - which of course was my favourite.

As you can see he's also already working his hip young arteest look.  Watch out La Chapelle and co... here comes the next big thing.