My Creative Space

    It's funny, how without really thinking too hard about it I suddenly find myself with a few different projects on the go.
    Anyone who has been following my blog of late will notice a switch to writing. Though I still do find myself being drawn (pun entirely intended) to my illustrations, to accessorise and compliment my writing.
    The past few days I have been knitting a red beanie for myself. A few months ago I declared that this year would be all about the colour red. I simply had to have something in my wardrobe that is red — whether that be a hat or shoes. The year was getting on and I still had not made good on my promise to myself. Now that we are heading into cooler days and I had been knitting beanies for other family members it just fell into place. I would knit myself a red beanie. Just imagine it — red beanie and red lipstick, together at last. Maybe when my pregnancy is over I can look at getting a pair of red high heel shoes to complete the look.

    Today I have been working on a birthday card, combining illustration, water colour paints, and stencil paper crafts — something with a 20s feel.
    I might even look at decorating some homemade wrapping paper. Though we'll see what my energy levels say about that.
    Now, lets have a look at other wonderful creative spaces over at Kootoyoo.

What in Autumn?

What is going on with the weather, lately? I know I say this every single year in March, but that is only because I keep forgetting.
On the first of March I fully expect the leaves to  have turned brown and fallen to the ground over night. This of course does not happen.
What does occur is a battle of wills between hot and cold. The evenings may be cooling, but for a good many weeks the month of March is in denial and allows the sun to continue shining so brightly during the day, that the house heats up, the fans switch on and my daughter is running around in a state of half undress.
Come on Autumn which way are we going to have it? At the moment life feels like a Katy Perry song. You know the one, called “Hot and Cold”.
At the moment I am knitting a beanie for myself, but it feels weird to be knitting on a warm day. It's like trying to eat a roast on Christmas day in Australia, which is just really strange. I don't want to be knitting on a warm day. I should be knitting in cool weather. That way I will be more motivated to finish that beanie within a few days.

Red Beanie

In and through.

Around and over.

In and through.

Around and over.

This is how it begins.

The colour is chosen.

The measurements are made.

The seasons are cooling,

The evenings leave a freeze.

Everyone has a beanie,

Now it’s time to think of me.

So, in and through.

Around and over.

This is the rhythm.

This is the first line — I am casting on.

A red beanie for me.

                     *

Take a step back.

My work is unravelled.

Five hundred steps gone.

Why, I must begin again.

                     *

I still want my red beanie.

I re-climb those red tinted stairs.

In and through.

Around and over.

Knit-knit, purl-purl.

Knit-knit, purl-purl.

I am determined.

I can be driven.

The will is mine.

I will see this through.

In and through.

Around and over.

In and through.

Around and over.

This is how it begins.

Sunday Post

“A gentle breeze passes overhead and around my neck. It is grey with patches of blue. We are all comfortable.”

    The weekend has been passing peacefully. The family is together, the weather is perfect for us. No chores, no shopping. We have gone for walks, eaten pizza, played a laughable Playstation 3 game. No phone calls, no messages — it has been a good weekend, and it ain't over yet.
    Over the past week I have been working on a creative writing piece for a local short story writing competition. I finished writing it and entered it into the competition just this afternoon. It'll be several weeks before I hear the outcome. So fingers are crossed, and now I shall focus on my next writing project. It'll be something bigger, I should think.
This is me quietly toodling off to go tinker with some old notes…


What am I reading?
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets.


What am I listening to?
Still listening to Joan Jett and The Divinyls.


What do I need?
A beanie.


What do I want?
A red beanie.

Typewriter Art

New shirt art available at Red Bubble

New art available at Red Bubble

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Typewriter

    I am so thankful to have a computer for my writing and drawing. It is a time saver. It allows me to be creative within the confines of a small home. It really does take the hassle out of storage.

    On the flipside I will admit a little something is lost along the way when using a computer. Humans rely on their five senses in many situations, whether it is through pleasure or detecting danger. We need those senses to feel connected. How do you paint if you have never seen the world? How do you write music if you can’t hear it? How do you cook well without being able to taste and smell it? The answer is, that it can be done but perhaps not to the full extent that you would have wanted.

    Reading, writing and drawing can have a much stronger affect if it is something graspable. I for one find my writing to sometimes flow more fluidly when I am working off paper that can be touched and manipulated.

    Before the advent of the computer the typewriter was a professional tool, which still allowed the stimulation of so many senses. The typewriter marked the beginning of handwriting being left behind. But the fact that it instantly went to paper still allowed the writer/reader to feel that connection which I have been talking about.

    When I was about seven, one of my parents brought home from work a grey typewriter that otherwise would have been thrown out. It was given to me, and I had such fun playing with the machine. One of the keys didn't work, which is why it was being turfed, but that didn't matter. Still to this day I am satisfied by the memory of those clickety-clack sounds the typewriter made. Especially when it reached the end and you had to prepare the machine for the next line.

    Sometimes I wish that the computer could be programmed with typewriter sound effects. Now wouldn't that be something?

My Creative Space

    You can laugh. Honestly, I don't really mind. It is funny.
    Last night in my brains pregnancy addled condition I confused the rules of the colour wheel while preparing the cupcake icing. Intending to have green icing, I mixed the wrong food colours. My brain was thinking ‘red and yellow’. My hand removed from the cupboard and mixed ‘red and blue’. Thus resulting in a black toned blue.
    Doesn't really matter though — the cupcakes tasted lovely.


    Also in my creative space, I have been thinking and writing. Mostly getting this in when my daughter is having her afternoon naps or in the evening after dinner has been taken care of and again daughter is in bed. My little written pieces include:

• Autumn
• My Name Is
• Kylie

    Bit by bit each day, I have been working on a story for a local short story competition. But you'll have to wait a while before I share that one.

    Take a gander at other creative spaces over at Kootoyoo.

Autumn

Cupcake Time Out

    You are always busy, and your schedule may not always leave room to simply breathe. Sometimes though a precious timeout is something that you just have to do.
    Do it for your sanity, for the nerves of those around you, for your country. Most especially, do it because that delicious homemade cupcake has your name written all over it and is calling out to you.
    Go on, take a break and have that cupcake.

Writing, Reading & Thinking

What am I up to at the moment? Well, I have a few different things on the whirl.


I am reading Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone. It's been a few years since I've read this, and I plan to go through the whole saga again.


I have been writing — mostly just doodles, notes and thoughts. If I make the deadline, I plan to enter a short story writing competition.


I have an ever growing list of books I'd love to read. The list is so long I don't have the energy to list it here. Let's just say there are about twenty books I would love to consume at the moment.


I am still listening to Joan Jett and The Divinyls.


How about that Super Moon on Saturday, huh?

Saturday Night Roller Disco

This just makes you want to strap on the old skates, put on make up, slip into a sporty number, and work on those skate moves.

My Name Is…

My name is Melissa. In Greek it means honey bee, it is also a derivative of Melita. Melissa once seemed rare but when I was born it became mildly common. I went to school surrounded by Melissa’s. As a Melissa I was confused with other Melissa’s, especially by librarians tracking down rogue book destructors sharing the same name and initials. It sometimes meant not knowing if someone was talking to me when they called out my name. It meant being nicknamed ‘Melissa-the-kisser’ for no other reason, except that it rhymed. It meant being called Marisa when talking with strangers over the phone. Being Melissa means having a pretty name, the sound of which suits me so well. I like hearing my husband say my name. I am Melissa and it is an important part of me.

Kylie

Do you remember when you first adored her? It was 1988. Messy perms were the in thing as were bright colours. 80s trends as we knew it were still running it’s course and I never would have believed that those days would end. But I digress. It’s not the era you were thinking about — it was she. With the exception of Jem and the Holograms, she was your first music idol. She was the first person that inspired you musically and fashion wise. You wanted to be her. I am of course talking of none other than Kylie Minogue.

Remember, the first cassette you were given, along with a little boom box? It was Kylie’s debut album. How many times over did you listen, dance and lip-sync to that album after school, when you would normally be watching television.

Later that year an official tribute magazine to Kylie caught your eye in a newsagent. You just had to have that book. Your very existence depended on it. After some almost tears and desperate begging, your parents agree to buy it. It was a $5 well spent. Just consider how many times over you read that magazine, cover to cover. It was too numerous to count. You wanted to know everything about Kylie — from her love of eating chocolate, to her appreciation for fashion. You learnt that she sometimes made her own clothes. Naively your nine-year-old mind connected the clothes worn in her photo shoots as being designed and sewn by Kylie.

A few years pass and music enters into an uncertain phase. Kylie and her music are growing up. There were those who felt too embarrassed to admit to ever listening to her early music. Yet you continued to sing to yourself I Should Be So Lucky completely unperturbed. At a time when most pop artists disappear into obscurity Kylie spends the next few years honing herself as a performance artist. Sometimes it was a bit hit and miss. But hey, whose life isn’t like that?

Then out of the blue it all just falls into place. Whether it was her audience, her sound, or her creative support. Suddenly people, who previously had hidden their Kylie albums, are practically tripping over themselves falling out of the Kylie closet, claiming that they always thought her to be all right. Do you remember watching this folie and smiling quietly to yourself. In your own quiet way, you enjoyed Kylie’s music, but you didn’t need to make a big song and dance about it.

Fast forward another few years, remember that woman claiming to be a massive Kylie fan. But who then declared wanting to sell her concert ticket, simply because she didn’t like the pixie do Kylie was sporting, post chemotherapy cancer treatment. You understood then just how fickle people could be. But you couldn’t understand how someone can place judgement because of a hairstyle. Was that woman ever really a Kylie fan? You did wonder.

Kylie has tenaciously survived the entertainment industry and personal obstacles, and to many becoming something much more than a pop star. Love her or hate her — Kylie is ascending toward her own heaven and along the way sharing her love. To her amorous fans Kylie is truly a modern day incarnation of mighty Aphrodite. But just remember this, a nine year old version of yourself will always love Kylie for being certain and knowing that it’s no secret, she, after all, should be so lucky.

Zzzzzzzz

I. Am. Buggered.
(need I say more)

Rainy Days

The rain is pouring down on a Saturday afternoon. The cat is in a mood. The kids are bored. You're at your wits end. What can you possibly do to satisfy the family?
I can't speak for the cat, but following are a few ideas for the kids entertaining themselves that doesn't involve television and computer games.

1. Make a newspaper/magazine.
2. Draw a treasure map.
3. Paddle pop stick puppets.
4. Create a board game.
5. Be a fashion designer for the day — draw a clothing range.
6. Design a dream doll house.
7. Construct a doll house out of tissue boxes.
8. Paper doll making.
9. Felt badge making.
10. Fabric and straw ‘flower’ necklace making.
11. Playing dress ups.
12. Building an indoor cubby out of old bed sheets.
13. Get everyone into the kitchen and bake a cake.

These are just a few ideas from top of my head. What other rainy day activities can you think of? Lets continue this list. Leave a message in the comments section. You can even link to a craft project that you have done or blogged about before.

Something

It is taking so long to find one thing that I am really good at. So for now I will write. It may only be for this hour. The whim may only last this paragraph. But for now this is what I need to do.


Children are supposed to play and wear different hats each day. Make mistakes. Try new things then something else as they strive to become the person they are meant to be, and always were.
Some people know early on what their path is. There are others who finish high school, hit the age forty or even fifty and they are still finding that ‘something’ that defines and sets them apart from the rest of the tribe.


Until a few seconds ago I felt the usual anxiety over this matter. Somehow though, I figured there is no deadline for character or talent sculpting. One person can start playing piano at age two but not have music in their soul. Another person may, for the first time, pick up a paint brush after sixty years and discover what magic really is.


I may spend the rest of my life trying out new things, seeking that perfect ‘something’, and that is alright. I think.

Alphabet Cards

Just now I finished making alphabet cards for my daughter. The cards can be played in a variety of ways. Whether it be reorganizing the cards or simply naming the letter on the card. The back of each card has a word and picture associated with each letter of the alphabet.

I am on a roll at the moment. The other day I knitted a beanie for a new born baby — getting ready for the cold weather. And next on my agenda is to make a skirt for dress ups (just to clarify — it's for a toddler, not me)

I Remember: Part 2

I remember…

The smell of hot chips, candy, leather, and oiled metal filled the room. One song is fading and the lights are dimming. The mirror ball hanging from the centre most point begins to spin as newly flicked beams glance off its mosaic of mirrors.

The needle settles into a groove of another record. The first couple of bars play and a masculine voice gently begins to croon “Now, I had the time of my life”. Everyone is out on the floor moving in a single direction. Round and round — spinning with the dancing light in the darkness.  I imagine the swirling lights to be roller skate fairies. This is my kind of magic. Here, I am having the time of my life.

I Remember: Part 1

I remember…

Riding my bicycle down a sloping road. The front tyre rolls onto a chunky stone on otherwise smooth tar. An odd momentum occurs. I, and my bicycle are bouncing down the road, as though the ground were a trampoline.

At the bottom of the road I stop and the other two children I am riding with catch me up. They are laughing, and I am a somewhat puzzled — my brain is still trying to fathom what had happened.

My Creative Space

Tonight I finished knitting this beanie for my daughter. Thank goodness it fits. Thank goodness Gwen didn't have another chance to undo my work. And thank goodness this was a small project. Not bad for a design-it-as-I-go project. I will look at making more, for Bubba No. 2.

You too can sneak a peek at other creative spaces over at Kootoyoo.

My Life In Point

So, where am I at this week?

• I am still reading Mansfield Park.
• Picked up an issue of Vogue.
• Have restarted knitting a beanie, after my toddler unravelled my original work. Turned a bad thing into a good thing and used the opportunity to alter my design and notes.
• I have been doodling some fashion sketches.
• Discovered that Mongolian flavoured sauce doesn't really do it for me.
• Started listening to Joan Jett and The Divinyls.
• Am wondering why I cannot see the extra chocolate on the Double Coat Tim Tams biscuit.
• Thinking of ways to decorate my daughter's hair clips.
• Watching Enterprise while I knit.

Fashion Doodles

More Fashion Doodles

My Creative Space...

On the first day of March Mother Nature literally flipped a switch and the gentle breezes let us know that we can finally breathe comfortably. These days I am more of cold weather person, and would be the last person to complain about chilly days. After all the cold weather means eating tasty hot dinners and drinking hot chocolate — Who can say no to that?


On a creative front, this week I have been doodling in my sketch book, knitting a beanie for my two year old (it'll match a skirt I recently made for her), reading Mansfield Park, and playing Tomb Raider: Underworld on my DS.


Earlier in the week my daughter and I sat down together with a cutting a gluing project. As you can see below.

Check out some other wonderful creative spaces over at Kootoyoo — My Creative Space.
Have a lovely day.

Snoop My Stuff

I thought I would have a bit of fun and play along with Kirsty's Snoop My Stuff.


This little counter is in a constant state of flux, depending on my mood and interests. At the moment there are craft books, books by Jane Austen & Stephenie Meyer, Nintendo DS,stationery, art supplies, magazines — Frankie and Peppermint, teddy bear, Twilight action figures.

The following book shelf is something of an inspiration resource for art, craft and design. I have magazines, text books and coffee table books.

Visit Kirsty's blog at Kootoyoo to have a further snoop of other people's shelves.