Books Alive

So this is why I wake each morning to find my books all out of order...

B&B Junkie

    I am a B&B junkie, proud and unashamed. What does that mean? It means I love, love, love watching The Bold and the Beautiful. I enjoyed watching the show when I was a teenager But could only see it on school holidays. I am now able to have my daily dosage now that I am home looking after my daughters.
    The other day I took this happy snap of the show. It was a Halloween episode and one of my favourite characters, Amber, was dressed as a pirate princess. The makeup was fantastical and gorgeous. Totally in the spirit of Halloween.

Abstract Much

What is the meaning behind this photo?
That I cannot say.

Is it abstract?
It certainly looks that way.

Are you making a statement with hidden symbolism?
Nah! I just wanted to photograph a balancing bird with a falling feather.

Twilight

    Tonight I took a drive down the road for a twilight photography session...

 

 

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose

    I love John Singer Sargent's painting, Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. The representation of twilight is so accurate and natural. Of course, this was because the artist only worked on this painting for the two minutes of each day when the sun was setting. You can imagine, this painting took quite a long time to complete.
    I have a notion to one day to do a modern version of this painting but with photography. I think it is the lighting, the flowers and the use of chinese lanterns that do it for me. It is a magic piece of work.

Capturing Beauty

    When you are landlocked at home it is nice being able to find natural beauty in ones own backyard. Even if it is just the little things. Such as a neighbour's jasmine growing through the fence, an aging cobweb decorated plant, sunlight filtering through the leaves and branches of a dense tree, or my font development using dry, fallen leaves.
    I have been having fun playing with my camera manual settings. Some of my favourite settings are monochrome and tungsten lighting. There is a classiness when shooting in black and white. And of course, I like tungsten lighting for it's 'unreal' colour quality - strange and wonderful things happen to my photos.

Tutorial - Yarn Doll

    Today's tutorial is all about doll making - old school. When I was a little girl I was briefly in the Brownies. My most favourite part of being in Brownies was the craft sessions. I probably would have stayed in Brownies if that was all we did. One thing I remember making was a yarn doll. And I decided to recreate this doll, loosely based on my recollections of this childhood project.

What will you need?

• Yarn
• Book
• Scissors
• Glue
• Scrap felt

1. Tie yarn around a book and continue winding 100 times.

2. After 100 winds tie the yarn up near one end of the book,
with a spare piece of yarn, pulling it tight.

3. Slide the yarn off the book and tie another piece of yarn a little
further down from the first tie. This makes the head of the doll.

4. Cut the looping yarn on the lower edge.

5. Separate the hanging yarn into three sections. The side pieces must be
thinner than the middle because these will be the arms.

6. Plait one of the side sections and tie off the end with a spare piece of yarn.

7. Plait the second arm, tie off, as per step 6.
Trim the edges [hands] to make them neat and tidy.

8. Tie a spare piece of yarn a bit further down from the arms.
This creates a waist for body.

9. Just as was done with the arms we now plait legs. To do so
split the remainder yarn in two and begin plaiting one half,
and tie off the end with a spare piece of yarn.

10. Repeat step 9 with the second leg, by plaiting and tying it
off at the end.

11. Trim the ends of the legs to make neat and tidy feet.



12. As a final measure cut out and glue mouth and eyes onto the face.
You can use some scrap felt to make the facial features.



Love Cabin Available

    I have some lovely news for you. My Love Cabin art is for sale at my Red Bubble shop. It is available as a card, print and poster. You know, I was just thinking it would make a sweet Valentines Day card.

Simply follow this link to reach the Love Cabin.



Birdie Rainbows

    It is such a blessing to have rainbow lorikeets living in the area. There is even a small handful that like to hang out in the tree that grows over my property. I would like to do more to attract these birds into my yard. Perhaps I could buy some parrot food on the next shopping trip.

 

The Cat Waits

    The cat waits and wishes the birds beyond would befriend her.

    Piper is an unusual cat. She doesn't much like the company of other cats. Her one animal friend had once been a dog, named Honey. They used to play together a lot. I wonder if Piper ever thinks about Honey. Does she miss her?

Just a Lil' Something

I am blog tired, but I thought I would share just a little photographic something...

Short Thought

    Can you imagine how happy Andy Warhol would have been if Photoshop had been around in his day? Or Lucy Maude Montgomery! What if she had a laptop at her disposal in her day? These things that we take for granted today would have utterly rocked their worlds. Ponder that.

I often feel that pidgeons sound French when they cooing.

Can You Spot The Difference?

It Is Too Warm

... to do anything. So says The Cat...

... and quite honestly, I second that emotion.
I guess the fake winter we just had in summer has done it's dash.

Something to Sew

 

    Last night I whipped out the sewing machine. In about fifteen minutes and with no pattern, I made a pouch for my husband's ipod. I used two felt pieces in contrasting colours. The pieces were folded down then machine stitched with an edge stitched effect. The finishing touch were some velcro to seal the pouch closed.

    I love the small projects that can be done in a matter of minutes. Don't you?