Tea + Pancake Brunch!

Mmmm blueberries! Mum went out at got these for us specially - so sweet :)

Mum set the table for us - too cute! 

Mum even left instructions... haha

The gorgeous Charlotte! I love this girlie to bits!

Yuuuuuummm.

Pretty decent self-portrait of us!

You're beautiful Charlotte!

This morning I had the priviledge of cooking pancakes for Charlotte + myself as a late breakfast. So yum! And the best part was being able to chill with this lovely woman! I'll miss you.

x

Thank you's

Today I have spent my time making envelopes and cards for some people who have generously donated money to me recently - it is really the only way I can say thank you!

In other news, I am now finding it quite difficult to comprehend that in just 13 sleeps I will be jumping on-board a long-haul flight. Alone.

Now, to many people this wouldn't be such a huge issue, but I am not one who loves to fly... we have a  home video of myself and my brother reading pamphlets on out flight to Austria in 2007... my brother tells the camera excitedly about the different games he can play, and movies he can watch, as he is reading the in-flight entertainment book. Me? I merely show the camera the safety manual I cling to desperately; I have no words, just an anxious look on my face.

Hahahaha....... ha.

Take off was the next obstacle: I grasped the armrests, cried, shook, and held back a scream.

So... 24 hours on a couple of flights should be fun.

x

Parachute 2012!!

The two week countdown is on!

To start it off, here are photos from my time at Parachute's Indie Craft Market:

Welcome to my stall!

Thank you Britty for letting me use this owl-house!

I was stoked that I was able to see so many of the people I hold close to my heart! Made my day that much more amazing.

And the lovely Laura! :)

I ended up shoving some paper into my typewriter for people to have a play on - the kids were probably the most excited about this! It was funny how many people I had to turn down when asked if it was for sale.

The beautiful sunset; cute decoration/father-son at Jono + Geneva's performance; Rose excited for The Rocket Summer!

Super stoked to see The Rocket Summer live! And to top it off, Relient K followed after! Eeee!

Ascend The Hill's performance. So amazing. This photo makes me think that it looks like God's presence is raining down... love it.

And now I will just show some photos from the days leading up to Parachute - the rest of the crafts/bit-n-bobs I put together with help from such generous friends.

DIY stamp-a-message onto reels of fabric to do at the stall.

Bunting waiting to be finished off, a floral pin-board (that Christine bought!!), and some decorative items for the stall.

Smokey thought he would help out... by ankle-tapping me throughout the night.

Bags waiting to be sewn and pressed for the chalk-board necklaces!

Some of the bags that Kirsten made for me - legend!

I thought that I had better start my final drawing at 2am...

The subjects of previous image.

Final drawings!

The super cute chalk-board necklaces! Thanks Sinead for the adorable bows! And Uncle Black Beetle's for the chain :)

The selection of collar guards I made! I was also so happy that Jahnea and Jessi bought one each! I love that they went to people I appreciate.

And finally, these are some of the collars I was selling! Haha awkward self-portraits much?

This year's Parachute was probably my favourite thus far... I was surrounded by the people I love, doing what I love, and getting 'paid' for it! I feel so blessed to know the people I do. You all know who you are (pretty much everyone I saw at Parachute), and I want you to know my love for you is so great, and you never fail to astound me at how generous, and caring you are.

So, back to the Indie Craft Market - it was the best event!

And to make it even more amazing, from the generosity of Parachute punters + friends, I was able to make just over $700, all of which is going to help me fund my trip, and cover my accommodation etc. The majority of this was made purely from purchases of my items, and the rest so kindly donated by a few people I had never met, but who had the greatest hearts. To those people, if you read this, thank you. Thank you so much.

Right, so now I am going to list off my favourite moments of my day, mostly so I can come back to this post to reminisce.

- driving to-and-from our cars with fellow crafters, on the back of a small open-sided freight-truck: we looked like a side show, and we made a big deal of making out that we were famous to one kid who believed us, as we were driving through the site at walking pace... haha

- Jessi Mee taking over my stall at one point, and selling a few items like a boss! (mostly involved her stepping in front of me, telling people why/what they should buy, and convincing them to make a purchase :) Love it!)

- Relient K + The Rocket Summer, with Larissa, Rose, Renee, Joshy, Christine + Jacob, Anna, Kaitlin, and Laura!

- Larissa telling a guy who had his sweaty armpit resting on my shoulder, "Escuse me, but will you be paying by the minute?"

- Hot chips/dogs with Larissa + Josh to keep warm

- seeing my reflection at Hunter Gatherer after a day in the sun, and being mortified at how sunburned my face was

- not really a 'favourite' moment (because it made me super sad), but saying farewell to Josh, Suze + Marcus until next year, and then Keegan, were emotional, yet treasured moments, resulting in me reaching my car at 12am in tears

- cracking up with Josh at our weird head-bobbing moves + looks during Relient K

- hearing the excitement in people's voices and comments when looking through my crafts

- meeting people who knew people from FS

- Sending Chalice + Stacy to get me an EP of a band they had just listened to, but bringing back a piece of deep-fried bread that resembled a lump of fat, because the EP had sold out! Hahahaha, but it was actually so yummy...

- many of the moments where you see someone you haven't for a long time, and excitedly jump up and hug them!

- getting to catch up with Marcus at random points throughout the day

In one day, so many amazing moments were shared.

One word of advice - don't drive at night if you are exhausted.

To be completely honest I shouldn't have driven home last night at 12.30am, after 2.5 hours sleep the night before... I eventually made it home, but I have learnt my lesson. Next time I am taking up the offers to crash in someone's tent for the night! It's too scary to drive that tired.

Thank you all for being so cool. No really, you are.
You're even cooler if you read through all of that.

x

Parliament of Owls.

As Parachute Music Festival draws nearer and nearer, my stress levels are getting higher and higher! I have so much more to do before it... this Saturday is when I will be selling my wares.

By the way, if you just happen to be at Parachute on Saturday, please stop by and say hello?

The Indie Market is going to be between Mainstage + M-Road (opposite the Lake).

Look for Chaos + Colour!

Some bits and bobs...

The epic map-flags that Sinead, Lydia, Britt + Nathanaelle have all helped me to create! Thank you all so much!

One of the helpers in action! Woo Sinead!

Slowly getting there... they are now waiting to be stuffed, stitched, nose-d, eye-d, and named.

They remind me of the inflatable kiddie-punching bags that you can never knock to the ground...

I thought you all might want to have a look at this freaky puppet mum hauled out from the bottom of a cupboard. I used to play with this. No wonder my mind is a mess sometimes... haha. By the way, this is one-half of the Punch + Judy duo (Punch).

Mum also found these old mix-and-match cards where there are about 20 different characters and you can either match them all up, or mix them. They were so much fun as a kid! What I love about them is that they are all from different times (the costumes they wear), and also in different classes (poor/middle/rich etc.).

Just look how amazing the illustrations are!

Some of my bounty :)

I managed to rope an anonymous man into modeling this lace collar. (And just to clarify, it is not my brother - my brother shaves haha).

So everything is slowly coming together, and I know that it will all be okay in the end :)

x

Music for my kaleidoscope mind.

So I think I will follow yesterday's theme of what can inspire me - and music is a huge part of that for me! As cliche as it sounds...

But when I listen to music, I think. And when I think, I see pictures.

My mind is one giant kaleidoscope of colours, images, and patterns.

And snapshots.

I tend to take a lot of snapshots of memories with my mind, there for me to flick through like and album.

Okay, enough about that... here are some of the songs currently inspiring me! Enjoy!

x

Flickr favourites

I thought I might give you all a bit of an insight into some of the Flickr photographers whose work I love + adore. Flickr is one of my biggest sources of inspiration.

Francesca Jane Allen
This photograph is probably one of my all-time favourites. The rich colour, the textures, the textiles... everything.

Molly Hare
I absolutely adore photographs of mountains, and this one I feel just shows how intense they are.

New Legs
I could so see this becoming inspiration for a textile print! A line drawing to symbolise this would look amazing.

Ash Lie
Isn't this collage amazing?

Monika Traikov
I have loved this designer's work for so long, and I always find I come back to them to just wonder at how they have done some of the images, and creates a huge curiosity in my own work.

Look left and look right
I just love this photographer.
This photograph is beautiful.

Oakmoss
I have a guilty-pleasure for softened, out-of-focus images.
Especially this one.

Alisa Demidova
This photographer's work is stunning. I feel like I have been taken to a different period in time.

Veerledee
And this lovely photographer is a new friend of mine. Her story, her strength, and her ability to take each day as it comes is just remarkable and so inspiring!

x