Had a BLAST!

The workshop on Sunday was totally amazing. My beloved students all found there inner creativeness and poured it out on many pages throughout the day. We started with a little Chi Gong, to get our heart centres open and to let go of some fear then set individual intentions for the day. We did this out on the luscious green grass in the garden, really touched my mother nature before we got to all our juicy paints and embellishments.

It was a full on day, with the ladies creating 4 journal pages, learning and trying many different techniques and mediums. Have all look at the variety of pages created.

Kaye (Transforming Portrait Page)

Jade (Word Pop Page)


Alison (Resourceful Printing Page)

Claire ( Resourceful Printing Page)

Ashana (Resourceful Printing Page)



Lynette (Word Pop Page)

Annie (Word Pop Page)



Mary (Transforming Portrait Page)

Myself and Kaye (Word Pop Page)

By the end of the day the ladies had created amazing pages. I think a few of them were surprised at the talent that lay within and how much fun it was . I had a blast and am feeling grateful to have such a wonderful, open minded bunch of playful, creative girls!! Well done everyone!

and the winner is....

would you believe.....(do I sound like Maxwell Smart?) I actually drew 2 winners. The two names stuck together.So rather than a redraw or choosing one I'm giving away 2 gifts. I'm giving this upside down book to darling Taurian Jacky and this painting to delightful double Gemini Violette.

And if you would like to do some astrogical reading, today was a New Moon in Taurus, click here to take in Ashtara's view of this energy.Definitely food for the soul!!

Let the Love In...

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On the weekend I am teaching a Creative Journaling Workshop in a private studio with a number of amazing local women. They are putting on their creative hats for the day, brushes, scissors and paints in hand. I am so proud of these ladies already.....I'm not sure whether any of them have tried visual journaling before, so I am in admiration for the trust they are placing in themselves and me.I'm sure they with be like sponges and I have so much to share with them... Huge thanks already to my ladies.

Yesterday I put these fabric tags together to take to the workshop. I loved sewing the paper and fabric and lace collections together. Reminded me of when I used to sew paper on my little red Singer.

Spread Your Wings & Fly

BuBu Blossom's tiny wings are starting to spread, slowly and gently as they are delicate and young. Her designs ( I talk about her like she has her own identity and entity which I feel this business has) are in the hands of a lovely man in Melbourne. He is peddling BuBu's wares in gift shops, card shops and holistic shops.

There is nothing more I would love at this moment for BuBu's wings to spread to Melbourne.For her cards to be found in quaint shops that are unusual, perhaps with a vintage feel, an atmosphere of discovery curling around treasures that amaze and wow.

Please send her best wishes, to help her wings have the strength and courage to leave the ground. For her to be well received. From little things big things grow........

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For anyone in the Bay area I got these great letters at the Crazy Craft Warehouse. And they are above my window in my office. I am enjoying the rawness of the timber colour at the moment....thats not to say they won't get painted in the near future!

Q is for queens hat

Last night my children Cade 11 and Shaiyl 8 and I played our usual word game....using the letters of the alphabet in order to name a collection of things. It is usually fruit and veg or things you find at the supermarket, which is quite easy because there is so much to choose from. Last night the game took a twist and the collection of things was about what we wear...the list was really entertaining, as it always is when kids and adults play together....heres the list we came up with.

A. anorak

B. bootie

C. cap

D. dress

E. earring

F. footwear

G. gumboots

H. hat

I. insulation (?)

J. jandals (NZ thongs)

K. keyring

L. linen dress

M. man bag

N. nothing ( we laughed and laughed at this one)

O. overcoat

P. Penelope's hat

Q. queens hat

R. ruby ring (double points)

S. singlet

T. thongs

U. underwear

V. vest

W.waterproof watch (more double points)

X. xylophone print tshirt (isn't this the answer to all x questions)

Y. yaks coat

Z. zebra print tshirt

We laughed and laughed. Thought I'd sure some joy with you....

ps. this is my 400th post and to celebrate i have a give away..please leave a comment (and make sure I can find you through an email) and I shall announce a random winner next Friday.

Have you seen?

This is one of the things I treated myself to over Easter. It was the most amazing movie I have seen for a long time. It has had a profound and lasting effect...loved the story line, the costumes, the jewellery, the hair....the list goes on.What makes a good movie? For me it is one that gets me thinking way beyond viewing time, and The Duchess has an incredibly powerful story. I love a deep intense story line. And I found that here. Whilst I enjoyed the Marie Antoinette movie, the costume and decedent scenery, the story line didn't do it for me.

Interestingly the Duchess of Devonshire was friends with Marie Antoinette...having many parellels in their lives.

The Duchess of Devonshire's story was partly about women's in ground, ingrained and inherited need to please. And I recognised that this has journeyed down many generations. It gave me an understanding of where and why this need has come from. An element I am very aware of in my own personality. I also connected with the need for freedom and the bonds of motherhood....

So I am feeling inspired by the 1700's fashion, the piled up hair, feathers and flowers and the feminine strength that is within. Maybe some art around these themes to evolve.

Have you seen this movie? And what is your favourite part? Let me know if you feel a connection to this incredible portrayal....

today my inner critic dies!

This morning I woke from a profound and lasting dream. When I have those sort of dreams I am aware there is a deeper meaning in there somewhere, and it usually is about the coming day.......after checking my emails and doing a few quick blog reads before I took the kids to school I got a huge wake up call....and it was from my inner critic."Well you really stuffed that one up" and I started to agree, until another side of me came in with "Hang on a minute, there is a thousand reasons why this could have happened, its not always about me". That's when I realised just how much my ego self criticise....and it was in that moment I became aware that I have to stop it.Now. So with much determination I am laying my critic to rest today, burning ashes into the enthral and letting go by becoming conscious of my thoughts. And sending the negative talk back with love. Choosing more affirming ones.....I'll let you know how the funeral goes.


Aside from that I have been creating. I have been most inspired by DJ's beautiful textile books and although I didn't take this class with her I felt I could give it a go. I'm always telling my children to do that! This is work in progress. I'm kind of making it up as I go along.

I wanted to create a really special book that I can look through daily and really feel the decedent textures. I have a volume of personal affirmations that have come to me whilst mediating/visualizing, they have real significance to my core so I wanted to honour them by putting them in a special book with images and textures. Rather than a scrap of paper they are currently on.

And here is my article in the recent Cloth Paper Scissors, March /April about journaling. There are also some more pages on the online extras here to check out. The article is about taking an image and transforming it into many different identities....below is an image at the back of the magazine for your use to journal with. Use it in many different ways you can think of...and if you would like to email me with your journal page I'll post it on my blog.

If you are posting this image on your own blog in a journal page, I ask for the usually courtesy of acknowledgement. Thank you.

And finally I have 2 blank journals left, with about 60 pages in them. The front cover is a combination of print and original artwork. You can check out more details at my website.

" My inner critic can only be silenced through self love" Nic Hohn

CSR goodbyes

Day three at the CSR (seems like such a long time ago already).......I was in the lovely DJ's Fabric Collage class. She is such a caring and compassionate teacher, great informative demo's and process to try, where messy is good...Got to love that!. Lots of great new techniques to take home with me.... then it all seemed to end so quickly. With bags and materials packed we all headed for the door. Home would bound.

Here are a few pics taken over the weekend....

Liz (aka Miss Oddity) who I found not that odd at all. She said that she'll have to try harder....working to all hours of the night.

Maryce, Diana and I.. go the Queenslanders!

Dot and I were in DJ's class together on the last day.

Ruth has an amazing warm energy that I could feel when I stood by her.

Robyn and Bevlea, biding goodbyes.

Eliza, Bernie, myself, DJ, Glenda and Stephanie.

The last of the group to depart.

There were many other amazing women that crossed my paths, that I didn't get photos with. Denise, Deb, Jacky....

Creative Soul Retreat was certainly a treat for me, I loved being creative for 3 solid days. I loved being a student and learning from 3 amazingly talented American women. I loved meeting other women who were into this creativity. I loved it all.......mostly I loved that I found my tribe. Feeling that I found were I fit in, were my creativity fits into the pocket of this amazing mixed media world. Am I going back next next year? You bet, can't wait for more heart felt conversations, great learning and awesome connections....on all levels.

what is success?

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I feel I am getting a little closer to my own answer....at last. I have read so many self help books that ask what does success mean to you? and I never had any idea. Sure there is a long list of some 'things' but it didn't feel real. Until last weekend.

I had a great time at the art show opening and connected with lots of wonderful friends....however the conversations around the room reflected a not so positive time for buying art. By the end of the night I was a little tired of listening to why there were not as many 'red dots' as last year. Many artists find it challenging not to compare themselves with others who have sold or why they have sold previously, but not this time around. Thankfully I have learnt to see the bigger picture and try not to get into those mind games....it is not always about the art itself.

I had a wonderful opportunity to reflect on my 4 hour trip home.....and it came to me. Success for me is about me setting my own goals and doing the best job I can to move towards it. And with that revelation I could see that I had many successes in this trip to Toowoomba.What a relief!

A couple of creative girlfriends did indeed have sales at this show btw, congrats Anna, Kym and Amanda....for proving great art is still selling!