[sweet Chrissy treats]

My awesome punky friend Helen introduced me to these little treats at her Girls' Night In parties. Just so simple, white choccy dipped marshmallows with 100s and 1000s. They look so pretty in a glass too. The regular marshmallows at Woollies were sold out yesterday, but after a taste test today, I reckon the swirls are even better. Spunky little snowman pops will be a big hit with the big and little kids at Christmas lunch tomorrow.

...and what do you do with the leftover chocolate and 100s and 1000s?? 

White chocolate hearts, of course!

Merry Christmas Eve. xx

[cheating with Donna Hay]

I like to bake, but often don't as it's just way too tempting to eat everything! Cupcakes are needed for a birthday party at the skate park with the boys tomorrow, and when I saw this beautiful packaging (as only Donna knows how to do) I thought, why not? 

Easy peesy choccy cupcakes - just add a couple of eggs and milk to this and that's the lot!

Donna is such a legend at branding too...

Even the cupcake cases are pretty.

Who wants to lick the beaters?

Dollops of chocolatey goodness...

I'll lick the spatula and bowl!

Baked perfection!

Now the birthday boy is quite partial to Cadbury's 'Bubbly' at the moment, so the request for cake decoration was decided upon early in the peace. He conceded that not everyone likes mint chocolate, so he's more than happy to remove the offending article and dispose of it for them. What a caring boy!

[unexpected bargain hunting]

I decided this morning that I'd see if I could get some Contact (that had a wood pattern) to give a facelift to the dodgy old white bedside table I'd rescued from under the house for my boy's new room. As chance would have it, we happened to be going past my favourite op shop at Lawnton, so I thought why not just drop in and see if they had a pine bedside table to match his chest of drawers...

Bingo! We found the perfect complementary piece. It was sporting some lovely carving by it's former owners Justin and Jack, but a side trip to the hardware on the way home for some wood filler will smooth out the rough edges. Before I got to the op shop I had in my mind I didn't want to spend more than $20, and was stoked when the volunteer at Endeavour told me the unpriced piece was $19.95. Bargain!

My eldest has been getting into hockey at home lately and using my old stick (from the 80s) round the back yard. He was very excited when he sprung this pair of sticks at the op shop, and for $9.95 and $3.95, I could hardly say no now could I? I'd rather the boys running around the yard than sitting on the computer, so it's WIN WIN!

[the bed head project]

It's my eldest's 12th birthday tomorrow, and I made it, I got the room habitable for him to move into his new space. I am far from finished (still so much to sort) but it is all in boxes, bags or on shelves ready for me to got through. Apart from dumping almost half a wheelie bin full of junk, by far my biggest achievement in this room's transformation has been making an upholstered bed head.

I was lucky enough to have my timber cut to the correct size at Bunnings, so was a simple glue and nail job to put the pine frame together with the MDF base. A trip to Spotlight for the wadding and fabric (which my boy chose himself), and then it was staple gun time.

Wadding and fabric cut to size

Fabric stapled on, and split batten attached

I hadn't forgotten the techniques of folding beautiful hospital corners on the edges from when I learnt to make my own canvasses, and I'm so happy with how neat they turned out. The trick to the bed head is how it's attached to the wall with a split batten - one half goes on the bed head, and then this slots in onto the other half attached to the wall. 

Still some more refurbishing to do to the shelving, not to mention the mountain of toys to sort through, but my 12-year-old with the attitude to match should have enough of his own space to have pre-teenage angst in for the time being. The hardest thing will be getting all the things sorted before he decides to have a look at what's there 'for old time's sake'. I'm certain stealth sorting still be will be required to achieve my task of culling the unnecessary clutter.

Almost there. xx

[decluttering and my new friend eBay]

I've been a very slack blogger this past couple of weeks, but it's been no vacation that's for sure. The last week of school was just crazy with a function or break-up party almost every day, and the first week of the school holidays has seen me on 'operation declutter' ... and it's a huge task. 

The kids have been banned from their playroom for the past few months as they refused to clean it up. 

I'm amazed I can actually see the floor in this photo, as it wasn't visible at all before I started.

With my eldest turning 12 next week, and the obvious need of separating 6 and 12 year olds into separate bedrooms (the time of bunking in together should've ended six months ago), I have set this date as my deadline to get this room cleared out. Without a deadline it will never happen!

Unfortunately to make room to store excess items until I can dispose of them (sell, give away or dump), it's meant I've had to clean out other areas of the house, and has inspired me to organise and declutter quite a few places like the cupboard under the vanity in the bathroom and the pantry! Organisational bliss has ensued. Yay!!

eBay is my new friend, I have listed 10 items and already sold one. The dump and the Vinnies clothing bin have been visited a few times too, and my nighttime trek to the wheelie bin (while the kids are asleep and can't intercept me) with old or broken toys not worth donating or selling has been done with an evil laugh. Mwahahaha.

[dancing with the divas]

 

It's what we live for (and get nervous butterflies about) every year ... dance concert ... and yesterday was our big day. Quite a few of us got some last minute practice in by dancing two of our dances in the morning at the earlier concert for the Chermside studio, then at 4.30pm it was Albany Creek's turn. I was quite amazed how this 'trial run' got rid of my jitters, and I danced 'Can't be Tamed' in the arvo the best I ever have. So chuffed about this!  

   

My lovely dancing diva mates and I danced our hearts out to 'Can't be Tamed' and 'Summer of 69', and then partook in a little backstage party in the dressing room with a few bubbles before our dance 'Fever' late in the second half. I'd injured my heel landing heavily earlier in the year, and by this stage it was really starting to hurt whenever I put any pressure on it ... but as they say, 'The show must go on!' and I really wanted to get back out there and dance!

After 'Fever' we only had a few songs for a costume change before we jumped back on stage into the finale. I think we all had a big grin on our faces when we left the stage after our bows as we got a huge cheer from the audience. Go divas! :)  

[muscle cars and the lady in the hat]

Struggling for time and inspiration to do things arty, I thought I'd get a bit of culture from Artscape 2011 on ABC (iView of course). Sometimes I find the toffee-nosed arty types a bit too much to bear, but I was pleasantly surprised to see the featured artist, Ben Quilty, was just your average 'down-to-earth' bloke, who painted portraits of his mates, and cars, notably his Torana. The way he slaps on the thick paint (by the cartridge) is amazing to watch. It just looks like a big mess, but you step back and can see all the contours, movement and the whole image takes on it's own energy and life.

Elwood Torana No. 7 (2003)

Paul's Falcon (2009)

Ben also happened to win the Archibald Prize this year, for his portrait of artist Margaret Olley (pictured below with Ben and his two kids). It's not the first time her portrait has won the Archibald - she was the subject of William Dobell's 1948's winning portrait. Sadly Margaret passed away in July this year, aged 88, but she was there on opening night to celebrate Ben's win.

[set and forget orchids]

I don't have much of a green thumb, but I absolutely love orchids and was so pleased to see one of the three orchid plants I own in flower for the second time. 

This orchid used to be stuck on a tree in my front yard and always looked sad and bedraggled, and it never got flowers. When we cut the tree down a few years ago (it was invading the pipes with tree roots) I made sure the treelopper kept the section for me with the orchid attached. The plant was unceremoniously ripped off the tree and then put in a fork of the mango tree in our backyard. I obviously found the right place for it, as the falling mango leaves that it catches must feed it, and to my surprise, last year it flowered for the first time ever! Until then I had no idea what colour the blooms were! 

I don't know what particular species is it, and one day I might try and identify it, but for the moment I'm happy with the fact it's an orchid and when it flowers the large sprays of dainty yellow flowers look spectacular against the light green foliage of the leaves. :)

p.s. I must make some time to do a painting of these pretty little flowers before they're gone for another year.

[choccywoccydoodah]

Wow! What these guys do with chocolate is a-mazing – and the entire cake is edible! Sculpting with  choccy-goodness, the chocolatiers are not just cake makers, they are true artistic geniuses; I guess it's safe to say their Mums didn't tell them not to play with their food. 

Here's a little teaser video...

Catch the series if you can on ABC iView. 

[free eBooks]

I was renewing our library books and videos online the other day (4 weeks always seems to come around quicker than we can read or watch what we get out), and was excited to find a new edition on the library's website – eBooks are available!

There are also audio eBooks, and videos too.

     

How cool, the stingy scrooge in me rubbed her hands with glee – FREE eBooks. Don't get me wrong, I love books, but I'm finding my hoarding gene is being bred out these days, as once I've finished with something I'm learning to let go and pay it forward!

I'm currently catching up on reading all the Harry Potter books (on my iPhone) – up to Order of the Phoenix so far, so I was very happy to find this video on the eLibrary, narrated by the wonderful Hugh Laurie (aka House). 

Here's the link for Moreton Bay Region's eLibrary, you need to be a member to log on, but no doubt other Council libraries have the same facility. Happy (free) reading, listening or viewing!

[thursday therapy]

With my graphic design projects up-to-date, I thought it was time for some therapy, so I decided to set an hour aside to do a little drawing and painting. Inspired by a lovely little book called "Brisbane is a Garden", I had a look in my garden for some leaves and flowers. The begonias with the last of their flowers about to drop, were the perfect subject.

Taking some technique tips in drawing from my youngest (I just so love his flathead drawing), I thought I would make sure all my linework on the drawing was done with purpose, and that each mark I made was the final one (no rubbing out allowed).

I'd forgotten how much I enjoy using watercolours, which were the first media I ever painted in seriously. I also think the secret is not what you paint, but what you don't.

[the avocado experiment]

A few months ago my 6-year-old and I were having avocado on toast for brekky, and he casually asked, "Mummy, will a tree grow from this seed?" After checking out a couple of YouTube videos, our kitchen window sill experiment began.

Suspended by toothpicks in a old jam jar, our seed slowly (and I mean SLOOOWLY) grew roots into the water. A couple of months later a shoot started to grow sky-ward, with the tiniest of leaves on it. I was thinking this was going to be one of those 'we gave it a go, but didn't quite succeed' projects. 

In September we had a week's holiday, and it was a lovely surprise to come home and find these large green leaves atop our little avocado tree. I guess now it's time to plant this tiny tree into a pot, and see how many years before we get an avocado. About seven I reckon. :)

[a night out with the Monsters]

Very early in my career I had the privilege of making a few props for video production, and enjoyed every moment of working on set. I'm fascinated by all the amazing things that go into behind the scenes of film and animation, and know that what we see on screen is just the 'tip of the iceberg' to what really goes on.

Last Friday night, I had the pleasure of meeting one of Australia's most talented artists in the film industry, John Cox. He was at the opening of his regional touring exhibition of 'How to Make a Monster' at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum at Petrie (located adjacent to North Pine Country Park, where they have the markets).

All I can say is, "Wow!" He has been a pioneer in the industry of animatronics, and sculpture, and his credits include an Academy Award for his work on 'Babe'. 

As you enter the Museum building you are greeted by a motion-sensor animatronic eye that blinks and looks you up and down ... which is a little bit unnerving. Full-size Gorillas from 'George of the Jungle 2' stand guard at your side, and a fibreglass dinosaur sits on a table with clay for the kids (and big kids like me) to sculpt and make your own monster. There are two other exhibition spaces, including a couple of video presentations on how they made the props for 'Racing Stripes', 'Komodo' and 'Peter Pan' — we didn't get time to see everything Friday night, so we'll definitely be back for a another look.

The one-legged animatronic parrot from the movie 'Peter Pan'.

If you have an opportunity to go to this exhibition, I would highly recommend it, it's FREE and on until 29 January, and perfect for the kids on school holidays as there are lots in interactive activities. 

To find out more about the monsters at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum, check out this link.

(Also, you'll see some of my work at the Museum too, as I've done the Museum's external banner signage, and some of the internal exhibition signage on their regular displays.)

[having a Jane Jetson moment]

I'm not usually one to impulse buy anything, but I had a moment a few weeks back on eBay, and for once I'm not regretting it AT ALL. 

Meet RoboVac ... he is my new best friend (well, I'm not sure if it's a he or a she, but I don't think the name is all that girly, so HE it is!) 

While I happily tapped away working at my computer today, he happily went around and cleaned up - even under the kid's desk where the rice cake crumbs were. His little sensors find any objects in his way and he just moves around them, he even goes back to his dock to recharge when his battery gets low! What's even better is that over the weekend, we went out for the day, and he cleaned while we were out. 

 If you were a fan of the cartoon 'The Jetsons', then you'll remember Rosie their maid, and all the fancy technical automated do-dads they had. (Scarily, we actually have video phones now, so all we need are flying cars!)

[chips off the ol' block]

Well it was just over a week ago when I attended the Youth Art Awards with my boys (aged 6 and 11), they both had entries in the Awards and were eagerly awaiting to hear if they had won a prize. Sadly, it was not their year, but there were a few moments of excitement when my eldest's name was called out for 2nd place for 3D art, but the image of his friend's artwork was up on screen. Oops, run sheet malfunction – the curator of the gallery didn't update it from last year's winners! 

Doesn't matter though, I think their art is a winner just the same.

'Flathead' by Ryan, aged 6

'Hogwart's Sorting Hat' by Jamie, aged 11

So much fantastic work on display! This horsey was my favourite.