Quick Fixing ....

Aimee over at Artsyville asked us about our quick fixes

which is rather uncomfortable for me 

as I kind of think my life is one long string of quick fixes

I am no Martha Stewart with a calender of things to be covered

and if I went down the road of things that literally need fixing 

then this list would be an endless litany of embarrassing household debarcles

so I decided that rather than concentrating on the negative

I would focus on positive quick fixes

things that make my day a bit brighter in a short time

and allow me to hold onto the delusion

 that the rest of the house isn't falling apart around me...

so number one is go and cut some jasmine to make my studio smell lovely

I will ignore the fact that the arbour which is groaning under its gorgeous scent

is held up with cable ties tied to a down pipe

which you can just see in the bottom of the photo below

and to get the photo I was required to venture amongst the triffid like foliage

that has taken over the side of our house

I felt like an explorer by the time I emerged

it was worth it though because now I can enjoy the aroma wafting through the studio

making all seem lovely and spring like

and as a bonus I used pretty paper cups in this gorgeous blue

which means I won't have to soak a little vase after they die to remove all the toxic sap

a lesson learnt after last spring when the pinterest inspired jasmine in cut glass crystal centrepiece had some unexpected consequences

not the place for details... just think disgusting sappy tinged drinks 

and a somewhat disastrous start to a dinner party a couple of weeks later

which brings me to another favourite quick fix for my soul

I love to cruise Pinterest and imagine I have actually cooked some of those meals

made some of those seasonally wonderful things, or have a house that is gorgeous

don't underestimate the importance of fantasy in maintaining a healthy self image people

if I sit and pretend it is a site dedicated to my wonderfullness for 15 mins

I float around for hours after

all I have to do is pretend that the house I happen to find myself in

is someone else's ...

but my favourite two quick fixes are a cup of tea

any tea, a stonking great mug or cup of the stuff

and a chance to sit and draw

just for a little while

it calms my brain and lets me escape 

into a few moments of line and colour

shape and form

light and shadows

it soothes my brain and makes all right in the world

it doesn't have to be perfect or finished

it just has to be there emerging on the paper

it is the greatest quick fix around ...

This is also my link up to APR with its theme of shadows

I figure that all my drawings have tone... therefore shadows are a given... sort of

talk about a quick fix!!!!

I would also like to take a moment to hope all my East Coast blogging friends

are safe and that the damage is easily and quickly fixed for them

sending you all lots of positive thoughts...xx

Links to my last two posts are here ...

Time for Winners to be Grinners ...

A Pair and a Spare ....

Time for the Winners to be Grinners....

Drum Roll please 

it is time to draw the 300 followers give away

so many entries were received we had to abandon the tea cup

and instead resorted to the fruit bowl... sans fruit of course

So question was how to draw it

Phantom was full of ridiculous fantastic suggestions

some of which involved complicated algorithms, 

and one half listened to suggestion in which the only words I caught 

were air compressor and catchers mitt ...

so Phantom was duly ignored, the entries were dumped into the fruit bowl

which led to how do we get them out in a fun way

air compressors were again mentioned

and dismissed

and then Mushu wanted up on the table to see what we were discussing

and the brilliant solution emerged ...

Mushu looked suitably worried at our dastardly grins but all was forgotten when Phantom

stuck a bit of dog treat in the bowl

that snout dove in there at warp speed

and he happily pushed out two names trying to get at that little morsel of wonderful

Congratulations to Tammie Lee for winning the Bowls painting...

To Nordljus for winning the paint tubes ...

Thanks to another treat buried by my assistant

Cindy Adkins has won the ornamental cabbages ...

and Sandra Busby gets the Pears

though you will note that the papers were getting a touch gross

due to an unexpected amount of dog saliva

which made unfolding them quite the gruesome task....

Because there were so many entries 

and because I was so thrilled and humbled by the response

I decided to also give away three A4 fine art prints of my header

and so one more bit of treat

and Mushu happily pushed out three names...

 so the following three poeple have all won a the prints

congrats to 

Netty

Missy K

Katie R

I would like to thank you all for entering

I would like to thank Phantom for her useless wonderful suggestions

and Mushu for being an adorable little snuffling drawing machine

though this led to a diva moment

and he then spent the next five minutes continuing to gaze at me hopeful for more snacks

tough luck buddy you made me get dog saliva fingers

still grossing out over that ...

I will be in contact with you all to get your details so I can get these off to you

or if you read this then email me at tki46582@bigpond.net.au

Thanks again to everyone for entering and being part of the fun... xx

Phantom has just read this and demanded a retraction...

there was no catchers mitt mentioned

rather it was a cone around the dog's head

I would like to apologise to Phantom for any distress this may have caused

not ...xx

my last two post links are here in case you want to check them out ...

A Pair ... and  a Spare ...

The Ear Flap ...

A Pair .... And A Spare ....

Huge thanks to everyone for entering the give away

and huge welcome to the new followers

it is a little overwhelming that so many of you want to be part of the fun

but completely awesome too... it has made it all a great week

I will be drawing it this evening and will post the results in the morning

and seeing as so many have entered I decided I will also draw an extra three names

and they will receive an fine art print of the painting that is my header ...

but lets move onto my painting week

I have spent this week working on a commission and playing catch up

and fuelling the mad frenzy of work

and getting me through the madness that is our normal week

have been these new teas from Twinings

The packaging is totally awesome

and I spent a few spare moments sketching them up

and while I didn't quite nail the magnificence of the actual boxes

it was lots of fun to get in and paint them

and I will revisit them when the schedule lightens up a bit

but it was fun none the less

They taste great too

especially the Blossom one

and the Jasmine one

that pair are simply delicious

I am a total sucker for citrus and jasmine scented teas

and the lavender one is lovely

though not quite loving it as much

maybe the Lavender is a bit calming

and I soooo don't need calming

well actually I probably do as I have been running around like a headless chicken all week

and can I say it doesn't look right typing headless chicken

over here we would say headless chook

but I still remember the confusion of Sinus asking where to find the hot chooks

when we lived in Florida... the puzzled looks were a crack up

which is a shame as I love the word chook... you get to be crook as a chook

which probably makes no sense as I am not aware that chickens often get sick

but I love the saying none the less

So wishing everyone a happy Friday over at PPF

and at APR where I am sneaking into the pair themes by saying 

that I have a pair of new favourite teas... and a spare...

I am off to work out how I to best draw the paintings

the cup of entries is looking a wonderfully full ....xx

If you haven't entered then head over here and add your name

I will update this post and let you know if I have closed it

and done the draw ...

the draw has now closed and been done

I will be posting the results very soon...xx

the link to the winners post is here....

My last two post links are here ...

The Ear Flap ...

Sneaky Sketches ...

The Ear Flap ....

 You have to love a topic that gives you the excuse to flap your ears

and Aimee over at Artsyville gave me the excuse to have a good old snoop

when she set the topic Overheard for List It Tuesday

 I wish I had one of these spy bug gizmos that I saw online

because then I could have been bugging with bugs

and ovehearing from overhead

and all those other lame plays on words

but instead of going all high tech I had to go old school

so I got my sneak on, let my ears flap like mad and here is what I heard ...

I heard my daughter Jet Puff Phantom

 muttering about a pox on both their houses while making herself a cuppa

I was so not touching that one but I have been checking the house for pox ever since

just in case I was one of the "both"

On the subject of Phantom I also heard her and Mushu the wonder mutt

having the same conversation they have every day

she lies on her bed

he lies on her legs / book/ remote/ ipod

she tells him to move

he sort of growl/ talks

she tries to reason with him

he growl/talks some more, though at a higher pitch

this continues until she gets totally frustrated and rats him out to one of us

or he runs out of growlish words and gives up and moves

it would be hilarious if they didn't do it every single day... about three times a day

Phantom's revenge was overheard later

because the studio is next to the pool

and she was sweetly luring the bed hog dog nice and close

which was followed by a splash and a yelp

then hysterical laughter

now I would love to tell you he won't fall for that again

but sadly he fell for it at least two more times

and will continue to fall for it all summer

I also heard a lady in the grocery shop talking on her phone

about a rash her husband had in his nether regions

I kid you not... I steered well clear of the checkout line she went through

I heard my butt tell me it was going to get bigger if I ate more chocolate

I chose to ignore that one... I was just overhearing, not acting on anything after all

I kind of overheard someone say that it is possible to do some activity called housework

but as I was unfamiliar with that term and didn't have a dictionary handy

so I have no clue what it refers to and am going to ignore that one as well

and finally I overheard that I was having a give away 

and the 4 small originals in this photo are up for grabs

the details for entering are in this post if you are interested... xx

I also posted on Sunday and here is the link if you missed it...

Sneaky Sketches ...

Sneaky Sketches ....

Sharing some sketches from my sketchbooks today

sometimes drawings just never quite make it out of that slightly ugly stage

they seem to just be a bit stuck being almost there 

and some weeks I just don't draw well

this week was one of those, but it never bothers me too much because it is temporary

and it is a hazard when you have a brain that is always going off in a million directions

sometimes I just can't focus for long enough to get my drawing together

while at other times it all comes together really quickly 

and at the end of the day

the weather is so nice I kind of can't be bothered being too bothered...

 So while drinking a cuppa the other day I stole a bit of time

 and did a little blender sketch

we don't have two blenders

it is that just the one on the left was a bit out of whack

the one on the right isn't that much better

but hey the tea was gone and it's not like the blender is going anywhere

so I moved on to something else ... can't remember what

quite possibly it was washing, cleaning or some such horror

The tea packet sketch was just a little drawing

sneakily done while good old Jet Puff/ Phantom Steve 

was trying to explain some maths concept to me

that kid just never gives up I tell you

and I certainly want to revisit drawing this packet at some stage

because the colours and all are just lovely

and cherry season is just around the corner 

so it will be only fitting that I drink a cherry tea

in fact I am thinking that may be just what I need now 

on this fine Sunday morning 

hoping you all get the chance to sneak in some sketches as well 

and maybe visit some fellow Sunday Sketchers ...xx

P S If you are wanting to enter the give away for these small originals on paper

use this link to go back to Jumping A Different Box .... 

and it tells you what to do to enter ...xx

Jumping a Different Box....

Hugest thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes last week

it made me feel special despite it being a box jumper of a birthday

during the week I actually hit another milestone of sorts

and jumped into the past 300 followers box

which is a big two hands in the air dance around the room type deal for me

It was this time last year that I decided to get in and do the blog a bit more seriously

well maybe seriously isn't the right word

but I wanted to make it a bit more like me 

and to give up trying to make it all professional

most importantly I decided to make art that I like, that reflects my life

and stop trying to do it all "properly" if you know what I mean

at the end of the day I used to find it all a bit tiring

blogging used to remind me of doing the half dressed school drop off 

you know where you put on a nice shirt, tidy your hair etc

but on the bottom half you are in pj's and bed socks

and you spend the whole time praying nothing happens

so you will be forced to get out of the car....

although one day I did see it happen when a student couldn't get her bag out of the trunk

and the poor mum had to get out and help her, but she handled it with complete style

despite the fact that she was wearing bright pink pj pants covered in purple love hearts

which clashed with her oh so perfectly business suited top half

and people were honking and laughing

she bowed to the crowd and drove off with head held high

she was my hero for days after that

anyway blogging used to feel exactly like that

I was trying to show the world the neat , tidy respectable me

which really is an illusion on a good day... some may even say a delusion

and one day I was totally over it all and figured I had nothing to lose

I did the equivalent of doing drop off in full pj's ,complete with bed head 

and it was hugely liberating and fun and easy

never under estimate the allure of easy

I love easy and there is no way I would go back ... not for a minute

So anyway

a year ago I set a bit of a goal

well not really a goal, because just typing that word makes me hyperventilate a bit

more a wouldn't it be nice if this time next year I could hit the 200 mark type thought

so it is very cool that I am over that... and to celebrate I am going to do a give away

my 302 followers give-away...

and the 302 thing is important because if I mention bodily functions too much 

I seem to lose one or two followers

which is cool, because lets be honest there is only so much snot we can all handle

but I wanted those two extras as a buffer 

in case I decide to write about rampant hay fever again soon

The four paintings up for grabs are the four I have posted here

and are all ink and watercolour, and are originals

they are unmatted and on paper that is 13cm x 19 cm

which is about 5 in x 7 1/2 in I think so they are only little

but you should be able to pop them into a frame easily to pretty them up

and all you have to do is say in your comment that you want to be in the draw

I will attempt to work a random number thingy

but failing that then names in a hat will suffice

and if you link up to this in some way I will throw in an extra entry for you

just let me know in an email or in the comment section and I will take it from there

I will close entries at midnight next Thursday and announce the winners soon after

thanks to all of you for your support and being part of the fun

you are appreciated  and good luck ... xx

 P S  happy Friday to all the Paint Party Friday people 

PSS ... Facebook people who don't have a bog... 

just message me that you would like to enter,

 or pop a comment on the status update and I will enter you in there...xx

the last two posts links are....

Heavenly List Love ...

Do Chickens Have Tongues????

Heavenly List Love ....

What I love about where I live

was the topic for List it Tuesday over at Artsyville

so here goes... 

I love that it is warm enough that I can drink tea like this all year round

I have no clue whatsoever how any of you live in a place

where it actually gets cold... 

just don't think I would ever man up enough to ever go outside

and would probably spend half my life putting on and taking off 5 million layers of clothes

just to take out the trash

for me it is fruit teas, sunshine and warmth the whole way...

I love that I live so close to the water

that every day on my way home from the dreaded school drop off

which is dreaded because it would appear that dads and drop off zones just don't mix

anyway ...

after experiencing the horror of dads who see the drop off zone

like some grand dodgem type experience

I get to drive home and look out over the gorgeous bay

and the sun is all glittering on it and all lovely

and if you don't look too closely you can ignore the mudflats if it is low tide

and I love the tidal swimming pool that is still a feature of the waterfront

after I have no clue how many years

and  people fish along the path

even though I don't think anyone has actually caught a fish there in years

it is just so hopeful... or delusional

depending on whether you are having a good day or a bad one

today is am going with hopeful....

I love that the jacaranda trees are all in bloom at the moment

so I get to drive across a carpet of bluey purple

I feel quite special driving as the trees strew their blooms in my path

only fitting I think

I also love the jasmine that is finally blooming

and making the whole house smell pretty special

and happily covering the slight tang of dust in the air

due to a bit of a housework strike that has been going on

last but not least I love that I live in a place

where the fruit is tropical and wonderful and fills everywhere with gorgeous smells

and the markets are full of locally produced wonders

at the moment it is all about the first mangoes, the tang of passionfruit

early red papaya and the last of the crazy sweet strawberries

any trip to the market is just a joy of sweet summery wonderful

which is absolutely heavenly... which fits in nicely with the Celestial theme over at APR

I am going for the tenuous link prize two weeks running over at APR...

so head on over to APR and Artsyville 

to see what heavenly lists are on people's minds...

My last two posts have been ...

Do Chickens Have Tongues....

and yes I know this is a kookaburra and not a chicken

read the post!!!!

The Box Jumping Birthday...

Do Chickens Have Tongues?????

I don't usually draw birds

but I did draw this kookaburra as it is my bloody alarm clock at the moment

which wouldn't be so bad if it did what it was supposed to

Indigenous Australians believe that a kookaburra visiting 

means that good fortune will follow close behind

now I'm not sure if this one is just defective

and its constant presence means good fortune doesn't have a chance to visit

or perhaps all that good stuff is just still tucked up in bed because it is 5 freakin am

and to add insult to injury you have to wake up to the slightly off putting feeling

of something laughing at you

This is no gentle Cinderella wakening where the sweet birds

lay out your clothes and do your hair

no I get the raucous laughter from beady eyed carnivorous one

which is totally doing my head in

The family issues with the feathered ones has also extended itself to the dog

and doing Mushu's head in is the reappearance of his nemesis bird

Spring has sprung and this one bird is back from his regular winter break

it sits on the edge of the pool and refuses to move so he can do his laps

it sits on the chair and watches him while he is trying to sleep in his bed

and every time the poor thing closes his eyes it squalks and wakes him up

and to add insult to injury it poos on him

I couldn't count the number of times he has come in crying covered in bird poo

just the sound of its squalk drives him into a mad barking frenzy 

and he spends half the day running around the yard and looking up in the sky

it is one evil nemesis

but it only arrives at change of season 

and like the hay fever that is with us all for a week or two

he will soon disappear again until next year

but until then the mutt is copping it

Just as nemesis bird disappears then magpie season will start 

and it will be Sinuse's turn to have bird issues

he will be constantly swooped and pecked

and walking the dog becomes life and death obstacle course

personally I would walk a different route until the season was done

but not my dear man and mutt

perhaps they enjoy the delicious danger this brings to their daily ambles

Of course dear Jet Puff / Phantom has no real bird issues

don't think any bird would be game to swoop, laugh at or poo on her

I am thinking they probably find her a touch odd

clearly evidenced by her question to me just the other night

as to how big do I think a chicken's tongue is????

Like I would know that answer, and how do you even think of a question like that

I didn't even know chicken's had tongues???

I haven't been game to ask her if she found out, and can't be bothered googling it

so I am in a horrible limbo of not knowing 

my life is really very odd at times

Happy Sunday Sketches...xx

P.S thanks so much for all the Birthday wishes over the last few days

you all made it a very special day especially Kristin

who is a punny punny girl and who wrote an eggcellent post to celebrate it...xx

My last two posts have been...

The Box Jumping Birthday ....

Welcome to Snotoberfest 2012 ...