Snowman Domino Ornaments

Excuses...excuses...excuses...! I have plenty as to why I haven't been keeping up with my blogging lately! I have started two new contract jobs and I'm into the last two weeks of rehearsing for Jesus Christ Superstar so my spare time is limited to say the least.

Not that I've stopped planning for the Gingerbread Christmas House - there are only 16 WEEKS until CHRISTMAS (which means about half that before I need to start decorating). The house will be open for a week this year and it will be the best yet I hope!

I've got a few projects on the go. This one has worked out really well. It uses old dominos as the base and I've upcycled them into an ornament. The idea comes from here:
http://joyfuljohnsons.blogspot.co.nz/2010/12/domino-christmas-ornaments.html.

The picture below shows the original and completed domino. I was lucky enough to find some thick vintage dominos on Trade Me in great condition. The artwork is done on the plain back side.

Firstly I used Versamark Ink in clear to stamp the clean dry domino, then sprinkled a royal blue embossing powder. Due to the domino's surface I found I needed to brush off excess powder with a fine paintbrush. I then heated the surface with a heat gun. The colouring is with Copics B93, 95 and 97. I added a little Glossy Accents to the snow for extra effect.

The stamps are Stampin' Up 'It's Snow Time'. The images don't quite fit on the domino but I'm happy all the same as it was a pretty fiddly size to be working with. To finish, I attached ribbon with ribbon sticky tape around the edge and added a bow and bell. All ready for the Snowmen Tree!

The Bird(less) Cage

I love any decor that reflects houses - saltbox houses, lighthouses, shadow boxes, birdcages... last week I found this fabulous aged birdcage in the homewares shop in Hornby Dressmart. It was a one off and had been reduced twice. I'm talking bargain bonus here so why hadn't it been snapped up? Must have been waiting for me!

This was my plan from the get-go, to fill it with candles and use it for my Christmas home decorating, however it is an authentic cage (the kids and cats were most disappointed we weren't actually going to get a bird). I found the candles on clearance too in Timaru this week at $5 each. So... I admit to having a slightly impatient personality and with Christmas still five months away I've made room for it already. I'm really loving the completed look. What do you think?

Oscar and Puss

 I am really eager to get back illustrating (and typing with two hands!). Even though I am left handed I have soon realised you still use your non dominant hand for, well pretty much everything! Until I get out of a sling I am a one armed mad woman. Arrggh. Frustrating.

These are some illustrations I did recently. It was a commission from my workmate Juanita who has a Dalmatian called Oscar and a tabby cat called CJ Puss Puss. I didn't understand her request as clearly as I should have when she said she wanted a picture of her, hubby the dog and cat going for a walk.

So this was my first interpretation....

And then when I 'got the picture' about what she really wanted, I reworked the idea into a bigger picture with the cat too. Isn't that hilarious? The cat walks too, minus a lead!

To tell you the truth, I was quite happy to keep the first edit myself, as I am always selling my work, and I really liked how the dog worked out. Such a beautiful breed - he was fun to draw!

Shoulder Op

Things are very quiet for me at the moment. I'm nine days post major shoulder surgery and it's not much fun. I had only a week's notice that my name was on the surgery list so was busy getting life organised, including relief for my teaching. Eight weeks off - and I'm not allowed to do anything!

The surgery day was ok, except I had major reservations at the last minute as I walked into theatre and saw a dozen staff! And when they told me it would take two hours...I felt pretty anxious at that point. A nerve blocker went into my neck which was a weird sensation but prevented any pain for the first 24 hours.

My time is hospital recovering was longer than anticipated as I unfortunately reacted to three different painkillers. I was nauseous, faint and had crazy low blood pressure, and to add to the fun, delirious on the drugs. From day 5 I had to go on just with panadol which hasn't been easy, especially sleeping.

So I'm back home and trying to stay still (not what I do best!). I've got loads of books to read which will be good. My plans to do some art will be on hold for a while I think. I didn't know how knocked back I'd feel after surgery... which is just as well as I may have opted out if I did!

Mother's Day Photo Shoot

Today I was planning on having a big 'declutter my life' day but as it was Mother's Day, and it was an amazing autumnal day, we decided to celebrate by going on a day trip with the kids.

We had a lovely afternoon at the Ashburton Botanical Gardens and made the most of the gorgeous scenery and weather to have a photo shoot. We took about 100 photos - I made sure to have a one on one with myself and each of the kids. There haven't been photos like that since they were little and Mother's Day was a good excuse for compliance from the more reluctant in the family.

Even though I hadn't taken my Canon 5D, the photos on my little point and shoot digital still turned out fine. This is the best shot of everyone. My teenagers are nearly adults and my babies are heading with speed to catch them up!

Anzac Biscuit Assignment

Photo from My Darling Lemon Thyme

William (12) came home with last week's homework assignment - find an anzac biscuit recipe, bake it and then write a diary about it. With being coeliac, I hadn't made anzacs for the three of us who are GF before as I didn't know what to substitute the oats for. Well, thanks to the powers of google, I quickly found a recipe from My Darling Lemon Thyme.  Emma is a fellow GF food blogger from New Zealand. Here is a link to her original anzac biscuit recipe post.

First stop was a trip to Bin Inn, the home of affordable gluten free ingredients, to stock up on quinoa flour and flakes. These are essential to the recipe and give it a truly nutty flavour and chewy texture.

William more than capably set to and made the biscuits himself. He was a bit concerned about how crumbly the mix was to spoon on to the trays but I reassured him that was typical for anzac biscuit dough to be like that.

We baked them as to the recipe, longer than I would normally, but they were perfect - golden and crunchy. The recipe was so good I added it straight to my book and those biscuits didn't last long in the pantry!

Bedtime

I am a huge fan of quality, sumptuous, cosy bedding (and as you can see, there are two Burmese cats I know that appreciate it too). For more about the quilt and cats, you can read this post.

The pillows, duvet and eiderdown are down filled - warm in winter and cool in summer - and it is heaven to sleep under. I bought the lemon floral eiderdown in Tokyo. It seems crazy, but I had such a hard time finding a size larger than double there! It has become my snuggly. I love this so much it would be one of the first things I would rescue in an emergency and it travels with me when I go away on weekend trips. The duvet set is from Laura Ashley, with matching striped green cotton sheets. I am proud to say that I made the bed end myself!

It's time to update the bed however, and I can't believe how hard it is to choose one. The deciding factor has come down to the make we slept on at the Hilton in Fiji - Serta. We had such great sleeps and I don't think it was just because we were relaxed. It was quite firm and definitely no roll together (which funnily enough I really notice now that we're back home...) It was also Super King which I like the idea of, but the downside is that all the bedding would have to be changed. Hmmm. I'm not sure I'm ready for that plan yet...