In all the excitement of the beginning of this month

I may have forgotten to mention there's another Black and White Swap happening over here which closes very very soon...

Spat back out into the cold and grey real world...

Where, after a twelve hour sleep and a long shower I feel much more human. I could go back to the final day of the festival today but I think I've done everything I wanted to and so will try and ease myself back into normal life.

If you want a bit of a virtual folk festival you could watch fabulous local boy Fred Smith:

(listen to more here and buy his CDs here)

The Spooky Men's Chorale:

(listen to more music and buy CDs here)

And finally, and most importantly (and not just because he gave me a free CD and so I promised him lots of publicity!) the wonderfully talented Boo Hewerdine.

I first met Boo's music (not that I realised it at the time) when I worked in student radio in the late 80s and used to play a lot of tracks of a record called Walking the ghost back home by a band called The Bible (which has to be one of the worst band names in the universe to google along with The Christians):

Years later I was introduced to the music of Eddi Reader, which I loved, without realising that some of my favorite songs of hers were written by the very same person who wrote those Bible songs:

(Listen to and download more Boo Hewerdine here and buy CDs here)

Sunday snaps

(More photos on FLICKR)

Sunday's highlight

Urban sea shanties with Fred Smith, The Spooky Men's Chorale and The Fuelers. Here's a wee taste of the madness for you:

Now don't you wish you were there for the whole thing?

Saturday at The National Folk Festival...

A talking treea Pan pipe invasionjust before the second Frencham Smith performance in 24 hours(and I'm not counting the fabulous Fred Smith Party Band which marked the end of last night) with much needed rain starting up while we were listening...(the above photo is in colour, believe it or not)Sloshing back to the car after Boo Hewerdine...

Highlights for me so far:

* Boo Hewerdine (more about that later)

* Frencham Smith (of course)

* The Spooky Men's Chorale (brilliant!)

* Dunumba

Today

You knew it wouldn't last, didn't you?

UPs and downs...

I forgot to mention the whole class got UPs* last night at assessment. There was champagne and smelly cheese to mark the occassion.

Today I'm feeling drained but content. Down time is in order. I'm sorting and tidying after the whirlwind of last week. Finished a frothy book that I finally made it to the top of the list for at the library, mainly while sitting in the sun this morning at The Folk Festival. And the only creativity I plan to do this weekend is take photos of Big Issue sellers as a favour for a friend who works there.

Of course I reserve the right to change my mind on that last one, especially with the very tempting looking Community Arts tent beckoning me!

(*Ungraded passes)

Wanted

Blogging live from the first day at The Folk Festival where Community Arts have asked me to send the call out for the following items:

* Red, black and/ or white sewing thread
* Nails (of any size)
* Paint (house and/ or craft)
* Old brushes of any size
* Cane and/ or basket making supplies

If you can donate any of the above please Shane on 0406 375 691

Cheers

Today...

Me:

Some of this: a lot of this:and this: followed by this:fortified by many servings of this:Miss Daisy:

Away (again) today on frightfully important Folk Festival business.

My car has a life independent of me. She volunteered at the last Folk Festival (while I was in New Zealand) and the fact I'll be home this year hasn't stopped her volunteering again. Last year at The Folk Festival she was mounted by a garbage truck (ooh err!) and so far this year she's managed a flat tyre and a mangled hubcap. And the Festival hasn't really started yet!

I'm rather jealous that my car has a more exciting life than I do at the moment...

My creative space: 1:45 am

Assessment: Wednesday.

I promised myself I wouldn't stay up all night...

(Version with notes here)

An afternoon spent playing at The National Gallery

Where better for two Design students to meet and discuss their work than the NGA Members' Lounge?Which was deliciously deserted, making a lovely change to the heaving masses that always seemed to be up there through the Degas exhibition.Just beforehand there had been a bit of covert journal page losing in NGA the shop...I'd not planned to leave the page here but it seemed the perfect spot.

Must. Stop. Buying. Books.

The National Portrait Gallery bookshop is a dangerous place indeed. I must stop going there. Perhaps I can arrange to be banned?

Wreck this journal: Random things

Playing with our food: part 2

I had so much fun turning my first project from Monday's class into a video I did it again with the second:

Enjoy!

I took it as a sign

when a post I read on Yarnstorm this morning mentioned Mon Oncle.

I decided I really really REALLY had to see this film. And soon.

Then, out of the depths of the back of my brain, a little voice piped up "Why don't you see if Electric Shadows still hires videos? They're sure to have it if they do."

Electric Shadows video library? I'd completely forgotten it existed. A quick google search was followed by a little trip in Miss Daisy and now, $5 later, I have the perfect overcast Saturday afternoon planned:

Colouring? In!

Presenting some end-of-week randomness (in reverse chronological order):

1. Our designer at work presented me with a paper bag full of fabric squares this morning that she'd had for ages and decided she really wasn't going to use:Having just read Loobylu's blog entry this morning about her wheat bag softie pattern I immediately decided these pieces would be perfect for it. I've added the project to my list and should get to it in around, oh, 2015...

Another thing that arrived this morning was this piece based on a picture Classmate Chris took on Monday night of me with a hand covered in mint sauce:(Sorry Chris - forgot to ask if I could blog it but I assume it's OK?)

And to round the post off, here's a page from my Wreck this Journal. Before shower:and after shower:

Folk Festival Public Service Announcement

CUT YOUR CLUTTER

Community Arts needs donated materials for our creations this year. Do you have any of these you could fit into your backpack, boot of the car, suitcase, trolley or private jet to the festival*?

We have no money to pay for them but can guarantee them a good, useful life.

* lengths of timber, any width
* pieces of dowel, any length
* small cuphooks
* wooden toy wheels
* fabric pieces or lengths
* card-weight board - eg cardboard
* clean old cotton towels, sheets, pillowcases, nappies, rags clean socks and hats
* beads and old necklaces, broken or whole
* natural fibres - fleece, bamboo, raffia knitting yarns, knitting needles and crochet hooks
* decorative buttons, ribbons, feathers, thread, sequins
* egg cartons, small cardboard boxes
* coloured magazines and paper for collage
* old pure wool cardigans or jumpers for felt-making, eg shrunk in the wash
* wooden boxes any other interesting recyclable materials suitable for sculpture

A basic electric sewing machine that can sew forwards, backwards and zig-zag and an electric drill. We will use these for making banners and bunting and return them to their owners after the festival.

Please call Shane on 0406 375 691 if you can help

The wanderer returns...

Monday night's class: playing with our food.

Last night's class was all about creating with non-tradition media. Well non-traditional if you're over the age of about 18 months...

This is the end result of my first experiment:

More photos of the class to follow when I get them sorted...

Melbourne trip part 5: Homeward bound

It's a short entry. Monday was spent in the back seat of the car, knitting my Flora Cap, with the only break being lunch at Morrisons.This time I not only remembered to take a photo of my delicious ice cream (1 scoop: ginger) but also note where it's from.