Sorted

Well, most of the house is* (we'll ignore the Room of Shame for now, shall we? There's always tomorrow, after all...)
My office was looking particularly empty and organised(Note the use of the past tense: I decided the only thing to do was start a new project with all that lovely space.)I've started building a cardboard mock-up of the Crucible spaces at Craft ACT so I can get a feeling for how to best use them for the mini craft gallery I'm building for the Call of the Small exhibition.

But I ran out of card after creating the back wall. A bad bad sign.

Wendy has popped upstairs from The Kaleidoscope House to help me train my 1/12th scale eye in the space. Which is much bigger than I had imagined: I'm a little freaked out right now as to the enormity of what I've set myself up for.Good thing I have almost 6 months before the real thing has to be finished...

(*And I'm happy to report I found not one but two cupcake recipes and my brayer!)

More animals knitting

From the excellent Have you seen my potty? by Mary McQuillan.

Questions*

By this time in January, 2010 seems to be grinding into gear. Some interesting opportunities have been rearing their heads causing some pondering at Chateau TSS.

Pondering #1: Why did I agree to have a journalist and photographer from The Canberra Times visit on Australia Day to photograph my house for their Sunday Relax magazine insert? This means I get to spend my day off tomorrow reprising the magic that was wrought for The Collectors last year rather than vegging out and finding the mental space to sort out how to match the changes I made to the back of my V neck vest so the front bit works properly.

Speaking of which...

Pondering #2: When exactly are The Collectors planning to show my segment? If I make other plans this year will that be when they want me to fly to Tasmania? Is it rude to email and ask? And where can I find a (free) venue with a large screen TV that I can arrange a gathering at for the official viewing?

Pondering #3: Should I take over stewardship of the Dolls Houses Past and Present website and ezine? And if I do, how much change can I make before members start beating me up?

Pondering #4: Why did I spend $800 (plus $100 for a portfolio didn't use) that I didn't have on a course I didn't finish when it could have been used on any number of other courses popping up at the moment? (OK, don't answer that one...)

Pondering #5: Where the hell is my cupcake recipe, my brayer and my stringybark fabric?!

(*Did anyone else start humming a song by The Fixx when they read that?)

This book jumped to the top of my favorite list the moment my friend showed me it...

At the National Portrait Gallery store, naturally.

The Rabbit Problem. By Emily Gravett. A madly insanely wonderfully fun and crazy book. I just found Emily's website: the front page of which is a library. With Shhhing noises! Kind of fitting as the copy I scanned is from the library.

Of course, I think the best spread is February:
Rabbits and knitting. (Now where have I seen that before?)
And a pattern for a hooded top: Repeat until you have a beautiful hooded top, or until you decide that rabbits and knitting really don't go together...

A day off! (sort of*)

and I have many many boring but worthwhile things to get done. But it's too early to start the washing so I'll just hang out online for a while...

Oh look! A miniature vintage caravan! (1973 Kovap Retro toy Caravan with opening door (16cm x 7cm x 6cm))

And the neighbours probably won't be too happy if I mow the lawns at eight o'clock in the morning so I'll just hang out online for a while longer...

Oh look! I could build my own 1/12th scale caravan if I hadn't spent all my money on a course I dropped out of:

(Greenleaf Miniature Travel Trailer Kit (1/12th scale))

High on my list of things to get done today is clear all the Lundby stock from the garage (now I've closed my eBay store) and return it to the distributor. But first I should have a shower and get dressed. Before that, though, I'll hang out online a few more minutes...

And drool at this miniature caravan which was "presented to Prince Charles and Princess Anne by the Caravan Club. It was built by Rollalong Ltd., and is equipeed (sic) with a desk, bunks, sink and taps. This is one of the vehicles on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, Hampshire, England"

While I'm in my PJs I could go downstairs and do the dishes. After I've hung out online just a moment longer...

(Did you know if you search for miniature and caravan you will come across this blog post about the doll’s house displayed at Caravan during The London Design Festival with photos from Elle Decoration by Debi Treloar?) When I first heard about this exhibition last week I ran over to the newsagents to get a copy of the January 2010 edition of Elle Decoration, only to discover they don't stock it anymore. And so I had been planning to drop into Borders when I'd been paid. Now I don't need to...

But I do need to log off, make breakfast and get the day started.

(*I start work at 4pm today)

Equations

If books + caravan = goodThen dolls house + caravan = brilliant

(Photo from the Modern Miniatures Flickr pool, courtesy of Oese)

*Whimper*

Spotted this morning over at Poetic Home:

It's a vintage Airstream caravan! Full of books!It's beautiful. I want one!

A closed shop

Back at Craft ACT today.

With both the gallery and the shop closed until the end of the month, I got to do beginning of year archiving and filing and sorting (my favorite things). And I updated the spreadsheet of invitees for Call of the Small to show I have three affirmative replies already. Yay!

Since it was quiet I got to come home early. I was going to mow the lawns but I accidentally made chocolate cake instead...

I said I was going to do some printing yesterday

didn't I?

I would have. Except my brayer seems to have disappeared into the black hole that ate my stringy bark dyed fabric and my cupcake recipe.

*sigh* I hate it when I tidy up...

On a more positive crafting note I finally bought the card to start making mock-ups of the miniature craft gallery for August's Craft ACT exhibition.

A Sunday afternoon stroll

A while back I noticed plaques had popped up in front of the various Northbourne Flat groupings. I've always loved the flats so going to see what the plaques were all about was high on my list of cultural things to do this year. Alas, I'm usually barrelling past them at a rate of knots in either a bus or a car but today I made the time to wander down Northbourne Ave and check them out.

Plaque number one is outside the bedsitter flats:Plaque number two is supposedly across the road outside the paired housing but there was no sign of it that I could find.

(Although plaque number three, further down the road outside the flats looked suspiciously like it is actually plaque number two, in the wrong place...)And back across the road by the maisonettes is plaque number 4:There's no sign of anything back where the courtyard housing is (my favorites)

The Northbourne housing precinct is apparently the only example of Bauhaus architecture in Canberra. I think would they would be fabulous recreated in miniature, especially as they would have been when they were built in 1962. They were regarded as luxury flats back then and were photographed by Max Dupain...

Back in black

I just realised it's Saturday night.

And here I am posting pictures of knitting, a book, and my cat. Rock and Roll (not)

(At least I found a use for all that leftover stringy bark...)

It's quiet all white

Working. Sweating. Knitting. Reading. That pretty much sums up my week so far.

I rediscovered the pigtail which certainly helped with the second issue:I finished these booties and hat just in time: the baby was born this morning:I've been knitting in my breaks at this week's new-to-me library. Today I found a colleague knitting in the kitchen at lunchtime. --Insert evil laugh here--

Reading which arrived for me today:

after doing the happy dance I tried the *cough cough* I'm terribly sick and must go home immediately trick which didn't wash, mainly because my boss had seen both the happy dance and the fact I was clutching said book tightly to my chest.

Oh well, guess I know what I'll be doing on Sunday then...

Tiny things Tuesday (aka: miniature armchair travelling)

Thanks to Lucy Hammonds, Curator of Design Collections at Hawke's Bay Museum and Art Gallery, my urge to visit Napier in the next few months has eased. Slightly.

Lucy responded to my enquiry by saying "The Miniatures is an exhibition that draws on a collection of miniatures from the Robert Bren Collection, which numbers around 2000 miniature items c1930-40s donated to us in 1958 (although we have not got the entire collection on display). The exhibition itself is part of an ongoing programme working with New Zealand writers – in this case we invited a writer named Stephanie Johnson to research the Bren Collection and then write a short children’s story the included aspects of the collection. This story was then illustrated in the exhibition using the items from the collection, housed in custom-made display cases set into large book pages. I am attaching an image for you information. There is also a small catalogue of the story illustrated with photographs of some of the miniatures."

She kindly let me reproduce the following photos of the exhibition: (photo: David Frost, Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery, Napier)
(photo: David Frost, Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery, Napier)

(photo: David Frost, Hawke’s Bay Museum and Art Gallery, Napier)

On a similar theme, have you seen Amy's Miniatures and Smalls blog which "chronicles The Life and Times on Lundby Lane... It is a continuing saga of the events & goings on of the little people (peeps) and their amazing adventures"

Extended due to ennui

Just popping in to let you know that Flying the Nest will be on display at ACT Heritage Library until the end of the month...

My very first review

..."despite our recent out-of-town excursions, by a masterpiece of precision planning, we ensured that we managed to visit the phenomenal “Flying the Nest” exhibition by sensational local artist/designer Anna-Maria Sviatko*. Imaginative, quirky, immaculately executed, fastidiously documented, and indeed, beautifully presented, though perhaps something of a hidden treasure in terms of the venue.

A gem. Can’t wait for the next exciting installment… A grateful nation salutes you!**"

(*yeah, OK, I give up pretending to be anonymous...
** Not quite sure why but the warm glow of the rest of the review makes my care factor = not a jot)

Spot of summer

I believe there may be a heatwave happening outside. I wouldn't know as I've been spending most of my time in the coolest spot in the house: Surrounded by reading. And music. And knitting. And drawing. There was also chocolate and garden fresh cherry tomatoes but they're gone now.

Please note the return of Wreck this journal after a long absence.And my new felt tip pens.

A set of 100! From Sesame Street! Each stamped with Time for fun!
Because, with all the time in the world, there's always always time for fun...

All the time in the world...

I can feel the magic that is three days mooching round home kicking in. Time seems to have slowed to a crawl (in the best possible way) and I find myself easing into those once a year Christmas break tasks that are so important for me to feel like I'm starting the new year fresh.

Today, after a breakfast of freshly cooked oatcakes, the time was right to deal with this year's backlog of filing. Which meant I also had to go through my files and clear out the stuff that's no longer relevant.

Somehow I ended up deciding that the contents of my clothing file would be better cut out and pasted into a visual diary. So I spent a very happy morning cutting out pictures and reminiscing about the paper dolls I used to love playing with when I was a child.Does it matter if the pictures end up back in the file for another year and the diary remains empty? I don't think so. I have all the time in the world...

Over lunch (more home cooking: the last salmon fillet in the freezer served with peas and mash made from the last potato in the cupboard and fresh basil delivered by J last night) and my latest knitting project I started reading a library book which I suspect will teach me exactly what I thought I was going to learn at Sturt (and didn't). At the very least, the introduction goes some way to explaining why I was feeling disgruntled (and thus made me feel much better).Which meant I had the guts to leap upstairs, back to the filing cabinet, and deal with thismuch of which should have been cleared out years ago and is now ripped into little pieces and safely tucked into the recycling bin outside.

And it's still only 4pm! And I have another whole day off tomorrow!

Playtime

Since there was no lecture at Sturt after dinner Tuesday I took the opportunity to drive to the next town over and see what was new at the bottom of Diva's garden. What was new is this based on the Kaleidoscope House but not quite black and white house:

We spent a very enjoyable evening listening to the thunder crack and the rain beat down on the roof while we discussed who exactly lived here, what furniture they'd have and how the rooms should be arranged...

At one stage I wondered if the storm would ever ease up so I could drive back to school or if I would be forced to stay the night in my favorite bedroom at Chelsea Park.

Alas the rain did ease up enough for me to venture back to school, clutching a large sack of money (chocolate, not real, unfortunately), more black and white tea towels for my collection and a copy of issue one of Sohi magazine which she'd found for me.

What I did on my (truncated) holidays

Monday morning: still life #1 in charcoal(I finally learnt to use the kneadable eraser that was on my materials list for class last year!)

Monday afternoon: still life #2 in soft pastels
(Which I discovered can be smudged and blended)

Tuesday: self portrait and perspective(Interesting to compare this self portrait with my last attempt which was from almost the same angle...)

Not quite what I expected my first achievement of the year to be...

I'm now an art school drop out.

Yes I'm fine*.

No I don't want to talk about it*.

(*Really)

Question answered

Well it would seem I don't have to go cold turkey on the internet access while at Sturt: I've found the boarding house's computer suite.

I also don't need to worry about cold turkey on the white cotton bed sheet front either as a pile was waiting on my bed for me.

I'm not too sure about this whole having to make your own bed malarkey, though...

Ten vitally important things to do in the 48 hours before your departure for summer school:

1. Decide on the final version of your costume, which involves knitted chain. And undertake a trial run to see if it's going to work.

2. Which makes you realise you probably should have a knitting project with you (apart from the chain). And sort that out.

3. Try to put together a punk compilation for the final party. Decide no one would really dance to a full on punk compilation so change it to a "deeply mainstream alternative early 80s mix as chosen by someone who was a DJ back then".

4. Try to decide: iPod or CD Walkman?

5. Run round trying to find your back up CDs for photos you suddenly remember you need prints of for class.

6. Chose a little something relevant to read if you happen to have a chance to loll in bed (or under a shady tree) with a book.

7. Finally decide what you plan to wear for the week. And wash it. Since, silly you, you've worn it in the last couple of days...

8. Wonder if the real estate agents would mind putting your flat inspection off for another week.

9. And if there's internet access at Sturt...

10. Blog all of the above instead of packing. Or printing. Or compiling.

They say "Start the year as you mean to go on", don't they?

In which case I did very well. I was at art school*, helping set up for classes which start on Monday. I arrived terribly early thus was able to take this picture of the calm before the storm:(Nice cake, by the way. My first this year. And, in fact, last year too...)

Do you think I can add "covering wall to wall carpet in plastic" to the skills on my resume? I felt rather smugly Christo-ish until my partner and I worked out we were finding it so easy because we're both sewers and are used to cutting out large things on the floor to fit around awkward angles.

There would have been more photos but a) my camera battery died and I hadn't shifted any spares to the bag I took today and b) I was too busy wrapping floors (and shifting furniture and collating registrations, creating name tags and stuffing folders) to take anyway...

How was the start of your 2010?

When I said I wanted to go to art school I should have clarified my desire a little more fully. Yes, it's art school. Yes it's full time. But I was imagining slightly longer than 6 days.)