to market

i'm off to market on friday to sell some wares. some treasure bags, some velvet headbands and some other random pieces still being made. i'm enjoying the process of making the same piece in different colors with different trinkets. it's making my studio all rainbow-like, which is an extra lovely bonus.

the few hours of making i had today were well and truly helped along by the 'shuffle' button on my ipod. there was dylan, there was ron sexsmith, there was rufus wainwright, there was those acapelicans, there was bjork, but the stand out was definitely clare bowditch and lanie lane. i sang as loud as a girl at home alone in the country can sing. i implore you to do the same.

 

first....

...of the season

on dads

Me and my dad have a thing going on. I understand him and he gets me. That special father daughter thing that people write books about? We have it. I treasure it.

He is a journeyman, my dad. He heads off places, experiences them fully, writes about them, then returns and shares them with us. Sometimes mum goes with him. Sometimes she doesn't. Sometimes he flies for 30 hours away and sometimes he drives 90 minutes away. Regardless, he is as inspired and eloquent about the sunrise and birdsong in rural Victoria as he is about the ancient back alleys of Italy.

He's about to head off again. A short, tropical journey this time. I made him a bag to put his shoes. A small stretch of time, 2 pieces of calico, a little thread, and some ribbon and he has a utilitarian gift (which he loves) I finished it off with a stamp of the Buddha's feet on the front corner.

And these feet
They will take your weight, my love
These feet will drive your dream engine
Feet, baby, this is where the road begins
Roadmaker, Red Raku

My small girl and her dad have a thing going on, too. Theirs is a love so powerful and fertile that I can see them growing within it. Strong and bouyant. She, the vine and he, the sturdy wooden fence. She, green and fresh, unfurling and fruiting as years pass. He, as strength and stability, with pockets to rest in when dormant and to unravel from with the sun's warmth. She makes him gifts, regularly. But this gift? This was a little bit special, this one. This was a breathtaking beauty, this one. I heard his big heart give a little 'boom' when he opened it.

 I love the dads in my life.

 


     

truancy

sometimes we skip school, appointments, responsibilities and shopping lists

and just play and breathe and wander 

bless these days

the special bag

i've mentioned before that i've been dyeing fabric with plants and leaves and flowers of late. a windfall (i.e. small ones picking flowers from the backyard garden of a holiday house we recently stayed in) saw me dyeing with marigolds. an oceanside walk bush saw me dyeing with another windfall - seaside banksia from aforementioned holiday. it was very windy in this holiday town!

the marigolds were forthcoming with their golden goodness but the banksia? not so forthcoming, shall we say. i'm not the 'stick it in a book and document the plant and date and mordant and fabric' type of girl. i'm more of a 'let's cook it up and see what color we get' type of girl. i'm planning on using these little pieces of hand-dyed-with-love-and-windfalls fabric. but they do command a very special project. don't they?

well, one of those special projects came along recently for me. a special little treasure bag for a very special little lady of a very VERY special friend of mine. these two womenfolk bring so much happiness to me it seemed only right to use a piece of sunshine-y marigold-y goodness to make a little treasure pouch. i'm calling it the special bag. creative, hey?

if you want your own piece of special, comment below and we can work together to make a little something special for you too! i can custom make your own piece, just for you, from marigolds or whatever windfall i happen to find that day. or perhaps you'd just prefer to win one? if you like guildmaker on facebook then you're in the draw to win a little piece of special. i'll pull a random name (out of a hand dyed linen hat) on the full moon in august. free stuff! it's everywhere   

honey joy

i wash my face with honey.

it's one of my 'do less' approaches. bring less packaging into the house, use less chemicals in and around my home and beyond, less fuss in the mornings and evenings.

and the 'more' aspects? more support for the humble honeybee, more nourishing for my face, more fun watching my small girl wash her face with honey like mama.

crunch betty is hosting a little honey challenge at the moment. wash your face with honey for 2 weeks and enjoy the honey joy! as i already do wash my face with honey, and so does my small girl, i'll get the lads in my house on the honey train too. what about you?

infirm

small people are ill around here at the moment. some of the wintery bugs are lingering a little too long for my liking, one in particular settling in quite nicely to my son's lungs.

home is quiet and calm and there is space for healing to happen. we've been reading, making soup and daytime sleeping. our favorite chapter books are on high rotation.

we're particularly enjoying these two at the moment - the original J. M. Barrie Peter Pan and Dinotopia The World Beneath by James Gurney.

both wondrous stories and beautiful illustrations. we spend as much time reading the story together as we do looking at the illustrations.