Holidays are over...

Just some images from our few days away last week. We made the most of a week off between jobs and went bush. The air was so still. The bush was fresh and largely untouched. We pitched the tent and made lovely fires. There is something about cooking outdoors, isn't there? We walked up big hills, drove up some too. We enjoyed the wildlife, such as this cheeky rosella who explored my handbag.

Back to the city now. And off to a new job! I think blogging this morning is my way of avoiding getting on with things... Time is ticking, off I go to get ready.

My collection, better late than never

Life (well time anyway) seems to be slipping away from me. There is too much to do. In just over two weeks I will be moving from one side of Aus to the other. And I have to finish work, communicate with the removalists, plan where we will be staying along the way after we devise a route to take, buy Christmas goodies as we will be arriving on Christmas eve, orientate a new worker to my job, clean the mess we live in, encourage the cat that he will be okay on an aeroplane, apply for any job in Melbs that seams okay, etc!

So much to do, not enough time.

So the Meet Me At Mikes meme just got away before I knew it. I've not posted for the past couple of weeks, I've not trawled through the creative posts others have put up. Oh, so sad.

The theme of the past week was around collections, with this lady asking the question "What do you collect?". I collect junk, shoes, recipe books, board games, metal cigarette cases, dust. But most consistently I collect birds in the form of Christmas decorations. My ultimate plan is to one day have a tree just full of birds. And to tell you the truth, I sometimes put them up when it is the middle of the year. They are too lovely really to have hidden away. The bird thing started after the demise of my real bird, Hairy the Canary. He was a lovely little fellow, who died after dehydrating in the typically unseasonably hot Melbourne weather that sometimes hits. The gold papermache bird was purchased in memory of him. And the collecting took off from there.

Want to make me happy? Buy me a bird ornament thanks. What do you collect?

Scandinavian dreaming...

I was blog browsing the other day and found a delicious post or two from Wren Handmade. She had recently been to Denmark and Sweden and recalled tales of coffee, bicycles, pastel painted buildings, freezing swimming holes... It sounded divine. It also made me long for a Scandi adventure of my own. It also had me searching for my photos of a Finland adventure of a few years ago... Where are they on this computer?

My mother in law returned from Finland recently. She lived there until she met her Aussie husband while working on the Thai-Cambodian boarder. It is a true story of love and God bringing people together in his most perfect way. Anyhow, so there is a precious bit of Finland in my fella and thus by default in me too! Back to the mother in law. She spent some time in her home town in central Finland, looking after our ancient grandmother. She had saunas, ate sausages, danced under the midnight sun and made day-trips to Sweden. She also brought me back the most beautiful piece of Kalevala jewelry. Isn't it the sweetest? It is a piece of ancient design, inspired by fertility symbols of the Laps of 1000 AD. How I love it.

Flapping Flamingos! Swap in action...

I'm currently co-ordinating a Swap-bot swap, where the intention is to create a flamingo themed postcard. My sister -in-law Laura has a thing for flamingos. Also my sister Suke has an enchanting cameo-style ring featuring a flamingo. Along with my current fancy for birds, it seamed logical to host a flamingo swap. Just follow the link by clicking on the icon below the image to view and participate. So far it is six swappers and counting! Hurrah! Happy days...

I swap with Swap-bot!

Peacocks and Postcards...

One swap I've recently been involved with has been "where art and mail collide". The idea is to create a postcard from recycled materials that is not just a created image, but art. The swap co-odinator is very keen on mail art and has established a number of groups around it as a consequence. My created image was inspired by some peacock themed bookmarks I've been crafting lately, and also the beautiful images of Florence Broadhurst's wallpaper. Peacocks are opulent and mysterious. And I love the idea of such large birds in trees!

The gliding bird...

An image to kick it all off. I drew this bird as part of a Swap-bot postcard exchange. Swap-bot is a website I'm moderately addicted to. The idea is simple. Someone creates a swap theme and comes up with some rules. All Swap-bot members can usually join, and when the send date comes along items go into the post. A few weeks later mail arrives!

This swap was for a hand drawn image of a bird to be made into a postcard. I used a section of this image in my postcard and then sent it off to sunny California. The card's recipient Swan is also Christian, so I was encouraged to include a verse from the Bible. It talked about God caring for bird, so if he does that he must care about humans even more.

I love the look of the wings in motion in this image. The bird is gracefully coming to rest on a somewhat flimsy perch. Ah, to fly and be purple!