messy Miss Kate

Miss Daisy...

This little Daisy of mine has really blossomed into a lovely little lady this last year. Since finishing kindy and starting fulltime school in term 2, she has really calmed down [she is very energetic & athletic!], become more thoughtful, improved her listening skills and is showing more & more vulnerability than ever.  At school she is a little on the shy & sweet side. At home, rather than feisty, she is becoming more sensitive & emotional.  Its been an interesting change.

Being a big school girl now, she has lots more responsibility with her own daily routine.  Naturally she needs a lot less reminding about putting school shoes away, bag on kitchen bench, school uniform off etc etc.  

She is thirsty to read to us and has been doing so brilliantly. It seems to come quite naturally to her and she is willing and able to stretch out big words in her reading without prompting, that aren't immediately known.

At home we are going to focus on her writing a bit more for the rest of the year. I hope her blogging might help with this too.  She has lovely hand writing and enjoys writing but I know we can extend her in this area more.

Those eyes continue to make me go soft every day. She really is such a beauty and such a nurturing & sweet soul. Sometimes she lacks in confidence and this manifests in squabbling with siblings but she is getting better at trying to think about best approaches to squabbles and asks for help to sort things out rather than go around in circles and getting nowhere.

Its amazing to see the children mature over time. Her friendship with her older sister Georgia has also blossomed this past year. At home they are almost inseperable. Its very possible that because we lump the girls into 'the big girls' and 'the little girls' yet Charlotte is a year behind Georgia, has sometimes made Charlotte feel left behind. Although she was so ready & wanting to be at kindy then school with Georgia, she had to wait a whole year to catch up. I guess we too have the same expectations of them both when really Charlotte is a whole year younger. We are learning too.

Anyway, they are best friends and thoroughly enjoy each others company. I guess they are both at school now so more on an even level playing field, like they were before Georgia started kindy...  They also often play together at school which I love. I want them to make sure they have friends in their own classroom but its also nice to have a sibling to rely on at school. I discourage exclusion in my home and have a strong family first policy so its nice to see this little friendship between my two oldest girls really coming along.

I had a parent teacher interview this week for Charlotte and even with 3 terms of Reception, her teacher was confident she'll be ready for year one in 2012. She seems to be right up there in reading levels from what I can see too. That is always reassuring. 

So very proud of her.

Kate xo

Hey hey it's Blog Day!

So today Nuffnang is celebrating Blog Day 2011 & everything bloggy that goes along with that.

If you are a new reader to my blog, HELLO!!  I've noticed many new readers since attending Blogopolis 2011 and have a new post coming soon all about me & bringing you up to speed about what you can find me blogging about.

So, blogging.... well I've been blogging since 2005 when Georgia was only a few weeks old. All my 5 children have had snippets of their lives recorded on my blog and I absolutely treasure that aspect of blogging.  Unless you are a scrapbbooker, blogger or prolific journal keeper - who else has these memories so intact?  

Having a major fire at my parents house several years back makes me only too aware of how easily memories can be wiped out. Huge tubs of photographs, childhood artwork, school bits & pieces, certificates etc, all lost.  Thank you goodness for the digital age! Mind you, if its all on computer, you need to be backing up or keeping external har drives external to your house!!  Hurry up iCloud!

Anyway, I know there must be many people who wonder why on earth people would write about their lives, their hobbies, their passions, their good days & bad, for the world to see on a blog.

For me, its simple. I'm a writer, a thinker, a talker, a story teller, a memory keeper, a list maker, an over-analyser & I also like to have an outlet to share my creations too.  Amazingly, its also therapy.

The connections I've made from all corners of the planet really have been amazing. The support and prayers & well wishes for us when one of our babies was having a horrendous first year of life with 2 open heart surgeries, surviving necrotizing enterocolitis & eventual bowel surgery - will never be forgotten  - and the blogging helped me immensely by just writing about our challenges when I was quite unable and far too emotional to speak about it.

I cannot tell you the number of emails I have had from all over from people who have followed my blog, watched my kids grow, enjoyed my artwork and/or wanted technical help with their own art & crafts, supported or been inspired by my health & fitness struggles and who have written to connect when they have endured similar journeys to ours. Its been amazing.  

We have this whole wide world [and world wide web!] - why not have a voice? why not have a space? why not connect with all the corners of the world and share...?

I often wonder why everyone does not have a blog!

So anyway, I wanted to share some blogs I've loved for a long time....

Let me precede this by saying I rarely read other blogs! Eeeek!!!  I love blogs, I believe in blogs and its really only time constraints that prevent me from reading more. There are lots that I have RSS feeds for but I only check on a few regulars per week and then if/when time permits I'll scoot around from one to another of a huge pool of fabulous families, friends & fabulous arty types to see what else is going on in blog world. I have lots of friends who blog & I do check in on those too.

My absolute fave blogs are the ones which are about families, mothering, artwork & living creative & meaningful lives. More than that, they have an indescribable special ingredient that makes me want to come back & check in on them.  The ones that do that best in my eyes are: 

Emily Falconbridge

The ultimate earth loving mumma. Lovely family, always beautiful photos. Fabulous & resourceful with upcycling, making crafty goodness out of simple supplies. A free spirit, one with nature, funny, fabulous mother & life philosophies but also humourous about the imperfection of it all. I'm inspired by her resourcefulness and trapsing around America & Australia with 3 kids in tow. I love a little bit of gypsy & I wish I could live a little bit more like that instead of the inner city hustle & bustle of where I am.   

Mentor for living life resourcefully, purposefully & responsibly. Throw in crazyness of life, kids, craft & food & its a beautiful crazy life. 

Kelly Rae Roberts

Always inspired by her artwork, I loved her book and she's been very hardworking & clever with making an artful career work. Very inspired by that. She also has lots of heartfelt stories to tell & a great perspective on life. She's optimistic in nature & positive - I like that.  More recently I am enjoying posts about her first baby & her being new to motherhood. Its been wonderful to reflect on that special & wonderous time again by following someone else's journey. And she has fab fab taste in clothes, house & even cowboy boots - she bought the exact same ones as meeeeeee! I think we were meant to be besties haha

Mentor for arty business & fabulous life perspective.

Stephanie Nielson

Survived a near fatal plane crash a few years back & has endured surgery after surgery for burns to 80% of her body. She is the ultimate loving mumma with a home she makes beautiful & 4 kids she absolutely adores. And she's finally pregnant again, a dream come true for her. So wonderful!

Mentor for dealing with challenges & struggles whilst holding on to hopes & dreams - if she can survive all she has been through, I can do anything with the very few little niggles I've had.

 

And finally  there's a couple of young bloggers who I've been following for a much shorter time. These girls are amazing young, resourceful, crafty, Blythe collecting fabulous online role models for my own children & even me, an adult, loves flipping through their blogs when I can. Blogging future, watch these girls - they are amazing!!

Craftygirl

and

The Adventures of Bella & Blythe

{I also love each of their mothers blogs too!! Fellow crafty mothers...}

Some other blogs that I like to check in on every now & then for beautiful art:

Rebecca Sower [who happened to write the foreward to one of my books just quietly!!],

Sleep & her Sisters,

DJ Pettit,

Sarah Ahearn Bellemare,

Misty Mawn

and Ali J.

 

So there you go, if you don't have a blog, why not give it a go!

Kate xo

The Bat Cave...

Well, its not really the bat cave, its just my art space.

Mostly the lighting is not good up here and I work away until the wee hours so it is a bit like a bat cave.  The photos depict exactly what its like for me at night.  One day I'll nab a few hours in daylight and photograph my space a bit better but who knows when that will be. These will have to do for now...

So to start.... this is my mini office overlooking my creating space. I do my graphics work here, photo editing, artwork shop uploads & business stuff, emailing, online shopping etc. I can see the TV [that black blob over my Mac on the far wall] but rarely look up from the computer screen. Content with listening.

I have my printer, scanner, external hard drives and my business stationery all on the desk and have 4 tall skinny metal ikea drawer units with office supplies & some of my sewing stuff under the bench as well as two lockable filing cabinets holding all my art prints and family bills, school things...

And here's what is behind me [taken on photo booth].

The great wall of expedits. 12 x6 to be exact.

So thats 72 cubicles of art supplies, gift wrapping stuff, kids toys the entire bottom row, handbags, hair accessories making, photo frames, paint supplies, letter writing & sticker collections, kids art & craft & school stationery supplies [LOVE you K-Mart & Big W!!] books, books, more art books, art/craft magazine issues I want to keep, kids special boxes [few select baby things, Christening things, hospital birth things etc]... and my collection of Blythe sits up here too.

I also have little reminder cards that have been there for years on things I want to remind myself in my day to day parenting "encourage creative thinking", "consistency & repitition", "more positives than negatives", "read", "1 on 1 time" etc etc. Corny maybe but I find they are still useful reminders in my very full parenting role.

First wall into the art space contains art canvas storage up top, tubs of napkins used in my artwork, rubber stamps, tissue paper, colour sorted tubs of patterned paper scraps.

One of my painting areas. This is usually where I paint in the fine details like faces onto prims, babushkas & dolls. I also paint in some backgrounds here & add paint details to edges etc.

Here's a little display area for inspiration + the bench is a drying area for works in progress. To the left is some of my 6x6" patterned paper pads which I use quite a lot in my work. CD rack houses my unmounted rubber stamp sets.

This wall houses some canvases I've kept for myself but I rotate them, I only have this one wall for works I want to hold onto a bit longer so if I want to add, then something else has to go.  I also have some works in progress here. My laptop currently for DVD watching and its my mobile workhorse for graphics if I'm away from home or sick in bed or whatever.

I also draw & paint faces for dolls here. My faces get two face-ups. Background is painted and then later on in the process I paint in all the finer features. The process starts on this desk.

This is my old scrapbooking desk area which I now use mostly for card making these days & only the occasional scrappy project. I use all my supplies still, either in my canvas work or on birthday cards for family & friends. Ooh, ballerina canvas in progress on floor there. These are those tall skinny metal ikea drawer things I mentioned are under my office desk. Love them. Hold lots & they were very affordable. Over time I have collected many, mostly when they were on sale.

So there you go. A very full & cramped space but I have been doing this [being arty & crafty] since I first hit the teens. That is many many years of collecting & I don't often chuck things out. Like wasting paper etc. Its sorted into piles and used. The  whole basis of my artwork for the last few years has been centered around using scraps! Hence my business name: Scrapps Flea Market. It was deliberate & purposeful to name it that.  And believe it or not everything has been organised 'just so'. There is a place for everything and everything is mostly in its place unless it is being used.

I love my area and sometimes when I can, my big girls come in too and join me for some drawing time or working on their own canvas projects. I can't wait for that time together to increase but having littler ones means it needs to be measured & timed appropriately.

There's lots in the art space that is dangerous. Heat guns, knives, scalpels, paints & thinners, not to mention lots of work in progress that might not look quite so good with small fingermarks over it or little childish drawings with permanent marker over it! But the time to create more together will come soon enough. Until then, I hop in here at night when I have finished my work and fuss arond my work in progress. There is always something at every stage of the process to go on with. Every little nook and cranny feeds my artistic soul and I am very happy in the space messing about & getting messy.

Have you blogged about your art space lately?  Leave a link in comments. I'd love to check it out!!  LOVE art spaces. 

Kate xo

 

The Vegetable Ark...

Yesterday I received this book in the post.

The Vegetable Ark by Kim Kane and Sue DeGennaro [Illustrations]

I had seen it on the shelves at our primary school library and had a flip through. It was darling. I was super inspired by the illustrations. Thats always the key ingredient for me.

 
The book is about....

Noah's [of Noah's Ark variety] hippy vegetarian brother Neil. Neil makes his own Ark and saves all the vegetables from certain extinction when the big storm hits. Visually delicious and a fabulous little story.  They have taken a religious Christian story and made it almost unrecognisable as such. Modern & cute. 

I think I shall put it away for Christmas for Lachy.   Its way beyond what he will understand for many years but I collect books way in advance for all of them. Sometimes the pictures are an attraction, later the story will be...

Have you added any terrific childrens books to your home library lately?

Kate xo

Top 5...

Thought it was about time that I update my Top 5 free pass yummy man list.

Do you have one?

I happened to click on Dooce's blog the other day and noticed Chris Martin used to be her #1 but because of her rules - she knows someone who knows Chris Martin, he had to be removed.  Couldn't believe it. Someone else has Chris Martin as #1. I thought I would be the only one. Anyway, she's gone now, I am figuring I have no competition now. Except, well, Gwyneth I suppose.

 

So its 2011. Here's my updated top 5!

 

1] Chris Martin

2] Jake Gyllenhaul

3] David Beckham & Jude Law

4] Daniel Johns

5] Josh Lucas

and a totally close, so close I couldn't oust him, number 6] Aaron Eckhart

So there you go!  Funny thing is, facial hair isn't really my thing but looky at all these pics? Weird! They obviously have a shoulder thing, a teeth thing, lovely eyes thing & definitely some smouldering blue steel happening. That IS my thing.

Goodnight, off to bed. 

Kate xo

Edited to add:   Sorry sorry, after speaking with my sister [she's doing a top 5 soon!] and looking back over her old list, also circa 2006, I remembered THE Jude Law. Mr Law had to be on my list so he's pegged at position 3 along with Mr Beckham. Lots of lovely English accents. Perhaps at the same time? Did I just say that?  Jude Law is English right? Or was it just his English accent in 'The Holiday' that got me hooked?

Oh geez, and can I squeeze in Ben Cousins too? Oh man!

For reference: here's my old list... Blogged years ago, 2006 I think.

1] chris martin [frontman: cold play - for his emotional, beautiful & intelligent lyrics, quirky sense of humour & for being married to lovely gwyneth – i love her too, oh & apple – i think i am THE only person on earth who thinks that name is just so cutie pie, even cutie ‘apple’ pie LOL]

2] colin firth [actor: love actually & bridget jones etc – for just being so emotional, sensitive, bumbling & handsome, even those overgrown side burns are just somehow irresistible, just wanna take him in, listen to him blurt out something bumbling about how he loves me, then slap him on the backside, kiss him & tell him he should have more confidence in himself.  of course i know they are only movies but stop wrecking my fantasy ok?]

3] john cusack [actor: high fidelity, serendipity, the sure thing & SO many more – he is always in my top 5. love his intellectual, hopeless romantic, highly analytical never stops talking character he always plays & I’m sure he’s exactly the same in real life]

4] daniel johns [singer songwriter: silverchair & disassociatives – lots of the same appeal as chris martin. emotional, feeling, sensitive, intelligent young man, beautiful music, quirky]

5] josh lucas [actor: sweet home alabama – ok this vote is for just raw, drop dead sexiness. I sadly watch sweet home over & over as will NEVER tire of watching him. great teeth, love his first scene, all dirty & country boy looking, the alabama accent is a surefire killer ‘know how to get me into bed – AT HELLO’ kinda accent]

 

Bucket List...

A post in progress. Obviously. I can only think of 40 things right now... Up to 42! Wooot!

 

1] run 4.5kms Mothers Day Classic straight [Finished it May 2011 but not running for whole way. Still to accomplish]

2] run 7kms Mothers Day Classic

3] run 12kms City to Bay

4] wear a dress, sometime... DONE

5] take kids to Disneyland

6] do an Art retreat in America

7] be a working illustrative artist

8] write & illustrate my own book [childrens or adults]

9] finish my graphics certificate

10] finish my visual arts degree which I'll be swap as soon as I can for graphic design [illustration major]

11] go to Paris again

12] go to New York City again

13] take the kids to Canada, Ireland, England & Scotland to visit family

14] do the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb

15] take a cooking class

16] finish my personal Le Cordon Bleu cooking journey

17] learn how to do a French knot

18] finish making my kids baby clothes into patchwork quilts for each of them

19] learn how to make a croissant

20] take the family camping [real camping Jeff, not cabin in a tourist park camping]

21] buy a banjo

22] take lessons in banjo playing

23] learn conversational French

24] work in a soup kitchen

25] support a mother in a foreign country

26] get an arty penpal from a European country and exchange hand written visually delicious arty letters

27] sort out my photos on my computer

28] learn to play chess

29] take some dancing classes with Jeff [something funny & light & social]

30] do some vlogging

31] make a stop motion movie

32] be re-taught how to knit

33] learn to crochet DONE

34] take my kids to the snow

35] fold 1000 origami cranes

36] visit the Louvre in Paris on a day that it is open - NOT GOOD FRIDAY Kate!

37] Sell one of my original paintings to someone famous like Gwyneth Paltrow for Apple's bedroom OR Jools Oliver for one of the little Oliver flowers bedrooms. [Ha! Have to dream big!]

38] Be published in a Stampington publication. I know I know, I have to write to them sometime or it will never happen!! One day.

39] Have a working [not half dying, half sort of growing] kitchen garden with herbs & salad veggies.

40] Stay happily married to Jeff & investing in us, until at least 80, at which time I may trade him in for someone younger.

41] Buy a vintage caravan & deck it out with lots of vintage & handmade goodness

42] Do some light holidaying in our decked out, cute, cool vintage caravan

43] Art Exhibition DONE

44] Solo art exhibition

 

OK, will keep adding!  Do you have a blog bucket list?

Would love you to link in with mine. I need some more ideas. If not, why not start one! Let me know where to find it.

Kate xo

Best gift ever... a kidney!!

9 years ago today, I got this...

Its a kidney!

I got it from this person below on the left. My little sister. Well she's now taller. My big little sister.

How awesome is that?  And how awesome is the kidney photo? Gory I know. But I remind myself of this not just every day, but extra specially ever year on our transplant anniversary. 

I cannot tell you just what a gift it has been. To think of my very very poor health before the transplant when my face was so swollen from steroids trying to keep my kidney functioning as long as it could.

My sick body with little filtration to keep in the goodness & push the toxins out. I felt like I was living with poison inside. My skin was a grey/yellowish. My eyes were sick. And oh the exhaustion!

There was minimal hope for children.  I worked a full time job but it took all my efforts. It wasn't a pleasant life.  

I am eternally grateful for this gift Janie & to my husband & brothers who all came along to the red cross for tissue matching. It could have been any of them.  

I am seriously so lucky.  I recognise that although kidney disease & eventual renal failure is not lucky at all, that I had family who were not only willing to share their organs, but were so closely matched to me. 

My sister was a perfect tissue match. My brothers were perfectly matched to each other and a very close match to me also but even closer than them was my husband Jeff. Amazing.

Without this transplant, I would either not be here or be on dialysis. I almost certainly would not have A child, let alone 5 beautiful babies.

It is so overwhelming sometimes that I can't really talk about it. It hits you in the throat you know. Uncontrollable big dollopy tears spilling over lids kind of emotional.

I also recognise that there are so many others not in my position who are sitting, waiting on dialysis for the best gift ever.

Seriously - the gift of life.

If you don't think you'll need your organs after you are gone, there are others. Hoping. Wishing. Praying.  

It would be lovely & I would be eternally grateful, if you might consider sharing them.

You can register here on the Australian Organ Donor Register  but please also tell your loved ones your wishes should the unexpected happen.

There is no proper gift for someone who gives you their kidney but I do like to give my sister a little something every year.  I bought my sister 2 presents to celebrate today. One of them she already had so I get to go shopping again to find somethig else!! Yay! Love shopping! 

Love the ugly kidney Jane, its doing superbly! Love you forever xoxoxoxoox

Kate xo

Issue 2: Etzcetera Magazine is nearly here....

And it features Meeeeeee. Yay!  

Kim Archer [magazine editor/owner/crafty extraordinaire] interviewed me about my 'Creative Life' and I also provided a step by step tutorial on a "little houses on the hillside" mixed media canvas.

Here's a sneak:

Plus there is a whole heap of other exciting features from fellow crafties: Renee Ludlow, Nagire Bartlam, Tamar Bostock, Lea Ingram, Lisa Pate, Janelle Wind, Mardi Winen, Tatum Woodroffe, Mel Nunn, Erica Robinson & creative food editor Jasmine Barton.

I am busting to see it. The first issue [also FREE] was so fabulous.  You can still view it here.

Issue Two: available September 1, here!

Kate xo

Don't get me started on emotional eating...

I got a lovely email from a lady in Perth this week who asked me my honest opinion on Michelle Bridges 12 week Body Transformation program.  It occurred to me there might be others interested in my answer. So here's my opinion:

Over the years, I have tried Weight Watchers, Kate Morgan & the 12wbt.  Actually I did Lite & Easy many years back too. All with varying levels of success.

Both Weight Watchers & 12wbt have been successful for me. The reason for that has been simple - I was committed. I also had a bit of responsibility to fulfil in that I had to weigh in weekly. I never want anyone to get mad with me so I made sure I was mostly doing the right thing to get some result each week. Repeat that for a number of weeks and of course it works.  I find being forced to be accountable, writing down food intake, working out calories, that all makes the difference for me.

Weight Watchers is a much slower process and caters for life alot more. Exercise doesn't really feature too much although of course they encourage walking & fitness but not to the extreme like on the 12wbt program BUT has the advantage of a physical weekly weigh in. 

12wbt however, is a simple science - 1200 calories in and 60min of intensive exercise 6 days per week. There are a huge range of excercise options - videos [need to purchase but really are fab], indoor exercise, outdoor exercise or gym program. I've opted for the gym program + treadmill at home and do the occasional video too. I also have weights at home and will try to use them more this next round.

 

Its $200 and I find the weekly MIchelle mindset videos & the hype around the end of season activities + forum support & info are worth the money & KEEP ME MOTIVATED!  Mind you I could not sustain it for 2 rounds in a row because my family life is full as it is & with injury, sickness & more than usual busy-ness, I lost the enthusiasm. But I feel ready to commit again.

As for the 12wbt food, I have 3 of her books and also do look through the menu plans but I'm a fussy eater so I generally work out the calories for the food I like and reduce my portion sizes or replace some items for low calorie options. I have definitely tried her recipes & adapted others. I think it all looks terrific and most of the normal population would love at least 90% of them. I am not normal in the food department. *FUSSY*

As for family friendly, there seems to be lots of discussion on the boards surrounding all of that. Some do it well, others don't. Some think its expensive, others cook ahead & freeze portions and make it work economically.

Bottom line -  if you can be organised surrounding meal plans, commit to the exercise, limit your calories & don't over-think training, just do it - you don't need any program - you can do it yourself. I think you just have to work out why all or any of these other programs have not worked in the past and either go for it yourself with a very clear plan or choose one that may help address the area that you are having trouble with yourself.

Obviously people choose programs because they haven't been successful on their own. I love Michelle's no nonsense approach. She really tells it like it is and sometimes I feel so grateful that she's real and honest and tells her peeps to just stop whinging & whining and just get out there and get the job done. She is 100% correct in everything she says.  It is empowering to complete intensive exercise or to begin running. I never thought I would be the person who would go to a gym class let alone complete 2 in a row and then be back the next day for another back to back. But I did that so many times.  I ran in the Mothers Day Classic. I want to do more of that.

For all those reasons I do highly recommend the program and the money has been worth it for me even without following the menu plans.

Only you can decide if you think this fits in with your lifestyle or what you think will be the answer to becoming the best version of you.

Good luck! Love to hear your stories too.

Kate xo

 

Kate made Cold Rolls...

Prepared all the fillings:

• Cos lettuce shredded
• Raddichio shredded
• Yellow capsicum sticks
• Carrots julienned
• Beanshoots
• Alfalfa
• Mung beans for crunch
• Snow pea sprouts

Bugger, forgot the cucumber that was sitting on the bench. Doh! Next time...

Wet the rice paper & piled on the goodness.

Rolled it up into little parcels of yummy then....

Bit the head off & patted myself on the back for making & eating something so yummy and so low in calories. Will be making these often! Kids loved making them with me but not so much eating them. Think it was the gooby feeling of the rice paper. It'll grow on them. I'm sure of it.

Fun fun!

Kate xo