Bleeding Heart gift store launch

Everyones invited-today 4 til 9 p.m, School of arts building, Ann Street, Brisbane City...
Bleeding Heart have expanded and fitted out thier gift store and are holding an event tonight to celebrate! There will be cupcakes and champers at the launch of what hopefully will become the cities hotspot for local artisan activity...


I am really proud to have been selected to have my work displayed in the shop. The special part for me about being part of this store is that Bleeding Heart is a profit for purpose company. All profits they make go into wonderful projects-including providing play equipment and other aid to children in East Timor, running free courses on business for women and much more.

So if great art and great compassion interest you, make sure you check out this great new shop.

Pictured here are some of my items in the shop but there is such a huge range of lovely things in there from a wide ranging pool of talented artists.
Okay, shameless big plug over, have a lovely weekend all,
xkate

bird love

'puurrr, i love birds...a lot...'

...which is why the only cat around my place is stuffed!

As I dropped off my kids at school this morning three stunning yellow tailed black cockatoos flew down to munch their way through banksia seeds.



Perhaps this xmas if you want to encourage these stunning birds to visit you, buy a coastal banksia in a pot, decorate it with hand made or fair trade decorations and use this instead of a pine tree...which I doubt you'd want in your yard. But if you don't want this kind of tree this idea applies to any variety, whatever you want, could be a fruit tree. Once Christmas is over, plant it out into your garden, a little extra present for yourself.

My thoughts drift onto antidotes to the problematic things about Christmas.
Nobody wants to feel guilty on Christmas day-but gobbling up factory farmed meats, veggies and fruit that have a bigger carbon footprint than your car, then opening up sweat shop produced products, maybe containing various hazardous ingredients, then disposing of loads of rubbish doesn't seem so jolly...

I am all for peace and harmony and joy without compromising the environment, peoples rights or animals welfare-basically maintaining mindfulness and conscience.
Feel free to add you own-please do;

-Buy fair trade or hand made locally items, buy your gifts from op shops or antique centres or opt out of the system altogether and swap pre owned gifts-books or dvds and cds might work really well there. Write out your best recipes, give someone a massage, read a child their favourite story, take them to their favourite place, lend a hand in someones garden, cook a meal, give veggies/herbs from your garden.

-Buy organic sheets or towels for presents. They can be bought online or also at Target/Aldi.

-Make xmas meals organic, free range or vegetarian. Try and get your things as close to home as possible, and have lots of salads with each meal and less hot meals. In this climate it makes no sense cooking up roasts and puddings, heats up the house and uses a lot of energy. Buy those fantastic seasonal fruits and enjoy them.

-Try to donate unwanted items right now to charities-toys, books, things in good nick.

-Make your own wrapping paper/cards from materials you already have-newsprint or old magazines, or buy some organic tea towels to use, tied up in a little knot this works great for wrapping.

-Go on retreat! Duck it altogether! Chenrezig is beautiful, in the sunshine coast hinterland.

-Give inspiring books or dvds, bought from independent bookstores, like Avid Reader in West end or your local abc shop...these are wonderful books


my favourite book on gardening, its perfect for Australian gardeners.



and this is a random bunch of other books which will inspire and uplift while gently suggesting an alternative to chemicals and consumerism....

xkate

computer troubles

hello,

I have been reading some interesting books lately and borrowing from libraries dvds and craft books. It is very relaxing after the craziness of school holidays...

My favourite places to buy books in Brisbane are River bend books in Bulimba and Clarence corner books in Woolloonbagga. Riverbend has lovely stock, gift items, a cool kids area and really helpful staff. And Clarence has super friendly staff too, great coffee and a really diverse range of books including unusual and rare second hand ones. I also love their independence from major chains and how different their whole style and stock is because of this freedom of business strategies.

Recently I bought, 'the divided heart' by Rachel Power which explores creativity and motherhood and the challenges or joys of continuing a creative life after children and their needs enter it. She interviews a range of artists, including actress Rachel Griffiths, film maker Sara Watt and my fave, singer Clare Bowditch. I find the range of answers and experiences illuminating...like everything to do with parenting it seems there is no right way, just what works best for your child and your life.

I also watched the film, Vera Drake, by Mike Leigh. A stunning cast turns this film into such a heart wrenching real experience, one of those films where you feel immersed into the world, the characters...really moving.

I have still been snapping away with my beloved camera but alas I am having internet connection problems from my laptop so this is being typed out on another...hope to get it fixed soon and picture filled once more,

xKate

Blackstar street party

It's sad but I forgot to take a single photo of my kids at the Blackstar street party and market last night-silly me! We really appreciated the sweet words and support of people passing by our stall and my kids were so happy with their first ever sales. I am so proud of them and love their drawings, I feel so warm and fuzzy they had some recognition, big thanks.

So many people were out enjoying themselves, the event drew over 500 people! A big night!

These are some of the things which sold at the last couple of markets. The glass beads were embedded into the felt and buttons almost like eggs in a nest, maybe spring is really getting to me this year-flowers, nests, eggs!

Its a pleasure to use lovely pieces of vintage fabric like this.

The pattern was so funky but the fabric had been sewn into a cover, maybe for a jaffle maker or something? Appliance covers are ?? but often fortunately made up of very cool fabric. Anyway, when unpicked I found there wasn't much to use and the pieces were very random shapes. So after holding onto it for the right project for the longest time I so loved the way it could be used for the main body part of this clutch bag and really showed off.

I stopped by a garage sale today and got a whole shopping bag full of crochet cotton, lots of metallics amongst the mix, so tomorrow is going to be a time of exploring some ideas for how to utilize them,

Fun!

xKate

available now...

hey locals,

I set up a display of brooches, postcards and coaster sets in Blackstar cafe today...

so for an up close and personal experience of some of these...

or these...

head here...

Thomas Street, West End, open-6.30-3p.m Mondays to Saturdays.

ta,

xKate

Blackstar opening

The Blackstar cafe had its opening on Friday night, and what a lovely night it was. It was good to see some old friends and to meet some sweet new people as well. As expected the food, company and drinks were wonderful, but beyond that there was something much more special going on for me.
It was about seeing something really rare and discouraged in capitalist society as the heart of, the reason behind a business. Not token, not for good p.r, the guts of something. And it is inclusion, it is nothing less than love in action.
Fairtrade coffee is very important, the business, but for me the beauty of this place is that it is a space for everyone. For community. While working as a support worker and in libraries it became clear to me there needs to be spaces for communities, not just for 'customers.' Spaces where people will speak to the person travelling in a wheelchair instead of to the person pushing it. Places where you can stay and linger even if you have no money. Places you can go to for company. For peace. For any reason at all.


Vonney read a poem she had written and one word stood out to me, 'unity.' I loved hearing the origin of the name Blackstar and will write more about it down the track, but for now, I really want to encourage anyone and everyone to get on into Blackstar on Thomas Street in West end for a cool iced coffee and a warm smile.

Also a quick reminder about the local-music,markets of locally produced hand made goodies, food and drink happening this Saturday, 3 'til late at the Juice Tank cafe on Oxley Avenue in Margate...hope to see you there!

P.S-why buy handmade? Follow this link for some reasons... http://poppytalks101reasonstobuyhandmade.blogspot.com/

After the rain

Every few months Brisbane is hit by torrential rains and big cracking storms...and strangely although I have lived here for over 11 years now, each time it takes me by surprise. I am never prepared and I always think each rain is going to be no biggie...so I get drenched or avoid dangerous storms by a few minutes or such...or this happens to my lovely little seedlings...

They went for a bit of a swim, right out of their little plastic pots.

Much like my friend Jo's gumtree did, doing a belly flop right into her pool!! (Jo's photo)

Mmmm, I reckon out of the 2 of us I did alright. She is possibly the bravest and most gutsy woman I know but considering she was home and all alone during the cyclone she got very freaked out. She sent me a text message straight after (which I didn't see til much later,) which in part read, "holy f***ing mother of god..20 foot of tree on the roof, lost 4 large trees, thought I was going to die..." when I rang her she had taken a few medicinal sips of vino and was really very calm.

To think she had been enjoying a swim in this pool only an hour before! The damage is incredible really. I am just glad very glad that she and her neighbours were not hurt.

This photo is the usually high and dry, grassy bank of Kedron brook, a full 10 hours after the rain had stopped, which shows how dramatically the waters rose.

On a totally different note, this week a dream has been realised for my friends Vonney and Marty. In the heart of West End(44 Thomas Street to be exact) they have opened up a fairtrade coffee shop, Blackstar. Here's the lovely Vonney, a woman beautiful inside and out, with a heart as big as her hair(hee, hee!)

mmm, retro table...and mmmm-ier pastries!

I am sure to be a regular there, they do the best, the bloody BEST iced coffee ever and the whole place is warm and inviting and so pretty. In the new year I am hoping to get in there regularly to be with others and do some kind of craft thingy-thing. There is going to be an opening party on the 5th of December so locals keep it free, or of course pop in between 6.3o am and 3pm weekdays for coffee with conscience, conversation and most of all fun!

sea side wanders

After a series of days of being indoors, with unwell kids, I had to get outside and breathe the fresh air today. As I walked along the Margate foreshore I came across this lovely yellow flower which had fallen and landed oh-so perfectly on a rock.

It was like the tree above was making its own offering to buddha or a god...too sweet! It is looking like it is going to rain again any second, but at least those moments were a refreshing break.

I would love to say being stuck indoors has meant lots of creative activities and baking and the like but for that kind of thing you'd best follow Soulemama

I am more like slowmama or sleepymama...trying to get bedlinen dry mama, trying to keep kids from falling down stairs mama, chocolate eating-tea drinking mama.

And, oh, speaking of chocolate, I have exciting news, my friend Sam.J put me onto this, ta to her...you can buy organic fairtrade chocolate at Aldi stores for only $1.50 for 100 grams! And its not even on special, just their regular price for it...hmhmmmm. I do like a feel good discovery like that one!

I am going to have to get back out and rescue my washing....fingers crossed the predicted storm tonight skips us and everyone else who is already roofless or powerless...

xKate