Friday Flowers .... Winter Roses

Beautiful, dark winter roses, or hellebores, for the end of our winter (feeling very wintry today).

The colour is amazing!

Photos taken through my old Kodak Duaflex camera.

Have a great Friday bloggies! I might try to relax this evening but another busy reno weekend for us. *sigh*

xx

Art....or renovation nightmare?

You know those times when you start a job and then think, "what the heck was I ever thinking?". I had one of those moments, in fact many of those moments as I decided to strip back a few layers of paint off my window. There was the artist in me saying, "look at all those amazing textures" while the DIY-er in me was saying, "how many more bloody layers of paint can there be??!!"

I think I counted about 10 colours...basically one for every ten years of the old girl's life. There was a dark mauve, electric blue, orange and of course a lovely mission brown.

Seriously, what were these people thinking? And more to the point, what was I thinking when I thought it would be better to strip/sand it back instead of just adding a new colour to the mix?

Hours are hours and many sore muscles later it is starting to look ok. Hopefully I'll get some new paint on it in the next few days,

Colin the plasterer actually came and quoted "stopping up" the ceiling but it was a bit beyond our budget so "man of the tools" decided to give it a go. He looked somewhat like a snowman at one point but did a great job.

Below is the lower ceiling. It's almost ready for some undercoat. We still have one more piece of plaster to get up in the higher part but might have to wait for the weekend to muster up some energy.

I ordered cornice today and am chasing up quotes to sand the floorboards.

It's starting to feel like we might get there!

Meet the snowman :) Yes, I know, where's the safety equipment? He's not a fan...me on the other hand, I wear enough for both of us.

ps. thanks for Molly's birthday wishes. She's had a great day with lots of treats.

xx

Birthday Girl

Today is our little girl's 6th Birthday. We were told that as a Labradoodle, Molly would settle down when she turned 3. She hasn't settled down yet, but we don't mind :)

She was so excited last night when I wrapped her pressies. This morning when we woke up I said, "time for your pressies" and she was up and out of bed in the blink of an eye.

Molly just loves gifts. She loves unwrapping them and even if the gift is not for her, she likes to help out.

Her hamburger toy lasted about 4 minutes. It was 4 minutes of great fun for Molly :)

Happy Birthday Molly!

Things that I've made

I was very pleased to receive the Sunshine Award from Amanda of Small Acorns fame. While I have previously posted some supposedly interesting things about me (here too), I thought this time I might post some things I have made. I hope that's ok :)

The Rose brooch above was made at an Anna Davern workshop last year. I have posted it before but many of you wont have seen it. It is made from recycled biscuit tin, silver sheet, darkened copper and a pearl.

The birdy brooch was made at the same workshop. I have a few ideas similar to these that I can't wait to try out in my soon to be finished studio.

This is another of my dresses, made a few years ago now. This one is called Versailles Ballgown and is made from little pieces of lace that has been stitched together and a spiderweb-like skirt made from stitching onto water soluble plastic. It has been embellished with swarovski crystals, crushed silk organza and even old chandelier pieces.

The little stool below was a $4 tip shop find that I painted with a classic Georgia O'Keeffe painting. I can't remember the title. The writing around the side is a quote by the artist,"If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment".

To put my art in context, I have always studied and been interested in art. Thankfully my parents were okay about me going to Art School instead of studying pharmacy so I went on to do a major in photography as well as studying drawing, ceramics, printmaking, graphic design and art theory. Lots of fun but once I left uni it took me a few years to get into art again. I started creating my wearable art about 6 years ago and jewellery about 3 years ago.

So many things I wish to create yet so little time!

Part 2 of this post to follow....need to go dig out a few more things!

ps we had a crazy reno weekend so images to share once I locate the camera downloading cable....

xx

Friday flowers

A beautiful blue anemone from my back yard.

Happy Friday peeps - it's almost the weekend! Looks like being a reno weekend here at Molly's Maison so hopefully we have something good to show you all next week.

xx

Bemz couch covers

I recently discovered the Bemz website. They make slipcovers for Ikea sofas. I'd love some new covers for my sofa and chair. I absolutely LOVE the gorgeous Designers Guild fabric in the image above, but could it be too much? (A bit out of my budget too).

I really like the soft blue and greens but I know I should be going for something in a muddy brown with a paw print pattern - much more suited to Molly and her dirty paws! Yes, I know she should never have been allowed on the couch but too late for that now.

Nice, don't you think? Such a great way to freshen up and change the look of a whole room. Plus, I love how you just throw them in the washing machine. Deciding which colours could be a big problem :)

PS would you believe I had just swapped over my covers to the pale ones (after just drafting this post) and in bowls the furry monster from outside with muddy paws. She runs straight up onto the couch! Sheesh...

Oh well, life goes on....

Renovation happenings!

I am very excited to be reporting actual renovation news! After the first plasterer went AWOL then phone calls to 3 more plasterers, one came and quoted an incredible $3000 to plaster the stepped ceiling and one wall in my studio room!! Wowza! Totally beyond our budget and estimations, so we decided to give it a go ourselves.

Above shows a timber frame we made to level out the very shoddily built lower ceiling. This was where the room was extended out onto the old verandah. Lyndon installed new light cable for a couple of neat down lights.

Master of the Tools then made use of a very clever/handy little machine called a Lackey, which lifted the sheets up to the ceiling so they could be attached.

Screwing the plaster board in place.

Luckily, the Lackey also reached the higher ceiling as well.

Almost there! Only a bit around the edges to fill in and then we're ready to get it stopped up. Lyn called a guy called Colin who will hopefully come tomorrow (not holding ones breath) to quote on stopping the gaps and edges and attaching cornice in the higher ceiling.

Today I will attempt to smooth out the side wall that we had originally planned on re-plastering but now think it might not be worth it. I'll have a go with the sander and we'll decide afterwards if it needs doing or not. A fresh coat of paint may make all the difference :)

Exciting times! Have a great week peeps!

Friday flowers - Pretty pale pink gerberas 2

They were so pretty that I kept taking photos.

There's a lot beginning to happen in the garden (after so much rain!) so that will become my future Friday flowers. My three last David Austin roses arrived yesterday so that's very exciting and the bulbs are all on their way long with my foxglove and hollyhocks seedlings. Exciting!

It's been such a long week and I have to work the weekend (boooo!) but am looking forward to some time off soon. I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Our little girl

Look at those eyes. She is so adorable!

Yesterday I made her a delectable Canine Stew and whilst it completely stunk out the house and had me trying very hard not to gag every time I stirred it, she was begging for more! I can't for the life of me remember where I found it but it was on someones lovely blog. Please let me know if it was you.
Yay, a Melbourne Girl left a message and here is the link for the stew :)
(maybe use normal non-pet mince if you don't want to stink out the kitchen)

A couple of things....

I have been so incredibly blown away by the wonderfully positive comments about my dresses. Thank you all so much, you are toooo kind! It has been very inspiring :)

A big thanks to the lovely Amanda from Small Acorns who passed on the Sunshine Award to me today. As soon as I can think of some interesting things about myself I will post them. Hey, maybe instead of interesting things about me, maybe I could dig out a few more things made by me? We'll see. Thanks so much Amanda - I just love her blog, not to mention her shop in Wellington :)

Photoshoot

I was very happy to have a couple of my wearable art creations photographed last week by Helen Okey. I am so pleased with the results. What do you think?

Both outfits feature handcut garlands made from fine sailcloth, vintage lace, hand dyed silk along with other embellishments. The red one is called Dante's Rose and was included in the 2008 World of Wearable Art awards in New Zealand and also came 3rd place overall in the Fashion Fantasia awards in Hobart last year. The black dress is called Nocturne and was lucky enough to be overall winner in Fashion Fantasia in 2007.

For any of you in Hobart, Helen is having an exhibition of her work "Silhouettes Etcetera" at Off Centre gallery, Salamanca Arts Centre, opening at 6pm Friday 13th, running through to 31st August.

Below are some behind the scene shots as model Grace and photographer Helen work their magic. I was make-up artist, strategic pinner, dress poofer, cardboard flapper/wind maker! 

Thanks to Grace and Helen for all their hard work!

First two images copyright Helen Okey

Stunning camelia and signs of spring on its way!

The bloom from my recent camellia purchase, named 'Volunteer'. It's not a shy looking bloom, is it? More 'look at me!' So pretty! Look at that white edge below...

I'm also rather excited to see my daffodils starting to bloom out the front. It's a sure sign that spring is on its way.

As many of you will know, I have planted hundreds of bulbs. Many are starting to appear in the garden beds so it will be exciting when they start to bloom. It looks like my little magnolia will bloom soon for the first time. Exciting garden moments ahead!