Christmas cards designs.

Cards now selling at Earth Bloom louise douglas jewelry boutique on corner of Rutherford and Waimea roads, Nelson and Red Gallery in Bridge Street Nelson.  Both shops selling gorgeous things.

I have had a very spoily few days designing and making pictures for Christmas cards.  Spoily, to spend the whole day just doing this is something I have not done in years and  I loved it a lot.  I was influenced a lot style-wise by some art I have been looking at recently some of it, here and here and here.  Influences also from European folk art, Chinese and Japanese designs.

 The idea is they are cute looking little girls in christmas outfits with some things on their minds.

I always love cutting out snowflakes, this one was influenced by some chinese pottery.

brown paper, and beginnings of collage before the painting began.

I have tried to make them christmasy in some way or other, adding a christmasy emblem or two to each one.  As we live in New Zealand and it will be summer I have tried to keep away from the snow.  They are multi-media, with magazine collage (one of my favourite things to collage with) and paint.  I am really please with the way they have come out.  I just need to get them printed now.  I would be interested to know which ones you like best, or not.
These worst-christmas-cards are hilarious, great family christmas greeting inspiration!

running race day

On Saturday we had a 10km running event,  run Mahana, at a beautiful vinyard in a beautiful scenic spot.  the sun was shining, it was a bit windy, but generally very lovely.

me and the gal pals before the start

looking less composed at the end

I have had this dress since June when I went to England to visit my sister, and haven't worn it  yet, there  are not many opportunities in our town to get dressed up.  And the shoes, these are for Kim and Helen who sent me a funny text about my new shoe post.

 We invited some friends and children around in the afternoon to congratulate ourselves on running.  And to show off the table my husband had just finished making out of some used decking joists. Pretty sweet!

 There was shoe trying on

 There was entertainment

and some water fighting, hose-pipe spraying.

rabbits

I have been doodling some rabbit ideas, taking inspiration from books and the internet and some deep recesses of my brain.  I have a previous bunny post  and also this bunny skate board design so maybe I have a need to see rabbits at the moment.  

 And then I wanted to draw some leopard spots....

......and tinkered with some roses, which I find quite tricky, but I have looked closely at some other roses that are on fabric and elsewhere and they quite often are quite loose in design and still look rose-like, so I try not to get too hung up about it.  Roses are coming out in gardens around us at the moment, so I will need to take a look and persevere. 

I finished some rather tedious chores late last night, so today I am going to have a nice creative day finishing my christmas card designs so I can get them printed up, written and handed out.  It is something I have not managed for about four years (Christmas in New Zealand, being in the summer time, is a little odd, and I quite often forget that it is that time of year and am consequently rather dis-organised about it, being form the northern hemisphere).  I have been here five years and still it has not sunk in yet.

new shoes

I bought fab new shoes the other day.  They are these ones from Jeffrey Campbell.  I am not really a shoe girl, so my collection is a bit shabby, but I had vouchers to spend and I couldn't resist these.

  I have practiced tottering around the house on them but yet made it outside, I'm not sure I have a thing to wear with them.  these are not my legs but mine are similar, only older.

I also like these, but I didn't buy them.  

school gala hankies

I love school gala time of year, I usually manage to grab some more clothes for my wardrobe and find some bits of material for my stash.

there was a bag of cool little hankies which are perfect for dolly clothes. 

this will look so cute as a little dress. 

I also managed to get a nice wool tank top for my husband (I like him in a tank top), and a cashmere jumper for me, it is so soft, and a nice wool blanket.  Oo and two directors chairs for the garden.  Hooray, good haul and all for under $40!

sleeping beauty and the roses

I post these pictures in reference to my story below the pictures of pruning some ivy.

This is how I am feeling today, beautiful painting by Burne

disney

Feeling a bit beaten by the task in hand, Anana Pandas

I on occasion felt a bit like this chap who I found on living in space

(New edit, 4th Dec just found this one), above.  Here comes Prince marvelous and the brambles fall away and turn into lovely roses.  It doesn't seem fair.

I am having a lazy day, having exhausted myself battling with the ivy hedge for three days last week. Really I am such wuss.  I pondered ( on day two) the plight of all the Princes who had tried to rescue Sleeping Beauty from a forest of roses. I wondered what demons they were avoiding to be putting such effort into hacking away at some flipping thorny great hedge, what was lurking back at home to make them run off and attempt such a task?  and I didn't think any the less of them any more for giving up.  After-all who knew what you would find if you ever got through the forest.  I mean how beautiful was she and was it all about her or all about the Prince and his ego?  And she was a hundred years old. 

the kids are at the movies, husband is doing man stuff in the garage, and I am sitting on my bed designing christmas cards.  It's a tough life, unfortunately I will have to start dinner in a minute and go and pick the kids up, when really I am quite happy where I am, doing nothing. 

recycled christmas lovelyness

I have been given some rather lovely and cool christmas decorations by my lovely friend Clare.  She makes all sorts of beautiful, vintage, recycled things, some of which she has in her etsy shop Stitch and Print.  She also has badges and brooches and paper garlands and is a highly talented printer.

Lovely vintagey, blankety stuff.  I'm quite pleased.

Tim Biskup

some good things by Tim Biskup

just noticed biscuit crumb top right, this is not part of the original picture.

more here

I wont comment too much 'cause I haven't the words or the nouse to be intelligent about it.  But I love all this imagery, reminds me of something (1950's kids book? can't put my finger on it).  And on a very simplistic level I love all the birds and shapes and colours.  There is another world out there to explore, yay!

camille rose garcia, alice

I got a book out of the library called "Weirdo-Deluxe, The Wild World of Pop Surrealism and Lowbrow Art"  by Matt Dukes Jordan.  I was a bit worried about the Lowbrow bit, until I'd had a look inside.  I liked quite a few of the artists.  And I liked the work of this lady Camille Rose Garcia.  I looked her up and came accross this Alice art work.  I loved the style of her painting, bit dark and all, but also liked the comparison with an old childrens book I had recently bought at the op-shop.

Photos on right from down-the-rabbit-hole-exhibition by Camille Rose Garcia.

These are some photos from the book mentioned above, and click the link to get to her web-site.

ideas on news print

 I spread a big piece of news print down on the table and had an hour or two of sketching/doodling with my sketch books and some pretty picture books I have stashed on the book shelf.  I am mulling over some ideas on my paper, and try and grab them as they whirl around my head.

I get a bit stuck on one style idea, I think I need to go to the library for some inspiration.  I love to get lots of picture books out and trawl through them.

tassle bags

I have been admiring tassley bags for a while, they have a hint of western/cowboy and I rather like it.

from bubblegum candies blog

the bag lady

 I made one out of some old pairs of jeans, there may be a fraying problem in the near future.  It has a red hearts lining and inside pocket.  

 ignore if you can the rather sad state of attire of the model (me).

 firemans trousers from the SPCA shop.

half a leg of those trousers made this little bag.  MY daughter said I had wasted my time as you can buy these at the $2 shop.  If only I had known before hand.  There was me thinking I had been rather cool and fashionable.