still here.. alive and kicking..

oh my little blog and bloggy friends.. i have neglected you of late.. sorry!!

it's been a little crazy here of late, but then again when is it not crazy?? i managed to stay off the computer.. and i mean really stay off and not even turn it on, type of business for 2.5 days which really is a miracle for me.. things just needed to get done, orders needed to be finished and i just needed a little me time, but more on that later..

anyhoo.. just thought i'd drop in and say hello.. let the world know that we are all alive and kicking and i'm back..

the perfect protest.. not so perfect giveaway..

I think its time to draw a winner of my perfectly unorganised giveaway 

of two not so perfect size 4 tee's.. 

little tiny drum roll.. 

(zaccy is asleep so we have to be quiet)

winner #1... Baby Galah

winner #2... Buttons by Lou Lou

can you please email me with your postal addresses girls.. 

and I'll pop the tee's in the post for you..

tee painting with toddlers..

Last Monday I had the pleasure of making t-shirts with my daughters friends at day care.. I bought along a selection of my screen printing paint which the kids used.. I then took the tee's home and heat set them to make the paint permanent.. 

Today the kids had a class photo wearing their tee's so I can now reveal to the world their amazing work.. it was such a fun day and the tee’s look absolutely stunning. Each one is a unique piece of wearable art...

Thank you guys for this opportunity and I hope you all love your little creations and enjoy wearing them. They are all truly fantastic and you are all little artists!!!

Here are some pics from the day..

a movie that inspired me..

I recently got my 'Stealing Beauty' dvd back from a friend, which mind you I completely forgot about as it's a movie I always watch when I need to be re-inspired and re-motivated so I guess I must be chugging along alright. But in saying this.. its back in my hands so that must mean something.. it must be watched again. 

I've lost track of how many times I have seen this movie but its travelled along with me through my life and each and every-time I watch it, it gives me a little boost and I get something completely different out of it. Some scenes I once loved, no longer have that same effect and in a sense have lost their meaning, while others I never really noticed, stand out and teach me something new. It's a movie with a quite a few different characters, of different ages and from different backgrounds but somehow all play an important role in the movie. There is the main character of course.. being Liv Tyler but there are so many other amazing stories and lives that its just spectacular. Bernardo Bertoluci is just an amazing director and the cinematography in this movie just seems surreal. Beautiful.. beautiful Tuscany!!

I am an artist and designer and although have slowed down a little in the 'me' area for a bit, while completely focussing on becoming a mother, my kids and my family.. things are getting a little easier and I am getting back to the old 'me' during my down times of being a mum. I am currently taking over our little run down back shed and converting it into a studio. We're not rich by any way, shape or form in the money department but we are rich in health, ideas, inspirations and most of all being true to ourselves. My husband and I support each other in our dreams and always strive to provide a rich balanced lifestyle for our kids with what we have. We want to teach them that money isn't everything and that you can still follow your dreams with a little hard work and smart thinking.

This weekend almost gone, we had the opportunity to salvage some building materials from a house that is being knocked down pretty soon, so we jumped at the opportunity. Everyone else took a look at this house and saw a bessa-block house that was about to fall down itself and thats about it.. we saw materials that would have cost us a LOT of money which we don't have and with a bit of hard work could be ours... so now they are. I now have almost a pallet of old, matured red bricks which will make a gorgeous border and patio area out the front of my little studio.. My hubby now has a whole kitchen to use as storage in his work area and soon we'll have enough wood to finish of his work area. We have gorgeous antique doors to replace our old sliding door to our outdoor office area and bags and bags full of succulents to liven up our garden and not to mention a fantastic galvanized iron rain water tank to gather water from my studio so that I can teach our kids how to grow veggies... I could go on but I'm rambling as I often do when I get passionate about something...

Going back to my favorite movie of all time 'Stealing Beauty'... I always remember the serenity.. the handmade objects.. the slow simple life.. the art and how I always dreamed of creating my own space rather than buying it or getting someone else to create it for me.. and now I can and it will be from a lot of recycled materials and it will be mine and completely unique. If it wasn't dark and the mosquitos weren't around I'd be out there now.. but I must take my time and still remind myself that I'm a mum and although the kids are asleep.. they still need me to be there if they have a bad dream.. hence I am here writing about it instead.. I think its time to pop the Stealing Beauty dvd in and gather some more inspiration..

where has this week gone..

Ok.. this week has literally disappeared.. I got a fair bit done.. but it just went. My head has either been stuck in the computer trying to source a whole assortment of things for kasiabear kids or I've been mum.

My little girl turned 3 this week so there has been back to back celebrations including her family and friends party at a local park on Sunday, a day with mum on Monday which included shopping for all her mum's group pal's birthday presents (as they all turned 3 around the same time), chocolate doughnuts, visit to the pet shop and continuation of present unwrapping.. Then Tuesday was a joint birthday party for all the 1st generation mum's group kids at our place.. and more present unwrapping then dancing class... ok... understanding where the week went now..

I've had a ball setting up kasiabear kids.. on facebook, etsy and madeit and also starting on a couple of custom projects.. even better still.. I'm on this journey in parallel with one of my best friends from my high school days who now lives in Melbourne. Shan is also in the process of setting up a little handmade business called Missy Melly. It's really cool as we both have the same taste.. and are in the process of doing  the same thing in two different cities.. but funnily enough.. our ideas are very different. She's a mum of twin girls and is going on the gorgeous girly path and I'm taking the fun yet graphic approach with more of a focus on boys... check out her website which is now up and running.. Missy Melly.. ooooh.. and there is a giveaway happening at the moment for some gorgeous clips.. Love ya Shan and loving this little journey with you :o)

shopping adventure...

Had a great day shopping on Friday for art supplies... I hadn't stepped into some of these art shops since my last exhibition 6 years ago, and some since my days at uni. I started a screen printing course this week, to refresh myself on all the in and outs of the process.. If I hadn't already mentioned, I'm in the process of setting up a little business 'kasiabear kids' making simple, fun clothing and accessories for kids. You can check out more details on my other blog.

I hadn't really done anything creative since leaving official employment over a year ago to have my second bub, and even then, I had been at this job for so long, that what I did do just seemed like a production line of designs that I really had not a great deal of control over.

I'm loving being creative again, its refreshed me more than I could have ever imagined, and the freedom that comes with working for yourself is so comforting. I can create designs and not have to ask anyone for approval. I know that when I do a design it's my own and hasn't been influenced by someone's limiting brief.

Loving life at the moment, even though my little family is plodding through another round of sicknesses.. I feel alive again..

diy matchbook favors

these are so adorable... pity they're probably not appropriate as favors for a christening...
will have to remember them for another occasion... found them here

Get Creative

Something I have decided to do next year and actually put it into my schedule, is to dedicate 5 hours a week to recycle and hand make things. There are so many gorgeous fabrics out there, so much stuff we throw out that we could reuse and so many things I just want my kids to have but seem to always be out of my price range.. my answer.. just make the things yourself!!

One of my favourite toys, which I still remember to this day, was a little basinette my mum made me from an old shoe box. She covered in wrapping paper and attached a couple of handles to it so I could carry my doll around everywhere with me. I just loved it so much that it travelled with us all the way from Austria to Australia.

The website that has inspired me to start creating is www.etsy.com. This is seriously the best site ever... an ebay style site for all things handmade and supplies to hand-make your own things.

If you know of any other great sites that either sell supplies, reasonably priced fabric, patterns or have some great ideas for recycling, I would love to hear about them...