Steampunk Pincushion.

So remember the photo of the little white frilly pin cushion I showed you?

Well white and frilly really isn't me so I decided to do a Steampunk themed one instead.

Coming soon: Advent Calendar. 

It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Yes..it's that time of the year when I blow a whole wad of cash at the Craft Show! And this year I did not disappoint myself. I won't say how much, but I am certain that the amount I spent doesn't compare to the visa card wielding old ladies that bowl you over with their little wheelie carts.  I am serious! It's like trying to squeeze though a death maze of tinted hair and oversized knitted handbags. I barely made it out of there alive.
This year I had a plan. I did my research and marked on the site map the four stalls I wanted to visit first, and headed to those places when the doors opened before the mad rush that was inevitable. Then I went back to the beginning and did the show aisle by aisle. Four hours of wandering around there and I was done. Here is my loot. I will tell you where it's from in case any of you crafty's out there are interested in any of the items.

Inks and craft mat from Ranger

12x12 and 6x6 templates from Crafters Workshop

art stamps and clings from Hero Arts

Clear stamps from Rosies, acrylic block, and Art stamps by Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection  "Mini Classics"

paper laser cut packs from Art Stamps Australia

Chip board laser cuts from Scrap Matts

Scrap Matts as well. (I met the guy who designed the parasol, isn't it beautiful?)

Little hinged cupboard from Twiddleybitz

Funky Attic House, Funky Townhouse, Twiddleybitz (these people make amazing stuff) .

 small printers tray.. Twiddleybitz.. (der Sprite)

This printers tray house is gorgeous made up..I fell in love with it immediately.

chair pin cushion, mini houses and binder rings, Twiddleybitz

Shadow box . 

I"m not addicted. 
I'm not...
So the ones that have the pictures of sample ones, of course mine wont look like those, not really my style, but rest assured I will show you when I am done.. lol. I am starting on the pin cushion first. I'm thinking....steampunk...

duelling banjos

Yes people, I can now play duelling banjos.. all be it very slowly, but I can play it..!! Told Hubby and he was like "Uh huh.." which means.. "Damn you and your ability to hear a song and play it without sheet music" Muwahahahaaa....

I shall console him by buying him a vintage fedora I saw in a second hand shop :)

He had his first heart check up since the operation, yesterday, and it went better than expected. He had the device dialled back a bit. Before it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. And his ejection fraction has shot up to 45! which is amazing! For those of you who don't know what an EF is, to put it simply, it is the amount of blood the heart is able to pump through itself. Normal people sit around 55 to 65. When you get a low count, like Hubby has been...somewhere in the 20's then the risk of heart failure is extremely high. like drop dead at any second high. So Hubby's 45 is one more step away from that happening. Needless to say we are both ecstatic  It doesn't mean that his heart is cured, it's not, his condition is terminal, but it does mean that he doesn't have imminent death hanging over his head, AND he is feeling a lot more healthier and energetic.

So nothing but good news here. And now I am off to enjoy school holidays with my family :)

Festivals and birds

Hi people! 
Well spring is in fine form here and it's now school holidays and the time of year when there are festivals galore around here. One now being the Fringe festival. 10 or so days of family fun, music, rides and most of it free. During this festival is the Music festival. Which has anything from headline acts to jazz bands to solo artists and even buskers. A small portion of it, one small beach stage is free, the rest is very expensive, but I'm not worried as we can hear the music from the main stage from our balcony anyway. Free music for us! 

I have been sketching the subject for my next painting. A Major Mitchell cockatoo. So far I am liking the sketch. Hopefully it will look as good in acrylics on canvas as it does in pencil and paper.

You will need to see a real photo of this colourful guy to really appreciate his beauty. It's odd that I can paint birds well..given my fear of feathers..lol. Painting real life things is not my first love but Hubby thinks they will appeal to people better than anything else. I like a little bit of abstract in my work. Not too much..just a wee smidge. And texture... I lurve texture!

Hubby is healing well and is now able to drive again. He can't do full on training at karate yet but he has gone back to help out with the lower belts. 

I have decided I do not like acoustic guitars. Hubby says he prefers them so he said I can play on his Fender.. woohoo! It's just so much easier...the smaller body, the easier strings... A full bodied guitar is way too hard for someone like me with ample...assets. :)

And that is about all that is going on in my world at the moment. 

helpless

Poor Hubby has had a little bit of a set back.. nothing serious, but he has haematoma very badly. Basically a lot of bleeding and swelling under the skin at the surgery site. It has put such pressure on that area that he is in unbearable pain. He was in so much pain he woke me up at 5am to take him into the hospital. We were worried he may have had an infection or pulled out one of the leads.
Good news is that the leads are fine and there is no infection, which could have been very bad. Very, very bad.
Basically there is nothing he can do but keep resting and taking the pain medication. It is very hard to watch though. He is in so much pain, and there is nothing I can do to alleviate it. The pain meds work sporadically. He is not getting much sleep either. The doctor is certain that it will start getting better now that the swelling has gone down. I just wish it would go quicker.
One thing we are a little pissed off about is that they were a little misleading at how brutal this procedure was. Everyone said it was in and out and paracetamol at the most. Hubby said it is the worst pain he has ever been in and he has an insane pain threshold. He is literally black and blue and yellow with bruising. It looks shocking.
I just feel so helpless.