Happiness....

...is this amazing hand dyed wool....

Happiness is what I feel from the name of this hand dyed wool:

Happiness is me staring at the wool...and touching the wool....

Happiness is what I'm going to make out of the hand dyed wool:

Happiness is also drawing eyes. :) I've been practicing eyes like mad and I think I might be getting a little better, but still not spot on.

But right now...happiness is a cup of tea. So if you will excuse me, I'll go brew some. ;)

Writing

There's something about a leather bound book with blank pages in it that makes me feel like a real writer. I've always loved writing stories but I've never considered myself a true writer. But I was thinking the other day, one doesn't have to be a "good" writer to be a writer, right? ;) So I guess I can add that to my list of many hobbies.

I found this amazing journal on Etsy from lapaperie:
I'd so love to fill that with my silly writing.
I ran across these pages on the internet:

Now if I could make the inside of my notebooks look like that...I wouldn't care what I wrote. ;)

I just started a new story last night after a two year neglect from my writing. It feels so good to be back in my imagination for a while. :)

Inspiration: Catherine Martin

It's true...I'm currently obsessed with Catherine Martin. Two-time Academy Award winner, costume designer and production designer for her husband, Baz Luhrmann's films Australia, Moulin Rouge, and Romeo + Juliet, Catherine Martin knows how to take the mundane and make it truly stand out in a beautifully bold way.

She now offers a line of rugs and wallpaper that I'm deeply in love with. :)


Peony Rug:

Feathers Rug:

Sparrow Wallpaper:

Eucalyptus Wallpaper:

Lace Wallpaper:

Most recently I fell in love with her beautiful production and costume design in the epic film Australia.
Catherine took her production team around the country to search for the perfect pieces to create the look and feel of the Faraway Downs homestead.
I'm in love with the results.

Catherine with her husband Baz Luhrman at the premier of Australia: (They make a brilliant team!)

Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Nicole Kidman, and Hugh Jackman at the premier of Australia.

Whoever said you have to stick to one thing...here's proof you can dabble in a bit of everything. Catherine is a phenomenal costume designer and has recently put out a clothing line inspired by the film Australia. They're amazing. But I'll gush more about her clothing design a little bit later on The Art of Clothes. For now I shall just dream of what I can do to my room. :)

My Birthday :)

I had a wonderful birthday. :) We just spent the day watching movies and drinking tea. It was quite lovely.

We watched Ladies in Lavender as it's filmed in Cornwall, England. I love this film. It made me a bit homesick but it was good to hear a proper Cornish accent again and watch them have tea and toast and pasties. :)

My favorite album at the moment I think is Hillsong's This is Our God. I love it so much. Could have something to do with the fact that that's pretty much everything we sang at Soul Survivor. Lots of memories behind those songs. But they are pretty awesome songs. :) Love it. My sister gave me an iTunes gift card for my birthday...I'm thinking of buying most of this album with it. But I might want some Tim Hughes too....oh, I don't know! :)

I bought myself a box of tea for my birthday with my World Market gift card my brother got me for Christmas. I LOVE this stuff...but it always gives me the jitters as it's pretty high in caffeine. But...I really really do love it.

Because Gen is the coolest...she got me a hot water bottle and made me the coziest fleece cover for it. She knows me well. :D I fell in love with hot water bottles last Christmas while I was staying in England. Auntie Ann would fill one up for me every night and it was the most comforting thing. :)

And she gave me the coolest book ever....

It inspires me! I love it. :)

My brother gave me Persuasion on DVD and my sister gave me candles and bubble bath and hand cream from a British cosmetic line.

Hmmm....kinda funny everything seems to revolve around England. I know I probably talk about it way too much all the time. I miss it so much. I'm slowly learning to get involved where I'm at. But one day I'll go back. I'll see the rugged coastlines and cobbled streets again and give and get warm hugs from friends and family.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy the friends and family I have here. :)

Flurries and Gift Giving

It's been snowing like mad the past few days. I'll confess...it's pretty. But it's sooo cold! I've been staying inside, which you'd think would give me more time to finish Christmas presents. but alas...I'm so behind.
However...here is one I finished and already gave away. YES! I'm almost on top of it! :D
I made a journal "junk book" for a friend who loves 'The Office' and tropical places.
Hee hee....scary, I know:

Then this is the back:
I scribbled/doodled all over it which was fun. haha

Now I must be off to work on the rest of the presents and clean my room.

I can't believe what a slob I've become lately. No order whatsoever...*sigh*. It drives me crazy. Normally I'm such a neat freak. Oh well, it was good to have a slob faze...but now it must end.

Don't forget to sign up for the Givaway if you haven't already!

Happy Christmas!

The Weekend

The other day I got this amazing envelope in the mail made by Gen:

I love it ever so much. :) And I love getting letters in the mail. :D

I had a fun weekend sewing with friends and got a lot done on my corset. Check out my Sewing Blog to see pics!

We Also made some gift tags out of playing cards:

How cool are those?

Vincent Van Gogh said..

"If you hear a voice within you say "you cannot paint," then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced."

"One must work and dare if one really wants to live."

"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day."

"The fishermen know that the sea is dangerous and the storm terrible, but they have never found these dangers sufficient reason for remaining ashore."

"What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?"

Handmade Notebooks

I made these notebooks for my etsy shop today. They're really fun and not too hard.
Just fold a bunch of paper in half then stitch the paper together on the sewing machine:

Then glue the cover on and decorate. :) Check them out, here.

Black and White Birds

My latest design obsession is bird silhouettes. Today I had a vision of something to do with some of my fabric stash...pictures of the finished project coming soon. :)

1000 Artist Journal Pages

My friend randomly picked up this book at Barnes and Noble the other day and I couldn't stop looking through it. So inspiring and just...amazing. :)

Check it out if you get the chance!