Barack Obama at the 2008 DNC

I am at home with the flu with so I am taking a break from blogging until I am well.

Here is Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention for you to view while I am away. I may also post McCain's speech at the RNC in the spirit of fairness.

later,
-k

BAM!

here are some of the cards I am taking to the markets with me this sunday. because its KRAFTBOMB (see side bar for details).

elephants and animals

domesticity is getting me down

EMOTIONS!!!!!

PERIL!!!!

and for the boys....

luke rocks out on the xylophone so I had him in mind when I made the one above.

ACTION ACTION ACTION!
Q. why are all the pictures of girls about emotions and relationships while all the pictures of boys are about adventure?
A. because all my book are from the 60s, 70s and early 80s.
Q. Is that a good enough answer? are things better today?
okay enough pseudo sociology!
okay must run! (roll? oh geeze, oh man, but I couldn't resist.)
have a great weekend and maybe see you sunday?

-k

feeling bluesy

oh no say it ain't so!

I have been making cards, these two are taken from comic strips in a popular girls mag circa 1960. I worry about the message here: teen life full of drama, boyfriends, popularity, and having long thin legs. which is a message I think still prevails today. I hope I made it look O.T.T. (over the top, for those of you who don't talk in ironic abbreviations. but you should try it, it's fun.)

mean girls

To cheer myself up from my bluesy morn I have posted a few things I have been up to:

merrily the treetops
19.5 cm squared
a collage (not a card) with some painting.

arranging these glass jars full of dead and dying things is a happy activity, because if your garden dies, that's okay. it can still look pretty.


my cheerful army, with new wild kitties joining the ranks.

and I am returning to my sci-fi needlework which I call a device for contacting the future humans (a working title). I had put this away for a while because I was impatient and the results were slow yielding. Good thing I found this red hoop over the weekend, what a motivator. I have a lot more to go, but baby steps, right?

so this has cheered me up significantly. also reading the comments about the wabbit maker was delightful. My favourite was hearing about the 8 yr old who played it 20 times in a row - exactly what I was hoping for :)

and also I have been meaning to share a few super fantastic crafty blogs I have found or rediscovered recently....

elsie marley image above is from her child's room which also featured in apartment therapy here
anna maria horner who is a fabric artist
wren who is a brooklyn based craft artist and also works at a martha stewart craft magazine

that's all for now.

happy midweek.
-k

the wabbit breeder

something a little different

I heart my life drawing class because....
each week the same man arrives late, full of energy and with pieces of bread sticking out of the breast pocket of his tweed waist coat.

The children's ballet class carries on next door, and heard through the walls is the pitter patter of pointed toes, piano music, and at least one little dancer in tears.

The young Asian guy always draws the models anima style so they become longer, leaner and undergo graphite breast augmentation. This is funny to watch, I try and sneak as many looks at his drawing board as I can without being too nosy.

The very old people in my class pull my heart strings with their faithful attendance, shaky hands, and slow movements. Also they draw better than everyone else put together.

And the brave beautiful models who take off their clothes each week and stand up there in front of everyone with NOTHING ON, 3 years of drawing nudes and I still can't get over this.

all the drawings here are by me from the last two weeks and were done in charcoal. Most poses were 10-20 minutes long.

For anybody in the Auckland area, this is the untutored life drawing class held each Thursday from 9:30 to 12:30 at the Ponsonby Community Centre. Attendance is casual, so there is no need to sign up. oh yeah, its only $10, which is the least I have ever ever ever paid for life drawing, and this is one of the BEST set ups I have experienced (and I have taken 5 different life drawing classes in 2 different countries). SO DO COME ALONG.



okay for those of you who are a bit over the nudes, here are some friendly faces!

'hi, we are in the shop' they sing out in harmony.

newly acquired, oh what will they become?

ALSO on monday I have a new thing for you, and you might just like it, so stay tuned!

-k

What's cookin

What's cookin' at our house, except some bug in my tummy that's been making me meuh since the weekend? The flowers, above - Amaryllis, my favorite- are from Gabe, to scare the meuh away but I sorta chose them at the shop myself (heh). Forgive, the pictures today are all a bit on the blurry side, that's exactly what I feel inside...

But ohhhhh, new knitting books, Japanese and all... Can't wait to get better.





I did get a teensy bit of sewing done (not nearly enough, that Craftwerk saw me through ALL my stock!). Rabbit pinnies, for shop update, tomorrow.



Lieveke is now two and a half. That's pretty big. You know. Big. As in you need to go to the potty big now. But no no no she is positively negative, I really DON'T NEED to mum. Hah. Talks back when two and a half too.
Good thing is that she plays sweetly by herself now, or with friends. For a whole hour this morning. Swell. While I was lying on the couch (auch that tummy), these kids just did some self-entertainment. Well sort of. I just had to keep the influx of snacks steady. Can't talk back with a big carrot in mouth btw.

Cool we've built an elevator. We can do some lavish elevatoring.

Sympathetic - auch doc my tummy hurts toooooo

(the doc administers medicine promptly)
a piece of pear and a riceweel

Lets move on to playdoh man. Hang on, what's cookin Lieve?
Oh. well you see my auntie has her birthday today Ruf.
**GELUKKIGE VERJAARDAG TANTE LIJNTJE**

Cake for Auntie!

post craftwerk and my fambly

craftwerk was amazing, crazy busy, and moved at lightning pace! There were crowds 6 people deep with human traffic, lovely bands playing, a fashion show, live poetry readings, and a string orchestra at the very end. The whole event was merrily merry and both Lies and I agree that the buzz is back.

I bet right now you are noticing that I have no pictures of the night, firstly because it was night and I just HATE flash photos, so I didn't even bother. But even if I had wanted to take photos, I couldn't leave the stall, it was that busy. Lies and I did quite well, so THANKS to everyone who came and supported us.

For those of you who are wondering, above are details of a smallish watercolour I worked on this morning.

Rain My Deer!

The night of craftwerk a few people were interested in my bigger collages. These are mounted on the backs of children's books and I most people seem buy them for their children's rooms. For those of you who wanted to see some more (you know who you are :), here are two that I did yesterday. If its not your thang, no worries, just watch this space for others.

One of the best thing about this craftwerk for me was the amount of men who bought things from our stall. All my small wabbits were purchased by males between 18-30; I also sold many cards, some prints, and some bigger collages to young men. Now isn't that surprising?

London Bridge Birds

FAMBLY: a few little personal notes for those who want to get personal

Luke in his new World t shirt, a birthday gift from me.

Today my husband Luke turned 27. We've now been friends for 11 years and I still remember when he (okay his mum really) invited me to his 16th birthday party back in Minnesota. I saw the invite and thought "I hardly know this guy!" and immediately called one of my friends to see if she was also invited. She was, but even if she hadn't been, I would have gone anyway. Luke was somebody I wanted to get to know.
Anyway, we have now been together' for 7 years and married for 4 and a half years. That's a lot of togetherness for people our age, so I am very thankful.

The other member of our small family is the Yosh. In this series of photos he is practicing sit, down, and die. Yoshi and I are attending dog school (not puppy school, no, this is for misfit adult dogs) so everyday we do our 'homework' in preparation for our next lesson. Even though his obedience is top notch, he does not play well with others (he's a combination of nervous, scared, and really excited around big dogs) so that's why we go.

This Saturday is the 'tricks' session which the yosh excels in. We are supposed to teach one trick to the class and I have decided we should do "the lone gunwoman", a one act play in which I pull out my gun (pointed finger) shout BANG! and yoshi falls over dead. This is a violent game so I am curious to see how the class will react. This perhaps is the week they find out I am several shades of crazy.

My brother had his daughter this past weekend and my parcel arrived just in time for her turn at dads. Here is sweetie Ella in the sunshine top I made her. I don't think I am going too far when I say she is the cutest child who ever lived. ever.

okay that is all for me.

Cheerio,
-k