Today has been a strange week.  My plan -

Wednesday - working

Thursday & Friday = My Weekend!! (yeah!)

Saturday & Sunday & Monday - working

So far it has worked really well.  This week I've managed to

• Fill another wholesale order
• Setup my studio/sewing space
• Answer all outstanding e-mails except one
• Sort out exactly what original artworks I have for sale
• Rewrite my resume
• Organise my pricelists, wholesale price lists and other reference sheets
• Follow up on all oustanding invoices
• Continue packaging designs

Not too bad.  However, today is Saturday.  I've got three days to finish a lot of things.  My aims -

1. Laminate all certificates
2. Finish packaging designs
3. Fill as much of my wholesale orders as possible (have to get supplies when I return from holidays to fully finish them)
4. Buy ink, post out sales
5. Edit photos and send them through to my agent
6. Finish 3 x illustrations for a zine I'm participating in
7. Edit my new wholesale catalogue and resend it out
8. Finish customizing objects for a  group show

Sounds like a nice list with a lot of variety.  Unfortunately things aren't going quite to plan.

1. I've injured my wrists again, both are lightly sprained.  I've had this problem ongoing for the last few months, it goes and comes back again.  I don't know what to do.  I mean, on Wednesday night I was quite comfortable lifting weights in most poses, so why on earth do I struggle to type so much???  They've been sore since Monday now and are driving me crazy!
2. I've got a sore throat.  Which means I'm about to get really sick.  How do I know?  Well everyone around me for the past 3-4 months have been really sick with the cold/flu etc but I've been so busy that I told the sickness to go away.  Now however I'm on holidays, I'm starting to relax, and I'm vulnerable.  I was at Mr R's house a few days ago and he caught it from a child at school, which of course has been passed onto me.  I only realised it last night and I'm so not happy about it.
3. A fire has disrupted my hosting server.  Which means my e-mail is down and will be for at least 12 hours.  I'm sure I'm getting withdrawals, because I'm totally and absolutely addicted to the internet and my e-mail.  I have six e-mail accounts, but one of them is the main one, the most important one, and of course the one that isn't working.  Ack!  I'm sick and it is the perfect day to do admin work.  However, I can't without  my e-mail.  =(  Damn.

I'm really grumpy right now so I'm going to look at the positives.  I've only got these 3 days left of working before I go on.....

Holidays = 7th July - 15th of July

Mr R is taking me on a mystery holiday!!!  How is that for excitement?  I know we are staying in a caravan somewhere north from where I live.  Within a 6 hour drive.  Near a body of water and somewhere I have never been before.  I'm so EXCITED!  A whole week with Mr R, in fact it ends up being a tiny bit longer because he's here for a few days too.  I can't believe how great things are going with him, he's the love of my life.  =)

The holiday is going to be great, except for that whole time I will have no phone, no computer, no internet and little to no communication with the outside world.  How will I cope??  It is also going to be absolutely freezing.  I expect nights to get close to zero degrees, maybe even minus.  Mr R is really sick, I'm only just starting to get sick.  So we'll be two holidayers constantly rugged up in jumpers, pants, scarves with coughs, sore throats, blocked noses and lots of sniffles.  Still, I'm not letting that ruin my holiday.  We've already planned to go outdoors a lot, we are taking our bikes to trek through the wilderness.  Oh - and I'm taking about 5 blankets and 3 hot water bottles.

On that note, I'm signing off.  I'll be back around the 15th of July to share my adventurous holiday with you.  Enjoy the next few weeks and stay well!

I use the internet all the time.  It is where I do the majority of my research, and I can spend hours sifting through websites, blogs and images finding an assortment of things that will inspire me.  A look of the eyes, a colour, the way the light shines, a word.  it is quite amazing what triggers the thoughts inside my mind, but I can never plan what will do it.

Today I came across the most amazing search engine I've ever seen.  Now, usually I find searching to be a tedious process.  I'll think of a word, type it in and then follow a path somewhere.  It may be onto a website, that takes me onto a blog, and then another, back to another website.... etc.  I do that for hours and hours and hours.  However this search engine has made things cooler.  It searches for everything in the same place - blogs, websites, images etc.  You can also search up, or down, or across.  And when you want to check something out more, whatever you click on opens in a new window.  So you can check it out, but still have your original search on hand.

Go and play with it, but I warn you it is addictive.  It is called Spezify.

Day 36 - Tuesday

This week has been amazingly productive.  I can't believe how much I've accomplished.  It's too hard to recap each day, so instead I'm going to do a week in pictures.



Resorted my study/warehouse.  Ha ha ha.  No seriously, this is the room I store all the admin side of things, schedules, paperwork, stock, supplies etc.  Originally it was a bit chaotic and difficult for myself or Niina to get to things.  Now, everything has its place and is easy to access.



I love that everything is in containers.  I also sorted out my schedule board properly.  This lists all the pending things I need to send applications into, or to submit work to.  My client jobs are stored in a seperate area.



This is how I store my greeting cards.  Named and labelled, seperated and packaged up individually.



My new system for my badges/magnets/rings and necklaces.  Previously they were stored packaged in bags, in big tubs.  A total pain to sort through when I only needed one design and had to look through 40 of them!  Also, storage was a huge issue to store them packaged.  Too much packaging would get damaged, and it was time consuming to package up everything in the first place, then have to repackage things all the time.



So now this is the new system.  Each badge made up in its own section, numbered.  Then as a sale comes through, or a wholesale order, the item is popped onto its packaging.... and all done!  I wish I had containers like this, but bigger for my badges and pocket mirrors.  I'd love to sort them in the same way.



I also sorted all my supplies out so the parts for certain products correspond to eachother as wekk as relabelling all the containers.  Unfortunately I ran out of labels halfway through, so I still need to finish that job.  The containers are working really well though, and make it easy to see when I'm running low on a certain part.


My new packaging!!  I can't believe how much I've learnt since I last created packaging (October 2008), and how much more advanced these are in comparison.  It was nice to sit down and work out exactly what I wanted from the new packaging, and correlate it to the needs of each individual item.

There were a few reasons I wanted to repackage my products.  Firstly, there was no colour and they were quite flat when displayed in a group.  Secondly, I wanted to have a clearer identity into my brand.  I work with bold bright colours, patterns, and wanted that to come across in how they were displayed.  I also wanted to be more environmentally conscious on how I packaged my products.  To do that I wanted to use recycled card, less plastic, and less packaging as a whole.  So that is what I've been working hard on to achieve.


As you can see my magnets are just simply tacked onto a sheet of card.  (Originally they were packaged in a bag, then had a fold over card stapled to them.)  Less time consuming to package, less wastage, and looking gorgeous!!

I'm so excited and I can't wait to finish it all!  I'm really pleased so far.



Lastly, we've been doing photoshoots for the past few days.  I'm totally loving the end results.  This is one of my prints simply popped into a frame.  Doesn't she look gorgeous?!  Only 450 photos left to edit.... =)  Oh, and probably another 500 to take!

I've also -

• caught up on all outstanding e-mails
• updated the Made On The Left website
• cleaned my art studio and set that up
• started to file and sort through my reference images
• changed over all my costs/purchases to my new visa debit card (fake credit card) to seperate all credit card purchases from my personal finances
• started working on some wholesale orders
• oh and most importantly baked some choc chip cookies!!

My aims for the rest of the week -

•  finish all of the product packaging
• finish all outstanding illustration work
• complete as much client work as possible

Next week I go on holidays and won't be back until the 15th of July (Mr R is taking me on a mystery holiday).  I really want to write a proper list of 100 things I want to achieve by the year end but I don't want to write it until I get back.  That way, I've got goals ready to achieve as soon as I've returned.

This week has been so productive that I'm really excited about the next few months and what things may bring.  I still can't believe it is less then six months until Christmas!!

Just a reminder.  I've got 3 x artworks in a group exhibition in Melbourne that opened on Friday night.

"The Essence of Pleasure"
25th June - 12th July

Famous When Dead Gallery

207 Victoria Street
West Melbourne 3003 Australia

The photo is of two of the artworks in the exhibition, I wish I could be there.  They look amazing!

The weekend is over, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.  Mr R and I had a great time doing homely things.



We went to watch my neice Sophia in her dancing class.  She turns 3 soon, she's the one in the black and silver striped jumper.  She was wearing the most adorable heart stockings, and had a blast.  I beamed from ear to ear the whole time so proud of her!

In the remaining time we ran a few errands and whilst they'd be so boring on our own, they became fun because did them together.  Our first stop was to stock up on winter clothing at secondhand shops, which was an absolute blast.  I've got lots of snuggly jumpers, new t-shirts and even a dress.  Mr R found some great jackets, t-shirts, pants, and even some scarves!  Now we won't freeze when we go on our holiday in just over a weeks time - spending a few days in a caravan in the middle of winter.  I can't wait!!

Other then that we stocked up our homes with plenty of great tasting groceries and because we had to much fresh food we then proceeded to spend Saturday night cooking up a storm.  I cooked chicken spaghetti bolognaise, chicken lasagne, cheese, spinach & tomato quiche, as well as vegetables (potato & pumpkin).  My intention was to cook up a load of food to then freeze for future meals.  Yum!  It was so much fun, we really enjoy cooking together.  Plus, to make it even more fun we turned the radio on and tuned into the party mix station.  Then spent the rest of the night feeling like we were at a disco, singing a bit, and (he won't admit it) even dancing a tiny bit.  So much more fun then watching a television.

Then last of all.......



Mr R surprised me by cooking up some Mulberry Crumble!  Doesn't it just look amazing?  Yum!

Documentary.  Fashion.  Vogue. 

Makes me week at the knees.....

Recently I was commissioned by Creative Commons Australia to create a book jacket for an anthology of mixed stories.

I was given the brief of incorporating a portrait with text, using the stories within as inspiration (and as the text that I used).  I chose two stories, melded the characters together, and created my interpretation.

Through the Clock's Workings
Edited by Amy Barker
Sydney University Press
ISBN: 9781920899325

A world first! The first remixed and remixable anthology of literature.

This anthology of short stories is not some textual tome, frozen in time and space. It is alive, evolving organically in a constant state of flux. Why? Because each story is available under a Creative Commons licence, giving you rights to share and reuse the book as you see fit.

So how do you use a remixable anthology? Simple.
Step 1 - Read. Thumb your way through the pages at will. Find the stories you love, the ones you hate, the ones that could be better.
Step 2 - Re/create. Each story is yours to share and to remix. Use only one paragraph or character or just make subtle changes. Change the genre, alter its formal or stylistic characteristics, or revise its message. Use as little or as much as you like - as long as it works.
Step 3 - Share. Be part of a growing community of literature remixing. Post your remixes to the Remix My Lit website, remixmylit.com, and start sharing. The entire anthology can be remixed - the original stories, the remixes, and even the fonts.

Through the Clock's Workings is Read&Write!

The book is available to purchase from the Sydney University Press online e-store for $24.95 rrp AU.

I'm a bit tired right now, trawling the net and just checking on stuff.  Anyway, came across a recent post from my blog very badly translated on some other page.

Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha

I haven't laughed so much in a very long time.

So, here you go -

It sounds charming. I took a affected to tinkle a guardian angel and thrash alibi a capability contract. However instanter I’m distracted, and carry out forcefully b energetically on more stressed. I basic to cover these ’til jobs/exhibition dispose finished and alibi the door so I can brazen up my cancel from the mind to improvise of concepts all over additional dispose. Somehow we both came to the purposefulness that we had to plug up working and invest the darkness eating a advantageous go too far and fitting relaxing in beginning of the TV.

Still distracted I called Mr R, fitting to witter it alibi, he’s as stressed as me (studying to be a doctor & he is on a 3 week prac teaching in a school). Even allowing we both had so much dispose and stern deadlines. So we initiate ourselves a hornet’s nest. Well, exceptional sufficiency I finished the two paintings with formerly to award.

We had 2 hours to wrap up dispose of all our ’til jobs all over the darkness, and then we could let go. I had no formerly to improvise or tergiversate about what I was doing, I fitting had to go on a pub-crawl it alibi. Paint it alibi I did, and the charming happened in a wink again. Still stressed allowing about my critique/assesment tomorrow. I fitting fervour both of the artworks! Even had sufficiency formerly to go on a pub-crawl them multiple times and communicate with hanging implements on them. At least I’ll cover a advantageous go too far into me.

Wow it has been a super busy week!  Here is a quick lowdown on what I've been up to, and now things are returning to normal, I hope to be posting this project daily rather then a lump summary to help get me back on track.

Day 20 - Monday

Went to art class this morning, my final class for painting materials.  Was quite disappointed with the class as a whole.  Hardly anyone created any work, and considering it was a 10 week class that was supposed to be about experimenting with new artistic materials, I was really surprised that most people had almost nothing.  I wonder what the rest of the students actually did for the last 10 weeks??

My assesment was first, I got good feedback and the class ended up finishing early.  Thank goodness because I'm so far behind on my exhibition work, client work and everything in between, I'm starting to panic. 

Got home, threw myself into my work and started/finished and illustration.  Finished my wholesale catalogue (woohoo!!) and tied up a few other loose ends.

Day 21 - Tuesday

The house is looking at me begging to be cleaned, but it just has to wait.  Got up early this morning and went straight into illustrating.  I've got 2 illustrations that need to be sent off via express post this afternoon.  The pressure is on!

Thankfully I got them finished and posted.  A bit burnt out from creating, so I was planning on  spending the rest of the night on administration work and filing.  Plans change though and I decide to get stuck into 2 canvas artworks in progress that need to be posted off on Thursday.

Day 22 - Wednesday

Now I'm struggling.  Really struggling.  The paintings aren't working for me, and whilst I like how they are progressing they just aren't quite there yet.  They have to be finished tonight as I've got to post them out tomorrow.  I've also just discovered that my final critique for my whole semester of art study has had a time change.  It will now be at 9am instead of 1pm.  Damn.  I've got to finish off work for that, plus get there early enough to setup all of my work ready to show.  Oh, and did I mention I'm sick as well?  Why do I always get sick when I've got so much work to do?  No time to rest, I just have to keep working!

I'm tired, I'm drained, and the more exhausted I'm getting the harder it is to paint. Both paintings are about 70% finished and not quite progressing the way I want them to. 

I took a break to call a client and discuss a potential job.  It sounds exciting.  However now I'm distracted, and even more stressed.  I need to get these pending jobs/exhibition work finished and out the door so I can clear my mind to think of concepts for new work.

Still distracted I called Mr R, just to chat it out, he's as stressed as me (studying to be a teacher & he is on a 3 week prac teaching in a school).  Somehow we both came to the decision that we had to stop working and spend the night eating a good meal and just relaxing in front of the TV.  Even though we both had so much work and tight deadlines.  So we set ourselves a challenge.  We had 2 hours to finish all our pending jobs for the night, and then we could relax.

Well, strange enough I finished the two paintings with time to spare.  I had no time to think or procrastinate about what I was doing, I just had to paint it out.  Paint it out I did, and the magic happened once again.  I just love both of the artworks!  Even had enough time to coat them multiple times and put hanging implements on them.

Still stressed though about my critique/assesment tomorrow.  At least I'll get a good meal into me.
 



Day 23 - Thursday

Today I was up at 6am, and boy is it cold.  I'm so thankful Mr R is here though, we have a really good breakfast and then head out to work/study.  I arrived at college early, only one other student was there setting up their work.  I missed the rain, so I'm quite pleased with myself and I end up setting up my work in record time - and I can't believe how much work I've got.







So.  The critique.  I have mixed feelings about it.  It took about 30  - 40 minutes.  I had three lecturers reviewing my work and discussing it.  My work consists of small peices, illustrations, studies and a series of drawings on vintage book covers (as you can see from the photos).  The biggest feedback I had was on the figures that I draw on the vintage book pages - they want me to do that.  Funny thing is I tried not to do it because I was initially told that it wasn't art.  However they want me to do that, but do a bit more of a variety in the figures that I draw, a little more softer in the style, use different mediums (ie things that fade) and to miss out sections/parts so it leaves a bit of mystery to the viewer when they look at it.  Interesting.  I had 2 other students write down all the feedback for me, which I'm so grateful for.

I still don't know what my final years work is going to be.  My graduation show is in less then 6 months time, and I don't like feeling so lost. 



I couldn't stay for all the critiques, so I left early and went straight home.  I posted out the paintings just in the nick of time, then Niina came over to work.  Filled wholesale orders, administration work, sorting and organizing things.  Got through so much.  Didn't finish until 11pm, and boy am I stuffed.

Day 24 - Friday

This morning I woke up feeling sicker then sick.  I haven't been this sick since last year sometime.  I woke up with the hint of a migraine, anotherwords I could feel it sitting there just waiting for the attack.  (I get a pain going up my neck into the back of my eyes, and struggle to open them or handle any light).  I think I'm sick because of all the stress and exhaustion coming out physically.  I wish I could stay in bed and rest, this being the first day of my 'holidays' (no studying) but I can't.  I've got work to do.

I had to go into college and re-enrol/pay for second semester of my art course.  Which just adds to my stress as financially I'm down to a whole $22 across 4 bank accounts.  I've been slogged with so many bills, and of course because it is the end of the financial year clients are pushing payments back for jobs I've completed.  Which of course drives me crazy as I don't like to chase up payments, but at the same time I desperately need them.

I got into the units I wanted, I'm only at college 3 days next semester - Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, which I'm quite pleased about.  I am however a bit worried about time in general, and how much of a balancing act I'm going to have to pull off.  Exhibitions, markets, studying, wholesale, products, creating art and of course still having a life!  Mr R is just as busy, as he is also in his final stage of his course.  So it is going to be an interesting balancing act, but one that is going to create so many incredible experiences and adventures!  I can't wait.  =)

After enrolling, I got a phone call about an upcoming exhibition I'm participating in at Pigeonhole.  I dropped into the shop and picked up a couple of items that I get to customize (paint) for an upcoming auction.  I'm so excited and have so many ideas.  I was given a bottle and an alarm clock.

By the time I got home though, the migraine kicked in and I was down and out for the rest of the day.  My house turned into a cave.  I was so sick that I didn't even hear Mr R arrive (he has a noisy motorbike), but once he did he took care of me, cooked me dinner, and tucked me into bed.  Awwww.

Day 27 - Monday

A new day, a new week.  It is funny that I think of myself on holidays at the moment, even though I'm not on holidays from my job.  Just my studying.  The great thing is I've finished most of my exhibition work and my urgent client work which allows me to really get stuck into my job and I'm so looking forward to it.

First thing though is to work on this time issue that I've been having.  Which means bringing some organization back into this house.  Cleaning, decluttering and sorting.  So I'm putting everything else on hold for a few days whilst I take a quick break and bring this chaos of a house into order.



Day 28

The house is fighting me.  Honestly.  I've been going through the entire house room by room, cupboard by cupboard and asking a simple question.  "Do I need this?"  If I answer yes, it either stays in that spot or moves to where it should go.  If I answer no, it gets put aside to be sold/thrown/given away.  No maybes allowed.



Well, wow.  What can I say.  For one woman, who is only 27 years old, I have bought/hoarded a lot of stuff.  The thing is, I've filled a spare bedroom already with all the items I don't need.  The problem now is how I'm going to get rid of it quickly, because as each hour passes the piles keep growing.  My master plan is to ebay as much as I can, and do a few car boot sales.  I've got clothes, books, furniture, CD's, DVD's, electronics, toys, bags, jewellery, art supplies, craft supplies... the list is never ending.



I will admit the experience is a lot of fun because it feels as though I've moved into a whole new house.  Each room has been carefully reorganized furniture wise, there is no clutter hiding away, containers are labelled and sorted, all in all it feels rather liberating.  Everything has its place and the house feels a little more homely.  Photos of the final 'scenes' still to come though!

I am however exhausted, this is back breaking work.  I moved far too much heavy furniture on my own and one of the cabinets fell onto the back of my leg leaving me with a massive bruise, blood blister and a few swear words shorter.  Still, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.  It has also taught me to see life differently.  Rather then plan everything in the future, I can now see things as "Anything can happen".

It's now 9.30pm, I've been house sorting all day.  I'm going to spend the rest of the night updating a website for an organization I'm involved in, replying to e-mails, and then doing as much work as I can with the house sorting.  Now my mind is clear and free I know that tomorrow I can get stuck into some real work and get it all finished in no time at all.  Oh, I've also got to do some washing, hang it all out on the line, put away all the clean clothes and make the bed.  I don't like doing housework at this time of night, but at least it is getting done!

Fixing things, cleaning up the house, and generally clearing clutter out of life is such a good thing.

Cutting wood on your kitchen table is not.

Especially when you realise why it was so hard to cut through the peice of wood in the first place....

continuing photos from visiting the 'sets' of Mcleod's Daughters.



The Gungellan Truck Stop.  This is an actual set in the middle of the town, it doesn't work but apparently people stop there often getting very annoyed when they can't fill up with petrol.  ha ha ha.



Fake posters for the character of Moira, who is also known as mystic Miranda.



The diner in the truck stop - another set.  Pretty cool to know that everything inside is fake - including all the food.



The local "post office" used in the show.



My few seconds of a brush with fame.  This is "Moira" from the show.  She saw us and waved, but the tour operator wouldn't let her come over to chat to us, and wouldn't let us off the bus due to 'time constraints' which really spoilt the day.  I mean you come on a tour of the show, you are fans, and you can't even meet one of the stars?  Crazy.



The best glimpse I got of the main house of Drovers Run.  At the time (2006) it was surrounded by miles of fencing and extreme security as the whole area was owned by Channel 9.  So no-one could go anywhere near it because they kept all the electrical equipment/cameras/set props etc. inside the house.



Lastly, here is an image that has no relation to the show, but is pretty cool.  This is the oldest Post Office in Australia.  Over 100 years old.  That tiny cream building with a little window.  Now how is that for heritage?

I absolutely love McLeod's Daughters.  I have from the moment it aired, but I must admit I wasn't quite a fan of the final two seasons.  Still, I love it, own every DVD, and absolutely had to go on the McLeod's Daughters tour when I travelled to Adelaide.  It is great to see something in real life, but to actually see these places in the flesh... wow!

For those who haven't seen the show it tells the story of two sisters reunited after inheriting a cattle farm in the Australian outback.  They pull together an all female workforce and work the land.

On the tour we couldn't get off the bus much, I was the youngest there, and it was quite a day.  But it was enjoyable.  For those of you who have no idea about the show, don't worry.  The images are still pretty amazing and reflect Australian country life quite nicely.



"volunteer firestation" the characters used to be members of



So many characters died on the show.  The first one, Brick, died here.  Trust me to find that exciting.  =)



Mcleod's country.  Isn't it picturesque?



Ruins used in a number of different scenes (all supposedly different places!)



One of the houses the male characters "lived" in.  This is actually someones house.  When they wanted to film they paid for the family to live in the back of the house, emptied the rooms they wanted and filled them with the set furniture.  Filmed, then returned everything back to normal again.  Pretty cool.



The Gungellan pub - where they all went to relax with a beer or get a bite to eat.  The pub used to be called something else but due to the popularity of the show, they officially changed their name and are now the Gungellan pub full time.  Originally they put this signage up for only a few months of the year when they were filming.



Industrial sheds.



The vehicles the characters used.  Moira's caravan, Nick's car and Tess's buggy.  In the back you can see the brown car that Jodie crashed into a tree, almost killing herself.  (You know what soapies are like, someone is always dying or has a close call)

Part two coming up........

I can't wait to start some animations sometime soon.  Funny thing is, I don't really have the time to learn just yet, but I keep coming across soooo many animations these days that totally blow me away.

This is my latest love.