Very Rustic Flower Arranging

When out on a drive recently we decided to stop the car and pick some foliage from the side of the road next to Harley's parents house. I needed some different leaves to use as a reference for some new paintings. I'm not sure what those little yellow flowers are, most likely a weed but they are pretty!

Painting

I spent this afternoon looking for inspiration for some new paintings. I still can't seem to move away from painting plants though. My studio is in chaos, and I'm working on a big painting that won't fit on my desk so I've moved out onto the dining room table. I'm looking forward to spending the rest of the weekend painting while listening to back to back episodes of 30 rock. Have a lovely weekend!

Lately

Some beautiful flowers from some lovely friends.


Making the most of the basil now before it is killed by the frosts.


Beauty in the garden.

Summer's End

Around the Studio

As I've been spending every spare moment burrowed away in my studio, I thought I would take a few photos of around the place.


A few of the hundred or so glass bottles I bought at an auction last month. I paid way too much for these but they make me really happy and I'm justifying the expense with the fact that I'm going to be using them in my wedding. The little plate in the background was a gift from mum.


A beautiful horse named Licorice constructed entirely by hand by Emma Kidd of BenConservato. His wings are the loveliest shade of gold.


Note the hand drawn plate of my parents and I that I did in pre-school. That guy on the right with the blue hair looks exactly like my dad, the likeness is uncanny.


Packaging supplies. I love the look of gold and kraft paper and twine together.

The Garden in the Rain

Today we finally had some rain, the garden turned vivid shades of green after being thirsty for so long.

I have been so busy with art commissions and graphic design work that I have been neglecting all other areas of my life, like eating proper meals and basic housework (I folded SIX baskets of washing last night, we had been living with the baskets stacked precariously for weeks). Today I stepped out of the studio and picked up the camera and it was really nice.


Some tiny little toadstools found growing with the fuschia cuttings, not even as tall as my fingernail.

Our boxer Madge, who didn't seem to enjoy the rain.

And some beautifully bold variegated cumquat leaves. A gift from a very thoughtful person who understands me so well. Have a great weekend! x

Kale Chips and a Very Sad Dog

We planted Kale this season and haven't really used it so I decided to try making kale chips.


After washing the kale and leaving to dry completely, I tore the leaves into pieces about 5-8cm, removing the stalk, then placed in a bowl and coated lightly in olive oil and tossed in the bowl with some seasonings.

I made two batches and used sea salt and cayenne pepper for one and lemon pepper (as in plain old masterfoods type lemon pepper) for the other.

I laid the pieces onto lined baking trays and baked at 120 degrees celcius for about half an hour, until they were nice and crisp.

 I don't have any photos of the actual chips, but they were quite good. Although I did put on way too much seasoning. I just sprinkled on what I thought felt right but I can say less is more in this case.

The lemon pepper was absolutely delicious and I recommend this flavour to anyone wanting to try kale chips. I think just plain sea salt and olive oil would be lovely too.


This photo above is of Madge watching us eat the kale chips, we didn't let her have any - she supposedly shouldn't have pepper. She waited very patiently though.


When she realised she wasn't going to get any, she went away and lay down with an enormous sigh. She is very good at sulking. See here and here.

Tomorrow we leave for our road trip! I will be posting snapshots of our travels to instagram if you would like to follow me there!

Christmas - Some Photos

I have been loving my break over the holiday season, We've travelled a lot and been taking it easy in the summer heat. We had a lovely christmas at home with both our families. It was really wonderful because Harley and I had some exciting news to share, which I will share on the blog soon!   



We have been eating a lot of tomatoes from the little cherry tomato plants that are growing in a pot on top of the water tank. They must be kept up high because the dogs love to pick them off the bush and eat them, same with the strawberries. The yellow ones are my favourite.






All the succulents and cacti are loving the heat and are all flowering madly and growing inches seemingly overnight.

Next week we will travel to the beach via the Snowy Mountains, which are supposed to be beautiful in summer. I am also looking forward to getting back to Jervis Bay and visiting Booderee National Park, one of my favourite places in the world.

I will be reopening my etsy shop on the 20th when I return.

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!

Making Tea With Rosehip and Mint

I drink a lot of tea. Peppermint is my favourite. Since I work from home a lot of the time, I decided to buy a peppermint plant so I could just nip outside and pick off a handful of fresh leaves to brew. A few months ago, I noticed a lot of rosehips on the rose bushes, and decided to pick them off to make tea.




First I chopped and deseeded them, and left them to dry. I googled how to make it, and most of the recipes seemed too involved for me for tea (boiling in a saucepan for 15 minutes?) so I decided to take the cheats way and just pour boiling water over the dried rosehips and let it steep.



I'm guessing it was because I took the lazy way, or they were dried for too long, but I didn't much like the taste of the tea, so I added some dried chocolate mint leaves, as well as a handful of fresh peppermint.



Peppermint made it all better. If you want to make your own mint tea, simply pick a good handful of mint leaves, put them in a glass and use a spoon to muddle and crush them. This helps to release the flavour. I generally don't even bother to rinse the leaves first, but I do check them for insects because it is just so sad seeing them floating, and also I don't like to drink bugs. Pour boiling water over the leaves and steep for a few minutes. Easy peasy.

Christmas Cards

I know things have been super quiet around here for a while (I promise to try harder), but I have been so busy with freelance design work and designing new products that I haven't had time for much else!

I have a few exciting bits and pieces to share next week but in the meantime here is a peek of my new Christmas card designs. They are now available in the shop, individually and as a set.