{ kass } an artistic journey

friday night

...and this is one tired blogger.

I've had a long week working and I am tired. Tomorrow I have the absolute pleasure of getting up at 6.30am to drive to Bairnsdale (3.5 hours from home) to spend a few hours with my family splitting up (read: fighting over) Grandma and Plugger's stuff before the rest is auctioned. There have been major arguments between some members of my family over things and some nasty words said. This lot tend to fight at the happy events so you can imagine how pleasant this has been. I think not. Then Mum and I get to drive home again.

All of this on Grand Final Day too, so I wont get to watch the game. Thank the Lord upstairs for 3AW and Rex Hunt to keep me entertained otherwise I might start cracking skulls!!

It's times like this when I miss my PEI family....my Ma and Pa Smith, my "uncle" Lee and "aunt" Beth....my girls.....the quiet tranquility of semi-rural life and people who genuinely like each other! In my next life I want to be a real P.E. Islander, not just adopted!!

the new house

Michael and I paid our bond for the new place today....we move in (we think) next week.

Here are some photos...

the backyard

this is the main bedroom. It's small and no wardrobe but it's big enough for our bed, drawer setting and we will organise hanging space. So it'll be fine. What you DONT see in this picture is the wall to the right, which is different to the other ugly one you can see. The one you dont see is red veluer....it's NIIIIIICE. (I dont think so!)

Bedroom 2. Next to ours but it has a small wardrobe. It isn't really big enough for our room.

Bedroom 3, behind ours - this will be our storage room.

This is the lounge room. You can see to the right is a door, that's the dining room.

<--- dining room

^ this is the kitchen....not enough room for the fridge but there is a place for it in the laundry so thats cool.

and the highlight for me.....

the sunroom which has a big blackboard and leads ahead to....

my new studio room!! It's an old room and floor so its perfect for me to make art and scrap in!

So yeah....it's an old house but it's fine for us and gives us lots of space. Hooray for new adventures!

baghdad sunday

well it may as well have been Baghdad, the number of helicopters coming in and out next to Crown yesterday when we had lunch at Automatic.

"We" were Ange, Wend & Dunk, Michael and I and Trina, who is over from NZ for Fiskars. It was a lovely lunch other than the constant comings and goings of helicopters at the helipad on the Yarra.

<--- ange will hate me for this one :)

at this point I was getting tired and a little silly....

when I got home I slept for 3 hours!! Thanks ladies and Dunk for a lovely lunch!

yes I am aware that I am the slackest blogger in the history of the world...

I think 10 days (until yesterday) between posts is a record for me. Sorry about that. Busy is my only excuse.

I finally have a week off Uni next week. Believe me, I NEED that week off, despite the fact I am working several extra hours at work. However the money is handy and I am up to date with my work. Given I have battled the flu on and off for 5 weeks, I think I am holding up pretty well!

Great news: we got a house, in Strathmore. I grew up in the suburb and am looking forward to being back there. The house is VERY old but is ideal for us - including an area at the back which comprises of a sun room and 4th bedroom which will be my studio - HEAPS of extra room to spread my stuff out and be out of public viewing! The pugs will have a big, safe backyard to play in and they have ADSL so Michael is happy about that and getting Foxtel (boys like the simple things, huh?) Not sure when we are moving yet - maybe 3 October-ish but it will be great and a great place for summer BBQ's and getting friends over.

Otherwise....things are OK. We've had our own problems here and there and this move will be a great step in making things better. We are both really looking forward to having our own space again.

The Cats are through to the Grand Final. I am excited that the Kangaroos are through to tomorrow's preliminary final and I hope they go through and win the lot. I am all over the Rooboys this week!!

That's all for now - I am heading to bed after a long day at Uni and work (and starting again at 11am tomorrow).

I promise

I am alive.... it's been busy.

Work is going well and I am getting extra hours.

We're looking to move out (yes!) so busy looking for somewhere suitable. That's a full time job in itself!

Uni is busy....but next week I get the week off. I neeeeeeeeed that week off.

I will be back...I promise.

in the words of geldof...

i don't like monday's...

I am still feeling decidedly unwell. Underneath my tongue is swollen and it hurts. It feels like I have stretched the connector skin under there. It is not fun. I should go to the doctor but I seem to half live there and I am positive they think I am a hypochondriac. I actually don't like going to the doctor.

So, another Labor Premier jumps ship...Peter Beattie quit QLD today. That's the third Labor premier to quit since the last Federal election. Call me conservative but why have the three most powerful premiers in this country quit (Beattie, Bracks and Carr)? What's the indictment on their ability to work with the Kevin Rudd? The polls keep telling us Rudd will win the next election. I can only hope not. But why then, would premiers with strongholds on their states quit before taking the opportunity to consolidate their positions under a federal Labor government? Are they making a statement about Rudd's ability as a potential prime minister? Maybe not directly, but I know if I were the Liberal Premier, I would relish being under a Liberal Federal Government and the obvious perks that would come with that alliance.

On another political issue - the Essendon Football Club sent me notification of the EGM that the saveessendon.com group has demanded, has been arranged. It calls for the removal of Ray Horsborough and Peter Jackson from their directorships. I plan on voting to remove the President, Ray Horsborough, but NOT Peter Jackson.

Peter Jackson has acted in accordance with the EFC constitution. People say he has a conflict of interest. I don't think he should be a managing director as well as CEO, but it was a change voted for just last year by members. So the members have to accept that conflict. I happen to think he is a good CEO.

On the other hand, I think a club President has to be a strong media performer - they have to be able to make good decisions on short notice, and on their feet. Ray Horsborough, though undoubtably a good businessman, is not media comfortable and bumbles and stumbles when he speaks publicly. He has demonstrated an inability to think on his feet when confronted with difficult questions. Essendon doesn't need an Eddie McGuire, but Essendon does have a reputation to maintain and our President needs to have a public polish. He lied to the media - which he has since admitted - but by lying to the media he lied to members. That to me is an indication that he is not handling the job. However, for ME, the nail in the coffin for Ray Horsborough was his non-appearance at the press conference to announce the non-renewal of Kevin Sheedy's contract.

OK so I am sad that Sheedy is gone but that cannot be changed now. I did object - in fact I was quite incensed - that the President of the Club did not appear at the press conference. He didn't appear on the panel with Sheedy and Peter Jackson, infact he didn't even stand in on it at the back of the room. That to me was inexcusable. As the President, Ray Horsborough is the face of the Board. The elected representatives of the membership. And he didn't turn up to the most important and emotional press conference in Essendon's recent history. That was it for me, and that is why I will vote to remove him from the Essendon Football Club Board.

Thanks to everyone for your messages of support about yesterday's Age article. I appreciate it so much!

Publication!

I'm excited to say that I have an article in M Magazine, a liftout in today's Sunday Age. So far I can't find a link to the article on the website but here is a scan...hopefully if you click on it, you can read it.

Given that Belmere Creative is less than 2 months old (and thus only 2 months since I decided to try for some freelance work), I am very excited to have this early success. I am especially excited to have had success on a topic I love, and a place that is my second home.

ETA: It's up on the Age website here

http://www.theage.com.au/news/north-america/the-girl-stays-in-the-picture/2007/09/06/1188783412832.html

hump day

it's hump day. I am also hoping it's turning point day.

I've been really sick since Friday and yesterday was particularly painful - I don't know if it's because I was sleeping on 3 pillows, if it was because I have this cold/flu thing or what, but I ended up in with my next door neighbour last night. He's a physio (and a great friend) and he did some major manipulation work - one spot in particular took 3 really good goes to get moving. I spent most of yesterday trying not to cry (crying does not help blocked noses!). It's a bit better today and so is the virus...hopefully it's the turning point. Still coughing and sometimes having difficulty breathing but I am taking it as easily as I can.

Remember when I was in Vancouver, staying with my kindred spirit Leslie and her gorgeous girls? Well she has some clips on YouTube of them. If you click the link you can see some. They are adorable. I was clapping while watching it today, Tatum (aka Tater-tots) is walking with her walker! Hooray! When I was there 2 months ago she was crawling like a demon but not walking. I was so excited! And check out my little flower, Brook too. They are too cute for words (and yes I AM a doting auntie!)

I went today and bought Michael and I some new pillows. Target has 30% off manchester so I got some good quality ones cheap. NICE. It's when you're sick that you notice your pillows. We've been talking about replacing ours for a year. Today I stopped talking and took ACTION.

I also got a DVD for myself (National Lampoons Vacation - Walley World, European, Christmas and 2 others for $34.99 - BARGAIN). So happy about that. I love Chevy Chase movies from the 80s. I also bought some profiterole mix and I am thinking about cooking them. If they cant make me feel better nothing will.

teaching classes

last week Ali posted on her blog about what her students wanted from classes. The responses were interesting.

I used to teach in my LSS here in Melbourne and when I was in Canberra too.

I plan on teaching again in the future in some way.

So I thought I would respond to Ali here...

I no longer take classes at my local store as I don't get much from them in terms of learning new techniques. I am far more interested in the teacher's philosophy and attitude to scrapbooking, art and life in general. That is probably why I enjoyed Ali's classes so much at KiwiScraps last year. I didn't learn a lot from her in terms of scrapbooking, but I got an enormous dose of inspiration from her approach - as I did from Donna and Cathy too.

I am going to take Stacy's classes in November purely for the approach - the inspiration, the philosophy. I don't think there is much I can be taught in terms of cutting paper and pasting it down - though I am always happy to find a technique I haven't seen before!!

When I teach, I take a 2-pronged approach:

1. My first priority is inspiring my students to go away and THINK. I talk a LOT in my classes. I open the floor to questions and ideas. I often have a couple of pages of notes. For example, if the theme of the class is "family", I would ask my students who they consider their families, what family means to them. I talk about the different definitions of family both here in Australia and in different cultures. I ask them to really think beyond the initial response that comes to them.

2. I create a project which they can totally personalise. My project will have different techniques which I am happy to teach and share but I dont tell them which papers to use or what embellishments to add. I'm happy to help choose when asked, but I encourage my students to scrap the theme in their own style. If they want to be taught step by step - no problems. But I want my students to be themselves and not walk away with a carbon copy of my project if they don't want to.

I've found this works really well - because it caters for both types of scrappers - those who wish to learn techniques and how to do the basics, and those who are looking for inspiration and ideas while maintaining their own styles.

do you like the new design?

it's a Typepad design...I'm thinking about downgrading to the basic account as I dont need 3 blogs...I'm worried I'll run out of bandwidth though...