Is the answer in the wind?

Life is quite complex at times. Sometimes you feel like your right foot is on your left foot and your left foot is on your right foot and you just seem to walk in circles......for me, the last two weeks have been a little like this- teetering on the line between being overwhelmed with responsibility, and yet wishing that you could suspend life in a particular moment, because you are so content.

My outlet has always been making things. If I ever feel overwhelmed or stressed, a sewing machine, a crochet hook, a paint brush or even a pair of pliers has always made me feel better. That being said, I've been making A LOT of things lately which has given me a chance to delve into my own little world (it's nice there- lots of butterflies and beef jerky yum). With Spring here, I felt that I needed to make some bright, happy things:

I also made this Amber like one:

And making a pretty pendant

And my crochet hook combined with hemp twine is ready to go to make a necklace

I have so many things rolling around in my head. It's just getting the time to put it into practise. And I feel change.......as one pretty cool person sung "The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind. The answer is blowing in the wind."

I think I just might go outside, under my beautiful big trees and listen.............

(remember it's Thursday today.....yuk....)

x

Shish Kebab fingers

Like my shish kebab fingers?

Many years ago, when I was a wee lass, I called them shish kebabies- I still giggle to myself when I say it.
I have many rings in all colours, shapes and styles.

Most of these you see are quite chunky but today I have been working on some very thin, delicate, glass like ones......pictures to come soon.

It was a rough day today for me. Rough as they come actually. But the sun was out and the ants decided to visit, they even stayed for a devonshire tea! - I felt wanted. Thank you ants.

x

Orla Kiely Luuuuuurve

I am inspired by Orla Kiely clothing. Too bad there are no stockists in Australia- but thank goodness for the Internet and online shopping. Not that I've actually bought a piece yet, but hopefully, one day, in a galaxy far far away, it just might happen.


In love love love

Is this an unusually gigantic woman? Or is the ceiling tricky?

Knock-y knees are in

Love the blue with the fab peter pan collar

There's something awesome about the 50's feel

Red lips and Mustard? You all know I'm a fan!

So if I see an Orla Kiely item on  you, prepare for some shenanigans .....I've taken some strength building tablets, waiting for the day, when i can rip that beautiful Orla Kiely thing off you.....YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!


x

GREEN shoes and overwhelming excitement....

I bought these shoes last week.

They are much too high and not the most comfy. But they were GREEN- what else was I to do? It would have been quite rude to walk away from them. And if I was walking away, I was walking away in ugly, flat, yellow shoes. It was a sign. So now they are sitting in a nice, comfy warm place where they feel safe and secure....but not for long....they will be making an appearance this weekend! (I sure hope I can walk in them)

This week I have been making these:

and these:

JUST JOKING- I have 3 of these already:)

and these:

Which brings me to my next, exciting, overwhelming, aaaaaahhhhhhh news- The Kooky Green Owl will be stocked in  at least two shops in the next few weeks and another two shops around Melbourne in the coming months. An online shop will be set up in the next few weeks for all those who love to shop in their pajamas (who doesn't like to shop in their pajamas?) It has been such a confidence boosting experience- I'm very humbled.

Added with upcoming markets, this Kooky Green Owl is going to be a very busy bee (or owl if you like)

Thank you for reading- I hope you have a lovely Thursday

x

To market to market to buy a fat hen...

...again, there wasn't any- but there was a great sausage sizzle that was had by all!

Today, I was at the Emerald market and I was blinded by the light! The light that was sunshine- yay! Finally, I think we are getting some warmer weather and it was absolutely beautiful in the blue hills today.

Again I had a fantastic response from the locals- they came in with smiles on their faces and bells on their toes (not literally of course, it would have been quite noisy). What made the day even more special was that I was approached by a shop owner who is interested in stocking my range in her shop- Wowee, I'm on cloud nine!

....anywho, just a short post from the very very Kooky Green owl. Its nearly Monday.......and here is a little song to make you feel better about that :)

Dreamy Daffodils and Potty Paint

Don't you love the humble Daffodil? It's such a friendly flower and it is also my mother in law's favourite thing. Well, just down the road from us is a Daffodil farm. I am most fortunate to drive past it at least twice a day and the view is spectacular- rolling hills covered in fields of Daffodils. I love this time of year!

Unfortunately, they're not out for very long so I try as often as I can, to attend the self serving station for a bunch of these beautiful bits of sunshine. At $3.50 a bunch, it sure is worth it.

In other news, I am thinking of repainting the hallway. Because of my combined desperation, stupidity and lack of sleep, I picked the wrong colour (three times total). There is no way to put this nicely, but the colour reminds me of, well.......poo poo. It is a khaki green colour (I swear it didn't look that way in the paint shop). Mind you I only put one coat of paint on it and it has been this way for ONE YEAR. The long time frame is because I failed twice before at choosing a suitable colour - I've needed to take out a second mortgage due to the amount of money spent on paint. My latest thought is painting it the lamp colour seen in this picture. It's a teal/green colour- and this lamp is my favourite one in the house.

In other news: ITS MARKET WEEK! I am busy slaving away at a one man production line due to not having enough stuff (this is a good thing). Today I will be working of feather brooches and kilt pins adorned with vintage charms and beads.  I'm pretty sure, by the end of the week I'll be looking like Mother Hen- literally...I'm no good with glue and feathers combined.

Well, today was Thursday and I'm proud to say- I survived! (Thursday's and I don't see eye to eye)

Happy Friday all
x

Favourite superhero's and new things.

My son watched the old superman movie last night- and boy he was impressed! He wasn't impressed by those beautiful blue eyes, as I am, but more for the fact that bullets actually bounce off that toned, beautiful body. I forgot how much I loved Christopher Reeve in Superman......

who's your favourite superhero?

Pigman?

Spiderman in need of some desperate needle and thread?

maybe Batdog?

 And some new things by The Kooky Green Owl

There is some fine tuning needed with this new ring technique but we are getting there.
Have a prosperous day everyone
x

Looking at life at less than 45 degrees

Today I did a little of this:

When I really should have been looking up like this:

I have had a silly cold that has prevented me from being normal (Normal's overrated anyway).....so today, I have decided to share a little tutorial that is great for kids (especially girl ones) I have had this on my mind for a year or so, and I was reading something recently that reminded me to DO IT ....my big little girl and I made these today:

These cool little bangles are made out of wide ice- cream sticks (Popsicle sticks) and are a lot of fun to make.

What you will need:

Ice cream sticks (wide)- you can pick a pack of 60 up for $2 at your local art/craft shop
Water
Drinking glasses
Emery board or fine sanding paper.
Paint
Paint Brushes
Mod Podge

1. Boil the ice-cream stick in water for 30 minutes. Leave them soaking in the hot water for another 30 minutes

After letting them soak, they should be pliable enough to bend and put in the tops of glasses:

Try to use a smaller rimmed glass....

Set glass aside to dry overnight. When they are dry pull them out
Then use fine sandpaper or and emery board to sand out the rough bits....

4 u's

The paint them, wrap wool around it, stick jewels to it, decoupage it- DO ANYTHING to make it pretty- the paint will make them wet and they will want to plank again but after painting, put them back in the glasses to dry.

After they have dried, put a coat of mod podge, place back into the glass to dry.

Miss Owl was very happy- she's giving them to all her friends......

Hope you have a happy Monday x

Remember- float, don't kick.....

I've been trying to eat healthier of late and I have to say, I've been a pretty good girl! If you are what you eat, I may be a broccoli (I'm ok with this). And it's so much better than a cabbage in my opinion....If you are what you eat, what would you be?

One easy way to stop myself from eating a whole loaf of bread (white bread is my vice) is cooking a humungazoid, big pot of soup and getting that out when I feel hungry. Its worked so far, but if you see somebody on the news who is part human, part white bread, you'll know I've lapsed.

I was almost swallowed alive by my clean washing pile today.....my kids had to google "survival guide to quicksand"  to get me out but we did it! I'm so proud of them!

My two sisters and I grew up on movies from the 50's and 60's- anywhere from Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin to Tarzan and Doris Day. A lot of these movies seemed to have a quicksand scene in it- you know, where the bad guy is chasing the good guy and accidentally falls into a pit of quicksand and dies. If you had asked me when I was 8, what I was most afraid of I would have told you "falling into quicksand" (monsters, alien invasion, burglars I could deal with- but quicksand  would generally evoke the response of "quick, hide under the covers"!).....I'm so glad the Internet is around now because if you need survival tips for quicksand, go here (I don't think Bear Grylls has covered it yet).....and always remember, float- don't kick.

C'mon David Niven, float darn it!

Today, I was able to make a couple of rings, using a different technique. I had to buy a different type of resin to what I normally use but I had used it a couple of years ago when I first became interested in Resin (and it was probably the reason I gave up). It eventually worked out, but it is as temperamental as a nearly two year old being told to wait (don't get me started). It's cure time is dependent on weather temperature and humidity. It seems to want to produce a lot of air bubbles and you have to do several layers with hours between each layer. Because our weather is very cold at the moment, the cure time took as long as it took me to get my washing sorted out! even longer! About 20 hours actually. But it worked, and here are the results:

Vintage wallpaper inside the glass ring

Handpainted image transferred into ring

Sorry about the lighting- The top of this ring is quite glossy due to several coats applied- the background is a marble effect.

Oh no it's Thursday tomorrow- Please be kind to me this week, Thursday!
x

Faffing around with my fine feathered friend.

Disappointingly, it's not with Daffy Duck- he would have been cool to hang out with.

Today I was able to get my feathers out to play! Have a look at these beautiful guinea feathers:

Spot the difference!

I find it quite amazing that no two feathers are the same! This means you have to base your work around the natural direction of the feather- there are ways to bend and sculpt the larger ones, but you have to let the feathers control you when it comes to the baby ones.

I will be continuing to use these in my fascinators, but today, I decided to incorporate them into my Jewellery. This is what happened:

A fluffy brooch!

It is roughly 10cm in diameter. The image in the glass dome is a black and white picture- two people in a field surrounded by trees.

They will be on the market table next month.

It's a crazy, mad Tuesday for me tomorrow- I'm sure by the time Tuesday ends, I'll probably be crazy and mad as well.

x