departure time

Just rushing in to tap out a quick post. I should be packing! Today we drive to Christchurch which will take over 5 hours, plus stops! It's just me and the kids as the hubby has already gone across the ditch to Australia. On Friday we will get up very early and fly to Brisbane to join him for a week. There is much excitement ..... and a bit of trepidation on my part. Travel is a bit of a mixed bag for me, I love it when I'm there but the getting there I don't enjoy. It's the first time we have left the animals for such a long time, hopefully our new neighbours will cope!

There will be new sights and sounds, that's one of the joys of travel. I probably won't get a chance to blog while away, but will definitely be instagramming. If you want to follow along, pop over here.

deadlines

I definitely need deadlines to help get over the procrastination stage and into the productive stage. I've got two craft markets coming up in November, but before then I want to finish four paintings for the spring exhibition of the Nelson Suter Art Society, and I need to finish another work on paper for a new gallery.

So instead of knuckling down to it I made something that had been floating around in my head for a while. In my stash I had a couple of very small zips. I have loads of homemade felted wool. The buttons were no problem once I had located the storage bin loaded up with jars of buttons (another shameful secret of  mine!)

First came the fearsome gray cat, then the demented cerise rabbit.

I added a fluffy tail to the cerise rabbit. However, with hindsight it looks more like a hole than fluff, so I shall be removing the offending appendage!!

Due to the shortage of tiny zips at the op shops (and my ethos that I do not buy anything new to make anything) these will be a very limited product line for the upcoming markets. They do however make a change from my "normal" zippered pouches, two of which have already winged off to new homes (thanks to Facebook and a blog swap!)

So I need to spend some serious time in the studio next week. It's been hard to find time this week with orthodontic appointments (both of the kids), school sports trips, delivering art works, and trips to the post shop after a mammoth packing session. Yes I sold my first painting via my website!!! So soon one of my artworks titled "Forma 1" will be gracing a wall in Melbourne. The crazy thing is that postage across the Tasman is only a few dollars more expensive than across the Cook Strait to the North Island.

I have started some new paintings for the exhibition in October, I don't think the above one is quite finished yet.

So next week no more procrastination. As we are going on holiday the following week. It's the last week of  term, so while hubby is off to Australia for work we will go to Christchurch for a couple of days and stay with my sister. It will be the first time I've been to Christchurch since the earthquakes so I am trying to steel myself for the changes. Then we are off to Brisbane for 7 days, yipee!! If you're on instagram follow my adventures here.

Linking up with lots of clever people at My Creative Space.

spring

It's officially spring, and we've had the 6th wet Sunday in a row (well it took almost all day for the gray clouds to turn to rain) but apart from that we've had lots of sunny days, and even had a couple of nights when we haven't lit the fire.

 Mumabi and the alpacas are happy it's spring as there's fresh, green grass to eat.

 The netball season is over, and I managed to take these photos of Fiona Sutherland's sculpture at Saxton Field near the netball courts.

A Father's Day latte with pretty retro china, at the cafe at World of Wearable Art.

Three more weeks until the end of term 3 and then we are off to Brisbane for a week, yippee!! Any Brissie sightseeing and op-shopping tips gratefully received!

Linking up with {tinniegirl}