C and I were riding our bikes a few nights ago and saw a cherry picker and a couple of men putting umbrellas in a tree, in the dark. It was too dark to take a picture, but we came back the following day to photograph it and they'd taken them all down and were putting them up in another tree. It was kind of amusing just watching these manly men in fluoro outfits tying brightly coloured pink and purple umbrellas to tree branches! I think it makes for a beautiful sight in the city - I hope they do it to other trees in that park too.



I've also noticed a lot of these around town lately, knitted around poles in the city;



I've also noticed the lack of graffiti in Launceston. Newcastle is covered in it. Here is one little bit of graffiti I spotted I thought was quite gorgeous;



I also thought I'd show you what C put in his hair the other day;


^ Bizarre and kind of creepy, but his hair looks beautiful and shiny and smells really good. It is made from animal placenta and apparently no harm is done to the animal in the process of getting it. We found it at the chemist a few weeks ago but he was only game enough to put it in his hair this week. Verdict: weird but effective!

Here are the mixes I made for my two partners for the Mix Share Swap, Samantha and Patsy. I couldn't help myself and ended up making two mixes for each. The covers were so much fun to make - fiddly and therapeutic collages.

I started by picking out some cardboard from my recycle bin (the top ones are made from flour boxes and the bottom ones are made from cat food boxes!). I taped it together to make the cd cases, then gleaned bits of paper from anywhere I could find it - I have a big box of miscellaneous paper I scrounge from (magazine cuttings, wrapping paper, envelopes, wrappers, stickers, receipts, labels, newspaper, paper doilies, etc) - then I pieced and glued all the bits together and put tape all over them. My printer prints onto discs, so it was fun being able to make the CDs a little pretty.

Need more ideas? Cut up postcards, doodle, print things out, forage for miscellaneous paper around the house, layer tapes, splatter paint, cut out of magazines and newspapers, use photos - use what you've got on hand :)


^ For Samantha.


^ For Patsy. Cerddoriaeth means 'music' and 'Alawon' means 'tunes' in Welsh.

This is the last week for people participating in the Mix Share Swap to finish off making and packaging up their mixes and send them out. Take your time and have fun! I've made a Flickr group for any pictures of the mixes made in the swap, here. Add as many as you like!

A happy little package arrived this week containing 500 postcards of a collage I made, printed by Avant Card. If you're not familiar with Avant Card, they are an Australian company that prints promotional postcards for businesses (for a fee) which sit in free postcard stands all over Aus. However, they also run an artists programme wherein they ask people to submit their artwork, and if chosen, they print a limited run of them, which sit in free postcards stands around Australia for anyone to pick up. The stands are everywhere and often contain the loveliest postcards. I have picked up, kept and shared so many of these postcards (if you're one of my penpals, I'm sure I've sent you some!), and I am so happy to get to be a part of this programme.



They do a print run of up to 20,000 of each design, and send each artist 500 samples of their postcards, so I have a big bundle on my desk, waiting to be shared.

Would you like one? My pockets are a bit empty of late so I can't afford to send them everywhere for free, but if you're happy a pay a little for the postage, I will very happily send one (or a couple) your way.

If you live outside Australia and would like me to send you one, scoot to my Paypal and donate $1.45 (if you'd like 1 postcard), or $2.20 (if you'd like more than one, up to 5). When you go to review your donation there's a little link in bold that says "Add special instructions to the seller" - this is where you're able tell me your address and how many you'd like. ($1.45 and $2.20 are postcard and letter postage prices in Australia).

If you live in Australia and would like one, head to my Paypal and donate 60 cents, leave me your info and how many you'd like (up to 5) and I'll get one to you asap.

Hope you like em! I haven't located a stand in Launceston yet, but if you're in Aus and you see them on a stand please let me know! :)


^ I really had no idea what to write for a blurb!

I have acquired a rather unhealthy sleeping pattern lately. I wake up really late, realise I have course work to do, but decide I'll put it off until the afternoon, then I don't pick it back up until late evening, decide I need to get it done and continue into the early hours. Yesterday I went to bed at 6am, this morning I went to bed at 5am. It's awful, I hate doing it, but my body clock has adjusted to this schedule and it will take a fight to get it back to reasonable waking/sleeping hours.

Tomorrow C and I are going to inspect another house (if I can wake myself up in time!). This one is a terrace right in the city, situated across the road from Officeworks (beloved office supplies store), in clear view of our favourite cafe, central to everything and with a bus stop outside. It's nothing amazing, but affordable and sweet and so, again, my fingers and toes are crossed that it falls into our possession. Though I am incredibly grateful we were able to move here, put our things into storage and house sit comfortably until we find a suitable house, I miss my own space, knick knacks, desk, kitchenware, bed, etc and am eager to set up.

Today I bought a vintage dress that makes me look like a nun!

Oops, it's 3am...

My 4 Simple Goals, spotted at Rhianne & Diana's blogs, originally from Elsie's post. Join in :)

^ What I ate for breakfast/lunch today - gluten-free pancakes with jam, banana, berries and cream (lovingly made by C).

Uni work completed today:

^ Four face collages.

Uni work still to do today:
- Make four face collages using type.
- Write a 1500 word essay about a designer.
- Do some readings, answer some Q's.

Things to do today that don't involve uni work:
- Folding washing
- Baking lemon and sour cream gluten-free cupcakes

Songs I listened to today:
♡ The Golden Age - The Asteroids Galaxy
♡ Sea of Doubts - Azure Ray
♡ A Minor Incident - Badly Drawn Boy
♡ Under The Milky Way - Sia
♡ Home - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros
♡ Jackrabbits - Joanna Newsom
♡ Person Person - Mirah
♡ La Catherine - Les Cowboys Fringants
♡ Gimme Sympathy - Metric
♡ New Shoes - Paolo Nutini
♡ How To Disappear Completely - Radiohead
♡ Your Personal Religion - Sophie Hunger
♡ I Died So I Could Haunt You - Stars
♡ Blue Ridge Mountains - Fleet Foxes



Letters written in the last 24 hours (while watching almost the whole series of Firefly last night);


^ For lovely Felicia.


^ To my sweet (and only) New Zealand pen pal, Stella.


^ To sweet Kaatje.


^ To lovely miss Astrid (I'm nearly out of these map envelopes, so soon I'll have to actually start making them out of something new!).


^ For darling miss Lisa in Norway.

Letters written earlier this week:


^ A big ole package for my mum and little sister for their respective birthdays last week and this week. I can't tell you what's in it or they'll read it and SPOIL IT!


^ A long overdue mix cd for an old high school friend. We share music from time to time and he introduces me to the best stuff.


^ A note for miss Tess.

This week C and I checked out a pretty house we'd like to rent. It's a gorgeous little thing and my only issue with it is that it sits atop one of the biggest, steepest asthma-inducing hills in Launceston, but C claims it will just make us fitter. Oh, and it has one of the most horrible, battered tin mail boxes, nailed to a post. It will have to go. Maybe I'll even construct my own mail box to replace it. We put in the paperwork for the house on Friday and are hoping that the fact that the real estate is on Cameron Street and is called 'Roberts' (C's first and middle names), teamed with the fact that it was Friday the 13th and the fact that we saw the town cross dresser in the real estate while we were there and his name is Robert, all contribute to some major luck regarding us getting this house :D There's a chance we'll find out the verdict tomorrow. I hate getting emotionally invested in houses! Fingers and toes crossed.