Illustration + Design

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Papery Things
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I've been waiting for the past week for a nice sunny day to take some photos of these paper packs, but that perfect day just wouldn't appear so I made do yesterday while the sun changed every ten seconds. I have three packs for sale in my Etsy at the moment and am hoping to put together a couple more. They're very fun, albeit time consuming to put together! There's about seventy bits of papery miscellanea in each pack. Putting them together makes me want to get out my own supplies and make collages and art journal pages. Hope you like 'em!

Today we did some shopping then got home just as a massive thunderstorm broke over the top of us. Thunderstorms are extremely uncommon in Tasmania, probably one little one at most per year, but today's storm rivalled the tropical ones we used to have back in NSW. So much hail and thunder and worried cats, and then, an hour later, a perfect sunny afternoon...

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+ first image (of hail, not snow!) by ABC Northern Tasmania

Just A Minute...
...in April.

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I put together some new paper packs.

@sarakitty taught me to knit this weekend. Looking forward to practicing lots to make something fun for @elementeden_au's Knit Off
I learned how to knit!

'Instrument' #doodleaday #doodleadayapril
I started Ello Lovely's April Drawing A Day Challenge, but didn't finish. I'm bad at adhering to prompts!

Some bits from the markets: sad children prints (my favourite!), a bit of crochet to make into a cushion & a picnic rug made from vintage tea towels.
Another market find. Going to keep my paints in it.
Vintage dress #1 from markets.
I don't know what it was about these little guys but I decided I had to take them home from the markets.
Bought these shoes at the markets for $5 because they reminded me of Effie Trinket. Hoping they'll fit properly sans pregnancy.
I had some thrifting and market wins!

Undie draw monster #atticuskitty
Monster in a monster!
This cheeky cat hid in things.

Fun mess.
Doodling.
Painted a gnome.
Colours.
A favourite lyric.
I played with some paints and pens.

Ridiculously cute baby clothes from @lovekatyha. I feel so very spoiled. Thank you lady! Just what I needed on a no good day. Adorable!
Katyha sent me the sweetest package containing the most delightful vintage baby clothes.

Such a needy cat! Not complaining though!
Three cats (one not pictured) and a giant belly. Big Friday night in here!
I ❤ cat toes
I spent a lot of time cuddling this guy.

@xavcob has been practicing his changing and swaddling skills on a maneki-neko doll. Very impressive.
C practiced swaddling and nappy changing on a stuffed maneki-neko doll! He's pretty good!

Getting dressed up to go see #qanda being filmed. Ps. Back to blonde!
I went to watch Q&A being filmed in Launceston and this is what I wore.

Tin Tin. Hopefully a new friend for Atticus #tintinkitty
And last but not least... Atticus got a new friend. His name is Tintin (named after the cartoon/book character) and he's very sweet. I'll have to tell you more about him shortly.

Listening | Alt J (new favourite), Rufus Wainwright & The Beach Boys (old favourites).
Reading | Silver Linings Playbook (loving it).
Watching | Game Of Thrones S3, Daria, One Born Every Minute (I know I shouldn't, ha) and Catfish.
Consuming | Litres and litres of 'Diet Rite Apple Raspberry Cordial'. I seriously caught myself last night semi-sleepwalking to the kitchen to get myself a glass in the middle of the night, obsessed.
Making | Paper packs, little gouache paintings and chocolate cake.
Looking forward to | BABY, BABY, BABY!
In May I'd like to | Be the recipient of many back rubs, finish a few books, do some fun creative bits and pieces and hopefully have a really boring old, stock standard birth (I've started having funny dreams about it)! I can't believe this time next month I'll probably be writing this post while cuddling a tiny baby!

List | Things That I Have Lost
...and not yet found.

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+ Drawing by Sophie Roach.

+ A stuffed rabbit toy from childhood (I remember being really frustrated as a kid not being able to find it again)
+ My friend Turk's Clerks dvd (I put $40 in the case and gave it back to him without saying anything. He later said that $40 was way too much but that he spent it on food and has still never replaced the dvd)
+ Something like 10,000 bobby pins and hair bands
+ My favourite Doc Martens from when I was a teenager (actually, a couple of pairs)
+ A Courtney Love cd from the library that was really terrible and then I had to pay to replace it.
+ My friend Sarah's digital camera while we were on the Scooby Doo rollercoaster ride at Movie World on the Gold Coast in 2006 (I still feel really bad even though we're no longer friends).
+ My favourite bow belt
+ My chihuahua Claude when I was about five (my mum thinks he was eaten by a hawk)
+ A lot of time worrying, feeling guilty for no reason and having negative thoughts about myself
+ My favourite scarf from Tree of Life (pictured here)
+ Almost all of my group school photos
+ Many pairs of earrings (in fact, all pairs of earrings except the ones in my ears)
+ My dad (in the year 2000)
+ My dog Layla when I was about thirteen
+ The envelope on the back of which I wrote down all of my Grandma's family tree as far back as she could remember and info about each person's personality, occupations and life (hopefully I'll have a chance to sit down with her and ask her again one day)
+ Many of my close friends from high school (I think this is possibly for the better)
+ All of my baby teeth (that's a lie actually, they're all at my parents house in a little ceramic 'fairy house' that my Nanna made me - the tooth fairy still owes me a bunch of money for them!)
+ Many mementos of my childhood (childhood drawings, school books, etc. I wish I'd kept better track of them)

...phew!

After feeling a bit melancholy after writing this list I thought it would be fun to also write a list of 'Things I've Lost... and found again!" or maybe a 'Things I've Found' list. Maybe sometime in the future.

Writing this list reminded me of all of the people who come into the supermarket where I work having lost their keys/wallet/phones/children's toys every day. It is kind of hard to keep sounding genuinely sympathetic (even though I am) after the tenth phone call of the day asking if I've seen whatever that person has lost, rarely I have. At the same time, there is a huge collection of lost property at my workplace, so of course I guess it is always worth checking. There's one woman who comes in with her children and has lost her keys at least half a dozen times and makes the staff look for them each time (one of my supervisors thinks she does it as a decoy so she can steal things). I've lost phones and wallets and keys a couple of times over the years but they've always turned up or been handed in so I feel super lucky. I even left my wallet in the toilets of Sydney Central train station and didn't have my money/identity stolen!

What's something you've lost that is memorable to you?

Little Joys
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+ a photo i took a few years ago on a drive to the great western tiers.

+ really soft, juicy, messy pears
+ mountain tops hidden by snow clouds
+ looking through years worth of old photos (i finally sent some wedding photos off to be printed too)
+ when the support band is as good as the headliner
+ collecting fun items for weeks to post in a package to loved ones
+ midnight porridge
+ baby somersaults (although he's getting a bit too big for that now - four weeks to go!)
+ cold, moist cat noses
+ finally finishing watching daria
+ peanut butter and honey sandwiches
+ palettes covered with colourful dried paint
+ waking up with my cat being the little spoon
+ rhyming first and last names