Thinking back on summer…

A few years ago I went to a tattoo expo in Sydney and met a lady there who did henna tattooing. I loved her work, got one of her tattoo’s and vowed to give it a shot one day.

These are some of the designs I have come up with since I have been playing around.

The process of designing a henna tattoo and then actually doing it is really calming and centering. I find I do more henna during summer because it seems to fit the free and happy spirit of henna. I can't wait for summer to roll around again and we have only just into winter, not a good sign!

My Creative Space

I decided a few months ago that each week, or at least each fortnight, I would cook something I had never attempted before so I wouldn’t get stuck in my ‘usual 4 most loved dishes rut’. Subconsciously I think I have also been influenced by what the Master Chef contestants are cooking up and it has made me realise how much creative potential there is in the kitchen.

I decided I really wanted to try making Chinese wantons from scratch. I had a lot of fun and found a great recipe and I have to admit am slightly addicted to them at the moment. They are vegetarian wantons and they are amazing; shallots, chives, choy sum, garlic, ginger, chilli, coriander…ah so so good. 

As amazing as it is to eat wantons from freshly made dough, I word of advice; it is harder and more time consuming than you might think because the wrappers need to be very thin so they don’t taste ‘doughy’ when they are steamed. Still an art I am yet to perfect.

There is something so cleansing about eating steamed, fresh food straight out of a bamboo steamer.

 

I also loved making the dipping sauce; soy sauce, chilli, lime, peanut oil, sesame oil….yum! I had forgotten the joys of eating with chopsticks and drinking copious cups of tea with a meal. There are some great things about the experience of Asian cuisine.

 

As you can see I didn’t enjoy it very much lol…

Check out other people’s creative spaces at Kootoyoo.

The joy of kids...

Two of my friends who married a few years ago have just had a baby boy. I recently bought my first set of water colours and decided this was as good a time as any to get cracking and give them a try and make a card for their new arrival. I decided on a teddy bear holding some balloons. Seeing as I had no idea how to draw a teddy bear I checked out some ideas off the net and amalgamated them and came up with this little guy. I really loved using water colours and look forward to more ‘play time.’

 

Mr Teddy Bear and his balloons were to go with a little outfit I picked out for one very special little boy. I have to be honest I love when friends have babies because it gives me an excuse to go into the kids sections and get lost in the world of ‘little people.’

I met my friends and their little boy on a gorgeous sunny winters day down at Reid’s Flat in Audley and had a lovely picnic and got a few holds of the bub :-)

A Breakthrough

I bought these beads a month or so ago and have been trying to work out how to use them. At first I had planned to use them for a bracelet and use more of the red beads, but like all jewellery making, it has been an interesting process from the first idea to the end product. I love wearing this piece because of it’s length, the wrapped wire and the wonderful clash of red and black.