farewell : breath out

 nearly a whole year of no blogging or reading blogs

i miss it in a way but my life is full now in other ways

its been a special 12 months

i feel incredibly blessed & thank God for all that surrounds me

for my boys .... for my family, for my village

for the opportunity to do what i love

and i really really love teaching art in my little studio

there has now been a whole school year of littlesmARTysstudio art classes

my cup runneth over

 plenty of colour : shape : line : tone

 rainbows rule

life is a rainbow

 there have been....

times to dance

times to rest

times to be together

times to build others up

times to grieve

times of frustration

times to celebrate

times to question

times of no resolve

times of emotional investment

times to stand tall & show strength

times to be thankful

times of grave sadness

times to learn and grow

times to play

times of incredible gratitude

 way back when i started writing this blog

i was a SAHM & i was looking at getting back into sewing

blogging helped me find that groove

it helped me find some new friends

it was a community

we were living in another home back then

since, lots has changed

i've always made a point to be sure to

#enJOYthejourney

and so this blogging journey has come to an end

way back, i was searching for that 'something'

that makes you feel grounded

where you know you are home

where you are part of a village

when you 'click' with an emotional investment

 that searching journey led me to look outside

the places we had held dear as 'home'

full circle ....

now i have a much stronger focus on our village

we all find it in different places

for us it is our church family

and our friends close and not so

our inner village are those we spend our days with

the people we share meals and time with

those we are #doinglifetogether with

the last 12months have seen milestones

little and big

some sadness and joy

thanks for sharing the journey of these blogging days of my life...

 time for new rainbows to follow

i'm over on instagram as littlesmartysstudio

or on facebook as 

Little Smarty ART Studio Classes

i'm planning on my adventuring in my teaching

and a greater time investment in my own art works

both in painting & ceramics

 i love my village

we all need a village

no one can walk this earth alone

we need backup encouragement

understanding love care compassion

we need people to walk beside us

to pray with us

when we pray God hears more than we say

answers more than we ask

gives more than we imagine

in his own time

and in his own way

 so this is kind of a "hello again"

and in the next breath it is a 

"farewell"

"may the road rise to meet you

may the wind be always at your back

may the sun shine warm upon your face

the rains fall soft upon your fields

and until we meet again

may God hold you in the palm of his hand"

enJOY your journey

 i'm wondering if i can explain my absence from this space

and add a thrifty reference or two?

a journey of new found items & ideas

both worthy of the treasure

collecting the 'interesting' is a part of me

i adore the adventure & the thrill

the fact that they have been someone's previous story is cool too

so over summer these are a few ... from near & far

up-cycled colour & clothing to adorn & wear

practical & cute vessels for a purpose

fun elements & stories that enrich

ethnic elements that tell of a passion for culture

 yeah i've been missing from here for the longest while

i've been on a little journey of the heART

i've been enJOYing that journey

trying to decide if my hARTylittlepeaces blog

has come to an 'end of a season' ??

or maybe just needs to 'be' a little less than before

i have lots of balls in the air you see

creatively of course the main one is my

little smARTy's studio

its my passion & i hope that this shows through in all i do

& in the recent, paraphrased, complimentary words of another::

"running small is becoming more rare

when others see what you're doing, they want to be a part of it to

you have the right core values & i think what you're doing is amazing"

& the feedback, support & actual number of student enrollments

shows me that i am .... i have mostly full-to-the-brim classes

the few holiday workshops were so in-demand, that i added more

& i have a waiting list for some of the weekly groups

#mycuprunnethover #iloveteachingart

currently most of my head space is filled with this focus

it truly is a dream come true

so finding a fresh balance in this moment is where i am

i still want & need to feed my soul & be creative myself

& i'm hoping to paint again  ... you know, i have my own STUDIO
to actually paint in .... 
& i have so so many things i'd like to sew .... & make

and so to blog or not?

i will be blogging more over here

& these days i'm on fb a whole lot more

& i have a new love in ig as littlesmartysstudio 

which kinda makes sense - since my world is v v visual

i really want to love what i do

not let it rule what i do
balance
i think i'm finding it .... 

private painting workshop giveaway

little smARTy's studio 

GIVEAWAY
..... 1.5hour Private Painting Workshop
for anyone from toddler to adult
.... a work of art on quality artist CANVAS ....
to the value of $160 .... tuition & materials

to ENTER simply ...... find us on Facebook by clicking here

1: be a 'little smARTy's studio' Facebook 'Follower' 

2: 'like' the photo/post and 

3: 'SHARE' this post on your own FB wall 

 

Workshop is to be held in Surrey Hills, so make sure you can get yourself there!
GO FOR IT ...... starts now!
Giveaway will be drawn Wednesday 5th March 8pm 

Yay!!

wk 7 :: 52

a portrait of my boy

once a week

every week

for 2014

week 7 of 52

a play at the park with some mates

PS - photo credits go to this sewing lady .... great pics

ruby's nest

love handmade of course

and i adore seeing friends 

make their dreams become reality

i met anna back at the sydney sit

i remember meeting her very well

full of funny stories about her stay in the 'other' youth hostel

& other adventures, i remember i couldn't stop laughing

there have been pop up shops, the act sit

& her hens & tom phat lunches

well ..... anna (Polly Pratt) 

and her creative side kick jay (Finki)

are to be congratulated

on the opening of their gorgeous

spacious light filled quirky colourful

Ruby's Nest

159 Sydney Road Brunswick

 its brimming with all sorts of lovelies

amazing resin accessories, scarves, treats for littles,

and an amazing range of beautifully hand sewn ladies clothes

including the famous 'Wendy' dress and now also

appropriately the 'Ruby' as well ....

opening night was last friday

went out with a few fabulous friends

L-R :: me, anna, karen, bron & nicole

and caught up with a few other faces whilst there as well

lucky me as i'll be sewing some

special handmade pieces for ruby's nest

stay tuned

 fun times in the red sports car

rubys, then thai & a hit of sugar frozen goodness

ever queued for gelato before?

enJOY your journey people xo

heART a craft :: thread

"heART a craft"

a collection of favourite images & ideas

collection no.9

 

so there was the 

"great BIG thread haul of 2013"

& i still have it all in boxes ....

mmm i'd love to store it all in some

visually delicious manner ....

something like one of these perhaps!

 

not particularly portable any of it but i figure

if i'm planning to leave the threads

i will need to plan & take the match required

or perhaps i'll go for more of a 'cabinet' idea

as i do like a bit of character

mmmm .... lets see hey!

five

 5 years

its been since i started writing this blog

i honestly had no idea where it was going to take me

been looking back at those very first posts

i remember how excited i was about getting back to making again

actually making time to make

it was at a time when i'd stepped back from a leadership role

to spend every moment i could with our growing baby boy

in starting my blog i think i had the idea that it might help 

to ground me in my role as a sahm

but it also opened up a community

of real people whom i have a lot in common with

 at first i really admired the more predominant os creative bloggers

now i'm more about my blogging friends

people i now know & have spent real time with

the meeting real bloggers really began with this amazing patch-worker

as she responded to a block swap i organised

i should thank her for the kick to go on

a bloggers weekend in Sydney

where i met a stack of girls ..... 

now i'm not great at grasping names straight off & you know

some were more memorable than others hey! (cheekily said!)

from there well .... i made an incredible friend

and have spent a few wonderful weekend retreats

with more creative minds

love being part of this wonderful community

.... here in the world of blogs & on FB & also IG

love your work lara, tan, kylie, anna, annie, 

jodie, nikki, nicole, cath, gina, kathryn, rach & kathryn

& lots of others xo

part of my online 'village'

its been a fabulous 5 years

i have wondered a bit lately as to why i still blog

i think its now as much for me as it is the few people

who read along ... yep

so if you do read along

i'd love a comment or so along the way xo

amber find

you well & truly know by now

that i like a little coloured glass

& its all the better when its a thrifty find

 the other week, little op shop hop

with a friend .... oooooh

top shelf, tippy toes to reach it

would be 30cm+ & is just lovely

i've googled the edb or dbe logo

but with no profound discoveries

love it

see how nicely it fits in

with previous thrifty goodies

t'was a whole $3 ... yep

plus the thrill of the hunt of course

photo tricks

lots of firsts this summer

fun with friends

at 'our' riBer

 love this pic above
it has us all in it! plus ....

have you spotted the

'trick' yet??

have another look ....
and here are a few other very clever ones ...

 how you ask??? ahhhhh .... very tricky hey!
 clever iphones

thanks ellen!! great fun

wk 5 :: 52

a portrait of my boy

once a week

every week

for 2014

 5 :: 52

summer time fun

sparkling water

hot hot temps

swim little fish swim

wk 4 :: 52

a portrait of my boy

once a week

every week

for 2014

 4 :: 52

drawing & painting

a lion in our little smARTy's studio

wonderful times

blanket

organic

bamboo

blanket

made for Max

without knowing it i got the colour combo 'right'

grow strong little man