Goodbye Autumn

Warren Glen Nursery. Taken with my iphone.

No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace, as I have seen in one autumnal face. 

John Donne

The Month of May

Dear Friends, How are you all? May has been a busy month for me and it seems to have gone by really fast. Two weeks ago, I went on a short trip to Perth and Fremantle, in Western Australia. Perth is a very lovely city and its peaceful and quiet. One of the places I visited there was the Perth Mint where I saw a $300,000 gold bullion being poured, and I found out that I am worth $1,824,182 million dollars of my weight in gold. That was fun!!

Fremantle Fishing Boat Harbour

Then I spent a weekend in Fremantle, which is delightful historic port town with great seafood, a vibrant cafe strip and lovely boutiques and galleries. I ate fish and chips for lunch at Kailis Fish Market Cafe at the fishing boat harbour, and I ate a bowl of mussels for dinner at the Mussel Bar. I really enjoyed the warm weather, sunny days, eating, shopping, going for walks and relaxing by the water. It was great and I felt very refreshed after my trip!!

Fremantle

In this month of May, I also attended the Grace Kelly costume exhibition in Bendigo, (two hours drive from Melbourne) and oohh and ohhhed over her beautiful, fashionable and elegant dresses, including outfits from the High Society movie, her engagement dress and a replica of her wedding gown. Last weekend, I enjoyed viewing all the great art at the Affordable Art Fair. I saw Moonshadow, which just premiered here in Melbourne. It is a fabulous and magical fantasy musical featuring the wonderful songs of Cat Stevens. I also enjoyed myself at the Mark It Market at Federation Square, which is an excellent curated design market featuring whimsical and illustrative design products. I am looking forward to the next market in November!

Earlier this year, I did the Hello Business, Hello Soul online business course which finished in April, and I just realised that I haven't written much about it. It was an amazing course led by Kelly Rae Roberts and Beth Nicholls. It was thought provoking and inspiring, and jam packed with information and a loads of food for thought. It turned out to be a lot more work than I expected, and quite overwhelming at times as there was a lot to absorb!! It also involved digging deep and thinking more about my direction and whether I am on the right track. I have done a lot of dreaming, writing, planning and pondering since the class ended. And I have put my Etsy shop on hold for the time being.

Some sketches that I drew with my left hand,  as part of an exercise to loosen up.

I am now enrolled in another course, called the Art of Surface Pattern Design (ASPD), and I have been working on that this May. Module 1 has just ended and I loved it. Its a lot of fun. I wasn't actually planning to do another ecourse, but one of the goals that I wrote down during the biz eclass was to build a portfolio of pattern designs. I wondered if this eclass would inspire me and help me through the process? So I emailed Beth Nicholls, and she encouraged me to do it. She told me that a lot of designers are doing the eclass for this purpose as well, so I enrolled and I am glad I did!!

Some sketches of floral motifs drawn with my left hand. 

APSD is led by Rachael Taylor.  Rachael is a successful surface pattern designer, with a fun, colourful and quirky design style, and a sunny personality. Module 1 of ASPD is very practical and filled with exercises to help free you up and spark creative ideas. Although I have a design background, I found Module 1to be very useful, and I learned some new information too. I enjoyed getting back in to sketching again although I am not very confident about my drawing skills. There are also bonus technical workshops on Photoshop and Illustrator for those who are unfamiliar with the programs, or need to brush up on their skills. I will share some of my patterns later on.

In other news, this cute and colourful woodblock print by Lulu from My Pink Turtle arrived all the way from Canada last week and its really brightened up my studio. Thank you Lulu!! :))

I would like to leave you with this wonderful and powerful Creativity affirmation from Louise Hay which I find really inspiring, uplifting and motivational. I have printed it out and plan to recite it every day. It comes from her book You Can Heal Your Life. (with thanks to Rachel Payne for sharing this).

In the infinity of life where I am
All is perfect, whole and complete.

My unique creative talents and abilities flow through me 
and are expressed in deeply satisfying ways.

There are people out there who are always looking for my services.
I am always in demand and I can pick and choose what I want to do.

I earn good money doing what satisfies me, my life is a joy and a pleasure.


All is well in my world.

Perth, WA

Thank you for visiting me today and have a wonderful weekend!! And may all be well with you in your world. Wini xox

More About Me

Hi Everyone, I am sorry that I haven't written for a while. I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed lately, like I am treading water, flailing around and not getting anywhere. 

Photos taken at the Melbourne Flower and Garden Show 2012. Flowers always cheer me up!

I had a big To Do list which I am just getting through now. I actually hate To Do lists and find them a bit depressing and energy zapping. When I came across this post on time management by Danielle LaPorte it really resonated. Its a short post but there are some great points made. Needless to say, I especially like the bit where she talks about getting rid of the dreaded To Do list!

Thank you to everyone who commented on my previous post About Me! I feel really happy that so many of you could relate to what I wrote. Its wonderful to know that we are kindred spirits. As mentioned in my previous post, I was tagged by three talented and creative bloggers, Helen, Chelle, and Elissa. (Thank you Ladies!) The tagging involves answering 11 questions posed by the person who tagged you. As I was tagged three times and I feel that answering all 33 questions is too many, I have selected a few questions from each of the ladies to answer. So here goes:

Desire to Inspire by Christine Mason Miller. Bliss, Laughter, Fun Card by Nicole C Limon & Son. 

Card with Cay Lang quote by Grace Mendez. Card with Dreams saying by Renee Jantzi.

(Questions from Helen) 1. Has a book or film ever moved you, what was it and why? I recently purchased Desire to Inspire by Christine Mason Miller. This book is about following your dreams and being a force for good. It is very motivational and inspirational! I also participated in an Inspiration Card Deck Swap organised by Jessica Brogan, which I wrote about here. The idea for the card swap came from this book, which is pictured above, along with the wonderful mixed deck of cards that I received back from Jessica. (there is another picture of the deck in my previous About Me post). 

2. Is any-one in your family arty? Yes, my father is creative and studied oil painting. He also loves acting and directing. My mum is passionate about her hobby of calligraphy. My mother in law loves to sew and paint, and she used to have a business creating hand painted ceramics.

3. What do you want from your friends ? Kindness, respect, love, support, trust, acceptance, fun.

(Questions from Chelle) 4. Decisions... decisions... heart or head? Heart.

5. What is something you do every morning when you get up? Roll over and go back to sleep! On a more serious note, this year I have started a routine to start each day in gratitude, so after I finally do get up, I say Thank You.

6. When do you feel most free? When I am in the zone and creating, and when I am out in nature.

7. What couldn't you live without? My imac. Although I recently got a new ipad and I think its now become my new love!

(Questions From Elissa) 8. If your name were given as the definition for any word in the dictionary, what would the word be? I have a Chinese given name which means intelligent and beautiful and I rather like that...!

 9. If you could walk into any painting and actually experience what it is depicting, which would you choose? I love Monets paintings of waterlilies and it would be a dream come true to visit his garden in Giverny.

10. When Christmas comes around, which carol do you never get tired of? Angels We Have Heard on High. My favorite part is the chorus... Gloria in Excelsis Deo. I also enjoy hearing Amazing Grace. Although its not a carol, it is often sung at Christmas and it always stirs my heart.

11. If you could have 50 lbs of anything other than money, what would you have? Phillipine dried mangoes. Once I start, I cant stop eating them!

Ok, so thats it and I am now supposed to tag 11 more people, but I am a bit rushed for time, so I will leave that part out. I hope nobody minds?

Sending Blessings by Lori Portka

I will leave you with this artwork filled with lovely blessings just for you. (Thank you to Lee Clements who shared this via FB).  Thank you for stopping by and reading today. Have a wonderful Weekend! Wini xo

About Me

Dear Friends, I hope you are all well this week! Today is ANZAC day which is a day of national remembrance where we commemorate those who served and died in wars. Lest we forget.

I was recently given the Versatile Blogger Award, by friend and artist, Liza Zeni. Thank you Liza, it is very lovely of you! I was also tagged 3 times by several lovely bloggers requesting that I answer some questions about myself. I have been nominated for similar awards/tagging in the past. And I sometimes get asked questions about myself by people who are curious to learn more about the person behind this blog. But I have always felt a bit hesitant as I am a fairly quiet and private person by nature, and sharing about myself is not easy. But perhaps its now time to be a little more brave...

So today, I will share 7 things about myself as part of the Versatile Blogger Award. So (taking a deep breath), here goes:

1. I am older than I might seem on this blog but I feel that I am young at heart in some ways. Who wants to grow up? Without giving too much away about my age... I can remember this beautiful song as a young child. I love 80s music the most. This was one of my fave songs and I love the clip. And I also loved this boppy song too. People who know me, also know that this Aussie singer is another of my faves. I love the neon effect and colours in this video.

2. I was very shy as a child. I never felt that I quite fit in. The world seemed to be a noisy and confusing place and I was teased a lot. I don't like crowds and big parties. I find that too many people and too much activity can be draining. I like to have peace and harmony. I think that this popular poem by Max Ehrmann offers good advice on how to deal with the world and life.

3. I love my imac and the internet and probably spend too much time on it! My husband thinks I love my computer more than him.

4. Cooking is not my forte. I dream about owning this nifty kitchen appliance. Lucky for me, my husband enjoys cooking, so we don't starve. :)

5. I am a bit of a night owl. I work best in the dead of night when all is dark and quiet, with the only noise sometimes being the possums running on the roof and screeching...!

Imagination, by Studio Mela

6. I am a book worm. I enjoy nothing better than to have my nose buried in a book! I love reading and my house is overflowing with books and magazines. A lot of them are about art and design, self help, motivational, inspirational and fantasy/adventure.

7. I am a bowerbird. I can never bear to throw anything away in case I need it for a rainy day. I suspect my husband quietly gets rid of things from time to time although he swears he never touches my stuff!!

8. I can be very impulsive and pick up new hobbies and interests really quickly, but can tire of them just as easily too. I like to keep busy and I need variety. I have an active brain and I love learning. I have a lot of creative interests and want to do everything, and find it hard to concentrate on just a few things. Sometimes I tend to take too much on board and then get overwhelmed by it all. It has been suggested to me that I lack focus, but I think I prefer the term, Renaissance Soul.

9. I am a bit of a perfectionist, and like to have things just so. Although these days, I try to keep in mind not to sweat the small stuff, lighten up, have more fun and enjoy the ride.

Oops, I am only supposed to share 7 things, and I have shared 9 things instead and could keep going! Well I had better stop there in case I bore you all to death! I think I am supposed to nominate 15 people, but I think you are all deserving so I nominate all my readers and visitors who have a blog!!

So if you would like to play along, you can check out about the award here.

I hope you enjoyed my post today. In my next post, I will answer some questions posed by the three lovely ladies who tagged me. Thank you for stopping by today and have a great week! Wini xo