Walk'n under trees in a cool summer breeze...

Walk'n under trees in a cool summer breeze is exactly what I needed today. It's the school hol's so we took a picnic and the bicycles and headed off to Yatton Park. I was a bit worried it would be really busy at this time of year with holiday makers and locals but out the back where we went it wasn't too bad.

It was beautiful in the dappled light and I decided to have a little play...

Sticks gathered and loosely woven against a huge 100 year old tree's trunk..

Many attempts later (wind, wobbly sticks, perfectionism....)

I started out wanting to make 'something'. A sundial or wind chime or some other recognisable 'thing' for a passerby to find. In the end I just played and enjoyed the seeking out of leaves and the many shapes, colours and textures to be found.

I'm sure it's no surprise to see that the one 'thing' I did represent was a nest! I found the curled mossy bark and didn't even try to resist...and it was made even better with the last minute find of feathers!

I had fun with this, despite my urge to control the design and make 'something.' I am quite pleased with the way it turned out because it felt good to make it even if I did get some strange looks from other people!Hopefully someone will pass by and smile because it made them feel good to see it and just maybe they will stop and play a while too...

Paper Swap.

Badge designed by Egmont van Dyck.

Lawendula of Woven Letters organised a paper swap on her blog. Thanks Lawendula!

Here's 2 of the 4 envelope pages I did in a book for my swap partner Deb of Dryadart's Weblog.

I made the pages from old book pages. The thread is entirely decorative and I left the 'bad' side of the stitching exposed because I liked the rawness of the mark making. Each pocket of the book has something papery inside and I also tucked in a few things between each page. You can see pics of the contents below! The idea was to send 7-10 things in a regular sized letter envelope so that we didn't have to spend a small fortune on the swap. As it turned out I made mine too fat (by 3mm I kid you not!) and it became a small parcel instead of an envelope and that made it $5.30 more expensive to post and required a customs declaration form. Needless to say I came home and repacked it with the same stuff, just flatter!

The contents....French to English dictionary pages, colour plates from old encyclopedias, embossed leaf on handmade paper, bird image, nest print, gold serviette, NZ ephemera.

The ephemera includes some postal things, a Tiki playing card and a found shopping list.

Below: The book closed as my partner will first see it. The string reminds me of the parcels wrapped in brown paper and string that my Nana used to send. It took me a while to realise where the string binding 'thing' was coming from (you may remember my Disco postcards) and then one day it occurred to me! It was a connection with my Nana and my childhood. I am sure I won't be the only one to remember those parcels though!

Found Treasure

In response to Seth's call for 'Buried Treasure" I have some "found treasure." I went to my oldest post to see where all this blogging business had begun for me and I found this post not to far from the start... ART is NOT for Respectable Woman... this was posted 2 years ago, back when I was just stepping out into the world of blogs and very new to my art journey. It was before I discovered NESTS and even before collage! Alas, it was only 2007 and even I am surprised at how much I have learnt and grown. This search for BURIED TREASURE really has been like looking through an old photo album. I chose this post to re post because I think it is important to go to a place of thankfulness now and then. Women these days are allowed to do and be pretty much whatever we want to do and be but it hasn't always been this way. This post (ok, the original post) was my response to a documentary I saw about a lady who became a nurse because being an ARTIST was not encouraged or a socially acceptable when she was a young lass... I for one am glad to be able to explore my artist self. I am glad that I don't have to express my creative self in practical ways (quilting, embroidery...) just for it to be acceptable. I am glad that I can see the world through the eyes of an artist and that my voice is allowed to express that...I can't even imagine the person I would be if I wasn't able to find my grounding in nature and in art...while on the topic of thankfulness and gladness I will take a moment to express my thanks to all of you who have visited and commented over the nearly 2 years I've been blogging- you guys are the gas in my tank! Thank you:)