zines and beans

The eagerly anticipated first ever edition of the Six South zine has hit the market and is now ready for purchasing from all good Etsy stores. Ok, I'm slightly exaggerating about it being available from ALL good Etsy stores. I believe all six contributors will have the zines available for sale from their individual stores. The zine is a collaboration between six very talented Australian illustrators and the theme for this issue is Love & Hate. The zine is a nifty a5 size and the cover artwork was designed by one of my fave artists, Sam.


[photo image credited to Penny from Pocketcarnival]
Check the shops belonging to the artists below to snag yourself a copy!
Sam ~ matouenpelucheEmma ~ benconservatoPenny ~ pocketcarnivalHelena ~ littlemoandfriendsNiina ~ niinaaokiAli ~ aussiepatches
And what do beans have to do with zines? Nothing. Apart from the fact that zines and beans rhyme.

While munching away on these tasty little jelly belly beans I thought that an image of these colourful sweets would make a nice picture for a jigsaw puzzle. So I took a few photos and uploaded one to Big Huge Labs...


As you can see I've managed to reach a whole new level of procrastination. I'm currently filling in tax forms. I don't like filling in tax forms. So not fun. I'll persevere. Only because I've run out of jelly beans.

The bowl of jelly beans is my contribution to the Color Carnival party this week.

I do feel guilty about eating them all before I even arrived...

Shadow Shot Sunday #62

Howdy! The Shadow Gallery collages feature a selection of photos from participants from last Sunday. If you’d like to join in SSS, please do. How? Shoot a shadow, post it on your blog on Sunday (or close to Sunday), then add your link to Mr Linky, and visit other players. First-time participants are required to click here for further info before submitting links. Thanks heaps and I hope you enjoy all the shadows!

Shadow Gallery

The Shooters:
1. Tanja 2. Shannon 3. Generik 4. Whizkid 5. Bree 6. WickedChildDesigns 7. FaithHope... 8. EmBelISH 9. SarahWallis


The Shooters:
1. Ramblingwoods 2. Emma 3. SaraChapman 4. Gina 5. VickiS,FL 6. Martha 7. Annette 8. DaviMack 9. Mamapippa


The Shooters:
1. Katie 2. Sally 3. Bryan 4. meANderi 5. LongIslandDailyPhoto 6. Bobbie 7. Babylonezoo 8. JoannaP 9. Girlichef

Here's my Shadow Shot(s) Sunday #62





Run shadow run! You're not fast enough to escape this obsessed shadow shooter! Ha! Gotcha!
This set of shadows I found while strolling around Kangaroo Point last week. The steel sculptures that decorate the Kangaroo Point Boardwalk were originally part of Expo 88. The cliffs at Kangaroo Point are a major attraction for Brisbane's abseilers and rock climbers. Also being a popular destination for tourists.
[and for the occasional oddball chasing shadows]
Happy Sunday!
Shadow Shot Sunday Participants

1. maryt/theteach 2. Sweet Repose 3. Scrappy-Gram 4. Gallery Juana 5. The Summer Kitchen Girls 6. robin-one still frame 7. Bobbie 8. Sylvia K WA USA 9. EG WOW! - Canada 10. Magical Mystical Teacher 11. jabblog UK 12. ctmott 13. Kuusela Finland 14. Chie 15. Sarah Wallis 16. Maria Berg, Sweden 17. Clara & Marcela 18. Gemma 19. Vicki 20. Molokai Girl 21. Bryan,GA 22. Jacqui

23. BABYLONEZOO (France) 24. Rinkly Rimes Australia 25. Faith Hope... 26. Sara Chapman in Seattle 27. cara, brisbane, australia 28. Margaret Gosden 29. Just Like Martha 30. MonikaRose 31. Generik 32. Martha - Menagerie 33. me Ann my camera Canada 34. Diahn Ott 35. alexa 36. The Explorer, Philippines 37. MeANderi 38. Terri - teelgee 39. whizkid 40. wickedchilddesigns 41. Gerald (Ackworth born) 42. Emma 43. DaviMack 44. Charlie and Grace

45. Memories Then & Now 46. hip chick 47. elizabeth schmid 48. Sherrie 49. Dorte (corrected) 50. EmBelISH 51. Happily Retired Gal - USA 52. Crafty Green Poet 53. arabesque~philippines 54. Long Island Daily Photo 55. Bree 56. Katie 57. Anne 58. Kenobiitti - Finland 59. Jonny Hamachi 60. marcia TX USA 61. Sunnymama 62. Shannon 63. Ginger 64. Annette - In This Life 65. Dani

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five happy things

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”~ Buddhist quote
So here I am sharing some things that make me happy. In this case it was the super sweet and talented Sam of Matou en Peluche blog that inspired me to do so rather than Buddha. Sam invited me to share my little list of happies via the 5 Things That Make Me Happy tag. Sam may have thought the challenge would be difficult for me considering I'm such a cranky-pants during winter! Here goes. Cranky-pants playing happy!


Blue skies continue making me happy. Even happier when they're decorated with Tibetan prayer flags.

The simple joy of discovering a Lady Beetle/Ladybird Beetle/Ladybug hasn't diminished since childhood.(only wish I could figure out what to call them...)

I cherish writers and treasure my books. The pleasure of reading is something I never take for granted.

I'm transported to a happy place when gazing out to the sea while squishing my toes in the sand.

Native flora and fauna living in harmony in my backyard never fails to brighten up my day!
I'm a bit shy about tagging people, so if you would like to share Five Things That Make YOU Happy, please do consider yourself tagged and share away! Go happy mad and share more than five things if you want to!


"Happiness is a warm puppy" ~ Charles M. Schulz

Shadow Shot Sunday #61

Howdy! The Shadow Gallery collages feature a selection of photos from participants from last Sunday. If you’d like to join in SSS, please do. How? Shoot a shadow, post it on your blog on Sunday (or close to Sunday), then add your link to Mr Linky, and visit other players. First-time participants are required to click here for further info before submitting links. Thanks heaps and I hope you enjoy all the shadows!

Shadow Gallery

The Shooters:
1. Rita/Cashjocky 2. Rache 3. MonikaRose 4. Dianne 5. MargaretGosden 6. Ria 7. Jacqui 8. JulieKing 9. ElizabethSchmid


The Shooters:
1. Jabblog 2. SylviaK 3. DavidC 4. Jane 5. TomHilton 6. MoreOfMe 7. Robin 8. Paz'sNewYorkMinute 9. maryt/theteach


The Shooters:
1. Anne 2. Gemma 3. Lisa'sRetroStyle 4. MyMaracas 5. srp 6. BrandiB 7. Marcia 8. SummerKitchenGirls 9. ctmott

Here's my Shadow Shot(s) Sunday #61


Shadows found on a charming old house in New Farm

And a side view of the same house

This is the view enjoyed by the occupants of the house. Or very close to it. I was standing in a small park across the road from the house and I liked the shadows of the city buildings and Story Bridge falling on the Brisbane River. After taking the photo I turned around to find this adorable little dog looking up at me.


Monsieur Pierre in his finest Bastille Day outfit! I'm not certain about his name being Pierre as I never had a chance to check his tag. He ran back to his owner as soon as I'd taken his photo. I ♥ inner-city chic doggies!

Happy Sunday!
Shadow Shot Sunday Participants

1. Sweet Repose 2. robin-one still frame 3. Magical Mystical Teacher 4. Shannon 5. Gallery Juana 6. ctmott 7. BABYLONEZOO (France) 8. Bobbie 9. High Desert Diva 10. Sylvia K WA USA 11. Kuusela Finland 12. EG WOW! - Canada 13. ramblingwoods 14. Jacqui 15. Bryan,GA 16. Generik 17. whizkid 18. Molokai Girl 19. Jen 20. Gerald (Ackworth born) 21. Gemma 22. Bree

23. maryt/theteach 24. Rinkly Rimes Australia 25. Margaret Gosden 26. Terri - teelgee 27. Just Like Martha 28. Annette - In This Life 29. MonikaRose 30. Diahn Ott 31. Sara Chapman in Seattle 32. Gina [gingerbread] 33. Long Island Daily Photo,USA 34. EmBelISH 35. Maria Berg, Sweden 36. Rita aka Cashjocky Mo USA 37. wickedchilddesigns 38. MeANderi 39. Mamapippa - Belgium 40. Chie 41. Emma 42. Twinkle Star Art 43. Anne 44. Sarah Wallis

45. elizabeth schmid 46. Tanja, Finland 47. Ginger~Wilmington, NC 48. Katie 49. VickiS, FL 50. Faith Hope... 51. Linda 52. jabblog UK 53. Vicki 54. Clara & Marcela 55. DaviMack 56. girlichef 57. Kenobiitti - Finland 58. Joanna P 59. Dorte 60. hejoko Finland 61. Happily Retired Gal 62. Sally In WA, USA 63. Martha - Menagerie 64. rache

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sweeeeet stuffs

This is my belated BrisStyle Market purchases post. I've been wanting to share some of the wonderful things I bought from my fellow BrisStyle team members, so here they are. Some being little gifts, and some being for me. There was so much more that I wanted to take home but unfortunately my budget wouldn't allow it. Thankfully there will be another market on 5th December. And I aim to be much more cashed up by then!

Firstly I wanted to thank the ever so lovely Miriam from Bubbachenille for these gorgeous goodies that I won on her recent 100th blog post celebration giveaway. Miriam kindly brought them along to the market and gave them to me as soon as I arrived. Already my day was off to a super good start! Thanks Miriam xo


Handmade gift tags, a beautiful notebook and the cutest and most cuddly little heat bag I've ever seen!


Cute as buttons...um...Buttons by Kitty Boo Boo, Handmade Book by Jellygnite (I have quite a collection of Ali's books now), Vintage Sheep/Duck Brooch by Ruby2GoGo and Danger Bunny Notebook by Scampsville


Hand-stitched Brooch by Edward and Lilly, Gift Card (which I'm thinking of framing) by Hot Toffee, Small Gift Card Set by Flight Industries and a Ninja (for my ninja obsessed little nephew) by Wicked Child Designs


This is the bag I took along with me. The talented sister duo Bec and Jade from Beckybean had a range of their coffee bags available at the market and as I'd already bought the one above prior to the market I had to restrain myself from buying another. The girls source original coffee bean sacks and transform them into very cool market totes. The coffee pictured above didn't come with the bag. Here is where I buy my beans.

A fun day was had by all at the market. I was one of the helpers on the BrisStyle promo table and I enjoyed hanging out with Benita, Trish and Amanda. Just for the record Amanda, I didn't really steal your cupcake.

Shadow Shot Sunday #60

Howdy! The Shadow Gallery collages feature a selection of photos from participants from last Sunday. If you’d like to join in SSS, please do. How? Shoot a shadow, post it on your blog on Sunday (or close to Sunday), then add your link to Mr Linky, and visit other players. First-time participants are required to click here for further info before submitting links. Thanks heaps and I hope you enjoy all the shadows!

Shadow Gallery

The Shooters:
1. TwinkleStarArt 2. ChickenSue 3. Chie 4. DiahnOtt 5. RinklyRimes 6. Carin 7. MolokaiGirl 8. Kenobiitti 9. HighDesertDiva


The Shooters:
1. Terri 2. OurHomeSchool 3. Dorte 4. MagicalMysteryTeacher 5. Storyteller 6. VisualVictuals 7. Hejoko 8. SweetRepose 9. Cara


The Shooters:
1. DavidZen-Kennedy 2. Gerald(AckworthBorn) 3. TwoBarkingDogs 4. GalleryJuana 5. Clara&Marcela 6. SarahWallis 7. DigitalPolaroids 8. JustLikeMartha 9. Viivi

Here's my Shadow Shot Sunday #60


This shadow cast from a rather fancy looking plumbing device doovey on an old weather-worn concrete wall really appealed to me. I spotted it while sitting in an outdoor city cafe sipping (er...guzzling) coffee.

NAIDOC WEEK 2009

This week Australians has been celebrating NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance committee) week. As it happens to be the last day of the celebrations today I decided to compile a collage using some of the photos I took on Friday at the NAIDOC Family Fun Day Festival at Musgrave Park.

"NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community." ~ NAIDOC website. The website contains a lot of great information about the history of NAIDOC, and particularly interesting is the gallery of NAIDOC posters dating back to the early 1970s.

~~~~♥~~~~♥~~~~♥~~~~♥~~~~♥~~~~♥~~~~
An exciting event happening today at Portside Wharf is the Coffee and Chocolate Affair. This much anticipated event will showcase exotic coffee and chocolate cultures from all around the world. Also taking place today at the very same location are the Boutique Markets. As they do on the 2nd Sunday of every month. What better way to spend a Sunday in Brisbane I say! Coffee. Chocolate. Shopping. Oh sweet bliss!


Happy Sunday!
Shadow Shot Sunday Participants

1. Sweet Repose 2. High Desert Diva 3. Bobbie 4. Jen 5. wickedchilddesigns 6. jabblog UK 7. Shannon 8. Gallery Juana 9. Tom Hilton 10. lisa h (parallelbotany) 11. Rinkly Rimes Australia 12. Sylvia K WA USA 13. prkl, Finland 14. ctmott 15. Margaret Gosden 16. Molokai Girl 17. Gerald (Ackworth born) 18. Brandi B. 19. david zen-kennedy 20. Martina 21. Chie 22. alexa

23. Scrappy-Gram 24. justjody 25. Gemma 26. EG WOW! - Canada 27. Summer Kitchen Girls 28. Sarah Wallis 29. Rita/Cashjocky USA 30. Just Like Martha 31. robin-one still frame 32. MonikaRose 33. Magical Mystical Teacher 34. Lisa's RetroStyle 35. EmBelISH 36. VickiS, FL 37. Aussie Nikki NC USA 38. Carletta 39. Sara Chapman in Seattle 40. VisualVictuals,GA 41. Ria 42. Terri - teelgee 43. marcia TX USA 44. Jacqui

45. Carin 46. elizabeth schmid 47. Dianne 48. Peggy 49. Katie 50. Anne 51. Dorte 52. Clara & Marcela 53. wildeve 54. Vicki 55. julie king 56. ginger 57. hejoko Finland 58. Diahn Ott 59. srp 60. David C. 61. rache - first timer! 62. maryt/theteach 63. Sacred Ruminations 64. Ourhomeschool 65. Bentley's Photoblog

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i'm a bear. so there.

baby its cold outside and i wish i was a bear so i could hibernate all through winter and not leave the house if i didnt want to and what would be really neat would be to have a job that didnt require me to leave the house like my friend jason who is a web designer and boasts to me about how cool it is to work in his pjs all day long and im thinking jason is very lucky that he wasnt born way earlier and had ambitions of being a web designer in the 60s because computers in those times had minor roles only in b-grade sci-fi movies and they certainly werent commonplace in homes and online simply referred to clothes hanging in the sun before being neatly folded or ironed and web designers were nothing more than eight-legged arthropods that weaved intricate traps to capture insects and so jason is very lucky and its still so very cold outside and im pretending to be a bear which explains why there are no full stops or even any semicolons because bears dont know how to correctly follow the adverbial conjunction rule anyway and even if they did they wouldnt bother with trivial matters such as punctuation while hibernating says the bear with a sore head


you made me a mix tape - print by juliapott

taking the measure of a weirdly ordinary world - hand stitched art by aquarabbit

a drift - original illustration by benconservato
above are a few bears that im currently smitten with and i had intended to also share pics of my brisstlye market purchases but having to wake up for work when it is still dark and then arriving home close to dark ive not yet had an opportunity to take photos and now that im a big grizzly bear and i have these big clumsy bear paws im finding it tricky to operate a camera but with practice i hope to have it all figured out soon

Shadow Shot Sunday #59

Howdy! The Shadow Gallery collages feature a selection of photos from participants from last Sunday. If you’d like to join in SSS, please do. How? Shoot a shadow, post it on your blog on Sunday (or close to Sunday), then add your link to Mr Linky, and visit other players. First-time participants are required to click here for further info before submitting links. Thanks heaps and I hope you enjoy all the shadows!

Shadow Gallery

The Shooters:
1. SaraChapman 2. bj 3. WickedChildDesigns 4. ParallelBotany 5. AussieNikkiInUSA 6. JustJody 7. MarthaZ 8. KristyWorden 9. Katie


The Shooters:
1. Martha/Menagerie 2. HappilyRetiredGal 3. Alexa 4. Peggy 5. Charlie&Grace 6. April 7. Bobbie 8. TheExplorer 9. Vicki/BeachBum


The Shooters:
1. Annette 2. Babylonezoo 3. Bentley 4. Xaria(c/Shannon) 5. prkl 6. Carletta 7. DaviMack 8. LongIslandDailyPhoto 9. Sally

Here's my Shadow Shot Sunday #59



Including a pic of the source of the shadow wasn't necessary as it's obvious what it is, but the bright blue sky makes me happy! I saw this windmill on a visit to the Caboolture Historical Village earlier this week.


This Pioneer Slab House (which also has shadows!) is one of the 70 buildings showcased on the 2 acre Caboolture Historical Village grounds. There were many exhibits and displays to view and the ones most fascinating to me were the old tin toys and the typewriter and camera displays. They were fun! The aim of the village is to preserve the stories of our pioneers from settlement until now. The complex is only 45 minutes north of Brisbane, yet once there, it really does create a sense of being in another world entirely!

Here are a few more photos from the village I took on my visit. I selected the ones with shadows to post...





I mentioned the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market last week and predicted it was going to be the best market ever. My predictions are so rarely accurate, except in this case I can happily report that I was bang on the mark! The market took place yesterday and it was a fantastic event. Congrats to the hard-working organisers and to the creative pool of multi-talented BrisStyle stallholders for making it THE BEST MARKET EVER! And thanks for not making me look like a doofus for claiming it would be! I must confess to falling into the doofus category for forgetting to take my camera along! Just a typical scatterbrained Saturday morning for me. I'll soon take some pics of the stash of goodies I purchased to share here during the week.

Y'all have a happy ol' Sunday!
Shadow Shot Sunday Participants

1. Bobbie 2. Sweet Repose 3. Gallery Juana 4. robin-one still frame 5. Margaret Gosden 6. VisualVictuals,GA 7. Sylvia K WA USA 8. Molokai Girl 9. Carin 10. Jacqui 11. Gemma 12. High Desert Diva 13. justjody 14. cara, brisbane, australia 15. Sarah Wallis 16. Chie 17. Charlie and Grace 18. BABYLONEZOO (France)

19. Sara Chapman in Seattle 20. wickedchilddesigns 21. Sunnymama 22. Rinkly Rimes Australia 23. MonikaRose 24. alexa 25. ginger 26. david zen-kennedy NYC 27. Long Island Daily Photo 28. The Explorer, Philippines 29. Diahn Ott 30. Rita/Cashjocky USA 31. Just Like Martha 32. Terri - teelgee 33. Vicki 34. Maria Berg, Sweden 35. Digital Polaroids 36. Dorte

37. Magical Mystical Teacher 38. Sherrie 39. Gerald (Ackworth born) 40. prkl, Finland 41. Twinkle Star Art 42. DaviMack 43. Summer Kitchen Girls 44. Two Barking Dogs 45. chickensue 46. Kenobiitti - Finland 47. hejoko Finland 48. maryt/theteach 49. Clara & Marcela 50. Viivi Finland 51. The Pagan Sphinx USA 52. storyteller 53. David C. 54. Ourhomeschool

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