Autumn leaves and Samhain

It's that time of year again and I can't resist collecting some of these beautiful leaves. How it can possibly be nearly May I don't know when I'm still reminding myself to write 2011 not 2010, but according to my diary it is.
Next Sunday will be Samhain for the southern hemisphere- time for the Day of the Dead and Halloween now... but we do hate to acknowledge we don't live in the Northern Hemisphere despite everything that nature is showing us. The brightly coloured leaves are a dead give away!
Ah well- I'll be lighting my candles and making a huge pot of home-grown pumpkin soup anyway...and remembering my loved ones who have gone.

Easter...egg..

The very first egg laid by the new chickens my parents recently added to the family...and beside it a fake one they had put in their laying box in a subtle attempt to encourage them. Problem is they couldn't tell the fake egg from the brand new freshly laid one..hmmm.
Naturally the crack test was necessary and look at the beautiful egg those clever chooks produced!Go girls!
Were you right, was the real egg the pointy one Mum?

Mugs to hibernate with

While I'm hibernating I may just need one of these divine mugs to sip my tea or hot chocolate from by Josie Jurczenia spotted on Poppy's blog.

More beautiful Raquel Marin

With Autumn in full swing and Winter on the way, I find myself almost looking forward to some cosy hibernation like this beautiful illustration by Raquel Marin.
Yes- I've even shocked myself with that statement.
Ironically, Winter is also one of the best times of the year to grow veges in Melbourne, and I've got my garlic, broccoli, broadbeans, spinach and peas all popping up out of the ground right now so my hibernation will not be quite as white and snowy as Raquel's.

Speedy-cut

Very excited about finally getting hold of some Speedball carving blocks! I couldn't find it, or the Staedtler version anywhere in Australia online, and then a supplier on Craftumi had some but it mysteriouly never arrived..mmmm.. so I got fed up. But miraculously Seniors Art Supplies in the city had some (thanks Shelley!)and I have now become addicted to the stuff! It's incredibly easy to carve and prints beautifully with just a stamp pad, the possibilities are endless!

I started with my drawing of a bee (my continuing obsession)on tracing paper- which I simply transferred by rubbing onto the block, then carved away with my trusty speedball carving tools...it really was terrifically speedy! So I also knocked out an R for good measure.

Now I'm stamping bees onto everything.