The Butterfly Collector

Most Wonderful Door Do Dah's! ( or I think my son is a genius!)

Once upon a time, there was an adorable four year old boy who loved to make things. He loved to make things so much that he had a very messy art desk. Sometimes it got so messy that he would sit under it ( because there was no room on top and create things in secret on the floor that his Mum wasn't allowed to look at until they were finished! 

One day little bursts of colour started to appear throughtout the house! Door Doo Dah's were born and they make his Mum smile every time she see's one and she hopes more will be created soon.

Spaces, Patterns and Ephemera!

Today I am sharing some things I am really excited about ....

I won a copy of Spaces! WooHoo! A book I have wanted to own for a long time and it came to me in a beautiful way! I love every page and some of my most favorite creative types are featured in it! Thankyou to the girls at Spoonful for this most wonderful gift! Sneaking off around my boys and reading it in bits with cups of tea.

I am very excited about starting Rachael Taylor's new online course ...The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design. I can't wait to become her student and finally learn how to create my own designs I can convert onto paper products! She sent me this this little postcard above with one of her designs printed on it!

And I have statred adding in some new and pretty paper and ephemera packs to my Etsy store too, click over and take a look HERE!

Happy Tuesday with lots of Bird Song to All!

 

 

Apples, Honey and Blossoms!

Yesterday I found myself at a loss as to what to put in my Son's lunchbox... after seven years you would think I be a homemaking, organised wonder woman by now, but NO, I would rather be painting than be a Domestic Goddess! (Sorry Nigella!, I do love you though!) So with cupboards bare of interesting morning tea additions and a total disinterest in a trip to the shops I decided it was time to make some improv cookies quick! 

I do love a creative experiment so we we took a look at the pantry shelves and came up with this with fingers crossed and hope in our hearts ...

Apple, Cinnamon and Honey Biscuits

Tip all of this into a big mixing bowl ...

One cup of plain flour

Three Quarters of a cup of Caster Sugar

150g of butter

4 tablespoons of honey

Teaspoon of BiCarb Soda

Teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

Half a cup of Coconut

Teaspoon of Cinnamon

One Cup of Rolled Oats

One Cup of the bottom bits of what was left of my cereal packets ...it had museli, cornflakes and apple and raisin bits in it!

Two small apples peeled and grated in

Mix it all together, roll into balls, place on oven trays with baking paper, cook for 15-20 minutes in a preheated oven at 160 degress celcius ... 

And Hey Presto,YUM, who knew? They worked!!!! (Actually Nigella would be so proud of me, don't you think?) 

 

Oh and P.S. I just had to share these gorgeous blossoms from my garden here ...our front courtyard has been blessed over the past week with a carpet of Blossom Snow! If it was just a little warmer I would lay out in it swooning  and pretend I was maiden in a medieval empress dress from a Waterhouse painting!

 

Spring Favorites!

Ooh La La.... so many beautiful things, so many pretty sparkles, so many wonderous colours, dresses, shoes, butterflies, paper, birds, girls ... so much inspiration for my paintings! Here are my new Flickr Faves for Spring! You can see them all close up and the lovely people and places they came from HERE!!!

Over the Rainbow!

There's just something about kid's drawings that just amazes and inspires me everytime and of course makes me smile too. I think maybe its that I like to try to imagine how they see the world along with them. They have such a natural sense of shape and design. The way they express emotion in simple illustrations but in such a way that evokes so much. I think we could learn so very much from them!

I have been keeping scrapbooks of my boys adventures in painting and drawing since they could hold a pencil/crayon/paintbrush in their hands, I love watching how the books are evolving and will always encourage them to do what comes naturally ...to express themselves from theie hearts! My plan is to never let them feel their creativity is being suppressed and to express themselves and to inspire others to do so also.

P.S. This is my little Eden's Rainbow! He's just turned Four. I like to think its having a little sleep in the corner out of the Rain ... just before it bursts into its Bow to Wow us all! 

 

Falling Leaves!

 

So amongst painting and illustrations and participating in our local art show plus creating button collections for some wonderful new shops I have managed to move house with my family. We've changed schools and kinder's, baked cookies with shiny baubles on the top, celebrated Easter and discover a new neighbourhood complete with public rose garden and botanical gardens!

Exciting Stuff! Its been lovely being able to go out walking on warm autumn days and find new and exciting art, gardens and interesting people! I think I like it here already!

creative picnic copyright shae reid 2011

This little painting is called "Creative Picnic!".  A new big canvas featuring ghostly trees and a mint green stripey tent is in the works too ... show you soon!

Things I like today ( plus Happy new Year!)

I haven't done one of these for a while, but over the past few months I have been very happily working on projects that I can't show here quite yet, so instead here are some things I have been enjoying and inspiring me along the way ...

ART ...Kirsten Hassenfeld's amazing art installations ( above) ... you must go and see all the rest of her fairytale paper creations here!

PAPER INSPIRATIONS ... my Christmas presents came from a perfect little online store called Upon a Fold this year. I am delving into and drawing lots of inspiration from my new japanese art, craft and paper books! 

LISTENING TO ... the gorgeous music of Angus and Julia Stone. Their website is quite an eclectic treat too!

READING ... well actually, looking forward to reading this new offering from Miss Pia Jane Bijkerk, it looks like it may be just as delicious if not more than her previous books!

Oh and Happy new Year All! I will have some exciting things to show you in the next few weeks... stay tuned!!!

Bright Stars, Lemon Cookies and Paper Delights!

I've  spent a great deal of inspiring time playing with paper and vintage buttons in the last few weeks! I've created designs ( all recycled ) for wedding invitations and accessories... a fun challenge with great results that has made me want to get out my boxes of paper again and play making collages. And I've also created a new selection of Button Collections for my Etsy shop... including Button Queens, Button Gardens and Button Birds Nests!You can find them here!

And I've come across a new blog today filled with beautiful colour and paper creations called Art as Life . I'm also reading a fabulous zine called Extra Curricular ( created in New Zealand ), its filled with wonderful illustrations and paper cuts and their creators!

We've also been making lots of cookies and handmade, homemade food after discovering my five year old is having reactions to all the preservatives and colours that are found in so much packaged food! So these lemon and coconut cookies were a REAL treat!

And I had an oppotunity to watch this pastel coloured, light filled film alone curled up on the couch with wintery chocolate pudding... if you get a chance Bright Star is beautiful and will inspire you to write a real letter on real paper, not just email your loved ones! 

A Button Garden!

I've just posted some new little button collections in my Etsy shop! There's some bird's nests and button gardens and gorgeous packaged wallpaper collections too! I had lots of fun creating these, hope you enjoy them too!!!

A Pale Summer!

Ice-cream and pale summer colours abound in my latest Flickr favorites!!! Love each and every one of these beautiful visual treats! You can see where they all came from here!!!