Friday Update

Mutter mutter mutter AARRGGHHH!!!!! swear !@#$%^&&*()

I spent hours on those papers I posted about last week. Hours painting them in multiple layers. Tearing them up and collaging them, double sided onto card, sealing each side with three coats of Mod Podge. Then trying to cut them out with paper punches - too hard, on the whole - cutting them into shapes - they feel tacky to the touch despite much drying time and I hate them. Pity, I rather liked the original papers! I am keeping them in case of something original springing to mind some time in the future, but for the moment that idea has been shoved to the back of the queue.

On the good side - I rediscovered the joys of painting and colouring and I personally think they were quite attractive. I will do more papers. Painted, inked, collaged, whatever. But I will not treat them the same way.

My scatterbrained approach to creating is not working! I think it is time I set myself a proper task (the book idea was a good one but I got bored too quickly) and actually apply some of the discipline of design and experimentation that I spent three years studying. At the Australian Quilt Convention last week there were some 'art quilts' that really caught my eye. The inverted commas are used there because I am not sure how small something can be before it is no longer an art quilt, and some of these were small! I also really want to do some bead embroidery again. I wonder how much bead embroidery can be on an art quilt?

After no craft shows in Melbourne all year, fate (I won't use the word 'organisation') has decreed that there will be three in May. Last week, the Australian Quilt Convention. This week, the Stitches and Craft Show. At the end of the month, a bead show. I 'need' to attend all three. I actually thought Stitches and Craft was next weekend until I picked up the brochure last night for a leisurely look through and realised that it was on now. So I am off to that today.

Cookbook evaluation - had big plans for this week. I had chosen two chicken dishes from various places and I was going to cook both of them. They both needed chicken breast fillets (or at least I had decided to cook them with chicken fillets), oh which I thought I had plenty in the freezer. I didn't. We will eat chicken next week. I didn't feel like baking, either.

Nothing more to show for this week. Other than a reassessment of thoughts and some new ideas. No pictures though.

Some hours later - Stitches and Craft was weird. Not at all like it used to be. Much fewer exhibitors but some really exciting small independent craft labels. Also, however, some huckster stuff that made me feel like I was in a bazaar. A very strange confection altogether. But I LOVED IT. It made me feel good. It was also not very busy, which is probably bad for them, but relaxing for me. I bought some stamps and another book. I did some more serious thinking. I feel happy.