So inspired.

So, so inspired. So tired too. But so inspired.

Our suburb is wicked and tonight we had an open-air screening of a film called 'Erskineville Stories'. It. Was. Amazing.

It gave such an insight into the stories that surround us. Stories that go untold. Stories that can change the way you view the world. Stories that are real.

I will write more tomoz, and I know this makes no sense, but I'm all aflutter.

xx

Decisions, Decisions

So it's my birthday in a few days and Sparky has asked for some gift suggestions to add to the things he's already bought be (bless him...) Now, while this sounds like the strapped-for-cash woman's dream, I admit I'm finding it quite difficult to choose. I've looked through my Etsy favourites and found a few, but cannot narrow it down. Help, please??

A-Ha!

I've cracked it!!

For as long as I have been making jewellery using resin, I have suffered a loss of approx 20 - 40% of each production run due to due this ridiculously mysterious bubbling in my products - particularly my Still Life range, but all were afflicted to some extent.

Obviously, this was INCREDIBLY frustrating and I just assumed it was par for the course when working with resin. It was disheartening though, particularly when working on custom orders or large runs. Sometimes I had no choice but to bin all of a run (upwards of 60 pieces).

But the aforementioned Mammoth Pour has cracked it!! Not one bubble. Not one loss. I am stupidly happy. I was using a new product and I think I've found my pouring Nirvana.

A shout out to kick-arse Aussie Etsian, estasketch for the use of her Ideas Book. I bought three of her Super Heroes pieces for Sparky's birthday last year. We love them. Alot.

My dinner is smelling delicious and I have a glass of semillon and the promise of Underbelly on TV. One of the best Australian dramas in...forever.

I'm sure I'll be awake gleefully drilling my perfect pour until the wee hours.

OPERATION: Clean Up, You Grub.

My name is Brooke MC and I am a messy schmuck.


I have a multiple choice quiz for you. We moved into the Sparky MC lovenest almost a year ago, and our spare bedroom was:

A) A spare bedroom
B) A dumping ground for those wedding presents we weren't quite sure what to do with.
C) Extra storage space
D) All of the above

Ding, ding, ding! The answer is D, all of the above!! All well and good. So recently we got rid of the spare bed and tried to have a clean up in order to convert the spare room into a studio/office. The above image is what we've ended up with. Hideous, isn't it?

So I'm still working at our dining room table. (My husband loves me.)



It is my hope, nay, my QUEST to turn our hovel into a well-organised, creative workspace. I'm thinking bookshelves, long workbench along the wall, computer desk, filing cabinet...

The rest of our home (except the dining table for the moment) is really very neat and lovely. We have some reno's to do, but we love our home. It's just this room and the ensuing creative spread that shits us both to tears.

So I will keep you updated on OPERATION: Clean Up, You Grub.

On the upside, Mammoth Pour has been successfully completed.



I can't wait to get my Dremel into these little resin suckers. They won't know what hit them.

xx

Trunkt Trove

So a while back I was chuffed to have been accepted into Trunkt, an online showcase of independent designers. I had previously tried for it but was knocked back, so I dusted myself off, made improvements and went hurtling back towards them head-first. And voila! The brick pillar disappeared and I found myself at Platform 9 3/4. (Sorry)

I've not only had a spike of increase as far as wholesale/consignment orders go, but I've also discovered some amazing artists through Trunkt.

baby Hepburn

This designer, Kcoline is freaking amazing! These clothes make me feel all New York chic. Kind of like I live in an-oh-so-hip quarter of the Village and work at an edgy fashion magazine.

Not that I'm projecting my dreams or anything...

Sparky may one day have the opportunity to work abroad (most likely New York or London) so I have a running fantasy of doing just that. It gets me through those days of doing the groceries in my tracksuit pants and feeling as though a burger at the pub (across the road) is a "night out".

But it would almost certainly put an end to my other dream of opening a retail store/studio/gallery/creative space here in our little suburb. So we shall see. I've had absolutely NO success in choosing where life will take me (except with Sparky, that was a foregone conclusion the first time we saw each other) so why would I start getting it right now!

Ask me 10 years ago and I would be working in the film industry. Ask me three years ago and I would be running my own commercial florist. Ask me two years ago and I would have been working in events. Now I'm a TV captioner and working my butt off to get my jewellery business off the ground. I wonder where I'll be in 2 years...

Argh!

I love my life, but sometimes I feel like there is too, too, too much to do. Lordy knows what it will be like when we have little Sparky MC's.

Hrumpf, off to work with a 6ft long list of unticked to-do's. Maybe I'll forgo some sleep tonight.

Hrumpf!!

Done and dusted

We had such a lovely weekend visiting Leap Year Boy up the coast. It was so re-energising to sit around with good company and just laugh till your stomach hurts. That, plus eating chocolate brownies, drinking wine and toasting marshmallows around the hottest campfire I've ever come across. LYB is an extremely talented musician and sang us a few tunes. My particular favourite was "Be My Rich Shampoo, and I'll be Your Intensive Conditioner". I feel exhausted but fresh.

A big week awaits, so I was glad to have had the break. Tomorrow brings grocery shopping, cleaning the house, the much-anticipated Mammoth Pour and packaging up a few orders. Then I go to work.

For now, it's a beer, some pizza and watching the cricket.

xx