New Year, New Changes...

For anyone who's been reading my blog, they'll have noticed by blog's changed a little (aka. dramatically). Why the change of background? Well, the new year is upon us, I'm about to enter my senior years in high school and not only is the year becoming 2011, but I'm moving house!
The only downsides to said house moving, is it will either clash with exams, or Christmas! Also the effort that I've put into my Wall, will have to be taken down... and re-assembled, much to my horror and dismay.

But apart from these downsides, I'm rather excited about the prospect of a new house! Sure I'll miss my house but I hope we finally get a house with a garden! I have long since dreamed of a house with a bed of roses and daffodils. I love them both. :)
So I'm hoping for the best and that we'll find a rental that'll let pets in the house.
Happy blogging!

~Mary

My Wall...

After moving bedrooms (for the third time) in order to comply with my siblings wishes, I moved rooms earlier this year. This was a hefty chore as there was a LOT of things that I hoarde. A result of this hoarding is my wall, named 'The Wall'. In Melbourne, there are many shops that have free postcards, of which I collect. Most of these postcards end up on my wall. Along with my drawings, latest Frankie Magazine posters, goals (to get my Learner's Permit at this point in time) and other things I just like. So, back to my point, when I moved rooms I had to take down my Wall and store it in a box. There, lying in said box, I collected more and more things to stick up on my wall until I decided that the box was full and needed to go somewhere. Thus, began the re-assembling of my wall. Which is what I did...

It was both a task and an entertainment to re-assemble it but I think it looks brilliant! Well, I'm off to go continue writing my Novella Competition piece! Wish me luck!

~Mary

Rosettes, Egg cakes and Flowers

So I had this fantastic day the other day! First off, I had a delicious breakfast of hot egg cakes as shown below.

Ahhh - so good!

The day was gorgeous and sunny (for once) and I could finally be rid of the thick wollen socks and the thick puffy jacket. Seriously... I've had enough of winter already! Then I wanted to try and actually produce something rather than sit in front of the screen all day. Pulling out a bunch of scraps and what-nots, and pulling the idea from Kirsten, I made a red and white gingham rosette which I later sewed into a hair-tie.

The rosette has made it's debut twice now.

Continuing on from this frabjous* day, in the afternoon, my mother bought some gorgeous pink anemones (flowers). I think these really are the most perfect spring flower there is!



So why did I just blog about this fabulous day? Because I think it's important to recognise good from bad days, regardless of what pointless things may happen inbetween.


~Mary




*Frabjous - meaning splendid, extraordinary etc. Yes it's from 'Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking-Glass'. Surprisingly, the word is actually now a part of the english language!

The not so fruitful fruit of the holidays...

Well as mentioned in my last post, I made a brave attempt (in my case at least) to avoid the lures of modern technology in the last few days of my holidays. Out of the four tasks I set out for myself, I did not complete a single one... not even one. I have bought the seeds for the teacup garden however the world conspires against me as I have a lack of teacups themselves. Not only that but my Eftpos card is on a lockdown until I get myself a job. So funds are out of the equation! With much praying, hopefully that won't be the case sometime soon.

The other one that is incomplete is the doll I was making. I discovered it'd take much longer than a mere four days to make when I began the embroidering on it's face. It's going well though! I currently have it in front of me and I think it's going well! The only flaw with it is that I got the improv measurements slightly off so now it's face is narrower than anticipated. Also during the machine sewing part of it, using my 'ever-so-slightly-tempermental' mini-sewing machine named Lucy, I was not aware that my tension had tightened during the sewing process so I had to re-sew the face and body a couple times over. Otherwise the doll is going brilliantly.

Now completely un-failure-holiday-plans topic related, I recently, whilst on a sugar-craving rampage, created a yummy little snack. It's very similar to a pancake but undeniably faster to whip up in a jiffy!

For one serve take an egg, one tablespoon of milk (or cream for those with sweet tooths like me who have no cares for diabetes) and whisk together in a small bowl. Then take one tablespoon of white sugar, caster or plain, and one tablespoon of plain flour and whisk that through as well. Maybe depending on personal tastes, adjust the ratio of sugar and flour but not too much of either ingredient. Try and get as many lumps out as possible but don't worry about it, the lumps sort themselves out while cooking. Depending on how high/fluffy you want your... let's call it egg-cake for now... egg-cake, add 1-2 pinches of baking powder and mix through. Thoroughly. You don't want a great big glob of baking powder while you eat believe me!

So, once your mix of what should look like, slightly lumpy liquid scrambled eggs, is all mixed up according to taste, pour a tablespoon (yes another tablespoon!) of oil, or less if you worry about things like weight or cardio vascular disease, into a small frying pan (on a stove of course) and turn the heat onto mid-high. Once the oil is beginning to bubble, pour the mix in and spread around the pan until circular. Once the mix is still quite uncooked on the top and lightly browned on the bottom, fold the circle in half and cook both sides until completely cooked then... EAT!

In my opinion it's not too sweet and has more the consistency of an egg than a pancake so if you don't like eggs, don't try. Also I have not tried so yet but I think adding a tablespoon (Look I'm keeping consistency here!) of chocolate chips or cheese or whatever else you may think may work with this dish during the frying part of it's short life, feel free to experiment! Also give me any suggestions you may have!

Enjoy!
~Mary

P.S. Sorry about the long post!! I have a tendency to rant... ehehe...

The Holiday's Plans

Most of my holidays are generally spent idly browsing the net or playing computer games with the occasional fridge-binge. This holidays, I am making an attempt to get away from this usual habits. Already I am spending part of my current vacation in Noosa, however my nerd-brain won't let me escape this electronics orientated normality. So nearly every moment that doesn't require me to leave the house has been (much to my own dismay) on the dreaded computer.

SO! In order to prevent this, I have come up with a plan involving a set of three projects I wish to complete before the end of this term's holidays.

1. Make a Summer Dress!

I have had a sewing pattern I bought from an op-shop on Olinda for a long time now and I think it's about time to use the old girl to make a pretty dress with a bunch of nice fabrics I own. However, due to my own silly ineptitude, I may require my friend Kirsten's assistance on actually how to use a sewing pattern.

2. Make this =>

into a doll.

If I have not mentioned this earlier, I am currently obsessed with all things Japan. Not too long ago (meaning only seconds earlier), I came across this odd looking crazy cat while reading one of my many mangas*. As funny-looking and weird as it is, I thought it'd look rather cute as a stuffed toy so it has now become a part of my holiday plans! Although I've mentioned this earlier, I am terrible at sewing patterns, I am however good at improv sewing! It is my pride and joy when it comes to these kinds of things!

3. Make a Teacup Garden!

A cute idea inspired by that of 'Frankie' magazine. I will buy (once funds become available) a bunch of cute teacups from op-shops, a couple of herb seeds or seedlings and fertiliser. Then after drilling a hole in the bottom of the teacups, fill up the teacups with the fertiliser then plant the seed/lings in the dirt. I figure this would be a nice and eco-friendly way of growing my own foods.

And finally 4. Get FIT!

After spending weeks mostly eating horribly sugar induced foods, hardly walking (beyond the computer chair and the fridge) and lack of general enthusiasm to be free of the overall house environment, I am very much surprised I haven't contracted some sort of heart disease or diabetes. So in order to prevent such happenings in further development, I have decided to get fit. However I fear this may not be accomplished by the end of this holidays. So I am going to make this my long term plan!

~ Mary

*manga - for those who don't know this, mangas are Japanese graphic novels or more commonly referred to as Japanese Comics. It is also my current obsession alongside anime :P

Audrey Kawasaki: The Fine Arts

Audrey Kawasaki is an artist from the US who does amazing artworks and designs in the Fine Arts dept. She has held multiple exhibitions and even has her own online shop.

Kawasaki's work is ethereal, calm and melancholy yet wild and beautiful. She can encompass both innocence and disturbing attractiveness in her artwork. Many of her paintings are depicted by oil and graphite on a wooden panel which is an unusual but stunning art form.

I was given a link to this series of photos that shows some of Audrey's paintings in progress. They were so beautiful and eye-catching that I researched her a little more. Not only does she paint for exhibitions, she designs brooches and other cute little doovelakis that are exquisite and very much worth the look.

Here's the link I received for her painting progress for one of her solo exhibitions: Hawajima.

And here's Audrey Kawasaki's site.
www.audrey-kawasaki.com/

I seriously recommend looking at some of the paintings they're incredible!

~Mary

My Loverly Friend: the Typewriter named Remington

Remington

Recently I was given this lovely retro blue 'Remington' typewriter (as modelled by my wooden manikin, Katie) by my Aunty Michaela. I absolutely adore it! Everything from it's ivory coloured keys to the way it chimes when I reach the end of a page.

How cute are these keys?

I have done multiple assignments, letters and forms on this little baby and it's much easier to use than people think! Sure I've had to look up some slight problems I've encountered such as accidentally locking the capital letters, losing the ink tape, snapping the space bar... but it's all worthwhile once you know how to handle the basic hiccups. Although not fun to fix, I find myself feeling very much like Lemony Snicket in the movie, A Series of Unfortunate Events whenever the ink tape gets caught.

I highly reccomend getting a typewriter, not just for it's novel aesthetics but also because it gets you away from the life-controlling computer and teaches you how to never make mistakes when typing again! The only downside: ink tape. Expensive stuff and extraordinarily hard to find!

But if you are looking for a super cheap solution to this problem, I say use carbon paper but you will have to bee 100% confident in your typing ability as you cannot see what you are typing on carbon paper.

~Mary