6 months of making

Sewing a leather purse for a 5 year-old's birthday

Potato stamping with Hazel

Fire building over winter

Many pots of tea

Almond meal cocoa biscuits for my peeps

Bread making a few times per week

A bit of painting in quiet moments

Monster magnets...

...star keyrings...

...and felt checkerboards  for the school Father's Day stall, these were a labour of love but a real crowd pleaser!

Art Fair excursions, wishing I had a few spare thousand $ to shell out

Helping Leo cast his hand in plaster to display his loom band mitten at the Royal Show

Learning circular knitting!

Growing broad beans...

...and beets

 

Making spinach pie

Did HEAPS of yoga, online at Yogaglo and at Dance of Life in Fitzroy

If you have been following me over on Instagram (@emmagreenwoodmakes) you would have seen all these pics already, but for those of you that I only stay in touch with via Blogger, here's what I've been up to!

I have been on domestic duties for most of the year, helping my family stay on track as Daddy/Sam works ridiculous hours making new sculptures. We have all been very busy, happy and healthy, and are looking forward to seeing Sam's work in new galleries over the next few months.

We also got married in May on a rainy day at the Registry Office...

...and I had a big haircut!

Hiatus

Hello all, I'm just letting you know that I'm having an extended break from blogging, as I have too much on my plate to keep up with everything at the moment.

As you know I am no longer a frequent blogger, and I prefer to keep the subject matter shoe related, but the honest truth is that I am not doing much making right now, and probably won't be till Hazel is at school, which is hopefully next year.

We are planning some home renovations, so I'm working at my desk job late into the night when the kids are asleep, to earn some extra coin.

My daily exploits are still visible on Instagram @emblueski, so do come over and say hi.

Fun times

 Went to the beach and pretended to be Old Gregg

 Rearranged my colour-coded books

 Did some mending

 My kids both made art with their Dad, this is Leo's...

 

...and this is Hazel's

 

 Scored some Villeroy&Boch at Savers

 Ate Bento Box 4 at Ito

 Went to the NGV

 Made festive beverages in glass jugs, this one is a strawberry basil margarita

Turned 40 and had a huge party!

August!

Seems I lost a month, I haven't checked in since June.

I've been busy on Instagram @emblueski, and chasing my tail on a day-to-day basis, wondering how the rest of you keep up with kids, domesticity, creativity, beloveds, family, work, life.

This seems to be a major topic of conversation for me, musing upon how others do it, why I struggle with it, how it appears that everyone else is kicking goals and really making progress with their work, while mine seems so painstakingly slow and frustrating. Excuse my miserable tone, I was up at 5:30 this morning with a sick girl and feel like a zombie, entirely unprepared for the huge week ahead of me.

I have been wondering about blogging, what's it all about, why do I feel like I'm talking to myself, should I continue to use this space for shoemaking chat etc. I haven't decided.

So while I launch into the busy Sunday evening routine of bathing kids and somehow stopping them from constantly arguing, here are some images from July.

Bon Viaggio!

Party people I am in the last throes of packing and organising for our month in Italy. The to-do list is very long, and I am really looking forward to being all packed and sat on a plane with my Sam Jinks, who has worked like a mofo (is still working) to get a gorgeous piece ready for Venice.

I will not be blogging while I'm away, but you can follow me  @emblueski on Instagram.

See you in June!

Arty Farty

 Listened to a lot of The Strokes' new album. Full volume.

Ditto the the new Phoenix album. Glorious.

 Went to the Abbotsford Convent for Brick Club, which is a Lego day on the 3rd Sunday of each month. They also have a Maker's Market in the adjoining rooms where Hazie gets her fix of $2 facepainting, and this week I got my fix of Sandra Eterovic prints. Sandra has a show opening tonight at Hut13.

 I got a haircut.

 Used my Northcity4 shopping trolley token.

 Went to the NGV with Hazel. This is a new acquisition, a Japanese artist whose name I forget. There is a taxidermied deer underneath all the globes of acrylic, glass and crystal, it's all about pixels and magnification. Delightful.

 Bronze woman.

 Toni Maticevski and Richard Nylon for the Australian Ballet.

 Jeremy Scott and Adidas. I love every single variation of these winged high tops.

 Does this look like a 2D stencil-esque work? Because it's not - it's a fiberglass lifecast which is painted.

 On Saturday we went to Lamington Drive to see the Beci Orpin and Kat Macleod show. Hazel loved this installation of streamer curtain/confetti heaven, we recreated it on her bunkbed.

I loved these little beetles which Kat had embellished with sequins and machine stitching. So gorgeous. I'm planning a return visit sans enfants, I was too worried that Hazel would rip the streamers down to really look at the works for a long time.