the list

I came across this on the plum tree. The idea is you're supposed to bold the things that you have done. I think the list has a bit of an American flavour to it which made it hard at times to understand some of the things on it. There are lots of things I haven't done. I'm not sure what that says about me........

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train (from Hanoi to SaPa - so much fun!)
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb (the cutest thing ever!!!!)
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run (is this about baseball???)
32. Been on a cruise (just a day cruise)
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karoke (in where else but Japan)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (snorkeling on the great barrier reef)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (I wish I could but I'm anemic)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (in Hanoi!!!)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person (almost, but we got snowed in)
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox (and just about every other childhood disease)
89. Saved someone’s life (yes, if an animal's life counts)
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone (but only got my first one just over a year ago)
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

PS. Katie has just made a brilliant Aussie version of this list here.

fragile particles

Finally. Screen printed. Using a hand cut paper stencil.
Click on an image to see close up.
More pics here.

framed

Big Blue is a giclee print I made a while ago but forgot about! So here it is framed. It has quite a bit of texture to it because of the Japanese chiyogami paper I used in making it.

And these 2 lovelies from Yellow Monday are going to 2 little people in my life who are just crazy about dogs. Aren't they just delightful?

I might be finally screen printing this today because it's wet and cold (what's with the cold weather here in November???) and very much an indoors day. Celistina's blog has been inspiring me no end with printing projects.

fishy-ness

More fish on the move. Click on the image to see a bigger version.

A printmaking exhibition that looks worth checking out is Observatory at the Australian Print Workshop on Gertrude St, Fitzroy. It's on til 20th December. Found on printmaker, Bridget Farmer's blog. And her prints are part of the show.

soak

Hey it's raining here! That' a big deal for us. Last night on TV they said Melbourne folk are going to be rationed to 150 litres of water per day because of our current drought. Which is fine by me if big water guzzling companies also have the same restrictions placed on them. I am so excited by today's rain that I ate breakfast sitting outside under cover watching it come down on the garden. It smells so good too.

Do you think the design above might work well on a tea towel?

Must sees this weekend include illustrator Kat McLeod's exhibition on at Lamington Drive Gallery in Fitzroy. She's called it 'The Tiniest Spark'. I'm sure this show will be huge as her work has been all over the media recently. Yay for her!

a little piece of vintage japan

I've stumbled upon something lovely via the internet. A place called Sri Threads in Brooklyn which is a little bit of vintage Japan and India. The image above is from an early 20th century sample book of silk screen textile prints.

This one is an "old sample book which shows 68 different samples of silk dyed with individual samples of 'komon' or the small figured patterns" which were very common in the late 18th century through to the mid 19th century. Each design was made by screen printing through a hand cut paper stencil. The stencils themselves are gorgeous. I have 2 paper stencils used for printing kimono textile designs framed in my house which I bought from a temple market in Kyoto about 5 years ago. This process is no longer used for patterning textiles in Japan as things have become quite high tech these days.

This little piece of antique stitched fabric is a repaired early to mid 20th century sake straining bag. Yes, that's right - used to strain sake in the process of making it! These bags are known as sakabukuro and are apparently very collectible items. This one has been repaired in 11 different places and stained with green persimmon tannin.

For more gorgeous vintage textile wonders visit Sri Threads. Or if you're lucky enough to live in Brooklyn or Manhattan they're physically located in Greenpoint, Brooklyn so you can even check out their textiles in person.

shedding

This lovely eucalyptus tree bark was spotted in Sydney over the weekend. I just love the way their skin sheds this lovely dusky pink and then underneath the new bark is so light and different.

And such wonderful news for the world that Barack Obama won the American presidential election! This is the best news since Rudd was elected as PM in Australia last November. Yay for world leaders who put humanity, the environment, civil liberties and social justice high on their political agendas.

Thanks for the print name suggestions including the ones sent to me via flickr. So the giclee print in my previous post will go to Jesse for the title 'but I want that one....'. Fitting I think for the greedy cat with too many birdie options. Send me you postal details Jesse.