alma b art and craft.

a new day, a new studio

2009-02-23T23:01:00.003+10:00

I finally got the time to set up my new studio space, and I am very happy with it. A nice clean space always gets me motivated so hopefully i will be creating some new alma b items soon!

it's been a while... again!

2009-02-16T08:42:00.002+10:00

well, it has been another large lapse in blogging for me and another few life-changing events are to blame for it.

Since last writing I have had a huge career change, and a relocation north to Mackay, qld, and I am only now starting to get back into the world of alma b.

I am really enjoying the beaches and surrounds of mackay, we are both having a great time up here. We have been up here since October, but it feels to me like i've only just settled in. We spent the first month of our time up here in a backpacker room in the city, but we finally found a great house to live in, and moved all our possessions up from Brisbane.

I have included a few pictures of our new house and a few of the places we've been.

there is a lot starting to happen with alma b so stay tuned for news.

Just dropping in...

2008-04-14T22:51:00.002+10:00

Just stopping by to give you a sneak peak at some of the exhibition paintings. I have been frantic, painting any chance I get, it's getting really close now!

I'm hoping to have more pictures up by the end of the week.

Exciting News

2008-04-06T22:31:00.003+10:00

I have some exciting news! I am having a solo exhibition (my first!) in Bendigo, here.

I am so excited about it, and have been working feverishly getting things done for it. It was kind of late notice, it starts on the 1st May! So I have gone underground in an effort to get out lots of paintings and necklaces for it.

My husband luke and I are combining the exhibition with a big road trip down south to Bendigo so I can deliver everything in person and have a break. I am so excited!

So I am spending time away from the computer lately to try and get things done, but I am going to keep the blog updated with photos of pieces and ideas to try and get some extra feedback before heading down!

New Website

2008-02-17T21:18:00.004+10:00

I finally got my very own website! I had wanted one for so long but couldn't really justify it when I had etsy, but I decided the other week that I am just going to do it. So I workhttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gifed really hard on the design, and my husband (pictured) worked really hard on the coding side of things, and I love the result!

Check it out at www.almab.com.au and let me know what you think! It is still a bit rough, particularly the gallery section, but it will be cleaned up soon.

I intended to be doing a market review in this spot but after planning to go to my favorite markets at Eumundi, it was a miserable weekend with rain, so I will try and do something next week.

Busy Busy...

2008-02-12T20:40:00.000+10:00

It's been busy busy round here lately - I am stocking up on supplies to make a whole heap of new necklaces, so look out in the shop for them, plus I have got some brand new products I'm developing which I am excited about. Above are some pictures of the beginnings of some new necklaces.

Once I get all the products on the go that I want to develop, I am going to open a stall at a market - so I have been researching which market would be best for me. I love going to the markets, so I am loving the research! :-)

The thought of setting up a stall is quite scary for me, but I think it's something I have to try. I will keep posting about my findings on all the markets in Brisbane.

It has been so hot here lately, and I am starting to really crave some colder weather. I created this little canvas about my thoughts - it's called "Dreaming of Colder Weather" and it will be up in the shop as an original this week.

I got in!

2008-02-04T22:01:00.000+10:00

I have been psyching myself up for applying to Trunkt for weeks now, a bit afraid of the possible rejection - I had heard on Etsy it was a pretty tight selection process.

Trunkt is a curated website of art and design, and a place where professionals can check out emerging artists and designers, so I was really wanting to get my work on there.

I finally applied the other day, and am so excited to say I can now be found here!

The picture is a piece I completed on the weekend. It's about the feeling of coming home after a long journey. It will be available as an original in my shop soon.

Blythe

2008-02-02T22:38:00.000+10:00

My new obsession is Blythe dolls, and though this is straying from my usual style, I totally love them! I went a bit crazy with them and I now own 3, which all arrived in the last week. Hello Harvest was my first, and still my favourite, I think she's so pretty! Then came Mod Molly and Enchanted Petal, both of which are so adorable! Enchanted Petal I am planning on doing some customising work to.
More Blythe news will follow now and again.

Necklaces

2008-01-22T22:05:00.000+10:00

I have been wanting to make necklaces with my art on them for ages, but it took me a while to figure out all the technicalities.

I love art pendants, because it's a way to carry around your favorite artwork all day. These ones are made from small glass pebbles, and I'm really happy with how they turned out.

I haven't put them up in the shop yet as I don't think I've perfected the photos yet, but they will be up shortly.

It's been a while...

2008-01-18T21:08:00.000+10:00

so it's been a while since I posted on here - there are numerous reasons why - I started a new job with way longer hours, and I got married, and I went overseas - it was a busy year in 2007!

My new years resolution was to get back into my art, etc. So here I am!

I am posting a few images from the year that has been, and I will be back soon, on track with some artsy goings on.

Praise the end of the week

2007-04-06T16:33:00.000+10:00

This week has been one of the most exhausting in my life. First of all, I resigned from my job because I got offered a new job in an advertising studio. I feel so happy that I won't have to deal with my current boss any more, however it means a very busy 2 weeks as I wrap everything up in my current job.

Secondly, my grandfather died last Sunday, and I had to fly up to North Queensland on Tuesday for his funeral. It was an emotionally and physically draining day- up at 3:45am, a sad and busy, busy day, home at 11:30pm and work the next day.

I really haven't done any art all week as it has been so busy, so I feel so grateful for the easter break, a chance to get back on top of everything. At the moment I am sitting in a bean bag on my veranda drinking beer, eating blue cheese, and listening to the panda band. It has just finished raining so everything has cooled down a bit. It's so nice to relax! The photo above is what I'm looking at at the moment.

I will be cramming as much art into the next week as I can, so I will be back soon.

Babushka, Babushka, Babushka!

2007-03-25T15:17:00.000+10:00

I thought it would be fun to have a go at doing some 3D pieces- I love dolls myself and having unsuccessfully tried my hand at plush dolls, I decided wooden dolls would be more my style. And Russian nesting dolls are one of my favourite things ever. I have just done the first coat on my first lot, and I am having lots of fun with them.

I have one lot of 10 of the rounder ones, which will be focusing on Alba and her flowers. I am saving those ones because a> there's more of them and I thought it might be easier for my first one only doing 5 and b> I like them better. I am doing the group of 5 more on my other character, Anabelle, who is Alba's long-lost sister and is the opposite to Alba. She is a nest-builder and never likes to leave her little town where everything is perfect. She has her own little cottage there with her garden of flowers and she loves it.

They will all be mixed media pieces involving some collage, and I will be documenting their progress on here.

Something Different

2007-03-15T19:37:00.000+10:00

I have been having some fun creating some paintings that are a bit different to my usual stuff. I've been using a lot of collage bits and pieces and have added some little houses into the mix.

The top one is called "The Search for Intelligent Life" about some flowers that come to life at night when the owners of their garden are asleep and join together in their search for aliens.

The second one is called "Sleepy Little Town" and it's my dream town- with little houses with wood fires going and big strange flowers growing everywhere. So cosy.

These will be in my shop along with a few others this weekend hopefully.

New books to look at!

2007-03-13T22:32:00.000+10:00

2 new books arrived in the mail today and I'm so excited because they have taken a few weeks getting here and I have been hanging out for them! My favourite is this one. Japanese Children's Fabrics. Full of japanese cuteness! It is so lovely to look through and be inspired by.

I have always loved Japanese fabrics so I love this book! I'm getting married in september and I'm having Japanese fabric in my dress I love it so much. And then to top it off Luke and I are going to Japan for the honeymoon. So we have been submerging ourselves in anything to do with Japan at the moment. I have been eyeing this book off since long before we decided on that though. At the opening of the gallery of modern art in brisbane I saw it, but it was $80 so I decided against it, only too see it on amazons for a lot cheaper, so now I have it!

I won't get a chance til the weekend to properly peruse it but I am looking forward to it. I am thinking I will make this weekend a nothing weekend so I can catch up on everything.

Morning Delight

2007-03-09T23:00:00.000+10:00

I woke up this morning all grumpy because I hadn't had enough sleep and I needed to go to work, when I heard hot air balloons! It brightens up my day when the hot air balloons go over in the morning and this morning they came right over our place. It made me cheerful for the day.

It's now Friday night and I've just come home from an art exhibition and coffee with friends so it's been a pretty good end to the day too.

I'm looking forward to a weekend of creating art. I will post it all on sunday, I think it will be a little bit different to my usual stuff... still with flowers though! I would never abandon my flowers :-)

Dangly DooDads

2007-03-08T20:22:00.000+10:00

I wanted to make some small, more ornamental pieces so I had a bit of fun making these little mini pieces.

They are each about 2.5" square and I used some beads I got for Christmas to thread onto the bottom of them. I've called them tiny danglers. I love surrounding my work area with cute little things as motivation and decoration, so I am hoping that's what these will be for other people. Any feedback would be great at this point.
I am going to put some up in my shop soon.

I am having fun trying a lot of new styles and things at the moment and I will post some of the results here as they come.

There is an electrical storm going on as I write this and I'm so excited because it means rain!!! The more rain the better. It also means my plants get a water and it also means I have an exciting outlook from my couch. If only it was friday it would be perfect! oh well. one more day til the weekend!

Gocco Fun!!!

2007-03-05T21:38:00.000+10:00

Well, I finally got to use my gocco printer this weekend. I was worried it was going to be a disaster for the first go, but I read the manual extensively and it all went really well! it was very fun and I am really looking forward to doing some more. I am also looking forward to getting some more ink colours.

My first print is of course, of flowers! :-) It's a create-your-own-message notecard. I have put some little gold flowers in the speech bubble but apart from that you can put whatever you want in there. They will be available in the shop soon, but I have to perfect the packaging for them first.

Some new pieces

2007-02-26T20:51:00.000+10:00

I have been doing some drawings of a new character called Alba- she has a special affinity with flowers and can communicate with them in a flower language. She wanders around on foot and has a big pocket in the front of her dress that stores anything and everything she wants. She gets help along the way from the flowers she meets about where she's heading and what lies ahead.

I'm having so much fun creating little adventures for her.

These little drawings are available in my shop.

A New Start

2007-02-25T22:00:00.000+10:00

Thanks so much to all those who left lovely comments on my first post- I felt so bad when I went back to my neglected blog and found that people had actually read it, and been so kind! I am now going to post regularly and try to keep it up.

(this is the view from my veranda)

All Set...

2007-02-24T20:15:00.000+10:00

My studio is finally all set up (excuse the mess at the back- it's also a storage area) so I feel ready to really get down to work.
I bought the flooring for $6/m2 and I am so happy with it- it feels luxurious to wander around on (compared to the rough concrete from before). And I bought the little shelf (on the right) for $5 at a garage sale last week (the ceramic rabbit on top was 50c!) and so now I feel I am all set up. And I love it!

First week of art...

2007-01-06T16:27:00.000+10:00