Revisiting the seventies and a little bit of art

So Saturday night was our annual progressive street dinner party, but this year we decided to give it a theme...70's - yeah! This is such fun, and if you have fun neighbours like me, you should definitely give it a go. The idea is that you start at someone's house for a course, then work your way through every course at a different house...fun! (And no need to drive anywhere, so you can have that extra wine - woops)

I ended up with the main course, and in keeping with the theme, cooked beef stroganoff with noodles, and went with a 70's bohemian vibe with my table setting, and my outfit was inspired by Stevie Nicks, tambourine and all.   I tell ya, throw a few hats and wigs and instruments into the mix, and it makes for a wild night. (That's me rocking out with the tambourine above...)

The Menu...

Prawn cocktail

Lemon Chicken with rice

Beef Stroganoff with noodles

Trifle and Fondue

Cheese and lollies (ooh, and port!)

I have also been inspired lately (I guess with the weather warming up) to begin running again...I have always kept myself fit, but in the last couple of years, ahem, I was exploring other aspects of myself...hmmm, too much head time is definitely not a good thing - I find that now that I am back into my running, and balancing that with yoga (which I have fallen head over heels - literally - in love with - why did I not begin sooner?) I feel fantastic! I loved it the other day when the yoga teacher described the twists we were doing as being like wringing out a dirty dish cloth - releasing all the rotten toxins from our bodies - love that! (Especially as there would have been plenty of toxins after Saturday night - he hee)

I am also trying to eat healthier, which is kind of a given once you start exercising and seeing the results...your body just craves good food. That's not to say I don't indulge, because I definitely do - I am just mindful of when I am eating, and if I choose to eat a piece of cake, I ask myself, "do I really want that?" and if the answer is yes, then I totally enjoy it. (Sometimes we reach for the sweet stuff out of habit, don't you think?)

Organic dark chocolate is my saving grace...if I crave something sweet, a couple of squares of this stops those sugar cravings in their tracks...either on it's on or melted into some low fat hot milk with cinnamon sprinkled on top - yum!

I bought a George Foreman grill and have fallen in love...(I was going to take a picture of me kissing said grill, but thought that may be a bit much...hee hee)

I get bored with sandwiches for lunch, and indeed find bread a bit too 'heavy' for my temperamental stomach (don't start me), so I love to make wraps, but sticking them in the old 'George' takes them to the next level...I love tuna, cream cheese and spinach, but yesterday decided to go vegetarian and first grilled some butternut pumpkin and red capsicum, then filled my wrap with Persian Feta (omg), semi-dried tomatoes, which I always keep in a jar in the fridge - these babies spice up so many things, spinach, pesto and mushroom, then added the pumpkin and capsicum and grilled the wrap - YUM! Healthy and delicious.

And look who I snapped flying out of our pool...every year this duck and it's mate decide to land in our swimming pool...I think they are kind of cute, but the husband shoos them away - it seems he doesn't find them as lovely as me...QUACK...I love the colour beneath it's weeks - hmmm, see inspiration really does strike when you least expect it - I'd love to 'dip' the ends of my hair in this colour, but I don't know if I'm brave enough...

And yes, there have been fits and bursts of creativity too...I admire all you girls out there that are creative every day...just doesn't work that way for me - I always seem to be distracted by something else to do - house to clean, meals to cook, kids to drive to and from wherever. But when I am in the flow, I totally get absorbed in the process, and really enjoy it.

This is another altered book I am making - they are such fun, and cost vitually no dollars. I picked this one up at an op shop for maybe 50 cents, or a dollar. It's one of those old childrens' dictionaries, with the really cute pictures.

I tore out lots of pages (I always keep them for other projects) then began applying Gesso to them. Some white, some black. Some of the little pictures are just too gorgeous to cover, so I paint around them, as you can see below, and inspiration will strike. How sweet is this little poem? It reminded me of Miss Vanessa and her seeds...

 
The other pages I have just begun to work on...the fairy page above was created by tearing a hole in several pages, then glueing an image on the last page then sticking the pages together, so you can see the fairy through a 'frame'. I then sprinkled some glitter around it - so pretty. The flowers are some I have collected and pressed from my garden. I don't use anything elaborate, just press them between some paper towell in the pages of some telephone books. The other week I picked some little daisies while on a walk, and made a daisy chain which I have pressed and am waiting to dry. I always collect feathers on my walks too (little gifts from the universe, but I shall tell you of that another time), and shall add them too. I have just used paint for the background - keep layering, glueing, painting, whatever, until it looks pleasing to you.

These are such fun, and if you don't draw or paint, you can print off images from the internet, or rip pages from an old book or magazine - as you know I love collecting quotes, and enjoy using them in these books. I think they make lovely gifts for someone, or with the pages left fairly bare, a beautiful journal to write or doodle in.

Here is what the pages looked like before the magic begins...

...and with the Gesso...a blank canvas, just waiting for some magic. (And if blank paper scares you, don't overthink it, just start...I promise you, the magic will happen - there are NO mistakes)

I know this has been a somewhat lengthy post...goodness, I was kinda chatty, wasn't I? But hopefully I have inspired you, if not to host a progressive dinner party, then to perhaps begin altering a little book of your own. Let me know if you do - I'd love to see them.

Have a wonderful weekend friends...remember to enjoy the small things xxx