Return

{A beaked visitor on my balcony. Noosa, Queensland. (Please click to enlarge.)}

I’ve returned from both a small blog break and from Noosa, Queensland. Two and half odd hours by plane from Melbourne to Brisbane, three hours from Brisbane airport to Noosa via two mini buses, and back again. It’s been a busy week and a bit. I’ve spoken with Louise at a symposium all about the book, or to be more precise, the artsts’ book; I have also, with Louise by my side, yakked at length on the nature of collaboration, and held a two-day workshop focusing on the square knot journal with an exposed spine in what was once a butter factory in Cooroy; I have sat by the river that only a week before my departure was heavily flooded, and talked with bookbinders, letterpress masters and printmakers; I have enjoyed a taste of warmer weather, but now, right now, I am happy to be home.

I saw the beach behind Hastings street for a brief spell… 4.30 in the afternoon found us at the beach until the sun no longer warmed the sand. Most of the time, other than this, was spent in the council chambers where the symposium was held or in the butter factory gluing, splicing, folding and cutting paper to make a journal. In between time was thin on the ground though I did mange to squeeze in my first coffee of the day, lying on my belly, watching two ducks on the balcony. As soon as I’d effectively drained my coffee cup dry, I took numerous photos of this fetching pair with their webbed feet and black beaks. They’d waddle into frame, happy to pose… they really were the most obliging models. The White-faced Heron with his guttural croak less so (you can just see him in the second photo below, walking along the rocky edge of the pond that backed up onto the balcony). Yes, many kilometres from home, I missed my Omar, Olive and Misha. It’s odd to sit about in the evening in an apartment free of pets. I realise how very much I love their quiet company.

{With webbed feet. Noosa, Queensland. (Please click to enlarge.)}

So, home we are, and the suitcases, two of them, still sit unpacked on the floor. I’ve little desire to open them save for getting out bottles of shampoo and conditioner and like travel companions. Since returning home, after a week away, I have turned 32. On a sunny Thursday I ceased being 31 (thanks for all the birthday cheer you have sent my way via flickr, this blog, snail mail and email… it means so much to me).

We came home to a parcel most generous from Paula. All the way from Portugal, buttons of many sizes and colours on their original and crinkled cards. Also include in this envelope well travelled were maps from the 1900s, a packet of colourful Chinese paper cuts, collected day to day paraphernalia, and bookmarks too (....many things you are sure to see a little later on in a collage). (Thank you so much, Paula. Such a wonderful array of delights you sent to LJ and myself. I can’t wait to see some of these buttons on owl pinnies and Thelma’s stuffies. I have them, at present, arranged so I can look at them… so beautiful are the colours and shapes and textures.)

In lieu of many photos from up North, I have photos of buttons…

{Beautiful buttons from Paula. Sure to appear on a springtime cardie (if only I had your skills, Kylie), a stuffie, an owl and who knows what else. (Best large)}

And photos of balloons strung up in the tree…

{In my parent's back garden I turned 32. (You get the idea, best viewed a little larger... please click.)}

As I slowly ease myself back to it all, I have one more thing to share. Cards completed finally and ready for you to see!

You’ll find them in both our etsy (soon… I’m working on it late this evening) and hammer & daisy store in happy (and hopefully appealing) bundles of 12, 5, 4 and singularly too. Hope you like them. They’ve been a long while in the making.

{Bundles of cards, rows of foxes... it's been busy over here.}

Ah, yes, it's good to be back in this space.

Comments

[Liz]

Gracia happy belated birthday!

looks like you had a wonderful trip as well as a wonderful birthday party...

off to etsy to snap up some cards (yay!)

[jac]

Fairy bread! Happy birthday!

[lisa s]

oh happy day you are back!
and happy b/day
and and and....

[love you w/ the ducks]
XO

[eireann]

happy birthday!

and welcome back.

[ezb]

G, Noosa, duck gazing and fairy bread. Great to see you back posting modern. ( I just turned 32 too! weird huh?)

[camilla Engman]

Happy belated birthday, Gracia!

[charlotte bee]

Belated birthday well wishes from me!
Welcome home.

[amisha]

happy belated b-day again :) it looks like it was lovely... what are those sprinkle-covered treats?
and oh how i love the new cards!! they are really gorgeous and i can't wait for them to arrive and enjoy them in person!
and empathizing with missing your pets... i just wanted to soak up as much of sherman and zoe as i could this weekend. their absence is such a hole in my day-to-day life these days, their quiet cuddliness and sweetness. sigh... 6 more weeks till i see them again!
xox

[julie]

Oh its good to have you home...sounds like a great break and feet in the sand is always good for the soul :)

Love your new cards - just purchased my FAVE!!! and look forward to seeing what is created with those fab buttons - those green ones are gorgeous as is your new friend..Hettie Heron (im sure a great subject for one of LJ's paintings

Hugs xxxx

[risa]

i really love thst balloon photo! happy 32nd! i hope you have a great great year!
and seeing the cards again makes me want to buy another set even before the ones i already bought arrive. :)

[gracia]

Thanks for all that birthday cheer and welcome home cries, Liz, Jac, Lisa S, Eireann, a-recently-turned-32 Em, Camilla, Charlotte, Amisha, Julie and Risa. So nice to hear and it's good to be back.

Oh, and before I flee, those "sprinkled-covered treats", Amisha, are small triangles of fairy bread. I hadn't realised they weren't a worldwide thing. Allow me to tell you a little of fairy bread, as gleaned from wikipedia and beyond.

"Fairy bread is white sliced bread spread with margarine or butter, and then sprinkled with Hundreds & Thousands (also known as sprinkles or nonpareils, a Masterfoods product consisting of small balls of coloured sugar intended to decorate cakes).

Fairy bread is served at children's parties, almost exclusively in Australia and New Zealand. Slices of the bread are often cut into triangles, the crusts removed (though not essential), and then stacked tastefully on the host's paper plate.

It was originally made using finely chopped rose petals for colour and scent instead of the sugary lollies that are used today. The origin of the term is not widely known, but it may come from the poem Fairy Bread in Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verse, published in 1885."

And here are some fairy bread links for you to peruse at your leisure...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/auxocrome/257116598/
&
http://www.flickr.com/photos/thedepartment/70032990/
& one more
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90699791@N00/426724857/

And, Julie, Hettie Heron is a wonderful name! A heron is sure to appear on a card or in a drawing by Louise. We're super keen to make more cards, as soon as we cover the costs of these four. Polar bears with lights have been requested for the festive season so perhaps a heron will also grace the front of one as well. I am happy to be home though wishing I had had just a little more time to feel the sand between my toes. My striped espadrilles still contain tiny sand particles in them as a happy reminder of a sunny lazy afternoon.

Oh, and Risa, that's my Dad in the photo with the balloons. They are his jeans drying on the clothes line, too. I love this photo from that day.

Thanks again, everyone,
g xo

[Marieke]

Happy happy belated birthday! Lovely cards Grache, I just happily ordered a set xxx

[comfies]

gracia your photographs are always beautiful to me! they tend to get right into my subconscious and stay in my head for months (much like your and LJ's collages). this photo of your dad with the balloons is no exception. another one i always remember: that blue glass thing in your home, with the light reflecting off of it...

[bugheart]

oh the cards
so beautiful...
and it sounds
like a wonderful
birthday...
someday,
i'll have
a birthday
in
australia.

[Kylie]

many happy returns, Gracia. It looks like a lovely birthday celebration, just as you deserve...

Those beautiful ducks looks like they are leaving golden footprints...much happiness.

and those buttons are a mighty impressive collection - jealous, am I!

[simple me]

so happy that you had a wonderful birthday and you enjoyed these past weeks.
love your cards and that picture of you is so pretty.
enjoy your buttons ... can't wait to see what beauties you make with them.

[gracia]

Thanks, Marieke, for that birthday cheer. Your cards ought to be closer to you than they are to me by now... winging their way across the seas to your door. Hope you like them!

Thanks, Comfies. So nice to hear, and that particular photo of my Dad ducking his head and surrounded by balloons strung up on the inside of the umbrella and from the lemon tree, too, is one of my favourites. You'll be happy to know that we've also added a green prism and a large clear one to the mix as well. In the mid morning the whole room is illuminated by their reflected rainbow light.

Hee, heee... oh, I do hope so, bugheart. That would be so marvellous. One day... one day. I'll keep my fingers crossed tightly, and toes as well, were it to help.

Thanks so much, Kylie. They were a handsome pair of ducks, weren't they? I loved their wet footprints on the otherwise pristine balcony. It's much too lonely without pets or wildlife in a hotel meets resort. I shared my chip crumbs with them and I suspect I was not the first. I named them, too, of course. And, yes, I could well imagine those buttons on one of your superb knitted creations. There are some real rippers in that generous haul from Paula.

Thanks once again, Paula, for all the wonderful things you sent to both Louise and myself. I am planning on making a few collages with the paper sent and those Chinese cut-outs will feature for sure. I'll send you photos, and post them here on my blog as well, of these beautiful buttons on owl pinnies, stuffies and more. Louise and my Mum are so keen to use them, but also a little reluctant to take them off their papery backs. I think they'll start using the loose ones first.

Thanks everyone... so happy to share my 32nd with you all,
g xo

[amisha]

oh lovely... thank you for the fairy bread info! sounds delicious and looks so festive. this summer i had chocolate sprinkles on bread in holland, which i adored... the first time i had sprinkles on bread! perhaps i should make it a more regular affair :)
xox

[cruststation]

Ah...I did mean to pop by earlier to wish you a happy birthday, but things have been a little hectic over here. So glad you had a fabulous time, really love the photographs, hooray for outdoor eating, balloons and fairy bread? (never seen those before either). Love this post, makes me feel like a kid again just looking at it.

[renee]

happy belated birthday! the fairy bread looks like so much fun. and the cards are beautiful!!

see you!
renee

[Mia]

I bet u had a magic birthday party...
The things u create are magic!

[Leisl]

Good grief - happy belated birthday! May those buttons bring you much joy.