Stuff Happens

Remember the other week when I wrote about what was happening for our little family? About the childcare woes, the distinct lack of village, and the big changes?

A few people commented on here and over on Facebook, imploring me to ask some mums. After all, what was the worst thing that could happen? They could say no.

I sat on it for a few days feeling really, absolutely awkward.

Then I bit the bullet and contacted a few mums that I vaguely knew from dropping the kids off to their houses. I asked them if they could look after our smalls one afternoon a week, for the next two terms. I told them they had no obligation.

And then I waited for them to respond. The three all responded saying they'd love to help, but of the three, one logistically couldn't do it. But the other two said YES! And one asked if we could look after their daughter before school. Of course we said YES!

Things have worked out well. Well, so far so good. We won't know until we're in the thick of it. But for now, I feel so much happier with this place we are at.

Thank you for empowering me to ask. Thank you. Thank you.

images - because I love them - by Spanish artist Lola Guerrera via Design for Mankind

Rittenhouse X Poepke X Lucas Grogan

I just had to share this beautiful video because visually it is lucious. I love watching people creating. And these three creative brands together?! Aye carumba. Match made in heaven.

Send Teegs To Mexico

Being part of the blogging community, you get to know really awesome people. Like you. And you. And you dear reader.


AND like Tegan. I 'met' Tegan of Ink & Spindle fame - gosh, must be at least four years ago. She is vivacious, tenacious, enthuasiastic, uber talented, intelligent and beautiful to boot. And she's funny.

Teegs has the opportunity to travel to Mexico for a traditional Mexican textile artist residency. If you can help fund her trip that would be so super ace. You can pledge as little as $1 to help her on her way.

I will let her video do the talking, because she is good at that too. Very eloquent. WOOT!

Click here to help send Teegs abroad and continue her learning and her art-making.

Tides Are Changing

Last time I wrote about the juggle of life - of working, of parenting, of wife-ing, I received a comment from a helpful anonymous commenter that "you chose this and you should suck it up". Clearly that wasn't verbatim - but it might as well have been.

Needless to say, I shut up about talking about family life - and since then I've shied away from sharing family life.

But the thing is, I think that's what most people can relate to.

This term brings another new change for our little family. A new and fresh load of guilt for me to either drown in, or choose to swim to the surface, flap about and save our souls. I'm choosing the latter.

Recently Matt was announced a semi-finalist in the Moran Portrait Prize (bravo Matt!), and within the same week he scored a really, really great job. It had been a long distance between good things for us. It's been a tough year, despite all the hilarity I can muster, it's stretched us to our limits trying to make ends meet, and trying to juggle the mundane.

The flip side was this.

Tiny goes to preschool Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Matt's job is going to be Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. 
I work Tuesday - Friday.
The Doctor goes to school five days a week.
Can you see the gap there? The gaping big hole in our week?

Luckily I could switch my day off. So I did. I'll be hanging with Tiny on Thursdays now, and joining the hordes battling Monday-itis.

By design we both work part-time so someone is home with the kids. That is our choice. We chose to have less of an income because family life is the priority for us. And now things are shifting, and we've got to shift with them, and move, like sands through the hourglass.

We've got Tiny going to a different preschool on Fridays - which weighs heavy on my heart. Her current preschool couldn't take her for another day, so I see this as a test. If it doesn't work - we will have to shift again. We'll change things around, switch things up. And I still need to find a solution for an afternoon school pick ups.

I wish I could ask someone at school to pick up my kids one day a week. But since I work - I haven't really struck up any relationships with other mothers to go out on a limb and ask. And it's a big ask, isn't it? To ask someone to take my children home once a week. Is it? Isn't it? I don't know. I've lost perspective now because this change feels so immense for us. I feel the distance even more acutely I think because I am at work. I leave early and don't get home 'til late. The distance and disconnection between work life and family life can be spectacularly damning.

The whole idea that it takes a village to raise a family is an awfully romantic notion. But Matt and I are playing dual-triple-quadruple roles of Mayor, Town Crier (that's me), counsellor, worker bee - we are the village people.

I wish things could have stayed as they were. They were hard, but we had our routine. The smalls had one of us. But I guess this is an evolution of our family life.

This is not a pity party. This is me grappling with what to do next. What's our next move?

the image is Tiny and her cousin P's culinary adventure in the garden this morning. They were cooking. Boy, those little girls, they love to cook.

Giddy On The High: Etsy Success

Well that was the weekend that was folks. I'd been looking forward to Etsy Success for many weeks, and now #BOOM it's over.

I had such a blast meeting so many creative people, 300 of them, all buzzing in the one room. It was electric. It was such a coup to be part of it - one which I am grateful for. I got to meet so many excellent people - and on the flip side, endured the hangover from hell.

Someone really should have stopped me.

Hangovers are not my friend (are they anyone's?), and given I am a lightweight in the booze department, I feel they are totally unwarranted. I barely have a slurp of champagne before I've got to start tossing back the Nurofen.

But back to Etsy Success. The success of Etsy Success is really down to the people. I've said it before - Etsy has enabled so many creatives to come together and create a global community and business, that they would otherwise not have. Sure you can have a blog, and create community from that, or a Facebook page, but Etsy truly is the meeting place, the marketplace for creative geniuses to come together and share. And sell.

As a buyer, Etsy is like falling down Alice's rabbit hole. I can click through for hours finding more and more gold, right from the comfort of my couch.

In the coming week I'll be posting some more info on DIY PR. I promise I won't mention the goldfish again.

LEGO Celebrates 50 Years In Australia

Fifty years ago, a man named John Peddie landed in Sydney carrying a briefcase of LEGO. I don't know whether he brought any clothes to change into - Sydney can be humid, it's wise to travel with spare clothes. But nope - John arrived with a suitcase of LEGO to introduce us Aussies to the humble brick.


John, who is still a member on the Australian LEGO Board of Directors said: "The brand name LEGO comes from the Danish expression 'Leg Godt', which translates as 'play well'. When first arriving in the country, this was my mission, to encourage Australia to 'play well' and it remains the same today."


To celebrate the 50th anniversary, LEGO are hosting a series of events all inspired by the iconic LEGO bricks. There are loads of ways to become involved - which we will be doing our utmost to be part of! We live and breath LEGO. It's part of our daily routine - and that's about to ramp up! 


Did you know that every Australian owns an average of 70 LEGO bricks? We have much, much more. In fact we've probably got about 70 Australians worth of LEGO. That's a heck of a lotta LEGO.


Meanwhile, you should totes check out the website, because I just have the hunch something is brewing over there. Something good is brewing. 


This is not a sponsored post. I love LEGO. You love LEGO. We can all LEGO love together.

Stuff I Did On Saturday

Housework beckoned me, and I responded by vacuuming our living room, plumping up the sofa cushions, and trying to remove the copious amounts of detritus from around our home. 

I was not very successful. I got distracted. 

After deliberating on it all day, I took the smalls into Paddington to Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery to hear Ben Whishaw read Juliet Darling's new poetry - dedicated to her late partner, Nick Waterlow OAM. 

I am so glad I did.

Not only do I love Ben Whishaw - you might remember him from Bright Star, or Perfume or Brideshead Revisited, or Criminal Justice - the list goes on. He is indeed a bright young star - and in real life - he seems totally understated and natural.

But hearing Juliet's poetry read by Whishaw - I was so happy I had decided that YES! YES! Today was the perfect day to rekindle my love for poetry. It was such a beautiful way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

The Doctor even loved it too. 

Stuff On A Saturday

I'm having a quiet day. Cleaning out my wardrobe. Hanging with my smalls. Doing the washing. It's banal, and I kind of like that on a Saturday.

I found this clip yesterday. It's keyed in to how I feel right now. A bit blue. At the tail end of what's been a shitty week.

But there are brighter things on the horizon. Sparkly baubles in the guise of Bonnie Prince Billy on Monday. And Mellie Waugh's show before that.

And you? How are you this Saturday?

Well. That Was Ugly.

Well last night took a very different turn, and I can say with every inch of truth in my bones, I innocently posted that image - and overnight it caused a freaking riot on my Facebook page.

Let's recap:



- someone threatened to report me to the AFP for posting an image of a woman breastfeeding


- I got told I was a hippy feminist AND that I am a paedophile


- apparently my friends have low intelleck (sic)


- I was told I was a coward and a communist

- I got told I was Hitler


-  And I am the one who got a very firm rap over the knuckles from FB for posting the shot of the woman breastfeeding

Did I threaten anyone? Harass anyone? Bully anyone? No. I just stuck a photo that I loved on Facebook and the troll patrol came out in force.

Well screw them.
I stand my ground. Breastfeeding is natural and awesome and beautiful and brilliant - if you can do it.
 
Breasts. Made for Milk.
 
PS - image by Picasso - of a woman *gasp* breastfeeding

Castle VS Gorman:: A Hot Collab

What happens when two ridiculously talented Australian women get together? One heck of a red hot collab.

Check out the brand spanking new Gorman + Castle collaboration. I really, really want that t-shirt. Santa, listen up home boy.

Rachel Castle can do no wrong. Lisa Gorman - nope she can do no wrong either.

Hot. Hot. Hot.

Check it out homegirls.

Get it while it's hot. And it's hot. Oh man. It's super duper roasting hot.

Speaking of girl geniuses. Can't go past Regina Spektor. Or Lana del Rey.

Really Exciting News

This is my husband.

His name is Matt.
Sometimes known as PottyMouthPapa.
By day he's a father and a picture framer and about to become a secondary art teacher.
By night he's an artist.

And the super good news is that he's a Dobell Prize for Drawing finalist.

So super duper proud. And excited. And proud. And excited.

So Long, Farewell: Weekend

What a whopper weekend!

It started with Tiny's preschool fete on Friday evening for three hours of action, and ended with the four of us on the sofa watching Toy Story, Matt and I trying to squeeze in some zzzz's.

Saturday morning we dropped in to check out Mr Jason Grant's new collab with Murobond paints. The beautiful new palette is called 'Road Trip' and was a pretty apt name, because after spending some time there perusing the Maker's Market, we drove down to Bowral for Matt's exhibition opening.  (Smalls above pictured out the front of Murobond - drop dead cute set up).

After mingling for almost three solid hours, we had a picnic in a nearby park - which was spectacular despite all the dead tulips, and let the smalls free-range for a few hours.

We left Bowral on a high, perhaps incubating more of a desire to flee the big smoke for a simpler, slower way of life.

I could totes get with that.

Heading South

It's Matt's exhibition opening tomorrow and I can confidently say, I think we're both pretty darn excited.

Come 3pm we'll clink glasses to celebrate this new solo show.

Perhaps you can come join us? Daytrippers? Yes please! 

Thanks for your kind words. When the chips are down, you sometimes wish the seagulls would descend, whisk you away, and float you up to the clouds to dangle your feet from up there. So your words gave me comfort.

Anyway - back to art. Join us!

Heading South

Many of you may know that my husband, Matthew Kentmann, is an artist.

He's holding his fourth solo show on Saturday 5th November.

We'd be ever so chuffed if you'd care to join us:

loft gallery
5 Banyette Street
Bowral
Saturday 5th November
3pm

Daytrippers are absolutely welcome.

I Love Lace

Can you spot the smalls in this picture?

Dress by Toni Maticevski - phwoar!

On Sunday we went to the Powerhouse Museum to check out the Love Lace exhibition.

Swooning people. Swooning. This is such a beautiful, decadent exhibition. A collection of 130 lace works by 134 artists from 20 countries.

If I could have meandered a little longer, I would have. But the smalls called forth, so we played in the kids sections. Talked with the robot. Interacted with lots of exhibits.

I totes recommend this show - with or without smalls, Love Lace is a beautiful exhibition.

We haven't been to the Powerhouse for yonks, so it was a pleasant treat to check it out, all together.

Handmade Revolution

Holy cow! I never knew there was such goodness about 20 minutes from home.

On Saturday the smalls and I headed to the Powerhouse Discovery Centre for their Handmade Revolution open day.

We had such a lovely time. I wish both my smalls were less grumpy - particularly the bigger small, but not to worry, I can't wait to head back.

We made paper lace, participated in the outdoor weave in (I loved this), watched as ladies made lace (something I would love to learn), and had a go of 3 metre knitting needles. And I even got to chat with Shane Waltener, the artist behind the weave in. That was pretty thrilling.

This place is the business!

The Powerhouse Discovery Centre also hosts a number of activities during the school holidays. Amongst them, Lego workshops. I'm sure you can guess who's being booked in. Unfortunately - not me. But I know the Doctor will dig it!

+++ Check out the Mexican-stylie wheelie bin: it serves as their solar powered PA system. How cool is that?!

Handmade Revolution:: Special Giveaway

I'm pretty excited to learn about the Powerhouse Discovery Centre at Castle Hill. I didn't know something so cool existed - and just a stone's throw from me.

To amp up the cool, they're hosting UK contemporary artist and designer, Shane Waltener, to create an amazing, awe-inspiring outdoor art installation titled 'Outdoor Weave In' at the Discovery Centre's Open Day on Saturday 13th August.

But that is not all folks. As part of the Handmade Revolution program there's so much on - and I am sure there's something to pique your fancy: weaving, spinning, bobbin lace demonstrations, and activities for children including paper lace and mini rag-rug making - oh my!

The good news for YOU - dear reader, is that I have 10 family passes to give away. Tell me what you like doing with your smalls that is part of your very own handmade revolution. Lego? Playdough? Sandplay? Do tell!

To enter:

- comment (25 words or less)

- must be an Australian resident

- enter before Friday 5th August at 11:59pm

- winners will be contacted on Saturday and announced on pottymouthmama

Everyday I'm Shuffling

So as promptly as I posted about eating more salads and stuff, I fell off the apple-cart, grabbed an ultra late lunch at 4pm which was take-away because I was in the middle of nowhere, completely and utterly famished and about to commit a heinous starvation-induced crime, and this was the only option. I didn't succumb to a big fat-drenched burger, but pasta with a caramel slice chaser. Oops. Someone scrape me up off the footpath and put me back on my high-horse.

My Mum is still here helping us out, and she's been an amazing help. A God-send. To come home to two happy little peeps, a house smelling of something great in the oven, and ironing done - I feel like I've gone to Utopia. Thank you Mum.

What's your Utopian experience right this very second? Not tomorrow. Not yesterday. Right now.

OOOOH - Winner of the Nintendo DS and LEGO Ninjago is.... Mrs Smith aka Si-lent Butviolent, Master of Stealth and Scent. So many good entries though gals, thank you for playing, and hopefully I'll have something else rad to give away soon! Promise.

image from Ben Quilty's beautiful and inspiring website. I love those rich slathers of oil paint so much I could eat it.

Top Tip:: Storing Your Little Artworks

My children are prolific artists. We have a wall dedicated to their artwork, which is now spreading to other walls. I rarely ever toss anything out. If I do, I have an acute guilt attack.

Tiny loves to go to bed with a notebook and pen(cil) and draw until she falls asleep. I am not so mad on that. I am not big on the drawing on the bed linen.

Tiny also loves drawing so much, that she's now working with mixed media. This involves textas, biro, yoghurt and our couch. Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin - watch out.

The Doctor came home with this cute collage recently, which has gone straight to the 'gallery' wall. But I'm also about rotating artwork - and I've got a tip for you if you're the same.

I visited the Post Office and bought a few of the postage cylinders, got my kids artwork together and rolled them up. Then I labelled them with their names and the date (I do say Jan-June 2011) and file them away.

Or you could photograph or scan each of the artworks, then you have a digital file of them, and either print them out, and make an album - or have them made into a book of artworks.

But if you are not as nutty as me, you can always embrace recycling.