Christi's Piaochong spectacular

The great chinese firewall!

2010-09-08T22:59:00.000+10:00

Due to Christi currently being in china - and blogger being blocked - the blog is now located at: Wordpress

In Limbo

2010-08-10T17:29:00.000+10:00

I am still hanging around.
hope to leave soon. Paperwork is so annoying sometimes!
I am sad that i will miss the Qingdao beer festival, but what can i do?!

To boldly go where no man has gone before...

2010-07-08T10:43:00.000+10:00

I have moved in to the house of my boyfriends mother. The atmosphere is psychotropic. I send this message from this alien world, yet i have grown accustomed to the new surroundings, and strange ethereal cultural quirks... There remain only 23 days until my departure from this community into a much more exciting place. China! Believe me, i am keen! here is some random photos to tide you over!

bendigo at night.

random skull nailed to a tree in havalock street...

me and my woman. being silly...my hair looks grey in this hmmmmmm

Anyway, there is an immense possibility that i am going to have to transfer this blog to typepad when in china. so watch for a link in the future!
Lotsa love Xx
Christa

rocky road cake!

2010-06-17T22:36:00.000+10:00

I made a delicious cake a while back, but then made a delicious coating of chocolate, marshmallows, but i missed the glaced cherries!

i got the recipe from a generic search for rocky road cake, then put in my own twist!
http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,186,159183-254196,00.html

yum!
( also today I passed my license test- i am now a driver! look out world!)

Opp shops again and my scarf obsessions!

2010-06-02T20:55:00.000+10:00

Well... Its true, I do spend my money like water when i have such wonderful opportunities!
Katy and I went for another grand opp-shop adventure yesterday and you should see the treasures i found!

How often is it that you find a jumper with your year of birth on it? awwwww yeah!

Ten, yes TEN!! beautiful silk and cotton scarves! (I have an obsession!)

Also, a great nighty with the potential to be an awesome tunic and skirt. As well as this old little english lesson books from the 60's!

All up, even though i am supposed to be decreasing my substantial stuff piles, I just can't pass up a beautiful scarf! Or a lovely day with one of my closest pals, Katy!

p.s: 6 weeks to go!

Penpals!

2010-05-25T23:34:00.000+10:00

We all love to recieve mail! not just Email, but personalised letters that come to your actual real life letterbox. I know there is a special kind of thrill i get when i recieve a letter, and i really feel that in our modern, online, society this doesnt happen all to often. Thats why i was pleasently suprised to stumble across this wonderful post on Indie Fixx, a great little website on its own, about Penpals! Now dear reader, most of the people on there are American, but if you are looking to bring some letter writing and spice back to your mailbox, choose a commentor below that post and get writing! I know i will!
http://indiefixx.com/2010/02/19/the-penpal-project/

image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohhellofriend/

Opp shop finds and Stormtroopers!

2010-05-18T23:57:00.000+10:00

Today i had a fun afternoon with a good friend of mine, Katy. It was meant to be a crafty day, so we did a pre shop and then returned to her house for a crafternoon. But first, we stopped off at one of the many oppshops on the way... here are my super finds today:

...in an oppshop i found an uncut pattern for American civil war costumes! wow! this scarf is lovely too, and the book? We loved the cover!

I saw this somewhere on the internets.. and decided to copy it! Although it was my beautiful friend Katy who did most of the work! It feels so good to have stormtroopers on me...but it feels strange actually having nails instead of the bitten down stubs i am usually sportin'

A new skirt i finished today. Its probably the first one i have been happy with! Plus this fabric is super adorable, and teamed with a beautiful vintage heavy weight cotton given to me by my grandma. I am yet to try it out on the town but i am eager!

Graduated!

2010-05-11T12:11:00.000+10:00

May i present... me as a graduate with my darling boy, Davey!

if there is one thing that i love....

2010-04-25T23:38:00.000+10:00

Its old propaganda posters!
look at these beauties!

All of these beautiful images were taken from the fantastic online collection of Stefen Landsberger. This website has to be my holy grail! its awesomeness is unrivaled! view way more located here--> http://www.iisg.nl/landsberger/

perfect outfit

2009-12-12T21:31:00.002+11:00

I was thinking about ,my perfect outfit, that i would love to wear/ create whilst looking at the wonderful site of definatalie. (http://www.definatalie.com/) A fellow Aussie blogger. She has a competition right now open for australian residents to create am ultimate NYE outfit! WOO! so here is my entry:

spanish chic!

credits:
Mcqueen cardigan (via polyvore)
Ezi Buy: Sara Harem
flamenco lady portrait:
hair band of red flowers
earrings (via polyvore)
bracelet 1 (via polyvore)
bracelet stack (via polyvore)
gorgeous ‘ginger’ heels

Yay! Thanks to Natalie for hosting such a lovely give away!

happenings

2009-11-16T22:57:00.001+11:00

I have recently made my first 'zine'! a mini craft booklet choc full of happy surprises! find issue one at various places around Benders. For example at the Uni, Allens walk run space, and so on.

At the end of a 'year' of magazines ( every 4th issue) i would like to collect them all together to make a happy little book to sell!

In other News, It is official that I will be returning to China soon. Now I just need to find a job for six months to tide me over until I can go!
I am very excited about this, and have already begun to plan my lessons in advance!
However, I Have applied for a few jobs around town, but as of yet no biting on the line... perseverance will win out!wish me luck!

p.s I f you know anyone who is hiring give me a heads up!~

things that inspire

2009-10-18T13:33:00.004+11:00

here is an awesome list of things that inspire me to craft, things that i love and things that are just plain awesome. done in an old time favourite format of an A-Z

A architecture,Animals,Art,archetypes,adventure

B Birds, Bees, books, babies, Buddhism, brass

C craftMag, creativity, crayons, china

D drawing, dremel, driftwood,dolls, dirigible

E encyclopaedias, eating,earrings,eccentrics

F Fashion, fantasy, friends, family, forests

G grunge,gold, glass, Goth,gods

H hot air balloons, hugs, homes, Holmes :)

I imagination, intaglio,impressions,

J jewellery,Japan,Jungian theory,

K kitchens,kawaii,keys

L leather, lace, love

M models, make up,masks, metal, military,moon

N Naoto.h,nature,names,nautical,nesting dolls

O old people,organs,opulence,opera,octopii

P paper,pottery,pokemon,perfume,photos,peonies

Q queens, quinces, quirky.

R rabbits, rain, rarities, recycle,recipes

S steam-punk,sci-fi, starwars

T tea tins, toys,theatre, tea,tulle,tutus

U university,universalism, unique-ness

V Victoriana,vinyl toys, vegetables

W wonderkammer,wood,writing,wool,world making.

X Xtreme sports, Xmas, (cheating i know)

Y youth, Yule,

Z zoos, zodiac, zombies

Ni Hao!

2009-09-16T22:50:00.004+10:00

Well the gym is still going well. this week is the first week I have deviated from my normal routine... but I do plan to make up for it. Soon enough I will be a bridesmaid, so I really need to start moving my body to be as healthy as I can be on the day :)

A new colour scheme for the Yokai masks. This one was made for my friend Dominique's birthday. Dominique will be travelling to China with me next year. Speaking of China, my introduction letter, and my 'job application' have been sent off to China, now I just await my reply! I have a few back up plans, but some may require my friend and I working at two different places within the same city... we will crack that egg when it comes to it!

Lets learn some Chinese!

A bee in your bonnet!

2009-08-16T21:16:00.002+10:00

Hello!
I have been back at uni for a while now, it is all pretty crazy, must.. stay.. ahead of the game.

I am working on a few steamy steam-punk inspired pieces at the moment, and i am gearing up to do a market stall some time in the near future. The weather is starting to clear up- two weeks until beautiful spring!

So with this idea i was thinking of doing some scientific like drawings with pen on to leather, then making them look as if they were sepia and labelling them with their scientific genus- eg: the magpie would be Cracticus tibicen, of the corvid family-

and the bee would be Apis mellifera.

For a project at school I am doing some research on the history of perfume in the middle east. With this I have discovered a love for perfume, and the art of blending your own signature smell. It is because of this that I have spent a fair bit of money on obtaining beautiful essential oils from around Australia, and even looked into producing some of my own!
My project focuses around a piece of literature from a Muslim perfumer, and it is his words I have taken as inspiration for an exotic perfume I am working on.( that sounds so pretentious. ha!) The writing is called Attars Exordium, and is one of the most beautiful praises to a god I have read.- I will keep you up to date with this work in progress as time goes on.

gym II

2009-08-02T18:03:00.000+10:00

... I have yet another gym membership. this time for Fernwood. lets see how long this one lasts!

New to my collection

2009-07-25T20:19:00.002+10:00

Newest things!

for Tegans birthday:

For me: (please dont mind my crazy eyes)- i call this one 'Yokai'

one of my more recent trials- scrap fabric collar, inspired by my beautiful friend Casey and her extreme fashionable self.

and finally, this wonderful tie which will have pride of place in a project i am going to be making soon! ( if you can't tell its pattern is of little golfing men!)
My good friend Ellie bought it for me after i had refused to pay $4 for it at a local expensive opp-shop! ($4 for a second hand tie..sheeeesh!)

a short one... ( Racism is Christi's pet hate)

2009-07-21T20:44:00.006+10:00

I came to the conclusion i spend much to much time doing nothing on the internet but looking at awesome crafts, and not enough time actually making stuff!

I have a few new things that i have done on the spur of the moment, so i will upload these in the next few days! but really i spend a goood portion of time just sitting here looking at the pretty pictures that flit past my computer monitor.

Though this new art spurt has made me want to have a masquerade ball for my birthday this year. How old do you get before your supposed to not celebrate with themed/ fun birthdays?

2 things:
Today i witnessed the cruelty of teenagers. At the bus stop a group of three local college girls were verbally abusing a young Asian girl from another college, and spurting such racially vile things from their mouths that i thought had been wiped from our collective consciousness. To see the younger generation repeating the verbal abuse of previous generations is saddening. I sent a letter.

I have just finished reading this really good book! its called "Monster blood tattoo" by D.M. Cornish. really a glorious work of art. If you liked Phillip Pullmans 'his dark materials' trilogy, or Garth Nixx' Sabriel, Lireal and Abhorsen- then you would love this! great stuff!

Naga mermaid: Free Pattern to Download!

2009-07-18T17:54:00.003+10:00

Hello all, I know I said a while ago I would upload this free pattern, but it took me much longer than I anticipated!

click here for the large line art version!

She is finally here, The Naga-mermaid who will steal your soul and lead unwary sailors to an untimely demise!( Just change her snake rattle at the end of her tail into a fish tail and she is a mermaid!)
Nāga: (Sanskrit: नाग, IAST: nāgá, Indonesian: naga, Javanese: någå,) is the Sanskrit and Pāli word for a deity or class of entity or being, taking the form of a very great snake—specifically the King Cobra, found in Hinduism and Buddhism.

This pattern/ picture can be used by anyone for anything, I give you free reign to use it- of course, I will play with it myself in coming weeks and we can see what I can come up with.
( I have some printable fabric I am dying to play with)

here are some ideas:

1. embroider this design on some lovely dishcloths or other materials.
2. play with it in photoshop and make it personally coloured or patterned.
3. print it on to some leather and carve it.
4. colour it in with some pencils.
5. make it into a card...

The possibilities are limited only to your imagination!

please enjoy, and link back any projects ideas that you have thought of for miss Naga!

The stress Monster has struketh!

2009-06-02T20:49:00.002+10:00

It is a very stressful week for me, Uni wise. i have over seven assessments in the space of seven days, most of them falling on tomorrow!Aaaaarggghhhhh

but!

As a sweet procrastination tool, I have been designing something sweet for all of my delightful blog readers!
Come back next week to receive a free image, which you can use as a pattern for some serious embroidery madness! I will be doing a series of these little images which I will upload here for your using pleasure. The series will be called "Naga sisters" and it all ties in to my essay due this week about Lilith, the supposed first wife of Adam!
here is a sneak preview:

Desiderata

2009-05-30T19:28:00.002+10:00

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

-Max Ehrmann

random ramblings just coz...

2009-05-27T16:57:00.003+10:00

grrr some ugly car is revving over my back fence and it annoys me!

I went for a job interview yesterday at good old k-mart. Hopefully i will get a job! then the dough will come rolling in and i will be able to afford a wonderful trip to the motherland. sigh * now that i am on the verge of getting a job, i don't really know if i want one!

essays have been driving me wild these last few weeks, i was supposed to hand one in today but that didnt get done either. we have one more week of uni left, then its time for holidays and merry making..or essays and work haha

well i don't have much more to say, save that dave and i are once again health kicking it up, we go for jogs and walks most nights, and dont eat as much crap. wish us luck with that!

I <3 China

2009-05-08T15:10:00.004+10:00

I have made a big change to my five year plan, its funny how these things happen.

Up until very recently Dave and I were going to be buying a house in the next few months, however, that has all changed!
I was talking to a good friend of mine at uni, someone, who, like me has a love for Chinese culture, and also wanted to one day go over seas and teach.
we got to talking about China, and travel in general, and she was saying she wanted to go over relatively soon, but not alone- and I wanted to go over before I got heavily into life (e.g a mortgage, and kiddies) but didn't think it was possible, as Dave doesn't really want to go over there and teach at all! (I think he is scared) - I also wanted to go with someone ( coz china can get very boring by yourself)
I got to talking to Dave, and we decided we both didn't want to jump in to a mortgage too soon and he wanted to spend a bit of time actually looking for a house and not making a crazy spur of the moment decision. As for the babies, they will be put off for an extra six months until I return, Dave will hopefully have bought a house in the mean time and life will be grand! hopefully living a frugal and peaceful life in china will help me to save a fair bit of money.

All of this is still a year away yet, and I still have to graduate, do a T.E.F.L course, and save money for the trip.

I am so excited you cannot believe it!
Now I will leave you with a photo of me from last time I was there!

the book

2009-04-10T17:10:00.000+10:00

I think I finally decided what it is I want to be when I grow up-

I am currently enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts degree here at my local uni, and when asked what it is that I would do with my degree at the end of three years- I had to have a good hard think. I hate how in our modern society one is defined by their job, As if most of us have a choice. We as humans are all in this constant state of flux, especially in my age group where I often here a sentence along the lines of "oh, I am only doing this until something better comes along" or the old "...but I want to be a..." it is a sad state of mind that carries on for months, years, even lifetimes, this feeling of having to just make do with your lot in life.

Basically what I want to say is to not just dream of your dream job- DO your dream job! Don't be a carpenter if you want to be a footballer- be your dream, and that goes for those of you who really want to be plumbers instead of writers, students instead of secretaries! Don't be afraid to just try!

For me, I had always wanted to be an archaeologist- to be digging around, seeking out new and exciting things- unveiling history and travelling, but I didn't want the responsibility, the cataloguing- the years spent begging for grant money to follow a whim- I wanted to dig, to be in that moment when that rare and valuable treasure is dug up- whether it was a fortune in old coins, or an ancient bead from a forgotten temple, I wanted that moment- in perpetuity. I wanted to be a treasure hunter.

It wasn't until I came to uni to study philosophy that I realised that treasures of histoy and culture do not lie solely beneath our earth but in the myriad folds of our internal histories- the modge podge of cultural identity, the myths and legends and folk-tales that make up our world- both in terms of beliefs and religion, but also in what defines US. Whether it is culture or social understanding of our ancestors or of our selves. Every single day we are creating treasures in our stories and movies, and we are collecting and re formatting stories of our shared past.
These verbal, literary, and hereditary treasures are where my interest now lies, my one goal is to collect and correlate these stories as they have appeared and reappeared throughout various modes in our culture, whether it be through written media, song, story, poem, or movies.

so- my proposed future "job," the one thing I really want to be- something I could spend my life doing, is... ( drum roll please)

Christiane Ferguson,
MYTHOLOGIST
collector and correlator of myths and legends!
With the first order of business being to write a book on some of my personal research into the field of symbolism and archetypes.
( I bought a really crappy book called the encyclopaedia of signs and symbols and was extremely disappointed with the content- so I propose I will be able to do a much better job!)

would you like to help me with my research?
In the comments, tell me what your personal interpretation of the symbolism of a tree is- is there any myths, legends or ideas that come to your head when you think of a mighty oak, or a sapling pushing from the ground?

- over and out
Christi Ferguson
Mythologist extrordinare.

Lilitu, katsudon and the quest for the perfect abs.

2009-03-20T13:30:00.000+11:00

It has been another long hiatus from the blogging sphere but here is your favourite author back with her chilling repertoire of moral conduct and outlandishly witty statements on world politics..errr... umm maybe not.

I am officially back at uni this week, sounds like fun doesn't it kids?
i have started most of my projects, created already my own essay topics for this semester
( one is based on the myth of Lilith) God, i love my course so much, i can tailor it to study pagan, esoteric and anciently historic things so well!

All the old faces are still there, yet they have changed somewhat. Our course has been chopped and changed so much over the last few months, it doesn't resemble the vibrant and happy place it used to be, but there is still hope. We have a new lecturer, who brings a fresh and vibrant feel to the material, and with myself picking up a subject from the education department, I have a chance to experience the learning styles of other departments. I must say that Genres of Childrens literature has to be one of my most favourite classes so far this semester. We get to study children's books and Neil Gaimen features heavily in our texts!

I have been doing some Aquasize for the last couple of weeks, it has been a fun and easy workout, with my muscles being sore at the time, but no residual pain afterwards. i cant really tell if i am doing a good work out or not- apparently it is common to feel no muscle tiredness or aches after a hard session in which you have worked hard and sweated...also, as of next week i will be doing an awesome personal training session on Tuesday nights- which involves half an hour of some serious cardio and strength training... to tell you the truth i am a little scared as i know my fitness level is not up to scratch, though i have a tread mill now, i have only used it once, but its quite a work out.

I have been taking a packed lunch to uni on Wednesday and Thursdays, in my little bento box! it involves me putting some of the food i cook at night into my little lunch box, but its good fun and sometimes i even make sushi, but i would love to always make Katsudon! :)

So for a blogging first i am going to share a recipe :)
Chicken Katsudon

( this photo looks nice but mine doesn't come out so neat :)
ingrediants :
short grain rice one cup
2 fillets of chicken breast, cleaned
panko crumbs > available in the Asian isle of Safeway or Coles)
3 eggs
one onion
mirin seasoning > safeway,coles, bendigo wholefoods
Dashi soup stock ( aka dashino moto > coles, bendigo whole foods
soy sauce
tomato sauce >
Worcestershire sauce >

method :
1. boil rice in one and half cups of water or as per instructions
2. cut any yuk bits off the chiken then flatten ( beat it up) until its thin
3. set up two bowls, one with an egg in it, and one with the crumbs- dip the flattened chicken first in the egg, coating it wholely, then in the crumbs covering it completly. heat up a pan with a bit of oil in the bottom and then fry the chicken.
4. while this is cooking mix up 2 packets of dashi with about a cup and a half of boiling water. add one TBSP of mirin, one TBSP tomato sauce, ONE tbsp soy sauce, and one tbsp Worcestershire sauce. stir, then set aside.
5. cut up one onion into rings while keeping an eye on the chicken.
when you have done this, take the now fully cooked through chicken out and cut into strips about 2 centimeters in width, place this back in the pan with the onions and the soup stock. keep an eye on your rice.
6. when this mixture comes to the boil, crack in the remaining two eggs over the top and let cook. you will start to notice the liquid will start to get thicker, and soaked into the meat- this is good!
7. serve the rice into a bowl, then add the katsudon over the top and voila! you are done!

it tastes just as good cold too :)
Here is a link to a fabulous website specialising in cooking for bento if you too are interested http://www.cookingcute.com/recipes.htm

enjoy!

The Toy Society: FOUND: Drop # 120

2009-02-26T22:11:00.000+11:00

just like to share this with you.
its a project i am getting in to, but this post just blew my mind.

The Toy Society: FOUND: Drop # 120

update 13/2/09

2009-02-13T16:05:00.000+11:00

so so tired. this morning i went for a two hour walk! yep! two whole hours!at 6am! how crazy is that! for the last week I have been very good and have walked or rode, or swim-ercized my body good. i sleep better at night, feel better in the day, and get more accomplished in my 'down time' I even feel slimmer ( which i know cant be true coz its only been a week, but I feel good) i can feel my fitness starting to increase too. I have 'thrown out' the scales, and i am just going to live. be healthy, and try my hardest! one thing that has really motivated me is my new collection of music on my mp3 player- when you have good music, it makes walking and stuff much easier. walk for four songs- walk back- easy!

I haven't posted a blog entry about the brushfires. I don't think I could. even though one was here.. not more than a few Ks from my house, I couldn't say much. for these last few weeks Victoria's outlook has been one of doom and gloom, and as much as I love to revel in tragedy like the rest of the morbidly curious human race, I couldn't take much more and have chosen to ignore the incoming reports of death and destruction. I had my fair share on the 7th.

been spending a lot of time with Katy lately. we made record bowls for our weekly craft day- it was super fun I must admit- superbly silly fun. we managed to lock ourselves out of the house and had to break in- then we got a bit tipsy mid afternoon, and messaged our boys. (in high school Katy and I used to be the only girls in a big group of boys)

I got my ears pierced a few weeks ago- that was a shocking experience. hehe
bought some earrings- with anchors! oh anchors I love you so! (see above)
from here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5399336

made my first Etsy sale with some playboy magazines.

thats really as much of an update as i can give! love ya guts!
i will give an end of month tally total for my weight loss in kilograms lost- starting soon :)

Belief

2009-02-07T00:09:00.000+11:00

Someone asked me- yes asked, politely, sincerely, and without prejudice what my beliefs were when I said I was pagan. i thank him for that. normally, this question is accompanied with a sneer, a disdainful look from my colleagues or friends sometimes a shrug, an "I don't want to ask" attitude- but this was nice, a simple request to philosophise about my ideals, my views, my soul.

I jumped at the opportunity to write it all down, and since i went to all that trouble, here I present to you my response- my first blog post on my religion!

firstly- there is a universal energy- this energy permeates all things, both animal, human vegetable, even the rocks beneath our boots, and the air we breath. from this energy everything is formed- the universe, humanity, society- all life and all of life's habits and cultures. in a way you could say i worship this energy- some call it god, the spirit, Buddha, the god head- nature. always there is a balance of the female energy and the male. none is more important than the other, both are equal. I basically choose to worship this energy, through a conduit- which would usually take the name of a god or goddess from a few different pantheons, depending on the situation. ( which is why i would classify myself as an eclectic pagan if anything)

festivals and esbats, sabbats and equinoxes are a way of recognising the primal energies of the earth, a way to celebrate the turning of the wheel, the natural harmonics and the songs of the earth. the timeless traditions of our ancestors who understood the cycles of nature and the universe, of time and the movement of the planets hold important lessons for our society who have become disillusioned and automated in a world they do not understand. i use paganism as a way to draw myself closer to the natural foundation of our earth- i don't do much, just have some wine with friends, maybe a home cooked feast on the greater festivals, and Beltane festival of course.

this energy that permeates all things can be borrowed ( and this is where i differ from most people) - good acts add to the energy, bad acts draw from your personal energy- spellcrafting or intention willing, ( i dont do spells, but will ask for assistance with something through a conduit by willing it) borrows energy from the universe to increase the odds of the willed action to happen - so before willing i may have had a fifty fifty chance of succeeding at something but depending on the amount of intent behind it, increases the likelihood of success.. does that make sense.. i am sure it does! I give thanks for good things that happen, and ask for guidance if things aren't going to plan.

i think because of these beliefs I have a love for natural elements, i am a texture-phile i love the roughness of tree bark, leaves and grass, i love to craft using leather and wool... I chose to go to uni and study religion and philosophy to better understand other religions, and to understand the myths and legends that make up my chosen path... I feel that the body is a temple of the soul- the everlasting aspect of a person. you must look after the temple to maintain your balance with your soul and the universe.

all in all I think I could say I am a very earthy person, I feel a connection with this planet that fosters us, I like to sit and listen to the roaring silence between its heartbeats, and even though my connection at this stage in my life is close to severed, I can still feel it like a backdrop of white noise in my head...

yep...i think that about covers it.
thanks for reading this far,
love christi

swap swap

2009-01-21T17:32:00.000+11:00

it has been so so so hot here lately, and its compounded by the fact that our house has no air conditioning. thats the price you pay for living in an old house :) the floorboards are nice, but the insulation is crappy :(

i have been sitting in front of the fan in the lounge room in the semi dark just crocheting or drawing. the computer is in the hottest room in the house as well which deters me from blogging or being on the webs much.

onto some happy ness, i am participating in a craftster swap with the theme of my favourite books in the world- discworld, and have been crafting up and trying to think of some awesome crafts to go with this theme. so far i have made a little sculpture of the luggage:

and i havent really thought of what else i will do- maybe i will crochet a neck warmer thingy- i think i have some nice wool somewhere that has a purple theme to it... i would really love some wizard hats buttons :) maybe i will have to make some out of polymer clay? or shrinky dinks?? any ideas on what else i can make?

onto other crafts i have learnt to crochet and have finished one crazy crochet scarf to put in the etsy listings, and have one more delightfully red one i want to put in there- i have a nice idea for a blue one with white trim like waves !

here are some pics of red in progress:

and a close up of all the crazy stitches:

its a deeper red too- more like fresh blood
these are fun to do when you cant sleep- which for me has been quite often lately. the heat sucks :(

felting

2009-01-15T22:17:00.001+11:00

Today I had a fun day with one of my good friends Katy, we both learnt a new craft, and felted!

firstly we started out doing some hats, I made a cone out of plastic and tried to shape the felt onto it

it didn't turn out to good as none of the fibres were bonding to each other :/

after that disaster, we tried to make some felt scarves

we made it a little thin...
part of the process..

mine..

then I tried to take the hat off the base.... big mistake...
it came out like some kind of squashed onion :(

but the scarf of felt turned out cool! bring on winter.. it was 42 here yesterday :(

ETSY LAUNCH!

2009-01-14T00:47:00.000+11:00

well i have just launched my new store- The Piaochong Emporium!
www.piaochong.etsy.com

I have a few of my masks listed, soon i will put up my crazy crochet scarves, and a few other goodies- i have an idea for an awesome collection of different things: leather bracelets with the word crafty stamped into it, some more masks, some crochet, and some felted, stitched and sewn things!

all my money,(i hope) will be put towards saving for a little kiln- something small and new that i can play with! i have some fantastical ideas for some amazing things i would love to make.

here is my latest mask i have been working on:

i have been practicing my clay modelling, and have come up with a pretty fantastic looking sculpture from polymer clay- her face needs a lot of work, but i will try my hardest to get her just as i envision!

The Etsy store is one of my resolutions, so i can cross that one off for once! :)
wish me luck with my endevours! your support is all i need!

Resolutions!

2009-01-02T16:47:00.000+11:00

The Christmas and new year period is finally over, my brother stayed with me for a week and played games most of the time he was here. I did however teach him to do some leather crafting, and he helped me to cook dinner on a few occasions. He is a well mannered boy, quiet but that suits me fine. took a few photos of the kiddos, one of which I will upload here-

(just after this she fell asleep)awwwwwwww

Dave and I are gunna get our selling on! yeah! he has some old games he wants to put up for auction, and I want to do Etsy stuff. (I keep saying it, and soon it will happen!)

I have a list of Resolutions I need to start working on

1. Tegans wedding is in 11 month (hyperventilates) and if I am going to be a hot bridesmaid I need to get cracking on the fitness!(ie: loose a stack of weight-CSIRO diet you better work!)

2.Get my P's- yep, I have been on my learners for almost 8 years now.....

3. Get my Etsy and production rates up!

hope everyone has a safe and happy new year!
oh... What's your resolutions?

christmas cheer and leather fun.

2008-12-21T14:22:00.000+11:00

Well, today I finally finished a lot of my Christmas presents- it was a fun and frustrating set of trial and error. I only have mums left to go. but I don't really know what else to make her! a star trek scarf, maybe?!

I made two belts this year, one for Craig and one for my dad. Craig's has the name of his property stamped in it, Limestone, and is dyed black, and my dads has our last name stamped on it and a scotch thistle or two. ( David said it looked like a pineapple!) I have made some masks as you know.- and now i finally have a camera that Dave bought for me and him to share. its a kodak Z650 with ten times zoom. mmmm yeah.
anyway here are some pictures of my masks.

the green man

pacman mask

masquerade!

soon (after Christmas) I will update my Etsy with a few different things.
I have an 80s party to go to on Tuesday, then going to my grandmas on Wednesday night. after Christmas my brother is going to come back to Bendigo to stay with me for a week.- I am happy!
Happy summer solstice everyone, and a merry Christmas.

Lefflers is god.

2008-12-16T17:03:00.000+11:00

today i went to Lefflers in the city and I was seriously blown away by the enormity of the store! It is seriously huuuuge. I wish I could have found a dark corner in that store and a paperbag to hyperventilate into just to get over the shock of how huge it is! the saddlery lady said it was tiny.. well this is the new place and it was beyond huge... woah... LEATHER SUPERSTORE!!!!!!

P.S Footscray is some kind of scrummy hole! I got asked for cash twice ( I must look like a fresh faced bumpkin or something) and I saw a drug deal go down- from proposition to collection, a meter away!! it was right-out-front- of the bus door! The poor bus driver was so disillusioned with life, he didn't even ask for my ticket and when I showed him my vline ticket, I asked him if i could use that to get on, and he shrugged his shoulders and said "meh." poor dude.

onto something coool...

I really like this, and truly I can empathise. I feel like I too could focus solely on leathercraft... it has so much potential.

update 15/12/08

2008-12-15T11:23:00.000+11:00

I have made a few masks now, and have a few cut out- i plan to go to leflers tomorrow to get some stuff for christmas presents and the like. it should be great. unfortunatly i dont have a camera at the moment (still) so i cant take any photos to show you my new beauties! soooon my preciousssss sooooon.

i have made adris, murrays,and kays present, but as of yet have not made craig ( which we had a good idea of making btw- a leather belt with the name of his farm on it! or mums... i still dont really know what to make her, as i cant find any black fleece, polar or otherwise to make her scoodie. we will just have to wing it! i will upload some photos to this blog post as soon as i get something to help me download stuff onto the comp from my phone.

been practicing using photoshop too- new skin colours etc and trying to draw from scratch. we will see how that goes.

christmas lists!

2008-12-02T13:48:00.000+11:00

Well its that awful time of year again! The holiday season! Presents abound!
Here is a temporary list of what i am making/getting for family

Dave: 100%
Murray: 100%
Faith: 100%
Anita:100%
Alex: black gloves with skull embroidery & ??? (30%)
mum: perfume, scoodie, (50%)
Adri: 100% ( soodie,notebook)
dad: *leather carved belt (98%)
iz: *leather covered book like caseys?
oma: dutch hamper (0%)

tegan/corey:?? (found something...)
casey? ( found something...)

Yeah... making this list has just proved how unorganised i am... maybe it will serve as a reminder to start creating stuff much earlier! hehehe

a while..

2008-12-01T15:33:00.000+11:00

It has been a while that's for sure! i haven't stopped making things at all, I just still don't have a camera to set up and take photos with!

The latest news on the university front is shocking. Roger Sworder is leaving the uni and taking the redundancy package, John Penwill is gone and so there is only one lecturer working in the philosophy department now and that is Rod Blackhirst! sadness:( Harry will be away for long service leave as well! My final year of uni will be a sad one.

On another note, Dave had all of last week off, which was great! It was so fun to have him around the house, it is definitely something I could get used to.

November the 18th will forever be etched into my mind as the great Kyneton car scare of 2008- an annual holiday shared by Casey, Tegan, Kirby, Kirsten and I.

I have made a few different things, but close friends will be getting some stuff off Etsy as presents, which i still have to do.

I have made the girls some little dolls, some capes and bought some hair clips and bands. fun times.

I got a new phone, but still have the same number and finallllllly got my bike in a near working state- i just need to adjust the breaks and stuff!

Saturday night was Mel's Hens night, that was fun! we got drunk in Sal's mums abandoned house and played games and stuffs.Dave made a shirt with this image on it!

We have an house inspection (our first) on Thursday, that should be fun... not!... I should go do some gardening actually....

Anyway, tomorrow I will upload my gift list for my family and maybe link to some pictures or something! or if I can use my phone camera....

Over and out for today!

university sadness

2008-11-03T16:39:00.000+11:00

I learnt some interesting news a few days back, it seems Bundoora wants to ruin my dreams, and the dreams of many others.

Bundoora has introduced a two year plan to phase out the philosophy and religion department from the humanities and social science faculty.- yep, my major will cease to exist in less than 24 months. they say it is because no one wants to do an art degree, that the philosophy component is no longer viable ( even though we get just as many first years majoring in RPS as other arts departments.)Its about the components of your degree and wether its compatible with education ( yep, thats right, if your doing an art course your obviously doing it for a dip Ed...) this move is putting Harry Oldmeadow, Rod Blackhirst and Roger Sworder out of jobs ( and suprise, suprise Latrobe suddenly starts offering a redundancy package for 150 employees....oooooh) BUT when these lecturers are gone, or shifted to other learning streams, is the money they are saving going to go back to the humanities department to improve what's left of our stripped arts degree? The answer is probably not, it will be put toward more viable sources, for those students in the big smoke! So it has been stated that this years first years are the last batch that can choose philosophy and religion studies as a major, and if any of us decide they want to do any post graduate studies we have to do it at Bundoora! not to mention that if they start to cut these subjects, whats next? literature? history?

The funny thing is, Latrobe's five year plan is to increase rural enrolments by 20%! how is that going to be possible when our arts degree is becoming so woeful that anyone who does get a placing at our campus will immediately transfer to Bundoora at the end of the first year for lack of choice!?

so much for religious tolerance
so much for understanding
so much for choice!
and so much for learning!

screw you Bundoora, we love our lecturers and our major!

a wedding, a funeral, and a birthday.

2008-11-01T11:51:00.001+11:00

On Thursday it was my birthday. I turned 24! yay!
the whole day (until Dave got home) was spent doing my medieval studies essay.
Kaitlin and i had set a deadline of 1pm to hand it in, so I did it. I think I did OK. we will see.

when Dave got home he was carrying a huuuuge package- i had no idea what it was, but when i opened it it was a toolbox! how exciting- i think it was a hint for me to clean up all my tools i have lying around actually hehehe. inside the tool box was another, smaller package, this contained a brand new DS lite, a cyclon-d memory chip ( so you can play multiple games) and two tickets to the rocky horror show!! he had secretly organised with Katy for her to have the day off of the show, and now me and her are going to go together! wow! isn't he sweet?!

that night i went to Tegan's house and dropped off some kebabs, and we organised to travel to the park on Friday ( yesterday) and have a BBQ together with the ducks. Tegan gave me a beautiful pagan journal, an awesome piece of art/spell craft made from her own hand made felt, and some printed calico with a key on it, and a handmade paper card. it was all so tactile and loverly mmmmm texture.....*drool*

I went to Katy's house yesterday while Dave was at a funeral and we had fun times getting tipsy ( at 10.30am!!) and listening to songs from the past and talking about stuff. ( at one point i nearly cried when she was talking about her dad!) and wishing Sam a merry wedding, since both of us had no way to get there. Katy made me a mix CD of songs that we both used to listen to, and we fondly remembered all of our long history together ( nearly 10 years now!)

today ( Saturday) I bought some fisherman pants and a new pair of boots, and it was glorious! I haven't been up to spotlight, but i hope when Dave returns from work, we will go to k mart, I will buy a bike, and then spotlight! yay!

love to you all! !

beltane

2008-10-27T14:40:00.000+11:00

Dave and i just came back from a lovely weekend camping in the crater of Mt Franklin. it was a fun trip which saw us setting up camp on the friday night and going through the weekend to sunday participating in rituals and the like all weekend. Dave didnt really enjoy himself so i had to make him see the fun times as well as the bad. we werent prepared i will say that, but it was fun nonetheless. i seemed to get along with everyone, but in some instances i felt angry and irritable about some things, which i guess was mainly from the lack of sleep on the first night. Dave felt uncomfortable around one particular member of our little group, and usually i felt fine amongst them all. Saturday night for me started off good, however i became annoyed fairly quickly on how EVERYONE was focused on the "pagan politics" and i couldnt go from one group to the other without hearing people talking about it. I can understand if people want to clear stuff up, but getting back to the group after a wander and hearing people ask me about political stuff i don't know anything about was rather annoying.
Sleep was horrible both nights, with dave and i forgetting our mattress, but was eased considerably by the kind and thoughtful efforts of Tegan who supplied people with ear plugs. over all, as it was my first pagan gathering, i thought it was pretty good. i saw some wonderful ideas for pagan clothing and i remember drunkenly vowing to make corey a black velvet cape like one dude had. I wish i had a camera still...
overall, Beltane was a new experience, and even though it didn't have the energy i thought it would have ( the circle wasn't as charged as i thought it would be) it was still i great time shared between close friends, i will just try to block out the peripherals next time :)

i have decided to cancel my birthday plans for this sunday and do something communal with Bernardo when he gets back from Canberra as Dave has to work on the saturday, so were were going instead to Armageddon expo. it should be fun.

P.S the camera is still broken and its driving me mental.

its...dead! and Spasmania

2008-10-17T16:13:00.000+11:00

Don't tell Bernardo but i broke his camera, so this is going to be just a Tassie post.

Well, as most of you know Dave and i went to Tasmania on the uni holidays for a week. We didn't really plan it very well in hind sight, but it was fun none the less. We stayed with family friends of mine, Lynn and Peter Inglish who live in a house with all the comfortable extras down in the Huon valley, about ten minutes out of Huonville for those in the know. Its a beautiful spot, with a view of the Huon river, apple orchards and mountains. We kind of took it easy and just explored for the first few days, going down to the Huon trail and the Airwalk at Tahune one day, and just cruising for some shops and markets the next. We found some awesome antiques stores, and just had a leisurly time of it all. On the Thursday in the week we were away we went for a long drive to Launceston. Its about 2and a half hours drive each way from where we were but it was worth it! we found a place called Birchalls which stocked everything from games to books, comics to figurines! it was great! Dave and i spent over 450 dollars there all up! It was magnificent! We came back in the same day deciding at the last minute not to go to Davenport for a look around.(this turned out to be a big mistake as there was a massive nerd store we could have gone too!!)we are thinking of going over one day with the car and going crazy :)

So all of this equalled a nice and happy trip up until the last dreadful day in Hobart. Let me begin this final part of the tale with a warning, NEVER stay at a youth hostel! EVER!

I had left the booking of our hotel room until the last minute and seriously had to call about 20 hotels before i got the YHA which had one room free- but she said it was above the pub and they have a karaoke night every saturday which was fine by me, and plus she said it finished at 1am anyway so i said ok. we get to the YHA at 10am, dump our bags in the foyer and go down and have an enjoyable wander around the Salamanca market. we get back to the hotel at 2 and are given our room keys, we go and find our room, firstly the key didn't work first go so we had to jiggle it, when we finally get it open we open our door onto a room the size of a shoe box. Seriously it had a bed, two side tables, and a metal clothes rack, some mysterious door to no where and a window that opened out onto a generator or some other large noise making machine AND no bathroom!communal showering! shudder.great. we leave and go have dinner in the pub next door, get some ice-cream from Mures( which was amazing btw) and head back to our room for a nice quiet night of perusing our bought wares and sleep. come 10 o'clock on the dot, loooud karaoke singing from down stairs with such great hits as " my heart will go on" and that crappy blood hound gang song with animals in it! this went on till about 2am by which time i was grinding my teeth and pulling out my hair while Dave slept peacefully beside me ( seriously he can sleep through a bloody war) then finally blissful, peaceful sleep...for. TWO.hours.
We were rudely awoken by drunk men out the front of our door spewing in the hallway, and because the toilet block was, seriously, 2meters from our room door, spewing in the toilets too, then they started talking about their wangs and how big they are: aka "seriously Steve i walk in there with my 4 inch cock erect..." and "im 35 years old and cant get an erection..." etc etc until finally they left after an hour or so hammering on doors and bumping into walls and stuff! geeeez! i couldn't believe it, it was insane- so the next day, as you can imagine i was extremely grumpy, overtired and ready to kill anything that looked at me sideways, and poor Dave had to put up with the full brunt of it. because of daylight savings the plane was late, i was supposed to go visit my grandma and was just too tired and couldn't be bothered, and every little thing that Dave did annoyed me. ( i bought him a frappe and an apple cake to say sorry with tho.) Man i have never been as angry as i was on that day... i am surprised that Dave is still with me actually.. love to Dave!:)

here are some photos of the good part of the trip:

Peace.

a quick blog.

2008-10-12T17:17:00.000+11:00

hello... ermm... long time no see!hehehe i havent been neglecting you.. you have been in my thoughts constantly... ermmm...right! moving on!

i went to tasmania! yay! it was a grand adventure of the utmost of fun. when i came back there was a special little package for me from mister reaper! i will upload my workings on those very soon. first i need camera batteries. tomorrow is going to be a GIANT post as i will be filling you in on some of the awesome things i have done, both on the holidays and after! ( some of it my dear readers involves the use of leather!)
and some general craftopedics!

dave is playing a game called 'kings bounty' it looks pretty. we are going to campbells tonight for dinner, that should be fun! i am cooking a potato bake right now.. as i type the recipe is-

365ml of double cream, mixed with four tbsp of minced garlic
about ten good sized potatoes sliced thinly- lay half in your cooking
dish, and cover with half the cream mix, then layer and repeat. sprinkle
with salt and pepper and place covered with foil in the oven for a good
50 mins, take of foil and cover with cheese. bake for a further 30mins..
mmmmmm

i am going to try and do a hundred days of crafting challenge... i love challenges or themed crafts/drawing/ etc. so this one is going to be 100 home and baby crafts! for my glory box of course! i am sooo excited to begin! this also means i will have to post very frequently too! yay!

until tomorrow my loves!
from Christi XXOOO

Reaper Minis

2008-09-20T01:10:00.000+10:00

Apoem of recent events:

"Davids car broke down,
an awful sight
no transport for our love.

we walked today,
some exercise,
to get icecreams from coles.

essays due
no time, no reason
getting ahead of me.

solstice brings a new change.
rode my bike.
just once around the block
because i was too puffed to do otherwise."

here is two pictures of my latest obsession: i ordered 80 dollars worth from an American site.
i guess this means i am a real nerd now :)

P.S: they are like little mini war hammer figurines but a different game-y thing
you just hand paint them however you like.. like U-Paint but on a smaller scale!

over and out :0

fitness take 2

2008-09-15T19:15:00.000+10:00

What can i say, some days i feel like a born loser.
This week is no exception. I had a gym membership... And, like all things that i start i go hacks for a month or so, then petter out into nothingness. I spent 300 big ones on a good gyms membership, only to end up not going in the last month of it.. Oh, sure i can use excuses to back up my reasons, but i know that in reality its all down to laziness. I didn't want it enough.- but like the fool that i am, I always say it doesn't matter, that i have a better plan, so... while that plan forms in my head i neglect the last plan and etc, etc in a never ending cycle of destruction. I know i shouldn't beat myself up over it, many people don't take to gyms- and i know a few people who let their memberships lapse... But i wanted to write it here.. so i can remember for myself- and so some of you can prod me to move my ass when you see i am flagging again!
On this same topic i went on a school excursion the other day, the final component of which was a climb up a hill... I was the last one up the hill.. and for a long shot too.. seriously like ten minutes after the rest of the group had climbed it i finally made it to the top and by golly did it hurt, not just physically but mentally.
So... I bought a helmet the other day. Its purple and silver and pretty. yep, you guessed it, my new pursuit is bike riding. It worked once when i was living with Bernardo (when i didnt have the naughty David shoulder imp saying bad things in my ear: e.g. FRAPPPPPPPPEEEEEEE)and i have decided to do this alone. I am not setting a goal thats unattainable, (like my lose 30kilos in 6months gym deal) but something broad. The official label is "just be healthy"- No crazy four-times-weekly-only-eat anything-green-plan... I am going to allow myself some leeway- a little bit- like, coffeees on wednesdays for uni, and when i meet up with my fave girls; dinner out only once a week maximum- and choose the healthy option- cut down on meat, and increase my vegie intake to 80% of my daily food( which i am proud to say i have been doing pretty good at) but keeping my goals to a cyclic and easier to manage area. :)
Tegan has volunteered to be my wing captain and go with me, which is excellent as she has an awesome bike track close to her house! so yeah like i said earlier...
This is my new plan of attack. Riding, riding towards freedom... and hopefully i will stick with it.

P.s i just read over this and i realise its all crazy eccentric all over the place weird sentances... but really...meh.

october 2008

2008-08-31T17:00:00.000+10:00

I am planning on putting together a few interesting outfits for the Beltane Festival at Mt Franklin this year. Here is a montage of my ideas :)

tell me what you think:)

With a little bit of monkey magic.....

2008-08-27T19:50:00.000+10:00

phew, phew, phew!
It has been a busy couple of weeks here in University land- some interesting things have "gone down" lately- i have essays coming out of my ears and time is slipping away from me quicker than ever!

i have done so many crafty things- like some quilt piecing, ( i need 75 squares and i have 15-maybe 20) i made an embroidered art work of a squid with jewels for eyes, i have been searching high and low for these beautiful artworks/engravings/lithographs that i finally found on the internet (i would love to print them off on aged paper with brown ink and have them in the baby's room,) here is a sample of two of them:

OH! and tegan and i are starting up this new project together (and it will also be part of her masters) of putting together a glory box! We are going to have monthly meetings where we create some lovely pIEces together! I have already decided what the theme of my baby room is going to be, i have chosen the woodland/ forest theme, so, lots of "Animals of Farthing Wood"-esque things (doe, stags, rabbits, badgers, weasels, owls, etc. So these prints will be absolutly perfect! sigh! its a vision!
here is a montage of some of the stuff we(i) will be trying to make for 'the hope chest project':)

I think that Tegan will be focusing on doing her hope chest with practical, house-y things, where as i will be focusing on more...babyish stuff...
On another note, i am also writing a story- (and have an idea for another one)- The big one though is going to be a huge epic fantasy novel- all in one volume! (New writers aren't usually signed up to do many series' of books unless they have proven themselves)but still, it is going to be epic!!
On a lighter note, Dave and I had our 11 month Anniversary yesterday! Woah! Thats nearly a year! and i am not sick of him one bit! He is gorgeous and i love him :)

Well that concludes catch up number 1! I hope every one is well! I promise to upload pictures of my quilt and embroidery project art once it is done! <3 you!

Jet Li AND Jackie Chan!!!

2008-08-12T23:39:00.000+10:00

OK,This is going to be a short one, but OMG

The best movie ever...seriously guys...i cried.

Ok i cried because the visuals are superbly stunning and reminded me of my stay in China, as well, i could understand what they were saying in some instances when they were talking chinese and my god!... the ending was awesome! and oh so fitting- harking back to the good old Karate kid type endings...sigh... This was the best movie i have seen this year for sure! ( In my opinion better than Batman...but that could be because i love, love LOVE! martial arts films and Jet Li in particular. XD

ok... thats all for now. next blog will be crafty, promise!

Hiking in the sheep pastures of Mt. Alexander

2008-08-04T11:08:00.000+10:00

Yesterday.

I awoke at 8am. i went on a massive hike to the mount Alexander region to look at the granite intrusions and metamorphic aureole.(phew- new words are fun!) i wrote a little diary entry that will appear in my nature diary... it goes a little something like this:

the fog hung over the landscape like a shroud, bringing to mind the bloody history of colonization that shaped our country. we walked as a group, most of us silent, some of us not. Gerry Gill ( our lecturer) firstly took us to a granite oven, used many centuries ago by the local aboriginal people. the dark rich soil surrounding it testament to the fires that once burned here.basalt chips littered the ground around the granite boulders, a testament to the generations of heating rocks that were dragged down from the plateaus of volcanic rock that surrounded us.

Gerry took us to a beautiful spot deep in the heart of this private property-a large granite basin had been formed below us and we were given free range to explore our surroundings, as long as we were careful.i took a few pictures of the natural waterfalls and the surrounding beautiful scenery of the gorge.

after a few of us had eaten our lunch we moved on up the hill to see a stone circle on the earth that had been formed by ancient hands within another granite valley. this structure may have been accredited to Mundi, the dream time serpent of destruction ( who coincidentally associated with the plague of small pox that struck the virgin aboriginal population) near to this stone circle was a more recently man made western style dry rock wall. Gerry told us that this had been built by a Chinese market Gardener in the time of the gold rushes who had supplied the local settlers with fresh vegetables.

at this time it was almost two o'clock so we began the arduous and most direct trek back to the bus ( as the crow flies) and i struggled to climb the hill that was on this path ( at that moment it felt like Gerry gill was my own personal trainer- pushing me one more step at a time!)

on the way back we stopped at an abandoned water course which now borders on a walking track. Gerry told the group of the vision that was instrumental in the planning of this water course that weaves its way in through and around the granite country of the area.

after this arduous trek we got back to the uni at about 4.30 hen went home and slept until 10am the next day! man my feet and calves are so sore!

P.S 'Springs' Asian grocer has opened up! They dont have very much variety at the moment but you can see that they have a lot of shelf space for more items!i asked about the eggs and we will see how they go! yayayay!

University for the win!

2008-07-25T12:25:00.000+10:00

Its so strange... after having a six week break away from uni, without doing hardly anything except trying to become fit and making resin stuff- i feel as if my soul has finally found its way back to me again. Man, i missed University life so much! Although i think naturally i am a recluse, and i will admit i like my quiet time- i enjoy the long hours of spending time with me, the computer, a good book and a cup of hot tea, but man, coming back to uni and having that buzz of living, learning and socialising is an experience i will never grow tired of! This semester i have three awesome classes.Medieval studies seems to be in the lead for favourite subject of the year as we get to do a craft project of our choosing from the medieval period ( i want to make a mini loom- or maybe a full size one!) or i can do my project on the first card of the tarot- the fool. We may be going on an excursion to the art gallery to see the medieval masters and tapestries! A close second is Landscape and Lifeworld where we study the history of our beautiful city Bendigo as well as go on field trips to waterfalls and significant Aboriginal sites- and we get to keep a visual art/nature diary! Then Classical literature comes third, where our focus of the semester is dark and anti- novels. We are doing Kafka for example and reading "All quiet on the western front". This is already shaping up to be a fantastic year as far as i am concerned, and i have only been back at uni a week! not to mention it is all crammed into a two days, giving me five days of weekend!

onto some crafty- crafty -ness, i bought some polymer clay the other day with which i will be sculpting an ABJD (Asian Ball Jointed doll)and so far i have done the head... however... i forgot ears, and to put the little screw and a lump of clay in the head to hold it! hopefully i will try that again soon!

(edited text to add picture of the head after firing)

Murray came round today and dropped off an overlocker machine that used to belong to my grandma as well as a huge frame he got from work (some store was going to throw it out just because it had the glass broken) and all you crafters out there know never let a good quality something go to waste just because its broken!but its huuuuge and i will think of something to put in it!

i will update this when the computer thing starts to work, but until then i have a lot of reading to do for uni- YAY!

Holidays almost over!

2008-07-18T13:59:00.000+10:00

This has been the longest Hiatus from Blog town ever methinks!
it has been almost a week! haha
School goes back on Monday, i dont hvae classes until Tuesday, and then Uni from 9am until 9pm on Wednesday! It will be one loooong day thats for sure!

I haven't been very busy lately, just chilling out at home, doing nothing much. haven't really crafted anything besides a few resin pieces. I am experimenting with the black resin dye i got a while ago but never got around to using. some of the pieces turned out ok, but some... not so good. I have also been painting something too- maybe i would like to give a go at sculpting a figure from clay... i don't know what yet, but something mystical i am sure!

some things i am working on!

i have two commissions at the moment, one is a sewing bracelet similar to mine which is in the process of being made for Kirsten. the other is a pair of fingerless gloves for Adri's friend Nikita! woohoo!

There is still no news on the leather and now i am looking for some other stuff to play with...Tegan is starting to make her own felt which will be fun to see!

I should go to the gym sometime soon, haven't been for two days! two! aaaargh!

Tonight i am going to go and see the new batman movie, dark knight! it should be awesome! i am so excited!

Hunt for supplies- the safari begins

2008-07-09T22:06:00.000+10:00

I have been trying to get my hands on some craft supplies for a while now. Its been hectic really. All i want is some vegetable tanned leather. Thats it and i have tried looking every where for it. I went to spotlight, and they told me they used to stock it, but no more, then i went to the leather man in the market, and he said he didn't have any, (and directed me to a company website based in Ballarat that sells it only by every 2sqm at $200) then in desperation i rang my father, (who used to own horses and once tooled leathers for custom bridles.)then asked him where to get it.. Finally he told me to try a horse place - so that's my last resort. Tomorrow i am going to give it a go and see if i can get me some veg tanned leather! David also wants to go to Ballarat on the weekend so maybe i can rope him into coming to the leather factory with me on the hope they will have a scrap bin i can raid. Wish me luck on that venture -_-

On another note, i have been gym-ing it up like a mad woman these last few weeks. Its been already two weeks and i have only missed 3 days of gym. My god i am sore! but a good sore, and if i persevere... Victory will be mine! Speaking of gym, today was an uber fun day. I met Sally at the gym at 3 and requested a few songs to listen to when we were working out. Number one was Corey Hart with his 80s classic 'sunglasses at night', number two was Boney M and 'Ma Baker.' (I wanted 'Rasputin' but they didn't have it) and finally L.E.N with 'steal my sunshine'... Then we started going crazy and looking up other songs like Rick Astley's 'never gunna give you up' ( for all the nerds out there, i rick rolled the whole gym, lol) followed by the ever classy * choke* Peter Andre.( don't bame me that was Sal.) All in all before i knew it 30 mins had passed on the bike and i was sore! i jumped off and immediatly went on the rower.. big mistake.. i couldn't move for a few minutes and all i did was 400meters! slack!

As for uni i have two days of it next semester. One whole day on Wednesday ( 9am- 7pm) and one two hr lecture on Tuesday! super slack! I looked at my book list and have seven books to buy for one class! Thats Modern lit for you! I am going to drop American Cinema, as it has a two hour clash with my major subject 'Landscape and life world.' So that is whats on the agenda for Friday. I am excited about Landscape and life world becuase we get to go on feild trips and a 6km hike! Woot! What i am most excited about however is the Nature journal component! i want to make a recycled journal which has awesome sketches and uses recycled material! Oh man i am so, so excited! i have to get Tegan to show me how to make some paper! because it is going to be awesome! i even want to use an old leather jacket to make a waterproof cover for it to present! its going to be beautiful! so for this awesome, of awesome journal ( i wish it was worth more than 20%) i am goin to need:

-18 A4, pliable ( can be folded in half without breaking) recycled peices of paper
-2 pieces of thic cardboard and one thin strip ( for the cover and the spine)
-some awesome fabric for the cover and back pocket ( which will hold pens and the like)
-glue
-elastic
- some embroidery cotton to stitch the spine
- also a big frickin' needle to pierce the pages to make the spine.
-some fabric paint to decorate the front and back.

I plan on making three signatures equalling 36 pages, two of which will be stuck down to form the back cover and front cover.
A leather jacket will be cut up to create a water proof diary pocket to use with the book.- all in all i think i will get a full 20% for that assignment!hehe

gym-ing again at 9.:)

中国菜市场 (chinese grocer)

2008-07-04T11:42:00.000+10:00

I have always said( mainly to my self) there are three things that Bendigo needs to be the most awesome of awesome places in the world to live. If Bendigo had these three things i would never want or need for anything in my life and would be happy and content to just stay here, my roots firmly planted in the ground for ever and ever. Those mystical three things are:
1.A J.B HIFI (for all your gaming, music, movies and particularly anime needs.)
2. A community workshop: a place where people could come in and use power tools, and kilns and pottery wheels metal smithing stuff etc for a low cost and which supplies materials for most crafts, arts and metal stuff... get what i mean?

and lastly: 3. An Asian grocer.

WELL guess what people?! Kangaroo flat now has said Asian grocer which is currently residing in the very same place young, miss Tegan Wheeldon once worked. Thats right, Blue moon magick (R.I.P) has closed down and is now in the process of becoming a wonderful Asian supermarket!!!!! get excited!!!!!yayay!(pictures to follow!)

So now i can have my Tian jiang sauce, and my black tea eggs, and my salty duck eggs, and goodness knows what else!( maybe even the mongolian fermented milk, but that may be wishful thinking)
i will keep you posted on how the place is when it finally opens and i can have a look! :) :)

Too many Eggs!

2008-07-01T17:08:00.000+10:00

I started gym on thursday... i have had only sunday off. i feel sore.

Today i had to go for my program with Lifestyles today, you know, the part where they take you through all the weights, the cardio, etc? It was seriously hard work. she took my blood pressure (that thingy squeezed my arm like a crazy squeezy thing!-ow!) And then i had to perform like a gym monkey on these various machines.. oh i hated those machines! then after some planks(*shudder*), and some stretches i was allowed to go home. ouch ouch ouch!

When i got home however, i found my family waiting on the doorstep, all 5 of the Shepparton crew. Alex is so tall now he is taller than me (hes 12) and i am so proud because he is a little rebel and getting "quite handsome" according to my Oma. The little ones are still 2 crazy little things running around off tap, And mum is still lovely mum. Murray sat in the corner reading Daves Asterix novels, and Alex and i played Mario kart (which he beat me at, and he had only played it for ten minutes total before i joined in! damn him!)A nice visit from the folks! (Dave also says that if i ever feel clucky we can have the kids over again for a while- last time it was like a nightmare!)

On a more exciting note: I found the resin section at spotlight! oh the joy! i was so so excited! i got some resin dye, but they had some nice square molds and round molds i wouldnt mind getting. i made ring bases and a bracelet to try it out on and now i just have to get off my lazy butt and do it.

now onto some beautiful things i would like to try to make just so i can keep this an actual craft blog...

The masks are from Deviant art, the skirt from etsy- i want to try making a gorgeous mask like these! All i need to do is find some vegetable tanned leather to get started! Spotlight used to have it, but i guess i am either going to have to get some from the guy at the sunday market, or i am going to have to be wily and start looking at different businesses around Bendigo?!

anyway. i dont have much else to say except i how have a lot of eggs courtesy of my mum (like 30) so if you want one or two come over, i have them spare.:)

nervously contemplating the pain...

2008-06-26T11:26:00.000+10:00

I have a gym membership... today will be my first class! OMG... they say the first two weeks is the hardest right? Well i am not looking forward to the pain tomorrow as my legs kick and scream at me for being pathetic. I have been to this class once (body pump) and the next day was a day of pure agony. It felt like someone had beaten up my legs with a piece of 4x2 and then starts hacking them off at the hip with a blunt butter knife all at the same time. those squats are the killers!...just two weeks.. just two weeks...*:(

I will be meeting up with Tegan today for coffee and U-Paint, i am sad that Casey didn't come but there are other days we can all play together :)

Last night Dave and I had dinner with Sal and Adam. that was fun. We had delicious burritos and watched 'Lars and the real girl'. It was actually an alright movie. not what i was expecting, but something that i think Michelle would have loved to see. its quirky, yet romantic, yet... funny in a different way.

I broke my beautiful sewing machine the other day, whilst making a gift for Kaccey. It was a long scarf.. like really long, made with this awesome baseball print fleece that i got from an opp shop for 50c a meter! woot! ( As for the machine, i just broke the needle so no stress, just have to replace it!) As for crafts, i am looking for a way to make a Little stamp. someone mentioned i should carve an eraser, some people say i should use the lino i have. but i don't know. i need to make two little stamps, for a secret project i am working on. hehehe La sir!

Must..get..cotton... some plain white stuff would be nice...
projects for this week include...
1.I have made a fabric pompom- just like a wool pompom but made out of scrap fabric.. its very nice, but i learned that i should make the pieces longer.
2. Started an embroidery of a burlesque-esque type girl on vintage linens.
3. Made a cat shaped egg cozy for Davids..eggs... but it turned out shocking!
4.Made Kacceys scarf- it even had an embroidered K!
5. I got some buttons and some yellow thread to sew them on to my jacket.. which i still haven't finished yet (i am scared of button holes)

All in all a productive week..kinda. Though, i would probably be sewing now if it wasn't for the fact that my needle is still broken, and there is not a screw driver in the house! I need a multi tool..or just one of these...
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Anyway, must get moving... I don't know where too... but maybe to the kitchen... for a cup of nice warm tea... mmm tea....

sunday sunday... a blog about blogs

2008-06-22T22:40:00.000+10:00

I made a jacket! yes, a real live honest to stitch jacket! from my own fabric and everything! i am so uber proud of it, because i didn't use a pattern, and just kinda winged it from a cut up old shirt of Davids!

Babel fish translatin'
I go to the golden calamus margaritae, and has brought the book about the tegan gluten free meal. She is drinks prettily, and her laughter is bright and brittle, when the glass dingdong sound has a point to cause to juxtapose to the cane darkness and micro dark, mellow tone. I love her happiness, it is the infection!
This is my fun times i had with Babel fish translation... ahhh ahahahhaha original:
i went to the golden vine and brought a book about gluten free foods for tegan. she was pretty drunk and her laughter was bright and brittle, with the tinkle of glass- slightly juxtaposed to the dark and somber, mellow tones of the vine itself. i loved her happiness, it was infectious!

Inspired by Casey's Shoe obsession, i thought i would stick to the theme of her awesome post and post a picture of some of my very favourite shoes i have seen in the world wide web.

These beauties are from the Helena Angelique line, and god they are beautiful! when i figure out how to make shoes, i am so going to replicate these babies! feast your eyes!

In other news, i am joining Lifestyles gym on tuesday, and hopefully with sal as an extra motivator, i will be able to have many fun early morning gym sessions with her. I spend most of my days being a slack home body who mopes around on her ass all day complaining about how much weight i am carrying, but as of yet, not doing a single thing about it! so! this will motivate me, move me, compell me (for 320 bucks a quarter you would hope so) to get off my ass and do something! i want to be fit and trim for summer, or at least for China and Japan at the end of the year! its a good year for motivation! its a great year for affirming friendships! its a good year for making decisions! and this year is going to be MY year. But onto what its really about...

It is nearly half way through the year and no matter how much i try to look at it positivly, i can already see i have wasted another six months of my life not living up to my full potential. Many things account for this, the main one being laziness. this is manifested in me spending my days indoors, eating fruit toast, and waking up at 12.. things i am not too proud of mind you. we get only a few years on this earth to really make use of our time, and that is when we are my/ our age, and when we are old and grey. The middle is where we are busy, filling our time with work and family, and we look back on this time, the now, and wonder what we did with all the spare moments we had. I will look back and see i played video games, and lounged about the house when i could have been out forging stronger bonds with my friends, or stronger bonds with my self. This "self" includes the body, and the mind. Sometimes i wonder why dont i take up an instrument? why dont i learn a new language? why dont i go out more often with the people who are closest to me ( you know who you are) and make memories to keep me comforted in those long abscences of contact that i know are inevitably going to arrive, when our lives and family bog us down in the future?- why? because i..am..lazy.. and THAT is what i want to fix. its not about body image (although that comes into it) and its not about fitness, its about being motivated, and using the time i have to make myself into the person i want to be, and to me, these years we have now are by far the most important ones to use, and to prepare you for the times ahead... so as a message to all of you out there who have bothered to read this far, and for those who are in foreign lands, i am sending you out a virtual hug and smile with a promise to use my time more wisely in the future, and to promise to make more memories with you, together :)

love christi.

Monday so quiet and lovely

2008-06-16T21:32:00.000+10:00

ho ho today was a super fun day!

i got up nice and early today (10.30) and washed the dishes, then i went and did some resin stuff with these awesome glittery stars i found, hopefully its gunna make a cool new bracelet! made some pendants with the glitter too, and im having a go at making a paper weight type thing. tegan and casey came over today and we all went to t,hooft for lunch oh how i love it!) tegs and i shared the frites and chai which is our specialty, and casey had the atlantic salmon breakfast(has browns, smoked salmon, poached eggs, bacon on rye toast with hollandaise sauce and a side of spinach) yum!

then after that delightful foray into the culinary world we headed off for tegan and caseys first jaunt into the world of U-Paint! yay! Today i did a partridge in a pear tree, tegan did a happy little blue bird and casey did a cute prancing stag! they also have aweosme coffee at U-Paint.. awesome i tell you!

after i got home i did some more patches of davids quilt- and drew up a semi pattern for my jacket and t-shirt( i am totally winging it, and we will see how it goes! haha) and took a picture of the squares im going to be using for mine

here is Davids and my last U-Paint fun times-

Tegan and i have decided we would like to do an exhibition together in about a years time, so we are gathering some stuff together to sort of work it into being. i started a peice last night which i think has a lot of potential.. a theme i want to work on.. similarities, and just a whole range of different things all together.. i dont know how i will go- but it will be an adventure!

tomorrow i will be getting up early as we have a dude coming to value the house for the landlord, and i have to do a bit of spot cleaning.. im excited to get started on my new jumper jacket though!

Hopefully Holiday Hobbies

2008-06-13T22:58:00.000+10:00

station master says :"Procrastination station! all passengers who wish to disembark should do so now!"*insert train whistle here*

My poor David had to wake up at 7.00 am today because his bosses decided he has to work and extra hour in the mornings from now on! my poor boy, and he doesn't get paid any extra either! stupid contracts... so now he is going to be even more tired than before! speaking of which he went to have a nap and didnt wake up even when i called him for dinner. (hes eating it now even though its 11pm, isnt he sweet!?)

I spent most of my day today smoozing around house doing nothing at all. being on holidays is so much fun! i played some of the wii, Zelda Twilight Princess, then got bored of that and started on the DS and Animal crossing. there are so many things i want to do on these holidays, some of which are: making a quilt out of old scarves ( im about 5% done on that) make some more little plushies, attempt a jumper with fleece, similar to this but plain black:

i also want to make a whole batch of these cuties, lined in felt with funky fabrics:

( both these images are from flickr- random searchings, if you know or have seen where they are from please leave a comment below with the url for crediting, thanks!)

got some stuff back from U-Paint the other day i will have to upload a picture of it, i'm very proud! as well as getting a new book i have wanted for ages " the Wit and wisdom of Discworld" aww yeah bring on the Terry Pratchett love!

P.S: oh, and i had this awesome dream a few nights back that i was dressed up in this beautiful yellow gothic lolita style outfit and was running around bendigo going to sumptuos looking police stations! hehehe i found a swatch of fabric that was very similar to the dress and skirt fabric in my dream!

rosebud, omas, and home.

2008-06-09T21:38:00.000+10:00

Well, its been a long few days this passed Queens birthday weekend. Dave and i were very busy!
Saturday morning Dave and i woke early, showered and headed off to my Oma's place: part one of the voyage to Rosebud. We travelled through morning traffic along the Calder, a little bit of mist hung in the air~ we arrived at Oma's at about 12 and had lunch. as soon as she saw my jumper she demanded i take it off and insisted on trading it with me for some horrible eighties jumper with fake garish bright gold buttons, which she demanded i look after like it was baby Jesus himself, As well as a hideous sixties wool kaftan/jumper that i ended up giving to my step mum.- then when two o'clock came round, we bolted out the door as fast as we could before she could delay us any longer and lecture me about all the things she loves to say- but not before she once again commented on my weight, and how i am not doing the right kind of University degree... i guess by now i should be used to it, but it still hurts a little... its like she doesn't think that i know i'm overweight.. she presumes its her duty to tell me so every time she sees me... ahhh well!

Rosebud was beautiful! It is winter, but the grass is a beautiful vibrant green, and the trees along the foreshore are a beautiful species of pine evergreens. The beach boxes are brightly painted and looking lovely, and the water was super clear. There were swans roaming the beach, it was a beautiful sight to see ( though someone once told me that swans only like to swim in water thats unfit for humans to swim in.) Though, it was tide out, and i think they were just searching for lunch under the sand. there was hardly anyone else on the beach on Sunday morning, just us and a few families, kite flyers, and dog walkers..

As for dad, he is well, i haven't seen him for nearly six months and i think he was happy to have me down.. i think. he is losing weight, sorta, and his smokers cough is getting worse, other than that he is doing well. He did ask me if i would make him a pair of fingerless gloves, and i feel very proud to do that.. it means he likes the ones i made Adri. All in all it was good to go down there again. i got to see my step sisters and their new house, my step Mum and my Dad. David got a bit freaked out by the amount of cats my step mum has (13) but other than that he was fine with it. If there is one thing that i a have learned from this weekend is that David is possibly the greatest boyfriend in the whole world.. not only did he drive almost 4hrs each way to and from Rosebud, and has met my grandma (and she loves him) but he has met all of my crazy family and still loves me! (and not once did he complain!)

We got back to Bendigo and have done nothing but play the Wii all day. All in all it has been a great long weekend. Only thing is i have an exam tomorrow at 9... so wish me luck!

the wonders of U-Paint

2008-06-01T00:33:00.000+10:00

well it would seem i have a new addiction!

For Mine and Davids anniversary he took me to a place that so reminded me of my childhood... A place where magic reigns and woman and men, children and adults could sit together in harmony, combined with their love of painting pre cast ceramics! sigh* it was awesome, for my first piece i chose a large stein which depicted a snow top ski scene, a large beer tankard some may call it. We sat together on this day, our eight month anniversary and painted our little woodland scene together, surrounded by the chatter of the other women in the little store in the middle of eagle hawk. U-Paint.

that was last Monday, today we went to pick up our fired piece, dreading and hoping our piece of art would be the beauty we envisioned. we ended up selecting a few more pieces and then spent the good part of the afternoon immersed in our own creative worlds, David painting a cat with all the glaze colours of the rainbow, and me painstakingly drawing and concentrating on getting a beautiful damask image i had drawn a few weeks ago reproduced on my porcelain. we also picked up our crafted-in-love stein. viola!

im so proud!

Chinese Lessons Where for Art thou?!

2008-05-30T19:51:00.000+10:00

Today i spent most of my day researching quotes to use in my history essay on the social identity of China. It is a rare occurrence for me to actually go to uni especially when i don't have classes, but i had already asked for an extension so i thought i might actually put some effort in. My excuse (or what i tell others ) is that its hump year, you know the middle of your degree... that one year in a three year degree when you don't do so well... ahem.. well its my excuse and i am sticking to it!
yesterday after Uni i went to B.R.I.T which is the local T.A.F.E and asked about Chinese lessons... of course they have absolutely no idea about anything. Bendigo is supposed to be the Chinese heritage capital of Australia and they don't even offer mandarin lessons! The woman behind the counter even told me that they have never had Chinese language lessons at the tafe, and i told her that's impossible considering i did a Chinese course with them not three years ago! grrrrr.
I wrote out a "suggestion" on their customer complaint and feedback form, so we will see what becomes of that. I am desperate to learn it, its driving me insane. On a sweet note, David bought me a learn at home Chinese kit that my computer is refusing to run...

I caught up with my lovely friends Tegan and Casey today, I am so uber proud of Tegan! (shes doing her Masters of Visual Arts!) and is an all round awesome person. She will be having an exhibition sometime soon, so i can guarantee there will be photos some time in the future!

As an inspiration to those out there in the big wide world, here is my first 'real' blog post. A Chinese character for us to learn together! (awwww)

the first!

2008-05-30T00:04:00.000+10:00

hello, hello and welcome to my one and only blog-town!

I, like many before me, grew tired of the sensationalism of Myspace and Facebook, and after becoming enamored with the many craft blogs out there in the big wide web, i thought i would get my self a crafty, worldly blog!
I wish to document on these tangibly ephemeral pages a few things about myself as i see fit. mainly i will be writing about my crafting, my health and weight campaign of fitness, and some issues to do with my new found high spirits and involvement with my pagan beliefs!

so stay tuned to this my new (and only) blog, and i will take you into my world. (Insert Disney moment here.)

all the best with everything, and wish me luck :)
Christi