matouenpeluche

Goodbye 2010!

New Year's Eve is upon us!

What are your plans for this evening? As it is a real scorcher here in Sydney I will be lying low today but will most certainly be venturing out this evening for the crackers on the harbour.

I would like to thank everyone who stopped by my blog this year - thank you from the bottom of heart for all your lovely comments and cheery goodwill! I'd also like to send out a heartfelt "Thank You" to all those peeps who blogged about my prints, visited my shop and bought my work this year too!

I hope 2011 is a productive year for everyone full of adventures, fun and joy!

 
Image from here.

Window Shopping...

All the shops in Sydney are in sale at the moment as I'm sure they are in your neck of the woods too. I walked down my favourite retail street in Sydney yesterday: Queen Street in Woollahra. It's full of swish antique furniture shops, jewellery shops and high end boutique stores. I was very good though and didn't buy anything! I just window shopped or "went eye shopping" as they say in Korea! What about you? Have you been buying up big in the post Christmas sales?

 

The Year in Review: 2010

These photos are from top: The northern lights as seen through the ash that exploded into the atmosphere at the beginning of the year from that volcano in Iceland, hay bales along a beach in the Gulf of Mexico absorbing the oil from the BP oil spill, twin girls in Ireland after their first communion, champions Spain at the end of The World Cup.

With only a few days left of the year 2010 most newspapers and websites are doing round ups for the year that was. I've seen a few, and for my money you can't go past The Guardian.

An Appreciative Audience

An Appreciative Audience

Hi from the last week of 2010! I hope everyone is having a super break and relax! I've been doing a bit of tidy up and feel like an absolute champ! Other than that I've been pottering around my suburb and hanging out with my Dad's cat and gardening. Gardening I've decided is really fun! It's my new favourite thing. I like everything about it from the weeding to the sweeping to the watering and pruning! Hmmm...that sounds a bit strange when I see that actually written down!

Anyway, here is a drawing I've recently finished: An Appreciative Audience. It's actually semi-autobiographical. I fondly remember, when I was little, having a small appreciative furry audience whenever the urge to sing, dance or perform struck. I had six cats and they seemed to enjoy a bit of improv. Although, it must be noted that I did not play the piano accordion as I was more into free form singing, dancing, magic shows, puppet shows and playing the piano.

This drawing is dedicated to those furry sweeties who kept me company out in the 'burbs when I was growing up.

The shadows of St. Mark's

I hope everyone had a super Christmas yesterday! I had a delightful day with my family and am now recovering nicely at home! :0)

I thought seeing as it was the celebration of Christ's birth yesterday I'd have a shadow shot of a favourite church of mine: St Mark's Anglican Church in Darling Point. It's not too far from where I live and I pass it on my constitutional evening walk a few days a week. On Sunday mornings we can hear the bells ringing for the Sunday service and on Saturdays there's usually a wedding. 

It was built in 1852 in the English Gothic style; more specifically the Victorian Romanesque style that was popular in the day. It's built from lovely sandstone which changes colour at different times of the day.

And! Just as an aside, it was where Elton John married his sound engineer, Renata Blauel, in 1984 and where Muriel of Muriel's Wedding fame was also married!

Shadow Shot Sunday is a fab meme set up by Tracy of Hey Harriet! If you'd like to join in you are more than welcome to! All you need to do is read the instructions here.

Merry Christmas...

 

 

I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas for tomorrow! May it be an enjoyable, peaceful, happy day filled with fun, laughter and love!

 

(This image from here.)

Merci beaucoup Mamushka Marie!

  
1) Matou en Peluche 2) Pop Pop Portraits 3) Amanda Atkins 4) Caitlin Shearer 5) Clever Nettle 6) Peggy Wolf Design

I was totally thrilled and flattered to see I was included in Mamushka Marie's pretty girl prints set the other day! Mamushka Marie is a gorgeous blog by a gal called Claire and is full of interesting bits and pieces from her life and lots lots more! She also has a shop called Mamushka Marie on Etsy which is full of vintage and decor goodies!

Shy boy...

It was all going so well. We were in the front yard doing some gardening when I suddenly decided to whip out the camera and take a shot of Harry. This is what he did - hot foot it outta there!

...and then he turned his back to me and refused to look around!

Ah well! It might be past experiences with the flash that has him camera shy.

I think a long zoom lens might be the way to go so I can snap him when he's not even aware that I'm there.

Hope everyone is surviving the silly season! 

Bar Bar Bar Bar Bar Barbara Ann(e)...

Barbara Anne

Hello happy Sunday! I am still on holiday - I actually have another two weeks to go and I am totally blissed out! Just doing nothing in particular and sleeping in has been a total treat!

This, by the way, is Barbara Anne. It is the Barbara Ann(e) that the Beach Boys sing about - although they spell her name without the "e" on the end. I always thought the chorus to that song was just random doo-wopping and only recently discovered that the lads were singing "Bar bar bar, bar bar - barbara - ann". It's such a catchy tune and I've had it in my head off and on for a good month now. That's pretty tragic isn't it! Oh well!

Hope everyone is having a super weekend!

 

P.S. Here's the link to that song in case you've forgotten it.

 

Last minute shopping?

Well, I feel very virtuous - I did a bit of Christmas shopping yesterday. I am not nearly finished of course but I have started!

I saw these pretties on Etsy: Christine Domanic's shop. The cicada earrings particularly caught my eye as Sydney in Summer is cicada central - It's not a proper Summer in Sydney without them!

  

 

She has lots of sweet jewellery in her shop here.