The Art of Jordan | Art ~ Design ~ Style

November Minute

2012-11-09T17:54:00.000+11:00

~ making a new friend on the walk home ~

~ bonfire night to celebrate Spring - with homemade incense bundle (lavender, basil & rosebud) ~

It's been a quiet, frugal and contemplative life for me these past few months. I'm coming to grips with gardening and slowly learning the art of patience. Gardening can teach you a hell of a lot about life. I'm also dabbling a little in baking. Making the exact same thing over and over but I'm sure I'll branch out eventually. I'm adopting new ways of thinking and experiencing the world. Which can be uncomfortable a lot of the time, but there's a new sense of possibility embellishing the edges.

I'm also thinking of starting a new blog to mark this shift. Maybe in the new year. But for now I thought I'd share some of the things I've been doing, reading, listening to, watching, dreaming about. Some are some oldies but some are new:

Gardening: I'm determined to figure out container gardening. I failed last year so I've armed myself with more information this time around. Learning to be patient is another critical turning point - nature can't be rushed. There's a quiet beauty to nurturing plants that I've never felt before. [I'M PLANNING TO SHARE MY INSIGHTS ON A NEW BLOG]

Baking: Chocolate raspberry babycakes. Over and over. I've graduated from lazy packet mixes to baking from scratch. The best part is eating them, obviously. Nothing beats a fresh, juicy raspberry in the middle of all that chocolate. It's a taste sensation. [I MIGHT JUST SHARE MY RECIPE TOO]

Watching: ABC and SBS online is amazing. We have no tv in my house (and no satellite even if we did), but thanks to on demand videos I don't miss out. I've been feeding my brain with documentaries and brilliant dramas - everything from the history of prohibition in the US, to rat catchers, to Khmer Rouge death camps and transsexuals on their gender transformation. Two brilliant dramas I highly recommend:

Redfern Now (ABC1, Thursdays 8:30pm)
The Bridge (SBS, Thursdays - almost finished however)

Listening: The title song from The Bridge is Hollow Talk by Danish band Choir of Young Believers

Reading: I found myself watching way too much catch-up telly online, effectively blowing our internet data. So I've stocked up a few rad new books, which deserve their own list:

The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything - Ken Robinson (if you haven't seen his TED talk - then do - you won't regret it.)
This brilliant book follows on from my reading The Heroine's Journey by Maureen Murdock and Creative Vizualisation by Shakti Gawain.)
The Red Tent - Anita Diamant. A wonderful book to revisit, set within the old traditions of women in early biblical times.
A Left-Hand Turn around the World - David Wolman (yep, I'm a lefty. This is an easy to digest summary of left-handness research.)
Joanne Harris - I've been dusting off my collection and immersing myself in the world of chocolate, homemade fruit wines, french cooking, tarot and outsiders. Her books always inspire me to colour my world through my senses. My favorites include: Chocolat, The Lollipop Shoes, Blackberry Wine, Five Quarters of the Orange, Holy Fools and Coastliners. I'm looking forward to laying my hands on the latest book Peaches for Monsieur le Curé.
Jostein Gaarder - Another all time favorite in the magic-realism genre. These are more complex so I'm working my way up to reading these again: The Solitare Mystery, Maya, Sophie's World. These books make me view the world in an entirely new, fantastic, philosophical way. I have nearly all his books so I can't wait to add The Castle in the Pyrenees to my collection.

~ i wish, via thebooandtheboy ~

Dreaming: A recent trip to Byron Bay has inspired me again. I've always wanted to buy my own caravan and renovate it. Live in an alternative, creative, seaside town like Byron. Have my olive oil can container garden - growing my own veggies, my own herbs for teas and remedies. Sit outside in the afternoon sun with my cat, working on embroidery. Indulge my gyspy colourful aesthetic. Ride my vintage bike to the markets.

I've been compiling a Pinterest boards of inspirational images. All I need to do now is save up and finish learning to drive!

Failure

2012-10-01T16:47:00.000+10:00

I watched this video a long time ago but it came to mind recently that I should watch it again. J. K. Rowling shares valuable insight on the virtues of failure. There's so much in this speech that speaks directly to my experience and I wish I could adequately express my inspiration and gratitude, but my brain has been failing me for several months now. I hope to one day regain that rich imagination and poetic fluidity that came so naturally to me. For now, here are my favorites passages from the speech:

Looking back at the 21 year old I was at graduation is a slightly uncomfortable experience for the 42 years old she has become. Half my lifetime ago I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself and what those closest of to me expected of me. I was convinced that the only thing I wanted to do, ever, was write novels. However my parents, both of whom came from impoverished backgrounds and neither of whom had been to college, took the view that my overactive imagination was an amusing personal quirk that would never pay a mortgage or secure a pension. I know the irony strikes with the force of a cartoon anvil now, but then...

So they hoped that I would take a vocational degree. I wanted to study English Literature. A compromise was reached, that in retrospect satisfied nobody, and I went up to study Modern Languages. Hardly had my parents car rounded the corner at the end of the road than I ditched German and scuttled off down the Classics corridor. I cannot remember telling my parents that I was studying Classics, they might well have found out for the first time on graduation day.

Of all the subjects on this planet I think they would have been hard put to name one less useful than Greek Mythology when it came to securing the keys to the executive bathroom...I do not blame my parents for their point of view, there is an expiry date on blaming your parents for steering you in the wrong direction. The moment you are old enough to take the wheel responsibility lies with you. What is more, I cannot criticize my parents for wanting me never to experience poverty. They have been poor themselves and I have since been poor. And I quite agree with them that it is not an ennobling experience.

Poverty entails fear and stress and sometimes depression. It means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is something on which to pride yourself. But poverty itself is romanticized only by fools. What I feared for myself most at your age was not poverty, but failure. At your age, in spite of a distinct lack of motivation at university - where I had spent far too long in the coffee bar writing stories and far too little time at lectures - I had a knack for passing examinations and that, for years, had been the measure of success in my life and that of my peers...

Ultimately we all have to decide for ourselves what constitutes failure, but the world is quite eager to give you a set of criteria if you let it. So I think it fair to say that by any conventional measure, a mere 7 years after my graduation day, I had failed on an epic scale. An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain without being homeless.

The fears that my parents had had for me and that I'd had for myself had both come to pass. And by every usual standard I was the biggest failure I knew. Now I'm not going to stand here and tell you that failure is fun, that period of my life was a dark one. And I had no idea that there was going to be what the press has since represented as a kind of fairytale resolution. I had no idea then how far the tunnel extended and for a long time the light at the end of it was a hope rather than a reality.

So why do I take about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was and began to direct all my energy in finishing the only work that really mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one area where I believed I truly belonged.

I was set free. Because my greatest fear had been realized, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life...

Some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all. In which case, you've failed by default. Failure gave me an inner security that I had never attained by passing examinations. Failure taught me things about myself that I could have learned no other way. I discovered that I had a strong will and more discipline than I had suspected. I also found out that I had friends whose value was truly above the price of rubies.

The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from set backs means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift for all that it is painfully won and it had been worth more than any qualification I have ever earned.

So given a time turner I would tell my 21 year old self that personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a checklist of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, though you will meet many people of my age or older who confuse the two. Life is difficult and complicated and beyond anyone's control. And the humility to know that will enable you to survive it vicissitudes.

Image credit: Maricor & Maricar.

Saying No

2012-09-24T22:37:00.001+10:00

Women have a hard time saying no because it feels so good to be chosen, especially by the king. We enjoy pleasing daddy, our boss, our coworker, our lover. We don't want to disappoint others, so much of our self-image is invested in making other people happy. Our internal little girl doesn't want to be left out or left behind. It's too painful to choose not to join the fun. And we need the income.

In moving out of a state of spiritual daughterhood in which we serve male role models, there is rarely a Big Daddy saying, "You've done a good job...It's just what I wanted...Go ahead and make your own way." Instead the usual response is, "You're throwing away your career by not taking this position...How could you let us down?...You just don't know how to keep commitments...You're just not up to the challenge."
These rebukes are difficult for anyone to hear but particularly trying for women who do not like to disappoint others or who have relied so much on males for approval and validation.

It is these moments of being truly vulnerable, however, that we can really grow. Jean Shinoda Bolen says, "When we are doing something because it is expected of us or to please somebody else or because we are afraid of somebody else, we become further alienated from a sense of living authentically. If we just keep living out a role that we know well, the cost of that is to become increasingly cut off from that which is the collective unconscious; that which not only nourishes us, but also provides the raw material that allows us to mess up. Very often in transition periods, that's exactly what is called for, a change by going through chaos, of losing the way, of being lost in the forest for some time before we get through and find our path again." - The Heroine's Journey, Maureen Murdock.

"Be Brave" by Sophie Blackhall-Cain via Etsy

The Heroine's Journey

2012-09-18T17:46:00.000+10:00

...she is not all sweetness and light; just as when a woman comes out of voluntary isolation to assert herself, it is often not a pretty sight. Beware family and friends that want her to go back to the way she was before. She now realizes the extent to which she has sacrificed herself in pleasing others, and she is not willing to do things the old way. She ruthlessly cuts away people and situations that do no support who she has become...

...she makes her descent not for accolades and approval but to experience the full cycle of her feminine nature. She gains the wisdom of the cycles of changes, accepting the dark, instinctive side which helps us find meaning in suffering and death as well as the light, joyous side which reaffirms our strength, courage and life."

- Maureen Murdock, The Heroine's Journey

[unsure who to credit for the image, I traced it back to this site but no further. If you know, please contact me]

Unity of Opposites

2012-09-10T16:50:00.000+10:00

There is a right and there is a left; if you take sides you are trying to eliminate half of reality which is impossible. It is an illusion to think you have right without left, good without evil, women without men, the rose without the garbage, the United States without the Soviet Union - Thich Nhat Hanh, Vietnamese Buddhist teacher.

Image: Love Bug by Vince Pezzaniti

Gluten-free Bread Recipe

2012-05-20T11:37:00.001+10:00

It's wee and little, but full of goodness

Here it is people, my own gluten-free bread recipe! Now, the first time I tried this recipe I mis-measured my flour and managed to create a super fluffy bread loaf. Unfortunately I couldn't remember what I'd done wrong and it's taken several attempts to recreate that glorious first loaf.

But I think I've finally got it - and here it is (or download the printable verion):

Some of the ingredients I use - soon to be replaced by bulk items!

Dry Ingredients:

4 tsp millet meal
1/4 cup of arrowroot
1 cup brown rice flour with 1/2 cup of buckwheat flour (or any other gluten free flour you want to try)
(optional Baking powder (see the packet for instructions))
1/4 cup psyllium husks
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp caster sugar
2 tsp instant yeast

Wet Ingredients:

1 tsp of chia/flax seed 'slurry' (for every tsp of seed add 2 tsp of boiling water and whisk together, it will form a glutinous texture)
2 tsp vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar, but any will do)
1 tbsp sunflower oil (plus extra for brushing)
2 tbsp yoghurt (I used Greek yoghurt)
325ml warm water (keep this separate)
30ml soy milk (or whatever milk you prefer)

Mixing the dry ingredients

1. Put the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix together. I've included baking powder to give my flour some extra lift, but you don't need to include it. I also keep my flours in the freezer, so I measure these out and let them sit till they are room temperature.
2. Whisk the liquid ingredients separately (NOT the water, keep that separate).
3. Pour the wet ingredients in with the dry and mix well.
4. Pour the water in a little at a time until you get a good dough consistency, I find this varies each time depending on the weather.
5. I left my dough in a bowl, covered, overnight but if you're short on time you can leave it for an hour.

Shaping the dough

6. When you are ready to bake - shape the dough into a log, grease your baking tin, pop the dough into the tin and brush with oil.
7. Preheat the oven to 245C (220C fan-assisted)/475F/gas mark 9. Bake for about 50 mins.

Ready for the oven

8. Remove from the oven, pop your loaf out of the tin, and leave to cool on a wire rack, covered with a cloth - this helps keep the bread soft.

After quite a bit of research I found this recipe by Dan Lepard (for The Guardian) and adjusted with advice given by Shauna of glutenfreegirl.com. I wanted a recipe that didn't include eggs - whole eggs create a cake consistency, and separating yolks to get the whites is just plain irritating. I stuck with yeast because I like as fluffy a bread as possible, rather than a soda bread variety.

I replaced the soya flour with millet meal; the potato starch with arrowroot; the cornflour with a mixture of buckwheat and brown rice flours and the milk with soy milk. Xanthan gum can be replaced by chia or flax seeds - I could only get chia seeds so that's what I used. I'd like to perhaps try adding some flaxseed oil next time.

I'm loving my gluten-free bread, even though the bread is quite small I still enjoy my vegemite toast in the morning. I also have buttered slices with my soup each night. The buckwheat flour has a strong, earthy taste which took some getting used to - but now that the cold weather is setting in it's quite hearty and comforting! I'm almost out of buckwheat flour, so I'm keen to try some other grain flours like barley, rye and spelt. Have you tried baking with any of these? Let me know your thoughts!

Freebie! Meal/Exercise Planner

2012-05-16T11:14:00.000+10:00

Daily planner in my diary to record the day, with stickers!

Yay for freebies! I designed this simple, fun little meal and exercise planner for myself yesterday and thought it would be nice to share with you all. You can choose from a weekly planner or daily.

Each plan is divided into morning and evening exercise; breakfast, lunch, dinner, morning tea and afternoon tea. There is also space to record what time you head to bed (or get up, whatever you like), along with additional notes (i.e. vitamins/supplements taken), and most importantly a space to record something nice you did for yourself that day (bought yourself flowers, went to a cheap movie, whatever!)

Simply cut out and stick in your diary or planner

Use the weekly version to plan ahead

Download the planner here. Hope you enjoy it and find it helpful to motivate you each day. So far it's been working for me. And it's a great excuse to use all those fun washi tapes and sticker sets I've been hoarding. Mwah! xx

Descending to Ascend

2012-05-16T10:55:00.000+10:00

Hand-stitched Kikki.K card for a friend

Cryptic title I agree. But if you're in the mood for self-development and healthy change stories - via bread making - then this may be a blog post for you.

I've been going through a lot of changes of late. The big, life-changing, soul-searching variety. After several years of feeling lost and out of place I've finally had my light-bulb moment. As with most people it took a series of traumatic events to catapult it, and while they were painful to go through I don't regret them because they have brought me to the place I'm at right now.

Often when we go seeking help, we're not actually ready to see what's right in front of us. It takes quite a long time to actually see things as they really are. It's a necessary process. It's taken me about six years to reach my light bulb moment. A moment where I saw how I was directing my life simply through the way that I think. That all the negativity, discord and trauma were a result of how I was thinking, a mode of thinking that was a combined result of upbringing, education, environment etc etc.

Snap-shots from my every day

We take what we've learned and continue practicing it, even though it's out of sync with our true nature, is negative and self-sabotaging. Sure, you can blame other people who taught you those things, but eventually (with luck) you see that you are both the problem, but also the solution (in the immortal words of Megan from Bridesmaids).

So I'm in a state of change and adjustment. It's going to take me a while to get good at all this new way of thinking and living. Some of the books I'm reading that have been guiding, inspiring and reassuring are:

The Heroine's Journey - by Maureen Murdock (aimed more at women 40+ who are what's known as "father's daughters" - apparently I share their issues, even though I'm in my 20s. Maybe you do too).
Creative Visualization - Shakti Gawain (basically the pioneer book from the '70s about how to use meditation, visualization etc to create the life you want).
You Can Heal Your Life - by Louise Hay (she's written heaps of books, audio-books, workbooks etc on how to change the way you think and thus change your life).
Tao Te Ching - by Lao Tzu (there are various translations, I've actually been listening to the audio version by Ursula K. LeGuin).

But enough of that, let's get to the bread-making! As part of the health changes I'm making I'm reducing my wheat intake and switching to gluten-free options. I'm also reducing my lactose intake. I say reducing because I believe that these changes should be moderate rather than extreme. Get to know what triggers your body and adjust accordingly, but I like to keep to the general rule of a variety and balance of everything.

Hand-stitching a Typo card for Mother's Day, my window, new hair & shades

Many of the gluten-free breads in store have a cake-like consistency, and the bread mixes you can buy still contain some ingredients that are a bit too chemical for me. So I decided to make my own version and include all those good grains and seeds with heaps of nutritional value - it makes sense to me to include all those things in something as staple as bread - you're eating all the good stuff without having to think about it (I'm also adding All-Bran, millet meal and quinoa to my rustic style muesli, another no-thinking-involved option).

Unfortunately, when you take the wheat out of bread you take the gluten, the stuff that binds the dough together. So most recipes out there have extensive ingredient lists in order to create a glutenous texture. They also tend to be a bit on the chemical side (i.e xanthan gum, I'm sorry but I wouldn't even know where to find that in a supermarket). So in my usual style I researched all the ingredients to find out why they're in recipes, and then researched more natural alternatives.

I've decided to create a separate, short post with just the recipe, so hang tight for that. After two failed attempts I am yet to replicate the amazing fluffiness I achieved accidentally the first time. But I think I've almost got it - so I reckon the recipe will be up in the next few days.

In the meantime, hold on to your knickers for one more hour for my next blog post. I've created a meal/exercise planner that's fun and easy to use, in both weekly and daily options!

Morning Strolling

2012-04-27T11:13:00.000+10:00

I've started walking in the mornings after breakfast. Not fast exercise style walking, just strolling at a comfortable pace, taking a different direction each day to see where it leads me. I've also started listening to audiobooks and podcasts while I walk. I like the distraction, having a little something to think about while I take in the sights. And of course I take pics as I go of things that catch my eye. Some of the recent podcasts I've listened to:

New Directions

2012-03-19T14:57:00.000+11:00

Ange, Sarah, Brooke and Kit at Follow Store

Oh my. I've been a busy little bee (don't I always say that? Well, this time I really mean it. Oh wait, I think I say that too...urgh). Perhaps the most important development as been my decision to move into embroidered illustration work full time and set the digital collage aside. So it's all business plans, financial plans, marketing plans and to-do lists galore right now (I think a blog redesign is in order as well). I'm making my way through it little by little - I should have an updated website by the end of the month. Ideally I'll be stitching book covers, little title pages for magazines, album covers and other funny things like - wine labels(!?) very soon.

Perhaps the other big thing is that I'm getting out more. I'm a textbook shy-introvert so this is big news, for me. A few weeks ago I caught up with these lovely ladies over brunch and coffees (hopefully we'll do that again soon and bring along some extra Sydney bloggers!):

Laura Tjitradajaja (See Hear Say) - check out her Do Something Different Everyday Challenge
Jo (Jodeska) - who's also behind the incredibly cool Sparkapolooza creative project (currently featuring a certain someone's Wheel of Fortune tarot card)
Mel Watkins - Something From My Day
& Maria - Schorlemadchen

Last night I was lucky enough to get a spot at the Sydney Etsy Team x. Follow Store meet and greet discussing How to Approach Retailers. Spots sold out very quickly so I was very humbled to have got in there so quick. For those who missed out, fear not, Brooke and Sarah will be posting a guide on their blog very soon (including feedback and tips from other retailers they spoke to).

If you're an Etsy crafter in Sydney I'd highly recommend joining the team - there are loads of events lined up (and some pretty big, exciting news to be revealed by EtsyAU soon too!). It was great to see these girls again and see some new faces (although I was pretty pathetic at the meet and greet aspect there, sorry):

Sydney Etsy Team - Captained by the incredibly multi-talented Kitiya Palaskas (who is also behind Bike Babes here in Syd too - another event/meet up I keep meaning to join)
Brooke and Sarah - Finders Keepers & Follow Store
Angela D'Alton - the new Australia Community Manager-y-person at Etsy (along with Kirsteene)
Renne Anne - illustrator, stylist, and now social media master over at Koskela.

And on that note, I should get back to planning/working/procrastinating...

Photo Challenge

2012-01-06T17:41:00.000+11:00

I'm a mad keen Instagram devotee. I noticed straight after new year that a few of the people I'm following were posting images with the hashtag #janphotoaday. Intrigued, I did some investigating and it didn't take long to discover the rules over on www.fatmumslim.com.au. It's become quite the phenomenon!

I'm usually hopeless at these 'something a day' challenges. But this one has been quite easy and I find myself planning ahead what I'm going to photograph. You can follow my progress over here or follow me on Instagram (theartofjordan).

From Seed to Plate Grow Your Own Food Workshop

2011-11-10T20:15:00.000+11:00

I grow plants for many reasons: to please my eye or to please my soul, to challenge the elements or to challenge my patience, for novelty or for nostalgia, but mostly for the joy in seeing them grow. - David Hobson

Last night I attended another City of Sydney Green Village workshop - learning how to grow your own fruit and veggies in small city spaces. Most of it I already know to some degree, but I learnt one or two new things.

The basics of growing your own food comes down a couple of key things - where your garden is and what you like to eat. With a bit of research you can find out if your favorite veggies will grow in the conditions of your garden. Generally though, you can grow just about anything with a little creative thinking.

Look around your patio or balcony and assess your available space. Can you hang planter pots over the edge of the balcony? Can you make use of a wall to grow up? As you already know, I've got an old pallet up against a wall which I hang old tin cans from - which I grow a variety of herbs in. I've also used two hanging pots to plant some veggies and strawberries.

One of the main things I took away from the workshop is that you can throw just about any plants together in a box/container and as long as the soil is good your plants will grow happily. In fact, a variety of plants provides natural diversity to your garden, which will make happier plants and also keep pests at bay. Marigold flowers are also great for attracting the good bugs - they'll eat the baddies.

I took some perpetual spinach, common mint and strawberry plants and put them all together in a hanging planter that was hanging around the garden. I'm excited to see how they go all together. I also layered my bigger pots with mulch, and will add some worm castings once that's going properly (sorry there was no how-to post on that one, it was set up for me before I took pics, woops!). But I'm super excited to see that my first tiny little tomato has started to grow - woohoo! I did it!

To make sure your soil is in good condition - make sure you layer it with some compost and mulch. You can grab a bag of compost from the hardware store or nursery, but better still use castings from your worm farm (definitely worth investing in!). Layer it with some lucerne or sugar cane mulch, check the moisture and keep an eye out for caterpillars/aphids. That's basically it!

I took heaps of notes which I'll be using later to write a proper How-to down the track. Lots of things happening in theartofjordan right now that it's hard to keep up with the detailed blog posts. Bear with me people, there are exciting times ahead!

iWish Wednesdays

2011-11-09T22:49:00.001+11:00

Source: weheartit.com via Jordan on Pinterest

Some of the things I'm lusting after in the lead up to summer - rockabilly inspired. Checkered shirt, bustier tops, head scarves, cats eye sunglasses, capri jeans, assorted shoes.

Time to hit up the vintage and second-hand stores!

As a Worm to a Toad...

2011-10-25T16:21:00.001+11:00

"Edible - good to eat and wholesome to digest, as a worm to a toad, a toad to a snake, a snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a worm." - Ambrose Bierce

I've had quite the productive morning! First up was the Composting and Worm Farming Workshop at Waterloo Library, held by the City of Sydney's Green Village Workshops. It was a great introduction to the basic principles of composting and worm farming and how to incorporate that into your every day. And we all got to take a compost bin or worm farm home with us at the end. I took lots of notes, so I'll post a simplified How-To later on, along with photos of me setting up my worm farm!

Since it was at the library, I also took the opportunity to join up finally. And then grabbed myself a swag of gardening books. Some of the best books were already nabbed by other workshop attendees, but I'm sure I'll work my way through them all eventually. For now, I'm going to flick through:

Growing Food in Small Gardens by Barbara Segall - which is divided up into Garden Layouts, Container growing, Vegetables, Fruit and Garden Plans. There's also a section on garden bugs which I am particularly interested in (I found more little green caterpillars today!)
Pippa's Organic Kitchen Garden by Pippa Greenwood - lots of photos and illustrations and I would expect from a Dorling Kindersley (DK) publication!
Growing a Garden City by Jeremy N. Smith - a look at all the different people growing gardens in the city, should be very interesting.

I'm moving house this weekend, so the worm farm won't be assembled till next week sometime. I also need to get hold of some worms too!

In the meantime, take a look at this video from Oxfam International Youth Partnerships (OIYP). It's about the current global food market - but what makes it more interesting than usual is it's summary of good initiatives already taking place and how you can contribute. So keep up the good work shopping at your local Farmer Market's, riding your bike and supporting new eco-ethical initiatives!

The 4R's Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

2011-10-23T15:09:00.000+11:00

It's not hard to be green. Really it isn't. And we don't even have to be fully fledged swinging from the trees hippy green to be making a difference. You may already have heard of the 3Things movement. It's brilliant. Their whole ethos is that everyone can make a difference, even if they only do 3 things differently. I've still got some bad habits, but I've made some tremendous changes too.

I started by making small changes some time ago. The more I change, the more I learn. And the more I find out, the more frequently my attitudes to earlier changes are altered. For example, I started consciously recycling a long time ago. Most people do now, which is great. But recently I've learned that recycling is really your last port of call.

Recycling still requires a huge expenditure of energy to break materials down in order to be reused. So I started reusing things that I would normally recycle. Tins cans have become herbs pots, water bottle tops are now bells jars over seedlings. But then my 'reuse' box began to overflow. Just how many tin cans and plastic bottles was I going through?

Which let me to the 4R philosophy - Refuse, Reduce, Reuse & Recycle. If you look at things you are using everyday and work backwards, there is usually a solution further down the 4R line that you could be adopting. So, your daily coffee addiction. How many plastic coffee cups do you use? Do you go to a cafe that uses recyclable cardboard cups - great, that's better. You can then throw that in with the recycling. But you can do better. Buy a reusable coffee cup (like a KeepCup), take it with you! Not only is it reducing waste, but you get to make a style statement while you're at it. The same goes with reusable water bottles.

So what else is there? Loads. All those tin cans I was munching through? Well, I can buy beans and legumes dry and in bulk. They can be stored in big cloth bags (in a large plastic box to keep bugs out!). Whenever I plan to cook with them, I just pop what I need into water in a glass jar and let them soak till they're ready for use. So I'll be going further back down the line from recycling my tins, to reusing them as herb pots, to now reducing my consumption of tin cans by buying in bulk and using glass jars and fabric bags etc.

Refuse? That would be all those little plastic bags you accumulate at the supermarkets for your fruit and veggies. Go to the greengrocer or farmers markets, take a cloth bag or basket with you - no need for plastic!

There are so many alternative and solutions that are not only great for the environment, but great for your bottom line too. It just takes a little more effort. And you can always get those tin cans for emergencies to recycle later. Nice.

Heaps more ideas here: The Zero Waste Home

Off to Market

2011-10-14T17:14:00.000+11:00

Here are some pics from the markets last night (before it got really dark and cold!). The Day of the Dead Skull and Virgin Mary stitchies weren't there for sale, but they'll be at market tomorrow in Redfern.

I'm going to try and load one or two more stools onto the bike tomorrow - I think people were a bit scared to reach into the back basket and pick anything up. Plus everything was a wee bit hidden there, so I'll lay them out on some stools tomorrow instead. Weather is touch and go for tomorrow so far, but it was forcast to rain this week and nothing really eventuated so it should be fine.

And maybe some flowers in the front basket? Yes! That will be pretty. See you there Sydney-siders!

Batten Down the Hatches

2011-10-11T19:34:00.000+11:00

...because it's getting crazy around here! As you can tell from the pics I'm in a mad production frenzy in preparation for my first ever market stalls. I'm s**ting my dacks only slightly. Some of the things I'm making are:

Ampersand Stitchies - a collection of ampersands. Hand-stitched onto upcycled fabrics. These look great in a small wooden embroidery hoop frame.
Day of the Dead Stitchies - skulls and Virgin Mary's. Digital collage printed onto calico and hand-stitched with fine thread. Also look beautiful in hoop frames.
theartofjordan Tarot Deck - Major Arcana Edtn. Hand packaging loads of these decks.

If you're in Sydney this week, then you can find me at these markets - be sure to come along and say hi and see all these goodies in real life. I'll be listing anything that's still available in my Etsy store next week, so if you're interstate or overseas you'll still be able to grab some things. [If there is anything that you really like which sells out you are very welcome to contact me and I can make one for you!]

I Heart Gallery - Pop Up Markets & Film Screening

RedWater Markets

Hope to see you all there!

New Shoots

2011-10-05T08:30:00.000+11:00

But if each man could have his own house, a large garden to cultivate and healthy surroundings - then, I thought, there will be for them a better opportunity of a happy family life. - George Cadbury

I'm starting to see new growth in my little veggie garden. The top right photo is the new Rocket shoots that popped up overnight - I sowed seeds in an old egg carton (bottom left).

One of my little strawberry plants is also sprouting a few green berries, which is so exciting considering there was only one red berry when I brought it home two weeks ago. Can't wait to get another hanging basket to re-plant it in - then I'll eventually have two hanging shrubs with strawberries tumbling over the side. How wonderful will that be in summer, outside with a glass of sangria, reaching up and picking a strawb?

The last pic is some new shoots growing from my Sage plant - hoping to see more of this with all of the herbs. Will definitely be getting more seedlings from the market to fill all the tin cans I've salvaged. Going to fill the entire top two rows of the pallet with herb cans! I'm thinking the bottom two rows of the pallet can be opened up and larger, with hessian sack lining. The larger size will be better for veggie plants like cucumbers, eggplant and tomatoes. But I'll wait and see how all the seeds go first!

theartofjordan Tarot Deck ~ Now in Stores!

2011-10-04T00:16:00.000+11:00

So my tarot cards are now stocked in brick and mortar stores! Which is great news if you're a native to Sydney or Newstead, Victoria. Each store has it's own customised display box, made from salvaged materials and things I had on hand (no waste here at the moment!). I'm so grateful to the ladies at these stores for taking my tarot cards on with such enthusiasm.

So if you're from Melbourne and find yourself on a day trip out Newstead way then pop into Gathering for some great hand crafted gifts (along with your tarot cards of course). And if you're strolling down King Street, Newtown in Sydney you might pop into I Heart Gallery for arty gifts, or Holly Chalmers boutique for some super cute Australian designed and made fashion. Find them at these addresses:

Gathering - 6A Panmure Street, Newstead VIC 3462
I Heart Gallery - 643 King Street, St Peters NSW
Holly Chalmers - 594 King Street, Newtown NSW 2042

Of course, if you're from elsewhere in Australia or overseas then you can buy a deck for yourself or a friend anytime at my Etsy store, or on my Facebook page. And it would be incredibly good if you did since I'm trying to feed myself on these cards and could do with some fresh veggies right now :-(

Happy shopping! xxx

Coming Up

2011-10-01T09:00:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I posted an article over at Design Federation wrapping up a Women in Business seminar I attended about two weeks ago. It's a pretty long and detailed post with all the advice and tips I gathered from the two guest speakers Jodie Fox of Shoes of Prey and Lucie Trinco of il Tutto. If you're a woman running your own small biz, or anyone really, head along and get some valuable insight.

I also planted some of my new seeds (yesterday's post), for which I am planning a little How-to post. My mother likes to say my green thumb is so bad I could kill plastic flowers, so all this gardening lately is my determination to really get a grip with the basics. So if you're like me and a total novice in the grow-your-own-food stakes, then you might be interested in following my progress over the next few weeks and months as seeing if it inspires you to have a go.

In that spirit of education and experimentation I'm planning to get my butt along to these awesome looking events and workshops over the coming weeks:

Street Fair of Cycling Goodness! - part of the Bicycle Film Festival Sydney, a lovely street fair launch for Sydney Rides Festival. Aside from all the lovely bike-related stalls, food and fun there is a bike-valet. That's right people, a bike-valet.

Free, Saturday 8th Oct in Taylor Square, 10am-4pm

The Clothing Exchange (Sydney) - a giant clothes swapping event, you exchange like for like for free. The only cost is your entry ticket.

$25, Monday 17th Oct at Opera Australia, Surry Hills.

Worm Farming Workshop - hosted by the City of Sydney. Going to learn about worm wee.

Free, register your place online. Various dates/locations.

(I'm heading to the Tuesday 25th Oct workshop at Waterloo Library.)

Seed to Plate: Grow Food in Small Spaces - another CoS workshop.

Free, register your place online. Various dates/locations.

(I'm heading to the Wednesday 9th Nov workshop at Green Square Library.)

The Vehicle of Poets

2011-09-30T14:35:00.001+10:00

Every time I see an adult on a bicycle, I no longer despair for the future of the human race. - H. G. Wells

The bicycle, the bicycle surely, should always be the vehicle of novelists and poets. - Christopher Morley

I love my bicycle. It was the best purchase I've made in recent times. I ordered mine on eBay almost a year ago, it came partly assembled and I just had to attach the last few things. I would have loved a vintage bike, but since they're all the rage these days they're exorbitantly priced. So I got a new look-alike, one season too old, and therefore within my limited budget. I also found a cheap basket to attach to the back, and now my poor bike has become my official pack horse.

I live near my studio space, so I ride up each day loaded to the max with all my bits and bobs - laptop, bag, jacket, packed lunch and quite often the cat in his carrier in the back basket. I have half a mind to get a bike trailer since I seem to lug around so much stuff all the time!

Today I rode up to Newtown and back, about a 6km round trip. I dropped into the Newtown Garden Market to pick up some herb seeds first. Since the weather is going to be rainy/thunderstorms for the next few days I'll probably miss out on the farmers markets I go to each Sunday. There is a stall selling herb and veggie seedlings for only $2! But since I'll be house-bound by the weather (perhaps indulging in DVDs and good book), I'm going to have a go at planting some of my own seeds. I'm squirreling away toilet rolls and egg cartons as we speak.

Then I rode a few metres down the road to Holly Chalmers shop on south King Street. Holly is my latest stockist for theartofjordan Tarot deck. I made a display for her shop using an old brushed white tin (salvaged from a Crabtree&Evelyn gift box). We decided to add a little sticker along the front the next time I'm in, but it looks pretty cute sitting on the counter so far.

I'm also chuffed that I received the Green Guide for Artists to go with my other new books (The Craft Inc. Business Planner and The Handmade Marketplace). So I'm off to make a cup of herbal tea, sit back in my crazy purple velvet chair and get stuck in to reading!

The Seeds You Plant

2011-09-29T08:30:00.000+10:00

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. - Robert Louis Stevenson

So I've started my little herb garden in my tiny courtyard. Here's how I've managed it:

I've salvaged tin cans from our kitchen and a pallet from my parents and then picked up some hooks and sheet metal screws from the hardware store (I'm hoping to find some old spoons in the op-shops - to bend into hooks), and screwed them into the cans.

No doubt a mini electric screwdriver would have been handy and easier, but that's an expense that I can't justify or afford right now. So I used a screw point to hammer a tiny hole into the steel, which maked it easier the turn the screw in by hand. I also did the same thing to punch drainage holes in the bottom of the cans. The hooks have two holes, which provides a sturdy attachment. All pretty easy if you've got sturdy hands! (I'm not sure how I'm going drill holes into old spoons, but I'm sure I could borrow an power drill somewhere.)

I also managed to find a little local garden shop within bike riding distance of my studio and home where I picked up some organic herb/veggie potting mix and a few more seedlings. It was just a matter of transferring the seedlings from their little pots into the new tin cans and hanging off the pallet. Voila!

I'm not sure if I am meant to water them straight away or not, so I'm playing it safe and checking beneath the top layer of soil each day. If it's dry then it gets a drink, otherwise I leave it. I also check for wilted/brown foliage and pick it off to encourage new growth. I've also positioned the pallet in the morning sun which I'm told is the best sunlight for plants. It's a lovely spot in the mornings to have a cuppa.

I'm inspired to get more cheap seedlings from the farmers markets this weekend and pot some more!

iWish Wednesdays

2011-09-28T08:30:00.000+10:00

Some of the things I'm lusting after this week. I flicked through these books really quickly in store today so I can't tell you much about them. But these are the ones that really piqued my interest:

The Little Veggie Patch Co. by Fabian Capomolla and Mat Pember - How to Grow Food in Small Spaces. Had some beautiful photography and great layout design, would be a joy to read.
The Hip Girl's Guide to Homemaking by Kate Payne - Decorating, Dining and the Gratifying Pleasures of Self-Sufficiency on a Budget. Printed in two colour which tends to make me zone out, but no doubt filled with gems of knowledge.
Sewing Basics by Sandra Bardwell - All you Need to Know About Machine and Hand Sewing. Aside from my obsession with gardening at the moment, sewing is my other big interest. I would love to get the basics down so I can start making my own clothes.
Sew Step by Step by Alison Smith. Another goodie - and I've always been a fan of DK book layouts.
Stitch Step by Step by Maggie Gordon and Ellie Vance. I already know a lot of stitches, but would love to see if there are any other tips and tricks I haven't heard of or tried as yet.
Lion Brooch - coming soon to Pigeonhole.
Bush Radio - looooooooooove.
KeepCup - for all those occasional guilty Chai Lattés I'm drooling over this reusable coffee cup (white cup with pale pink band, charcoal lid and magenta rotating cap).

Seeds of Change

2011-09-27T08:30:00.000+10:00

Dreams are the seeds of change. Nothing ever grows without a seed, and nothing ever changes without a dream. - Debby Boone.

Looking around the City of Sydney website's green section I found some interesting links to planter boxes. Aside from the links to ecoVert and Earthbox, it was their link to BEST that got me really interested. Their boxes are made from recycled polystyrene and related styrenic plastics - diverting these materials from landfill. Definitely the coolest!

All three products are great if you can afford them, especially if you're time poor and unable to make your own. But if you're on a low to non-existent budget then making your own might be the way to go. With the added bonus of salvaging materials and diverting them from landfill, you end up with an original, charm-filled version. All it takes is looking at how these systems work, seeing what you have around and how they can be repurposed.

I haven't made any of my own (as yet), so here are some of the best tutorials I've found around the web:

Vertical Vegetables - use an old hanging shoe organiser (by pippa5 on Instructables).
Pallet Garden - by Fern from Life on the Balcony.
Tin Can herbs - by the Hedgewitch UK.
Mason jar planters - Readymade.com.

What are some of the things you would make a garden out of?

The Eco-Twee Life

2011-09-26T08:30:00.000+10:00

Anyone who really knows me knows that I'm concerned about the environment. Granted I'm not the most clued in person, but I'm definitely concerned and do what I can. I use eco-friendly cleaning products at home, recycle and I've started seriously getting into reuse (which is perhaps more important that recycling!).

There are so many things to learn about this issue and how to integrate new practices into your everyday life, that I'm thinking of starting a new blog all about it. Some of the things I'd like to explore, experiment and learn about include:

Herb and Veggie gardening in small spaces (apartments and courtyards)
Eco-friendly cleaning products
Refashioning and sewing your own clothes + vintage/second-hand shopping
Bicycle maintenance 101
Car sharing and eco-friendly powered vehicles
and more...

Perhaps most importantly, I'm concerned with doing all these things on a budget and in small spaces. So I hope that other low-income inner-city urban dwellers like me will be inspired to make some changes to their lifestyle. Why? Aside from the obvious benefits to the local community now and into the future - it's born out of genuine need.

I'm a low-income earner, very low in fact. I live in a shared rental terrace in the inner-city with no front garden and a small, somewhat dingy, back courtyard (which is entirely paved). I'm (only just now) learning to drive (I'm 29. Just). So right now I ride a bike everywhere, walk and catch public transport - but when I can drive I want to hop on to car share bandwagon (and one day drive a vehicle powered by old chip oil or whatever). And so on...

My aim is to create a herb and veggie garden in our courtyard to supplement the fresh food we buy at the local farmers markets each weekend (yep, I cycle there). I'm trying to build it almost entirely out of salvaged materials (already have a cache of tin cans, plus a pallet left over from my parents place).

My friend, CK introduced me to the City of Sydney talks that are on right now. We're going to attend one on Wednesday about growing your our food in small spaces. Their website has a whole bunch of links and resources you can download, and I'm already signing up for some of their green workshops (worm farm anyone?). I'll be taking pics, writing notes and tweeting from events in the next few weeks - all in the hope to launch a new blog. I've also got another little idea attached to that, but I'll keep that to myself for the time being!

So what are some of the things you do now, or would like to start doing to live an eco, sustainable, low-cost and healthy lifestyle??

[IMAGES: Pics from my organic farmers markets travels - I love cycling over, filling up my bike baskets with fresh flowers, veggies and potted herbs.]