http://aboutabun.blogspot.com/

I apologise for the upheaval, but I have decided after much thought that the creative control available for Blogspot blogs is much more conducive to my writing!  Therefore, please update your bookmarks to:

Thank you so much for your understanding!

I have just returned home from a fairly hectic but wonderful day.  One of my ‘Big Fun Scary’ challenges for myself this year was to apply myself to my (many, many hours of) tutoring with renewed dedication, commitment, and vigour and as a part of this deal, I fought off the temptation of laziness and especially went into campus today for a voluntary tutor training session.  However, with a predetermined daily goal of research to accomplish each day, I had to fulfil that goal by getting out of bed up earlier.  After all that, I’m so happy I did because I really got a lot out of the training session.

We had a super intimate group of 4 tutors and unbeknownst to me, I crashed the party of all novice tutors, and our facilitator helped me feel valued by allowing me to share my experiences with the rest of the group.  The others were so kind and gracious and gave me some great feedback about the usefulness of my suggestions.  It’s ironic that as a research rabbit who specialises in charismatic leadership, I’m incredibly uncomfortable with leadership roles and become extremely flustered when I’m the centre of attention.  That’s something I’d really like to improve on because being a good leader makes me an even better tutor.  And I have seen again and again that when one steps down from a mantle of leadership, they’re more often than not cheerfully usurped by a keener spirit who is less qualified!

In half an hour, I will be off with The Cat to the home of three very good friends, something I have looked forward to since they returned from an astonishing two-month trip around South East Asia.  Their company is always full of good humour and profound insights.  I can’t wait!

This week marked the start of Semester 1 2010 at the university where I study and work.  It is a little daunting for me this semester because even though my research has intensified significantly in the last couple of months, I have agreed to take on 8 hours a week of tutoring as well.  Not wanting to travel onto campus too often, I have placed all my classes between 9am-6pm on Tuesday.

Although I have many financial reasons for wanting to take on more work this semester (e.g. cover the excesses of my conference in Amsterdam, support The Cat for his career changes, and buy a new computer), my main motivation is psychological.  I relish the opportunity just to get out of the house, the relaxing bus trip into the city where I get to catch up on my favourite podcasts (The Wigglian Way, A Pagan Heart in Maine, SpiritsCast and Elemental Castings), and having new characters and challenges on my mind.  Working from home can be so lonely.  Last semester, I grew destructively hypersensitive.  This year, as the pressure to complete my thesis mounts, I’m keeping ahead of the waves and doing my utmost to ensure I remain psychologically, emotionally and spiritually balanced.

On Tuesday, I attended a team meeting for one of my courses where I got to meet the other tutors.  Two of them were from Germany and as I chatted to them about their decisions to relocate here, I began thinking about my friend who is in the reversed position of studying in Germany.  I really missed our regular tea and sympathy sessions.  I still feel an eerie sense of emptiness whenever I walk past her Faculty’s building.  One conversation I remember having with her in particular only about a year ago was about having children.  I told her that if I decided to have children, I would like to have my first child before my 30^th birthday, but after my 25^th.  When I said this at the time, 25 felt like such a long way away, but then it occurred to me today that I turn 25 in less than 8 months.

For the first time in my life, I feel ready to have children.  However, this hopeful anticipation also comes with a sense of urgency about my career.  Perhaps another reason I’m so motivated to take on extra tutoring this semester is that I’m eager to lay down the financial foundations of my life.  I want to ensure that when I do begin hearing the soft pitter-patter of small paws, we can afford a bigger burrow with enough space for planting carrots and a cupboard full of colour pencils and craft supplies for inquisitive young minds.

Since I began blogging a week ago, I have been positively cheerful in my daily life, seeing small joys everywhere now that I’ve very simply become more mindful of them.  Although it has only been a short time, and a honeymoon period is expected for new ventures, I have noticed a marvellous transformation in myself as my mindfulness has manifested in a greater tolerance and patience for those around me.  For example, our (pet) cat Salmon is very affectionate but especially when I’m working intensely on a project, I would get easily frustrated by his constant seeking of attention.  The last few days however, I have taken the time to enjoy nuzzling his wet nose and feeling his soft, silky fur beneath my hands, and luxuriate in his fervent purring (he’s like a warm little engine humming away on my lap!) so that by the time he has had my undivided attention for just 5-10 minutes, he’s happy to play or nap alongside me while I work and not mew or paw at the crack beneath my door incessantly.  Our relationship has improved so much.  Our newfound closeness was evident when The (Big) Cat left the bedroom door open this morning, Salmon crawled into bed with me and nestled himself between my feet and snoozed away until I woke up.

salmon, the (pet) cat

Yesterday, I found a wonderful website called Handwork TV run by a beautiful woman who shares videos of her needle felting.  She is so generous, she gives away all of the projects she creates on her show.  I have to admit I got a little impatient wondering when my felt set would arrive after catching Melody’s infectious love for her crafting that I badgered Melissa, whose beginner set I had ordered over at the Wild Hare last Friday, just to double-check my order went through.  Melissa very kindly replied within a half hour that it was safely deposited at the post office that Friday so it should be well on its way.  I have some ambitious things planned for all that wool roving!

As you all know, I have been immersed in some pretty amazing craft blogs lately, and it is no surprise that a good handful of these talented craftsters are selling their handmade items on Etsy.  Last winter, I also delved into an Etsy business and was fortunate enough to see more success than I ever anticipated of selling my handmade jewellery online.  Since then however, I have closed my store, the motivation being a combination of becoming more time-poor and not really liking the business-centric orientation my life was taking.  Seeing the lovely stores run by my new favourite craft bloggers have tugged at the heart strings and made me miss all the fun and exciting things about selling your handmade goods online, but an article in the Sydney Morning Herald last Friday reminded me of another benefit of not having a store that I could learn to appreciate in the meantime.  The California Institute of Technology examined MRI scans of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and central straitum in a small experiment and discovered that we experience the same joy from giving and sharing what is ours as we do when receiving, if not more.  Reading this article struck me that perhaps this blog may become a way to hold giveaways, especially as I’m learning new skills like needle felting, I would love to see my pieces go to loving homes so that I may clear my bench tops and continually practice and create new things.  I want to keep those tempting desires to begin a business at bay and learn to enjoy sharing my knowledge and handiwork with others for a little while yet.

Happy first day of March everybody!

When I was a about 6 years old, a girl in my class brought along a toy to school one day that had me completely enchanted.  It resembled a big plastic apple, which opened up to reveal a multistorey dollhouse for the little animals that lived inside.  Much to my dismay, I never got to play with her ‘apple house’, but a few years later, I came up with something just as fun for myself one school holidays.

Out of little more than a scrap piece of paper, my textas, and some already-been-used blu-tack, I made myself a hand-drawn teddy bear’s dollhouse when I was around 9 years old.  Unfortunately, my dollhouse has not survived, but I remember that I drew a big 3-storey house on a piece of paper and my three bears, a dad, a mum and a little girl bear, complete in outfits inspired by my parents and I, drawn on a separate piece of paper which I then coloured in and cut out.  I affixed a frugal dot of blu-tack on the backs of my bears so that they didn’t stick too hard to the house drawing and tear off bits of paper with them when I moved my bears around.  Day by day, I gradually added to my bears’ house by drawing cabinets, which I would then sticky-tape doors to from more paper cut-outs, and when the ‘doors’ were opened, more cut-out doodads like bottles of sunscreen (very important for the Aussie weather) were stuck to the shelves with blu-tack and could be removed and taken outside with the bears if they ever decided to have a picnic.

Playing with my teddy bears’ dollhouse is one of my most vivid and fond memories of crafting as a child, a deep-seated nostalgia that was re-sparked yesterday evening when I discovered upon Beccijo’s lovingly handcrafted wooden playboxes, from The Enchanted Cupboard.

fairy kitchen playbox

When I saw them, my heart skipped a beat, and I got that surging through my entire being I get when I am truly inspired.  I love the space family.  You can even order a OOAK custom playbox from Beccijo, for between $114-154 USD depending on the size and complexity.

max in space playbox

Although Beccijo’s skills in hand-turning and painting her wooden toys are evident in every one of her pieces, I considered that the needle felting supplies I have recently invested in may also make for great alternatives for wooden accessories and dolls.  After a few moments of quiet contemplation, I leapt out of my chair and began scribbling and sketching an idea for a ‘playbox’ of my own; an enchanted forest home.

I cannot wait to share with you the result!

Although it will be at least another week before I receive my felting supplies, that certainly has not meant I’ve been sitting on my hands since Thursday!

needle felting books

On Friday evening, I went book-shopping at one of my favourite online retailers, dStore, and picked up two felting books on making small animal toys.  Just for fun, I also added a Druidic animal oracle deck for critter inspiration and a book on creative parenting, called The Creative Family, by Amanda Blake Soule.  I know I don’t even have buntens yet but from what I read of the preview, the advice in her books sounds wise for any bunny interested in reconnecting with her animal nature and developing a more mindful awareness of the world around her.

I went craft supply shopping on Saturday and found a small felt sale at my local arts and craft store, and stocked up on ten sheets for $5.  The Cat and I later went for a stroll around our very leafy neighbourhood during which he floored me with his knowledge of flora and fauna.  Here I was, this nature-worshipping rabbit, pointing at trees and plants and oohing and aahing as The Cat declared the names of everything I was admiring.  Our objective was to go pine cone hunting and The Cat recalled the grounds of a local private high school that grew tall, proud pine trees.  “Look!” he pointed when we finally arrived.  There were pine cones littered everywhere on the floor!  We each choose one to take home.  On our way back, we took the ‘scenic route’ and saw a butterfly, big white feathery cockatoos, a trio of rainbow lorikeets, and a fruit bat catching in some last minute z’s before his night began.  Maybe he was planning to party late at the Mardi Gras?

australian museum

exhibition sign

The weekend exercising was not done there.  Today, we visited the Australian Museum to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition that I had read about in the Sydney Morning Herald.  The photographs on display were absolutely marvellous.  The top highlights for me would be a draw between the Photo Studio area where spiders and insects were on display and ready to pose for budding hobbyists like me to pretend we’re pros, and bumping into an old high school classmate I hadn’t seen for seven years.

spider

beetle and spider

friendly insects

When we had finished looking at the photography exhibition, we went upstairs and poked our wet noses around their other exhibits.  I loved the minerals one and took a photograph of my favourite gem, the garnet.  I love how it is a beautiful little ball nestled within the rock.

garnet

We finished our day with a leisurely stroll through Hyde Park, which is where The Cat and I got married a year and a half ago!  I stopped by the War Memorial and took a photograph of one of my favourite trees, the white poplar.  It’s sad that the elegant white trunks of these trees have been so carelessly graffitied.  We found a bench underneath the shade of a large tree and ate roast chicken and coleslaw sandwiches prepared by The Cat.

white poplars

As a special treat, here is a photograph of The Cat practising his parenting skills.

The Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition is currently showing at the Australian Museum and will remain until 26th April 2010.  Entry fees are $17 for adults or $12 for student/concessions.  Mention the “Herald promotion” when visiting with a friend and you only pay for one person.

Since reading The Magical Onions, I’ve been inspired to dabble in needle felting.  I would personally love to try my hand at miniature figurines and dolls, rabbit and cat toys.  I watched some video tutorials on YouTube last night and it looks very therapeutic, the needle poking looks great for anger relief!  After dinner, I called a bunch of craft stores around my local area but unfortunately, none of them carried any felting supplies, but then I spent a good few minutes searching online and I’m really excited to say that I will soon be expecting this charming little beginner’s felting kit in the mail!

wool roving from the wild hare

It looks like it has everything I need to get me started (wool roving in a great variety of colours, 4 needles, and a foam sponge so that I don’t risk stabbing my desk with the needles).  Bonus bunny points for the fellow bunny seller at Wild Hare Fibre Studio.

When I have learnt to stand on my own four paws in my felting craft, I’m also keen to purchase some of the luscious roving at The Rainbow Room.  The colours are so earthy yet vibrant and the prices are not too shabby either.

I have walked a long, entangled path of blogs to find myself here again, bright-eyed with another earnest attempt to begin a journaling process both expressive and nurturing.

Last night, while catching up on the blog entries of a friend and amazing artist at Cider & Faun, I found my interest piqued by a whimsically named blog in her links list.  When I opened up The Magic Onions, I found myself devouring entry after entry, mystified by the wondrously creative projects the author enjoys with her children.  She is an amazing writer and an inspirational person.  I lay awake in bed buzzing with excitement until 1 o’clock in the morning, imagining trying out every single one of her tutorials either myself or with my future buntens.

When I was a little rabbit, the world was filled with magic and awe.  I created worlds with my vivid imagination.  When I was ten years old, I pretended that we lived in a world where everything in the universe contained a spark of life whether it was the glowing moon in the sky or the dewy grass beneath my paws.  And somewhere in a distant corner of the universe, there lived another us, our Dream Selves, whom each presided over one beautiful domain in our natural world.  I imagined that there was another tea-coloured rabbit like myself in that world who tended to the stars.  Although I never shared this imaginary world with anyone else, every day I stepped out into the world with this belief in my heart, and treated her as sacred.

As I grew older, my vivid imagination started to share a crowded hotel with everyday worries over career, bills, and relationships.  It is with sorrow and nostalgia that I look back on my childhood and realise I have lost so much of that wide-eyed little bun who believed in a magical universe and respected nature with a tender reverence; a rabbit who strived to be kind-hearted, tolerant, and generous.  It is my hope that this blog will offer me that expressive and nurturing forum I so need to be inspired and awed once more by the beauty around me.

I began by taking my camera out with me today when I hung out the washing:

chilli blossoms in our yard

our newly trimmed hedges

Your optimistic friend,

Bun