She Kept Her Feet Up

Ross’ Relics, my favourite junk store, never ceases to entice. Just look at this topsy-turvy world of neatly arranged legs! Of course, the mannequin growing a lovely pair from her head defies the rules of photographic composition — although she looks rather bored by it all.

Well, it’s the last day of the year. I must confess that I don’t make resolutions, but I do enjoy thinking back over the highlights and blessings of the last 12 months (one of which is asleep on my lap — a seven-week-old miniature dachshund named Cameo).

Anyway, I wish you much joy and creativity for 2009 … and promise to make my next post of something other than dummies!

She Was a Fighter Pilot

Perhaps I’m easily amused, but the “make-do” use of mannequins in rural museums never ceases to make me giggle. Take, for instance, this violet-eyed and pouty-lipped girl — am I really to believe she was a World War II fighter pilot? The folks at the Moruya Museum would have me think so!

Nonetheless, I take my helmet and goggles off to them for their fascinating, if not creative, displays of Australian history.

The Haunted Bride

Here's another gem from the Moruya Museum, dressed in antique wedding lace. Marital bliss looks like the last thing on her mind! There is a real sense that she's trapped in time behind that reflective glass.

Jasmine Girls, Cambodia

It’s after dinner time in Phenom Phen and three girls are selling garlands of jasmine flowers, which are used for praying to Buddha. At first, their location outside a busy supermarket seems ideal — there’s plenty of light and a ready stream of customers. But they’re working amid a frenzy of motorbikes in the carpark and when the bar on the corner closes, a clientele of mostly military men will gush out into the night.

The girls giggle and pose for my camera, but the fact is, in my world a long way from Cambodia, children of the same age are tucked up in bed after an evening of playing with their toys or watching television.

Christmas Tree with Wings

It's that time of year again ... when I feel guilty for not sending Christmas cards.

Of course, I fully intended to — it's just that life got in the way this December, including our house selling and a dog with a stitched paw.

Anyway, my sister Kerriann tells me Christmas cards are unfashionable these days, mostly because they're environmentally unsound. Come to think of it, I've only received two this year....

Could it be that a 150-year-old tradition is coming to an end? Or am I just unpopular?

Whichever, I had planned to put one of the above pictures on my cards this year. I created them by scanning leaves, vintage Christmas wrapping, a line from Dale Carnegie's How to Stop Worrying and Start Living and a background I painted with acrylics.

At first, I thought what I'd done wasn't super Christmassy ... then I read that early Christmas cards featured spring, rather than religious themes. How neat is that?

So, have a wonderful and refreshing Christmas, and take a minute to remember what this day really celebrates ... how Jesus was born into our world to teach us how to live, so we could enjoy a relationship with God.

Barbie's Fashion Parade

Barbie had never been to my house before Wednesday.

I got a replica doll one Christmas in the 1970s and desperately tried to like her, mainly because my Nana was the giver. I also had a baby doll, the kind that closed her eyes when I made her lie down. My sister poked those long-lashed peepers in with a swift two-fingered move, just like in a gangster movie! To be honest I wasn’t overly fussed — I just wasn’t into dolls.

So it’s surprising that I’ve been making Barbie clothes this week, for that same sister’s daughter, in fact. I hear my niece Gemma has a “very Barbie” Christmas coming up in general.

Designing and making clothes for this ever-popular doll is amazingly easy — I used nothing more than a few scraps of fabric and yarn, not even a pattern. What’s more, that giant bust, tiny waist and absolutely flat stomach make for clothes that need very little tailoring.

If only real bodies were that simple!

I must say, I did have some help. Thank you to Rachel, my 10-year-old friend, who lent me two Barbie dolls and a box of clothes for inspiration.