Artwork: "3 sides to every story"

This little project I completed last Sunday morning while I waited for Hannah (my sister) to feed bub, bath him and get themselves both ready. It was really quick to assemble. The hardest part was cutting out all the triangles and I'd done most of this while watching tv during the week.

I'd seen this picture on pinterest and fell in love with it:



(I am unable to link to this post as I'm on my phone doing this blog now and have no Internet service. I will put the link up when I get home!)

A simple tutorial followed that required only paint chips, double sided tape/glue, a frame and paper.


It's as simple as : collect a bucket load of paint chips from a bunnings or hardware store in the colours of your choice.

Cut out a load of triangles.




And stick them onto some paper so that all 3 edges meet the other triangles. I chose to use double sided tape as glue would make the paper warp. I also stuck 2 pieces of paper together to give it more strength.




I overhung all the edges of the triangles that didn't fit on the page then trimmed them down at the end. Very technical! Haha

And this is the finished product:















I have done this one in blues and greys as this is going in baby jaylans room. I had planned on having this done before I came over but realised I could easily pack paint chips in my bag. So bought it over here and made it here. I am also making a smaller version to go with this bigger one.

I love this idea. Easy to make yourself and I am planning on making them for my own label/ Market stall when I get back.

Tara Louise.

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October 2011 calendar

Here is this months calendar for something pretty to have on your computer screen...


enjoy it!

tara louise.

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black + white = ?

What do you see when you see a coloured person and a white person together out and about or holding hands?



Your answer to this question will depend on your life experiences, your culture, your values, your environment and a number of other factors.

My answer: I see two people enjoying themselves. They might love each other. They may like each others company. But that's it. I don't see two coloured people. I just see two people.

I've never really thought about this before but being in South Africa at the moment, well it still seems to be a big deal in society here.

I read an article in the latest SA Marie Claire this morning that celebrated and looked at "interracial relationships". They asked these couples if they have come across any prejudice and how they came to be in that relationship. To be fair, the people in the article say they haven't met much judgement and discussed more the cultural issue they faced.



The nature of the article struck me by surprise. Although I think it was more the fact that they have even done an article on this topic that surprised me.

At home, on the Gold Coast, I like to think we are a multicultural society. I know Australia has a bad wrap for being an extremely racist country, however for the most part, we are nothing compared to what I have experienced here. Maybe it's just a different form of racism, but either way, apartheid is still prevalent. And like, this is a multicultural place. It's a very multicultural place.

I was in the supermarket with my brother in law the other day. We walked up to the check out together and put our things down. The check-out lady asked me if she could put everything through together. I didn't really understand what she was saying or what she was really getting at. After i asked her to repeat herself, I said yeah, put them together, and watched her look backwards and forwards between us. It was only then that I realised she was asking if because he is black and because I am white, did we want our stuff in the same packet (that's a plastic bag) and on the same receipt, even though we walked up to the register together and put our stuff down together and planned to pay together.

It really surprised me but Abisha (my brother in law) says he and my sister get it all the time.

Their Pick & Pay (equivalent to Coles or woolies) ads show whites, darks and coloureds (thats a different race here) all barbecuing together and it's almost in your face and a very purposeful and concentrated effort to say "we are okay with "interracial relationships".



While I was thinking about this this morning I then realised my husband and I are in an interracial relationship. It hadn't even occured to me! He is brazilian and i am australian/English. Yes I struggle with cultural differences between us and I hope that our babies get his olive skin, not my English skin but it had never been made apparent to me.

I suppose that is the difference between home and here. At home we can all live pretty much free to live the life we choose without having it questioned, where as here, people appear to be silently judging your actions.

I have sat on this post for a couple of days now and have really observed relationships and people around me. It really interests me. I find it bizarre but I find it intriguing in the same respect.

This post is based entirely on my observations while I've been here and the experiences I've had. I have tried hard to not stereotype or insult any race/culture but this is how I've observed it.

Tara Louise.

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Aunty tara

I am now a proud aunty. Bub Was born a week ago by caesar and we have had him home almost a week.

Mum and I flew into Durban airport last Saturday and about half an hr after my sister was having him. He was born Abisha Jaylan Taona Thando Katerere jr. We call him Jaylan.

He is as cute as a button and I could just squish him and cuddle him all day long! We are loving watching him grow and learn new things every day. My little sister is doing well and recovering a bit more everyday.




And he has just had a bath...




More posts on whats inspiring me will happen, as I am constantly inspired in this country! But they will happen As I get Internet!

Tara Louise.

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How To: "fake" mt tape

so by "fake"mt tape, i mean digital mt tape i suppose. i love the look of mt tape and created some the other day while playing around on the computer. here is the tutorial:

Start by opening a blank/new workspace ina  photo editing program. i use photoscape, which is a free download and is like photoshop but simpler to use. This tutorial is to create mt tape that is striped. I't's easy and looks effective.

 step 1: Draw diagonal lines on page. Once you do one, you can clone it (press the + button to the left of the box that appears around it) and just keep adding until you have a few.




step 2: When you have a decent amount of lines and you like the way it is all spaced, press the {photo + objects} button. This will flatten the image and makes the lines and everything just one image.


step 3: now go to the crop tab and crop your picture into a long rectangle....this basically shows you know what your mt tape will look like.

You can leave it here if you like this look. Skip through to step 8 step 7 which shows you how to apply it. To add more layers to your tape....continue on and do the next couple of steps.



Step 4:  Repeat the same steps as before to draw another set of lines in. Change the colour or add dots. It's really up to you!




Step 5: Press {photo+ objects} again and this box will pop up. Make sure you tick the {combine all objects with photo} or it says something along those lines. This will erase everything that went off the edges of your "tape".



Step 6:  This is your completed digital mt tape.





Read on to see how to apply it to images now.





Step 7:  Open the image you want the tape to be taped with. Click the picture icon and click {photo}. This allows you to add a photo onto your chosen image.



Step 8:  Your "tape" should now be on your image. Slide the opacity slider to the left so it becomes transparent. Have you ever seen opaque mt tape??? nope, i didn't think so. This gives it the papery see through look the tape has.





Step 9: Use the rotate arrows and spin it around so it  looks like it is sticking the image to the background. I think it always looks best if you leave it on an angle. Then save your image as....make sure to tick the box that says {enlarge your image to include objects outside the image}, this means the top of your mt tape won't be chopped off.




and below is the finished result:



very sweet i think!

if you make these, it would be great to put them on facebook, so everyone else can see your creations and we can all use each others!

tara louise.







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let's fly away...



Today the day has finally arrived to go and see my little sister.
She lives in Durban, South Africa and I saw her two years ago.
She is having a little boy on Saturday.

Mum and I are going and we can't wait!!!
We have been packed for a week now.


Apart from seeing my sister and her husband and my first brand new nephew, i'm so excited about being able to wear normal clothes for a whole month. Not office clothes.

(photo by Karin Photography)


So, I am off for a month.
I have scheduled a couple of posts...and seeing as I only discovered how to do it last weekend, I think thats a bloody good effort.


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so long, farewell
aufiedersen (??!) to you...

...until next month...or maybe somewhere in between.

tara louise.





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i've been busy....continued

and carrying on finally with the last post.....the bits and bobs i've been making the past week:

item three: drawers
when: last sunday
inspired by: numerous pins on pinterest



first pics were the before photos. this was a hamme-down (the way i say hand me down) from a friend and it's been my cupboard/drawers for a few years now. it's pretty but not very practical. the paint has been flaking off and i've never got around to painting it. until last sunday. this went hand in hand with cleaning out my cupboards. so it got a lick (spray in my case) of paint - in a  neutral colour as this will be our babies drawers when we have babies - and now lives in my sewing room.

there's nothing in it yet.
i'm getting to that part.


item four: cross top + skirt
when: over the last week [cross top] + this morning [skirt]
inspired by: this polly dolly post


this was the last polly dolly i did. i loved this set. especially the 2 outfits on the edges. and that bag. far out i love that bag! but the thing i knew i could create was the outfit circled. it's been in my mind awhile now. so decided to re-create it.

the cross top: a quick tutorial


hard to call this a tutorial really.
i bleached a shirt. it started out like this:


a few days of sitting in bleach later and i had a white shirt again. i specifically chose a shirt in kmart that said DO NOT BLEACH on it. figured then if i bleached it it would go back to white! and i must say it took a while longer than i thought. i was scared the bleach would eat the shirt if i just left it to soak and had read on numerous blogs that you were supposed to bleach and rinse and repeat. i bleached it (in diluted bleach) and rinsed slightly then let it sit for a bit uot of the bleach. it seemed to work better this way. then repeated this a few times. i'm pretty happy with the whiteness now.

i then got together my supplies: paint, masking tape, new white top, fabric fixative anda paintbrush. plus an old newspaper or cardboard to put in the middle of your shirt.

mark out the cross with tape...i actually used a ruler for this. i eyeball everything but found the ruler/tape measure to be better. it would have pissed me off if the corss was a bit crooked or one part of it was. i painted the edges first, then moved my into the middle. when i do this, i find it's best if you almost push the paint into the fibers of the fabric rather than just paint it in. really get the paint in there. this seems to make the paint wear better and looks more like it's been printed on.

then chuck it in the dryer for half an hour to really set the paint when it's all dry.
took me hardly any time at all. the bleaching took the longest.


the skirt:


is in the fabric above. i don't have any photos of it yet. it's a midi skirt and has an elasticated back. and this happened by complete accident which is amazing because i've been wanting to attempt this type of waistband for ages.
i started this before our fathers day brekky this morning and finished it about half an hour ago.
it has pockets and everything.
although i may need to unpick those and move them up the skirt a bit.

(i also just "made" the "mt tape" that the fabric is "stuck on"with too. might do a quick tutorial for that over the next week)

(and i apologise for the amount of  "inverted commas" in the previous sentence!)

what have you been making lately?

tara louise.



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i've been busy...

the last couple of days i've been flat out making things and getting ready for  a months holidays (more on that next week) and here's what i've been inspired to make and do.....

item one: clean out my cupboard and clothes 
when: last sunday
inspired by: this post by danimezza + my sister






i have been needing to do something about my clothing situation for awhile now....it's was getting ridiculous. half my clothes didnt fit me since i lost heaps of weight last year and my sister is having a bubba any day now and wanted whatever clothes didnt fit me anymore. so the mission started....

the first photo is our bed while i was at the very beginning! i pulled out old drawers and rearranged everything. put in some new bits and bobs and the pic right above here is the finished product....trust me, it's so much neater than before! and all my clothes are in one spot!


item two: eye sleeping mask
when:during the week sometime
inspired by: this pinterest pic + tutorial




all the elastic had well and truly gone in my eye sleep mask i got off the last plane trip i went on, so it was time for a new one for my next venture. and well, a floral one is much prettier than a boring plane mask. and yes, i'm aware i look like i just woke up in the last two shots, but really i didnt. i was just modelling my new mask! (but i was in my pyjamas....it was like 9pm by the time i finished after work)


this is to be continued......
as í didnt realise what the time was and need to get ready for zumba


tara louise.


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september calendar 2011

so oóps, i'm a day late this month. i got into work yesterday and was like, shit,  i haven't posted the calendar.....but well, thanks to the public holiday here today, here it is.... nice and springy....



to make it your own, simply save the picture as. open it in a photo editing program and write in your doings for the month.

here is mine. this month...


(i don't know if you can read/see that actually)

ok, gotsa run.

tara louise.

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