i couldn’t help but put another little collection together to get you further enthused and inspired about the project, this time with some drawings and images that were made in honour of my heart wanders – these beautiful bloggers created these works as a way of introducing the project to their readers, I absolutely love them…

top four images by jen from a girl and her polaroid, on the left is a drawing by esti from píntame el día, and on the right is one by anna from absolutely beautiful things.

(Click here to read more…)

Yep, it’s time, and how heartbreaking these goodbyes are! So here are a few more incredible photographs from (blog)house guest David Knight and another gorgeous and quirky illustration from his wife and my best friend Michelle Verghis. Thanks for being wonderful guests, I miss you both very much and I can’t wait to see you either here or back in oz soon.

I love David’s dance and movement series above. And here are a few newbies from his yet to be released portfolio for 2008…

And I shall leave you with this illustration from Michi’s new portfolio – a fabulous take on the life of us freelancers, does anyone else relate to this image, I think it says it all so perfectly…

Next up is a new guest who I can’t wait to introduce you to. I just need to give the guest quarters a quick clean up as this handsome guest is arriving this afternoon!

After a long and very busy week, yesterday’s outing was a real treat: It started around 10am when friends Hayley and Gavin invited us on a day trip to the National Park Hoge Veluwe. This park is a real gem of The Netherlands as it consists of 5500 hectares of unspoilt woodlands, grassy plains, sand drifts and is the natural habitat of deer, mouflans (goats) and wild boars. The best way to see the park is by bike of which there are hundreds of free ones at your service, especially for park visitors. We all hopped on one each and set off to explore our surroundings. The air was so beautiful and reminded me very much of the fresh air of the West Coast of Canada. I was in heaven as I rode past moss-covered rocks, baby pine trees and thousands of lofty conifers. The most bizarre and beautiful of all was the sand field which just appeared before our eyes after riding through a few kilometres of thick forest, it was as if we had ridden on through a travel machine which had taken us right into the sahara…

As if that wasn’t enough to captivate us, right in the heart of the parkland is the Kröller-Müller Museum which houses an extensive collection of works by living and long gone artists, including some 200 paintings by Vincent van Gogh.

Two artists who tantalised my artist taste buds were Tom Claassen …

and Anselm Kiefer…

images from White Cube.

Although things got a little obscure with Anselm when we all discovered that he had used his sperm in one of his sculpture creations. Needless to say before we walked away in shock we all took a look at this masterpiece.

There is also a world famous sculpture garden within the museum grounds that we did not get time to visit but we are all keen to go back in warmer weather, take a picnic and spend a long lazy afternoon amongst the forest surroundings. Thanks again Hayley and Gav for a fab day out!

all other images courtesy of the Kröller-Müller Museum

Yesterday I managed to drag myself away from the killer deadline to go and pick up some of my prints. Racing against time on my little bike I zoomed past the many beautiful galleries in the Jordaan area of Amsterdam, wishing I had more time to stop. But one particular gallery window did manage to stop me dead in my tracks, striking me with that ever-present bolt of inspiration. It was the Wieke Ververs gallery, and it is currently featuring these absolute beauties…

Check out the Ververs Gallery blog to find out more info about these works. Oh I love Amsterdam!

Each new week here in the (blog)house I am overwhelmed with the amount of inspiration and talent I find amongst you. Little girl giddiness takes over and my heart starts racing, I get ants in my pants and I just want to shout out to the world with hands full of my new-found treasures. Yes, it is just like being given the key to open a new treasure chest every Monday, the light from all the goodness shining on my face like glittering gold. I intended to post an update of My Heart Wanders but first I just have to share with you this morning’s finds…

photography by Caroline Moore

I’m proud as punch to announce that I won Caroline’s birthday competition! I can’t wait to receive her fabo cupcake prints. When you go and read her ‘and the winner is’ announcement post you will see who I have been selected alongside, I feel rather special and am very honoured. Thanks Caroline, it was heaps of fun to compete and am looking forward to your next one, I implore everyone to get on board! It’s a great excuse (not that you need one) to peruse Caroline’s extensive photo collection in her etsy shop. I will showcase another one of Caroline’s photographs in the upcoming post of inspiration for ‘My Heart Wanders’ .

Eat me!

I’ve been holding back on revealing my chocolate and cranberry cookie recipe for some time but when Laura from A World In A Pan asked if I’d like to submit a recipe for her beautiful website I gave up the notion of keeping this secret any longer. Friends and family have always said I give away too much but bugger it I say, if I wanna I will! So here it is, my treasured cookie recipe. Click here for the recipe and to read about the background of this cookie, inspired by my love of Canadians and the fruits of their fine land. Also check out Laura’s blog for an update on her cooking classes in Paris and the fabulous stores in her arrondissment, I am especially loving the look of that fromagerie!

And last but not least, I must start this week by introducing you to the very talented young Queensland potter and poet, Kylie Johnson. She has just published a collection of her poetry in book form called ‘Count Me The Stars’. The above image is of one of her bowls just to give you an idea of her work, but for a more thorough look go and wander around her Paper Boat Press website and blog. I have already popped her into my blogroll so that I don’t miss out on her updates.

Submissions are trickling in already for My Heart Wanders . Next post will give you a little more inspiration… à tout à l’heure!