Happy Holidays

It's nearly the end of 2010 and what a busy year it's been!  We wish everyone a festive and happy holiday season, and thank you all for being a part of our year, and  making it so much fun. See you in 2011! Kristina + Jason.

images via pinterest

three males + one blackboard

There were shenanigans galore at our place recently. We had Jason and his two nephews decorate our kitchen blackboard. What took place was a frenzied, fast and furious draw-a-thon! We don't have any children, and try as hard as we may, our chihuahua Kibikibi just isn't into chalk (eating it doesn't count)  so this was a rather special moment! Loved it so much so! I took a photo.  

There were some disagreements between the artists (hence the rubbed out bits) followed by tons of laughter! And all this happened in the blink of an eye... well, a few blinks maybe. Art work by Jake (2) Lochie (12) and Jason (30 something).

In other news... there's been some shopping fun over the last month... this vintage rubbery plastic bear complete with baby blue doll eyes, and eyelids that close with lashes! (amazing) and some classic music sheets... of course, the covers are killer goodness! And how good is the word "Verboten!" it even sounds like it ought to when you say it.

roll on vintage + shoes to love

Some treasures from afar courtesy some special family! These beautiful little ceramic clogs from Holland from Danica (my fathers partner) and these incredible paint rollers courtesy dad. They are part of my family history I guess. These incredible rubber rollers belonged to my grandfather, who was a painter by trade, as well as a shoe maker. These have been in the family for a good 50 years and more. We always had such beautiful walls when I was growing up. Better than wallpaper... outrageous colours of peppermint and baby blue, gold metallic overlay with the rubber rollers... Jason and I are going to use them on our house!

The Owl and The Inaluxe, Mr. Inaluxe that is

Today mark's two events, the first ever Inaluxe post by Mr. Inaluxe, that's me, Jason. And secondly, we have now been at our new house-business locale, for two months.   The house still needs some work, and our studio space is not complete, yet we thrive and continue.

I've also started work on a new owl painting, which will hopefully grace the pages soon.  Why an owl?

Many years ago Kristina and I wrote a short story with an owl as a character (more on that another day).  When I grew up here there were a series of old dead-end mines to explore.  One large carvern (sadly no longer exists) used to house an owl that looks similar to the one I am painting now. A lot of the old shafts that were scattered across the town have since been dutifully filled in. In other words, what was once a magical wonderland, is now landfill. 

Speaking of local.... Up until my recent knee operation, our afternoon walks with our little dog were an interesting distraction from the more humdrum side of working at home, (although there is much fun to be had from a home studio), a break is great.

The area we live in is on the quiet edge of the semi-industrial side of town. To paint a picture - this is where old turn of the century miners cottages (re-configured into suburban homes) are one block from the last industry on this side of town, which leads into scrub, farmland and bushland. 

In the weeks since we moved, I wandered around a small radius of our local area, sometimes taking a camera to document what is out of our view, but still within very easy walking distance. Most of the following pictures were taken just a few minutes walk from our home.

And lastly, a shot from home:

Now, that's what I call office lighting.  J.

at home

Been exploring the camera a little more recently, following a year or more of basic neglect, and not learning anything new, the need to work out our lighting has also provided a great opportunity to play with the camera. So here's a pick of two faves.

Thames and Hudson vintage hardcover on Modern Music - found in a second hand book shop last week, and very large metal bowl given to us as a house warming present from my mum.  We put apples and lemons in it, but to be honest, I like it best when it is empty. I love how the light moves through it, and the intricacy of the delicate repeat pattern. So perfect just as it is.

Gretchenmist

One of the loveliest surprises Jason and I recieved since moving into our new home was this extraordinary package of goodies from Belinda of Gretchenmist.  We have them tucked away safely for now, but we look at them regularly, and it's hard to pick a favourite. Luckily, we are allowed to admire them all equally, and don't need to fight over who gets which one! ha ha ha. Belinda is one of the loveliest people I have had the pleasure of meeting since blogging and etsy, and as an admirer of her work I am quite humbled to get such amazing gorgeousness as a house warming present.  As well as the shop link above, Belinda also has a sensational blog! Thanks a million Belinda - we love you! xo

what is inaluxe

I have been threatening to write this post for about a month now, and finally, here it is.  I suppose it's best to start from the beginning for anyone who might not know the history behind inaluxe - I promise to keep this short and not bore you to death too.  Inaluxe was started in 2006, and up until a few weeks ago, it was always just me.  So this is where the change comes in.  My partner and I decided earlier this year that we both wanted more out of life.  More time to create,  write, and enjoy. To make a difference in our own lives, and here we are, three months later, three hours out of Melbourne, in our first home - starting the new inaluxe.   The new inaluxe is  like the old inaluxe, but  you'll also be seeing Jason's art work, as well as projects we both work on together.  I hope in time he will feel just as comfortable as I do here, and I'm looking forward to him getting to know you all, and vice versa.  It's an amazing new adventure, and as always, it's all the more special being able to share it here too.  xo 

Nightshade

It's so cold in the country - so much colder than the city, but I do love it. There's a certain freshness in the air, and that smell of a wet and decomposing autumn.  The gum trees look beautiful in the morning with the dappled sunshine coming through, and it looks like most of our trees have buds - the promise of Spring for sure! I can't wait to see if any are flowering.... I'm totally in love here.  Jase and I have been busy pulling apart our kitchen. It's rewarding learning, and wonderful to see the slow, but sure transformation. The other day I dug this lamp out of our studio (amongst the many still unpacked items) and it now resides on our fridge in the kitchen. Such a wonderful additional light! It's definately my favourite corner of the house right now. 

And the play with the new symbols continues. This is a bit of an extension in some ways.... It's called "Nightshade" and the title is courtesy of the rather ace Mr Jase! (ha! that rhymes - sorry).  I imagine it larger than life printed as a giclee on linen. Might have to get me one of those!  More later in the week-  we hope you're all having fun. xo

a fine week

The weather has been absolutely sublime this week. Our first week in our first home. All very exciting really. We have cracked hands, bruises from moving trolleys with minds of their own, sore necks, heads, and feet almost beyond saving, but every day has been totally amazing.  We worked on the garden the last few days, as some of our plants were not in pots, but rather bare rooted. They are almost all in the ground now. It's getting there.  So much to do, so much to look forward to, and so much we just love. Anyway, enough rambling from me, the photo collage below is from our house, taken this morning. All three items were purchased in the last month from around here. The plastic yellow lamp shade came from Beaufort, while the ceramic squirrel and magazine rack were purchased in Stawell.  All second hand, and all vintage. I'd love to share some other photos of the house with you, but there is still too much to do, and lots of boxes to open.  Hope you're all having a great weekend, and before I go, I nearly forgot to mention that both the inaluxe madeit and etsy shops are now open. And I will be getting my teeth into those email replies this week too.  See you soon.  

mister inaluxe + porter wagoner

For your listening pleasure - some titles from the Omni Recording Corporation that Jason did the sleeve notes for.  Aside from being a talented artist in his own right, and much anticipated addition to inaluxe (more on this soon)  Jason is also one heck of a writer. He has this incredible brain that just works like a well oiled machine: the amount of knowledge he has with music just blows me away. I love his passion, and being a Porter Wagoner fan especially, I can't wait to get my hands on this CD - shipping in June.  

Above are other titles Jason has written the sleeve notes for, including the new Dolly Parton compilation available through the Omni Recording Corporation, and only the best music stores! For more info and to buy see Omni.  A little note for Carmel - thank you for the huge big laugh! A photo of mister inaluxe coming soon... xo (we both loved your previous comment).

we bought a house

The long weekend was huge.  Jason and I bought a house! Very exciting for us! Our settlement came through on Friday, so Saturday morning, armed with a car full of all sorts of workshop like tools, paint trays, garden trimmer things, we headed off for some fix it, chop it, and sample pot paint-it time! We got back late yesterday, and I'm still trying to fit back into life as I know it.  Here are some photos.

The lounge - sample pot time. Whites are the go! But which one? We decided on the far right white.  I really miss having stark white walls, so we went the extreme luminescent white. Feature trim and feature walls (if we decide) can always come later. We already have alot of colour in our huge art collection, furniture, etc. Why make it all so complicated. If the white ends up too much, it's easy to just add another colour, hue, etc. That shelf in the fireplace is already gone, revealing what a fire place ought to look like - bricks, and a nice big hole! Taking it back to the original was fun. I love ripping things out of the wall! :)

The kitchen with possibly the cutest cupboards ever, but we are not sure whether the top ones will stay. I think they will come down, but we will keep the other ground cupboards until we decide what goes where with the longer term renovation and extension. There's another horrible box stuck in the fireplace. I ripped that out too. Took a bit of work, but wow, it already looks heaps better. I just don't understand why people have to fill up fireplaces! What's the go with that?

Our laundry floor after we ripped up three layers of lino. The newspaper dates back to 1958. The lino was fascinating. I may take some photos of all three for you - such gorgeous pattern, and a real head turning atomic mid century pattern, and one with what looked like bambi! But it needs a clean first, as they just stuck one on top of the other... Classic!

Our big gum tree... I can't tell you how much I love having this in our yard. I did not count our trees, but there are easily 20 I would say with a few on the very large size like this one. A few peach trees, a fig, natives, gums, and some unknown varieties to still try and figure out - and trim. 

The garden & tool shed. Looks too cute, but needs to be pulled down. Restoring it is going to be a bigger headache than building from scartch, but as we both love this style, the re-build will utilise as many of the materials we can, and in the same kind of look.  That's it from me for now! Got a huge amount of work today, but just had to sign in and say hi, and it's nice to have internet again and see you all! xo

photo time - like pulling teeth

This weekend has been busy. It's also been super warm, and sunny. Makes me want to sleep, and be lazy, but there wasn't much time for that. Amongst other things, I had to get a photo of myself for a feature that's coming up, and Jason happily agreed to help me out!  It was rough there initially as we were both self-concious for different reasons, but it all worked out in the end.  

So here's the photo I chose, and all I can say is how meaty are my big man hands?!  (I must be related to Popeye the sailor man).  Thank you Jason - you're my hero! xo

birds + blogs + bulbs

Well, if you're a regular visitor to my blog, you may have noticed that every time you came by in the last week, the header keeps changing.... what can I say? I'm going through "header blues" rather than heather blues. (bad joke, and not even funny. so it's a "bad" non-joke really). Ah ha ha ha - still, I'm laughing. Such a sociopath!  The blog needs big work, and for that I have a Graphic Designer in mind... more on that soon! So I will stop molesting my blog html, header, and size of things and just try not to let it all bother me in the meantime. So that's the blog update.

I bought some bulbs. Mostly white, some cream and some blues, and well, that antique blush apricot colour too. I bought them from garden express and I can't wait to plant them.  And last but not least, more bird news.... Some new birds - pigeons infact! One of these sweeties is very lucky to be going onto a blog header for a pretty cool new blog! More on this when it's all ready.

Hope you're all having a great week... xo

fox + fox

Possibly part of a comic I'm working on - early stages...

little forest

Little trees makes for little forests.  These delightful little things are quite a sight to behold.  They all measure around 30cm. They have trunks, delicate branches, and leaf like buds and flowers. They grew in my front garden on top of a large succulent. I love their delicate, yet sturdy resilience.  I love their strong upright shape, and their quiet reflective winter like mood.

It's nearly time for me to close my Etsy and Madeit stores for my vacation. They will both close on the 23rd of December and re-open on the 3rd or 4th of January.  I'm tired today. So I will leave you with the little forests, and see you back here tomorrow night when I announce the winner of the Giclee Competition.  Looking forward to it.

Introducing Kibi

What exactly is Kibi

Kibi is

       s m a l l      vivacious  rowdy  Affectionate

lovely      a-bit-of-a-girly-girl

a  d  o  r  a  b  l  e          Cute as a button

      and she's our little dog.

Kibi was abandoned at a young age, with quite a few owners before the age of two! but she's now part of the mad inaluxe family!  She's a rockin' little thing, and the going was tough initially, and she is still a little scared of certain situations and objects, but one things for sure, she's the life of the party, and she's settling in really nicely.  

She's amazing, and only two and a half years old. So much love in that little fur ball! :)

my frisky garden and shredding the evidence

Well, it's Friday, and that means weekly photo collage!

This week, we have 'frisky garden action' and 'destroying evidence'.

Our Flanders poppies popped out this week, and these are the first two.  Since this photo was taken about 10 more have come out! I love these flowers. It's that black in the inner with the red that's so striking. Some appear to have delicate white rings around the tops too.... interesting.

I did some mosaic last Saturday.  It was a stinking hot day, and the grout was drying fast - but I had the best time. I'd been hanging onto these little tiles and mirror pieces for years.  I love the white and red and that turquoise, mint combination. The mirrors, well, how could I not put mirrors in!

This poor chewed up toy is one of Kibi's friends. She has quite a few now, and Jase hates the idea that she's destroying something that resembles an animal, or person. so we went shopping! and she has loads of soft fabric bones, long sausage like things, and fluffy shapes to play with. Nothing with eyes! ha ha. 'No name'  now lives on the ledge with the oregano. I don't know why, but I think it is delightful.

Last but not least, I found one of my old journal / diaries, and oh-my-goodness - how is it possible for one person to write so much crap?! love this, pain that, self pity this, longing that.... yuk yuk yuk!

I was embarassed in my own presence, and the thought of having to come across this again, or (worse), someone else find it, was enough to give me a instant pain in the chest, so I very efficiently, and with great haste, cut up all the pieces, and sent them off to the bin.  I know there are more lurking around here - quietly hiding on bookshelves, in boxes... my aim is to find them all, and destroy them without delay.

I'll finish up or now, and get into some art work and relaxing gardening weekend, but I wanted to say thank you to Deborah from kickcanandconkers for the lovely surprise write up about inaluxe on her blog. Totally made my day, and what an inspiring and fun blog. I love it. Awesome reading, and a real visual feast!

And a big thank you to Amanda Fuller from Calico & Co for the spoltlight feature on inaluxe earlier this month. I have to admit, I get a bit shy about writing about features these days, and tend to put them in a link to the side, but I like the fact that we can share each others blogs these ways, and I also like to thank the person who has done the feature. It is important to me, and it's a really lovely thing! Amanda is an Australian based Graphic Designer, she's nice as, and she has such a passion for Art! Her blog is rockin' - check it out! :)

Have a great weekend everyone....

Thank you for all the kind wishes about our Mr Mingus too. xo

Mr Mingus Passes Away

I've had a very sad week. Mr Mingus passed away on Monday. 

It was a very tender and incredibly heartbreaking experience. We miss him so much.   His presence is in so many places around the house and yard.  We look out for him.... slinking off quietly into the ornamental fireplace to groom himself, and have quiet time, or lazing around in his red cushion deck chair in the backyard, tapping on doors to get in,  sitting under the dining room table, just watching us, or waiting for him to come and have lap snuggle time.  We listen for purrrrrs, or meows, but... there's just silence, and little tears, throughout the day.  Jase and I just look at each other now, and there's that loss in each others expressions we have already become so akin to reading.

Here are some photos of the Minki in his last week with us.  Taken with him in two of his favourite hang out spots. The table in the undercover outdoors areas, and the deck chair. He would wait for the sun to come out in the morning and impatiently make his way to his chair. When it got too hot, he would get up on the table, and in a very languid fashion, spend some hours, having the best time.  :)

There'll never be another like him.  He was amazing.

A visitor out of the blue

Yesterday was very warm, and following the heat of the day came that sticky lifeless air.  This morning is different. It has rained, and the landscape has a beautiful clean, crisp, and invigorated quality.  All I can hear are birds.  Going about their business, alive, and energised. 

What happened next was a sweet surprise.

I was sitting here working away quietly, when I heard a rukus in the bedroom. I found Mr Mingus sitting on the floor, eyes wide open, staring at the wall. Perched on top of one of my paintings, right above the bed was a little bird. I had a second look, and sure enough I was not mad, there was a bird sitting on my painting!

It looked fabulous! Like it was supposed to be there. Nothing out of the ordinary at all.

By the time I got the camera, which was a minute or two later, the bird had freaked out and moved over to the window.  I took two photos, opened the window, and took Mr Mingus with me, shutting the door as we left. Not even ten minutes later, our little friend had gone.  So smart!

And what a lovely way to start the day.

We've been here some six years, and this is the first bird visit we've had. Special!

life's little trials

I'm been a little

f  l  a  t 

lately.

Ever since we got the bad news about Mingus, I've been a little b l a h . 

I have mountains (okay, not that many) but quite a few emails to reply to, but I just haven't been in the headspace.  I'm working through it.  I did some little paintings/illustrations yesterday.  I like to think of these as "life's little trials" or  "having a not-so-great day" or "what the hell is going on?" or maybe "I feel kind of crap, but it's all good"

Really I have no name for them, but needless to say Mingus was an inspiration.... I think they're cute, tender and hopeful, rather than tragic, hopeless, and lost. 

*If you click on the image it will enlarge, so you can see the details and writing