Mina's Journal

I've been getting into Public Domain comics in a big way over the last week or so. Great to funky up scrapbooks and journals - so for those petrol heads out there... Click on the pic to go get some. ...and for the younger set - a trio of friends for paper play.

As a designer I am in love with visuals. Public Domain works are so distracting! I am discovering and appreciating even more artists! I find that I just want to read...all day long. I downloaded a heap of stuff to 'read later' and ran out of Broadband data ha ha. That doesn't happen very often, so that's okay. I am gearing up for Valentine's Day now - getting some collage sheets ready for papercraft. Here are some journal/writing pages available for free download, over at Craft Found - adapted from the work of Walter Crane - more info at the post. Too damn gorgeous. Its a bit messy over there at present because I was mucking about trying out colours and something got 'stuck'. Should be right soon. SelfAvenue.com continues to do well. I had goals for that site, which were reached pretty quickly. I handed over the Chief Editor role to Justine, who came on as Editor - to further develop a new idea. I have stayed on as an Editor. It is reall...

...over at Craft Found... some felt-y looking things inspired by felt ornaments I've seen online... some people are just sooo clever! Christmas baubles... Christmas hearts....  ...and some good ol' Christmas puds... Click on the pics to go get 'em! Also a fun quiz Are You a Procrastinator at Self Avenue... Go Check it out. :)

A little over three weeks ago I started a hub called 'Self Avenue' a self development/improvement site. Writing about personal development is a good way to explore your own thoughts/ideas/attitudes/behaviour - and at the same time you might help others who are in similar situations. I am not in the industry, do not know the jargon but thought I had something to share. I write from layman perpective - a-la experience, saying what worked for me and what didn't. My Editor Justine Crowley has (among other things) published four books on the subject and provides an industry-credible voice. I did not imagine it would take off so. Counsellors, Doctors, Life Coaches have applied as writers as have Mums and Bloggers - so there'll be a good mix of stuff coming up. If you think you might like to write for Self Avenue , from whatever walk of life you're from - take a gander here . Yes, you get paid :)

Self Avenue Buttons for writer blogs/websites:  Right click and save these. Then upload to your blog or website. Link them to your Self Avenue profile page, where a list of your published articles will be. Fill out your Self Avenue profile to send readers to your blogs/sites also. Go to the trouble of doing this once then forget it...its a wee ad just doing its thing. Links are our friends.  :)

Made some printable Large Vine Frames Could use them for picture frames (resized of course!) Five colours. You can go grab them here .

Sometimes you just need a good laugh! This SOOOO made my day... a wee bit rude in places, but so damn hilarious! If you have seven spare minutes - do yourself a favour and watch it. So after telling myself to slow down a bit, I went and got myself three new projects to do (What's with that?) One of my other blogs is Maori Printables . I started it because I wanted to contribute something positive to offset the (sadness?) I felt at the Maori statistics situation. At that time, Maori sites were of a really serious nature (and still are as far as I can tell). I wanted to make something uplifting, in a fun way.That was not 'too deep' or unapproachable. So while I couldn't fix (statistics) things I could still do SOMETHING to help shed a different light on the culture. It's found a little following with kindergartens, Kohanga Reo, and primary schools. I am not a teacher or fluent in the language - my 'work' has been at home, so most of the posts are j...