Today Is Wild And It Is Yours

Hey guys!
It's been a while..greetings from Melbourne!

It's been just over a month now that I've made Melbourne home and man is this city ever great. I swear there is something cool hidden around every corner. Wether it be an awesome lane way of graffiti, a quirky hole in the wall cafe or an amazing vintage shop or market stall of hand-made trinkets..I'm continually discovering new spots I love.

I wanted to write this post though, to share a recent little project I've done here, for an online T-shirt company based in Montreal. Mister Dress Up was started by an community of artists in Montreal, Quebec to showcase their work and the work of designers and artists from all over the world, of all ages and all walks of life. Weekly, new designs are being added to their online store and this month I am one of the featured artists!

It's pretty awesome to be given a project like this, free range to do whatever you want..
but at the same time with so much freedom how do you ever choose what to do!!

I was indecisive for awhile, my usual. But then remembered a sketch I done awhile back of the words "Today is wild and it is yours". This quote is great and thought it would look sick on a shirt, so I
re-created it a bit and voila!

Obviously Im a sucker for quotes and I love rendering type and playing around with pattern so this piece is very much, me. But I love how it is a reminder to never stop looking at each day ahead with excitement..curiosity..wonder. Because today is all we have, why not make the most of it?

This notion has never been more significant as it is recently, with the passing of such a beautiful and special person I had the pleasure to know..and her equally beautiful mother. Both taken from us far too soon after battling a hard fight against cancer, I am still in disbelief that such a tragedy struck so close to home. Although my heart is filled with sadness for them and their families, I have never felt so grateful to be alive, and be healthy and to be able to travel and explore everyday. Far too often we forget how lucky we are.
Ashley and Roxanne, you're truly an inspiration.

Check out my profile and T-shirt, its for sale here until April 24th !!


Until next time,
thanks for reading  x

DAY 81 // Well, That's it.

Today was a sad and lonely Saturday..not to mention freakishly quiet without the crazy Cammie wandering around talking about random things and singing.

I spent all day at the farm skyping my fam and a couple friends..doing laundry and packing up all my crap. My bulging backpack is staring at me in the face as we speak screaming, " have fun carrying me tomorrow suckaaa"….I guess I bought more things at the op shop than I thought?

Other than the usual pre-leaving to-do's I also stocked up on some new tunes for the bus rides I'll be taking this week (A MUST)
my faves:
The Neighbourhood- Female Robbery
Wolf Gang- Lions & Cages
Yahtzel- High with me

 and doodled a little.

It's crazy to think how 81 days can fly by before you know it…
When I look back and think about all the positive things about our time here, it feels cool and good knowing that we experienced a part of Australia that many wouldn't. We stayed in a town where we were one of few backpackers, met locals everyday, and lived the life of one.. in a old rickety farm house, with a farm dog and chickens in the backyard and geckos in the bathroom.

At the end of the day, as much as we bitched and complained and had tough days, I wouldn't have done it any other way. I learned and was a part of the day to day workings of a small farm and have more knowledge and a new appreciation for how our food is grown and where it all starts..and the hard working hands that are involved in the process. I can truly say I will never look at a watermelon the same way again….

SO, we may not have completed the full 88 days ..but it doesn't matter.
We got what we came for and much more..a new perspective, some funny stories, a mastered skill of chipping weeds, larger biceps muscles, more endurance and stronger willpowers and of course the mother of all rewards.. a second year visa.

A big thanks to Ian (who knows if he'll ever read this thing..) who was one chilled out, funny and kind boss not to mention one hardworking and devoted human being. Thanks for making our time at the wee ol' farm a good time..you know you'll miss us crazy canadians...

And thanks to Hayley, for saving our asses from that damn brown snake. One badass chick you are. And we'll never forget it.

Oh! And since I've become pretty much addicted to this blog..stay tuned for more posts down the road..whenever I feel like I have cool things to share, I will continue to share them with you lovely readers. Thanks for all the positive feedback and all the love :)

This isn't the end!

Until next time xo

DAY 80 // Saying Goodbye to the french girl

Alright!
Woahhh time for an update of what is going on over here because I know I didn't post yesterday.

Camille and I celebrated our LAST work day at the farm today. WEO!! This means no more gardening, cleaning, chipping weeds or picking watermelons EVER again. how fantastic!!

{Cam in the garden today looking stunning with her leaf hat}

I know, I know what you're thinking.."well what happened to 88 days?" . What happened was, since the rain pretty much wiped out the watermelon crops before we could pick them all.. and the pumpkin crops won't be ready to pick for a couple more weeks, Ian has run out of work for us..or rather ME. So I will be leaving the farm on Sunday. HURRAYY

So, in preparation for our departure, Cam, Ian, Hailey and I had a little hangout after dinner last night and we ate brownies and ice cream and laughed and reminisced about our first days at the farm while talking about our excitement to finally leave!

{ Ian with his card and brownies from Cam & I ..he loved them!}

SO, it's a sad, sad, Friday.
Camille JUST left on a bus out of here tonight..we had a teary goodbye sesh after work today as she gave me the sweetest card ever and I gave her the photo album/aussie adventure story that I posted about the other day. She loved it and I had a smile on the face the entire time she was reading it aloud to me..tears streaming down her face with laughter and sadness all in one.

I honestly will miss the crap out of that girl. As much as we bickered and frustrated each other at times, it never lasted long and without fail we'd be back to buddies again in five minutes, watching x-factor and making dinner together..and whining about how sick we were of chipping weeds..

Working on the farm tested our patience, our physical and metal strength and ultimiltly our friendship . We conquered (almost) 88 days together and were there for each and leaning on one another every step of the way. Lifting each others spirits when we were feeling like crap and sharing heart to heart talks on the weekends over wine and cheese.

With almost four months of memories to take away with us, I am so so grateful to have met such an awesome human being. She truly is a character :) and a lovely one at that..
I admire the way she is able to roll with the punches and take life as it comes (with plenty of laughs.) And I love the way she can make people laugh without even trying… And I love her unwavering ability to see the good in everyone she meets throughout her travels.


So Cheers to her..and to US, together, conquering the farmlife in Australia..
Bring on the next adventure!

{Wise words (and very fitting) from an amazing man. RIP}

{Our first day on the farm..}

 {Our last weekend together..ready to hit the town in Bilo (as twins) }

{The many faces of Cam and Steph}

{Ian & Cam saying goodbye!}

{Time to run free.}

DAY 79 // Getting ready for departure...

Alright, this will be a short and sweet post tonight as I am knackered!! (british slang.. it's my new thing..)

No but seriously..so tired.
This evening I've been working away on a little gift for Camille for when she leaves. And though it's silly (keep in mind I'm working with limited supplied here..) , I'm using it as my creative bit for today ! It's a little photo album and story about our "Aussie Adventures" featuring highlights of our trip and funny moments along the way..

She's leaving the farm on Friday because she's catching a flight home for christmas and needs to get down to Sydney and to the airport ASAP to get a flight on standby. So that's when I'll be giving it to her and we'll be saying our tearful goodbyes after almost 4 months together ! AHH!

let's hope she doesn't read this before Friday…...

Also I made a card for Ian, saying our thank you's and some funny things about our time here at the farm..as well as baked and decorated some brownies for him ..which we'll probably present to him tomorrow night!

JEEZ..it's been a busy one.
Okay here are some photos of these goodies!

Thanks for Reading xo

DAY 74 // Such a Classic.

Herrroooo. Friday again!
first..
!Farm Update!

So I was beginning to think that we were going to spend three months on this farm and never actually see a brown snake..alive..
Well, today we had a brown snake encounter. Here's how it went.

Cam and I were cleaning the siding of the house in the backyard while Hailey (Ian's 17 year old daughter) was mowing the lawn on one of those large tractor like mowers. At one point she stopped, turned to me and said, "Steph, steph, can you quickly run into the house for me…" her eyes were big and I could tell something was up. Then she said, "Nevermind, stay here". At this point I already knew what she was talking about, I could see the brown snake (about 3 metres long), slithering across the grass maybe, 15 feet from us. She said, "don't move, keep an eye on it, watch where it goes", and ran inside. ( I was freakin' out) 30 seconds later she appears again, loading a rifle. I was like..no way, this chick is crazyyy she's gonna try and shoot the thing.

The snake continues to slither along and Hailey aims the rifle and shoots him once ..(snake guts fly into the bush..) then shoots him again, just before it could hide in the bush. WTF!! The whole time Cam and I were just frozen, watching and thinking, OMG did that just happen?

Haha It was awesome, Hailey had the biggest smile on her face as she said after "I didn't think I'd get him! I never hit the target, but this time I did, twice!" We laughed as Ian came casually walking into the yard to see what all the noise was about.

What an event. A sight I will never forget.. JEEEZ!

Now to the creative bit,
Last night I watched the Classic, "Breakfast At Tiffany's" and thoroughly enjoyed it..I'd seen it before and just love Audrey Hepburn in the film. Her character, Holly Golightly, is so scattered and a little looney yet smart and beautiful and so hilarious.

If you haven't seen it.. do. Such a Classic.

Here's a doodle and some of my favorite quotes and moments from zee movie!
Enjoy!

Until Tomorrow xo

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DAY 70 // Getting Festive.

Last night I decided I'd try get into the christmas spirit a little bit. Get a little festive.
I put on an "aussie christmas" playlist that I found on 8 tracks and bobbed my head to the spunky, (very country) versions of the traditional christmas songs…singing about "eskies in the boot" (translation: coolers in the trunk) and dodging kangaroos in a rusty 'Ute'.. hah check out this version of jingle bells.. and sing along mate!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0hTHLAe-8E

Anyways, with some tunes on the go, I started christmas card making.
My cards are always very 'cartoony'.. I like drawing funny characters and telling a story with them. I was very much inspired by the cheesy aussie carols, as I drew,  thinking about all the funny christmas traditions and imagery related to Australia and the holidays... beachs, bbq's, palm trees, surfing, wild animals, summer. I was also inspired by vintage, "Greetings From.." and "Wish You Were Here" postcards. Vintage typography and blog lettering.

mixing the two styles I think I came up with some pretty cute aussie christmas cards to send to friends and family this holiday! Here's some of my inspiration and progress...

Thanks for reading!
xo Until Tomorrow

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DAY 62..ooops. // Lazy Sunday

So..this is why I was never good with math. Even the simplest of numbers confuse me and I'm having troubles counting to 88. Today is actually day 62..not day 65 !! Such a fail ..not to mention a disappointing discovery. I must have slipped up during my two weeks away from the blog and it doesn't help that we lost our trusted calendar that we scribbled on a piece of scarp paper...

BUT. Moving on!
Today was less than exciting..it was simply, a lazy sunday. I did have big plans for a photo-shoot but the stormy weather kept us inside so instead we slept in and lounged around..I worked on a design project I have on the go and we watched ALOT of X-factor on youtube. But since I'm just like my dear mother and can't sit still.. I also doodled away in my little sketchbook.

Here's the day's creations..

Until Tomorrow xo

this is how we all felt today -- sleepy!

DAY 61 // Watermelon Headz

Ahh home sweet home.
Currently tucked into my little farm house bed, back into the routine of things.. It does feel strange though being just the two of us again here.. we're missing the antics of our crazy pommy girls!!

Today we packed Watermelons!
Apparently in the two weeks we were gone the watermelons grew from being the size of ping pong balls to the size of grown up watermelons ready to be picked! Didn't realize these things happened so fast..

But they do, so Cam and I found ourselves on the back of a long packing truck all afternoon with a conveyer belt running down the centre and large cardboard bins on either side. Rick and the boys picked the melons, plopped them on the conveyer belt which hangs off the side of the truck and carries them up to a round-about belt where another guy sorts the good ones from the bad ones. They then get sent down to us where we pack them bad boys in the massive bins ( I had the round ones and Cam was in charge of the long ones)

{Pro's and Con's of this job}

PRO's :
1. Being shaded from the hot sun
2. Being above the patches, and therefore away from the snakes!
3. NOT chipping weeds.

CON's:
1. The watermelons are effing heavy...
2. If you miss a melon coming on the conviere belt you're screwed. That baby is done for..
3. The watermelons are effing heavy.

Needless to say both of us reckon we'll be nursing sore arms tomorrow and apparently there will be more runs to do than there were today. awesome. But it was a cool first day back experience. Not many people at home in Vancouver can say they've helped harvest watermelons...

Anyways, to the creative bit. I was so so grateful and happy to come home to THREE packages from home that had arrived in the mail while I was gone! Some really sweet postcard from my aunt, two lovely cards from my parents and sister and some more delicious deb talbot granola. I also received from my thoughtful mother some pencil crayons to aid in christmas card making.

So I decided to bust them out tonight for a rather ridiculous doodle I made reflecting on our day amongst the watermelons and also the fact that I just really hate drawing real faces..

Camille had a good laugh, so maybe you guys will to.

Cheers to the final days of the farm life countdown: 27!!

Until Tomorrow xo

{ Camille & I as Watermelon Headz. }

DAY 48 // Greetings from Agnes Water !

so..I think I have the numbers right..Day 48? woo! 

Well greetings from Agnes Water! I am loving vacation here in this little town. The beach is beautiful, the town is lovely and people here are the best. I've become besties with a group of British girls that work at my hostel, they have taken me under there wing and I now feel like part of the "Beachside Family"! They are all so lovely and I'm really going to miss them when I have to leave this place...

I've tried my hand at surfing a couple of times and hope to hit the waves again today for another go. I still suck, but am making some improvements...took a lesson last week and the guy that owns the surf shop said he'd give me a deal on a board rental. (like I said..the BEST people here)

Other than surfing I've been reading and sun bathing and doodling and going for the occasional beach run and doing laps in the hotel pool some afternoons....

So I'm pretty much a jerk, because I have the easiest life ever at the moment.

Here are some random photos from the vacay thus far!

Thanks for reading xo
Until next time!

We celebrated halloween a day late at one of the hostels just outside of town called "Southern Cross". The girls and I spent hours getting ready..doing face paint and making costumes.. we were full on with our outfits! It was awesome though and we had so much fun doing it. Here's a photo of all of us, minus the joker and the crazy mental patient...and Camille (the zebra) who had to leave for rainbow beach and missed the party :(