i have seven different christmas t.lighthaus© to choose from.. see below. these images can also be applied to gift cards and gifts tags, so why not make up a set? perfect gift idea!

angels fly – code: xmas 2b

freedom angels – code: xmas 2c

follow that star – code: xmas 1b

stars shine – code: xmas 1a

peace hope love – code: xmas 1c

warmth of spirit – code: xmas 1d

conspiracy of love – code: xmas2a

i hope you like them… you may or may not have noticed there’s size differences between the stars and angel designs, giving you the option to mix and match. for example, you may like  2 large and 2 small silver star t.lighthaus’ down the middle of your dining table on christmas day.. now wouldn’t that look spesh! i also must mention my beautiful flickr friend lisa. she sent me the beautiful angel ornament for my birthday last month. i fell in love with her straight away and i thought she’d make a lovely addition to my christmas ‘haus range.. looking gorgeous all aglow on your side table. what do you think?

because you’re all super organised.. i’m offering a special for all you early birds!
if you order 3 or more christmas t.lighthaus’ before 30th september 2010, i’ll give you the 4th free.
this 4th t.lighthaus© is one of your choice from my gallery or this christmas range.

t.lighthaus = AU$25.00

click here to place an order, indicating image code, quantity of each, your 4th preference, if applicable and postal address. i’ll then send you an invoice with payment details.

click here for more information on the t.lighthaus©

i’d love to hear from you soon,
mariana

NSW
Paper2 . Surry Hills
Urban Oasis . Pyrmont

QUEENSLAND
Lamington . Noosa Heads

WESTERN AUSTRALIA
Aspects of Kings Park . West Perth

i stopped into our local little supermarket on my way home and bought the newspaper. it was then i realised Craft Hatch had kindly sent in my details and a couple of images. i had applied for a stall at the Craft Hatch market about a month ago and along with my application was my story and a couple of photos.

Fabulous little article, a shame my name is spelled incorrectly Mariana Garcia-Katzisa ?! nevermind.. my excitement far outweighs any discrepancies!

i can’t put into words how grateful i am this has come about. thank you Craft Hatch !

i’ll be at Craft Hatch on Saturday 11 September [11.00-4.00pm at the City Library, Level 1 Gallery 253 Flinders Lane Melbourne] selling various themed t.lighthaus’, cards, tags and notebooks, with a sneak preview of my christmas range. please come along and say hello!

because i’ve started a media section here, i’m going to add my first entry into the print world.. Hocking Stuart’s Real Estate Magazine, published the t.lighthaus© in Red28 in early August.

thank you!!

last year my father in-law asked for a framed family photo for christmas. he was given the ‘proper’ portrait. the one where we’re all smiling at the camera. you know the one. this one above is an outtake, which i much prefer.

my boy j [15, nearly 16], me, the husband m and my girl m [13, nearly 14]. that’s us, mmjm family of 4. i’m a proud mama, they’re beautiful kids and this photo is so typical of our family. j joking around. me, telling him to behave. husband m backing me up and m doing exactly what she’s been asked!

this is friday our cat… [my mum found her on a friday] and i’d like to come back as her in my next life.

this is charley girl after [charlie parker, boy].. she’s the cutest jack russell x maltese shitzu you ever did see. this was taken a couple of days after we bought her in february [2010].

charley’s a little older now, still the cutest and has grown to be the annoying little sister and hassles friday no end [as seen below]. friday is surprisingly patient with her and i’m kinda sensing it’s a love/hate relationship.

and lastly i’d like to introduce you to our 5 girls [taken jan 2010]. from left to right: gigi, ebony, fifi, anise and ginger. depending on the season, i collect 2-5 eggs every morning. i can’t be sure which of these girls is/are doing all the hard work in producing these eggs, maybe it varies, maybe they take turns? what i do know is, they’re as  fresh as fresh, the yolk is bright yellow and they come from a happy place.

i also love to garden and grow veggies, but more about that another time… m.

my first ‘inspirational’ post… where i’ll shout out those who inspire and amaze me…

michelle at twoandsix is one such woman. she is amazingly talented and truly inspirational in many ways. she’s a professional photographer [her images have been published in magazines all over the world], she knits, she crotchets, she crafts, she blogs, she facebooks, she flickr’s AND she has six beautiful children AND she is beautiful, inside and out! i just know she wears tall red boots, a red, white and blue figure hugging leotard, a gold tiara, deflects bullets with her gold cuffs, while facing foes ranging from common criminals to outlandish super-villains.. all that in her spare time. tasmania is safe. wink*

michelle and i recently did a photo/print swap.. she picked two of my images, i picked two of hers. i received mine in the mail early this week with some gorgeous additional treasures! earthly treasures, as well as a pair of crocheted wrist warmers [i've been wearing every day since] and wrist cuff [both made by her] all wrapped up in
sewing pattern paper tied with string. her attention to detail is sublime.

i stumbled upon michelle’s flickr stream, mistybliss, quite some time ago and i am constantly inspired by her work. thank you michelle. i hope to meet you one day…. mxo

m asked, ‘is it for you?’
‘yay, yes it is!’, i replied.

you see, it’s my birthday tomorrow, friday 13 august. i’m feeling rather distressed about it, about turning another year older. i actually didn’t think it would EVER bother me… but it does, it’s not so much the physical aspect [although that is not helping], it’s more about leaving a little girl behind somewhere. always a difficult one for me to articulate.. needless to say.. that is life… sad in my way.

so, i received this very light box, both m [my girl] and i were desperate to get it open! i found a knife and sliced at the tape… and found in amongst the paper, the most gorgeous paper flowers a beautiful friend hand made for me. a mama, papa and baby paper flowers. i recognised a sheet of music, a page from a knitting book and another with the loveliest of earthy tones to it. she knew how much i loved them…

i ‘met’ Liz through a mutual [and beautiful] flickr friend who lives in california, so yes, we ‘met’ via the ether. we soon realised we both live in melbourne. we haven’t actually met in person yet. we’ve exchanged gifts, flowers, spoken on facebook and flickr emailed.. you know when you just ‘click’? i’m sure you do… so, all that, but not met face to face. we have a lunch, shopping date next month and i can’t wait to meet this incredibly kind and generous soul.

thank you so much Liz… you’ve taken my mind away from leaving that little girl behind. xo

we were off to a great start.. our first stop was to visit our good friends Suzie and Gordon Tait at Tait Outdoor,
also sharing space with ISM Objects, both stylish and slick, with new products launched. i think we may put
in an order for those stools ms tait and i wouldn’t mind those lights by ism over our kitchen bench thanks.
after the much needed soy latté [for me], long black [for him] and mini muffins that were on offer, we moved on.
thank you Suzie and Gordon!

we caught a SiD bus to richmond.. our second stop was Living Edge and this is where it went terribly wrong
and it depends how you look at it really. apart from being one of my favourite stores in melbourne, it was
red wine o’clock. we grabbed ourselves a glass and wondered around the store as if in a dream. we perused
on over to the other end of the bar to find crackers, fine cheeses, delicious olives and ham off the bone.
we found a friend, sat down, chatted, drank.. and chatted some more.. our friend left.. mark and i chatted,
nibbled on some more olives and cheese and watched people saunter in and out. i noticed [again]
these designer types, look hot.. ALL the time. a hint of jealousy swept over me.. then i took another sip and
then another.

Living Edge is the home of original Eames furniture. you might say i am Charles and Ray Eames obsessed.
[i have two tattoos inspired by the dynamic duo, one of which i share with my soul sister, Candace. she lives in
San Francisco]. that’s the gorgeous Candace on the right.. me on the left, proudly modelling our tattoos..
inspired by Ray Eames textile pattern and Charles Eames Power of Ten video.

so anyway, although this might be worth knowing for future giveaway competitions.. wink*.. i digress.
so.. back to Living Edge, where we seemed to be in our own time zone, discussed [again]
purchasing [one day] the Eames storage unit rather than renovate our stupid bathroom [don't get me started
on that subject] before we knew it, it was getting close to 14:00 and we hadn’t even started.
here’s a peek inside Living Edge ..

The Miniature Cork Chair Competition
quite brilliant really!

and to be continued…

please take a look at my events page. you’ll see the latest goings on, including the craft cubed exhibition. craft victoria’s annual festival craft cubed is a highly participatory event creating space for practitioners and the public to engage with contemporary craft. the 2010 festival theme of ‘childhood’ is intended to inspire people of all ages, especially the young at heart! Craft Cubed 2010 features a range of activities at Craft Victoria, and Satellite events across Melbourne and regional Victoria:

This is my work for the Satellite Exhibition at TAIT Store.
Over 100 x ‘kiss me’ chatterboxes were made up for this 500mm ball. ‘kiss me’ aka Betty is a photograph I took of street art Fitzroy.

Betty is a Chatterbox
by Mariana Garcia-Katz at m2matiz ..

Inspired by the game I played with my best friend Joanne in grade 4.

‘Pick a number’, she said.
I hesitated for a moment, then said, ‘3’
She counted, ‘1, 2, 3… as she maneuvered the chatterbox in and out.
Ok, now pick a colour’, she said excitedly.
‘hmmm… green,’ I said.
‘G.R.E.E.N’ she spelled out whilst ‘chatting’.
‘now pick another colour!’ she exclaimed.
I hesitated and chose the colour ‘pink’…
Joanne slowly lifted the pink tab.
‘Oh’, she said, ‘oh Mariana, you’re going to marry Stephen Rodwell!’
With that, we both squealed with delight.

We were 8 years old… and I really did want to marry Stephen Rodwell.

I don’t recall its name in 1974, but these days this game is called a Chatterbox.

there’s another 11 artworks showing.. all so very inspiring. do take a look.