Sleepy Happy Times
Newsletter 79
Hello my dears, I’m writing to you after a lovely day at the Stirling Market. My eyes are drooping a little, but I feel happy and so lucky to have such beautiful people around me. I adore markets, simply for the beautiful sense of community they provide. My sales today were probably the worst they’ve been in several years and yet I feel utterly content and satisfied with my day. I love the idea of measuring market success by fulfilling interactions rather than monetary reward. Anyway, I really am almost out of my 2025 calendars now so if you want to snag one for less than half price, you can do so here.
VLOG
Blog Posts
I hope you enjoy browsing though my January blog posts. 😊 I put a lot of love into these, I hope you love them too.
Collage Party
Hello lovely ones! Here’s a sneak peak into my sketchbook with lots of lovely artworks from June 2024. That month, I hosted a collage party and this book contains a lot of collages from that day. I found myself in a bit of creative frenzy as I discovered the wonderful joy of collage. I’ll do a little sneak peak of some of the artworks here and paid subscribers will be able to download the full sketchbook to download and browse at their leisure.
How to Draw - Superb Fairy Wren
Follow along with me as we draw the Superb Fairy Wren step-by-step. All you need is pen and paper, enjoy!
Your Mid-Monthly Dose of Whimsy #5
Hello wonderful humans! Welcome to your first mid-monthly dose of whimsy for the year. I hope you’re happy and well. I love January, the newness of the New Year with all its fresh ideas and plans. This year I’ve decided to step away from so much teaching and focus on improving my skills in all mediums. Imposter syndrome is very real and I’d like to get really proficient in a variety of art styles before I go back to teaching so much again. Also, play is so much fun and something we don’t prioritise enough as Adults.
Art Classes
Homeschool art classes at Norton Summit start again soon. Book here if you’re interested and if you happen to be a part of the Adelaide/Adelaide Hills Homeschool community, It would mean the world to be if you could share it around.
I finally got around to booking in the rest of the season’s worth of wine/watercolour art classes at Between the Vines. These classes provide a super friendly introduction to watercolours for beginners and a great excuse to sit, drink wine and try different techniques for those with more experience. Check them out below, I hope that some of the dates suit you.
February 14 (12.30-3pm) Wine and Watercolours at Between the Vines - Flowers
March 21 (12.30-3pm) Wine and Watercolours at Between the Vines - Curious Creatures
April 11 (12.30-3pm) Wine and Watercolours at Between the Vines - Lovely Leaves
May 9 (12.30-3pm) Wine and Watercolours at Between the Vines - Birds
I keep my website as up-to-date as possible with other classes around Adelaide. I’ve just added Whimsical Watercolours at the Playford Civic Centre Library on February 25 (6-8pm) and Whimsical Watercolours at Aberfoyle Community Centre on March 6 (4-5.30pm). Keep an eye on my website for more classes coming up in Enfield, Aberfoyle Park, Marion, and more. If you’d like me to come and visit your local library or community centre, ask them to contact me via zinia@ziniaking.com.
Australian Animal A-Z Books
My online sales have been fairly slow recently, but I thought it was about time to do another donation to the Bob Brown Foundation. Thanks to you lovely people buying my book, I was able to donate $65 to the foundation today. Don’t forget that I’m still donating $5 from every book sold online to the Bob Brown Foundation who are tirelessly working to protect native wilderness around Australia. To make it easier for you, this month I’m going to discount the book to $20 on my website…. check them out. 😊
Zines!
I had a bit of fun this month making some zines with some old artwork. This mini-books are undeniably very cute! My hope is that these little zines will make you smile and then you can re-gift them on and spread the whimsical love. Check them out!
Gifts For You
The gift in the real mail to my wonderful ‘Letterbox Legends’ (and one general subscriber) this month features my ‘G’day from my Garden’ letter, a blank ‘Roger the ‘Roo’markable Roo’ card and little Emily the Eccentric Emu magnet. If you also want a monthly dose of whimsy in your letterbox, you can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.
With love and a dose of whimsy,
Zinia