Brisbane Handmade - Charlie and Grace - BrisStyle

taking over

2010-03-22T19:02:00.002+10:00

The general busy-ness of life is getting in the way of blog-land - kids, family, work, school, jellygnite, BrisSyle ...

The last BiDM was fun and I'm gearing up for the next one, a 'BrisStyle indie Mother and Child' market as well as the market in King George Square.

So I'm taking a little bloggy break for a while; Im not waiting for when life gets less crazy - cause I don't think that ever happens! - but for when I'm ready to step back into Charlie and Grace properly again!

BiDM Busy-ness!

2010-02-27T12:35:00.006+10:00

ONE WEEK
In a week, I will be soaking up the markety vibe, listening to some guitar tunes, chatting with customers and generally enjoying myself at the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market.

I only hope that next Saturday is not as wet and soggy as today! Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the misty rain, light breeze and occaisional snatches of sunlight, but not the best weather for Happy Market Days next weekend, me thinks!

Sunny Day at the last BiDM

I have made all the stock I'm going to make (I could always make more, but keeping my sanity is rather more important!) and printed out all the prices and bits and pieces. So I'm feeling pretty good - roll on Saturday!

What I do have left to do is make a pretty new dress for market day! It's green (suprise!) and cream spots and I'm making a mod-style summer dress. My gorgeous little girl bought the fabric for me for Christmas (love her style!)

Details for the first BiDM of the year are on the BrisStyle website as well as a list of BiDM marketeers - go write your shopping lists now! (well, I'm going to anyway!!)

See you next Saturday!

The Art of Letter Writing

2010-02-20T14:04:00.006+10:00

Ever since I was a small girl I have loved receiving mail. I love the postage stamps, the canceling
post office stamps, the dog-eared envelopes, the anticipation of what's inside...

I have a 'pen-friend' in Italy; we have been writing to each other for just shy of 20 years (oh my!). We are dear friends and although we mostly email each other now, it is most exciting when a parcel comes in the mail all the way from Italy!

I love sending mail too! I love making and decorating envelopes and putting little, funny and sometimes trivial notes inside or long big essays of thoughts and happenings. It truly is a beautiful art, this letter writing!

I have just finished some new products for my jellygnite Etsy shop. A year or so ago I made my mum an 'Art Deco Ladies' note paper set, she commissioned me for a couple more for her friends and now I've finally nutted out a whole range.

It features gorgeous ladies from the 20th century in their varied, but always so stylish and glamourous fashions. There's 'Deco Retro', 'Wartime Retro', 'Rock n Roll Retro', 'Mod Retro' and 'Woodstock Retro'. I had considered including the 80s decade of fashion too .... but those fluro rah-rah skirts, leg warmers and big hair have left a permanant scar on my memory!

I'm looking forward to the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market (in TWO weeks!) where I can bring my 'Retro Ladies' note paper sets out and encourage others back into the love of letter writing!

an apple for the teacher

2010-02-13T15:55:00.004+10:00

I've just come back from a great BrisStyle Committee meet (they are such a fantastic bunch of super dedicated BrisStylers!) and am feeling really positive about all the 'good things' . And it's well and truly time for another blog post .... now that Christmas, summer holidays and 'back to school' are out of the way it may be time to get back to the blog ... even though life continues on in it's crazy, frantic fashion.

Today, the (very) lovely Helen from Ruby2GoGo gave me this gorgeous brooch for my birthday - 'an apple for the teacher'. Isn't it lovely? It's made of camphour laurel wood (mmm smells good!) by Sam from Jetta's Nest. I love these wooden brooches - I hope she has more for sale at the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market!

Speaking of BiDM, it's the first of the year and it's in 3 short weeks! I'm quite excited making new little gift tags, 'Little Loxies' and eco- envelopes. I'll be in the same spot as last year; next to Little Chrissy. Yay!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2009-12-02T14:43:00.003+10:00

Christmas Tree

Advent Calendar

Nativity Scene

Christmas Market

... I really think it is the most wonderful time of the year!

... it's that time of year ...

2009-11-18T20:00:00.006+10:00

Although it's not December yet (when Christmas 'officially' starts in our house!) it's certainly "that time of the year".

It's that time of the year when my colleagues and I are busily marking student work and writing reports as well as thinking of fun Christmassy things to do while trying to stay 'on top of it all'.
It's that time of year when the heat arrives and brings thunderstorms in the evening (yay for rain!)
It's also time for me to start thinking about Christmas gifts and looking forward to and planning the festive season.

And the thing that's exciting me the most is the BrisStyle Indie Designers Christmas Market, because, not only does it coincide with the end of school for me, but I can't wait to set up my little stall, soak up the friendly market atmosphere and do some super crafty Christmas shopping!

I have been making a few new things for BiDM, some more 'little cuties' (like the one I made in this post) and my 'eco-envelopes' (see this post). Most recently though I've made some little gift tags.

These have been made using up-cycled cereal boxes (I have been amassing quite a collection - we eat a lot of weet bix!!) and some fabulous vintage images from old childrens books. I think they would make cute gift tags for gifts for kids, but think they would work as bookmarks too!

Making these is very addictive and fun - I absolutely LOVE trawling through damaged old books looking for the perfect images!

I'm selling these in my jellygnite etsy shop as well as at BiDM. I'm really looking forward to BiDM now! ... but there's a little bit of preparation work ahead of me yet!

If you are keen to check out who of the BrisStylettes will be at the next BiDM, check out the BrisStyle website (created by a very clever local Brisbane web-developer ... aka, my husband!!)

BrisStyle Limited Edition Eco Tote Bag

2009-10-28T14:06:00.003+10:00

... Help Pick the Design and WIN!

This is rather exciting! We are printing a limited edition run of BrisStyle totes for the BrisStyle Indie Designers Christmas Market. Some of our very talented BrisStylettes have come up with some fun designs.

Head on over to the BrisStyle Blog to pick your favourite ... if you can - I'm having trouble deciding which one I like the best! You'll go in the running to win a tote of your very own!

Sharlzndollz' design entry

Newness for the Festive Season

2009-10-28T13:11:00.008+10:00

I’ve been absent of late … lots of different things going on that meant the blog posts didn’t happen … but here’s another one now!

I’m getting quite excited about the beginning of December … so many good things happening; school’s out, Christmas is coming … but before all that the BrisStyle Indie Designers Market is being held!!

I’m very much looking forward to the BiDM market – the BrisStylettes are such a lovely community of crafty gals that the markets always have such a friendly and fun vibe.

I have a nice load of stock waiting to make their appearance at the Christmas BiDM – Little Jellies, Little Loxies, my softies patterns, note books + brooches. However, I have recently been busy making some new things for *jellygnite* at BiDM.

I have quite a love of letters and mail and mail art; I really love the book “Urgent 2^nd Class” by Nick Bantock (love his illustrations!) and have just ordered this yummy mail art book called “Good Mail Day”. So, in keeping with my love of mail I’ve made some ‘Eco-Envelopes’ (they are a lot of fun!).

I’ve made them using all re-purposed materials – both fabric and paper. My fabric ones are mostly vintage fabrics and lovely old buttons. My paper ones are old maps and book pages as well as 1940s wallpaper. You can have a peek at them in my jellygnite Etsy shop.

I love that these envelopes can be used for a whole heap of uses! I posted one in the mail to the lovely Ruby Red (which arrived to her intact, happy to say!) using a little address sticker on the front. I also think they’d make good pouches for gift cards and small gifts or for using as a little purse. I can’t wait for the gift-giving of Christmas (or the BrisStyle shopping on my 'to-do' l

Bring on the Christmas Cheer and the fabulous BrisStyle Indie Designers Christmas Market!

Peg Dolls

2009-10-03T07:14:00.004+10:00

Busy little hands at my place have been crafting their way through the holidays! Joy!

I love peg dolls and have been wanting to make some for a while. I love that they can be beautifully simple with just a scrap or fabric tied around them, or beautifully intricate with gorgeous little detailed clothes.

I made up some templates for our dollies clothes; a skirt, shirt and pants and then let the kids choose their fabric scraps. We drew little faces and shoes on them and then dressed them in their nice clothes. Then we knotted and glued their hair on and gave them sweet little necklaces and a neck tie.

Such fun! This was a good project for my boy to handle, but my little one needed my help. They are so quick and fun to make that they were being played with in no time!

Softies for Mirabel

2009-10-02T07:23:00.004+10:00

Meet Marron. He is a new little cutie that came into being last night. He is very quiet and sweet; my girl gave him lots of cuddles this morning.

Marron, along with one of my Little Jellies, is making his way down to Melbourne today to be part of the Softies for Mirabel project. Head on over to the Meet Me At Mikes blog for more info on Softies for Mirabel.

I enjoyed making Marron so much, I can imagine making a whole family of them!

More Holiday Crafting

2009-09-28T06:30:00.007+10:00

So much time to do crafty things on holidays! I love it :)
We've made these little bowls before (see this post), but I was inspired to try them again by Amanda Blake Soule's book 'Handmade Home'. (this book is such a treasure to look through - so nourishing in the best crafty way!)

(they look like the Three Bears' bowls!)

As it had been over a year since making these bowls, it was nice to try them again with my bigger kids. A year on means better dexterity, (slightly) longer attention spans and a little less mess!!

This time we made them using old 'window' envelopes that I'd saved - I really love the patterning on the inside of them, don't you?! We used a diluted PVA mix for the glue, but a proper cellulose papier mache glue, like 'celmix' would be much better (and much safer!).

We used little glass mixing bowls as the molds and put on about 2 or 3 layers of paper. My boy went for the largest bowl - which obviously takes longer to do - and so his only has one layer and is sweetly delicate. The little bowl was for my girl - she attached scrunched paper balls to the outside of hers for a bit of texture.

I'd considered painting them, but the lovely patterning is quite perfect, so they're staying as is. Now they're ready for some special treasures to go inside!

School Holiday crafting

2009-09-23T15:19:00.005+10:00

Over the past recent years I have been accumulating gleefully a stack of wonderful crafting books - both new and old. I decided that right now is the perfect opportunity with both kids at home and me on holidays to try out some of my favourite projects!

The little activity we did today was to make some lovely paper flowers from the "Phoney Flowers" project in the 'Meet Me At Mikes' book. We used old book pages and twigs from the footpath for ours. The kids painted the paper with ink beforehand. (nb. the old book pages are so lovely - yellowed and crinkly ... but beware! they can be quite brittle!!)

I was pleasantly surprised how this went with my 5 1/2- and nearly-3- year olds - they really enjoyed the project, and while I helped quite a bit, they had fun creating.

We are very pleased with our new blooms! (and are looking forward to our next fun project!)

Today has been such a strange weather day. We have been enveloped in a big cloud of dust - there is an eerie light around and a layer of dust on every surface of the house. And now it's chilly. These images were taken from the back deck - looking out from the second picture you normally can see the hill behind our house - it is totally lost in dust.

books are good

2009-09-18T07:54:00.007+10:00

The Art Show at school went off without a hitch (phew!). It was such a lovely, low-key evening celebrating the Art and Music that little kids make. And now, I'm on holidays!!

Aside from busy Art Show prep, it's been a book-y week here. We love books in our house.

My gorgeous, clever boy is learning to read; he is taking such delight in discovering the 'secrets' hidden in the words of books. His favourite at the moment is 'Ten Apples Up On Top"; he has it on his bedside table with a bookmark (his favourite bookmark from Bec) in it. You see, it is rather a long book and he gets tired halfway through reading it - hence the need for a book mark! ;)

The BESTbooks book swap happened again - number 8. This time, we had a theme of making flag books; it's always fun making to a theme. Rhonda from My Handmade Books collates them all each time, see her blog post about it.

The book I made used pages from a 1960s Auckland panorama book. I cut the photo up in skinny strips which became the 'flags' of the book. When the book is held open at a certain angle, you can see the entire panorama.

The book I received was this gorgeous one from Meredith from notuboc. Simply beautiful with it's blues and organic shapes. Lovely! thanks Meredith!

Also this week, I found out that my book tutorial is listed on the Meet Me At Mikes list of '25 ways to make a book by hand' - cool! (mine's #16). This list is a great compilation of some lovely little tutorials for making gorgeous books. (great ideas for doing some crafting these holidays with the kidlets).

I'm off to keep preparing for the Racecourse Rd Street Party - what fun, can't wait!

Racecourse Rd Street Festival

2009-09-15T10:33:00.004+10:00

Hello there!
I've been a little absent lately enjoying a bloggy break and also being very busy at work. Tomorrow is the Art Show at school so I have been crazy busy (and anxious!) getting it all together! Fingers' crossed for tomorrow.

Also taking up my time has been preparing for my next market. This Sunday I'll be at the Racecourse Rd Street Party sharing a stall with bella Bel from EmBelISH so have been having fun getting ready for this. A whole bunch of BrisStylettes will have stalls out the front of St Augustine's (where our last BiDM was). I can't wait - it's going to be huge! (drop by and say 'hi'!)

Here is a pile of my new recycled books that I've been making from cereal boxes and paper ephemera - the 'Mills and Boon' covers have been used too. They just need their threads snipped and they're ready to go!

Somewhere hidden in my 'to do' pile (well, one of them anyway!) is a bunch of Little Jellies waiting patiently for completion ...

I can't see me getting these babies finished in time for Sun (such a shame!). Some of them seem to be quite worried about this, but I told them that it's ok - they can come to the BrisStyle Christmas Market!

spring-time

2009-08-22T13:17:00.008+10:00

There are so many things I love about Spring-time. At the moment, at the top of the list is saying goodbye (fingers' crossed!) to nasty winter 'flu ... so sick of being sick!!

The weather has warmed up so much here .. kinda feels like Spring has been skipped and we're moving straight on to summer! (and, technically, it's still winter!). My jasmine is blooming, the air smells sweet and we've kicked off our slippers! Love living here!

Some lovely things have been made recently that also make me happy for Spring-time.

One of the most lovely things is the opening of a brand new cosy and crafty 'Nook' in West End. This little shop, made by Michelle in the front room of her house is overflowing with delicious crafty goodness - so many beautiful things! My LittleJellygnite babies are so happy and humbled to be in such lovely company, including lovely things from some other BrisStylettes too. Go to the 'Nook' blog for more info.

I grew up with these good old chairs which were looking decidedly shabby around the edges after we had adopted them.. So, despite the fact that the kidlets are still small (messy!) they got a re-covering - the woollen covers always itched my legs anyway! I found a lovely strong cotton fabric (such a great colour too!) to replace the grubby, scruffy 80's covers. Lovely! just like new! (the kids chairs have specially-made slipcovers on them to protect the new fabric)

Another newly-made thing in our little house is a cubby. Hooray! somewhere for the kids (and their junk!) to hide! We are lucky enough to now be the owners of a big new t.v, which is pretty cool ... but I'm not sure which is better; the big shiny t.v or the excellent cubby-making box!?

My boy and I decorated the box yesterday with little paper squares in red, orange and gold. It also has flowy curtains, a letterbox and a very grand front door! They are having lots of fun in their Morrocan-esque cubby already. I love it! All the decorations we used came from my (rather large!) stash; what an eco-cubby! :)

As well as all this, some Little Jellies and Loxies are patiently waiting completion along with some moleskine-like notebooks on my work table.

Happy Spring-time everyone!

The BrisStyle Etsy Ekka Extravaganza Sale!!

2009-08-06T19:37:00.004+10:00

(whoa! what a mouthful!!)

'Creepy Clowns' from Hey Harriet

The Ekka is on again! Which means, along with strawberry ice-creams, the show bag pavilion, baby animals and a good dose of the 'flu, that BrisStyle's EEE sale is on again!

At both my jellygnite and LittleJellygnite stores, I am offering:

Free postage within Australia plus free set of gift cards with purchases over $25 (excl. postage)

image from TwinkleStarArt - thanks Amanda! ;)

The sale runs from today until Saturday 15th August
Visit the BrisStyle blog for a list of the BrisStylettes and their deals!

Happy Shopping! :D

happy things

2009-08-04T13:38:00.005+10:00

My 'Suave 70's mini notebook' made it into the Etsy Gift guides this week!!

Thank you to everyone who voted him in - must have been his charming good looks ;) He is actually in quite lovely company; there are some really clever little books there.

More happy news is that I won Jess from Epheriell's blog comp for July - thanks Jess!! I get to spend $40 in her shop now :D Jess is currently on the count-down for her big wedding day; have fun with your preparations Jess and all the best!

The end of this week sees the start of the Agricultural Show in Brisbane - the 'Ekka'. Stay tuned for an enormous BrisStyle Etsy Sale to celebrate!

Shadow Shot Sunday #33

2009-08-02T17:35:00.003+10:00

After a week of wintery 'flu and sick children, we had a nice day today; it was sunny, we were at the beach and are all now on the mend.

This shadow was taken after our sweet little neighbour dropped in some leftover balloons from his aunty's party. The two smallest members of our household have discovered that helium-filled balloons are very cool - and not just because of the pretty shadows they make!

For more lovely shadow shooters, head on over to the award-winning Hey Harriet! ;)

Happy Sunday everyone!

I love brooches

2009-07-30T20:47:00.005+10:00

The lovely LittleChrissy popped these lovelies into my letterbox today (well, actually the postie did, but, you know..)

I had been admiring this 'Commodities' brooch with the barcode on it for a while. I got round to purchasing it on Monday and the lovely Chris gave me an extra little special brooch as well! I really quite like it; it is soft felt with a little paper word on in - 'warmth'. Lovely.

Oh! and a sew sweet little card too!! How spoilt am I?! Thanks lovely Chris :)

As I have quite a love for brooches, here are some other yummies I've been coveting recently!

Gorgeous little cheekyRabbit Badge from pocketcarnival

fabric covered badge by STARASHAN

Gorgeous colour burst: Handfelted little nest brooch by SMboutique

They are on my shopping / wish / Christmas list!

Vote for Gregor!

2009-07-29T13:51:00.003+10:00

Suave Mr Gregor has made it to Etsy's Back to School Supplies voting room!

Suave 70's Mini Notebook

Drop in and show him some lovin'!
http://www.etsy.com/voter_list.php?ref=voter&room_id=61

Shadow Shot Sunday #32

2009-07-26T19:00:00.004+10:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

Here are some shots that I captured on a recent trip to the Mt Coot-tha botanical gardens. I visited with the kids, my Mum and my Aunty and her granddaughter who were visiting from NSW. We had a lovely picnic lunch, playing, rolling down the grassy slopes (the kids - not me!) and strolling through the gardens

These were taken at the Japanese Garden - which is so serenely beautiful, even with loud, excited children in tow!

The walled garden is beautifully laid out with lush green plants, a little pond, bridges and picnic spots. I spied many shadows in the Japanese Garden as well as the rest of the Botanic gardens (it was such a beautiful sunny day!) but these were my favourites. The soft shadows of the tree on the wall as we were leaving the Japanese garden caught my eye.

Have a happy Sunday everyone, and thanks again to lovely Hey Harriet for her Shadow Shot Sunday!

These are fun!

2009-07-18T19:42:00.004+10:00

I've got into making a few things lately. As well as some more cute Little Loxies I've got on the go, I thought it was time for something new too (I get bored so easily - such a short attention span!).

We keep cardboard boxes of all shapes and sizes at our place. When the pile gets too big, the boxes make their way to school with my boy and go into the big tubs full of exciting 'making things' materials. However, recently I have been keeping some of these boxes for my own 'making things'.

I have made four little moleskine-style notebooks using the cardboard from cereal boxes. They are fun to make because I then go through my stash of wonderful ephemera (and it is quite a sizable stash so it's nice to make use of it!) to find a suitable image to glue onto the card. So, the boring, printed side of the cereal box gets covered up with retro loveliness and you can still see the cardboard on the inside.

Two of these cover pictures are from illustrations in 1960s women's magazines - I love the daggy style of these so much !

The other two are from pages of a glossy (and large) Tasmania 1960s tourist book - flipping through the book is like a step back in time!

I've uploaded these for sale on my jellygnite etsy shop and today I found some 'Mills & Boon' books with wonderful old covers on them so I'm looking forward to using these to make some more!

BiDM goodness

2009-07-14T14:20:00.004+10:00

The BrisStyle Indie Designers Market was such a busy, busy day that I barely got enough time to do a spot of shopping! With so many gorgeous handmade goodies on show, I could have easily spent the whole day just shopping!

After quite a stressful lead-up to the market (not at all helped along by my little girl banging her face into the wall), I was very happy with my table set-up; all my little things sat together nicely!

I picked up some gorgeous jewellery pieces from LittleChrissy, StratDesigns and ReRead; a delightful 'snow queen' brooch from Chris, a yummy green lolly bracelet from Sophie and a sweet blue resin ring from Hayley. It feels so nice wearing (showing off) my new pieces!

I also bought a much-coveted skirt for my little girl which she was over the moon about (such a girly girl!). It's a gorgeous orange-coloured skirt from Robyn at HotFudge. It only made Emi love the skirt even more when, wearing out for the first time, complete strangers complimented her on her fashion sense! Well, it is a most beautiful skirt! (the sneakers don't really do it justice, but the days activities called for 'sensible shoes'!)

For more of the low-down on the BiDM, check out this post on the BrisStyle blog.
Amanda from Twinkle Star Art has uploaded a bunch of photos from the BiDM onto Flickr too.

I'm back at work now that my holidays are over ... not that I have much to complaian about, I'm only working 2 days a week this semester! Which is lovely because it leaves more time for making and playing!

Shadow Shot Sunday

2009-07-05T07:28:00.004+10:00

Hey Harriet is the host of Shadow Shot Sunday and compiles lovely collages of photos from the previous week; head over to her blog to take a peek. Here's my shadow shot from the BrisStyle market yesterday. It was taken by my son, that's why it's a little bit fuzzy; the shadows aren't too obvious ... but the sun was behind them so they were in the shadow. I love the effect of the rays of sun behind the guitarists.

The day was an enormous success; in personal terms, interest in my stock far exceeded my expectations. As well as that, it was such a fun and friendly day. I also did some shopping myself when I was able to escape from my table for a little while and got some delightful goodies. More about all this later! It's good being BrisStyle!!

Happy Sunday everyone!

BrisStyle Indie Designers Market

2009-07-01T13:46:00.004+10:00

As I type, am am sitting amongst a mess of market stuff: stock, signs, lists, display boxes, plastic crates, paper bags, table cloths ... and more lists!

But! It's all under control! :) With less than 3 days to go to the 'big day' (feels a bit like a wedding) I am feeling pretty good ... well, for the moment anyway!

I have written lots of lists and really enjoyed ticking my 'jobs' off once I'd done them. I still have a lot of organising to do and, the MOST important thing - write myself a shopping list for Saturday!! ;)

There is going to be over 50 of us selling at the market and, well, BrisStylettes made really gorgeous stuff so it's inevitable that my money won't stay with me for long!!

For a list of participants, visit the BrisStyle blog, or for a pretty version, Miss Ruby Red has compiled a list with etsy banners on her blog.

Drop by and say 'hello' if you visit the market on Saturday!

BrisStyle Indie Designers Market
Saturday 4th July 9am - 2pm
St Augustine's Church Hall
Racecourse Rd
Hamilton

Right! Off to write my (little?!) shopping list!

Shadow Shot #30

2009-06-28T17:03:00.003+10:00

Last weekend I visited my grandad. With my mum and kids, we drove the 9 hours to visit him for a few days. He is 94 next month and still lives by himself.

While he didn't really know who I or the kids were, due to his dementia (and his general forgetfulness that has nothing to do with dementia, and everything to do with him being who is is!!) he really enjoyed the kids' company.

His favourite pastime, particularly in the winter, is to sit in the sun on his verandah, feeding the birds and watering his geraniums; he gets very cranky on cloudy days! This shot was taken of him sitting in the sun - you can just see some of his geraniums in the background.

The 'fluff' at his chin is actually my little girl's hair, so not a perfect pic, but I love the shadows, reflections and wrinkles on his face. You can see that he is happy.

Head on over to visit Hey Harriet for more Shadow Shot Sunday pics.
Happy Sunday everyone! :)

'BiDM' books and lovely friends

2009-06-24T19:45:00.009+10:00

BiDM = BrisStyle Indie Designers Markets (cool eh?!) and they are just around the corner!!! oh my, I think I'm starting to get a little stressed ... and super excited!! Oh, and I'm also on holidays for the next 2 and a half weeks ;)

Here are some lovely ladies ready for their big day at the BrisStyle Indie Designers Markets.

I really love making books and journals, and get so inspired by the fabulous things the BEST members make too. These journals have a stab-bound pad inside as well as a little pocket for goodies.

I think these little note-pads (below) are my favourites; they're nice and small, simple and have lovely images from old story-books on the cover. I'd like to make more of these!

My problem is I flit from thing to thing; while I was making some new brooches for the market today, I felt the sudden need to abandon them and go and make some more books! Oh dear, my attention span is on the small side, methinks!

In the past couple of years, I have gained many 'bloggy' friends and lovely, crafty BrisStyle friends too. I was so chuffed to receive the 'Love Ya' award recently from both Helen from Ruby2GoGo and Amanda from TwinkleStarArt - two very lovely BrisStylettes - thank you :)

This award is bestowed on the blogs that are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award. Then let everyone know seven things about you.

me:

*
I don't get anywhere near enough sleep - too many things I want to squish into my days!
*
I am currently in the 'twilight' zone - lost in the world of Edward and Bella (and I wish I was a vampire to solve my problem above!) After having countless students (10 -13 years of age) recommending the book for me, I was finally convinced when Helen raved about it ... I figured I was going to hold a lot more weight to a grown-up's view of the series, rather than a young girl's!!
*
(I think I may have mentioned this one already...) I am on holidays at the moment!! :D
*
I wish that there was one thing that I was really good at, instead of being ok at lots of little things
*
This month, I taught myself to crochet and am making granny squares to make into a throw for our (electrifyingly) blue lounge; I calculated how many I'm going to need - I'm hoping to finish before next winter!
*
Not a secret, but I really love making things - really love it. I guess I am lucky to be an Art teacher to small kids.
*
I used to be a waitress for 7 years while at uni - I never want to do that ever again (this desire, therefore, prevents me from doing any further study!!), but I do still enjoy carrying dinner plates up my arm!

I am passing this on to the following friendly, funny, self-effacing, inspirational and fun blogs ... I know that this is a double-up of the award for some of them, but I think they deserve it! ;)

1. Hey Harriet: Tracy inspires so many people to chase shadows every week as well as sharing her own beautiful images and adventures. (and I always have a little chuckle at the random surreal generator too ... hee hee!)

2. HotFudge: I love hearing Robyn's adventures, listening to her sage advice, and of course, cracking up at her little jokes!

3. edward and lilly: Rebecca has so much style and grace in the beautiful things she makes. I enjoy her 'shopping lists'.

4. Lisa's RetroStyle: I love reading Lisa's blog and discovering (and getting mighty envious!) of her new vintage and retro finds!

5. littlechrissy: Chris is very good at reminding me to appreciate the little things in her 'grateful Monday' posts.

6. The Small Stuff: Bec's blog was one of the first ones I found in bloggy land - I love her writing style and enjoy her stories about her kids ;)

7. Ruby2GoGo: Helen is such a wonderful, thoughtful gem with an eye for glorious Brisbane retro! :D oh! and she's pretty good at organising the best markets too!;)

8. TwinkleStarArt: An amazing illustrator - I love peeking into Amanda's sketchbook on her blog and amazing that her stories about her 2 year-old sweetie are exactly the same as my stories about my 2 year old!! hee hee!

Back to my brooches for BiDM now!

BEST book swap

2009-06-18T20:15:00.008+10:00

It was book swap time again recently and I received my book this week. I look forward to the BEST book swaps as it gives me a chance to make a new, and different book. Oh yeah! and I also get a gorgeous book in return!! (BEST is the Bookbinding Etsy Street Team)

Look at this beautiful book! It is from Anna from PurplebeanBindery and is so cleverly made. The paper is quite special too. This is the little gem that arrived this week from the swap - lucky me!

(photo from the BEST blog)

It has a nice tall format - a bit bigger than a cheque book - it sits nicely in my hand.

Lovely Rhonda from MyHandboundBooks coordinates our BEST book swaps every time - she does such a great job - thanks Rhonda!

Here is my little offering for the swap: it's an accordian-bound book with pockets and three little stab-bound journals. I made a little 'paper bag' for it too.

I used cartridge paper and bits of ephemera for the pages of the little journals. My favourite bits are the coloured squares of book pages. I also like how it wraps up on itself. And, like a lot of the things I make, it is all rather small as you can see in the photo!

EDIT: I've just discovered my book went to Buechertiger (I received her little books last time!) and she's blogged about it too - her pics look a lot better than mine!!

I've also been making a few more stab-bound journals for the BrisStyle Indie Designers Markets (not long to go now!!), but these are slightly bigger and feature lovely vintage ladies, I'll post photos of them soon.

Shadow Shot Sunday #29

2009-06-14T08:37:00.005+10:00

Happy Sunday everyone!

Here is a shadowy shot taken at South Bank last Sunday. It was taken 30 minutes after it had stopped pouring with cold, windy rain; the clouds blew away and the sunshine came out for perfect picnic weather!

The shot is of the 'arbor' at South Bank; a long avenue of bougainvillea, climbing on tall sculptural trellises, that runs through the park. I think Hey Harriet used it as one of her shadow shots before?

Pop on over to Hey Harriet for some more Shadow Shots and some really great piccies.

What a happy Sunny Sunday .. I'm off to a BrisStyle crafty swap meet-up today ... hopefully I don't bring home too much stuff to fill the space I made in my de-stashing :)

BrisStyle Markets Prep

2009-06-12T18:11:00.010+10:00

Only 4 weeks to go til the BrisStyle Indie Designers Markets - time to start getting ready! And I am rather excited too - it promises to be a super-great event: fantastic stalls, lovely location, yummy food, drink and music ... all on a glorious Brisbane winter day! (let's hope it is warmer than it has been the past couple of days brrrr!)

I went to the Young Designers Market last weekend for a 'market fix' and some inspiration. There were SO many gorgeous, excellent quality wares there, including a good contingent of BrisStylettes! Included in the BrisStylettes on show was the lovely Helen, from Ruby2GoGo (who is also our very special BrisStyle market co-ordinator). Her spot was celebrating vintage swish and sharing the Brisbane-retro love. How wonderful is her set-up?! All red and white .. and I love her little scooter girl! Brisbane really is a lovely, crafty little place!

Being a "list-lover", I've made myself a list (numerous actually!) of the things I need to do in the lead up to the market - making more stock, getting more business cards, signs, displays ... One thing at the top of my list was trying to resolve the problem of display; a range of heights, continuity in appearance and effectiveness were all criteria I was trying to fill.

I wasn't happy with my current market set-up that I have been using at the local church markets; my naughty Little Jellies and Little Loxies just don't like sitting up straight! and my other stock often looked quite jumbled.

I have come up with a combination of boxes to help with my market display as well as the cork board that I already had.

This box I made from an existing one by cutting and re-taping it so that it is now a 'step'. The tops of each level are shallow enough to display my items properly as well as having three (including the table) levels of display. I'll give it a nice coat of black paint, I think.

These boxes I picked up from Reverse Garbage and fold down flat (great for carting them around!). I like the way I can stack them differently to accommodate my little softies. (Chi Chi Chookie was being very obliging today and test-driving all the boxes for me - what a sweetie!!)

Finally, this one doesn't really fit with my black boxes, but I think I will put it on the end of my tables. While searching desperately in the garage for something - anything! - that I may be able to use, I found this little cutie that I have never been able to throw away. It is a little cabinet that my brother made at school (I'm glad I rescued it from the throw-out pile now!) and I think my Little Jellies will look especially cute peeking out from it! Again, Chi Chi checked it out, but she was getting a bit tired by this stage

So! First problem solved! :D Now back to my lists!

congratulations to....

2009-06-01T19:37:00.003+10:00

May Giveaway Day was so much fun! I spent a great deal of time exploring new blogs, finding new things...

And so, to the winners of my giveaway! I chose the 2 winners via Random Number Generator ... and the winning comments were:

Stephanie whose favourite was Dashie

AND...

JJ who commented "I love the Dashie Dog pattern, although the other two are cute as well!"

Congratulations to these two lucky winners of my new Little Loxie pattern kits - I hope you find them fun!

I had so much fun discovering new blogs (and crossing fingers for being a lucky number too!!) and I am still quite overwhelmed by not only the amount of comments my little blog got, but also the happy and kind things people said!
... So, I'd like to continue the good feelings a little longer and offer all readers of my blog (that's you!) 20% off all of my new Little Loxies PDF patterns and kits in my LittleJellygnite Etsy Shop until the 30th June! wow! Just type 'Charlie and Grace' in notes to seller when you purchase and I'll refund you the difference via paypal :)

Thank you to everyone who left lovely comments, and thank you to Sew Mama Sew for hosting such a fun giveaway!!

I hope everyone has a happy week!

Sew much fun!

2009-05-31T19:56:00.004+10:00

Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway Day is the best idea!

I have been having such fun exploring new blogs, over the past few days who are participants in the Giveaway Day! ... what a fantastic time-waster!! (although, time spend enjoying yourself is never time wasted - someone clever said that!)

Some particularly nice blogs I've found are these ones:
EarthGirl Fabrics
Liesl Made
Between the Lines
Julie-k

..... and I'm still only half way through the lists of participants!

You still have time to enter my May Giveaway - see the post below for your chance to win one of two of my new Little Loxie pattern kits (good luck!) The Giveaway ends today - 31st, which is tomorrow morning (US time).. does that make sense?!
As I work til late tomorrow, I'm keeping my giveaway open until tomorrow evening - about 8pm Brisbane time ... so there's still time! ;)

Happy Sunday everyone!

Giveaway Day!

2009-05-26T20:08:00.004+10:00

Sew Mama Sew is hosting the May Giveaway Day. Head on over to their blog for a bit of fun and some (heaps!!) more great giveaways!!

So, what am I giving away?!
As my Little Loxies patterns have debuted in my LittleJellygnite shop, I thought it fun to offer two of my Loxie Kits up for grabs.

These kits include pattern pieces, easy-to-follow instructions and pieces of vintage fabrics to make your very own Little Loxie! Fun.

The two winners will receive a Little Loxie pattern of their choice - Bronty, Chirpy or Dashie - in a pretty blue fabric combo.

To be in the running, all you need to do is leave a comment to this post, letting me know which one is your favourite Little Loxie pattern. You can see them here in my Etsy shop.
... and I'm happy to post overseas too!

I will choose two winners using a random number generator. The giveaway is open until 31st May - plenty of time to check out my Etsy shop and leave a comment, as well as checking out all the other blogs participating in the May Giveaway Day!

- Good luck :D

Little Loxies Patterns are Done!

2009-05-24T21:03:00.008+10:00

I've been working hard drafting up some patterns for my Little Loxies. And now they are finished! yay :D

I have 3 Little Loxies patterns up in my LittleJellygnite Etsy shop. They are in pdf format - easy to send - and I'm planning on adding some pattern kits as well which will include fabrics and felt.

I just love my Little Loxies - mostly because my son's drawings were the inspiration, but also because I love finding / rescuing fabrics that would be suitable, then finding other ones to coordinate them with.

I hope my new patterns sell alright on Etsy - hopefully people will find them cute enough to want to make them themselves!

Giveaway Day is coming soon and I'm going to be giving away 2 of my Little Loxies pattern kits - exciting, can't wait!

Shadows in the Rain

2009-05-24T19:59:00.004+10:00

We've been experiencing A LOT of rain here at the moment ... but the sun has shown it's face just a few times, enough to give us some rainbows ... and shadows! ;)

I love the dotty shadows showing through on the play equipment at the park. It was a little soggy under foot though!

Head on over to the lovely Hey Harriet's blog for more Sunday Shadows.

Happy Sunday everyone!

re-fashioning in the rain

2009-05-21T20:38:00.004+10:00

Wow! What a few wet and wild days we've had!
We were luckier than others to escape with only wet shoes at our place, but more wild weather is forecast.

This wild weather was a good reminder to made some cozier clothes. I had bought a few big jumpers at op shops after last winter in the hope of refashioning them successfully.
This is the first one - a lovely red that I felted, took in the side seams and added a cowl collar.

It's very snuggly! I'm so happy how this one turned out - love the collar! It's a little bit shorter than I would like (you can see my green t-shirt peeking out the bottom!), but it's ok! I have another woolly one and a lovely green cotton one to magic into something else next!

Other exciting news is that I have been doing up some patterns of my Little Loxies and they are making their debut in my LittleJellygnite Etsy shop over the weekend! It has been very fun drafting the patterns and I like the idea of others making their very own Loxie in their choice of fabrics and colours; giving it their own little finishes!

I am also offering 2 pattern kits as giveaways on May 27th as part of Giveaway Day ... so stay tuned!

Sun Bathing

2009-05-17T19:05:00.005+10:00

My son sleeps with ten 'babies' every night. There is not a great deal of room in his bed left for him but he is very loyal, so they all stay. Today they needed a little freshen up, so were loving placed out in the sun for a little bath! ... and gave me a lovely shadow shot for Hey Harriet's one year anniversary of Shadow Shot Sunday!

Happy anniversary Tracy! Thanks for sharing the shadows! Head over to her blog for more.

Along with bathing 'babies', I also had a BrisStyle catch-up to attend. Such a nice thing to do on a Sunday, and also very nice to meet a few new faces that I hadn't met before; it's hard putting faces to names - or Etsy shop names!! We met across the road from St Augustine's Church in Hamilton where we will be holding our BrisStyle Indie Designers markets on July 14th - not too far away now! Exciting.

Happy Sunday everyone! :D

Special

2009-05-12T19:41:00.008+10:00

I think Mothers' day is a very special day.

On Sunday I thought about my grandma who was such a huge and influential part of my childhood and was saddened that I can no longer share things with her; I thought about my own Mum, now appreciating and understanding more and more what it was like for her, mothering us; and I thought about the so many wonderful women I know, who while not all of them have children, they are all so nurturing and caring.

(image from here)

We had lunch at our place on Sunday. I made the dessert, but everything else was done for Mum and me. I was so lucky to find a perfect gift for my Mum - a lover of all things Art Deco. This tray was shoved in a shelf at my local op shop - $4 and a nice polish later, it was looking very special!! I added some white chocolate (her favourite!) and this cute wrist pincushion I made from this pattern. Also, I made a little tray cloth using the beautiful Ink&Spindle fabric I bought at the Stitches and Craft Show.

As for me .... I get to go shopping for a *new* camera!! woo hoo :D

My Mothers day extended beyond Sunday though. I had the most delightful night last night; my boy's school organised a Mothers' Day dinner - just the prep students and their mums were invited. The tables were set out with handwritten place cards and a vase of flowers, there were special menus that the kids could tick off their Mum's choice of pizza and there were lots of excited five year olds!!

We were also given a special gift (little note pad) and card. The kids were instructed to serve their Mums first which was an amazing lesson in patience!! The Prep teachers, the teachers' aides, the prac students and the principal were all there to help the evening run smoothly.

After our meal - and this is the best bit!!! - we were given a hand massage and manicure from the kids!!! Just gorgeous - can you imagine what your nails might look like after a five year old has painted them?! Luckily the polish colours were all on the clear and sparkly side, not bright red! The boys at our table asked their Mums to reciprocate the nail polishing, so we all had fancy nails by the end!!

It was just such a lovely night - it made my heart sing seeing the beside-yourself-excitement in the kids, particularly my darling boy's, but also that the teachers had organised such an event (and given up their Monday night).

Special.

Markets and Giveaways!

2009-05-09T16:46:00.006+10:00

I had a market this morning and it was rather flat. Very flat, actually - I sold ONE item (.. how embarrassing!) .. quite a few people admiring and commenting favourably, but not buying! Ah well ... I guess that means I'm saving my stock for the fabulous BrisStyle Indie Designers Markets in July - can't wait for those!!!

Now to the giveaways: The BrisStyle blog has Kitty Boo Boo and Betsy Kingston as our featured Brisstylettes this month and both are giving away some lovely goodies!

Miss Kitty Boo Boo has these very gorgeous booties that she is giving away - so sweet! - as well as some hair clips and a cute brooch.

Bettsy Kingston has these ridiculously gorgeous "Hungry Caterpillar" baby pants up for grabs in the giveaway. (there's a little boy's version too - cute!)

Head on over to the BrisStyle blog for your chance to win!!

Want more giveaways? Eliza from Eleven Hair is having one too! She has this lovely turned keyring.
Head on over to her Etsy shop too to help her raise funds for her little friend's operation.

Happy weekend everyone :)

Fun at the Show!

2009-05-04T10:54:00.009+10:00

The Stitches and Craft Show has come and gone, and my! what a fun time I had!

The lovely Helen from Ruby 2 GoGo provided me with a 'helpers' pass so I was able to visit her on Thursday afternoon and Sunday to help her out at her incubator spot. I had a lovely time 'working' (chatting, really!) with Helen, meeting visitors to the show as well as catching up with fellow BrisStylettes and fellow crafty types.

(thanks Robyn for the pic!)

Some other BrisStylettes who had incubator stalls were Trishalan Designs, Scampsville, Made by Miffy, Little Diva and Creative ArtyFacts.

I also met up with Justine from MixTape. It was lovely meeting her face to face after our many emails back and forth! Justine is so lovely and I can't wait til the next issue of her fabulous MixTape to come out!
Kelley from the eco-fabulous Peppermint Magazine was there at the show too. Her mag, only in it's second issue, is the best ec- conscious fashion and craft magazine out! Love it :)

On Friday I volunteered at the 'Reconstruction Zone' where they had set up 4 machines, overlockers, piles of fabric and old clothes ready to be remade into gorgeous creations. There were also ribbons, buttons, braids etc to finish off with! The visitors to the show loved it; it was free and fun!

The 'Zone' was quite busy Friday morning with a group of school kids coming and going, making sexy dresses, fun skirts and aprons and cozies for their DSs. The few school boys who were there were the most earnest and involved - I loved it!!

I also managed to have some lull times to make myself this little clutch from old trousers and a business shirt cuff. Fun!

Nichola gave me this Burda fold-up shopping bag at the end of the day for my help - love the fabric!!

Of cousre, my visits to the show would not have been complete without purchases!! I bought this beautiful book on handmade books (gorgeous inspiration!)

... as well as some delicious fat quarters from the Ink&Spindle girls - lovely!

Happy Sunday everyone!

The Show has come to town!

2009-04-29T15:24:00.004+10:00

The Stitches & Craft Show has come to town! Exciting times as a long and lovely list of BrisStylettes are featuring!

There are members with their own Incub8ter stalls, running tutorials, being interviewed, being paraded as well as just helping out... Head on over to the BrisStyle blog for all the details of who's going to be doing what!

In conjunction with the Show, Bristyle members are offering 10% off their Etsy goodies for the month of May ... catch is, you have to come along to the show to get your voucher!! See this post for the details and list of participating shops.

I'll be dropping in to the Show tomorrow arvo after work to help out the fabulous Miss Ruby Red (probably more chatting than helping though, methinks!) at her Incub8ter spot. I'll also be there all day Friday volunteering at the 'Refashion' spot as well as coming back on Sunday too. Maybe I'll see you there?

Craft is the new black!

Shadow Shot Sunday

2009-04-26T15:06:00.005+10:00

Long time between posts, and even longer between shadow shots! This is number 28 for me, and if you head on over to Hey Harriet's blog, you'll see heaps more!

Last week I was fortunate enough to rescue some very lovely vintage dresses from ending up in the rubbish bin (yes, sad but true, all these lovelies going off to the tip nearly broke my heart!); mind you, there were a lot of 'bin-worthy' items amongst them... So, I made my selections and carefully bundled them home for washing and a little t.l.c.

Today's Shadow Shot is of a lovely 1960s green linen dress, with front buttons, a dropped waist and pleats, soaking up the glorious autumn sunshine on the clothesline. Not only is the dress lovely but the label as well - I just love the old dress labels!

This lovely scrap of fabric was also rescued and is quite worn in places, but has a lovely sheen to it and rich colour. I can't wait to use this little one! (this pic has some nice subtle shadowing in it too!)

I feel like it's Christmas time with all these lovely goodies; now to decide what alterations are needed as well as what to use the fabric scraps for! Happy me!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Crafty Good Friday

2009-04-10T17:19:00.004+10:00

What a happy Good Friday we had today.

The kids and I made our 'Easter Tree' (using paddle pop sticks), blown egg decorations to go on it as well as a number of Easter-y, crafty, glittery things! The eggs were the most fun ("be careful!!") as we drew on them with crayons then dunked them in food dye.

The kids also made cute little bunnies for the 'tree' too. This is Emi's effort - love the lop-sided face and legs!

Now we are quietly waiting for the Easter Bunny.

Happy Easter!

Little Loxies Update

2009-04-06T12:28:00.004+10:00

The gorgeous Pia (see this post) has found her way to a new home! Yay! My first Dashie Dog is off and away for more cuddles! A friend bought her for her new little nephew.

As well as that, these two lovelies have found new homes this week too! (thank you Kirsten!)

Oh! how wonderful! Lucky I am on holidays (and enjoying a completely kid-free day) - I'm off to make some more!

Lairy Pants

2009-04-05T14:05:00.006+10:00

What a weekend! Hosting a 5 year-old's party is a little bit exhausting! This was his first 'real' party so the anticipation and excitement was think in the air! On Saturday morning Lachie had his little friends from school and his cousins over for a party. There were lots of happy faces, lots of yummy goodies and lots of games to play.

Lach had his special new party clothes on: a new t-shirt, special 'lairy pants' and a new 'brooch'. Earlier in the week he put his order in for some new shorts; the lovely vintage red-patterned fabrics were his choice and we added some red to go with them. They looked so great on - I was pleased with his choices! The little brooch he wore matched his pants perfectly. It's a little collage brooch he made from some Chinese paper (beautiful reds and golds) while I was making some BrisStyle brooches this week.

He is proudly showing off his new outfit, along with a very cool race car that one of his little frineds gave him .... the prodruding belly in the photo is a product of his party munching; there was no hiding it, I'm afraid!

I've decided that kiddie parties are a lot of preparation and quite exhausting ... but so fun and so worth it, especially when the guest list is kept small! :)

Loxie decisions + inspiration

2009-03-27T14:16:00.005+10:00

Hello everyone, meet Pia.

She is the newest little sweetie in my Little Loxies range. She was made using red dress-making offcuts and (another!) old Japanese cotton skirt of mine.

Thank you for all your comments on my last post, helping me come to a decision on my 'Dashie' designs - it was really good hearing your thoughts :)

As you can see, I went with the 4-legged Dashie as I think it is more true to my original inspiration, but also reflects how little people see the world. (Unfortunately this kiddie quirkiness is so easily lost). I tweaked the design yet again to separate the legs into two lots of two.

Well, I'm quite pleased with this little cutie, and my new 'Dashie' pattern. I am hoping to put it into pdf format so that I can share it on my blog ... stay tuned!

Little Pia and her pink friend (from the previous post) are making their way over to my LittleJellygnite etsy shop to hang out with all the other LittleLoxies.

And while we're on the topic of my LittleLoxies, here's another drawing done yesterday by my boy - I just love the giraffe's face (and yes, our 'magna doodle' is looking a little worse for wear with those grey splodges on it!) ... I'm thinking this one could be a new LittleLoxie design too!

Finally, head over to ReRead's blog. Hayley is giving away another of her gorgeous brooches - check it out!! I know these brooches are wonderful as I own my very own - a cute little deer (that my students love!) - that I bought at our Christmas BrisStyle markets last year.
Head on over to Hayley's blog for a chance to win!

Have a happy weekend :)

New Little Loxie

2009-03-20T12:30:00.006+10:00

Meet 'Dashie', he is the newest addition to my Little Loxies. He's a little sausage dog based on one of my son's drawings.

Here is 'Dashie markI'. This one is made using an old skirt of mine and some of my grandma's ricrac. He has found his way under my little girl's arm most of the time, or tangled in her bed!

And here is 'Dashie mark II'. This one is made using a vintage sheet and stripey scraps. I felt I needed to make a few little adjustments to make it look more like a dog and less like a rat/marsupial mouse/possum (?). I took the two middle legs out (which makes it heaps easier to stuff!), made the tail 'flappy' - not stuffed as part of the main body, and 'streamlined' some of the lumps and bumps.

Now, I have a problem ... I'm not sure which one I like better or which one looks better ... Can you help me? I love the basic shape of him (perfect, as I said for underarm-cuddles), but just not sure on the finer details.

I'd love to hear what you think!

Handmade Book Swap #6

2009-03-20T12:16:00.005+10:00

Yesterday I received my book for the 6th BEST Book Swap. It was all the way from Bonn, via Canada to my door! My book, well, two books actually, were made by Hilke from Buechertiger . They are so stylish and lovely. The books are quite small (which I love!); the biggest one fits in the palm of my hand!

BEST is the etsy street team of book binders; we have been having swaps every three months and I've participated in every one of them. I love the idea of making a new book (usually something I haven't made before) and then packaging it up for it's journey! The book I made this time was Japanese stab- bound with the covers covered in 1940's wallpaper with a little peep-hole in the front. (I made one similar to this, but smaller for our recent BrisStyle 'lucky-dip')

You can see the rest of the lovely books from the 6th swap at the BEST bookbinders blog.

Happy Friday everyone!

Market Community

2009-03-14T20:20:00.005+10:00

Today was the first St William's market for the year and it was lovely. I love the community - it really is like a little social outing as well as a market. It was nice to see the ladies on the cafe again (my table just happens to be right next to the food :) - my little market helper loves this fact!) as well as regular and new sellers. I was also pleased to discover that a woman had visited the markets becasue she had read about them on the BrisStyle blog! (yay!)

My Little Loxies had their first market outing today; they were extremely well-behaved and procured smiles from passers-by. These little cuties, Susie and Beau blew kisses goodbye and went along happily having found their new homes.

Back to the fabric stash to make some more me-thinks! :)

Re-Fashionable

2009-03-13T12:48:00.006+10:00

Being a thrifty kind of a gal and loving all things related to up-cycling, re-using, re-fashioning .... I recently bought two dresses for myself from an op shop. They were crazy prices - $2.50 for one, and $3 for the other!! I decided that I didn't need to try them on; they looked like they would fit, and for the price, I wasn't that worried!

Well, the lovely red, pink and black spotted one (which is a little shift dress, 60s style) fitted like a dream and I added a little ribbon belt with button closure. Lovely.

The second one, a black and white 'mod-looking' creation, alas, was a little 'firm' around the bottom/hips area. I have been enjoying reading the Wardrobe Refashion Blog (and BeckyBean's recently "new" dress!) as well as trying my hand at other re-fashioned bits and pieces, so ... not wanting to waste my $2.50, or some pretty stylish fabric (not to mention a lovely invisible zipper!) I got to work re-fashioning it from a ladies size 10 to a little girl's size 2. Fun.

I cut off the hem first which went to creating the shoulder straps. The original dress had a pleated high waist with side 'tabs' so I cut off the bodice and put a big pleat in the skirt so that the tabs overlapped (just the right size to fit around Emi's chest) and finished with a button. My stash of ric rac came in handy to add wiggly details to the straps and hem.

Because of the thickness of the fabric, it's ended up quite 'chunky' around the chest, but I'm really pleased with the overall result!

Someone looks happy with her new dress! (Dolly likes it too!)

Tomorrow is the first St William's Craft Markets for the year so I'll have to put my refashioning on hold for a little while!!
Come along if you're in the area!
St William's Church, Dawson Pde, Grovely 8am -12pm

New Threads from Old

2009-03-06T12:30:00.006+10:00

My previous post showed a half finished dress on my work table. Here's the finished result - I love it! (... the dress, not the photo!)

I used Simplicity pattern 4675 and after adjusting it in the bodice, it fits perfectly! I decorated the drop waist with some vintage Japanese ricrac - which I am really loving at the moment; a whole bundle of it was given to me by my aunty recently. The vintage fabric was so lovely to work with - such lovely polished cotton. Thank you to Donna who so thoughtfully passed it my way! :D

Another new thing that got made was this little half circle skirt for my girl. (It pushed into the 'to-do' queue leaving the other things still waiting!) It's made out of re-purposed fairy fabric, old fitted sheet fold-over elastic and trimmed with cotton lace at the hem. (the thing in the right of the pic is a cardboard box elephant, made by my busy boy!)

Ah, the happiness of re-purposing and re-inventing old things new again! :)

Down Tools

2009-02-23T18:59:00.008+10:00

Taking up Robyn Hot Fudge on her challenge, here is a pic of my work room. She challenged us to 'down tools' and snap it as it was. So here it is!

Not that you can probably tell, but I've just had a clean-up (of sorts) of my room, which basically means you can now see the carpet!

The two main projects on the go are a little dress for my girl (one of the items on the back of my chair) and on the table, a half finished dress for me. The dress fabric was given to me by someone very lovely and thoughtful; it is a vintage polished cotton of beautiful quality, she knew I would appreciate it!

You can also see my button jars on the window sill. I love these; the jars are all the same yummy French jam jars with a red and white lid ... my extended family have been eating a lot of jam lately to aid my jar collection (and my need to have them looking all the same!!). Lucky my sister-in-law found some on special!!

Check out Robyn's and also Eliza's from Elven Hair too.

Last week I donated 50% of my Etsy sales to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal. Although I only sold two things (making my donation only $19 ), I know that every little bit will help.

(this little cutie made his way down to Melbourne this week)

I am constantly warmed by the stories of generous Australians all pitching in. A year 5 student at my son's school, off her own bat, organised a 'free-dress' day for the entire school to donate funds for the Red Cross. They were able to raise over $900.

... and the winner is!

2009-02-15T09:06:00.015+10:00

(this post was delayed due to technical difficulties!! I meant to have it up yesterday, sorry)

A big thank you to all of you who entered in my little giveaway! Thank you for visiting my LittleJellygnite softies and leaving your comments. In this past week, I have sold two of my LittleJellygnite babies, so I couldn't be happier :)

I used the random number generator at Random.org to come with a winner and without further ado, the number that came up was; 22, comment #22 was from:

**^****^^^****^** Tracy from Hey Harriet!! **^****^^^****^**

YAY, woo hoo, wheeeee! . . . Congratulations Tracy!

Tracy said her faves were Archie and April.

So thanks again for all your comments :) It was a lot of fun! Can't wait to package one of my LittleJellygnite babies up and send it off to Hey Harriet

And just a reminder, until next Saturday, I'm donating 50% of my sales to the Red Cross Bushfire Appeal .. so grab a little softie cuddle for a good cause ;)

Happy Sunday everyone and don't forget to check out the Shadow Shots!

Handmade Help

2009-02-13T20:14:00.003+10:00

I am so heartened by all the generous crafty folk on Handmade Help for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.

So far I have sold one item, with 50% of the price going to the Red Cross, this little cutie (she was one of my favourites!):

And hopefully mores sales will follow to help me donate more.

Giveaway reminder - One day left for your chance to take home one of my little softies. See this post.

Happy Friday

Bushfire Appeal

2009-02-12T20:08:00.003+10:00

I don't really have the words to write about the shocking devastation in Victoria. My heart aches for all the people who have been affected but it is also uplifted by the heartening stories of help from both Australians and the internationally.

For the next week, I am donating 50% of all my sales on Etsy from both my LittleJellygnite and Jellygnite stores to the Red Cross Victorian Bushfire Appeal.

For more ways you can help, go to the Handmade Help Bushfire Appeal, also info here at Meet Me At Mikes and donations at the Australian Red Cross.

Handmade in Brisbane

2009-02-08T16:43:00.007+10:00

As it was my birthday a week ago, I wanted to share one of the presents I got. It was from my sister-in-law who has an etsy shop masalachai (who I've blogged about here too). I had admired this gorgeous bag in her shop ... and low and behold, it ended up being wrapped in birthday paper for little me!

I just love this fantastic fabric and the colour - so fresh! And the size of the bag is really perfect too. The fabric came from one of her (frequent and successful) thrift shop fabric hunting expeditions - great find!! A big thank you to lovely Andrea for my new bag :)

Here's another little gift that has been given lately (well, for Christmas, actually) to my little girl. At the St William's markets (which start again next month - I'm looking forward to them!) late last year, I found Francene who makes and sells the most fun and gorgeous kids costumes. There were a few lovely jester outfits - perfect for my little clown - but unfortunately they were all too big. So, I had a little one made - how perfect does it fit??

And how cute is my little jester? Francene got it finished in super quick time, chose a gorgeous selection of fabrics and it fits Emily perfectly.

So, I just wanted to share some of the amazing talent that's out there :)

Head on over to Hey Harriet for some more talented people snapping the shadows.

Happy Sunday!

Oh! Don't forget to leave a comment for the post below, if you haven't already, to enter my great giveaway! You have til Saturday - spread the word!
Thank you to all those who already have! :)

Super Blog Giveaway!

2009-02-01T20:05:00.005+10:00

As a way of celebrating my recent birthday and the recent opening of my LittleJellygnite etsy shop and also to say ‘thank you’ to all the lovely people who visit my blog, I’m having a little giveaway! Yay!

I am giving away one of my LittleJellygnite softies (from my Little Loxie or Little Jellies ranges) of your choice. That’s right! You get to choose which one you’d like!

Here’s what you have to do: Go and visit my LittleJellygnite shop and decide what item is your favourite. Then, come back and leave a comment letting me know which one you like the best! Easy Peasy!

The giveaway will run until midnight (Brisbane time) on Valentine’s Day (I thought this would be a nice day to end on!). The winner will be decided by a random number generator and announced on my blog on the 15^th Feb.

The giveaway is open to everyone, so spread the word … and good luck!

There is also another fabulous giveaway happening over at the BrisStyle blog. Rebecca from edward and lilly is giving away one of her gorgeous little birdies, They are so lovely - go check it out and good luck!

Shadow Shot Sunday #27

2009-01-31T20:34:00.005+10:00

Phew! What a week it's been! My 'big' boy started school for the first time, I started my new (pretty wonderful) job, we celebrated my brother's 30th and then my birthday and I met with the gorgeous Brisstyle committee girls. It's been a very full, exhausting fun week!

So, I thought a good Shadow Shot for this week would be of my boy going off on his first day of school.

Oh! he looked so cute, and was so proud of his new (big) uniform, hat and backpack. It was only when it was time for us to leave him at school that the tears started (his - not mine!!) ... oh his little face was so sad! But when 'home-time' rolled around he'd had so much fun that he wanted to stay at school!!

Happy Sunday everyone!
Thanks again to Hey Harriet for hosting Shadow Shot Sunday!

Shadow Shot #26

2009-01-25T08:16:00.005+10:00

This weeks shots are from our recent holiday in Sydney. We stayed in the Northern Beaches with my cousin and were lucky enough to go out on Pittwater in my uncle's cruiser.

I love the landforms around Sydney - the sandstone and the Sydney gums are gorgeous. Pittwater is bounded by National Park and little residential pockets - often with no road access. Very beautiful!

We anchored at a little beach where we we able to swim ashore (so beautiful!) and played in the sand. There was a little inlet there too where the little stream coming from the rocky hill behind met the beach.

We were so very spoilt on our Sydney holiday! We also travelled to Canberra where we were spoilt again by more family members! (lots of love, beautiful food and drink!)

So now it's back to work - holidays are over!
Happy Sunday everyone, and a Happy Australia Day for tomorrow!

Thank you again to Hey Harriet for her wonderful shadow inspiration; to see more Shadow Shots on a Sunday, go to Hey Harriet's blog.

Shadow Shot Sunday #25

2009-01-12T19:11:00.004+10:00

My little girl has recently 'graduated' to a big bed. It is the most beautiful old cast iron bed that I blogged about here. We got it professionally re-coated, I made some flag/bunting things for the top and it all looks gorgeous (I'll post more pics later). She loves it but it's so high - almost as tall as she is - so she has a struggle to hop into bed, but heaven help anyone who tries to assist her (she is 2, afterall!).

The afternoon sun comes in her window a little bit which makes lovely shadows from her bedhead. Lovely!

Happy Sunday everyone!
Pop into Hey Harriet's blog for more shadow shots :)

Shadow Shot Sunday # 24

2009-01-11T09:27:00.003+10:00

The lovely Hey Harriet hosts Shadow Shot Sunday - drop by her blog to see all the fantastic shadows!

My shadow shot today is a tale of domesticity on a very hot day ... the washing was dry in an hour and made very neat, ordered shadows on the paving.

And I only got to take one shot because as I lined up to take others, a little cloud crept over the sun and ruined my shadows!

Happy Sunday everyone!

More Softies

2009-01-07T13:00:00.003+10:00

Obviously I have a little addiction to making soft toys ... I love it ... and my children's bedrooms will soon be overflowing with them ... as will my workroom.

Anyway, not much of a surprise that I bought the new 'More Sofites' book not that long ago. So many beautiful, clever and cute things to make and such a refreshing change to use someone else's (tried and tested) pattern instead of my own!

We had a lovely time looking through all the softies, deciding what to make, the kids putting their orders in (and their orders for cousins and next-door neighbours as well!)

These are the Christmas presents I made for some lovely little people in my life:
Rudi and Roddy the roosters - these guys are as thick as thieves, but so very polite and well-behaved (well, most of the time!) ... very much like the two little boys I made them for! They were made from MariekUniek's 'Mister Rooster' pattern.

This is Tabbie who was very fun to make ... but lots of work! I really love her. I'm afraid the hair won't stand up to a two-year old's affections, but we'll see! She was made from the pattern 'Topsy-turvy Tabitha' by Hatch - isn't she a sweetie?!

This Sweet Pea was so easy to make and with such lovely results - you can't really see, but she's on lots of matresses as she is the 'Princess and the Pea' pattern by Sarah Bowe. I loved choosing the fabrics and button (the little girl she belongs is a real 'red' girl) and I love snuggling her into bed too! I'm going to make more of these cuties!

And, as well as these cuties, I also finished off some more Little Loxie s for my new LittleJellygnite shop! Phew! - holidays are hard work ;)

New Etsy Shop!

2009-01-04T20:52:00.005+10:00

I've been a busy little bee this past week, sewing furiously (and very happily too!) to get stock ready for my *new* Etsy shop: introducing LittleJellygnite.

LittleJellygnite is going to stock all my baby and children items (softies and bibs at the moment) and my jellygnite shop will now concentrate on 'grown-up' things - my handmade books and jewellery.

I have been developing new softies for LittleJellygnite that have been based on my son's drawings. My son draws all the time and his drawings have such an honesty and joy to them that I can't help but be inspired by them. I have made my 'Little Loxies' softies range so far using 4 of his animal drawings - it's very fun! Check them out at the new shop!

Of course my Little Jellies will be at my new shop too - I've got some new 'babies' waiting to make their appearances!

So, hopefully this LittleJellygnite will be the start of happy things to come!

Shadow Shot #23

2009-01-04T20:03:00.006+10:00

Hello everyone - happy new year :)

My shadow shots have been absent lately, but I have still been enjoying taking a peek at everyone else's!

Here's my #23 SS. It was taken at South Bank Parklands about 3 weeks ago. We had a great little play in the water (along with almost every other family in Brisbane, it seemed!!) and in the fountains and in the sand. They have recently renovated the 'water play' area and it's so fun. This pic (amazingly without anybody in it - not sure how I did that on such a busy day!) shows a map of the Brisbane River and surrounding suburbs that was in the cement near the fountains.

The image looks very landscape-y I think.

Check out the lovely Hey Harriet for more of Shadow Shot Sunday.

Happy first Sunday of the year!

Tis the season ...

2008-12-16T09:01:00.011+10:00

The BrisStyle Christmas Market, held last Saturday was such a jolly start to Christmas! So many happy stall-holders and customers; the market had such a lovely vibe. Thank you to all the lovely BrisStylettes and the wonderful Helen for making it such a success!

The guitar 'boys' did such a great job - I was very grateful of my position at the market - right near the music and the food!

And like all the other BrisStylettes, my stock sold well - it's the best market I've ever been to - not only for the great sales, but more importantly because of the friendly and fun atmosphere! I had such a lovely, fun and happy day!

I was also able to do a little of my own Christmas shopping buying two lovely brooches, one for my Mum from Hayley at ReRead and one for my M.I.L from Helen at Ruby Red Studios ... oh, and a few other little bits for myself! :)

The lovely BrisStylettes got into the spirit of giving and donated goods that were raffled off for the Knitting For Brisbane's Needy charity with the lovely Tracy from Hey Harriet looking after the charity and promo table. Here's the raffle prize - chock full of BrisStyle goodness!

And, in the spirit of receiving, here are some lovely handmade goodies I've happily received in the past few weeks!

This is a cute little 'wallet' that came complete with pens, stamps, cards, notebook and stickers. It was made by a student of mine (she is only 13!) and I was so proud of her efforts! So much time and love in a handmade gift; I appreciate and treasure it so much! Vive la Handmade!!

This little cutie (with her expression of absolute bliss!) was a gift from the gorgeous Bel of EmBelISH. As you can see she is gracing our tree, enjoying the Christmas singing and checking out the pressies under the tree!

For our BrisStyle Secret Santa swap, Robyn from Hot Fudge made me this delicious apron! Apologies for the pic - my 4 year-old budding photographer took it this morning, just before cooking pancakes. (he also took all the market photos above, which I was quite proud of!)

And here is is hanging up in the laundry, ready for a wash (I knew I would get it dirty on it's first wear!!)

I feel like I own my very own Hot Fudge little girl dress now - I love the fabric choice and little details! Thanks Robyn!

Ooooh, I love Christmas time; I'm off to wrap some pressies then go for a swim!

Handmade Markets - Brisbane style!!

2008-12-09T20:40:00.007+10:00

Only FOUR more sleeps to our BrisStyle markets - yipeeee!

I have been such a busy girl getting my stock and displays finished and ready for Saturday (and lucky I still have 4 more sleeps because I'm a long way off!) Here's some finished 'Little Jellies' waiting patiently for Saturday!

I have been so pleased by the positive reception our markets have been getting; from the local businesses in Hamilton, from the public and various media outlets about town! Very Exciting!!

Here are the details - come and do your Christmas shopping!!

BrisStyle Christmas Markets
Hamilton Hall
cnr Racecourse Rd and Rossiter Pde, Hamilton
9am - 4 pm

... there'll be food and live music as well!! (how great is that?!)

Check out the wonderful BrisStyle blog for more details.
See you there!

Christmas decos are go!

2008-12-03T19:18:00.004+10:00

The first of December has rolled around which means we finally have our Christmas tree up and decorated... 'it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas' !! Here's the little angels at our front door.

I love Christmas time - I love the hot sultry days, thunder storms in the evening, visiting the council pool on hot afternoons, icy poles and summer fruits. I also love the anticipation of celebrating Christmas Day with special food and special people.

This year I participated in Em's (from EmBelIsh) Christmas Ornament Swap. My swapper, the lovely Lisa from Beetlehouse Designs was super organised and on the ball and sent me my ornaments early; they have been waiting patiently until Monday when we could put them up!

The kids especially loved the reindeer hanging and I think the little snowman is such a little cutie! Thanks again Lisa!

Here's the ornament I made for the swap. Her name is Joy and she's a little Christmas 'Jelly angel'. Joy made her way over to Marc from Daisy Jayne.

Thanks Em for getting us all in a Christmassy mood! :)
Enjoy December everyone!

Shadow Shot #21

2008-11-23T09:55:00.003+10:00

I've had a busy week this week; busy at work, exhibition opening, BrisStyle meet-up and appearing on the front page of etsy!!

I have work in the 'Renaissance' exhibition that's on at Reverse Garbage in West End; it runs until the 24th Dec. The works exhibited need to have at least 75% reclaimed materials content and fellow BrisStylers Beckybean and Ruby Red as well as djbebe. There is some really beautiful work on display, so if you're in the West End area, pop over for a look!

Our BrisStyle meet-up yesterday was very fun - meeting people I've only ever 'talked' to on email and putting faces to names was really good. The lovely girls from EmBelIsh set up the tables in festive frivolity and we shared our 'Secret Santa' gifts. We also drew the winners of the BrisStyle blog giveaway ... stay tuned for the announcement! Lots of fun!

And here's the shot of my front page appearance on Etsy (I'm botton left)!! artdecadence has such a knack for snaring treasuries and I'm so glad one of hers made it to the front page (and just happened to have my little book in it!)

Finally, happy Sunday with this little shadow shot of one of my jade trees that I grew from cuttings from my grandma's plant.

Head on over to Hey Harriet for more shadowy shots!
Happy Sunday everyone.

Shadow Shot #20

2008-11-16T13:19:00.004+10:00

"When each day is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognise the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises." Paulo Cohelo, The Alchemist

... and every day that the sun rises, there's the perfect chance of delighting in shadows!

We had a little park picnic yesterday and it was a very hot, sunny day - perfect for shooting shadows!

(It was so very hot and sunny!)

Head on over to Hey Harriet for more sensational shadows!
... and, if you haven't already, head on over to the BrisStyle blog for your chance to win some very cool goodies!

Happy Sunday everyone!

party frocks

2008-11-13T06:43:00.007+10:00

The best things about kid's parties is seeing the looks of complete wonder, excitement and joy on their faces! And not just the birthday girl - all of them!

Here's Miss Two ... the looks of excitement and joy were yet to come ... it was just wonder at this stage!
She is wearing her pretty party frock that her Aunty made for her using a delightful little blue rose old fabric and a cute little EmBelIsh clip that the lovely Ruby Red bought for her.

The course of the party went very well with cousins laughing and running and playing, party games, balloons, yummy food and of course the cake!

I has so much fun making this little bunny cake ... but it was rather frustrating - the icing just didn't want to do as it was told! So, as a result, he was smothered in the stuff (mmm yum!)
I also had a bit of trouble with getting his little face right - I think he looks a bit scared, poor thing - perhaps he knew what was coming: "I want the tail!", "I want that ear", "Could I have a whisker?". He was so very yummy!

By the next day (Emily's actual birthday) she was a pro at this birthday stuff - opening presents etc. Here's a shot of her illustrating the "looks of complete wonder, excitement and joy" I referred to earlier as she test drives her new stroller!

This dolly stroller has barely left her sight ever since!
It started life as a hideous 'Bratz' stroller and, as I cannot abide by these 'dolls' for a two year-old (or for any age, really), I went about changing it!
Here's the before shot ...

And the after shot, complete with a lovely vintage fabric with purple and blue flowers on it! Ahhh, that's better!

After this alteration, I'm so glad the stroller was a hit with her! ... I'm now looking forward to the wonder, excitement and joy of Christmas (but no more fancy cakes for a while!!)

Shadow Shot #19

2008-11-08T21:01:00.003+10:00

Happy Sunday everyone!
Firstly, thank you for all the lovely comments you left for my SSS #18 - it was nice seeing my picture through your eyes - I like it even more now!

This week's shot is taken on my walk to the train station once again. (I love the clarity of the spring morning air!) I had taken my camera with me to get a shot of the 'Keep Left' sign from last week because someone had run their car into it and it was looking rather different! (I thought it would be an interesting progression of shots... ) BUT, the good 'ol Brisbane City Council had it fixed up before I could get a shot!! (just my luck!) So here's this one of the trees along the road instead!

Head on over to Hey Harriet's blog to see more great Shadow Shots!

Happy Sunday everyone - and don't forget to head over to the BrisStyle blog (if you haven't already) to go in the running to win one of THREE very special packs of BrisStyle goodies - what a very special start to Christmas that would be!!

this is fantasitc...

2008-11-03T19:31:00.004+10:00

The fantastic BrisStylettes are having a fantastic blog giveaway - with not one, but THREE fantastic prize packs!!! What an excellent (fantastic, even!) start to Christmas!!

So many of the BrisStyle members have donated their goodies to go into our Christmas blog giveaway that there's over $300 worth of value!! And what's great also is the fact there's no catch, nothing hard, just a simple question to answer to go into the running to win one of our great giveaway packs!! Very exciting!

So! Head on over to the BrisStyle blog to put yourself in the running for some Made in Brisbane goodies!

And a BIG thank you to the lovely Bec-elf for all her Christmas spirit x

Shadow Shot Sunday #18

2008-11-01T18:24:00.003+10:00

Wow, I'm up to #18! That's 18 weeks, 4 1/2 months that I've been taking more notice of the shadows! This week's shot is another taken on my my walk to the train station.

There's something about road signs that appeals to me; something about obeying the 'rules', the simplicity in their design, and they also remind me of Jeffery Smart's works - which I love.

Head on over to Hey Harriet for more info on Shadow Shot Sunday and to see the other great shots!

Happy Sunday everyone!

twenty-four months

2008-10-29T13:39:00.006+10:00

My little girl turns TWO in less than two weeks (and time flies by...). On the weekend she was very lucky to receive an early birthday present from her auntie and uncle. It included this gorgeous wall hanging/mobile:

Isn't it so pretty and girlie?! Her auntie sells these in her etsy shop masalachai and although she hasn't had any sales from etsy yet, she has had loads of orders from friends (I think that's why her shop's empty at the moment!). They are really sweet little things and Emily's looks so pretty in her room - what a lucky girl!

Now I have to put my thinking hat on to decide on what sort of special birthday cake to make for my girl ... stay tuned!!

Shadow Shot Sunday # 17

2008-10-26T07:25:00.004+10:00

I love these spring mornings with the big and boundless sky ; the blue goes on forever.

This lovely old tree lives at the top of the hill. It has little holes in it where the parrots and cockys nest.

Thank you again Hey Harriet for inspiring so many people to take joy in the simple magic of shadows! Check out the other SSS participants here at Hey Harriet.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Bronty Baby

2008-10-22T13:07:00.006+10:00

This week I needed to do something else; not related to my etsy shop, or getting ready for markets, or thinking about work, or cleaning the bathroom (eek!). So, inspired by one of my boy's drawings (I do so love young children's drawings - such candor and innocence!) I set about making a little softie - his name's Bronty ... because he's a brontosaurus (can you tell?!)

He has already made himself at home, as you can see playing with a puzzle!
The original drawing is of a brontosaurus and a triceratops eating a tree; you can see the long neck of the brontosaurus and the three 'horns' on the other one with a large leafy tree in between! I then adapted this gorgeous creature into a paper pattern for the softie.

I used an old sheet with a delightfully-coloured flower pattern on it as well as some plain green for his face, 'spot' and tail. I love him! ... and he may just turn out to be a prototype for more little 'Brontys'!!

*PS The lovely Leah from Moxie Photo and Design featured little ol' me on her blog a few days ago! Check it out the post here. Also take a look at her great etsy shops while you're at it! Thanks Leah!

Shadow Shot #16

2008-10-18T20:41:00.006+10:00

Happy Spring Sunday everyone!
This week's shot was taken on my morning walk to catch the train this week. I love the early mornings, particularly now that spring is here; the air is so clear and the sky seems so big. And I love my walk to the station - it's like this little avenue of trees all the way ... and I have my iPod on so I can block the busy road right alongside me!

Head on over to the fabulous Hey Harriet for more Shadow Shots!
Happy Sunday!

Arty weekend

2008-10-18T20:00:00.007+10:00

The students' exhibition at school was a success! We had such an easy time hanging and displaying it all only to have a power black-out on opening night!! A dark art exhibition is not such a good thing, but the drink was still flowing and people still munching on the delicious food! While it was looking a bit worrisome for a while with Art teachers carrying around torches waiting for the 'emergency lighting' to fail, the lights did come back on eventually and the night was a very busy and happy one!

One of my year 7 'nests'
It's such a relief knowing that it was a success. It was also lovely watching the parents come in to admire their child's work and then comment on how great it is!

A lovely giraffe from the junior school

The students' works looked fantastic; from the monsters that the Prep kids made right through to the beautiful drawings and other works of the seniors.

One of my year 8 artist's books on the theme of 'metamorphosis.

Stitches

2008-10-10T14:08:00.004+10:00

In a busy, not particularly nice week, I've been looking for the little things that make me happy. Last night I sat down to do the little stitches around a nightie I made for my girl - sweet blue like her eyes! This made me happy. I made a rubber stamp of the little bird (a willie-wagtail) and stamped it onto a white fabric circle, added a floral and blue circle and stitched them all on.

Next Friday is my students' exhibition at school - many, many works (from prep to year 12!) and lots to do! So I've been busy preparing work, sorting name tags, mounting works ... Here are two little 'stitched drawings' from my clever year 7s - the idea came from this experiment I blogged about a while ago. Their images came from close-up drawings they did of plants.

Tomorrow I have my St Williams market (at Dawson Pde Grovely) and my littlest nephew (7 months old) coming for a visit. This will be a nice end to a not so nice week. Here's to the weekend!

PS head on over to TwinkleStarArt's blog for your chance to win one of Amanda's gorgeous prints ... hurry, you've only got 24 hours left!!

Shadow Shot #15

2008-10-05T18:09:00.004+10:00

The Jan Power's market today at Blackwood St was a successful morning for me - lots of 'admirers', some customers and a great vibe. Hopefully I'll go back next month, that's if they don't up the stall fees again (not too happy with the lack of prior warning!). Anyway, it was fun - it's always nice when others like your handmade work enough to pay money for it! My picture of my market table is a bit hard to see because of the bright sun and the shadows ... could've been my shadow shot for this week!

My 'Little Jellies' loved their sunny outing, a couple even found new homes! Happy.

My Shadow Shot for this week is of my new market umbrella (pretty green, brown and blue stripes) with dappled leaves shadowed on it against the hot blue sky. (The light 'glare' on the brolly is actually a stripey glitch in the camera ... might have to invest in a new one!)

Visit the amazing Hey Harriet for more details about Shadow Shot Sunday and for other great shadow shots!

Happy Sunday!

Beautiful Images

2008-10-03T20:56:00.005+10:00

I just wanted to share this gorgeous site with you; 'Gracia + Louise' are a pair of Melbourne artists who make the most beautiful things (artist's books, zines, collages)!

Their images; the juxtaposition of the different elements and the materials really speak to me - love it!

Other gorgeous, but completely different images can be found at TwinkleStarArt. Browse through her etsy shop and then head on over to TwinkleStarArt's blog for your chance to win this gorgeous 'Beep Beep' print!

Enjoy your weekend!

October pumpkin

2008-09-30T13:37:00.006+10:00

October is here! And while I am enjoying glorious (warm) spring weather, I am thinking about Halloween, 'Fall' and pumpkins .... Well, it's no wonder with this top being one of my latest creations!

Yes, the picture is very bad, but I'm afraid it was the best out of very bad lot!! I made this using a 1976 Simplicity dress pattern and a thrifted old bed sheet (Bec, I actually bought the pattern from the Dorrigo 'Vinnies'!). The tie was a necessary inclusion to prevent me appearing to have the shape of a pumpkin, as well as the colour! And despite it reminding me of a Halloween costume, I rather like it!

This Sunday morning, I will be at the Blackwood St (Jan Power's) Markets in Mitchelton - if you're in the area, drop in and say hello!

Enjoy October, whether it's autumn or spring!

Etsy love

2008-09-29T15:14:00.014+10:00

My little jellygnite etsy shop has been a bit neglected of late so I thought it was high time to give it some love! I re-photographed my Little Jellies and uploaded those - hopefully they look better now - more irresistible to potential buyers! ;)

I had a little helper while photographing too!

I also 'slaved' over the sewing machine today making a new bunch of cutie Little Jellies - I love watching their personalities emerge when I pop them the right way out!! (if you look carefully, you can see two mini Little Jellies sitting in on the shot too!)

And then I went cruising on etsy and found myself some new favourites! This is from my good friend's very new shop masalachai - it's a great idea and I really hope she does well.

And these are some great artworks I found:
This great plane image is from greentrikepress

Graceful giraffe from CitrusTree

Sweet berries at michelemaule shop. Lovely composition and sweet layout like an old Polaroid pic.

And this great bird collage - love the papers and stitching that's been used: racheltobertson

Happy etsy-ing!

Shadow Shot # 14

2008-09-28T10:54:00.009+10:00

These shadow shots were taken on the hill overlooking Glen Innes in the Northern NSW highlands.

They were erected in 1988 to commemorate the Celtic settlers to the area. There are over 30 standing stones, all significantly positioned and representative of different things.

While they are not quite as moving as Stonehenge, the surrounding bush is beautiful and they were fun to play hide and seek around!

Head on over to Hey Harriet for more Shadow Shots.

Happy Sunday!

Re-discovery

2008-09-26T21:32:00.004+10:00

We have just been on a lovely little family holiday for the past week. We visited many places in NSW that I have been many times before, but this time I looked at them with different eyes. It’s such a lovely feeling, rediscovering the beauty and value of a place or thing or person.

Dorrigo is one of the places I remember visiting often as a child. It is a little town in Northern NSW on a plateau in the Great Dividing Range. My childhood memories of this place are dominated by feelings of carsickness (driving through the mountains) and the “Rusty Train Museum”. And based on those memories, the trains are the reason we stopped here – my son is a mad ‘ferroequinologist’ – he loves trains! And I must admit, I have a soft spot for them too.

The train ‘museum’, unfortunately, is a long line of old carriages and locomotives from New South Wales Railways that have been sitting there rotting, rusting, falling apart, until the funds are raised and work done to make it a proper museum. The locomotives, particularly, are so grand and proud – remnants of a ‘bygone era’ … such a shame to see them as they are.

We spent the night in the ‘Hotel Dorrigo’, a pub built in the 1920s that is in fabulous condition, being Heritage listed and recently renovated. We had a room on the verandah that had two French doors opening out. The décor of the room was mostly consistent with the era – cast iron beds, carved silky oak furniture.

In the morning, the town was in fog (it’s cold in Dorrigo!!) but the main street was busy with cars early – it was lovely being on the verandah with a cup of tea watching the day unfold and rediscovering little gems.

... and as a post script to my last post to those who were wondering; Yes! we did have fish and chips in Redcliffe .... followed by icecreams :D

Shadow Shot #13

2008-09-18T21:09:00.003+10:00

This week's SS is early (didn't want to miss out this time!) and it's another shot of a sweet little person enjoying the sun and the water.

This was taken up at Redcliffe (north of Brisbane) it's a picture of my cousin's little boy having a ball in the kids' water play area. He's such a sweetie - and cheeky too! So much fun! And such a lovely day.

Head over to Tracy's Hey Harriet blog for more sensational Shadow Shots - come and play!

Happy Sunday everyone! (in anticipation!)

Shadow Shot #12

2008-09-14T07:28:00.003+10:00

Hey Harriet's Shadow Shots have been such a great idea - so many people are sharing their shadow shots now! Head on over to her blog to find out more about Shadow Shot Sunday.

This week I went out early in the morning, in the (quite warm) Spring sunshine and shot this spiky shadow shot. Spring mornings are so clear and fresh and lovely.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Springtime pretties

2008-09-11T19:34:00.008+10:00

The lovely warmer Spring weather that has arrived has inspired me to some pretty Spring making.
With the warmer nights, I realised recently that my poor little girl had no summer pjs that fitted her! So, after trawling through my patterns and choosing from my stash, I made a very pretty little set of pjs for her.
I used the McCalls 8941 pattern (view D) and changed the neckline, so it now has a slit at the front closed with a button (Missy was very happy with the 'buttie' on her pjamas!) I used a lovely, soft op shop sheet which is printed in bands of different pretty pink flower designs. Because of the patterning, I was able to use different patterns for the pants and at the bottom of the top. Sweet eh?!

My second piece of Spring prettiness is a top I made for myself using the Built by Wendy Simplicity 3835 pattern. I've had this pattern for a few months and have really been looking forward to making it up after seeing all the variations on Flickr - so many great ideas! I modified it a bit as well, adding the neck to view C and closing the back with a button. Next time I think I'll make the next size up so it's more 'roomy' and I don't have to suck my tummy in (which I should've done for the 2nd shot mmm, nice!)!! We're going for a day trip to Redcliffe tomorrow, so I think this new top will be the perfect springtime attire!

Something that's not sewing - and some are not particularly pretty - are these bikkies I made with the kids yesterday.

We had so much fun! The kids loved cutting out the shapes (and Missy loved mushing them in her hands!) and then selecting the mini m&ms for decoration. Miss Em seemed to like to concentrate her decorating in the one spot ... and some of those mini m&ms really needed some pushing down (look at the poor dinosaur's head)!!

And I have to say that this is one of the ugliest gingerbread men I have ever seen!!! Hee hee!

Lastly, the BEST bookbinding etsy team is having their 4th book swap in which members make a book around a them and send it off to be swapped. My book for the swap is currently featured on the blog (I had so much fun making this one!) and you can see the books from the other participants too .. hmmm, I wonder which one will make it's way to my mail box?!

If you've made it to the end of this rather long post .... thank you ! :)

Shadow Shot #11 and other things...

2008-09-09T20:37:00.005+10:00

Thank you to everyone for their comments on my last post. The wedding was such a lovely weekend and my two brothers-in-law liked their pictures a lot. It turned out that the recently-turned-40 brother has been collecting beach stones and creating little cairns of them in his garden! So the painting was quite apt - he liked it a lot! The wedding weekend was a lovely celebration with special clothes, lovely weather and little cousins having fun. I will post some pictures later.

The weekend wiped me out and I didn't post my Shadow Shot for the week. This made me a little bit sad as I love participating, so it's a little bit late - hope it still qualifies! The wedding was held on the glorious Gold Coast and we spent Saturday morning exploring the beach. My Shadow Shot is my little girl daintily playing in the sand (she later shoved a whole handful of sand in her mouth ... mmm gritty!) . She's wearing a new little skirt that I made from a baby pillowslip that was in my parcel from Jess from Button Beauty.

Also, thank you to Shells pixie kisse s from who awarded me the Brillante Award - thank you - I'm in lovely company in her recipients list! Shells is relatively new to blogging and has already got such a readable and interesting blog! Thanks! I'm going to do a 'Hey Harriet' and pass on my award to all the Shadow Shot participants - it's not a cop out! I really enjoy exploring the shadows on Sundays!

Lastly, if you're in the Brisbane area, come along to the St Williams market, Dawson Parade, Grovely on Saturday morning. It's a lovely little community market and Em and Bel from EmBelIsh will be there too!

Pears and Pebbles

2008-09-03T14:23:00.003+10:00

I've been busy making lots of fun things lately.
It is my brother-in-law's wedding this weekend on the beautiful Gold Coast, all of my husband's family will be there. So, I've had wedding outfits to make for myself and the 2 kidlies, a wedding present to draw and a 40th birthday present to paint (for my other brother-in-law), springtime kids clothes to make as well as a wedding reading to prepare for and time to feel excited about my boy's 'ring-bearer role'!

Here is the drawing for the new happy couple - these two pears were sitting on the kitchen bench, leaning into each other lovingly and I thought would make a lovely wedding drawing - a pair of pears in love! (not that my brother-in-law and his wife in any way resemble pears!!). It's a grafite and coloured pencil drawing - and I should have photographed it before framing!

Here is the 40th birthday present. It's a painting of a cairn of 4 beach pebbles that I collected when on holiday in Sardinia about 5 years ago. Sardinia is a special place for me, I have a dear friend who lives there and seeing as my brother-in-law likes the sea, I thought these pebbles would be a good thing to paint for him! It's painted in acrylics on canvas, and should also have been photographed before framing!

And now, after surviving a very sick Brisbane August (without falling ill), me and the kids are sick. So it's lots of sleep and cuddles to get better in time for the wedding!

Shadow Shot #10 and a Wordle

2008-08-30T19:14:00.004+10:00

Shadow Shot time again! (wow, I've done 10 already?!) Head over to HeyHarriet to see last weeks SSS pics.
I have a little table on our deck with an assortment of mainly white, lovely pots on it. All of the plants (bar one hardy succulent) in these pots are dead. It looks terrible and I feel guilty every time I spy it! But I like the shadow shot - the last of the winter sun, making way for Springtime!

And here's my Wordle - I hadn't done one yet and decided to after seeing U-handbag's blog, so I tried it out. It's 'lovely'!! ... and also very addictive!!

Happy Sunday everyone!

Post Script

2008-08-28T18:39:00.002+10:00

Hi again!
Hiding away from the kids at 'witching hour' (my husband's a good man!), I've just discovered this great blog with a lovely little tutorial for a vintage lady coat hanger (very cool - my mind's racing with the alternatives!).

The blog's called Green Kitchen (you savvy people probably already know about it ... I'm a bit slow!) and she's having a giveaway too! All very exciting for my Thursday night!

beautiful bunny

2008-08-28T16:22:00.003+10:00

Thank you to Net from Area Thrifty One for sending me one of her gorgeous bunny kits.
In green - my favourite colour!

I'm really looking forward to making it up and I really like the idea of putting smelly stuff inside (like rosemary or cloves) or stuffing with sand and using it as a cute doorstop. You can see more of Area Thrify One loveliness at her etsy shop.
The 'generosity of bloggers' indeed :)

Thrift Delights and a Kitchen Tea

2008-08-27T13:48:00.004+10:00

I visited my local Vinnies today - they have just refurbished the shop (it still smells like new carpet and fresh paint!). Lucky for me, they discovered that they have an over abundance of books and so are selling them off - fill a bag for $1!

I filled my bag with all sorts of novels - some for using with my students, some because they were good stories, and some because they had interesting covers! My son also picked up 3 lovely fairy tale books from the 70s with lovely illustrations (he's got a good eye!). You can see one of his books at the bottom left of the pic, my 'tower' of books keeps going out of the picture!

Not satisfied with my book stash, I also bought a sweet set of yellow daisy glasses (perfect for little hands, I think!) and a lovely heavy glass vase. Thrifty happiness!

Another thing that's made me happy lately was my sister-in-law-to-be's Kitchen Tea. It was a proper, old-fashioned ladies Kitchen Tea, complete with a vast assortment of delicate sweeties served on beautiful plates and stands and lovely china cups and saucers with flowers on them. So delightfully civilised!

As it was a 'traditional' Kitchen Tea, I gave a traditional gift. My s-i-l-to-be loves cooking so I made up a recipe box with blank recipe cards as well as some already filled in. I had so much fun putting all of this together (which is good because it took way longer than I thought it would!!). I enjoyed choosing some of my favourite sweet recipes for her as well as making all the cards and finding suitable vintage ladies for decoration!
Now we wait for the wedding! I'm very excited as I love a wedding! It's just over a week away and I still have my outfit to finish (I'm so good at procrastinating!) ... maybe I should go and do a bit now ..?

Shadow Shot #9

2008-08-24T07:48:00.005+10:00

Although I'm looking forward to Springtime, I am enjoying the lovely winter sun that streams in every morning. This is a strange shot, I think; I took it of the glare of the sun on the floorboards under our table this morning. The long shadow lines are created by the backs of the chairs.

Yesterday we had out monthly BrisStyle meet-up in Hamilton, across the road from where we are holding our Christmas market in the old Hamilton Town Hall.

It was nice to welcome some new faces to our group. As usual there were lots of handmade Brisbane goodies on show, lovely conversation and (huge plates!) of delicious food! Here are the BrisStylettes in action (before the food arrived!).

Visit the lovely HeyHarriet for some more shadow shots.
Happy Sunday everyone!

Spoilt Rotten!

2008-08-20T13:39:00.007+10:00

One of my simple pleasures in life is receiving mail (nice mail, not the 'bill' variety!) from the postie. I've been a 'mail-lover' since I was a little girl - as soon as I could write!
And, I have been such a lucky girl this week. Today, three packages arrived for me!!

The first was my gorgeous little book that I bought from Bexx. So tiny and perfectly made .. and my favourite colour too!
The next was a super-sweet surprise from lovely Helen from ruby2gogo. She sent me a gorgeous pouch (love the fabric!) for my newly bought bracelet (similar to this one) and a fantastic 'Wonderwoman' ring!! woo hoo :D All packaged up so nicely. Thank you Helen.

My third parcel was a great pack of goodies that I won from the lovely Jess at 'Button Beauty' (I thought I was one of those people who never wins anything!! so glad I was wrong!!) I am so lucky in winning her gorgeous pack of goodies. I was gob-smacked at Jess's generosity - she included vintage pillowcases, vintage tea-towel, op-shop Eskimo place-mats (so cool!), yarn, fabric pieces, vintage trim, seeds for our garden, fair trade chocolate and a great apron she made herself! Thanks again Jess!

Wow! Lucky me :) I'm so inspired to get into my sewing now with these beautiful fabrics and the ones I got from Bec too. I'm off to bury myself in my stash! ;)

Etsy goodies

2008-08-19T20:14:00.005+10:00

We have such a wealth of talented etsy sellers in Brisbane! I took advantage of the recent BrisStyle etsy sale and bought some lovelies!

HeyHarriet sent me out two sweet aceos - packaged so nicely with a cool card and Charlie Brown comic pics :)
This is the one I especially love "Red Wall Girl" - I'm still trying to figure out what she is feeling! Thanks Tracy!
Beckybean packaged up some great goodies for me too. I bought her lovely 'Witch Snippet' bag which is just lovely - yummy colours and fabrics.

Beckybean's package was full of extra goodies which warmed my heart and swelled my fabric stash a little more!

What was extra special was the bookmarks she made for my two little people. Thanks Bec!

Check out the BrisStyle blog for some more fantastic Brisbane Handmade etsy talent!

Shadow Shot Sunday #9

2008-08-17T20:09:00.003+10:00

I'm a bit late this week - we have been soaking up the sun and good times on the Gold Coast all weekend.
I'm also cheating a bit: the weather this weekend was so glorious and sunny, the kids were having so much fun, we had lovely company and the beach was looking so good ... but I forgot the camera :( so silly. SO, this is one I took a few weeks ago of our neighbour's palms on our wall. Nice, but not exciting like the Gold Coast, sorry!

Thanks again to HeyHarriet for her great SSS collages and Happy Sunday everyone!

Red Button Beauties!

2008-08-14T14:59:00.007+10:00

I have a lovely friend who loves buying things for me, and I love making things for her.
Today I received another little goodies packet from her ...

These gorgeous RED buttons!! I love the colour and the different textures and materials - some are Bakelite and some are wood. They are on an old button card that says 'Fashion's Latest' and 'Made in Czechoslovakia', but I doubt any of them are the original ones that came with the card. They were found in one of the lovely vintage-selling shops in Eumundi on the Sunshine Coast (mental note: grab some pocket money and take a drive up to Eumundi soon!!).

I'm a lucky girl! I'm thinking of making maybe a bracelet out of the 6 flower-y ones. Hmmmm...
I told her, the next time she's out shopping, I'd like her to buy me some extra time so I can make things to my hearts content!! hee hee.
Thanks Kira :D

Shadow Shot Sunday #8

2008-08-10T11:21:00.005+10:00

Today's SSS is the Swash-buckling Shadow Pirate with his cardboard sword and plastic parrot. He cuts a fierce figure playing in the park!
We went on a grand pirate adventure with the neighbours down to the park, complete with pirate flags, eye patches and pirate treasure! So fun.

Thanks again Hey Harriet for some great SSS collages!

Happy Sunday everyone and be sure to check out some great Brisbane craft and art on sale at the EEE sale :) !