Crazy times

OK, so with my grand ambitions of markets and parties and general Christmas craziness, things did get missed along the way...like a couple of those festive events I mentioned previously. Yep, I missed out on the party that ended up in a hot tub spa-y thing - jibbed (or not?!) And what was I doing instead? Swimming in the lake that our studios became late on Friday night, woo! Yes, a water main valve burst (or something like that) and water gushed through the building for hours (or at least an hour and a half). Not fun. Here's proof.


That's my floor as the water creeped in, slowly at first then it was a frenzy of flooding. Nice reflections of the furniture, you'll notice.


This is the hallway/kitchen and no, we don't have polished concrete floors.

I guess I was lucky to be there, else I'd not have been able to get everything off the floor. And I feel sorry for the peeps who weren't so lucky - the studio space has just doubled in size and a heap of people have only just moved in, poor things.

Anyway, after what turned into a quite late night, I wasn't too enthusiastic about getting up on Saturday morning to head to Market 3031. But as things go, it turned out to be the best day - we were right outside Kensington Station and soooo many people came past and were sooo friendly and it was a great day. Here's my stall, although this photo hardly captures the frenzy of the market, just a quiet moment!



Now just one market to go - Rose Street this Sunday - and then everything stops (well, almost). Phew for that! Now I'd better get some gift shopping in while I have a moment...

This Weekend...

It's time for more market mania - Saturday at Market 3031 (around the corner from my studio in Kensington and including stalls from neighbours and pals) and Sunday in North Melbourne, at the Christmas at Arts House Meat Market (over 80 stalls and so many good people going, none of whom I can think of right now!) Think I'll be tired after that, especially as I've got two Christmas parties on Friday night and one on Sunday night!


Here are the details, if you want a piece of the action:

Market 3031
Bellair Street, Kensington (near the train station)
Saturday 12 December 2009
10am-4pm

Christmas at Arts House Meat Market
Arts House
5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne
Sunday 13 December 2009 (it's on Saturday too, but I'm only there Sunday!)
11am-8pm

New Stuff

OK, so it's a crazy busy time of year, yes. But I'm taking out five minutes to say hello to my blog as it's been a while and I miss it!

So what's been going on? Last week (or was it the week before?) I dropped off some goodies to my latest stockists, the most lovely southwoodtrading in South Melbourne and Southwoodhome in North Fitzroy. The stores are so great but of course, forgot to take a snap inside! Below is a snap of the outside of the (original) North Fitzroy store, which is a bit like a house with different rooms set up. The newer South Melbourne store (opened only a couple of months ago) is more of an open showroom full of too many lovely things to mention.



southwood trading
285 Coventry Street
South Melbourne VIC 3025
(03) 9090 7494
www.southwoodhome.com.au
Tuesday to Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 10am -4pm, Sunday 11-3pm

southwoodhome
284 Queens Parade
Fitzroy North VIC 3068
(03) 9486 6002
www.southwoodhome.com.au
Monday to Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 10-4pm

In other news, I've finally got a photo or two of the new T Towel in Red! It was an idea suggested by a stockist (Catherine from Southwood, now I think about it) and what a great idea it was - has been very popular at the last few markets I've been to. I've also just put a couple in my Made It and Etsy shops, along with some screen printed gift tags (on recycled card) with Italian cotton string and some fabric mix packs - finally - and lavender bags!

OK, argh!

Argh! Yes! But no time to go actually crazy - that would take too much time! Just time to grin and bear it and keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best, as this year is now in hyperdrive and I think I've committed to doing TOO MUCH. Argh! Again!

I know it's only Tuesday, but Saturday will be here before you know it and that means I'll be at my first ever Yarraville Market - a special Christmas Market, no less. Think I'm going to be joined by lots of lovely folk and it'll be quite fun, and hopefully I can get some shopping in, too. Here's the skinny.



Sunday's also a market day - Rose Street. I was there this last Sunday and it was busy (well, except for the part where it poured with rain) and I nearly sold out of my new 'T' Towel in red. Yep, red. More on that soon. And more on other fun things, like new stockists. But not now. Now is time for sleep - another 14 hour day tomorrow, and that's before I've even got any crafting in!

More colours

I've been spending a lot of time with ink lately, getting a bit of it all over myself and some of it onto fabric, thankfully (and some cardboard too = fun) Each time I walk past the growing mounds of ink, I see this stack of colours and think maybe I'll have to combine them on a tea towel soon...or maybe I'm the only one into brown, baby blue and charcoal (I do have specific but sometimes odd taste!)

Inspiration Thursday

I'm sure I've missed a few Thursday posts ... the weeks go by too darn quickly ... but these threads, picked up here (I need a bag full of stuff, sure, PLUS I get to feel good about supporting the Big West) certainly make me happy. Love those colours.

Happy Thursday :)

Phew

Another market down! This one (Thread Den) was really fun and really busy, which meant I had little time to sneak off and go shopping - boo. But I did remember to take snaps this time. How many trees can you spot in this shot?



The fabric packs were a bit of a hit, so might have to make some more and maybe put some for sale online (along with a million other things, so we'll see!)

And what appeared in our fridge later on that afternoon?

The first cherries of the year, and many kilograms of them, no less! They are courtesy of my lovely partner, who had been in the country and knows how much I love cherries. Mmm, thanks Jed!

Now it's time for some reading (thanks to the new Papier Mache, just out!) and relaxing and maybe doing some work too...

Fabric mix packs!

OK, where did that week go? It zipped by and before I know it, it's almost time for another one. Whew, I can't keep up. And another week means...yep, another market :) Tomorrow is Thread Den Market day, woo! It follows the success of the first TDM earlier this year, in the lovely Lithuanian Club on Errol Street, and should be jam-packed full of crafty creations and vintage delights.

And what's new for me at this market? Fabric mix packs! Little bags filled with bits of my fabric, for you to turn into marvellous creations. It's the first time I've properly sold most of this fabric, and who knows if I'll do it again...we'll see how it goes.

Keeping me company at the market will be a bunch of great stuff/people, including Pocket Carnival, Rabbit & the Duck, Twiglett, Pepperberry & Co and more that I can't think of, as it's too hot!



Thread Den Market
* Handmade - Melbourne Indie Design - Vintage *
The Melbourne Lithuanian Club
44 Errol St, North Melbourne
Sunday 15 November 2009
10am-2pm

More making

Just a warning that there may be too many exclamation marks in this post...


Buttons!


Screen printed gift tags!!


More cushions!!!

..as it's been a long day and I need to be DONE ALREADY, but I'm not. Cos I'm not organised. But that's OK, as I've been having fun with making things new and old. Now I just need to do a million things before tomorrow, so I'd best be off. Happy Friday!

PS. I got to meet a little baby possum today, being looked after by one of my many new neighbours. Sooo cute!

It's a tree!

I had the idea of a tree towel yonks ago - you know, a tea towel with trees on it (in this case, they were quite abstract, so whether anyone would even know they were trees was questionable and therefore the name probably wasn't a bad idea).

Aaanyway, maybe one day that towel will see the light of day, but excitingly, I've now got an actual tree which will soon be hanging tea towels on it. Yay! Definitely one of the many benefits of having clever and industrious people around me - this morning the tree was a file that I attached to an email, this evening it's standing on my work bench.

A nice mention

Very excited to see my tea towels in The Age newspaper's Epicure (ie: foodie) supplement this week :) I love reading Epicure every week - definitely a highlight of Tuesday mornings and something that's oft fought over at our breakfast table - so it's quite a thrill to actually have my stuff in it. Yay!

Other than that, there's just a whole lot of making stuff going on around here ... the crazy season is most definitely upon us. I have finally made some more pot holders, six months after I made these (six months, really?! Sheesh that went quick). And yes, I love practical items, in case you can't tell! They have linen tape handles and a mix of two or three different fabrics, so very colourful. And they'll be with me on Saturday at the market (argh, Saturday's soon, gotta get back to work!)

A fury of bunting making

In a crafting fury (in a good way :), this week I felt inspired to finally make the bunting I'd been meaning to make for about a year. It's non-triangular (for some reason I wanted square, not sure why) but I like it so far.



In other crafting fury news, here are the latest elephants I've been making, one for a wee baby born very recently and the rest for the upcoming Sisters' Market I'm doing, called the Teeny Tiny kids' market, which is on Saturday November 7 at the Brunswick Town Hall (233 Sydney Road, Brunswick). Should be fun, and I'll have lots of lovely neighbours including Printspace, Metremaid, Lark and lots more.

Inspiration Thursday (on a Friday)

It was really sunny and lovely the other day (as opposed to today - rainy and humid and a bit ick) and the colours looked amazing as I was walking down the street.

Le Petit Chien

Isn't it funny how you start out with an idea about something, and then you sit down to figure the idea out properly and then it turns into something else completely(ish)?

Anyway, this morning I sat down to draw a really simple red outline of a sausage dog, with the possibility of it being a pillowcase cover (the pooch pillowcase cover contines...this is not the first or second but third). And then it turns into a non-red, two colour, non-outline Frenchy pooch. Anyway, not sure if this will turn into a real pillowcase cover, due to boring technical issues to do with high thread count & bleeding paint, but we'll see. Maybe a cushion cover?



Oh, and the idea is dedicated to Oscar the miniature Dachshund I met in the park the other day. He's pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen, actually, and reinforces the fact that I *really* need a miniature Dachshund. One day...

Cutest thing ever

Photos from Yellow Owl Workshop

Are they not? I love you, Yellow Owl Workshop.

(Found via Distillate)

Stuff

In other news, as of the start of this week I'm participating in the Poppytalk Handmade Market, (an online market - sure beats hauling stuff around town!) which goes for a month. The theme this month is Indie Love, yay for indie design/crafty stuff.

It's quite an honour to be hanging out near such amazing folk, including Beehive Kitchenware, Hazel & Hunter, Inklore Design, Jewel Weeds, KG & AB, Matte Stephens, Repeat, Mummy Sam, Yasha Butler and sooo many more. I'm gonna go shopping right now... Oh, and here's my stall, featuring a couple of new things, and there's more new stuff in my Etsy shop, including baby vests, hair ties, cushions and more soon!



And here's a sneak-peak of some of the things I've been printing...corgi pillowcases, fun!



And cork coasters!

Inspiration Thursday

Hello blog, long time no see.

Can't believe it's a week since last Thursday, where I was too busy printing and running around to post some inspiration. And feel like I haven't had a chance since then to sit down at the computer and do something fun, boo hoo.

Anyway, what I would have posted last Thursday if I had time is this -



Yep, some weeds by the railway line. And something I think I ate the week before. Yep - ate. In a fancy restaurant, no less, choice of my foodie-stuff loving manfriend (thanks to Shannon for this appropriate description). In case you were wondering, yep they were tasty - even more so than when I used to eat such things in kindergarten (which I have distinct memories of, mmm!)

It's a T bag

Yep, not only is there a T towel, now there's a T bag, too, thanks to a wee collaboration with Matt of Mattt. The limited edition bag features charcoal ink Ts on grey denim (ie: perfect for those who like muted colours!) and is only available in Matt's shop or the markets he's attending. I was at Rose St last Saturday to visit a friend and saw one of them in amongst all the other bags, which was quite cool (forgot to take a snap tho, so stole this one from Matt!)



And in other collaboration news, some of my Volker Haug cushions (ie: cushions screen printed with Volker Haug's lights) are now stocked in Tongue and Groove in Collingwood. I haven't been to the new shop/studio, which is now off Smith Street (I think...though their website's yet to be updated) but loooved the old Smith Street store, so can't wait to drop by. Oh, and the cushions come in four different designs, as shown in the photos above, and in medium and large sizes.

And note the use of black and grey, rather than my usual rather bright colour palette...it must be a boy thing.

Little Tokyo Shops zine

How great - a wee zine dedicated to sweet shops discovered on a recent trip to Japan. Now I really want to go! You can buy the zine for a mere US$5 via Angela's Etsy store. And while you're out and about, don't forget to visit her lovely blog about Melbourne shops - Open (*love it*)

Inspiration Thursday

It's funny how you can walk past something a million times and not think it interesting, then suddenly realise it is. I did this recently, when walking up some stairs near the studio. Paint splatters / polka dots = pretty. Happy Thursday.

Open and now closed

Although I forgot to take a single photo of the event, the Open Studio has been and gone and was a speedy (2 hour) and exhausting and fun day. It was lovely to see some familiar faces in the crowd (hi Bianca and Tess and Shannon) and put some faces to the name/blog (lovely to meet you Yardage Girl and Pippi Creates and Sewhum). And hello to all the others who came along, including some lovely locals and, seemingly, my entire family! The place scrubbed up pretty well, too, although it's already a mess again now. Oh, and no more beer in the afternoon for me - I don't think it agrees with me and certainly made the cycling home a little more difficult than usual!

Fabric is in the shop!

I've put some of the new fabric in my Etsy shop, woot! The shop's been a bit neglected lately, so have put a few other goodies in there - hello fabric covered buttons, in a range of colours. So go crazy and make something - you know you want to :)

*UPDATE* Have also put some new Elephants & limited edition tea towels in the shop, which is neglected no more. In fact, it's probably never been so full and even goes to more than one page - wow!



Speaking of shops, how gorgeous is this one?


Photo courtesy of The Design Files

I saw the postcard for Ramona Tienda, a new shop in North Melbourne, at a cafe in Kensington and just knew I'd love it. And I do - it's so sweet, with a select range of lovely items. And thanks to Lucy's post on The Design Files, I now know part of the reason why - as well as being super talented in her own right, Ramona used to work at Wilkins and Kent (lovely furniture and gifty things *swoon*) and the parallels in style between the shops certainly shines through. It seems like there are more and more great shops being set up around town, I love it.

Holy moley, it's ready!

This morning I went and picked up the first run of fabric from the girls, so exciting! The first thing I did was cut and pack some of it up, so I could see how the new packaging would look. Fun! Only got two snaps in before my camera's battery died, but you get the idea.

Next: red. Can't wait for that, hopefully I'll have some snaps soon!

New stockist: Mattt

How great is this shop, complete with beautiful flowers! So happy that some of my elephants and 'T' Towels get to hang out there now, as it's my newest stockist - Mattt on Gertrude St, Fitzroy.

You'll probably know the bags even if you don't remember the name - they're everywhere (around Melbourne and the world), often featuring a panel of gorgeous hand printed fabric such as these beauties from Lara & Teegs from Ink & Spindle. And yep, that's him in the corner of the photo above, dutifully rearranging the product!

Although Matt's been making bags since 2000 and has been selling them at markets around town for probably about that long, the shop/studio only came to be earlier this year (the studio part is in the right hand side of the room, but for some reason I didn't take snaps of the excellent industrial sewing machines). Stock consists mainly of the bags, of which there's a great range of sizes and patterns, but Matt's also doing his bit to support local makers of things, so there's a wee range of other goodies (including some great hand embroidered hot water bottles.(

It must be so great spending all day in this a lovely, sun filled space, watching folk wandering past.



Mattt Studio & Shop
13 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy, 3065, Australia
www.mattt.com.au
11am–6pm Tuesday to Saturday

More Open Studio

As promised, here's a wee poster advertising the Open Studio event that's coming up this Sunday, 20th September, 1-3pm at my home-away-from-home, Ironside Studios. It's our first and possibly only open day, so don't miss out. Fingers crossed I'll have some of my newly printed fabric, along with other bits and pieces to show and maybe to sell.



And did I mention other highlights, including being able to see Jem & Laura's amazing spaces (count:three, one of which you can see here - amazing!), Volker's amazing lights, Heather's buttons (handmade!), Ben's bags, Sixto's illustrations and more.