Fully organised & inspired

Yay, my revitalised studio is now fully shelved and getting a bit organised! Very exciting to see shelves that aren't jam-packed full of stuff and so great to be able to get to stuff easily.


And here's an inspiration shot for you (today's Thursday already - sheesh, the weeks zip by so quickly) - old photo sleeves that form part of an exhibition at the Town Hall in Melbourne at the moment. They look so great!

Happy Thursday :)

Getting organised

Well, it's not quite complete as the other batch of shelves required painting and are still drying (three coats later) but here is the first lot, set up and installed in my studio! They look better in my head than in this photo (bad light combined with piles of junk everywhere and just out of shot) but you get the idea. On the top shelf are my screens (yay, they have a home that's not the floor) and under that, inks and emulsion and assorted printy stuff. And all conveniently located right next to my printing/work bench. Can't wait to test it out next week.

Also out of shot is a massive amount of lavender, some of which comes from a recently visited lavender farm in the country. We stumbled upon the farm on the way to a far-away beach, during some time out of town last week. Yay for refreshing mini breaks that involve lavender, other people's cute houses and visiting old petrol stations.





And yay for random crafty stuff spotted around town. Below is a crocheted fence (or is it knitted?), spotted whilst walking to dinner tonight.

Summer cleaning

Found this photo from last year - a new-ish studio that's sparce and clean!



It's my inspiration to get the once-waterlogged-now-dry(ish) space back on track in that department, and also do some handy things like put up more shelves. Fun! Expect some updated photos next week (fingers crossed!) Yep, I'm hoping that the commitment I've just made here will make it happen in real life :)

Happy Monday.

Gone fishing

Or something like that, and somewhat belatedly.

Yep, I have disappeared off the radar but it was definitely time for an unplanned semi-break and some crossword-doing, berry picking, book reading, movie watching, whatever. But just quickly wanted to say thanks to everyone who reads this wee blog, buys my things and supports me in my crafty pursuits - it's been a blast so far.

Now for 2010...and the fabric that's ordered on the way, the new fabric that's just become available, some new ideas, travel plans and more - my brain's ticking into overdrive thinking about stuff, yay!

Now I'm back off to the beach :) OK, not exactly today but the snaps below are from the other day, when it was mid-high 30s and perfect for beach lying and fish and chip eating. Looking forward to more of that this week, assuming summer comes back (low 20s and showers today and the last couple of days - hello summer, where have you gone?!) Hope you get a bit of a break too :)

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!)