from place to place.
A couple of days ago it wandered in the door of Pia's beautiful houseboat & now it's attached itself to her wonderful project my heart wanders: a collection of subtle hearts in special places
I know this girl is going to be really excited by my heart wanders. If you're excited too - go & read more.
Thanks Erin for the introduction.
you don't know about me.
I was not so recently tagged by the lovely bricolagelife. I'm mixing it up a bit.
6 crafty talents I'm a wee bit jealous of.
1. cathedral window quilt, 2. Kath, 3. April CAL square - Chocolate Delight, in Lime, 4. First Etsy Listing!, 5. Ciabatta, 6. tcb08
I wish I could:
Quilt like Leah (& Vicki if she had a blog).
Crochet like Lara.
Draw like Claire.
Take photos like Angela.
Cook like Pip.
& do anything 1/2 as well as Anna Laura. She is one multi-skilled crafter.
I'm tagging anyone who is secretly (or not so secretly) jealous. Let me know if you play along.
I know I said I was going to get out the rotary cutter this weekend but I got a bit carried away with some organic stencilling.
Claire's gorgeous spray job & the promise of that wonderful patchwork skirted girl as well as Anna Laura's recent Mary Jane shoes have been racing around my already jumbled brain for a couple of weeks. Then I came across this mud stencil.
The recent wood obsession - a simple stencil design of my muse & I was away.
The Mud Stencil genius has a how to on his blog here.
This is what I did -
Cut: the stencil. I used a laminating pouch. It worked really well. I probably should have left it there but I laminated it. It buckled a teeny bit but there was no way I was going to cut it again. I just went for it. I told myself it would need to be tough to handle the mud!
Next: mix the mud. I just dug up a bit of dirt from the garden & mixed water in until it was sort of a bechamel sauce consistency.
Stencil: the design onto the timber. I used spray adhesive & that did the trick with the first stencil.
I did a couple more onto watercolour paper which worked OK but I didn't wipe the stencil or reapply the adhesive (& I got a bit too confident). I probably should have done both those things (& kept my ego in check).
All in all I'm pretty happy with the way my organic stencil turned out.
VARIED
Snippets from my week
It's been an eventful week.
* Warm, cold, healthy, sick, tired, energised - you get the picture.
* I'm having a crack at some different stuff, some organic stuff, some old stuff & some boy meets girl stuff.
* I've been totally motivated by Anna Laura, Loobylu & Hop Skip Jump.
* I've been out & about with the Polaroid.
* I've covered myself in gold paint (by accident).
* I've been looked after by the universe which landed me in exactly the right Op Shop at exactly the right time. Tune in Tuesday to see the results.
* I've had some crazy mad giggling type of fun running in the rain with this girl. I'm not sure she enjoyed the experience as much as I did.
I know I already post daily so I guess it's not so much about the challenge but about a show of support for this beautiful blog which is packed full of loveliness.
I'm posting here in the hopes that some of my favourite locals might also get on board.
I love a bit of fresh content.
This gorgeous girl has kicked off a bit of Friday fun & always up for a challenge I thought I'd have a crack.
After all...I went to a fabulous school that offered ceramics, printmaking, textiles, painting & drawing, garment construction & photography. True to form I tried my had at all of these and had wonderful parents allowed me to do Art 1 & Art 2 (read 8 hours of art per week) instead of maths! I was always more about the experience than the end result. I thought I'd have some giggle worthy stuff to share.
I had a feeling that most of my "folio" (& I use the term loosely) had been skipped during the most recent clean out. No great loss there I can assure you. BUT...I thought I had some stuff under the ranch. I donned the head torch & went for a rummage - I came up short. I did find all the letters the date & I wrote to each when we first hooked up! That gave the two of us a giggle but they have now been ceremoniously binned. I wanted to fire up the incinerator - if only it weren't illegal!
Anyway, enough of my drivel. In short - my Friday Archives offerings will be thin on the ground I think. Sorry Claire.
The above is a mother bird guarding her eggs. I made her when I was 3 with my next door + one neighbour who had a ceramics shed & her own kiln - incredible.
Ahh Betty was gorgeous wasn't she Jo?
Well, it's the first of the month...a beginning. I did have a grand plan for today but I've been foiled by lots of work this week. So it will have to wait.
Since my smalls were born I've saved every pair of PJs they have ever worn. They are stashed away just waiting for the right quilt project. I've tried a couple of times & then given up because how to you make such a weird mish mash of fabrics, patterns & colours "work"?
When I saw this quilt I thought maybe just maybe it might be the IT quilt but then decided I probably didn't have enough fabric. A bonds grow suit doesn't yield much in the way of usable fabric you know. I am determined to make it though & just need the right fabrics to appear on my Op Shopping adventures. Hmmm....maybe vintage sheets?
Then last week I read this post & started thinking...then Fiona posted it again along with Allison's "finished is better than perfect". That is a philosophy I can get on board with!
I've been inspired to pull out the MONSTER size red white & blue striped bag (you know the kind you get from the $2 shop) and have a crack at laying out a bit of a tester.
I think it's a winner & it makes me feel quite emotional thinking of those sleeping babes in all these historic & well loved PJs. These will be treasured forever & much loved I know. I love the thought of them wrapping their growing bodies in their PJ quilts. So this weekend I'm getting out the rotary cutter!
Image source - used with permission
I want this bracelet so much.
I found this today via Swiss Miss. I usually follow these links & end up at some huge International store & think....Nah!
BUT... Oye Modern is Australian & Craig Arnold is a very clever boy from Adelaide. I also noticed that Liana Kabel is one of Oye Modern's featured designers.
I've joined the contact list & I'll be saving my pocket money for that bracelet. Genius should be rewarded!
for my friends.
My lovely friend is walking this. I've done it - it's the hardest thing ever! If you'd like to donate to her team of go-get-em girls and support OXFAM go here. I'll be tracking her progress over the next 20 hours or so.
I'm off to support another of my lovely friends tonight. She is doing live stand-up - that's gutsy!
I responded to a request from Kami this week & it really got me thinking & then I found this...
The value of the collective and the community in the continuation of successful practice
Presenter: Carole Hanson Epp
Verge: 11th National Ceramics Conference
Brisbane, Australia 10th - 14th July 2006
...Only through active involvement will we as practitioners see the growth and development of these organizations and the artists they support. Attendance at events, membership, financial support, volunteering of skills and time, are all means towards common goals."
What does this mean for me? How can I nurture the relationships I've been building with this craft community & particularly the Melbourne girls?
Support the community in which you hope to prosper whether financially or otherwise. Get around - have a chat.
If you enjoy a blog, admire a piece (or collection) of work, got inspired, had a laugh, shed a tear, made your day, touched your heart - support them!
Buy their work, leave comments, shop in their store, celebrate their wins & take an active interest in their journey.
Everyone has to buy stuff sometime. Before you head to a nameless, faceless, bigger than Ben Hur store owned & run by a man in a suit you'll never see - consider buying from someone you "know" & who you KNOW will appreciate it.
Put back what you take out and then some.
I'm trying really hard to live this rather than just think it. A community is a powerful & wonderful thing. So to all who take the time to post, make, create, share or care - thank you.
This post has been rather more deep than my usual drivel so I'm going to finish on a totally tacky low note...
Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch Movie: Alone, we can only move buckets. But if we work together, we can drain rivers.
I just discovered that Claire is blogging again.
It was quite by accident that I stumbled upon the craft blogging community...
A google search 2 years ago for sterilising jars landed me at:
kitschenette or more accurately the red kitchen which led me to Claire, Soulemama, Nikkishell & the rest is history.
Thank you all so much & yay yay hooray Claire.