Leni and Rose

Popping in quickly…

2012-01-19T23:22:00.001+11:00

…taking a second to catch my breath
…pausing for a moment to collect my thoughts

Things are moving quickly round these parts. This space slows it down. Images of lately…

Happy Festive Season!

2011-12-28T23:36:00.001+11:00

Tomorrow at 6am, the man of the house and I are heading up north to do a little scuba diving off the coast of Cairns. It’s so exciting, but I’ll miss the girls like mad. We’ve never been away from them for more than a day – this is 4 whole days….Hmmm, not sure how I’m going to go about that…But besides that, it’s going to be a great diving trip. We’ll be on a night dive on New Years Eve!

Anyhoo, HAPPY NEW YEAR to one and all! Hope your New Years is a fantastic one.

See you on the flip side!

Today is the day…

2011-12-13T11:37:00.001+11:00

Dead Poets Society is one of my all time favourite films. Centred around a single inspiring sentiment – “Seize The Day!”, it really sings home to me - make the most of everyday, make it the best you possibly can, for yourself and for others.

So today I have seized this moment and………

I just put up the Frankie and Swiss website!

Pop on over and have a look around! And say hi on the blog which I also just launched into the blogosphere!

Look forward to working with everyone and thank all those who have been on the set up journey so far!

{This is a little sneak peak of a project in 2012, a collaboration with Dawn Tan and Shelley Panton for the 2012 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. If you look closely, you can see the weave of this 100% linen, it’s really beautiful.}

Make Hey, sneak peaks and a doily dress

2011-10-29T09:42:00.001+11:00

Thursday night was a bit spesh – a few of us headed down to Readings in St Kilda to hear Pip talk about her new book and about crafty stuff in general. We all headed down to the park after for a little picnic! I met Vic for the first time which I’m super wrapped with after reading her blog for so long. SO good to meet people in real life that you feel you kinda know already. Know what I mean?

Mags from The Craft Revival was there as well – have you heard about Betty’s Place? A new shop opening in Elsternwick – we’re working together on a bit of a cool project at the moment. More on that to come…!

Also, a little sneak peak of the website. Tess to the rescue on this one! The web people who I had engaged (way back in early August!) were trying to head down a different direction that Tess and I had already decided on. – Like change the entire look and feel of my business! Tess and I thought this was plain crazy – especially as I loved the website she had already designed. So after waiting 9 weeks for the other web people and their attempted redesign (which was not what we wanted!), Tess arrived, like a princess in shining armour, and rescued the damsel in distress. She built the website in a few days and it’s exactly what she designed in the first place. I don’t know why it was so hard for the other people to do it! Anyhoo, I just have to populate it now.

…and the blog…

What else has been happening? Oh, the bro got married last weekend. Miss M and my sisters two were little flower people and looked gorgeous!

September Brown Owls pics

2011-10-08T13:50:00.001+11:00

Considering next Thursday is the October Brown Owls meet, better post up the September flicks! More here. Looking forward to next week so much, it’s always such a fun night with the gals.

Random lately snapshots

2011-10-02T22:46:00.001+11:00

Seems a little bit of hide and seek is being played here. A little pop in one week and then off I trot again for another few. Well thats a bit rude, isn’t it! It’s not to say there hasn’t been much going on around these parts though, there has. Lots of fun stuff, serious stuff, happy stuff and difficult stuff. Lots of Frankie and Swiss stuff. Some birthday funs:

1. Birthday parties! Miss M goes to a friends pirate party above and her own 4th birthday party below – a cupcake party with lovely Dawn Tan providing the art direction!

2. Dads 70th birthday. Has anyone ever made pavolva cupcakes? *hand goes up* Me! I make a mean pavlova, but as I was wisking away the pav for fathers day celebrations, I felt it was a little too runny. So into cupcake moulds the mix went. It was rather difficult getting them out in one piece but they tasted delicious!

3. Lots of F&S happening. But it’s the $^&&$ website that’s getting a bit %&$ – another 4 weeks I’ve been told. So I think I’ll launch a temporary blog in the meantime, even though it’s completely going to change in a few weeks! I just need to finish writing a few parts out. I still haven’t written my 1000 word blog interview thingy on the famous blog, or the 200 word one for another. Dawn’s pillowcases need ironing, about 5000 m of bias tape needs making (sorry, slight exaggeration there), a busy printing calender all week (but email me if you want to be an early bird and get onto some printing like Cam!). Anyhoo, all good, busy.

Someone give me a DEADLINE to get this temporary blog finished – it’ll drag on otherwise!

So, where was I…

2011-09-09T21:58:00.001+10:00

…little break in transmission there. A week of thanking the ladies now continues. Mary whipped up these cmky cushions on that Thursday night sewing sesh. They’re actually the colour charts that assist in choosing colours for colouring designs, but actually look great as a fabric all unto themselves! Mary also printed onto cotton, the most gorgeous drawing - her daughters artwork. I’m not going to spill the beans about what she’ll be then transforming the art fabric into – you’ll have to pop over to her blog and wait :)

Colour book cushions made by Mary from Chicken Flower Tots. cmyk colour book fabric from Frankie and Swiss.

And then there was Magdalena from The Craft Revival who made the cutest coasters I’ve ever seen. The looked so beautiful on the morning tea table at the Creative Womens Circle event. Magdalena has THE most exciting project underway, I can’t wait for the big reveal. It’s going to be so fantastic – and I got a sneak peak the other day. Lucky me!

Coasters made by Magdalena from The Craft Revival. Design by Clare from Victor Fox. Printed by Frankie and Swiss

And Cindy gets another mention as she also sewed pants and matching bib (complete with yellow button to match the yellow hanger, LOVE her attention to detail!) and a little dress. Adorable, so adorable! The lovely lady who designed the fabric is Jen Henderson, another fellow Southside Brown Owl. Such talented ladies, all of you!

Little people things made by Cindy from Bug and Pop. Design by Jen Henderson.

As reward for all their efforts, the ladies have picked out some fabric designs which I shall be printing for them next week! Thank you all so much gals! We should definitely do it again.

Oversized Floor Cushions - Epic Effort III

2011-09-06T20:31:00.001+10:00

Fellow Brown Owl and local twitter gal, Narelle, also joined in the fun last Thursday night at the sewing bee. Her project was sewing up these huge oversized floor cushions, aren’t they cool! The girls love them! As soon as we get into the studio, they all make a beeline and start jumping around. And the extremely talented lady who designed them is Clare from Victor Fox.

Floor cushions made by Narelle. Design by Clare from Victor Fox.
Printed by Frankie and Swiss.

I first contacted Clare about a million years ago, when this whole crazy fabric printing idea began, when she left a comment on my blog. I followed her link and came across the most wondrous world of illustrations, patterns, all pure eye candy. She designs for Kaisercraft you see, those lovely scrapbooking papers – yep, likely that Clare designed them. I have BIG plans in store for Clare!

Righto, more tomorrow :)

PS: had a major win today at work – have finally got colour book swatches sorted out. You know what that means? The final cog in the Florence set up wheel is now complete. She’s ready to go, ready to print for one and all. Finally, I say, finally!

Epic Efforts Part II

2011-09-05T21:44:00.001+10:00

…and the sewing bee continues! To come in the following nights are colour book cushions made by Mary from Chicken Flower Tots, gorgeous coasters made by Magdalena from The Craft Revival, illustrated oversized floor cushions made by Narelle, monkey pants and horse dress made by Cindy from Bug and Pop and some more cushions made my me!

And tonight is about Brianna from Rolling In Fabric, who last Thursday, gave the better part of a day to hang out at the studio and sew up quilted seat cushions for studio chairs that were in need. This is B in action!

Brianna also sewed up a little book for my nieces kinder. It’s blanket stitched at the side and Lily’s name is embroidered on the front page. The koala spends a week at the home of each family at the kinder and a story of his stay is then relayed back to the others at the kinder. Cute! And the reason we printed the photos onto fabric? Our studio paper printer ran out of ink!!!!

So tonight, I thank Brianna!

A Week of Epic Efforts

2011-09-04T21:55:00.001+10:00

Dress made by Cindy from Bug and Pop.
Design based on ‘Lemon Spaghetti’ by Dawn Tan.
Printed by Frankie and Swiss.

I know someone who stayed up until 1 o’clock in the morning to finish off sewing a little girls dress, and some monkey pants and a bib (more on this later). This was after a full days work. In the evenings prior to this (again after a full days work), she sewed up a beautiful dress. This is Cindy from Bug and Pop. I also know a very talented artist, Dawn Tan, an amazing person in general, who has been super enthusiastic about experimenting with her artwork in textile format. The result of our little 3 leaf clover collaboration is this mega unreal dress. That mannequin will not be wearing it for long, Cindy, Dawn and I are going to have to draw straws!

On Saturday, Frankie and Swiss hosted the Creative Womens Circle and it was amazing! (besides our new ebay vintage couch falling apart!). It was the biggest event I’ve held since my 21st and if it weren’t for the absolutely epic efforts of some amazing women who gave up their time to help me, I don’t know that it would have been!

Tonight I thank Cindy and Dawn.

Every night this week, I shall thank all of the amazing women who helped and show their amazing work to everyone!!!

Cheerio until tomorrow :)

A little bit of Douglas and Hope

2011-08-19T23:03:00.001+10:00

While Douglas and Hope will be closing their doors in the very near future, a little part (or rather large part) will live on in the Frankie and Swiss Studio. See that WONDERFUL antique shop counter? Well, it’s now going to have a second life as the cutting/packing table at F&S headquarters. I’m thrilled, I love it!

When I saw it on ebay, loved it straight away, saw the location as Fitzroy, thoughts immediately wandered to ‘it’s GOT to be!’. And it was. Cath herself emailed me about the purchase! Not sure if it will make it to the Studio in time for the Creative Womens Circle event with Shelly Panton (3rd Sept) but I hope so.

Other news, F&S website will be up and running in 6 weeks. Blah, not such a good timeline. In the meantime, I’ll start a blog I think and move all this F&S stuff over there. ESPECIALLY as someone totally WOW has asked me to be their GUEST BLOGGER! She said next week, but without a website it’s probably best to delay it? What do you think?

Holidays

2011-08-17T13:24:00.001+10:00

Perhaps 'sport challenged' is a good way to describe my level of expertise in physical activities. It was always me coming last in the sprints or long run or anything vaguely related to moving faster on feet than a walk. It absolutely must do with the apparent fact that I run like you'd imagine a duck would. Yes, a duck.

But there are 2 sports that I can actually do, and do rather well, if I might say. One is done about 12 metres under water and the other is done about 1700 metres in the sky. Diving and skiing. If I could swear here to add emphasis to the word LOVE, I'd say I bl%%dy well love them both.

My dad taught me to ski when I was a little tacker and now I'm teaching Miss M. A whole pile of us are here at Hotham at the moment, my little fam, my bro and his lady, dad and his lady, and my nephew. Would have been more, but the dreaded lurgy struck my sister down. Next year...

Does the 'me and Miss M skiing' video work below? Blogging from the iPad and testing out a new bloggin app!

We’re hosting a little get together!

2011-08-14T21:01:00.001+10:00

Frankie and Swiss is going to be hosting the next Creative Womens Circle event! It’s 3rd September, thats a Saturday morning. Shelley Panton is the guest speaker and I’m really looking forward to it.

AND, we’ll be putting a little tea and cake on afterwards, from about 1130ish I’d say? If you can’t make it to the CWC, you’re most welcome to pop down after!

I’m going to rope everyone I know into baking something yummy and I shall organise the tea.

Let me know if we’ll see you there!

The longer you leave it…

2011-08-13T22:23:00.001+10:00

…the harder it is. A lot of things are like that in my opinion. When you fall out of the habit, the routine or lose the momentum of that thing, it’s just plain old hard to get back on it. Same goes in this space here. It’s unintentional, a week goes by, then 2 or 3. The little niggle is there, must sit down, slow down, and write my blog. I usually like to spend a bit of time crafting posts, words chosen with thought. I try not to start sentences with the word “I”, although clearly this hasn’t been the case here. I spend time writing, rewriting until the sentences emerge, just the way I want them to. But these days, there seems to be a little less time to indulge in rewriting sessions.

So, today and for the next few weeks, I’m going to just throw words and blog posts out there, willy nilly. Random anythings, stuff, whatever. Totally whatever, whenever. Impulsive and reflective of that particular moment.

Apologies in advance if you’ve arrived at my little blog and are expecting non drivel – because for the next few weeks, perhaps that’s all that will be put here. Maybe not, who knows. I’m just going to go with it, the ‘who – what – why – where and whens” of my life.

Good, thats it then. I feel lighter already!

Righto, that said, we’re off to the SNOW for a whole week tomorrow, very excited! Cannot be without my internets though, so the ipad shall be coming with. Frankie and Swiss will wait until the next week and then it will be go go go in earnest!!!

Good Girl Flo!

2011-07-26T23:02:00.001+10:00

Quickly checking in to say Flo did a great job today – an amazing print on a beautiful creamy organic cotton/hemp blend. Good girl, Flo! (Did I mention we're going to have a little launch party? - details to come!)

Saturday at Harvest with Leila

2011-07-24T22:53:00.001+10:00

Saturday was positively indulgent – a whole day of making and chatting with amazing fantastic ladies. Leila Sanderson was our teepee teacher and Jess from Harvest was our hostess. A thoroughly enjoyable day with a gorgeous teepee outcome. Thanks ladies!

Remembering This Is

2011-07-22T21:44:00.001+10:00

A few years back, Angela from Three Buttons had a meme called “This Is”. Perhaps it was the routine of weekly posting I enjoyed, knowing that on that particular night I’d craft my words and pictures together in representation of that weeks theme. I liked the randomness of each weeks theme which was however underpinned by structure, and how I felt it brought me closer to a band of ladies I’d mostly not met – the sharing. “This is my current reading material”, “This is a recipe I want to share”, “This is my favourite thing in nature”.

I don’t think there’s a meme on at the moment (correct me if I’m wrong), so I’m thinking about beginning a blogging routine of my own. Something along the lines of ‘This Is’. I shall give this some thought over the next few days. I’d really like to do something like it again.

Photoshoot and the start of a new era!

2011-07-21T22:43:00.001+10:00

While it seems a little quiet here on the ol Leni and Rose blog, real life is moving at pace. So, where to start? How about with my first ever photoshoot! This is a sneak peak of an upcoming collab with public artist Rowena Martinich. We had such a ball running around the studio taking about a million photos! Rowena is quite an amazing gal – she’s showing at Design Made Trade over the next 4 days and has a solo exhibition starting next Friday. Get along to either if you can, really!

I went to the opening party of Design Made Trade on Wednesday night and it was fabulous. SO much amazingness on display. The Body Electric dance troupe, Penny Modra’s Collingwood Skipping Club were great entertainment, not to mention all the wonderful exhibitors. GO, you must!

Flo, our textile printer, is behaving herself nicely and I nearly have the businessy back office type stuff under control. Everything is so exciting! We had a studio visit today from a very famous designer (eeeeeeeepppppppp!!!!!) who was thrilled with the prints Florence did. That just made my day, week, everything. It’s so wonderful and validating receiving such great feedback. And after being Facebook challenged for a very long time, I even managed to set up a Frankie and Swiss page!

Even more excitement is the little launch party we’re going to have at the studio, an afternoon tea of champagne and cake! More on this in weeks to come.

Sooooo much more is in the pipeworks, I shall make sure I document it all here. I really want to have a record of this time – I think it’s finally hit me that it’s a pretty special era!

Come to Southside Brown Owls!

2011-07-07T21:14:00.001+10:00

The Southside Brown Owls post is up on the Brown Owls blog. Come along! We always have a super ace time.

Does anyone remember the Liberty hair tie kits I had when I was at the Stitches and Craft Show in 2008? The few I had left have been sitting in the sewing room ever since. Soooo, why not bring them along to Brown Owls I say! I’ll show you how to make the hair ties, not that it’s difficult. The little tool is in the packet as well as the Liberty fabric and buttons and hair ties. All there. So come along and make some hair ties!!

RSVP over at Brown Owls. Hope to see you there!

Oh, I forgot to mention…Gingerboy!

2011-07-02T11:22:00.001+10:00

SUPER excited about heading out to dinner tonight. AND being sans kids the entire night. My brother and his fiance offered to babysit the girls the entire night – yes, the entire night! OMG! is all I can say to that.

AND - you know what that means – SLEEP IN TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!

All over the place rambles and Thursday night Craftings

2011-07-02T11:08:00.001+10:00

I really want to write about how full on the past 4 weeks have been – similar to the full body roller coaster experience at Luna Park….times four hundred. There’s been massive highs and massive lows. I could never have imagined how gut wrenching the whole experience was going to be. And the mass of technical knowledge I would need to accumulate in a very short amount of time. Dare I say it – there has been a moment or ten that I may have just questioned whether starting a business was a good idea…but it’s all good and despite roller coasters it’s all good and I’m happy. Actually I’ll be more happy when every last piece of the puzzle is sorted and complete and perfect. Actually, I do have a little problem with trying to attain perfection – and that most of the time this actually hinders me from achieving anything (if it’s not perfect I’m just not going to do it). So while I don’t have the 9 fabrics up and running, a website etc, I do have the linen blend printing nicely with great midtones and highlights. So, thats where I will start. And start is what the next step is. Just jump in and start.

Now, after that ramble, I am now going to fill this space with images of our Thursday night craft sesh’s.

Cindy from Bugandpop Shannon’s floss and embroidery Jude from Miss Yarnwrap Andi's hexies! Lisa’s knitted sleeve Narelle’s knitting

Flo and the Famous TeePee

2011-06-18T22:38:00.001+10:00

Little did I realise that my one claim to fame in my late 30’s life so far (besides that time I was on The Early Bird Show in 1985), would actually not even belong to me. No, my claim to fame belongs to my Teepee.

Yes, I have a very famous Teepee. I had already been a fan of Greg Hatton for a long long time, and when I found out that his Girl Friday, Leila Sanderson, was making the most amazing Teepee’s ever, I commissioned one immediately. For Christmas, for the girls. Ok, I admit it…for me. I fell in love with it.

Anyhoo, a few weeks ago, Leila called up and asked if I’d mind my Teepee being used in a Donna Hey magazine shoot?! Um, of course! I said yes, and the teepee was whisked up to Sydney. 7th July the mag comes out! I’m not sure why this is so exciting to me, but it is.

So. Leila also mentioned that she was running a ‘make a mini teepee’ workshop at Harvest Workroom as part of the The State of Design in July. Serious? I’m in! July 23. Looking forward to that so much. Would anyone else like to do it too?

Flickr image link

The Flo side of things is pretty exciting too. I want it to happen quicker though - I feel like I’ve been saying it forever “another couple of weeks”! I wish I could do everything myself but of course I can’t and it’s relying on others from interstate lands that is a bit frustrating. All good though. Flo is printing on 3 lovely fabrics in the meantime.

And lastly, while a proper website is coming, which will have lots of tips, a design and print class schedule and other stuff, here are the file specs in the meantime. I’ll post fabric widths tomorrow.

File types: EPS, PDF and TIFF
File size: 150-300 dpi final size
Colour mode: TIFF- RGB
EPS- CMYK
PDF- CMYK
All fonts converted to curves or create outlines, embed all profiles and use LZW compression only on TIFF files.

Ask me anything about it if you need!

The Arrival of Florence

2011-06-05T23:47:00.001+10:00

The past few days have flown by in a whirlwind of activity, organising, nail biting and excitement. Flo arrived on Wednesday, I was there at 630am to meet her. There was a truck, there was a crane, there was 4 men and me, there was 2 locksmiths to remove the plate glass door and there was lots of coffee.

There was a few tense situations, like the talk of the entire glass frontage of the building shattering when Florence leaned a little too much to the left. A few false starts and with 2.5cm each side to clear, she made it through the door opening and into the studio.

So she’s here! But not yet ready for her debut. She’s in hair and makeup at the moment. Jac and I are itching to begin our first project. And of course, we cant wait to see the designs coming through from all the super talented peeps around town :) Hello (*waving arms*) to all the lovely gals who have already emailed me! We’re super excited to be working with you!

In the next few weeks, I'll get the website up and running which will detail how this little textile studio is going to work. You know, file specs required, sizes etc. That kind of thing. So, here’s Flo’s email if you want to email her : florence[at]frankieandswiss.com.au. Oh, and here’s her Twitter : https://twitter.com/#!/FrankieAndSwiss

And thats it for now.

Frankie and Swiss Textile Company

2011-05-30T13:04:00.002+10:00

…In 2 days…

…about a tonne of equipment arrives in Melbourne and will make its way to our South Yarra studio. Until it enters the doors, it is merely a tonne of equipment.

…but as soon as she crosses the hearth, she is Florence. Our huge big printing beauty who seriously weighs a tonne. Could be more. Florence!

…I know there’s always teething issues when a new entrant enters a tribe (tribe consisting of my sister Jacqui and myself, being the ones who concocted this crazy idea up in the first place).

…we’re hoping all that is kept to a minimum and that Florence moves seamlessly into our daily lives as though she was never not there.

…in the meantime, lots to do, website and all. The blog is nearly done, the Twitterings and email are set up. There’s lots of lovely ladies that we’ll be printing with in the next few weeks and we can’t wait!!

The more the merrier I say, so do drop me a line {michelle[at]frankieandswiss.com.au} if you’re a bit curious!

Anyhoo, just putting everything into a neat summary:

I am Michelle Francis. My sister is Jacqui Swies. Our textile company is called Frankie & Swiss and we will on Wednesday of this week have the ability to print custom designed fabric!
Cottons, linens, it’s the natural fibres that we love and water based low impact inks are what we print with. Small runs, large runs, just as much as is needed.

Pretty darn excited with a good dash of freaking out as well…!

Kitty made me a cushion

2011-05-29T22:42:00.001+10:00

THANK YOU Kitty!

When I opened the parcel that arrived for the cushion swap and saw what was inside, the smile that grew on my face and stayed there for a long time, eventually ended up hurting my cheeks!

Thank you so much for putting such thought into what cushion you would make me and for using up your Florence Broadhurst stash. I truly am thrilled!

(…and in other news, there’s some BIG news – will be back to tell!….)

The Second Cushion Swap Cushion

2011-05-22T21:42:00.001+10:00

The second cushion I made for the Punky and Me Cushion Swap is complete. It’s has a quilted front with a trim of little ants marching by at the bottom.

The first cushion I made for the Punky and Me Cushion Swap is nearly complete but it turned out to be not so good. So it was banished to the Land of Absolutely Did Not Work Projects. Pity, it had such promise with it’s ruffles and Liberty fabric…

Because my swap partner is like the queen of the crafty blogging world, I really hope my cushion stacks up! It has 3 red gorgeous vintage buttons on the back as well.

It looked rather lovely on the chair today with the sun streaming in.

And so the cushion swap comes to a close. What shall the next project be? Yes! I know – it’s the Hottie Challenge that lovely Cam is organising.

Needleturn and Terry’s Orange Chocolate

2011-05-14T21:29:00.002+10:00

I’m taking a little break from the cushion swap ruffles and needleturning, to say a few things:

Terry’s Orange Chocolate makes my pupils dilate;
I can no longer deny that fact that I must be allergic to red wine;
Point 2 is devastating;
My husband purchased an item on ebay which I picked up today. He is very excited about it. A little too much. After it’s installation in the study nook, he calls me in to have a look. And I hear the words “stunning” come out of his mouth to describe the revolting burnt orange old battered filing cabinet...

Ok, back to the cushion. On the home stretch now…
But before I go, a further note about point 2. After a little research, I’ve actually come across this red – I’m going to give it one last go! Surely a biodynamic, no added preservative and vegan red couldn’t render me useless with headaches for days after just one glass?!)

My Creative Space

2011-05-12T09:31:00.000+10:00

There’s a little cushion swap going on organised by Punky and Me. Lots of gals have finished their cushions, but have I? Nope…in true fashion, I’m leaving it until last minute.

It seems to be a pattern with me, until there’s a bit of pressure on, the mind goes blank, no inspiration, too many choices, it’s all too hard. But turn on a deadline, and GAME ON!

Woosh, wave the magic deadline wand, and I immediately know exactly what cushion I am going to make, colours, textures, look and feel. Thoughts rolled around about cookery and cupcakes, then onto my cooking duncery – except for my pavlova – thats a winner. And the inspiration for the cushion!

And just an added bit of pressure – the gal I’m making a cushion for is an absolute amazing lady and actually I’m a little star struck to me making her a cushion. I hope she likes what I’ve chosen. It will be bright, fresh and textural. I really hope it lives up to her beautiful aesthetic!!

Do head over to the new home for our creative space!

The Crochet Hook & Control

2011-05-03T20:53:00.001+10:00

Under the expert tuition of these ladies, a winter beanie for Ellie takes shape. It’s a bit wonky but that doesn’t matter. It is what it is.

I think this is a rather good saying – ‘it is what it is’. There really is not any situation we can control fully.

It’s only our reaction to that situation that we are able to control.

I was reminded of this today….

Dagmar Rousset and Rowena Martinich

2011-04-29T11:54:00.001+10:00

Dagmar Rousset. 157 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. Selling bright objects and French classes.

Tonight is the opening of Rowena Martinich’s installation in the Dagmar window and I’m very excited to be going!

Rowena is SUCH a lovely awesome gal. I’m a massive fan of her oversized work – you may have seen adorning RMIT, or Dandy Station. Awesome stuff.

This is Desktop Magazine's interview with her a few weeks ago.

10 year anniversary today!

2011-04-26T14:21:00.001+10:00

I met him at the Argo on Cup Day 2001. That sounds like a really long time ago, but when I think about it, it’s gone so fast. So much has happened! Travelling, house reno’s, a couple of babies, you know that kind of stuff.

I’ve just spent an indulgent 2 hours going through all the old photos while the man of the house is out with the girls. So many memories….

This memory is when I took him to Munich. I had spent about 4 of my teenage years in Munich and my mum and stepfather were still living there. And above is our trip to Byron Bay and below is New Zealand. Gorgeous places, both of them. There was also our diving trip to Heron Island. And a few to Queensland as well.

The Sydney Bridge climb. I couldn’t walk for a week after that, my calf muscles ached so much! So unfit.

We got married in Mauritius. That was ace. Lots of scuba diving – we LOVE scuba diving!

Renovating and baby growing… Making a nice home…

Becoming a mum and dad for the first time…

Growing babies second time round

And then there was the four of us!

The man is on holidays for the whole week, so while the girls are at kinder on Friday, we’re going to have a little celebration over lunch. Looking forward to that. Happy Anniversary!

Easter Hols

2011-04-25T22:27:00.002+10:00

For as long as I can remember we’ve always celebrated Easter Sunday with the entire family at my aunty and uncles place. We drove up to the beautiful Yarra Valley in the morning and hung out for most of the day, eating, chatting and running about.
I knew what Miss E was going to wear – a hand me down from her older sister – but Miss M’s attire had me stumped. Until I was rummaging around in the fabric stash and found a large enough piece to make her a new dress.
And, I am particularly proud of myself as I started sewing this pink sleeved dress Friday night and finished it Saturday night! Much thanks goes to Cindy who, (in between crochet and tea on Thurs night for our weekly Perle 8 crafty lady get together), sat on the floor at Kat’s house and traced the pattern for me. LEGEND lady! Those reeeaaaaly big patterns with lots of lines freak me out somehow.
Anyhoo, back to Easter Sunday…there were the bulls. There was running down and up the big hill. There was chocolate. Very cruisy day had by all. And the kids were perfect angels despite eating their weight in eggs.

Thats my sister, crazy about dogs (not quite in a “Best In Show” way but close!). And that’s Nico – our uncle is training him to be a seeing dog for the blind. Jacqui jumped on that train early, ditched her kids and hung out with Nico for much of the day.

Happy days!

My Creative Space

2011-04-21T16:30:00.001+10:00

My Creative Space this week begins with me noting that the best thing I ever did was leave my job. I have never been happier in the knowledge that I’ll be banging my own drum in a matter of weeks – fabrics and Photoshop all day long – well at least until kindergarten pick up time. I’ve never felt so buoyant actually!

Yesterday was the last day of the Illustrator course at CAE. Highly recommended. Being a Photoshop girl, I thought it would be hard to switch – but no. After being slugged $58 in parking on Tuesday, I made sure I got into the city for the early bird rates.

So with 3 hours to spare, I wandered down Flinders Lane with the camera. Took photos, drank coffee, ate delicious avocado and lemon bruschetta at Journal. I have to say, I think it was one of the best 3 hours ever.

I also went to Kimono House and picked up the gorgeous fabric above. And I’m going to combine it with a design that I made (got the repeat a bit wrong though…), and make a cushion. I will, I promise! (Yes, my sewing blog is sadly lacking the ‘sewing’ part lately…!). Head over to Kirst’s for some more Creative Spaces.

Helllooooo!

2011-04-12T15:30:00.003+10:00

Hellloooo!! How are you!! I’m Maddie and I’m 3 and a half years old. My mama is off playing with fabric and the sewing machine so i will be guest blogging today. My mum did want me to tell you that her big textile printer is arriving really really soon and she’s finally found a big space to put it in. Hooray!

We went to Healesville Sanctuary last weekend and saw lots of animals. The pelican nearly bit Ellie’s head off, but the koalas and kangaroos were nice. My favourite was the emu and I looked really pretty in my red Dorothy shoes.

Unfortunately there are not any more animal photos, because my mum got carried away taking photos of trees and patterns. Booooring….

The End. I hope you liked my story. I’m going outside to play now.

A few Finders Keepers faves

2011-03-27T23:05:00.001+11:00

I went to the Finders Keepers today. I spent too much. How could I not...LOOK! See that greeny coloured bag in the third photo, down there at the front? I bought that bag. I also bought a very amazing necklace from Simply Phoebe. And there was more money parting, a dress for Miss M, a sew your own wheat pack from Ink and Spindle and more.

Now considering that at the end of next week, my little household goes down to one income for the foreseeable future at the end of next week, I am BANNING myself from situations where an IMPULSE purchase can be made.

This includes the supermarket. I better let my husband know that he’s doing the shopping from now on…

My Creative Space

2011-03-24T22:17:00.001+11:00

Umbrella Prints is running their trimming competition again. After my dismal result with the Ice Cream Social dress (a sew and unpick scenario repeated three times was enough for me), I’ve vowed to see this one through. I bought the ‘mixed’ packet, but there’s a choice of colours. There’s a Flickr group as well to upload what is made with these gorgeous little bits and pieces.

I think I know what I’m going to make and it may have something to do with a new little gadget/tool of mine.

I LOVE a gadget/tool! Anything that makes things quicker and more efficient and easier to achieve an end result. I’m all into streamlining and efficiency. Anyway, hopefully my plan will turn out nicely and I win the prize! Head over to Kootoyoo for all the creative craftiness!

Southside Brown Owls

2011-03-18T15:51:00.001+11:00

Click image to see the Flickr set.

We all had a brilliant time last night. Kat hosted at her place and next month Shannon is hosting at her place. Our multitasking skills were challenged to the limits juggling chats, cups of tea, frangipane tarts, crochet, brownies and general other fun.

It wasn’t until 9’oclock that Cindy even realised that she hadn’t brought her embroidery! Chat chat chat. I was trying to learn crochet and not being very successful. I only managed this for the entire night! And of course, I can’t be without my internet, so Ms iPad attended as well. Andi likes a bit of iPad action as well!

The 12 Months In The Making Textile Printing Project…

2011-03-16T21:39:00.010+11:00

A little update:
My sister and I are so excited - our big textile printing machine is arriving in June AND we've found our studio, finally! We're located in South Yarra, right near the station. Frankie & Swiss is our name and we'll be custom printing for creative peeps onto beautiful natural fibre cloths. We're super excited!

Come down to the studio and have a peep, or email us (michelle[at]frankieandswiss.com.au)to hear more!
Last April I wrote a post with the title 6 weeks in the making. I had made an apron – with a custom printed front pocket. Just using Reynolds freezer paper and my home printer.
From there, a little idea was sparked.
It’s now nearly 12 months on. Lots and lots of fabric tests, some of which you see here.
Thankyou SO much to the wonderful ladies who have contributed to this project by lending their designs to be test printed. There’s the 2011 calender by Dawn Tan, the granny squares by Curlypops, the wheelies by Tess McCabe. And, I don’t have photos, alas, but also Penny from Pocket Carnival and Cath from Chunky Chooky as well!
So close now! We have our name, our big printing machine, and our ideas. Exciting!

A little giveaway!

2011-03-12T21:59:00.001+11:00

….and the winner is…

Louise from Lululollylegs!!! Congrats and I’ll send you an email!!!

{Can someone please make this dress for me!}

What a knock out cover this is. Once again, I’m blown away by the cover illustration on *bespoke* zine (this is issue 2). My first stop when it lands in the mailbox is the illustration credits. Beautiful. It’s a talented gal who drew this one.

Anyhoo, when Jess, the brainchild behind *bespoke*, asked if anyone wanted to host a giveaway, I piped up with hand held high in the air. I will!

So, here’s me spruking a little about *bespoke*:

Issue 2 includes articles such as:
- vintage crafts - rag ruggin'
- how to find your vintage era
- a tutorial on how to carve a sweet birdie stamp
- the stories of 3 women who gave up corporate careers to launch thriving creative businesses
- thrive - an interview with a crafty lady making a full-time living from her upcycled kimono jewellery
- and lots more :)

And here’s a sneak peak of whats inside…(it’s Pip!!!!):

So to win your copy of this crafty zine, with it’s amazing cover art, leave a comment. I’ll draw the winner next Saturday (March 19).

Good luck (and you really don’t want to miss this one, I promise!!!)

My Creative Space

2011-03-03T21:16:00.001+11:00

Some little shoes…for old times sake. They first appeared back in ‘08. Seems like an eon ago! Head over to Kootoyoo for some more Creative Spaces this week.

Snooping around

2011-03-02T22:36:00.001+11:00

Kirsty is just terrific. The latest is ‘having a snoop’. Love it! Now, the reason why my most treasured Florence Broadhurst book doesn’t feature on the bookshelf here, is because I’m re-reading it…again…for the third time!

Nothing really new here though, still liking patterns, still liking teacups…!

While we moved house nearly a month ago, there's still boxes to unpack and frames to hang and so on.

I nearly have my space under control, nearly. No sewing yet though, I feel like I must get everything perfect before I can sit and relax at the machine. Not sure why that is…!

Bigger things

2011-03-01T21:49:00.001+11:00

GREENHOUSE BY JOOST from The Design Files on Vimeo.

Seeing this reminds me that there are bigger things in life. To be fully immersed in something so ‘good feeling’ making. Good life making. Building something so meaningful. How amazing it would have been to work on a project like this.

How amazing still would it be to live life on a day to day basis with such an awareness at the forefront of everything you did.

It’s reminded me that me and my little family can try harder. Now that we’ve moved into our new home, we’ll be making our veggie patch a priority. It’s not a Greenhouse but it’s a start.

My Creative Space

2011-02-24T23:12:00.001+11:00

Righto. Whats going on over here at the moment?

1) A loom! I’ll be off to buy some wool tomorrow to start weaving with. Not sure where it’s heading but it might be a bit of fun along the way.

2) Some pattern designing. Inspiration from 14th century circles on the left and my interpretation on the right!

3) I’ve resigned! No more biggest brand in the world stuff for me, woo!!! Just another 6 weeks to go. I thought this was going to be a massive decision, but it was surprisingly easy. It’s really the natural progression from talking about my (and my sisters) textile printing business and finally making it real. The only hold up now is finding a home!!! Everything else is lined up and ready to go! Oh, except the website. Thats next on the list!

4. This is the creative space of Cath! I am thrilled to be the proud owner of this COOL London cushion. It’s pretty special!

Head on over to Kootoyoo for some more creative spaces!

Selvedge

2011-02-21T21:30:00.001+11:00

It must have been last Friday, on the way to the supermarket, that I found myself on bended knees (having been detoured to a fabric store by an amazing oversized candle in the window) with my head in a box. Quite a different activity to walking aisles and making unnecessary Terry’s Orange chocolate purchases.

Upon entering the fabric store, wall to wall with eye loving stuff, I was drawn to a quite ordinary box filled with most unordinary fabric. I was immediately compelled to buy the entire contents of that box filled to the brim with remnant French upholstery fabric. I was supposed to buy dinner…

What is this flower?

2011-02-18T21:38:00.003+11:00

This is the most amazing flower I have ever seen. First spotted hanging over my sisters fence and then again today at Miss M’s kinder. I’m totally fascinated and inspired by this rather exotic number. What IS it!!!?

See this vinyl ebay chair?

2011-02-01T22:58:00.001+11:00

…it was made from that fake leather that makes you legs sweat if you sit on it with shorts on. You know that type? Yucko. An ebay find, whose destiny found it’s way to my sister, who then transformed it into a whole pile of AWESOME, just in time to present it to our brother for his 30th.

She stripped it, pulled at it, hammered it, got dust in her eyes and stretched it. Initial decisions took weeks: what to cover this ebay gem with, the best way to reconstruct it? It comes to her and she emails Switzerland straight away. Send over some Swiss Army blankets forthwith!

An hour here, 10 minutes there, this sister of mine works quick, so quick that cameras can’t catch her. Quick but oh so careful. Perfection is demanded! She did all that.

And I did this. Sides of invisible stitching using a semi circle carpet needle.

Our brother absolutely LOVED this chair. And, he, totally unaware of the time commitment a project like this entails, was promptly informed by the 60 photos that were also given to him detailing every step in the 8 week process! So now he knows. And he loves his chair even more.

Bespoke Zine and it’s cover art

2011-01-24T21:46:00.001+11:00

The Bespoke Cover – by Samantha Battersby

The other day, I stumbled across this new zine – Bespoke. I bought a copy immediately and it arrived today. What a great little zine! Not only it this a wonderful read with pages filled with words about handmade loveliness, it also caught my eye with the beautiful cover art illustration by Samantha Battersby of Matou En Peluche. I had in fact bought a print from her Etsy shop at Christmas time for my sister so was already in love with her work. Literally all of her work is gorgeous, and it’s these images below that capture me in particular.

My sisters Christmas present

GORGEOUS!

And so, Berni must wait some more

2011-01-18T22:05:00.001+11:00

What a faithful friend. No matter what other adventures I get up to, Berni continues to sit on the floor and wait. It’s been many months now.

I promise, dear friend, you will be placed on your very own table in your very own room very soon. Just as soon as I get through this list. I have six days to do it and 12 days of things to do…:

: wait for confirmation of new settlement date on new house (they can’t find the Title…)
: pack up entire contents of house - 5 days
: move entire contents of house to another house - 1 day
: unpack entire contents of house in to new house - 1 day
: work - 1 day
: look after highly energetic children - 4 days

S’ok, no prob’s. Easy peasy.

You know what? When we finally move, I’m signing up for every swap, going to every Perles crafty chicks night and am going to sew every day. It’s been too long between sews and I don’t like it!

Florence, Fearlessness and 2011

2011-01-04T22:50:00.001+11:00

I’m looking for that word for when you really like something and think about it all the time…what would it be? It’s not as strong as ‘completely obsessed’ but way more than ‘like’ and kind of different to ‘love’. And it has to be a word worthy of the subject under ‘likement’…I have it! ~BEWITCHED~!

I am bewitched by Florence Broadhurst. I have spent hours and hours pouring over even the most obscure references anywhere I can find online and am currently reading a wonderful hardback biography filled with details and designs (thanks to the man of the house’s Christmas present!).

What a marvellously vigorous life! I’m completely captivated. Not only with how wide and varied each ‘phase’ of her life was, but also with the gusto and fearlessness in her approach. I aspire to be such a woman.

So, my resolution for 2011 is to approach everything just like that– with gusto and fearlessness.

And I’m going to need to as well ~ the ambition for 2011 is to run a bustling textile design and printing studio along with my very talented sister, Jacqui. Gusto and fearlessness required.

Just as Florence Broadhurst embarked on many new ‘phases’ in her life, now begins a new phase in my life and my sisters life. There is butterflies in stomachs and irish teas to calm nerves. The anticipation is nearly unbearable! Honestly, we just couldn’t be any more excited about it.

So, it is with gusto and fearlessness that 2011 starts. And in the words of Florence herself “full of enthusiasm, ideas and hope, I set out to pioneer this new field.”

Have a Wonderful Christmas and a Very Happy New Year!

2010-12-25T08:35:00.001+11:00

Just wishing everyone a most amazing holiday period. Hope everyone’s Christmas is wonderful and 2011 brings lots of excitement and happiness. See you on the flip side!!

What an AMAZING Christmas wreath – made by Stephanie Hicks, created for her exhibition a few months back.

Don’t Mess with my Agave!

2010-12-23T15:37:00.001+11:00

This week, both my gingerbread house (made by lovely Katrina from Windsor Deli), and my real house have had INTRUDERS.

The gingerbread house intruder was not so scary….about a metre high with blonde curly hair, trying to get into it for a handful of yum. But – her efforts were thwarted, thanks so a very smart mummy and some tight string.

The real house INTRUDER was a whole lot of SCARY. If I had regrets about leaving our home (yes, it sold!), they are now vanished. While this has been such a wonderful place to live, I’m now having a lot of ‘can’t get out of here quick enough’ moments…

It was 8 o’clock at night. Still light outside. I was home alone with the girls who were asleep. While doing some work at the kitchen table, I started to hear some fussing outside and thought it was the neighbour moving his bins. I looked over to the kitchen window (the view below) and to my horror, saw a person appear! Now this window is right down the side of the house, so this person was really in my property, AND, there’s a door there that she was trying to GET INTO.

I just sat there dumbfounded. It was a girl, probably mid thirties, she didn’t look in the window. Just tried to keep opening the door. Then I realised what was happening when she turned around and I saw her face. She was on some sort of drugs. Her eyes were sunken with big black shadows and while she was actually dressed quite nicely, her hair was greasy and her eyes were darting around.

I ran to the front door to make sure it was closed from when the man of the house left half an hour before. It was, but just as I got there, she was on the other side of the door, opening up the fly screen and fiddling with the door handle! With a big window in the door, I fell to the floor, so she couldn’t see me staring straight back at her, but looking up I could see everything. I was starting to freak out.

Then she went out to the front deck. And, see that little Agave at the base of the tree? She started to fuss around with that, all bent over, one leg in the plants, one leg on my path. Then she stood up and – OMG – began to unbuckle her belt and pull her jeans down!

I got really angry now. No bloody drug addict is going to wee on my Agave!

I threw open above window, climbed half out and yelled “EXCUUUUUSE ME, CAN I HELP YOU WITH SOMETHING!!!!”

I was really loud, really really loud. With that, she looked up, mumbled something unintelligible, and just simply walked out. Walked down my path and out the front gate. Just like that. The whole thing was over.

I went out to the front a little while later, after having a small heart attack on my couch, and saw that she had in fact completed her wee mission…in the middle of the street!

So there it is. Sad to be leaving my lovely little home and not so sad at the same time…we move in a few weeks and I’m now pretty happy about it!

A bit nervous

2010-12-03T22:00:00.001+11:00

Hello. Yes, I am a bit nervous. About a few things actually. Firstly, I think I have stage fright. I haven’t blogged for nearly a month – some of that time was due to way to slow internet, but the other part is because of some sort of feeling of blog block? Or pressure to write something good maybe? Therefore ‘write nothing at all’ happens.

But I like my blog, and I don’t want to have blog block, so, PRESS ON, I say. Push on past the blog block. What will be, will be and so on. Righto, moving right along then, shall we?

I’m also nervous as I have my own auction to attend to on the weekend. It’s been a nightmare doing open for inspections and now the day is finally here, but I’m so not looking forward to it. I’m getting all knotty just thinking about it…here’s the house, these crazy thunderstorms better not wash my auction away…

Full steam ahead

2010-11-07T21:32:00.001+11:00

Over committed with too much on. Yup, that’s me. This boat is bursting at the seams, packed to the brim. I’d like to give myself permission to dock, (preferably somewhere amazing like Portofino!), and just s t o p. Wouldn’t that be nice. But, it’s not going to happen, obviously. Why? Well, firstly I’m not a boat, and secondly,…secondly…oh, whatever. Can you feel me?

While I’m not going to be all verbatim with the detail, suffice to say, there’s a lot on. The 3 major points are -

1. We bought a new house…finally! That’s cool. Preparing for open for inspections for the sale of this place is not cool. And the sewing machine is IN STORAGE. No sewing for 8 weeks.

2. On the business front, who would have thought finding a nice 100% cotton to print on would be this difficult? Or is it me that’s too picky about my fabric? At least the linen/cotton blend has been found and is really lovely. Prints up a treat! New news soon on all of that.

3. It’s Ellie’s birthday this coming week. She’ll be one, already! I marvel at this little human I created. She’s such an independent spirit and strong willed little thing. Like when she throws the banana she doesn’t want across the room…hmmm, strong willed? or perhaps just having a tantrum…anyway, I know everyone says it, but it’s true – time flies.

And to top it off, my connection to the universe has been slowed! Damn you, way to large download of season 2 sci fi tv series…god, I am a such a dork!

Hello, person with my iPhone,

2010-10-30T11:08:00.002+11:00

Would you mind terribly if you returned it to me? I won’t hold a grudge and I won’t ask a single thing.

You see, I hadn’t back it up for a while, so have sadly lost forever the photos on there….

…did you see the one of Miss E, with her one toothed grin beaming, or how about that little video of Miss M swimming all by herself? Oh, I know, you must have seen the pic’s at the park and at the birthday party with Tinkerbell?

…there were so many…and I have cried about it.

You’ve seen my emails, you know my address, you’ve seen my girls and my husband, the link to this very blog. Surely you’ve come over to sticky beak?

You can have lots of my money instead – I just want my photos back….please?

My Creative Space

2010-10-21T19:38:00.001+11:00

“Better late than never!”

I actually made this shopper in 2008. And since 2008, it has been neatly folded, in a storage box in the garage. There’s all sorts of things in those storage boxes…baby shoes, more bags, fabric letters, hair tie kits, decoupage pencil holders and on, some half finished (read: most unfinished).

This bag has had open topped handles, waiting for the sewing machine to close them, for 2 years! And now I’m done. Finished. So finally, this little bag can make it’s way to Tinniegirl to help carry groceries. It’s only 2 years late! Oh how proud I am of myself!

Head over to Kootoyoo for more creative spaces!

Blogtoberfest – day 15. A beautiful dress

2010-10-16T11:02:00.002+11:00

…and Miss Maddie said - “I’m doing a beautiful flower dance”

…to show off her new dress – make by the lovely Bec from Beccasauras. Thanks Bec – it’s just perfect, you are a very talented lass! She loves it!

Blogtoberfest day 8 ~ Nice people who lend things and Winners

2010-10-08T21:18:00.001+11:00

Not only is Tess McCabe a super talented graphic designer, upholsterer, maker of unique things and face of Melbourne’s Creative Women’s Circle meetup’s, she also has a hand in textile design. Don’t you just love her wheelie things design!

And thankfully, because she is an extremely nice person, she ‘lent’ me a couple of her designs.

What for? Well, to get more digital textile printing tests done, yes MORE! I’ve had soooo many samples printed out that I’m sure the printer supplier is completely sick of me, but by gee, before I spend a crazy amount on this thing, I really want to give it a run for it’s money.

In other news, we have 2 winners for my Blogtoberfest giveaway! So, according to Ms Random Number Generator….

…the first winner is Bek from Red Chocolate. Take a peek at her adorable new baby girl! Congratulations Bek, she’s adorable!

…the second winner is Bec from Beccasauras. This is really co-incidental actually, because I have something to show you that Bec made for my Miss M. I’ll do a show and tell on the next post. It’s gorgeous, wait and see!

Yay to winning my giveaway ladies!

Day 4 Blogtoberfest ~ the 1914

2010-10-04T20:38:00.001+11:00

See that little shopfront down there on the left? Well, I haven’t signed the lease yet, but I know that it’s the one. The One! Tucked away in a little pocket, it’s exactly what I’ve been waiting for. Big enough to fit the really big thing I need it to fit and small enough to be cosy and nice. The kids can even play in the street if they want – it’s that quiet! Quiet? you may ask. Why have a shopfront in a secret nook nobody knows about? Well, I don’t know really. It makes more sense to be on the main street, all show for the passers by. But, I like this spot and I like this shop. And I hope that people will come visit me, even though the Melways will need to be consulted. The carrot? Um, there’s 4 hour parking out the front?

Blogtoberfest starts…yesterday!

2010-10-02T10:21:00.002+10:00

October is here and so is Daylight Saving, thank God. It’s the best time of year, getting warmer and it just seems to be generally happy. Flowers everywhere, short sleeve cardi wearing weather, springtime. Ok, I might be getting ahead of it, it’s only been 18 around these parts….but the point is that I can feel proper Spring coming and I Love it.

And what better way to welcome happy times, but to join in with the lovely Cathy and Blogtoberfest. Cathy is great, such a deep and meaningful thinker and a sensitive soul. Do pop over to her place. I’ve missed the first daily post already, and will probably miss a few more. But not to worry, the point is to have fun! It only gets better from here. And it even starts from a high base – the extra hour sleep! Being a sleep deprived mumma…ah, say no more.

edit - um...yes, sleep deprived is the key here...it's a loss of an hour, not a gain. Doh!

So, dear Blogtoberfest daily post, I give you some memories of winter. Adieu winter, see you next year.

301st post and Blogtoberfest giveaway!

2010-09-28T22:07:00.003+10:00

Last weekend, while sorting through some boxes in the garage, I came across a few of the the Liberty hair tie kits and fabric packs from my little stall at the 2009 Stitches and Craft Show. I remember how proud I felt to be at the Stitches and Craft Show. There were so many fabulous talented gals in our little section and I was amazed that somehow I had been included as well, shocked actually! – I’ll always have extra special memories as well because it was on the last day that I found out that I was actually 6 weeks pregnant with Miss Ellie (who, today, has just started to crawl!).

Anyway, getting to the point, (I do tend to dribble on don’t I…), it just so happens that this is the 301st entry in this here blog. So, no better time to as right now for a giveaway, yeah! There’s two giveaway prizes for two lucky gals, each with 2 hair tie kits and 1 happy blue fabric pack.

Leave a comment and two winners will be announced this time next week.

Tips and Tricks #27

2010-09-20T22:09:00.003+10:00

Until recently, this here blog was the only ‘social media’ platform I participated in. My Facebook sits idle, and I didn’t really know what Twitter was. And I still don’t know half the capabilities of Flickr. There’s discussion groups! Now bring in Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, Heart…with more appearing every day! Which ones do you use?
Aaaaanyway, this Tips and Tricks is all about Social Media icons. Since I’ve now got with the program and tweet like a pro (I think!), I wanted to add a button to my blog. There are A LOT of free buttons on the web, however, most of them are rather unoriginal in my opinion.

So, I decided to make my own pretty ones! If you like them, let me know and I’ll whip some up for you!

Twitter

RSS Feed

Flickr

email

And below are some I found around the internet that are a little more interesting than the norm. Click the image for the link.

If any buttons tickle your fancy, then head back to Tips and Tricks #4 for info on how to add to your blog.

Lastly, what does that ‘F’ stand for, or that funny robot looking thing? If you’re unsure of what all the icons mean, this is a pretty good index.

And thats it for now. Stay tuned for more Tips and Tricks soon!

And I shall name thee…

2010-09-19T14:45:00.001+10:00

…Two of Three. Behold. The second cushion! I missed my self imposed week deadline, but who the heck cares….I’ve got 2 of the 3 done!

This cushion turned out a lot better than Number 1. If you look closely, you may just be able to see the amazingly shoddy blanket stitching job on 1. I swear my 3 year old could do better than this. But oh well, I’ll say it’s that ‘deconstructed’ look…meant to be that way.

And in another effort of downsizing the amount of stuff in my little house, more fabric from the stash has been used. Finally the Pierre Frey fabric, found in a pop up shop on High Street a million years ago, has been used. Only one more cushion to go…

In other news, Miss Ellie is growing up fast. Now 10 months old, she’s not yet crawling, but she does get around by sort of bum shuffling around!

She flaps her arms wildly when something is exciting to her (like food, she eats sooo much!).

and laughs hysterically at her older sister’s dancing. Well, usually…!

It’s such a fun age - she’s really starting to understand things and get a personality. She’s turning into such a lovely little human with such a sweet disposition!

My Creative Space

2010-09-09T11:53:00.001+10:00

I have set a challenge for myself - if these three blue cushions are not re-covered by the end of this week, they will be heading down to the Smiths Family store around the corner.

They belonged to an old sofa - ebayed long ago - but I couldn’t part with the cushions as ‘one day I’ll re-cover them…..’ There does seem to be clutter and stuff everywhere in this little house of mine and most of the time it doesn’t bother me - I’m no minimalist. But the man of the house does tend to start rolling eyes and making little ‘oh God’ sounds when I bring more stuff home. He’s happy with this challenge as he thinks these cushions will be leaving the house – but he’s wrong!

I made a start this morning. The sewing so far had been pin prick free. The zip had been sewn in, and I was admiring my handiwork by closing the zipper – and then it happened…ZIIIIP…I zipped that dinky little zipper right OFF!

Not to be deterred by this little set back, NO – I will not give up, I continued to sew up those sides, stuffed that pillow in, and hand stitch the remaining side closed. So, hurrah, one crazy unzippable hand stitched cushion, two to go!

Head over to Kootoyoo for some more Creative Spaces!

6 dogs, 4 under 5’s & 10 grown ups on a Sunday in September Part 1

2010-09-06T22:47:00.001+10:00

:: The Garden ::

While everyone was chatting away and the kids were happy playing, I snuck away and took photos. This is the garden at dads house down on the Peninsula. I remember growing up in this garden, every day finding new little nooks and crannies to play games in. My sister, brother and I had numerous cubby houses, the best one was underneath a big bush at the back fence. We swept the dirt floor every day and had tea parties. Celery and some other good stuff in the patch. All looking good, and tasting wonderful.

…to be continued…

And, thanks to all who have filled out my little fabric survey. Muchly appreciated!

Quilts and Questions

2010-09-03T14:13:00.000+10:00

After fixing some of the little mistakes, and leaving some of the others, I now have a quilt top. And after a little trip to Patchwork, I now have some Nano Iro binding, and a gorgeous stripey icecream reminiscent backing fabric, with some oh so soft wool batting.

But now I am stuck…

Question 1: Are there special quilting safety pins that should be used to sandwich it together?
Question 2: I plan to hand quilt. Do I use embroidery floss to do this? And if so, the full 6 threads?

edit - thanks girls for the answers! I'm off to Amitie to get my Perle thread!

My Creative Space…

2010-09-02T15:22:00.001+10:00

…this week is all about fabric samples, printed samples and my completed fabric survey (have a peep!). A website has been commissioned, to be built by an awesome gal. Nearly ready.

AND THEN BAM!
Oh dear, reality has just hit me in the head.

My boss just called and wanted to know if September 27th was an ok date to come back to work (from maternity leave). I was unprepared. So I found myself replying with a chirpy ‘sure, no problem!’.

‘Sure, no problem’…huh? What am I doing! I’m not supposed to be going back to work, I’m supposed to be starting in my own work…I’m supposed to be jumping into days filled with Fabric, Photoshop, Phone calls and Fabulous People…not chasing my tail in a the world of Fast Moving Consumer Goods. It even sounds crap!

But I feel very strange about just resigning. Oh blah, I’m just not going to think about it. Go away work…

Oh, I mentioned a fabric survey, didn’t I? You can have a peep over here if you like! I surely would appreciate your feedback.

More creative spaces over at the lovely Kootoyoo.

Quilt Progress!

2010-08-31T21:05:00.001+10:00

I started a quilt. I’ve been meaning to for 3 years. The top is done and I’m very proud of myself *high fives*! This lovely gal’s tutorial made me jump in and it was super easy.

Having said that, I still managed to make multitudes of mistakes….these are some of them so far.

1/2 inch…and not enough fabric to cut another

Sewing over ironed seams the wrong way

Instructions: "Sew the big square onto the 2 smaller squares". I did...no wait. Oh.

See it? 'Printed by Lecien', come on Michelle, cut the selvedges off...

Gee, I can’t wait to see how I stuff up the rest of it. Ah well, it’s the small imperfections that make it special. Yes it is, yes it is...

The rantings of a happy lady

2010-08-27T15:34:00.000+10:00

For the past week, I’ve been really happy. It’s that kind of happy, where the end of the day comes, you sit down, put the mini’s to bed, turn on the computer, sigh, relax, and then smile. It’s also that kind of happy where there are little butterflies fluttering around inside with excitement and anticipation.

The happiness started on Monday. I finally made the decision about which supplier to buy my textile printer from and then I basically committed to him on the phone. He was very happy and I was very happy. With the heaviness of indecision gone, I felt so light and airy. More on this exciting development in the coming days.

And it continued on Tuesday. Not even a parking ticket could upset me. First, with Miss Ellie in tow, I headed over to Gertrude St to wander around. As I’m south of the river, this side of town isn’t frequented often. It’s such a great area, so full of life and uniqueness. I popped into Meet me at Mikes, wandered past a fave, Cutler and Co and generally walked around, peering in windows. Fun. And even though it was rather chilly, Ellie and I also wandered around the garden. From now until about February is the best time in my garden. Everything is just starting, the hellebores, the clivia, the violets. My red rhododendron is in full bloom right now. I am brimming with anticipation for the colour explosion that is happening and will just get better in the coming weeks.

Wednesday…This day tipped me over the happy edge, it was time to roam around Windsor, my side of the river. When I peered into a little shop and saw the tea cups – I nearly fainted. These beautiful teacups belonged to Merle, a lady I’ve never met. She’s now in a nursing home in Fitzroy, and her friend is selling her belongings on her behalf. I bought two tea sets immediately with the intention of buying the entirety later in the week when Ellie wasn’t strapped onto me in the baby bjorn. It doesn’t sound like something to make you giddy, but I promise, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face for the rest of the day.

Thursday…mum, down from Sydney, looked after Ellie while I whipped back up the road to pick up the rest of Merles’s teacups. I really really really love them, and feel very connected to Merle. Her beautiful teacups will live me me and bring me happiness and I know that would make her happy. Then my mum, sister, and the two smallest girls and I headed up to Richmond to an amazing furniture shop, Mezai. And, look what I found! I’ve needed a dress form for many a moon, and this one, while coming from this rather fancy furniture store, was the cheapest one I’ve ever seen – less than in the local second hand shops! I snapped it up quick smart. This day even produced a little bit of sewing – behold, the new ironing board cover!

Friday…that’s today and right now. Ellie has been asleep for more than the time it takes to blink an eye, so once again, that makes me happy. The other thing thats going to happen today is the man of the house is coming home from work early, that means help with kids dinners, baths, bedtime routines. Happy happy happy. And last but no least – there was some postman lovin’ today. The cuff arrived and I love it. Check out how cool I look! Thanks Kirsty, you’re a bit amaaaazing.

Surprise

2010-08-23T21:56:00.001+10:00

Today, while procrastinating about making the first fabric cut for my quilt project, I began another project….the ‘Re-cover Very Ugly Ironing Board Cover Project’.

And just look what was underneath said ugliness…SURPRISE!!

Mr Bow Tie, Magnolias and Planning a quilt

2010-08-22T11:48:00.000+10:00

A few weeks back, my sister and I took our girls into Fed Square in the city to have a mummy/ daughter day. But, unbeknownst to our little ones, the real reason for the trip was to go to the Melbourne Design Market. It was amazing, some crafty stuff, some design stuff and a whole lot of ace.

We all went to a Japanese restaurant afterwards, took off our boots and sat on the floor. It was a great day, so much so that Miss M has not stopped talking about it since and a re-telling of the day must be told every night at bedtime!

Anyhoo, what a perfect excuse to once again, head into the city for some craftiness. Last Sunday it was Craft Hatch, by Craft Victoria. Mr Bow Tie Boy, who likes to skim stones and was made by Evie from Handmade Romance, came home to live with us. He has a lovely disposition and is very polite.
And then there was Magnolia Square on Friday. Miss Ellie had fallen asleep in the car on the way back from doing the playschool drop off. So after driving aimlessly around for a while, I (strategically) found the car in a parking spot, near the Malvern town Hall…just as Ellie was waking up.

Perfect timing! Into the baby Bjorn for her, and into the market for me. Long have the whimsical prints of Printspace been on my wish list, I couldn’t help myself when I saw them in front of me.
And when you look at the prints coupled with a crochet necklace made my Michelle at Kids with Crayons, it seemed that the same colours must have been on my mind. When I got home, out came the fabric, and I started to plan. I am finally going to make that blimmin quilt I meant to start 3 years ago!

Swooshing in the snow

2010-08-16T10:44:00.002+10:00

This is a photo of the mountains in the South Island of New Zealand. We were there a few years back and I fell madly in love. NZ was just breath taking. We didn't go skiing unfortunately, the man of the house doesn't ski. But I do! In fact, I'm a mad skier.

Hence, the location I've dragged the whole family to this week is Hotham! The snow is awesome, powder! I'm getting the skis on as soon as possible today, just waiting for Miss E to wake so I can feed here...then I'm off!

By the way, for my recent birthday, and after mortgaging all future birthdays for the next 3 years, I received an iPad! I'm writing this post on it right now in the lodge with snow falling outside, it's pretty awesome, I must say!

A new camera bag

2010-08-08T21:50:00.001+10:00

This is my new camera bag – custom made – for me by Ms Curlypops. And, I have absolute LOVE for it. After a couple of weeks fabric indecision, I finally chose the linen, gingham and floral combo – all from Patchwork on Central Park. They work well together, don’t you think?

It’s just so well made, perfect in fact – Ms Curlypops, your attention to detail is amazing and I think you’re great!

Thank you, thank you Ms Curlypops, my camera bag is uber radical! I LOVE it.

What do you do all day

2010-08-03T20:17:00.001+10:00

A man came home from work and found his children outside, still in their pyjamas, playing in the mud, with empty cereal boxes and chocolate wrappers thrown all around the front garden. The door of his wife's car was open, as was the front door to the house and there was no sign of the dog. Stepping into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall.

In the front room the TV was blaring loudly and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing.

In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink, breakfast food piled high on the bench top, the fridge door was open wide, dog food was spilled on the floor and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.

He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. Panic was setting in, had something serious happened.

He was met with a small trickle of water as it made its way out the bathroom door. As he peered inside he found wet towels, scummy soap and more toys strewn over the floor. Unrolled toilet paper lay in a heap and toothpaste had been smeared over the mirror and walls.

As he rushed to the bedroom, he found his wife still curled up in the bed in her pyjamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went…

He looked at her bewildered and asked, 'What happened here today?'

She again smiled and answered, 'You know every day when you come home from work and you ask me what in the world I do all day?'

'Yes,' was his incredulous reply.

She answered, 'Well, today I didn't do it.'

Tips and Tricks #26

2010-07-30T21:52:00.003+10:00

If you don’t read PottyMouthMama’s blog already – you’re missing out. She’s hilarious, witty, sassy and clever! She’s starting a new meme and every good meme needs a button!

Here’s how to put the button on your blog. As with most internety things, there’s more than one way of doing things, below are 2 easy ways, both are as easy as each other – here we go!

Firstly, there are 2 buttons to choose from. They are both 200px wide, so you just need to choose whether you want the taller or shorter button. Most sidebars are 200px, so either should fit.

Button #1

Button #2

METHOD 1
1. In top right corner of Blogger, click ‘Design’, ‘Page Elements’, ‘Add Gadget’, ‘HTML/JavaScript’.

2. In the pop up box, type a title or just leave blank. And in the content area below the title, paste in the code below.

BUTTON #1:

<a href="http://pottymouthmama.blogspot.com/" title="Back in the Habit 2010" target="_blank" ><img src="http://i850.photobucket.com/albums/ab63/leniandrose/pmm_meme2.jpg" alt="Back in the Habit" /></a>

BUTTON #2:

3. Save. And that’s it!

METHOD 2

1. Save your chosen button image to your computer (right click and ‘save picture as…’).

2. Head over to my blogging Tips & Tricks #4 and follow the steps in ‘The Easiest Way’ for uploading pictures and adding links.

3. Your done!

Ok, now that you know how to add your ‘Back in the Habit’ button, head back over to PottyMouthMama!

My Creative Space

2010-07-29T12:08:00.002+10:00

No rulers or straight lines today – no iron either. No unpicking of mistakes, or careful lining up of seams. No time for any of that.

Just get that plate, roughly trace, first flat, then rolling it out. Cut. Sew. Add trim (optional).

Ta da! Head over to Kirsty's place for more Creative Spaces - there's lots to see!

Now ticking the 35-40 box, mid to late thirties.

2010-07-28T16:00:00.001+10:00

It's my birthday today. So, I'm officially in my mid thirties and for the next 5 years will be ticking that next age bracket in questionnaires. No big deal, right? I was thinking this morning of what I've been doing for the past 35 years - it's gone so quickly.

Wasn't it only a few years back that I was hanging out at the beach all day and all night with my bestest friend, Sus. Wasn't it just a couple of years back that I was then on a plane and heading off to Munich and finishing school? Surely it was only a few months ago that I graduated from Uni and got my first job, then second, third and fourth? And seriously, it was only yesterday that I had my first gorgeous little girl - and only a second ago my second little lady appeared...

It's weird how the older I get, the faster time seems to speed by...

Last night was a pre-birthday shindig at Bistro Thierry in Hawksburn. My gorgeous mum presented me with this gorgeous digitally printed shopper, very appropriate as I will soon be a digital printer myself, and my bro bought me The Crafty Minx - awesome! And those super gorgeous teacups are from the amazing Kellie at 74 Lime Lane. Those I bought for myself!

Tonight, I head out with the man of the house for a quick Italian meal. I've dropped the hints that I'd like an Anthropologie bed set (yes they deliver to OZ now, woop!!). Let's wait and see if he got the hint!

Lastly, Saturday night, us gals and our men are heading out on the town. This is a first for me in about 3 years. (Having babies seriously curbs the late night partying...) Lucky for us, Nanny is staying over at our house, so the only thing thats going to prevent me staying out all night and wearing out my dancing shoes is the knowledge that I'll get a big fat headache the next day! And I don't like getting headaches, so there will be no all nighter...and thats a damn good thing.

Righto, off to have some birthday cake, happy birthday to me!

Wishing I was as amazing as Dottie Angel

2010-07-24T22:48:00.001+10:00

I’d like very much if this were my sewing room.

It belongs to Dottie Angel. I just love her colour palette, beautiful.

And I wish I made stuff as cute as all of this!

Flashback Friday Fashion Fail

2010-07-23T10:53:00.001+10:00

I’m playing along with Curlypop’s Fashion Fail Friday this week, and I didn’t have to flashback into the past very far at all!

Flashback to 1989 and I was actually stylish in 501’s, faux Gucci brogue’s and a t-shirt (tucked in at the front, not the back). And, yes, before you raise the eyebrows with a ‘when was that every fashionable?’, I promise you it was! Year 9 was all about shopping Chapel Street and the City hanging out with the chicks. Fashion Tick back then.

The Fashion Fail issue starts in 2009, however, when I make this purchase – a rainbow fluorescent tasselled cardie. If it were any brighter, it would glow in the dark, in fact I think it actually does…

More fails next week…and oh boy, there are some doosies!

In other news, I have new hair. It was all flouncy like for exactly 4 hours…then I got rained on.

It’s treasure in my books

2010-07-21T21:24:00.000+10:00

The man of the house seems to think (ridiculously) that yet again, I’ve dragged a whole pile of crap home…

But I think he’s wrong. My new {really old} dining chairs are just fabulous. Sure, they need a little work, but that’s half the fun. And, besides, there’s nothing a bit of mod podge and scrapbook paper can help with.

And then there’s the old steam ship trunk. I took the drawers out to make way for a bookcase, I think it makes Miss M’s room look ace (…albeit cluttered. That’s the look I was going for!…well not really actually…her room is really small, and there’s lots of stuff…)

And then there’s the little pink chairs and, my personal favourite, the piece de resistance, the worn out in desperate lovin need settee. When this little textile printing business of mine is all set up, reupholstering this beauty is going to be first project.

Definitely Treasure in my books…

NGV – Australian Made Exhibition

2010-07-16T21:33:00.001+10:00

I really want to go.

Above pics from NGV. Below line drawing from here and floral dress pattern is another mirror upside down patterny play around in Photoshop!

My Creative Space

2010-07-15T11:02:00.001+10:00

Not sure where I’m going with this yet…but it’s very relaxing hand sewing all these little Liberty squares together. Maybe they’ll become a little potholder, or perhaps some sweet pin cushions. One can never have enough pin cushions…

There’s also been a bit of pattern making of late. In fact, not a bit – but a lot. In fact, every night I can’t wait until the girls are asleep so I can play around. Patterns and more patterns…all based on mathematical algorithms – I love that! (Yes, I really am a true nerdy chick at heart). Hours later I’ll realise the man of the house has gone to bed and all the lights are off!

This pattern was a normal photo of some wooden pegs – then reflected a bit and turned upside down, it turns into an amazing pattern. It would be such a cool cushion I think.

And boy is there a serious need for some new cushions over here…the Hawaiian red and green hibiscus cushions really don’t do it for me anymore…So more photos have been transformed – like this one from our Easter celebration at Grandmas house, again upside down and reflected a bit – I really like this pattern.

Of course, I won’t be printing them onto some cotton or maybe linen until I get the my very large textile printer…soon, soon…

Righto, off to check out some other Creative Space. Oh, Miss E has just woken up – better feed her first…

Winter Oranges and a Dodgy Builder

2010-07-10T13:21:00.001+10:00

My sister has just finished renovating her place….well almost. You see, the builder got nearly all of the way finished – and then disappeared! One day, he just turned off his phone, cancelled his email and disappeared with $20,000 of her upfront cash….

After my brother in law made some enquiries, it was discovered that the dodgy ba^*terd left a message with his flatmate that he’d “gone to the country to visit a sick uncle”. Are you serious! What a lame excuse…! He’d better not ever appear again – or he’ll be in big trouble, serious deep sh*^$*t.

Aaaaaanyway, how about those oranges! My sisters neighbours have a very large overhanging orange tree, which has exactly 4 oranges on it. And those 4 oranges just happen to overhang into her backyard – so out came the ladder and down came the oranges! They were delicious, bit tangy, but overall bloody great. Thats my niece and nephew tucking into a little orange goodness!

My Creative Space

2010-07-01T14:05:00.000+10:00

This weeks Creative Space is dedicated to birds, a new sewing nook and coffee sack cushions!

1. Birds. There is a shop in Hawksburn that has the most amazing bird cage with beautiful colourful little birds inside. I was mesmerised watching these gorgeous little creatures sing merrily and hop about. It would be lovely to capture this image on fabric, I thought to myself. Perhaps a cushion? And so, with the wonderful artistry of Photoshop, a vintage birdcage image, and some colourful mosaic birds, my design was made. I had to settle for the home inkjet and blackout curtain fabric, (it goes straight through the printer, no need for freezer paper). Shame, as the ink smudged and the fabric sucks…god, I can’t wait to get my hands on that big printer I want.

2. New sewing nook. In case it’s not obvious, I’m pretty darn excited about my new sewing space. It’s in the family room, so I can sew while the girls are playing. And best, it has a lock, so little hands can’t go messing around!

There’s still a ton of fabric to be packed in, not to mention notions and accessories and buttons and bias and books and trims and yeah, ok….

3. Coffee sack cushions. Next on the creative agenda is the coffee sack cushion challenge, the inaugural event starting tonight in the exceedingly comfortable (*ahem*) Le Garage. Three friends, some tea, sewing and general chit chat.

What I’m doing right now

2010-06-30T20:52:00.000+10:00

…trying to sort this:

…and this:

into some semblance of order into my new (old) sewing cupboard! I’m so happy!! For the past year, my entire collection of fabric has been stored away, that is until now.

Woo hoo, I’m sewing again!!! And just in time, the ice-cream dress sew along starts in a few weeks, I need some practice!

Ok, so now what - sort by colour? …by weight?… by style?…

And the story today goes like this…

2010-06-30T10:42:00.001+10:00

…there once was a girl, mid thirties with brown hair. She lived in a sweet cottage near the city with her two cute girls, solid as a rock husband and grumpy old dog. She liked to read magazines back cover to front, preferred matte to gloss, found the smell of Fromage des Clarines irresistible and sometimes wished she lived on a mountain.

She longed to do something awesome, to shrug off her cautious nature and catapult herself into something new. She knew exactly what that would be…and it wouldn’t involve Reynolds freezer paper and the home inkjet printer.

Nay, her sights were set way bigger than that. Exactly 3.6 times bigger in fact. An emerging area of a centuries old technique, she quickly became quite fascinated. The possibilities were endless – fabric with a photo of the beach where she grew up, the girls hand paintings, the colourful jumble of costume jewellery in the dress up box, a close up of grumpy dogs one toothed face.

Many months of research followed, a business plan was typed, equipment was shortlisted, but nothing yet was finalised. Wildly excited, and a little bit obsessed, she passionately pressed on. More research, more typing, she wanted to start right now and run as fast as she could to the winning post. Aesop could be proved wrong – it was the racing hare that won the race…

…but everyone knows that it was in fact the tortoise who prevailed. Slow and steady steps was the tortoise way. And so it goes at present, no hasty decisions, no quick judgements. Just a steadily evolving process, like slowly unwinding a ball of wool.

So there you go, the story so far….unfinished at the moment, but the race has begun!

Some Very Special Shoes

2010-06-24T13:41:00.001+10:00

The conversation last night:

Me to Him: “Yes. I absolutely needed all three - they’re Liberty fabric for Gods sake!”

My Creative Space

2010-06-17T22:08:00.002+10:00

Just some sunny winter day patterns from the Reprodepot Flora pattern book. They remind me of how the garden looks just as the leaves start to fall.

Tweets

2010-06-12T22:32:00.001+10:00

Being a lover of all things computer, internet, blogging etc, I’m surprised that I haven’t embraced Twitter as yet. In fact I don’t even know what it’s all about…is it different to a Facebook, or more like a blog, what about Tumblr? Oh dear, I’m so way behind on this one.

So, after seeing this post tonight, I’ve bitten the bullet and got myself a Twitter account. Well, I think I have? After filling out the new Tweet person pages, I’m promptly presented with a Twitter over capacity notice. Agh, I don’t have to fill in the join form again, do I?

Nope, it’s now all good. I’m signed in and on my home page. And guess who’s here?

It’s Cindy from BugandPop! How cool is that, I didn’t even do anything and there you are! I’m so excited – shall I tweet you now?!! Yay, how exciting, what do I do!!

Bird image from here

Ink and Spindle Saturday

2010-06-06T21:41:00.001+10:00

Location: Kensington at the Ink and Spindle studio

Saturday morning, 10am.

An event organised by Tess McCabe from the Creative Women’s Circle.

It was great! Lara and Tegan are so lovely, so down to earth and gave some fantastic insights into running their business.

They spoke about the ups and downs of working together, the ins and outs of building up their business and the around abouts of inspiration and designing.

I had to bring Miss M with me, and for the first half hour she sat quietly on the floor (after I’d bribed her with a Chupachup). Then she started to play up and not even a bag of Cheesles would keep her quiet (I’m such a bad mum..Cheesles and lollypops at 10am…). Luckily my sister was also with me and she swept Miss Maddie up just as she started to jump very loudly on the wooden floor boards, so I could hear the end of the talk. We had to leave straight after to be home in time to feed Miss Ellie, which meant we missed the screenprinting demo. Next time…

Thanks Tess for organising such a great event. Look forward to the next!

Beauty and the Beast

2010-06-06T14:46:00.002+10:00

Source: CraftyPod

There’s a great blog called CraftyPod by Sister Diane. She has all sorts of crafty cool bits and pieces – I especially like listening to the crafty podcasts on my pram walks. I loved this image from one of her posts and started to play around with it. (We’re allowed to do that right?…) Anyway, above is beautiful. Below is not! I see a bloody scary insect alien thing!

What do you see?!

Sleepy Lavender

2010-05-31T10:11:00.002+10:00

I haven’t slept for nearly 15 months. True! Not a full, whole, unbroken nights sleep. There wasn’t any proper sleep during pregnancy and there’s been none since. In fact, Ellie thinks that she’s supposed to be wide awake all night long! Like at 9.30pm, 12.00am, 3.30am, and 530am, 730am. I feed her back to sleep each time (which, I know, is where the problem lies). And, I just can’t get back to sleep after getting up for her. Lying awake for an hour or so after, knowing you have to get up again is crushing.…

Then, I hear on 774, a lady talking about lavender as a sleep inducer. I have a lightbulb moment, that ugly lavender pillow in my drawer will be remade and I will use it! Quick smart, I start unpicking, or rather hacking…those stitches are so small! I want to keep the piping to reuse as well.

I was trying to go for a Japanese sort of look, but I think it ended up looking a bit…oh I don’t know….not modern looking?

Anyway, I don’t care. It’s lavender and it’s going to make me sleep!

Which one?

2010-05-31T09:40:00.001+10:00

I am so excited about this - the man of the house and I are going out tonight! Anyone knows with a busy toddler and 6 month old, dinner, out, is not a very common occurrence.

We’re off to the swish and edgy Cutler and Co for a family 50th. I’m already organising what I should wear and it’s only 9.30am! I’m very excited….

Black trench or beige opera jacket?

Tips and Tricks #25

2010-05-25T10:55:00.001+10:00

I spend heaps of time tinkering away in the background on my blog, changing this and that to the way I want. There are many ways to customise your blog, both in the look and structure of the pages. Two columns, three columns, background images, colours and on and on. Most of my tips and tricks have been about how to do these customisations.

But now, Blogger has released a draft template designer! Yay! All with the click of a button and zero html know how, you can customise to your hearts content. Here’s how to access their designer:

1) Head over to your Dashboard (top right corner of your blog. If you can’t see it, click ‘customise’ and you’ll see it then). Scroll right down to the bottom and click Blogger in Draft as seen in the pic below.

2) You’ll see the usual dashboard looking stuff, but with one major change. Click on ‘design’.

3) You’ll now see this familiar looking area, but again with a change. Click on ‘Template Designer’.

4) You’re now in the designer area. In summary – there’s 17 new templates in four “template families”. You can change any of them into different layouts (see images below). You can also change the backgrounds into any of the numerous images from istockphoto.

You can use the live preview to see your new template without affecting your blog – so click away and have fun customising your blog! Note: You can backup your existing template ahead of time by going to Layout > Edit HTML. You should definitely do this if you have a customized blog design that you might want to go back to.

My Creative Space

2010-05-20T21:39:00.003+10:00

What is this? You’ll find out soon, hopefully!

***Note: I’m going to be waffling on about my business again as “My Creative Space”. Read on if you’re interested…or tune out now….***

::My Decision::

With the end of maternity leave looming, I am forced to sit down and assess my life. What do I want? What is best for my family? Do I want to return to my fast paced role in global FMCG manufacturing or not?

Nope. I don’t. Frankly, I’m surprised by that. I used to love my job! Lots of responsibility, flexible work hours and an endless supply of water, soft drink, beer and spirits!

But I think it's over now. The past few years have seen my interests shift and I find myself with a passion now for the individual, the original and unique, the completely customised. The handmade.

::Creating My Creative Space!::

So, this week, My Creative Space once again, is about creating my own business. And, excitingly, it’s becoming more of a reality each day. End of May sees my day trip to Sydney to visit the shortlisted suppliers and see things in action. Next steps would be to find a cool space to work out of and source basecloth.

I don’t know whether to say what the business idea is or not…it feels a little too early. I haven’t even seen things in action yet…I’d feel quite stupid if a buzz was created, which I then could not deliver on. But on the other hand, I do need to figure out whether there’s room for my business in the world. There’s a group in the USA doing the same thing…But does it matter? There’s a US$ Etsy, and an AUD$ Madeit. Both exist and both are successful….

Jumping ahead a few steps - I love this space – a moments walk from home, with a couple of extra rooms. Perfect to have all the kids (my sisters and mine) with us while we work! It may be too narrow though…

There’s this space as well, but while it’s loaded with character, I can’t see a renovation in the business plan as well. Shame.

Ok, enough. It’s late (yes, 930pm is late for me!), I’m off to bed….and don't forget to head over to Kootoyoo for some more Creative goodness!

And on the seventh day…

2010-05-18T19:48:00.004+10:00

I read somewhere that taking milk crates from the side of the road is actually stealing. Really? Even when said milk crate lies around, unwanted, day after day? Surely, after a whole week, ownership is transferred to whoever cares enough to take it home. So I waited…

and waited…

…

still there…

….still there!…

…Day 7…

My milk crate is gone...!

These very lurvely storage milk crates will have to wait.

http://lauragunn.typepad.com/theundercovercrate.pdf

The Wizard of oz

2010-05-03T20:28:00.002+10:00

When I saw this over at The Curlypops Shop, I nearly jumped for joy. In fact, I think I let out a little squeal! You see, Miss M is completely obsessed with The Wizard of Oz at present. It plays in the background all day (and beware the person who dares turn it off!).

My little 2.5 year old did a crazy little sitting down jig when I presented this to her!

Thanks Ms Curlypops, you made Maddie’s day!

Some more Wizard of Oz, I love these illustrations from Jessica Hirsche (typography is her thing).

Samantha Robinson * handmade porcelain

2010-05-02T13:57:00.001+10:00

Samantha Robinson * handmade porcelain

These make a mummy with sick kids happy too.

Samantha Robinson is based in Sydney, I’m in Melbourne…so I’ve emailed her for stockists in Melbourne…

Click on pics to go straight to Samantha’s website.

Sometimes…

2010-05-02T11:57:00.001+10:00

...when everyone is sick and feeling low, a happy picture can help.

Click image for source.

My Creative Space (not mine actually..)

2010-04-30T10:10:00.001+10:00

Who knew? My engineer, black and white, straight down the line husband is a secret Creative! After nearly 10 years of being together, it’s been revealed to me, through old papers dating back to the late 80’s, that he has a talent in the drawing department. This weeks Creative Space belongs to my husband!

Meanwhile, back in the 10’s, (huh? it’s not quite the same as saying in the 90’s, or in the 80’s is it….), my business idea is really growing some legs. I’ve been doing a whole pile of research every night (hence my scant blogging presence) and the more I learn, the more exciting it all is. My sister, mum and I along with bestest girlfriend would run the business together – and the kids will be able to hang around as well because it’s our business and we want them there with us! However, until it progresses a little further, and to save myself feeling a fool if it doesn’t come off, it’s under wraps and low key for the moment. First things first, my business plan must be completed. Then a trip to Sydney to choose a vital component….

In other news, I bought myself a fancy pants camera. I’m gonna need lessons from this gal!

Happy Anniversary to us

2010-04-26T21:36:00.002+10:00

Duh! Both me and the Man of the House forgot our anniversary today…well only me actually. He remembered half way through the day and snuck out to get these for me.

We really wanted to check out Cutler and Co for our annual anniversary dinner sans kids, but as we forgot, we settled for tapas at Pelican avec kids. Not quite the same as a romantic dinner for two...more like a scoff it down quickly before they crack it!

It was nice anyway and the girls were still in bed by 7.30. Ahhh, nice.