tsk tsk

purchases and a princess

A very quick rundown on some goodies I have bought recently.

We finally replaced our dying fridge with a new one. I'm wanting to keep this one as clean as possibe, both the inside and out. But I couldn't resist buying some new fridge magnets.

Top left: purchased from pepes paperie on my Canberra trip. I love old signage and advertising. The works of Adolphe Cassandre are one of my favourites in this genre and I would love to have his work in my house.

Top Right: Another magnet by an Australian illustrator and crafter, Julie Knoblock. This photo is not that great. Her work can be seen on Flickr and she sells her wonderful products at her Etsy shop too. She has such a cooky, fun and original style and I love the way she transfers her images to different surfaces and products. The magnet is stuck proudly on our fridge door.

Bottom Left: You might recognise this little character. Hector arrived at my front door today. He is just so adorable. The very talented Kate from two little banshees made him. This one is for me. I think he'll be my study buddy. Except when I look at him, I feel like taking him to bed and having a nap! Lena tried to open his eyes and said 'hawo Hector, wake up eyes now.' Check out Kate's Etsy store too.

Bottom Right: No purchases with this one. I wipped this up last night whilst watching TV and popped it into Miss M's cot before going to bed. Her name is Princess Lena. Next will be King Ari!

Aggghhhh, look at the time! Must go.

WIPS and BLOGS

After posting my tutorial on how to do some basic relief printing, I was contacted by Natalie from  Craftzine who wanted to share my tips. I'm a little 'gobsmacked' at the stats on my site. I hope that what I have posted is of use to some others out there.

Ever since starting my first mini moopy, I have been very keen to make more. taken from a free pattern at neststudio, they are very addictive. I'm keen to make some for some friends' children. Here is a sneak preview of the works.....they are mostly finished. I just need to do some hand sewing. Some look like they have very bad white pubic hair which needs some maintenance. More can be seen on my flickr page.

relief printing

Thought I would share a tutorial about how to create a block or relief print. There are many different printmaking processes. Lino or wood block printing falls under the catergory of relief. Basically anything carved away from below the surface of the block won't print. My days of being a printmaking student at university are far behind me. This is my very first attempt to print without a press. And it is easy.

1. first you need all the equipment. I have chosen speedball products. Waterbased inks are ideal for home use (although I miss the smell of oil based inks).

• inks..start with one colour...buy more as you need.
• card or watercolour paper is ideal, but experiment on recylcled paper.
• small sheet of glass. I have used glass from an old photo frame
• Printing block. The speedball product is far easier to use than the old linoleum. But if you do use the brown lino, I recommend to heat it slightly so you can carve into it with ease.
• Cutting tools. Try being experimental and look for interesting tools around the home. I have had an old set of denistry tools for over 15 years and they work wonders for both relief and intaglio printing.
• A Brayer...or commonly known as the roller.
• Kitchen spoon

2. start by cutting your image. Draw or transfer an image directly onto the block. Carve away what you don't want to see. Make sure you clean away any residue before printing or you will end up with furry bits.

3. basic registration makes life easier. On a piece of paper, draw the size of the paper you are going to print on. Then place the block in the centre or where ever suits and draw around this with a pencil. This will give you a position for the block and an outline to see where you place the paper for each print you make.

4. On the glass (which is wider than the width of the brayer), squeeze out a small amout of ink across the top of the glass and also slightly wider than the brayer.

5. roll out the ink, making sure that you get an even coverage across your brayers surface. as you are rolling down, lift the brayer up and let it spin and then place it down again...this avoids one side of the brayer being covered in more ink than another.

6. ink your block. Knowing how much to have on sometimes takes pracitce. You'll know when you pull your first print.

7. Place your block onto the registration sheet. Avoid any dirty fingers at this stage.

8. Place your already prepared printing paper over the block and align it to the registration marks.

9. with the back of a kitchen spoon, carefully and evenly apply enough pressure to the paper and rub across the back until the print has been made.

10. Pull it back...that is it. Simple.

Below shows my work space and some recent hearts I have printed. I picked up this book, Papua New Guinea Prints at the National Art Gallery in Canberra, I find the line work so inspiring.

sweet scottish surprise

love it love it love it! Thought I would share this amazing package that Zoe from AtoZ sent me...I mean us. It is simply jaw dropping. I was telling someone the other day how I had sent a parcel to Zoe in Scotland and they thought it was amazingly generous, considering we have not personally met. Well, I thought about this and yes it is kind of special to give and receive something that has been crafted and selected by someone in blog land. I consider myself so lucky that I have 'met' her and others who are so talented at crafting/designing/illustrating and are willing to share their wonderful goods. Do accountants who blog get to share nice things? Or journalists? Or IT specialists? Sure, they share information and knowledge, but nothing beats being a blogger who can share gifts that someone has made. The joy of seeing a parcel with 'foreign' handwriting on it and knowing that it has traveled thousands of miles from the initial post office where it was sent. That is special. So T H A N K Y O U Zoe for your generosity and gifts.

You made my day.

These 2 beauties (Babous..please correct me if they are spelt wrong Zoe) are for A and M. A is a bit confused as to why he has received a gift for no apparent reason, but you can see that he loves it. M was being silly in front of the camera. I hope that right ear holds up as she popped it straight into her mouth for sucking.

And for me?????

Beautifully designed cards by Zoe. Please go to her site and take a closer look..they are so professionally made. If she is selling them, I can guarantee that they are worth the purchase.

A 'TEAL' coloured knitted bag....so soft. Some wools and buttons in some of my favourite colours and some fabric swatches. I just bought some japanese material from a craft show and these are a perfect match.  ANNNDDD some toilertries from Lancome. How special do I feel right now! ANNNNDDDD a great white box to put it all in. Miss M dashed off with the box and put her Babou to sleep in before I could take a photo.  ANNNNNNDDDDD check out that little green gift tag....truly fantastic. I can't thank you enough.

blissful weekend

The wedding was great. Both my brother and my new sister in law looked beautiful and the reception and ceremony went off without a hitch!

It has been many years since I last visited Canberra. Situated inland from Sydney, it is Australia's capital. In short, it is a very clean, organised and structured city. Very well planned and layed out. Perhaps it lacks a little personality compared to other capital cities in Australia, but overall I was really impressed by its beauty. The inner city area which surrounds Lake Burley Griffin is the most scenic to do some sight seeing. Apart from it dropping to -1 degrees C  the night of the wedding and reaching only 16 degrees C during the day, we still all managed to enjoy ourselves.

Top Left to bottom right::

The civic carousel. Memories of my childhood, riding around and around. This time it looked so much smaller than what I thought it was.

Me and my sister joking around whilst photos were being taken.

The national Museum. Truly amazing modern architecture and fantastic museum..wish we had spent more time there.

The bride and groom with my sister and me. I'm the short arse in my family.

Pear sculpture outside the National Art Gallery.

Lake Burley Griffin.

Happy things

DONE! The wedding quilt is finally finished. Just needs a press and a wrap, but I will do that on Saturday. PHEWWWW. Next will be one for my mother in law's 60th birthday for the day after Christmas.

My parents came and stayed on Tuesday night. They live about 2 hours drive from us...close enough and not too far. Mum picked these hippeastrums from her garden. They are such a lovely colour. I hate to think that they won't be appreciated over this coming weekend whilst we are away. The doll on the left was made by a local company/crafter. Master A has a boy one. For some reason, I really hope that Miss M doesn't become obsessed by plastic dolls such as Barbie. Soft dolls/toys have so much more character and individuality. Time will tell I guess. I am constantly reminding family members pre birthdays and Christmas not to buy anything with a highty commercialised label on it. My sister recently wanted to know if Master A would prefer a Bob the builder or Thomas the Tank Engine t-shirt. When I said that he wasn't really into either (well a little Thomas) she was miffed. Wiggles on the underpants is where I draw the line!

Enjoy your weekend everyone.

wips and work

well the dino eggs were a huge success. I had a few little party friends tell me at Kindy this week that their eggs had hatched. Some of the kids even slept with their eggs! I'v never slept with a party bag before.

Rushing, rushing through the week. I'm still binding the quilt. I really hope to get it washed before I wrap it so I can check if there are any 'not so well sewn' areas that need fixing. But typical me, I decided to start something else.
Yesterday I was cleaning my car and found cushions that A and M use if they want to sleep. They were so dirty and grotty looking, so I thought it was time I made some covers for them. This is what I have created so far....just the top.

Also some weekly work that will be picked up soon by a customer. For Evie and Chloe.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm off to the hairdressers before flying to Canberra for my brother's wedding. I might be hand sewing on the airplane....but of course no scissors allowed.

dinosaur party

We had a fantastic day to celebrate A's birthday. The weather was perfect. Infact it reached about 28 degrees, so the sun is showing its bite already.

snippet of the day:
A and Miss M all spruced up ready to go.

master A with his 4 sign. Every year I get them to hold a sign to show how old they are.

That is me and the kids on our front steps. I'm frowning like I usually do! I still have my apron on.

Receiving presents and cuddles from friends.

Opening presents.

Pin the tail on the dinosaur.

The birthday cake. No, I didn't make it, so please all credit goes to the local baker.

Dino farm. This is our present to him. I bought an empty fish tank, filled it with pebbles and aquarium foliage and placed dinosaurs inside. He loves it and it now has a very special spot on his bookshelf.

And the dino eggs, which Nic and I spent all week making. I am so over paper mache! I can't believe I didn't take a photo of all 14. Here are a few left overs for those who couldn't make it to the party. Inside I placed dinosaur lollies, plastic dinos, small colouring in pencils, a dino colouring in page and a few other treats. I told all the kids that only mummy will know when they are ready to hatch. I have no idea how we are going to get them open. Maybe a hacksaw?

So, now that the party is over, my next I MUST DO is to bind that wedding quilt. And then, I will start getting back into some WIPS and projects including the calendar swap.  YIPPEEEE!

presents and parcels

I ordered and received some festive fabric from Amitie this week. I cannot wait to make something out of these. Don't you love the little red parcel tied up in string. It is nice to receive things that have been wrapped with care. I have often sent things away in haste just to get them posted and think afterwards, OH how I wished I had wrapped it or sent a card'. But there are times where I do and I love that process of giving and making it look nice.

And talking about sending parcels. I made this little gift for Zoe at AtoZ. She has been knitting of late and mentioned that she would love to try her hand at crochet. I don't know how to knit, but I can crochet. The book is written by Prudence Mapstone. It gives lots of examples and instructions on how to make crochet bullions. She is a very clever lady and even makes crocheted bags. Sounds a bit like something your grandmother might do, but they are really great. Check out her site. If you enjoy working with wool and yarn, then it is well worth the visit.

SO I made a few little flowers for Zoe. I also stitched a felt pouch for her and made a little wrist band for her daughter. I think she was very excited to receive it.

I told Master A they went all the way to Scotland. He has been singing the Loch Lomond song 'You go the low road, and I'll go the high road' . We sing it in the car on the way home from Kindy because there are 2 roads we can choose from..1 is high and 1 is low. Agghhh, it must be my faint Scottish blood coming out!

a week full of life

top L to R
lena sleeping in her wardrobe on the change table that I put in there.hey, if she has her afternoon nap, it doesn't matter where she sleeps. :: making dinosaur eggs for party 'bags'..it is taking forever. :: Part of an ABCme design for Claudia. :: My first ever ebay purchase-vintage Kimono fabric.

middle L to R
my favourite fabric from the purchase. :: The sewing/dining room..the place I would really like to spend my day. :: Kransky our dog..he is a dachshund cross..he is a little camera shy. :: more little feet.

Bottom L to R
Some brooches I am making. :: Some lego Master A made..he loves playing with lego. :: Gardenia bushes in our garden in full bloom. :: More ABCme designs..a canvas for Dante.