Bunny Brooches

When my friend visited recently from Canberra her two little girls (aged 3 and 5) were not too keen to leave the juicy zone. I promised I would send them a treat in the mail (who doesn't love treats in the mail!??) and I just finished these bunny brooches for them.

Wonky Twins

Two new wonky twins, who are nameless at the moment. Made from corduroy, featuring Echino fabric.

Lined Pouch

What do you get when you cross a vintage zipper bought on ebay, a piece of lovely Echino fabric and salvaged denim from an old pair of jeans? A perfect home for a handful of Prismacolor pencils! I'm still trying to master the art of these lined pouches, there is one tricky part when inserting the zipper. I made one a while back that turned out to be the perfect pouch for my digital camera.

New Birthday Card

Here is a very 70s disco-inspired card that will accompany Peta's birthday present. Its always good to test new designs on people! I think she will get a good chuckle out of this mighty 'fro.

More Fabric and Felt

I admit it. I like fabric and felt way too much. This little stash will be used to make my next Wonky batch. Oh, thats right, I still have to finish the other Wonky batch!

Letterpress Obsession Continues

How lovely is letterpress? So lovely! One of these days I will get my hands on one of those antique beasts. Until then I will fantasize and continue to acquire lovely letterpress things, like this "Sew Crafty" card from Letterpress Delicacies in Texas, and the Love card from Eggpress in Oregon.

Daisy Crazy and proud of it!

Anyone who knows me well knows I have a love affair with the shape of the daisy. I can't help it! Amongst my constant supply of tshirts that I make, the humble daisy appears frequently. And I mean FREQUENTLY. Can a girl have enough tshirts with daisies on them? Not this one. Look! Here is a new tshirt....and lo and behold...its got a daisy on it!



I'm sure old school embroiderers would be horrified with my chunky style of stitching...

Button Score!

There are many fabulous things about spending a weekend with your Mum, especially if it happens to coincide with her cleaning out her crafty cupboard before moving. Look at this fantastic vintage button score! Not to mention the old box of chocolates they have been living in for the last couple of decades. These buttons were about to be donated (no doubt to a worthy crafty cause) until I intervened with a desperate cry of "waaaiiiiiiit!". I am a worthy crafty cause! These buttons will have a home with me where they will be adored. Even the bizarre little fabric covered ones that have lost their loop on the back and can't be sewn onto anything anymore! Thanks Mazzy.

Tshirt Neckline

Being the extreme stretch-sewing enthusiast that I am, I tend to strive for perfection. Some may articulate it more as a tendency to obsess over things just a tad. I'm OK with this. It keeps my mind stimulated. The irony is that at the end of the day, its probably more a case of personal preference as to which approach is better. The neckline on this tshirt is a perfect example. This tee is a birthday gift and I simply was not happy with neckline No. 1. I didn't like the way you could see the stitches, even if it was subtle. So I went for the tried and true neckband, which looks a bit gathered in the pic, but once being worn, smooths out to be the perfect combination of comfort and funkiness. Love this Echino fabric by Japanese textile artist Etsuko Furuya. Gorgeous. Happy Birthday Peta!!!

Fuzzy Fabric from Dressew, Vancouver

Thank you to my dear friend Adele from Vancouver for your most generous package of furry fabric from your recent visit to Dressew. Oh how I miss Dressew! Here is a sample of just one of the fuzzy pieces you sent, the fabric is absolutely perfect for Wonky faces. Thank you again, I am so grateful!

Incomplete Wonkies

There is something so tragic about incomplete wonkies. Especially the ones that have eyes already. They seem to look at you with their half complete little faces and cry out to be stitched together. Here is an official wonky declaration: I WILL FINISH YOU!!!

New Baby Thankyou Cards

The exceptionally fantastic Janine from Vancouver has always been very supportive of Juicy Roo and she and Aussie hubbie Paul are expecting their first baby! They have commissioned Juicy Roo to do some thank you cards for their new arrival (lets face it we know they'll be getting LOTS of gifts!)...

so here are a couple of ideas:

Illustrator Graphics for Digiglass

What a tardy blogger I have been. Unfortunately my creative pursuits have been temporarily put on hold in exchange for home renovations. Aaaaarrghhhhhh!
Fortunately, to keep my sanity, I have been commissioned to design some panels for an aged care facility, using a fantastic new product called Digiglass. Vector graphics are printed on a thin translucent film, and sandwiched between two thick sheets of safety glass. The results are spectacular, and hats off to Digiglass of Melbourne for developing this versatile sexy product! Check out http://www.digiglass.com.au/

The botanical theme of these panels features creepy crawlies designed to make you smile, not to make your skin crawl!

Adventures in Felt

I've just discovered a new local source for fabulous felted wool remnants, perfect for brooch making. A long weekend is in the mail, so I hope to to transform some of this lovely soft felt into wearable art.

Will Work for Fabric!

Yes, it is true, succulent pieces of fabric are as good as cash to me. So when my friend Catriona asked me to whip up a biz card for her in exchange for buying me some fabric on her next Sydney adventure, I leapt at the chance. I had been coveting some remnants from CLOTH for sometime, and she must have read my mind because among other things (of extreme deliciousness), that is EXACTLY what she picked up for me. How talented is Julie Paterson from Cloth? So talented. And these pieces are even more glorious to touch, these exquisite linens are so earthy. Coupled with the FUNKIEST mod patterns silk screened on them, they are just sensational. THANK YOU CATRIONA!

Ivy's Tshirts

I've been meaning to whip these up for my sweet little niece Ivy for ages, and finally finished them. Being a sweet little blonde with BIG blue eyes I'm sure she will look gorgeous in both of them. I delivered them today and got a big smile and hug in return. So sweet!

Skirt Commission

I am fortunate to have lots of friends who are very supportive of my constant itch to stitch. The very fabulous CYD would definitely fall into this category. She has commissioned me to make a skirt for her, (I am sure the final fit will be challenging considering she lives a couple of hours away) and its almost in one piece. Being a funky chick who can pull off MAD looks, I thought I'd kick things up a notch on the crafty front. I love corduroy! And how lovely is this Echino fabric? I have had so much mileage out of that fabric! 

Arrival of rikrak Etsy Order!

How lovely is my newest addition to the collection of blue things? Very lovely!

Juicy Roo Press Coverage!

How cool is this!?!

http://www.fodey.com/generators/newspaper/snippet.asp

Two New Wonkies

In response to Peta's request for Wonkies suited to baby boys...meet the newest additions to the Wonky Clan. Stretch and Zippy are off to their new home at Bambino's on George today. I will be sad to see them go, but I'm sure some new friends will be created sooner rather than later. That red striped material on Stretch has been kicking around in the Juicy Zone for years. It came from Jax in Gastown, Vancouver, and had The Belgian's name on it for ages, as I was going to make him a shirt. As is so often the case with sewing projects, the ones that involve immense amounts of stitching generally don't get tackled. Or maybe its the amount of button holes! I need RESULTS! Thats why making tshirts ROCKS.

Photography Challenges

Alas I fear my trusty Canon PowerShot S30 might be on its last legs. Either that or I am a shocker of a photographer. I am experiencing its limitations and its very frustrating. Admittedly I've had it since early 2003 (surreal to think I paid almost 1000 Canadian bucks for it.) But I must say it has been a little gem. Its been dropped many times, knocked off a table by my cat (on purpose!) literally an hour after I bought it, and has been the most faithful travel companion EVER! I knew in the early days that natural lighting conditions were my Canon's best friend. So now that I have built a lightbox, I want to be able to photograph my goodies at all hours of the day, not just when it is gloriously overcast. And so too by problems begin. This pic is the best I can muster so far of a set of Juicy Roo greeting cards  AND I had the help of the levels in Photoshop. I might borrow the office's camera and see if that makes a difference. If it does, I need a new camera. If it doesnt, I might need a BETTER camera. I'll postpone further judgement until I can do some more experiments.

NOTE that very blatant attempt at self promotion. Would anyone believe it is an attempt to see if I know how to create a link? I'm very new to blogging you see.

More Wonkies for Bambinos on George!

Peta from Bambinos loved the Wonkies and made a request for boy-specific Wonkies...so its back to the Wonky drawing board. Despite these little creatures being quite time consuming to make, they really are a lot of fun. Once the eyes get stitched on (usually its the first step), they cry out to be completed. And I am very grateful to work with someone like Peta, who has her finger on the pulse of what consumers want!  And besides, making Wonkies helps justify my fabric addiction!

Other Lovely Blue Things...

I almost got rid of these blue teacups when I was downsizing and I am SO glad I didnt because now I adore them completely. I think my obsession with blue things in the Juicy Zone may have developed in conjunction with my love affair with these teacups! They belonged to my sweet little grandmother who probably never used them. They are Japanese Noritake china and the design is titled "BLUE MOON". How Lovely.

Pick a Colour, Any Colour

Every time I go to Bunnings (which seems to be every second day lately due to constant renovations) I head straight for the paint section and pick a couple of swatches that I think would be groovy on an accent wall in the Juicy Zone. I now have a gigantic pile of swatches, and I would say there is a definite theme going on. I must admit I have a secret longing for a collection of blue things for the Juicy Zone.

Groovy Moo

I'm not sure how I managed to not know about MOO for so long....what a fun concept. Being a lover of all things printed, opening my pack of MOO postcards made me smile! 

Farewell to My Wonky Friends

Off they go to their new home at Bambinos on George. Thanks to the fabulous Mazzy for helping stitch up the last few...

Postcard Fun

Well I almost managed to do a set of postcards without most of those pantone colours but I think one or two of them might have crept in. Anyway for some reason my ADSL connection is sloooooooow today so I have not been able to upload the set in their entirety. Not to worry, here is a sample anyway. I think this would be a FUN silk screen print on a piece of linen. 

Creative FUNK

As so often happens to me my head is spinning at the moment with too many ideas and not enough time to execute them all! As much as I love my Juicy world, I am finding that drawing stick people is limiting me from exploring my full design potential in other areas. So I've decided to pull back from my greeting card world, and focus on exploring some other mediums.
LIST OF INTERESTING THINGS TO DO:
1. Whip up a set of cards for MOO. (OK maybe this is kind of in my greeting card world, but the rules are NO STICK PEOPLE, NO PANTONE 311, 232 or 113, and HAVE NO INTENTION TO MARKET THEM! This one is JUST FOR FUN!!!)
2. Focus on perfecting the art of pattern making for silk screening on textiles...
3. Buy some fabric ink for last bit of #2
4. Be a more regular blogger
5. Build a lightbox so I can take digital picks when light conditions are less than perfect (ie that is most of the time for me considering I'm stuck in an office when the sun is at its most glorious...how depressing)
6. Explore new colour combinations!

Ahhhhh....that should get me out of my funk.

Etsy Order!

Yesterday I ordered my first thing from Etsy! Its a fantastically FABULOUS scarf covered in succulent blue daises, made by the talented RikRak in Ottawa, Canada! Oh how I miss Canada! I cant wait for it to arrive, it will be a fantastic addition to my collection of lovely blue things.

First Blog Ever

I've always been a journal freak but over the last 24 months my entries have become few and far between. Pages of neatly scribbled text have been pushed aside in favour of pages of squiggles and doodles, and despite the fact that I love the art of hand-writing, I can type SO much faster. Why can't I work out how to change the colour of that heading? It is very annoying.