Upcoming Markets and New Apron Designs

Usually this time of year I'm thinking about what markets to do before Christmas. I thought I'd shake things up a bit this year and do something local, which is not all that easy considering I live in Bathurst. Anyway lucky for me, this year the Bathurst Arts Council is putting on an event called Arts Alive 2795 to showcase community art in the region, and I've decided to be an exihibitor. Thats not until November 20/21, but I need to GET BUSY anyway.
In the meantime, I am lined up for the Muddi Boutique Market in Wagga Wagga (not really local but I do get to visit my folks which is a double bonus, and given my sweet mother Mazzy usually travels to help me where ever I do a market, I'm sure I can convince her to come along to one in her home town). I DIGRESS!
So in order to remain stimulated I decided to add a new product for the upcoming markets...Apron patterns! Not just any old apron pattern though, a PEG APRON pattern so you can look cool hanging your clothes on the line and your pegs will never get rusty or dirty ever again!

I've had a peg apron that I made a few years back and its been great, but I always felt it was a bit bulky. When my neighbour commissioned me to make one for her, I thought there might be a market for these. Anyway this new shape is awesome, I'm really happy with it.

And while I was at it I decided to make another apron, whenever I do a craft show I think to myself how handy a little apron would be to house cash notes (bum bags just arent cutting it for me any more!) and I was so excited about the shape of this little number that I thought what the heck, make a pattern and see how it goes? It could be even worn over jeans just for the fun of it. They are SO easy to make. And anyone who knows me knows of my blue daisy obession, how groovy is this fat quarter from BIG W! WIll wonders never cease.


And Bathurst is looking lovely this time of year, despite it SNOWING yesterday. Yes, you heard correctly. SNOW. In SPRING?

Melbourne Getaway

OK so admittedly it was back in August (I've been a TERRIBLE blogger) but back in August my guy & I visited my fave Aussie city for a few days. Four in fact, which was no where near enough, but enough for me to capture the following pics:
Hooray! Finally I got to visit the ever so lovely Lara and Teegs from Ink & Spindle at their studio. These girls remain a huge inspiration, and their fabric continues to make me drool. More pics to come of the goodies I picked up from them! xo

My old trusty canvas Connies got replaced with a ridiculously over-the-top glittery pair with a tiger skin print at the South Wharf DFO...they were way too shiny to be photographed, these are the old ones!

We stayed here and LOVED it - right in the heart of the city, it was a great spot. A beautiful bunch of flowers bloomed for us during our stay. Nice touch!

We stumbled on Hosier Lane, which I'm sure would be a well known spot if I was a local...but instead we found it by surprise and I was blown away by the incredible graffiti art that covered every square inch of the bricked laneway...here is a small teaser (I must have taken 100 photos there!)


And I loved this tin can sculpture:

The first week back in Bathurst we declared we were in a PMF. That would be a Post-Melbourne Funk.
Perhaps that might explain my blogging silence. :(
Thankyou, Melbourne, for the inspiration, and according to the locals giving us the best weather Melbourne had seen in weeks!

Kits and Patterns for Kelani Fabric Obsession

Living in Bathurst and having a full time job makes it a bit tricky for me to do craft shows that start mid-week (even the weekend ones are a challenge for me!) so I am grateful when a fabulous fabric house like (the very appropriately named) Kelani Fabric Obsession offer to stock some of my patterns and kits at a show they are doing. Kelani have a stand at the Craft & Quilt Fair from July 22 - 25 at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre and will be stocking my "wonky" softie patterns and kits.
I needed another photo for the kit cover so I went to my usual spot at the local fernery (I must look positively mad doing my photo shoot in there) but its the most reliable light source in town on a rainy day like today!

I took a pair of scissors to my sacred fabric stash to make the kits...I love this fabric from Sprout Design, and its a terrifying concept to not be able to get more!

It was hard to use this fabric designed by Bee from the ever-so-fabulous Ink & Spindle, another piece that can't be replaced....oh noooooooo!

And this little guy has fabric from Ink & Spindle and the drool-worthy CLOTH...I am getting a LOT better at not being the dreaded fabric stasher.

CLOTH bag finished...finally!

I mentioned a post or two ago that it takes a while to finish things....this bag is direct evidence, considering I started it last Christmas! I decided around that time to stop being precious about precious fabric, and take the scissors to my sacred stash. This little bundle of offcuts from the ever so fabulous CLOTH collection was just screaming to be teamed with a few bits of denim from recycled jeans. It only took 6 months to complete. A bit here and a bit there. Thats how I tend to work.

My friend Catriona gave me a dress made out of striped Liberty print that she wore in the 80s! The fabric was still in flawless shape so I used it to line the bag:


I nerded out and made sure I used a small snippet of fabric bearing the word CLOTH (no secret how much I LOVE their work)


Love the shades of blue created by chopping up an old pair of jeans or two!


One of these days I'll post a tutorial on how I do zippered pockets on tote bags. I'm pretty sure you'd never find this technique in any traditional sewing instructions, but hey, it works great! Sometimes I just make it up as I go along, making tutorial-posting a challenge. (i.e. "You mean you want me to do it twice? Exactly the same??!")


So my bag is complete and I'm a bit in love with it. The ONLY problem is that I think I made the strap a bit too long. As you can see I top-stitched the bejeezus out of it, making unpicking it not an option. I'll use it a bit more and see if I can tolerate it. It would be such a shame to chop a chunk out of it! Ahhhh we'll see.

Gocco Hiccups!

K so there I was. I cleared away all other potential interruptions, and left the Queen's Birthday for me to roll up my sleeves and get busy printing.

Artwork prepared, Gocco unpacked and ready for action: Check.


Chair strategically placed at window to distract cat and prevent her from walking on fresh prints: Check.


Screen burned, ink applied to master, all going well:


Here is where things start going pear-shaped:


I've read about this happening. Of course I didn't consider it would happen to me, I envisioned a flawless print run....the carbon from the toner stuck to the screen, well more than the carbon stuck, even the PAPER stuck! Ouch. I knew this master was toast but printed a few anyway and quickly decided to have another crack with a fresh master. (Its painful though, every master you waste is about $15 worth of supplies!)


I remember reading that if your photocopied artwork has any moisture in it, the carbon may stick to the master. So I got out the iron, and turned off the steam and applied the iron to the artwork to dry it out. The second screen I tried to burn was better, but still had some major carbon sticking problems. No paper stuck though...so I printed a few more...(man the printing bit is heaps of fun, I had to force myself to stop b/c it was coming out all wrong...)

So its back to the drawing board - I think I have to make the photocopy lighter, I'll try that - I only have one master left so I think I'll get some more supplies before commencing the next experiment. Its a pretty amazing little unit, I so hope I can work out how to get a good screen, coz the printing part is super easy and heaps of fun.
So the rest of my day got freed up to do something with guaranteed results: I made a lined A-line skirt with a lovely piece of winter woolly fabric. Its nearly finished, I'll have to post a pic! Ciao for now. xo

Gocco Experiment, Here I Come...

I first heard about GOCCO right before I left Canada to move back to Aus in 2006 and have been coveting one ever since. Despite them not being made any more, I was slightly anxious about the concept of having one and then one day not being able to buy supplies any more! But as they say, I'll deal with that when and if it happens! It only took four years but a few months ago I purchased the PG-11 and its been sitting in my bedroom whispering to me ever since. So its time to bite the bullet and have some fun with it. I'm not very good at loving my experiments and given this is a whole new application for me, its taken a while to dive in. ANYWAY long weekend coming up = lets have some gocco fun baby. So I've prepped some artwork, the PG-11 came with enough supplies for 3 designs, so here is what I plan to experiment with:


I can't claim the rights to this phrase, I scribbled it in my journal after seeing it in a graphic design rag....so apologies for not being able to reference it correctly!

Hows this for a drawing with absolutely no point:


And this is an old design that I thought might be fun for printing on fabric one day. But for now I'll print it on paper and see what happens:


I'm terrible for percolating on projects and not having a finished product for weeks on end which is why I'm such a terrible blogger. So instead of sitting idle I thought I'd share that there is progress in the Juicy Zone! And hopefully after the weekend instead of black and white artwork I might have a pretty picture or two to share. Or at the very least some pictures of my cat covered in paint! xo

IMOK - Love Your Work!

One of the BEST things for me about participating in craft markets is connecting with other like-minded creation-obsessed peeps. Meeting the lovely duo of Sandra and Jen from IMOK in Melbourne was a highlight for me for sure, we had one of those crafty conversations that covered everything from challenges to the reason why we can't stop doing what we're doing...it seemed every thing we declared was met with a "me too!!!" type response.



Anyway in addition to these two spunky chicks being very cool, they are mega talented to boot. I LOVE that they BOTH create their illustrations/paintings and I was totally inspired by Sandra telling me that they go on holidays to PAINT together! How awesome is that!?? I couldn't resist this little rabbit canvas, who now has primo real estate on my mantle. Thanks for the inspiration ladies! xo