Thursday, December 27, 2012

handmade giving + shop update

Season's greetings everyone! I hope you've all had a lovely Christmas. We have family visiting us in Melbourne, so it's been lots of fun and eating! Did you exchange any handmade gifts this year? I sure did ~ beautiful Santa sacks made by Curlypops and a very gorgeous marble kit from flowerpress. They were loved. It was also nice to know that people gave some of my wares ... how lovely are these placemats made by Jennie's mum using Yardage Design and Pippiejoe handprinted fabric ...


Until this Friday (28 December 2012) at 12pm, there is FREE SHIPPING in the Yardage Design online shop ~ just add the word BOXING at the checkout to redeem the offer.

After Friday, the shop will be closed for about a month while we take a break. I'll still be hanging around over at instagram (@yardagedesign), but everything else will be in holiday mode!

Thanks to all of you for your support this past year. 2012 has been a big one, but a good one. Here's hoping 2013 is even better.

Cheers,


Thursday, December 13, 2012

one last gift?

Incase you need one, the ever talented Shannon from Aunty Cookie has kindly put together a Yardage Design wish list on her blog today ~ pop over for a squizz and a giggle...
Everything you see is available in the Yardage Design online shop.

Cheers,


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

handmade christmas ornaments ...

A while ago, I blogged about my idea for creating an ornament using fabric origami for the Handmade Ornament Swap. Well ... it seemed like a good idea at the time, but I fell out of love with it by the second iteration, then it sort of fell off the radar amongst everything else going on. Fast forward to earlier this week when I was cleaning out drawers and found a fillable bauble I had bought ages ago and my button tin ... this was the result ...


I love this bauble, and if I had enough tiny buttons, I would make myself one immediately! I might have to hit the oppy for more little buttons this week. I really hope my swap partner likes it too (even though it is a bit late)! Perfect for crafty types, and festive too.


This was the festive little parcel waiting for me at the post office a couple of weeks ago from the person chosen to make me an ornament (no-one knew who was making their ornament). I knew from the wrapping that I would love it!


Catherine from A Time to Create blog embroidered this gorgeous snowflake motif in red and white. On natural linen! This is just so perfectly my style ~ thankyou so much Catherine.

Also, a big thanks to Christina for hosting this swap.


Monday, December 3, 2012

weekending :: i am a flower addict

Summer is finally here, so we spent as much time as we could in the garden this weekend ... incase you haven't noticed, I am addicted to flowers ~ especially photographing them!





Wishing you all a great week!


Sunday, December 2, 2012

giveaway :: today!

A giveaway in these parts is long overdue, wouldn't you say? Well, today's the day! Want to win this little combo ~ my new 'Stash Market Bag and my even newer (only released this week) Freckle Tea Towel ...


All you need to do to enter is pop over to the Christina Lowry Designs blog today. You'll need to enter quick-sticks though, as a winner will be drawn tomorrow (Monday) morning! This giveaway is open internationally. Christina is hosting 12 days of Christmas giveaways, supporting local crafters and creative types ~ that's one giveaway a day for the first twelve days of December ~ amazing!

Have a great Sunday!


Thursday, November 29, 2012

my creative space :: captured by another

"Another" being the very lovely, creative and gifted photographer Kirsty from Kootoyoo. You can see all of Kirsty's pics of me and my studio over at JustB today ~ I am just thrilled!

Me! photograph by Kirsty from Kootoyoo

You can visit my studio too ... it's open tomorrow (Friday 30 November) from 11am to 1pm. Details here.

Have a great day!


Tuesday, November 27, 2012

open studio this friday!

My studio will be open this Friday for a couple of hours ~ pop in for a chat and maybe some christmas shopping. The full range of Yardage Design handprinted homewares and fabric will be available for sale, along with some samples (not available online) and sale items.


Visit the Abbotsford Convent website for details of how to get there ... You will find my studio in the Mercator Building which is on the river side of the grounds (check the map when you get there).

Have a great Tuesday (pouring rain in Melbourne this morning, but great for the garden!).


Monday, November 26, 2012

agapanthus

At this time of year, the agapanthus are about to bloom. I think they are the prettiest at this time ~ I love their shapes and delicate colours ...



Many of you will already know that Agapanthus was one of my first fabric designs, and it's always been one of my favourite. This design in white on natural linen/cotton was reprinted about 4 times, and is now sold out.



Just a few metres remain of this design in purple on off-white organic cotton/hemp ~ available in the Yardage Design online shop (free postage for this fabric this week).

Have a great week!




Saturday, November 24, 2012

wrapping ...

I love wrapping gifts with fabric or a tea towel ~ it really is like giving two gifts. I wrapped this one up yesterday with my Fan handprinted fabric and a bit of measuring tape ribbon I had (which I love!).


Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? I'm about half way there, and hoping to finish next week before things start getting frantic! Stay tuned for an open studio announcement over the coming few days.

Have a great weekend!




Thursday, November 22, 2012

new fabric design :: sevilla

Seville is a beautiful city in southern Spain. In Spanish, it is known as Sevilla (Sev-ee-ya). I love this city, and was so inspired by the Moor influences in architecture, especially. This design is my tribute to the city.






This design is currently handprinted in cherry red onto beautiful medium weight organic cotton/hemp. It's in the shop now!

More creative spaces here, every Thursday.


Friday, November 16, 2012

shop update :: sale items

I've been updating the shop lately, and discounting a few things, so I thought I would set up a separate section ... kind of like the bargain corner. Anyway, you'll find some lovely discounted handprinted homewares and fabrics, and postage on these sale items is free.

Nice for Christmas pressies! Sale items listed here while they last.

Happy Friday everyone!


Thursday, November 15, 2012

experimenting :: fabric origami

I've been thinking about what to make for the handmade ornament swap, and wondering if I can apply some of the clever paper origami designs to fabric. This morning I tried this wreath design with some of my Fan fabric ...


I really love this design, but I need to make it bigger and use the Fan linen/cotton as it is not quite as heavy as the hemp/organic cotton that I used for this one. I'd also like to be able to overstitch it on the machine. Take two of this idea will be happening in my creative space this afternoon.

More spaces and creativity here every Thursday. Have a great day!


Monday, November 12, 2012

yesterday :: awesome open studio!

Yesterday was my first open studio, which also coincided with the Abbotsford Convent Open Day. We were lucky with glorious weather and brilliant media coverage in the Age over the weekend, so the grounds of the convent were packed with happy people. As one visitor to my studio so eloquently put it, people were simply "drifting" through the buildings and grounds of the Convent oasis. There was a decidedly "chilled" vibe all day, which was great!
























The day officially started at 11am, but there were people buzzing around from much earlier, and there was barely a quite moment for me until late into the afternoon. So many lovely people dropped in to see what I do, including some great friends, lovely bloggers and people who know my work through facebook and instagram. It was so lovely to put faces to names, so a huge thanks to everyone who introduced themselves. In addition, there were those interested to know what goes on in the Convent, those interested in the architecture and those who just wanted to know a bit more about screenprinting. I wish I had been able to take some pics with people in them, but there just wasn't a chance, so I took these this morning (the day after)!


Have you noticed a new design? I only printed it on Friday, then hastily wrapped it around a canvas with a few other pieces. It's called "Sevilla", and it will be in the shop later this week.


I also managed a spot of sewing (it's amazing what a deadline can do for your productivity) and made some Yardage Design pennant flags to hang above my window. The original plan was to hang them outside the window so that people could see them as they approached the building, but I couldn't secure them well enough for the breeze not to snatch them away, so they stayed inside. It's the first thing I've started and finished in the same day for ages!


I also managed to finish (except for the pins holding it together at the bottom ... shhh!) the patchwork I started at craft camp a while ago to hang behind my glass door. Yesterday, for the open studio, I had this hanging on the wall next to my door, but it is now safely behind the glass and looking pretty!




This is my window (on the first floor of the Mercator building) ...


Thanks again to everyone who dropped in ~ it was an amazing day. I will be having another open studio in the lead up to Christmas, for those that missed out on a bit of early gift shopping and a squizz at my creative space. I will keep you posted with a date and time.

Have a wonderful week!


Wednesday, November 7, 2012

red

Red is one of my favourite colours. I took this photo the other day using a macro lens, and while it's not a great product shot (that's my "Fan" fabric in the background), I just really like it. The pot is one of those single serve, cast iron, dutch ovens ~ it was an impulse buy ages ago and I've never used it for anything to do with food, but again, I just really like it!


I'm busy printing and preparing for my open studio on Sunday ~ it's the perfect kind of busy! I hope you're having a good week so far ...


Sunday, November 4, 2012

OPEN STUDIO :: next sunday 11 nov

Just a quick reminder that the Yardage Design studio will be open for the first time next Sunday 11 November from 11am to 4pm.The whole range of Yardage Design handprinted fabrics and homewares will be on display and available to purchase (cash and credit cards accepted), and I'll be there all day for a chat. I hope you can make it along. It might be a great opportunity to pick up some Christmas pressies!


The whole of the Abbotsford Covent will also be open on the day, with activities and great food for the whole family. It's going to be fun!

Have a great week!


Friday, October 26, 2012

new market bag :: fabric 'stash

Presenting the Yardage Design version of the 'stash ...


My 'stashes are pretty and patterned and NEON pink! Yep, ticking all the boxes people! Do you think my 'stashes look like kissing birds? Some people do, and I think they might be right.


I am really loving the pink neon ink at the moment, but it is so difficult to photograph the vividness, so you'll have to take my word for it that this design is lovely and FLUORO!


You will find these bright, handy market bags in the Yardage Design online shop.

Have a fun weekend!