my {temporary} creative space

I have created a temporary creative space for myself in the attic of the house we are staying in while we are in Spain. I salvaged and old table from the laundry, bought an antique chair at a market for next to nothing (which I love - but how to get it home to Australia!!), and decorated with some of my own bunting and Crayon Chicks crocheted circles ... if only the walls were not sickly yellow!

See the little case on the table? You might remember that I bought it a few weeks ago at the Shabby Vintage Junk Extravaganza - just a few days before we flew out. As soon as I saw this case I knew it would be a perfect, compact vessel for my crafty things. So, I packed everything I thought I might need into it, wrapped it in a towel and placed it safely in my suitcase for the long journey here. What did I pack? A small amount of fabric (mine, of course!), embroidery threads, an embroidery hoop, needles, pins and a pin cushion, good scissors, linocut tools and some speedball rubber to cut, a roll of linen ribbon to print on, some decorations (the bunting and crocheted circles below), an embroidery book, a sketchbook and a pencil case.

There has been a little bit of crafting  - mostly starting things and then getting distracted. I want to do some embroidery while I'm here - it's something I'd like to be good at. I started ... 

I did manage to print some linen ribbon using the little stamp I made ...

But aside from that, it's mainly been about the camera - as I am sure you have noticed with my past few blog posts. Being here has made me slow down, which is a good thing. 

More creative spaces over here!

quilt number two

I've started my second quilt ...

I'm using Yardage Design Agapanthus in purple, and as this one will be a gift, this is a just a sneaky peek of progress so far. I am currently sewing all of the pieces I cut yesterday together. I'm also still playing with my new DSLR ....

For more creative spaces, join in with the gang over at Kootoyoo!

P.S. Don't forget to enter my showbag giveaway - you won't want to miss this one!

little circa

A bit of playful experimentation in my creative space today. Some girly pink tops (bought), with some girly pink "circa's" printed on to them for my nieces ...

Sometimes it's nice to do things just for fun, and just to see if you can (this is the first bit of clothing that I've screen printed). To print these, I taped off four squares from my circa tea towel screen and used the thing-a-ma-jig I made for printing bags. A pretty, simple gift. More creativity at Kootoyoo's place. Have a lovely Thursday!

Blue Liberty Quilt = complete!

A marathon 5 hours of sewing and hand sewing saw the completion of my first "proper" quilt yesterday afternoon. I'm really happy with the result ...

I even managed to not muck up the binding, by learning how to do mitred corners properly via this tutorial, and then hand sewing the binding on the back.

The quilt top is made from a range of Liberty prints in blue and violet, the back is navy circa on natural linen/cotton by me (I love the combo), and the binding is Liberty. The batting is natural cotton. The finished size is 135cm x 135cm.

I really enjoyed making this quilt. It is something I will keep and enjoy for many years to come. I think I'm a little bit addicted to quilting now, but what a lovely way to spend time. I can thoroughly recommend it!

Incase you need a laugh ... this is me ... trying to be as tricky as Kirsty and Kate, but failing miserably with my point and shoot camera, self timer and dodgy tripod! This is how it's really done.

For more creative spaces, quilts and all things clever, visit Kootoyoo.

quilting ... almost!

Last week, I showed you my fabric selection for a Liberty Print quilt. My first serious, do it properly, big-girl, fancy-dancer quilt. I'm pleased to say that using my new best friends (Mr Cutting Mat, Ms Quilting Ruler, and Dame Rotary Cutter), I managed to cut out lots of strips of fabric ...

Then, I even snatched some time on the weekend to sew them all together ... neatly!

Now, I'm up to the quilting bit. I didn't quite have enough lovely wool batting to cover my quilt top (which is 130cm x 130cm), so I thought I could craftily join some pieces together to get the right dimensions. Sadly, it didn't work (too much puckering), so I'm going to have to make the trek to Spotty for some batting the right size before I actually quilt it. In the mean time, I just like looking at it. So many of my favourite Liberty Prints ...

More creative spaces here - why don't you join in, if you haven't already! Have a great Thursday!

planning ...

... a Liberty quilt in shades of blue and lavender ...

Seems that quilting is going on in lots of places right now, including at the home of creative spaces, Kootoyoo.

Have a great Thursday!

my creative space ... knitting sampler

I cannot knit well. At the moment. BUT, I am learning new things and new stitches and I hope to change that this year. This is the little bit of knitting I've been doing this week, learning how to "knit fancy" ...

I'm loving the purl stitching, but I got a bit carried away and skipped a few lessons, thinking I could go straight to the ribbed knitting - knit 3, purl 2 etc etc, except it ended up a mess as you can see by the top few rows. I don't really understand how to switch from knit to purl stitches very well yet - time to consult my buddies on YouTube, but any wise words from blogland would be much appreciated!

So why the sudden knitting bug? Well, I was totally inspired this week by this gorgeous cardi knitted by Jodie at Jellywares ...

Jodie's Green Cardi - pic from here

My goal is to knit this for myself this year. Hmmmm ... lots more practice to be done, but looking forward to the challenge. More creativity to get you inspired at Kootoyoo.

P.S. New stockists in NSW and QLD to be announced soon.

printing + misprinting

I am very happy to be back in the studio and printing again after a lovely break over January. I find screen printing very relaxing. In fact, I think you have to be relaxed to do it well. The few times I've been distracted, cranky, or anxious and then tried to print ... disaster! You need to flow, so that the ink can flow too - even pressure, even speed.

However, mistakes still happen even when you are as relaxed as can be. Like this one from the other day - I was a bit heavy-handed with the flooding between prints, so the next print had a little ink bleeding in places ...

I don't make too many mistakes these days, but I'm a perfectionist, so if a print doesn't meet the high standards of the Quality Assurance Department (me), it goes in the "misprint" pile. Some of you may have been recipients of a misprint when you've ordered from my shop. This happens occasionally when I have misprints fit for giving away, especially to those who have placed a large order, or to people I know might just like them. I much prefer to give them away than do nothing with them at all.

More creativity over at Kootoyoo!

my creative space ... little dresses

This may be the last of the holiday sewing, but it was probably the most enjoyable. I made two little dresses for my nieces ...

I used two wonderful patterns from Wink Designs - the Criss Cross Reversible Dress and the Petal Power Sun Dress. The Criss Cross Reversible Dress was a pleasure to make - very satisfying and great instructions meant no mistakes on my part - yahoo! Fabric for this dress came from the stash, but was orginally bought from Patchwork on Central Park.

The only thing I changed on the pattern was including a pocket instead of appliqueing some flowers on one side of the dress. (I did a post on my tags the other day, if you're interested in finding out how to get your own tags).

The Sun Dress was also made from fabric from the stash, originally from Patchwork on Central Park. No changes to this dress, except that I put press studs on the back instead of buttons. Super easy to make.

For more creative spaces, visit Kootoyoo! Have a great Thursday!

my creative space ... soap

Hooray for creative spaces ... especially during holidays when anything is possible. I'm making soap ...

My first two batches are currently setting in their moulds (which are actually drawer organisers). I made a lavender, geranium and orange scented bar (the top one), and an orange (essence and zest) and cinnamon bar. They smell divine. I get to take them out of their moulds later today, then they have to cure for 6 weeks before I can chop them up and use them.

I used this information/process to make my soap after seeing it on TV a while ago - it was very easy and very satisfying.

Lots more cleverness can be found at Kootoyoo, the happy home of creative spaces every Thursday!

Don't forget you can still enter my QLD Flood Appeal Giveaway to win a fat quarter of each of my fabrics - 9 in total - go here to enter.

P.S. Yes - palm oil free soap!

my creative space ... away

Yesterday, we got back from five days at the beach ...

Walking on the beach at sunset ...

Gaol remains ...

100 year old prisoner hand stencil (early interior design)

Interesting wire work installation

It was a welcome break, mid-silly season! Warm weather, warm water and sunshine for all but the last day. There was time to photograph, play, explore, read and eat. It was bliss, and just what was needed to ignite some creativity. I started a new sketchbook and have some ideas for next year that I can start work on.

For more creativity around the globe, visit Kootoyoo!

P.S. Free postage for all Australian orders from my shop until 20th December.

my creative space - block printing

A bought an old-ish, wooden printing block some months ago, and found ten minutes this week to try it out on some cotton twill tape. The first ink colour I could lay my hands on was a navy blue. This is the initial test run - it was quick, satisfying and I like the result - quite rustic and very hand made. Can't wait to try again in red ink.. perfect for wrapping chrissy pressies - stay tuned for the results!

For more creative spaces, or to join in, visit Kootoyoo every Thursday!

my creative space ...

... is about collaboration and the cleverness of others. I handed a rather ordinary footstool (bought at the Camberwell Market a while ago for nix) and some of my new cherry red {exclaim} fabric over to Jacqui from Reissued about 2 weeks ago, and received this in return ...

This foot stool was part of my display at the Finders Keepers market on the weekend - mainly to show what you can do with a small amount of fabric, an old foot stool and a clever friend! It was very popular - I had so many requests to buy it, but this one is just for me. I love it. The piping around the edge really makes it look special. Just for the record, this is what it used to look like (in all of its vinyl glory) ...

Many more creative spaces, great ideas and lovely things via Kootoyoo. Have a great Thursday!

my creative space ...

Is a little bit messy ...

  

... and a little bit organised ...

Lots of activity in my space this week - tonnes of printing, which will hopefully make way for some sewing next week, using these ...

All in preparation for the Finders Keepers Market on 9-10 October ... not far away!

Check out what everyone else is up to today at Kootoyoo.