blogging - the holly grail

No - not a typo - Holly Becker is the blogging queen! She is the author of decor8 blog, and recently co-hosted the Blogging Your Way e-course which I took ... it was AMAZING! She's running another one in September, but in the mean time, she's just posted an interview she did with Darren from Problogger. The interview runs for about an hour, but covers some of the best advice and information you'll ever hear from a professional, successful and lovely blogger - how she started, what she's learnt and what's on the horizon. It really is worth a listen - I just sewed up a stack of tea towels while listening.

Click here to go to Holly's blog and listen to the interview.

Image from decor8

pin cushion progress ...

It's been a bit topsy turvy here lately, but this afternoon I got a few minutes to work on my idea for the great pin cushion swap hosted by Kate. A while ago, a got a couple of rolls of jute webbing, and I've had an idea about maybe weaving it to make something ...

I'm not exactly sure how it is going to end up, but I like the direction so far. In related news, some beautiful pins arrived from june at noon the other day (how gorgeous is the packaging?) which will go very nicely with my pin cushion ...

... they are all lovely, but this one is my favourite ...

my creative space ... improvising

I found a bunch of these at my local op shop yesterday ...

... old pianola rolls. I don't own a pianola, and I don't plan to in the near future, BUT, don't you love it when your brain immediately thinks of using things in another way? I do, because mine usually takes ages to work! Can you guess my idea ...

Does that look like a spool/spindle to anyone else? It did to me, so I set about unrolling the pianola paper (great for the boy to draw on, great for me to use for making patterns) and using the spindle to keep bias binding and twill tape uncreased ...

... I still have a few more spindles to liberate and lots more ribbons and things to save from being creased, but it is very theraputic work! Check out what other people are up to in their creative spaces, or to share yours, by visiting Kootoyoo.

pears tea towel ... printed at last!

... at last ... my falling pears tea towel is printed! I was playing around with different settings for the photos this afternoon and thought it would look lovely hanging from one of our ornamental pear trees in the backyard. I just love the green - such a nice, fresh colour. I had actually half printed quite a few of these a couple of weeks ago, but they got a bit wet ...

Anyway, I really enjoyed printing my first two colour design ... especially once I'd worked out a little template for my table to ensure the registration of the two colour components was the same each time ...

And mixing ink colours is always great ... doesn't this look yummy enough to eat? OK, maybe not!

Anyway, the new pears tea towel is in the shop and on etsy now!
See you tomorrow for my creative space with Kootoyoo!

market finds ...

Little Mister came with me to the markets this morning, which was good (because you get to move around pretty slowly and see things you otherwise might not) and not so good (aparently we had to stop at EVERY stall selling toys!). Still, we both came home happy - lots of dinosaur books for him, and these treasures for me ...

Some lovely red and blue trim ... love it!

A box of pool balls ... I want lots more of these - I have a picture in my mind of a large glass vessel full of these coloured balls, and I have just the spot for it on the bookcase. For now, an old vase will do!

Last, but not least, a vintage doiley - green for a change ...

I hope you've found some treasures this week too. To share yours, or to check out what others have found pop over to Her Library Adventures. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

my kitchen goes global!

That's right ... my kitchen reno has just been featured on the design blog APARTMENT THERAPY (thanks Jenny!). You can pop over for a squizz at the interview and pics by clicking here!