Two in One

Another great thing about these little pyjama bags is they are not only a nice gift, they need no wrapping - a very good thing when you're up sewing at 2am Christmas Eve and need to get to bed!

Tutorial will be coming your way shortly...

Music: Jonathan Boulet

The past couple of months has been a musical drought... usually I can trust our friend Patrick to send me some tunes my way - he's generally very up-to-date with these kinds of things but it seems old age is slowing him down. Sad really.

However, I came across this Sydney artist last week while being featured on Triple J.

I quite enjoy his track 321 which you can listen to here. Enjoy!

Pyjama Bag

This Christmas I made my family pyjama bags... this one was my prototype and I ended up simplifying the pattern so I could make them in the Christmas rush! I filled them with little goodies (primarily lovely Aesop balms).

I might pop up a tutorial in the coming week month (!) so you can make your own!

PS. The lovely yellow fabric is from Denyse Schmidt's Country Fair range... mustard was a big colour for me this year! I bought my fabric at My Place in Bowral when visiting my mum. You can order fabrics from their site too...

Happy Holidays!

I had a spare few seconds at work this morning so I made a Peggy Doll Christmas Tree for NPs mum. I designed Peggy earlier this year for Sheridan's Junior range... I have to say it's one of my favourites... I've tucked a sample of it away in the garage along with all my other archived designs mush to NPs dismay... I come from a long line of hoarders!

A trip down memory lane...

 This afternoon we went for a ride down to our local river for the inaugural bike ride... I turned 30 in September and my beloved NP gave me a bike that I got to pimp up with a Brooks leather saddle, matching grips and wicker basket taboot!

Coasting down a hill on a sunny day is wrapped up in my fondest childhood memories. My Pom-Pom (grandpa) taught me how to ride on the farm when I was a little one - the patient hours he spent on the dirt driveway keeping me upright!

We're very lucky to have Cooks River quite close to where we live in Sydney - today it was looking its best with the water lapping the river banks... apparently in the "old'n days" people came from far and wide to swim in Cooks River, but today it's quite a mess... I even spotted an old cash register once, stuck in the mud when it was low tide!

Moomah

Simple Song wrote about Moomah recently and reminded me that I'd love to share this beautiful idea with all of you!

This would be a project I'd love to be involved in one day... my mum spent a huge amount of time with me creatively playing and making - I had the advantage of having my mum all to myself until I was 3 and my first sister came along. I think that special time was one of the most formative experiences in my life. I can't imagine not having craft, art and imagination in my world every single day.

Flower Garland...

Yumi and I visited the Sydney Flower Markets on Saturday morning - we were there with the early birds and picked up amazing flowers for our friend Kirsten's birthday party... the theme being Spiegeltent... Kirsten was a perfect pixie in the flower garland I crafted... Happy birthday Kirst!

Yosigo

Yosigo shot the front cover of Spoonful and I think you should take a look at these...

Hello Spoonful!

My dear friend Jerome has just told me about a new publication that sounds particularly exciting.... it's name is Spoonful and I might share with you some pictures and text...

"The first ever issue of Spoonful is finally out!! Packed with an overwhelming selection of ways to inspire, feel contentment and recover from failures, Spoonful 01 is guaranteed to make a highly satisfying & soulful little stocking stuffer, perfect for Christmas, Birthdays, Chanukah (you can spin a dradle on it!) & that general everyday business of just being alive.

Importantly - Spoonful is just that, a taste, short and sweet, so that it can be read on a train ride - and not create any more pressure or require large chunks of time to consume it. We're all so busy nowadays with life, the universe and everything that perhaps what we need is a bite-sized piece of inspiration, easily consumed and yet still satisfying :)


Spoonful is a tiny bit smaller than A5 (so that you can carry it around with you), printed on 100% recycled & unbleached stock, (so it's totally friendly :) and well, it will come out every so often, so hopefully it will always be there, just in time to remind us that everything will be okay."
It is currently available for purchase online here and here! And you can find out a little more about the makers of Spoonful here!

I'm looking forward to recieving my copy in the mail!

The Andy Warhol TIme Capsule

This is fun!

Fendi Baguette

Unlike this blogger, I love the idea of customising your own Fendi Baguette... or any baguette for that matter!

Susan Hefuna

I quite like Susan Hefuna's drawings and photography...

Sonic Fabric

A friend was telling me her 3 year old son found a cassette tape recently and wanted to know what it was... I wonder if cassettes will ever be as collectable as records are today?

Alyce Santoro makes cassette tape fabric that you can listen to... fancy that!

Knitting takes one step closer to cool...

at Wool adn the Gang. They have some simple yet effetive knitting tutorials here, And how cute is the narrator!

COFA Annual 2009

NP and I popped along to the preview of the COFA graduate exhibition tonight. Ive been teaching a class of Fourth Year Design students and it was great to see all their hard work on show.

I have to say that the sculpture department was a highlight this year, in particular Rosie Deacon's work. An amazing little world of creative hoarding!

The Annual is on until Sunday 29th November at the COFA Campus - Cnr Oxford Street and Greens Road, Paddington.

Thank You Whip Up!

Wow! The flowers were mentioned on Whip Up this week and I didn't even relaise it! I'm usually checking out their crafty tips every second day, but somehow missed our little blooms.

I have to re-mention that these flowers came out of a book that Yumi borrowed from the Mosman Library. I'm not entirely sure which book but if anyone knows I'd love for them to contact me so I can give the author proper credit.

Travelling Flowers...

Gosh, it looks like the tissue paper flowers are travelling the globe!

Thanks so much to Linda for posting up her flower studio in Brighton.

You belong to me!

This little friend from the beautiful Tinctory Shop has just been popped into my shopping trolley. Thank you so much Pia for letting us know about Eva's wonderful smocking and dying work. I hope she doesn't mind if I share some more of her pieces? She has such a beautiful and unique aesthetic.

Learn to Make Paper Flowers!

Yumi and I started making these paper flowers about a year ago. We taught ourselves from a book (Yumi, do you remember the name??).
My friend Phoebe reminded me that I was going to put up a little guide to share the flower love.
This is my very first movie so I'm a bit proud!
Enjoy...

Oh! Cat-Rabbit!

I've sent my Mum on a wild goose chase... last week when visiting her in the Southern Highlands we stopped by the Pop Up Co Op in Bowral. I'd been reading such good things about this little store in numerous blogs and was reminded by a few friends with very good taste to go take a look.

While perusing the goods we spotted a little fellow made by Cat Rabbit . I left behind the little fox-boy and have had deep regret ever since. After tossing and turning all night I rang my Mum in a panic, requesting that she go straight to the store to acquire said fox-boy for me! Alas, he may have been purchased, or put in a box ready for the Pop Up's move to another space, but I still have hope. Fox-boy and I are meant to be.

Please enjoy the following images, found along with lots of others at Cat Rabbit's Flickr page...

P.S. I was intrigued to hear that Cat Rabbit collaborates with Ghost Patrol, and you know how much Yumi and I love Ghost Patrol!

Just resting my eyes...

My mum used to tell me she was "just resting her eyes" when I was little and she was trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. I remember trying to prise her lids open with my little fingers... I often wonder how in the world she coped with this kind of action.

So let's just say that this has been the case for the past couple of months for this little blog and pretend that I never really left you behind. I hope just a little bit that you may have missed me?

As a peace offering I have just placed 5 of my home-made Learn-To-Felt kits on the Feeling Fuzzy? Etsy Shop at the special price of AUS$5 + Postage (US$4.70 at the moment). They could make lovely gifts for crafty friends and family perhaps? They usually retail for $15 so I hope this makes my disappearing act up to all of you!