Little Red and the Wildebeest

This is what I see out my front window

Here is the Wildebeest bag. This is the last of the 5 red totes I made. One is in California, one in Melbourne, one in Albury and poor old Lady Boss isn't as popular as she thought she would be and is sitting in my "inventory shelf".

I called this photo Little Red. Check out the band Little Red because they play wonderful music. I want them to play at my wedding.

Wildebeest

Screen prints and Wildebeests are two things that combine well on a cold Sunday afternoon.

When I went to Kruger National Park I saw many Wildebeest. They were the outcasts because people said they were ugly. They were not part of the exclusive "Big Five" consisting of The Lion, Rhino, Elephant, Leopard and Buffalo.

Some interesting facts about Wildebeest:

-The ladies have buns in the oven for 8.5 months.

-They are called Gnu by the Khoikhoi possibly because it sounds like the grunting noise they make.

- They look like a combination of other animals.

Handsome Man

The men on the patterns are always the best looking.

Blue

I made this bag today and when I was making it I stitched the wrong side. I decided to not unpick the mistake and so the bag was wider rather than longer. It was going to be a tote. I then realised that it could be a messenger bag, althought that would take more work. Once I finished the main part, I realised it could still be a tote and added the straps I made right at the start. I am digging this bag a lot. Applique and screenprinting combined, who could ask for more?

Oh and Freaks and Geeks is SUCH a good show. Why do kids have to like the O.C and shows like Freaks and Geeks get the boot?

Summer loving

In the middle of winter you need something like this to cheer you up:

I have now decided what I am going to do with my Etsy earnings (if I sell anything else that is). I am going to have a wish list of items (Overlocker, proper badge maker, mix master) and when I earn enough big bucks I can purchase my item. At least with the money sitting a pay pal account I am not going to go out and spend it. Oh wait, I will when I purchase things from the internet.

I got this brilliant necklace from my sister after her trip to China. It is brilliant, except it can pinch my hair when it is down. I have wanted one like this, but this one is good and it is really heavy, which I like.

I just started watching Project Runway. It's only the first season but I am already digging it. Oh and Freaks and Geeks.

New Bag

I just made this bag tonight and I am pretty happy with it:

I made a similar bag last year with the thin muslin and don't like it as much, although I only did one side. This one works much better because of the buttons and the flowers are on both sides.

I also purchased some index cards and I think I am in love with them. They also are easy peasy to print onto so now I have something even better to put my bagdes onto.

I am also getting some sticker paper from here. Check out her stuff, it is great, particularly this bag.

DUST!

I am very excited about the beginning of the Australian Esty Street Team, aka DUST (Down Under Street Team). It's all happening.


I made a bag tonight, which I have been thinking about all day. I wasn’t sure how to make this type of bag, which has the round handles. I made up a pattern and it worked out well, although some of the stitching looks a little scrappy on the outside, but I was going to sew ribbon over it anyway, I just need the right colour. The fabric is so nice, I got it from Lincraft ages ago and have not used it yet as I was too nervous too.

My mum is going to Japan soon and I asked her to try and get me some fabric while she is there. That could be fun.

I did some birdie screen prints to go with my bag; I wanted a little pin that could be stuck onto the bag. Here are the birdie prints with a close up, and the bag I made.

and ode to fast internet

Our modem is broke and I am back to dial up. I was crossing my fingers the new modem would get here by the weekend, but it didn't.

In exciting news I sold one of my bags on Etsy which was a surprise and made me very excited. Since going back to work I have not had as much time to make much and due to the slow internet I have not really wanted to upload as it takes ages.


I created a screen print which was different from what I normally do as it was abstract and strange with lots of different shapes coming from random images from my sketchbooks. The thing that really excited me about it was what happened to the paper stencil afterwards. Due to the ink and the fine lines in the paper it didn't dry flat, but the ink gave it a lot more strength. I stuck it up on a window to see what it would look like and it didn't really look that amazing. However when I woke up this morning the light shining on it made it look like I had originally hoped.

Here is the whole thing:




and here is a closer detail of some birds, which is my favourite part:



I printed it on one of my red totes and it looked really nice with the black print on the red and I should be putting it up on Etsy pretty soon.

I also received one of my Etsy purchased in the mail which was really exciting as I didn't think it would come so soon.

I got a small scarf, lip balm and a little pouch from Girls Can Tell and it was so brilliant. She included some cute earrings and a lovely note as well, which was so special. Of all the things I have bought online this was the best as it was so personal.



I have used some of the prints I did on the felt that I mentioned in the previous post.

and a patch on a denim wristlet:



Puffy felt brooches:




I am enjoying using the felt with the prints on it, but wished I had allowed more room between each one when I printed them.





Oh and check out this chicks stuff, it is so amazing and beautiful:

Emilie Clares Etsy Shop

Last day of the holidays.

Today is the last day of the holidays so I tried to get lots of things done in case I get busy next week at school.

I finished a bag today, which I started last night. It is from the Ladyboss print and looks like this:


I listed it on Etsy today.



I also did some small screen prints on felt to turn into little badges.
I was inspired by this Etsy seller:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=52328
who printed an owl onto felt, which is wonderful by the way.

I came up with 6 random designed that could be turned into circle brooches. I could then do some stitching over them or what not. I am not sure yet, but they are simple and bold which I like. I don't want to start messing with that and end up ruining it.

I was only going to print onto one piece of felt, but then I thought I might as well do some more in the one go. I always forget to do this.

After two prints the ink started to bleed so I pressed some newspaper down onto some more newspaper and got these lovely little outlines. The next time I tried to do it onto the felt, but it didn't work at all. These types of accidents is what I love about printmaking and is usually where I get all my good ideas.

These are the finished products. My camera doesn't work well with unnatural light, however the flash is too strong, so they are not the best pictures.



This is an image of my workspace. I don't have one of those wooden frames with the hinges for the screen to fit into. I searched everywhere for those hinges with no success a few years back. I think I need to give my old high school art teacher a call and ask her where she got the ones I used to use.


The other thing I did today which I am really happy with is some cards to put my other felt badges onto. I used Adobe Illustrator, which is a great program, however I have not used it in a while so was feeling rusty. I am happy with how they turned out though:

Messy vs. Clean

Today I did something I should have done a long time ago. I cleaned up my studio. It was very messy and unorganised. My boyfriend told me that he gave me a week before it would be messy again and I told him it would only be superficial mess as I had created a neat foundation by finding a place for everything. I even sorted out my buttons into colours and all my zips have a little drawer. I moved some stuff around so there is more room and I'm pleased with the results. I have made two things in the last few days. Last night I made this:

I was thinking of putting it on Etsy, but I am not so sure anymore. I might wait and see. Treby was a thing I made up when I was a teenager and I used to draw him a fair bit. He was Treby The Terrapin. I am a big fan of primary colours or bold colours together.

I also did this screen print:
A waiter at an Afghan Restaurant inspired me to use the word ladyboss. He continually referred to my mother as the Ladyboss. I was worried that the face would not work out because the detail was very very fine. Millimetres thick, but it was fine. The first one I did, bled a tiny bit, but it wasn't too bad. Overall I was happy with the result.

Etsy Etsy Etsy

I've just started my own Etsy Shop and my holidays are almost over. I had a massive 3-week break, which has been really relaxing after a long 12-week term. I am really excited about Etsy and have seen some amazing things there. I have not bought anything yet but I think I have seen hundreds of things I want. I think I might try and buy something from someone who has not sold anything yet but there are some people who have sold a lot and I definitely want some of their stuff.

I am worried that when I get back to school I will be busy and tired and not do much stuff. Ideally I would like to do something each night rather than sit and watch television. I have a great room as a studio, although it is massively messy but thanks to Etsy I have got back in it again (and messed it right up).

At the moment I am enjoying screen-printing. A few years ago I made 4 aprons for my Mum, Grandma's and boyfriends mum for Christmas. They took ages as some of them had 4 colours and I hand cut the stencils myself and sewed the aprons. I have only ever screen printed something for a present for someone, never for myself. Hopefully this will change.


This is one of my recent screen prints I did for a bag on Etsy:


I was really happy with the print because I do them by hand they can be a bit hit and miss. I was a little confused when I drew the bird, as I didn't know what areas I was going to start cutting out. I then just cut part of it out and went on from there and it ended up working well. It was also good to discover that some of my really fine lines and holes printed neatly and didn't cause me any grief. I also like the colours. I think I might get some more cotton drill in a bright green as I have always had a fondness for those colours together.