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Mono Prints

I did some mono-prints this weekend. I did these ones on fabric and I made up some super strong dyson dyes to colour them in. This red was called Mexican Red and is a little darker than the other reds I have been using. I think I might get some more dyes because they have a great range of colours. I played it safe and got the primary colours.

This is one of the artworks I did, I plan on doing some machine stitching on it, although I don't know what colours to use. White will not stand out enough, black with compete with the black ink and for some reason blue, green and purple just wont work. I was thinking of orange and yellows and just using simple lines that follow what is already there, that was all I could think of as I drove onto the Eastern Freeway today, worried I would end up in the wrong lane. The fabric I used has thermo stuff on the back and I interfaced so it was stronger than normal. It is interesting using fabric but treating it like paper.

This is some of the detail. Like the paper it gets that super fine dotty texture around the line which I really like. You can feel the tiny bumps and it looks like a strange photocopy. Once I have made a print, the plastic I have rolled the ink onto looks really beautiful as the reverse of the image is still there. I might try taking some photos of them against the window.

I took some new stock into Meet Me At Mikes and Kids In Berlin. There is some great stuff in both of those shops and it was nice to touch and feel Stacey's knitted beanies. Her colour combo's are spot on, have a look at her most recent post, the pink and white scarf looks stunning.

Me Jane

Tinky from Oz Arts And Crafts has featured me in her blog. Have a look at past posts as she has features some other great Australian artists.


This is a little lady I called Jane. I like the badges with these hairdo's which I like to call The Stackhat, although it isn't pink which is a shame. Jane is on my denim jacket which I scored when someone took mine home by accident at a restaurant in Glasgow. My jacket was some no name brand and this one is Levi.

Tag

Inspired by our Melbourne Meet I thought I would showcase the work of a few people from Melbourne selling on Etsy. deboradestefanis.etsy.com has only just opened her Etsy shop and it includes a selection of hand cut timeless sterling silver pieces, as well as a unisex embossed leather range of cufflinks and necklaces.

Debora has a Bachelor of Arts-Craft(Hons) and Master of Fine Arts in the metals and jewellery department at Monash University,Melbourne and she has involved in group and solo exhibitions, and also received a grant from the Australia Council to study at a contemporary jewellery school in Florence, Italy. I think her stuff is stunning and was very proud when I saw she was from Melbourne.

I have recently been flagged by Stacey, Steph and Ali J
I thought I would do something different and do a phototag and get some old photographs to write about as it helps me actually think of something, and I would love to see more photos of people when they were little. I was also inspired by Mikes post, Flashback Fridays

Keep scrolling, I don't know why the gap is here.....

	This is me on my first day of school. I started with two other students and I think the school had a total of about 22 students.
	This is on my 17th Birthday. We were at Pizza Hut, not for my birthday, but for dinner on the way to Geelong for a rowing regatta. Glam times.
	This is at the Australian National Rowing Championships. I had a necklace I always wore, which was a ribbon with a bell on it. I thought I lost it right before our final, but found it in my hair when when got on the water.
	In 1998 I went to Belgium as an AFS exchange student. This is inside the Atomium, Belgium's answer to the Eiffel Tower. It wasn't a very popular tourist attraction, but I thought it was lots of fun traveling between the circles on massive escalators, which is where this photo was taken.
	This is me at Falls '99. We almost didn't go due to the change of venue because of rain. Mum wasn't impressed with the short notice they gave and didn't think we should go, however Dad drove us to the train station anyway.
	This photo is from the 3rd year exhibition opening. I think I got stood up that night, although the person I asked to go with me was very drunk at the time.
	This is at my boyfriends sisters wedding, which also happened to be my 23rd Birthday. It was a surprise wedding and was in Scotland.

Pale Blue

I'm back at home after a weekend in the city. The Melbourne Meet when really well and it was fantastic to meet all these sellers I have only spoken to online. We all did a show and tell and it was great to see people's products as well as hear everyone talking about how they are made. Hopefully it becomes a regular event because I got a lot of valuable information from it, as I am sure everyone else did.

I have been taking advantage of the sun today and took lots of product photos. Although some of my pictures turned out too bright, which was a major shock to the system. Hopefully I can list some of the bags this week because my stockpile is getting bigger.

This is one I made a while ago and maybe even blogged about, but it is now available in the Etsy shop:

Little Salon

My badges and some pouches and wallets are now stocked at Little Salon. They have two locations, on 71 Gertrude St in Fitzroy and 1, 353 Little Collins St in the Melbourne CBD. There is lots of lovely things in the shops, so if you are close by, pop in and have a look.

This is another print I created in the holidays. The images come from drawings from my sketchbook. One was a landscape I drew on the highway in East Gippsland, just before you get to the road to Lindenow and I merged it with a drawing I did of Demoiselles d'Avignon. I didn't think they were very obvious, but when I printed it they stood out somewhat.

Lady Likes

I finally got some monoprinting equipment today and had a play around with it. I only got black ink and I almost forgot the crazy texture you get from a monoprint. This is a super close up to show you the strange speckles that I got from this print:

I decided to list this one on Etsy to see how it goes. I love listing artworks on Etsy because I don't have to take photographs. Photographing my work isn't something I dislike, but in the middle of winter, when it is dark outside, it becomes much harder and the time frame for taking a decent picture becomes much smaller. I'm hoping to do some monoprints on fabric, so if anyone has some experience with this I would love some more information.

Pretty Little Ladies

I have been sewing up lots of new little ladies the last few weeks and here are a few of them. I like the yellow hair one because she has big eyelashes. When I make them, the eyes are the hardest part, because getting them to look the same is quite tricky. When you put the needle in, it might look like it is going to be the correct place, but one it is threaded it looks completely wrong - and you can't got back. I'm getting much better at working out where to go and every so often I create a set of eyes that are perfect.

Primary Nightmare: Version Two

I have done a redesign of a bag I made last year. I checked my blog and turns out I made it as far back as September 2006. I thought I made it much later in the year. I used the basics of the design and reworked it a little. It isn't as busy as the first one and this time I made sure I have the combination of red lining and blue strap. I ended up keeping on of the 5 bags I made last year because I twisted the strap and it has the same combination and I loved the part of the bag where the strap meets the bag with the three colours together. It is available on madeit.com.au and you can click the bag to go straight to the listing.

madeit.com.au up and running

The new Made It website went live yesterday. It is looking fantastic and it already has lovely items on sale. They have a few competitions where you can win some of my products, as well as products from Kara Smith and Allira Tee!

I have listed a lady badge and this pouch made with red drill and white cotton with an umbrella print, perfect for this rainy weather we are having in Melbourne. I got the fabric from Job Warehouse on Bourke Street in the city.

I also listed this tote on Etsy. It has the art nouveau print on linen with two short straps. The lining is some printed cotton Mum got for me. She was worried I would't like it, but I actually had the same design in green. I've been on a tote making frenzy with new screenprints. I'm trying to make them quite arty rather than designy and I have three with a similar feel with bold black prints.

Melbourne Meet

My hard drive has gone missing so I have not taken any photos since this frightful event. I am hoping it will return, if not I will invite you all to the funeral.

On a brighter note, I have been making lots of new tote-bags and even resurrected a new design and hopefully I will have images over the next few days.

I decided to feature the stores of people who will be coming to our Melbourne Etsy Meet on Saturday 21st of July. If you have not heard about it and want to come along email me and I can send you the details. Hopefully all the links on the images work and should take you right to that Etsy listing. There is lots of diverse talent in Melbourne!

Cityscape

This is a new bag I made over the weekend. I decided to try a new print and drew up the design. Often when I have to start to come up with a design I got back to my old sketchbooks from University. I have two favourites; one is a sketchbook the shape of a house that my Aunt and Uncle gave me for Christmas. It is full of all sorts of strange things. The other is a sketchbook I found at the University shop with a yellow cover that is very thick with lovely paper inside. It was $9 and on special and I didn't have much money at the time so decided to leave it. But it stayed on my mind, and I kept telling myself I needed the "magical" sketchbook. I went back and got it the next day. It said utility sketchbook on the front and I crossed it out and changed it to magical.

Anyway this new bag is lovely. The red is that strong dark red and the black print look great on the fabric and they all went onto the fabric well, with no inky mistakes. I also did some in emerald green which should be making an entrance later in the week.

red+white

I was looking through my prints for ones I had not used in a while and found this one, I was surprised it was still intact because it is very complicated and intricate. I decided to print it onto white cotton drill. I don't normally use it because it is so hard to keep clean, but the two I made remained clean and look great with the red print. Thankfully held together on the big peel from the screen so I can reuse it again.

The lining, a white and red cotton, is also perfect. I love when I realise I have the perfect lining for something. There are only two of these bags, the other one I will be taking to Kids In Berlin in the next week or so (unless the Etsy one sells, then I think it will go on Etsy).

365 days

Today is my one year anniversary on Etsy. I didn't do anything to celebrate but it is nice to look back on the year and realise I did something worthwhile rather than watching bad television and thinking about how I should be doing something. This little fellow below is Evil Boy, one of the first items I listed on Etsy. My lovely friend Peter purchased Evilboy and I hope he is treating him well. Evil boy was also one of the first (decent) badges I made. The first few were not very good.

I have been making lots of new felt ladies. I love making new hairstyles for the ladies, even after a year they still have a different look to them.

Melbourne Etsy people, I'm thinking we should have a meet up, inspired by the Sydney meet. I have posted on the DUST yahoo page and in the Etsy forums. It would be great to meet everyone and look at the stuff people make and swap cards and stories.

Australia's Got Talent

I thought I would post a blog about an Australian Etsy seller who makes the most beautiful screenprints. Lisa from Estasketch creates fabulous artworks and this current series is outstanding.

Grant Denyer should be hosting a show about artists/crafters in Australia, they are far more interesting than knife throwers or old ladies singing How Much Is That Doggy In The Window.

Click on each image to take you directly to the Etsy listing for that item.

New Badges

I've been busy the last few days making more badges. These new little ladies are bright and colourful and I discovered a great felt/thread combo of purple and blue, something I had not used before. I will be taking some to Kids In Berlin, listing some on the new Made It website and of course they will be in my Etsy store over the next few days.