Flamin' Galah

I finally got round to printing the galah stencil I made from the museum drawings from last week. I wanted to add some pink to it and so printed a circle of print first and then the black galah over the top. I've mounted it onto a canvas frame that is 40cm by 40cm and it is printed onto a thick white canvas.

I've got 3 more birds including a huge lyrebird to cut out for some more prints which I will be stretching onto canvas frames. I want to do some that are multicoloured prints specifically for stretching to hang as artworks. I will be taking the new stretched fabrics to Rose Street this Saturday, the weather is going to be pretty horrid with wind and rain so I am hoping that the reports are all wrong and it is sunny and warm with no wind. Cross your fingers!

Pink Liar

Two fabric/pattern designs from this weeks museum bird drawings with Bridbird. We had a Galah and a Lyrebird and a crested pigeon that looked a little bit punk and had some beautiful colours in the wing. My drawings this week are going to be turned into screenprints straight from the drawing. Normally I trace or draw the stencils from the museum drawings but this time I drew them so I can cut directly from the paper. I will print them up next week and have cut one out already. The lyrebird is a bit big for making bags or cushions so I think I will just stretch it over a frame instead.

Instore Appearance

Tomorrow is my little stint at Kids In Berlin for Design Demystified: Inspiration Uncovered. I will be in the store from 3-6pm making some little felt ladies, so pop on in if you're in the area and interested in seeing the badges being made.

Then on Saturday you can come in and meet Angela from Sew Your Own from 2-5pm. Kids in Berlin is on Victoria Street and you can get the 57 tram from Elizabeth street there. It is about 2 or 3 stops after the Queen Vic Market.

Pretty/Smelly

A month or so back Greta from Food For Your Skin started selling her body products at Rose Street and since then I've been pretty smitten with her stuff. My favourite soap so far is the orange bar, but the one I have at the moment has a loofah inside it which is pretty clever.

I also have the face scrub which is pretty amazing. I think it is the combo of lemon myrtle and almond meal that makes it smell so good and I have considered eating some a few times because of this. Greta is at Rose Street on Saturdays and the St. Kilda Esplanade Market on Sunday and a new Etsy shop is in the works. The soap is really affordable and lasts for ages and makes your skin feel a million times better than anything I've ever used.

Another Rose Street favourite is Dan McGill, and I got one of his lovely swallow pendants last week. He also has fighter plane earrings which look lovely (Hollie from Hokey had some on on Saturday and they looked super cute) and some Sea Urchin inspired jewellery that is stunning. Like Greta, Dan is at Rose Street on Saturday and the St. Kilda Esplanade Market on Sunday so pop by and say hello if you're at either.

I've been trying to make little bags as a sample for a few months now but was never happy with the results. They didn't look as finished due to the small size as it was tricky to sew it nice and neat. I had a brainwave the other day on how to sew them up and now I'm happy with the results and will be making a few more today to send out.

Pillow Talk

This is a cushion I made using the same brown fabric from the clutch from yesterday. It is like that dual weave I got a few months ago which is no longer available (I shed a tear for it). Gareth suggested I make a cushion like the clutch but I had run out of the trim I used. I did however make a recent purchase over at Hyena in Petticoats new shop so I used that instead. I will be taking it to the markets I have this weekend, and there is a lot of them.

On Friday night I'm going to be at Rose Street for the My Sister's Wardrobe event as part of the State of Design Festival running in Melbourne. It starts at 6.30pm at runs until 9pm. I'm going to have to rug up even more because it is cold during the day at Rose Street so I'm guessing night time will be a killer.

Saturday is Rose Street as per normal and there is a chance I might get to meet a few girls from the Frankie Forum. Then on Sunday I am going down to Warragul for A Day Out at Lardner Park from 9am - 2pm. I'm hoping I get home in time to get the train into the city and visit people at the Melbourne Design Market, it goes until 5pm so I might be cutting it a bit fine but we will see how I get on, I'll probably just crash on the couch and tell Gareth to cook dinner resulting in a takeaway curry.

Clutch

I made a couple of clutches today from some fabric I got last week. I found some pretty trim lying next to my machine and realised it would be perfect for the middle of the clutch and the lining is the gold fabric I got a while back. I'm thinking of making some with this fabric as an evening style bag.

Thanks to Curious Kate for mentioning our Design Demystified in her newsletter. If you are looking for things to do and see in Melbourne it is a great read and the design and layout is also pretty swell.

Demystified Setup

Our window display at Kids In Berlin is up and looking super swish. Liz from Betty Jo, Angela from Sew Your Own and Madeleine from Madz Has Runaway did a great job hanging it all and although we had a few little hiccups with screws and pressed metal it all came together in the end and looks really fantastic.

Come along to the meet the designer days and see us all working on little projects or pop by to see the inspiration boards we created. You can see more photos over on Flickr.

Friday I'm in ...

It's Friday night and I'm sitting home alone for the first time in ages. I spent today getting reading for the double dose of markets this weekend, finishing off some bags and a scarf and making a tablecloth for my stall. I got a tresle table last weekend and after I put it up I realised it needed something to give it more height. I didn't know what I could use then realised Gareth's speaker boxes were the perfect size create a staircase thing. I covered them in white canvas and nobody will be any wiser on what they really are and it saves me from either buying something or making something.

The above image is for a little promo postcard I made. I've been a little slack in taking new photos due to the dark weather outside and the lack of good light inside so I've not been posting much due to not having any new pictures.

Pink and Red

Little Burnice above has some red stitching on pink hair. Not a colour combination I had ever used with the badge ladies before, but now wonder why that might be the case because it looks good. I've been stitching away little ladies with some lovely big hairstyles and finally got round to seeing the original Hairspray. I saw the remake a month or so back and the original came in the mail and would watch it again just for the big hairstyles. Gareth managed to watch it all without complaint and I had no idea Ricki Lake was in it. Gareth read that she had to eat lots of food during the filming because she started "rapidly losing weight" from all the dancing.

Bag It

I've been sewing up some bags from the screenprints I did a few weeks ago and these are two of my favourites. The top one has a combination of three blue fabrics, the pale blue at the bottom, a rich blue along the top bar and then a dark blue for the straps. The print is the grosbeak I made up a while ago, although this one is a re cut of the original design.

The one below is the curlew from the museum drawings and I'm quite fond of it because it isn't a cute or sweet bird print like some of the others I've done, plus the red, black and denim is always one of my favourite combinations.

This weekend I'm doing Rose Street on Saturday and then the Mornington Racecourse Market on Sunday. So Saturday night is going to be a very quite early night as I will have to be up at about 6 to get there on time. I think that might be a rather large shock to my system.

Design Demystified: Inspiration Uncovered

Next week is the start of the Melbourne International Design Festival and I'm involved in one of the Pop Up Events running over the two weeks. Projecta 57 is based on Victoria Street, North Melbourne where the 57 tram line runs. Our project is at Kids in Berlin and will feature a window display inspired by our studios and work spaces and a photography exhibition by Matt Solomon.

The three other artists involved are Betty Jo, Sew Your Own and Madz has Runaway. We will each have a meet the designer day where you can come into the shop and see us working on our products. If you have not been to Kids In Berlin before this is a good chance, it is a great shop that supports lots of local designers and is full of amazing products.

Lost My Way

For all those people in Sydney, I have a new stockist in Waverley called Lost My Way. According to my time spent on GoogleMaps looking at Sydney, is quite close to Bondi. They have a variety of screenprinted pouches, bags and badges including the red pouch below.

I took a few days break and went with Bridget from Bridbird down to Gippsland to stay with my family for a couple of days. We went to Lakes Entrance and also did the mandatory visitor trip to the Morton Bay Fig on our farm. It is over 100 years old and looks like it was raised on steroids. I took some pictures of the tree and the dark sky overlooking Lakes.