bits and pieces

My version of limited edition usually means about 5 or 6. I will have four only of these bird cushions at Finders Keepers. Printed and hand stitched onto beautiful upholstery weight organic cotton/ hemp. AND comes with a corn fibre insert. Even the casing is made from 100% natural corn. Yummy.

And he has a non-matching friend in mustard tones. I have five of these. I think. 

This is a special little custom-made cushion for a special customer. This started life as a fabric panel but it wasn't a regular size so we decided it might look good as a cushion. It's quite tiny which makes it even sweeter. 

Hope to see you at Finders Keepers in a couple of days. I'm having a raffle. No spinning wheel and not a chook in sight. But all proceeds going to Ian Thorpe's Fountain for Youth which improves the health and education of indigenous children. Not sure about that title Thorpie (sounds like a cosmetic surgery company) but a great cause I reckon. Haven't completely settled on what I'll throw into the raffle basket but it will be chokka with a range of products. 

Drop by Friday night or Saturday. Would love to say hi.

you win some you lose some

talking to my only neighbour up the back in the corner [photo by jane barwick]

Let's be honest here, this was not my finest hour at a market.

STILL, big hugs go out to Bower Bird. Like a good friend who's done you wrong I've already forgiven and forgotten. No point in trying to analyse what went wrong. At least two of my new products walked out the door. The cat with attitude cushion above on the left and my little red lamp, better viewed below and more coming soon.

100% linen has been painted by hand to achieve the uneven red texture when light is turned on

features original pen drawing that is hand screen printed, appliqued lino print bird and machine stitched lines.

I would love to do this market just ONCE without getting physically sick. I'm talking BB Belly, hits me every time. Potent combination of stress, excitement, fear and a sensitive gut.

Really enjoyed my three day anthropological research into the mind and lingo of the young, creative hetro male in touch with his feminine side, courtesy of my only neighbour Mattt. Sorry for all the questions Matt but you know I've got a PHD thesis to write. Thanks though for helping me snare that final super sale of the day while I was having a fainting spell (yes, very 19th century of me). Your heroic gesture was well and truly beyond the call of duty. Just don't hound me for a commission, orright?

Two more markets to go - just keep telling myself it will all be okay.

let loose

Up at my sister's for a few days
tramping around with puppy at heels
while she (sis, not dog) and her boys are off camping
overnight with apes and rhinos at the Dubbo Zoo.

Armed with camera and some new products of the puffy kind

and the luminous kind.


Beautiful weather. Took hundreds of photos without stepping
outside the front gate. Bit like a resort up here.

Has been a very peaceful, productive few
days. This new Blogger draft mode is
stressing me out though .. haven't got a
handle on it yet.

And that puffy product above isn't at all new.
Old as. New photo though.

Hoping that cute, sad-eyed furry thing will sell
it.


Still very much in holiday mode, though back
going through the paces in my "other" work
personna.


Just loving this endless indian summer.

x 4

four new one off cushions made specially for gallery aloft in rozelle sydney.


the usual suspects - sheep, trees, buildings - in different configurations, different colourways, different textures.


and a lot more hand stitching than i usually do.

meltdown

it's been one of those grey still days in sydney. just cold enough to fool yourself that winter really is a fabulous time of year.
i've been without a computer for nearly a week. both liberating .. and seriously disturbing. my hard drive died. no backup. yup, saw it coming, didn't act fast enough. still i live in hope. i have a new computer. i still haven't been able to rescue my years and years of stuff on my old mac. but i live in hope.
i do love these grey still days, they make me feel calm.

recently i had the pleasure of "meeting' marichelle from
hearthandmade. she's a passionate design afficionado and recent escapee from corporate life in New York. her blog is beautiful. not only does she find amazing stuff but her site has a strong aesthetic appeal - very slick but with lovely personal touches like the faux handwriting, very cute. she did the most amazing number on one of my cushions in a section she calls heart lab where she attempts to dissect the art of the handmade.



it's such a clever idea. do check her out.

skyline

too busy to blog.
wonder when that tired old song will ever end.

the boys have been busy too. providing me with pages and pages of mad little drawings or elaborate paintings



which i cast my evil eye over (very picky), then i photograph, chop, change, embellish, make into screens, mix some colours and turn into this...
MY CITY

and this....
YOUR CITY


endless variations on a theme...



here's the child labour compound high in a tree house where the authorities won't find them.

enough is enough, show me your bunnies, giveaway time!

really, really need to escape blogland for a little while.
the tiny, wee amount of time i normally spend doing blog stuff has been growing and growing of late. i just keep finding new blogs, new designers, new links, clickety, click, click .. hours of my life disappearing. the gorgeous little guy above from lookwhaticando knows what i mean. he's got that look.

and people are finding me and zapping me with lovely (surprise) blog features, so off i go to visit new places, new designers, new links..... this week, many thanks to jade scott and leah hennen and the lovely irene at bloesem who has rescued my sheep and dog from the black hole to present them so beautifully on her site.

visiting blogland is becoming kind of overwhelming. for someone who's been quietly poodling along for years now. need to pull back a bit and resist the irresistible urge to blog and blogview because it's just sucking up time and focus. so i'm crackin' that whip. got to get my new designs done and dusted. a couple of weeks should do it. I'll be back by easter.

and to celebrate .. hang on, what am i celebrating exactly?? oh, what's it matter. it's a GIVEAWAY. yes sireee. (i knew that would thrill me beyond belief, typing in the G word). quickly followed by a huge slap of insecurity .. what if no-one wants this giveaway? oh the public humiliation. oh what the heck.
my little house cushion, complete with insert, is up for grabs. but wait, there's more...
to win this little guy you need to send me a link to a really cool rabbit. that's right. RABBIT. rabbit drawing, rabbit print, rabbit product. one of your own rabbit designs even. i've already started my own stash of bunny finds (see my wish list on the right) and here's one of my all time faves to give you an idea of the kind of rabbit that really rings my bell, this luscious red fibonacci rabbit from the amazing daskaninchen . the utter beauty of this felt creature...
... where do i even begin to find the words to describe how this rabbit makes me feel?
the person who sends a link to the rabbit that most takes my fancy will receive my house cushion AND one of my own handmade cards and envelope featuring my truly inadequate rabbits.
sure, easter will be well and truly over by the time you receive the card but who says bunnies are only for easter, particularly when they're dancing about in their undies. a card for any occassion i would imagine.

comp closes on thursday 20 March and i'll reveal the winner and their rabbit on good friday.
and now for my short disappearing act.

a house, a garden

i don't have a house or a garden and lust for both.
here though is my fave girl [Bah cushion] looking somewhat sheepish in
the latest Australian House and Garden.




i have a view of ornamental magnolia trees from the work bench in my art deco apartment.



this is my house and out there is my garden.
it will do for now.
have been rearranging furniture in the heat.
very little work happening here at the moment.
it's too summery to be productive.

some soft cushiony reasons why i haven't been blogging

just a few of my ONE ONLYs.
some ready-to-order cushions will be available in my shop .. soon.
and my first magazine exposure coming in January's Australian House & Garden.

antlers alert

new obsession.
antlers.
of the elk variety in particular.
hand cut, hand screen printed onto cotton/linen fabric.



and a little rusty red lino cut bird stitched onto the corner.
some buttons on the back of one. a tied cotton tape on the back of the other.
many mistakes doing these two cushions.
not ready for the public yet.



but soon.

there's no place like home

and just like dorothy i've returned with a lovely pair of red shoes.
[did she actually get to keep those ruby slippers? i'm not so sure now]

wow.
what a massive bunch of weeks it has been.
dealing with double my usual teaching load, double my marking load, preparing stock for two big festivals, AND printing and making stuff for my weekly stall at paddington market.

have just dropped of tees and kaftans and cushions for the Balmain Art and Craft Festival this weekend.
that nearly killed me.
my new kaftan range features vintage prints of sea creatures and i rather like them.



thanks JW Buel [18th Century illustrator].

today is supposed to be my first day off in months.
i find it impossible to do NOTHING.
now i have to get ready for the Avalon Fair in the northern beaches in a couple of weeks.

if only i was five people.
that would work nicely.

the sheep are nervous

no need to be my lovelies, i’m making you some lovely new coats and taking you out into the world. first i have to print you...

cushion v. 1


cushion v. 2


uh oh, what happened here? don’t like that sickly colour. little faces need painting in. can i be bothered with the ears? i know i should do the ears. i’ll just ignore it for now. oh dear, i think i’ve ruined it. push on. denial. that should work. give the girls their new coats. i knew i was going to have to paint in the ears.


and I’ve got the spacing all wrong. too late now.