Happy time :)

It's my guaranteed happy time of the year.... the time of year when I get 
to travel because of our business. This year, we'll be going here...





and then here...






and finally here (the work part but also a fun part!)...





We're taking the girls with us this year which I'm also really looking forward to. 
Quality time with the Mr and our girls :)


I'm still madly trying to get organised and have somehow lost some of my 'notes 
to self' of places to see. So, feel free to leave a comment saying "While you're 
there you really must visit..." Actually, please do! I'll be reading your comments 
until Sunday morning (Australian time).


 Thank you in advance and see you in a couple of weeks!


 à bientôt!


Photo credits: me :)

Our Creative Spaces - Crochet Couture in Progress

Okay, so the title is very misleading... The inspiration was crochet couture 
but I guess mine is simply crochet clothing item in progress ;)





Inspired by the amazing creations of Helen Rodel some months ago now, 
I began hooking away at a bubble cluster, adding a bit of track stitch here 
and there for relief.





The idea is to finish with one of those midriff over-smock 'knits'.





These are the stitches I've used...

Click on image to enlarge

Click on image to enlarge

I'm going to crochet back and front together when I've got them to the same 
length and do a continuous row of the track stitch at the base I think.


It's falling off my shoulders at the moment so I'll have to do some more
track stitch at the top as well.

What's in your Creative Space today? See more here.

Inspiration: Helen Rodel

A few months ago now I saw this image on Evie's blog and discovered 
the amazing crochet couture of Helen Rodel.





Needless to say it was love at first sight...





So innovative and fun...











I knew I had to try it. Stay tuned for Creative Space tomorrow to see my 
crochet couture attempt in progress :)

There's a fabulous Vimeo clip of Rodel working on her collection here.
(For some reason, I can't get it to load here, sorry).


You can find her website here and Flickr photostream here.

More green, less white...

So after the last one I thought I'd design a green cushion that was 
more green and less white. This was the plan...



And this is the finished result...



What do you think?



My daughter said, "Yes, less white, but somehow there's more grey".


I think I'm done with green cushions ;)


Karen has woven some amazing cushions here.

New brooch

I've made a new brooch...

With yarn, felt, a metal sequin and a wooden button...

A friend of mine's been going through a rough time and I wanted to make 
her something, so I started playing with a gorgeous yarn find. 

I showed a peek of it before, it's another find from Purl Soho when I was 
in New York... Alchemy's Silken Straw in the most amazing squid ink 
kind of colour.

Hope she likes it.

Our Creative Spaces - MOF 2

I'm still doing my Month of Finishing (MOF) here. This is an 
embarrassing one actually. It's a dress I was making for a friend. 
Do you remember this fabric? 

It's been draped over the mannequin for quite a few months now.
I just couldn't seem to cut into it. I have no idea what my problem was
but at least it's done now...

I ended up adding a bit of colour on the straps to link in with 
the tree colour in the screen print. I also lined it because it
is quite see-through...

My friend has been really lovely about it, but I feel bad for taking so 
long. So, I'm working on a necklace design to go with the dress... 
a bit of block printing, a bit of stitchery and hopefully finished with 
some silversmithery too :)

What in your creative space today? You can find more spaces here.


I nearly forgot! This is my 500th post :) 


Big thanks to everyone who's supported me along the way. You are all totally amazing 
and have helped me so much with your encouragement. September is a very busy month 
for me (we'll be travelling - yah!) but I will have a giveaway in October to say thank you :)

So Many Greens :)

I'm making a cushion for someone who loves green. 
Lime green, kelly green, aqua green, teal, olive green...
There are so many shades to choose from. 


So, I decided not to discriminate and instead find a way 
to showcase all the greens...





I've been looking at this combination for days and have
finally crocheted them together. Still looking at it, though, 
and deciding whether I like it or not...


Is perfectionism a nice word for incredibly indecisive? ;)

Inspiration: Jenni Rope

I've just discovered an amazing Finnish artist, Jenni Rope, and have 
lost hours looking through her incredible portfolio. She does everything! 


Based in Helsinki, she exhibits internationally and runs Napa Books 
and Gallery. Her works span painting, illustration, jewellery, animation, 
publishing and fabric design (for Marimekkko, no less!).


Thanks to Renilde for introducing me to Jenni Rope's work :)


Some favourites are below...

Jenni Rope: Kiipeilypuu / The Climbing Tree from Jenni Rope on Vimeo.

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! 
Hope you have a great day :)

Riverfire

It was Riverfire night tonight. For those who don't know, Riverfire is a 
half-hour long display of fireworks that kicks off the celebrations for the
Brisbane Festival. 


So, Brisbane city is surrounded by the river on three sides and there 
are boats on the river where the fireworks are set off, some are set off 
from the top of city buildings and some from the Story Bridge too, which 
is the vantage point from my house. 


These are my shaky photos from outside the front of my house :)

Hockey final :)

My little one won her hockey premiership today. 
The score was 3:1 and she saved 3 goals. 
Proud face :)

Our Creative Spaces - MOF 1

Sometimes you know you have to do things, finish things... but it just doesn't 
happen for a long time. Alisa mentioned having a month of finishing (MOF) a 
couple of weeks ago and I decided it was long overdue for me too. 


Do you remember this skirt? It's from way back in January. A crochet hexagon 
make-it-up-as-you-go-along kind of skirt. 





Of course, the problem with those kind of craftings is that they so often go 
wrong. It's been sitting in my craft room for months now... ever since I realised
that my improvised waistband had made it about two sizes too big....

The original idea was to draw it together with some braid... but there's only so far you 
can draw crocheted hexagons and the clumpy look was not good.

 Then I decided my clumpy waistband would actually look quite sweet 

as the hem edging...  so I flipped it around.

I remembered the amazing shirred fabric I bought on my trip to Chicago 
(It was love at first sight. I knew it would come in handy!) ... and so it has :)


I cut off a strip less than the skirt width (winging it again) and sewed it to the 
now-top of the skirt. There was a cheat factor here, though – I didn't have 
any more of the yarn, so instead of crocheting half-hexes to make a straight 
edge, I sewed along and cut off half of every second hex ;)

One finished crochet hexagon skirt with shirred fabric waistband :) 

I can't believe how it all seemed to come together this time... serendipity.

What have you been up to in your creative space? Visit here to see more.